- 
 
 C < 
 
 ccct< 
 
 
 ^ 
 r * f
 
 - f SKLc 
 

 
 LIBRAJtt 
 
 x- 31033
 
 KAABA AT SKECCA.
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET, 
 
 FOUNDER OF THE 
 
 RELIGION OF ISLAM, AND OF THE 
 EMPIRE OF THE SARACENS; 
 
 WITH NOTICES OF THE 
 
 HISTORY OF ISLAMISM AND OF ARABIA. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. SAMUEL GREEN. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR T. TEGG, 73, CHEAPSIDE. 
 
 M DCCC XL.
 
 J. fl ADDON, PRINTER, CASTl.E STREET, FINSBURY.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE present work lays claim to no higher character 
 than that of a compilation. This indeed must 
 necessarily be the character of any work attempted 
 at this day upon the same subject. All the ac- 
 cessible facts in the life and fortunes of the Ara- 
 bian prophet have long since been given to the 
 world. New theories and speculations, moral and 
 philosophical, founded upon these facts, and many 
 of them richly deserving attention, are frequently 
 propounded to the reflecting, but they add little 
 or nothing to the amount of our information. All 
 therefore that can now be expected is such a selec- 
 tion and arrangement of the leading particulars of 
 his history, as shall convey to the English reader, 
 in a correct and concentrated form, those details 
 which are otherwise diffused through a great num- 
 ber of rare books, in different languages. Prideaux 
 a century since wrote a similar volume ; but be- 
 sides the age of this work, it is disfigured with 
 prejudices greatly diminishing its value. Most of 
 the histories? of Arabia also, and of Mahometan- 
 ism, both in our own and in foreign languages, 
 include sketches of the prophet's life and proceed- 
 ings, conveying much valuable information; but, 
 as it will be instantly seen, they must generally be
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 too brief and rapid to afford more than a summary 
 of his chief proceedings. In the following work, 
 brevity has been as much studied as is consistent 
 with a correct and full exhibition of the subject of 
 a memoir ; and as no life of Mahomet can be re- 
 garded as complete which does not also present 
 some details of the system of religion of which 
 he was the author, and of its early progress, a 
 few chapters have been added on these subjects 
 respectively. It is fancied that such a work, with- 
 in the reach of all, was a desideratum in our 
 literature, felt more than ever now that oriental 
 studies are likely to increase, and events are tran- 
 spiring making Mahometanism and Arabia sub- 
 jects of deep interest to western Europeans. 
 Among these may be reckoned the attempts of 
 Christian missionaries among the followers of the 
 prophet, chiefly in the east ; the contest which is 
 renewed on the shores of Africa, between France 
 and the soldiers of the faithful, whose general 
 warns the representative of the French power in 
 the folloAving terras : " Hold yourself prepared to 
 see all Mussulmans commence the holy war against 
 you; hold yourself warned, and reply as you 
 please :" and last, though not least, a late interest- 
 ing document, bearing the signature of the Sultan 
 of Turkey, which gives to the subjects of that em- 
 pire, among whom hitherto the Moslem faith only 
 lias been tolerated, a liberty of professing without 
 molestation what religion they please. Whether 
 the present sketch meets this demand, readers, 
 rather than the writer, perhaps, must judge. He 
 has aimed to make the most judicious use of the 
 materials before him, and from the whole mass to 
 elicit a candid moral estimate of the character of
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 the founder of Islamism. In one respect he may 
 venture to assure the reader he will find the plan 
 of the ensuing pages an improvement upon pre- 
 ceding memoirs ; and that is in the careful colla- 
 tion of the chapters of the Koran Avith the events 
 of the narrative. He will probably find the his- 
 tory illustrated to an unexpected extent from this 
 source a circumstance which, while it serves 
 greatly to authenticate the facts related, imparts 
 a zest also to the tenor of the narrative scarcely to 
 be expected from the nature of the theme. 
 
 No revolution recorded in history, if we except 
 that effected by the religion of the gospel, has 
 introduced greater changes into the state of the 
 civilized world, than that which has grown out of 
 the rise, progress, and permanence of Mahometan- 
 ism. The history and character, therefore, of this 
 religion becomes an object of laudable curiosity 
 with every enlightened mind. Considered merely 
 as a department of the general annals of the world, 
 apart from any connexion with the true religion, 
 it furnishes some of the most interesting records 
 of the human race. But when viewed as a part 
 of the great chain of providential and predicted 
 events, designed to have a direct bearing upon the 
 state of the Christian church, through the whole 
 period of its disastrous prevalence, it urges a new 
 and stronger claim upon our attention. By many 
 distinguished writers, who have deeply studied its 
 origin, genius, and history, the religion of the 
 Koran is confidently regarded rather as a Christian 
 heresy, or the product of a Christian heresy, than 
 as a heathen superstition. " Hence," says the 
 learned and exemplary Mede, " Mahometanism 
 has frequently been accounted a Christian heresy ;
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 and as it had its origin in Christianity, so to Christ 
 it looks in the end. For, according to the creed 
 of the Mahometans, Jesus is expected to descend 
 to earth, to embrace the religion of Mahomet, to 
 slay Antichrist, and to reign with his saints." The 
 same authority affirms, " that the Mahometans are 
 nearer to Christianity than many of the ancient 
 heretics; the Cerinthians, Gnostics, and Mani- 
 chees." Consequently its fate is involved in that 
 of all false doctrines which have corrupted the 
 gospel ; and as far as the disclosures of prophecy, 
 or the present posture of the nations of the earth, 
 hold out a hope of the speedy downfall of delu- 
 sion, and of the establishment of the truth, the 
 eye is naturally turned with deepening interest and 
 anxiety to those regions of the globe where this 
 religion has so long prevailed. 
 
 But in proportion to the interest inspired in the 
 general subject of Mahometanism, is that which 
 is felt in the life, character, and actions of its 
 founder." That an obscure individual, sprung from 
 the roving tribes of Arabia, following no higher 
 occupation than that of a caravan-trader, possess- 
 ing no peculiar advantages of mental culture, nor 
 distinguished in the outset by any pre-eminence 
 of power or authority, should yet have been en- 
 abled, in spite of numerous obstacles, to found 
 an extensive empire over the minds, as well 
 as persons, of millions of the human race, and that 
 this dominion should have been continued for 
 more than twelve hundred years, presents a phe- 
 nomenon which increases our wonder the more 
 steadily it is contemplated. 
 
 In order to preserve the continuity of the story 
 from being broken bv incessant reference to au-
 
 PREFACE. Vii 
 
 thorities, the following catalogue is submitted, 
 which will present at one view the principal works 
 consulted and employed in preparing the present 
 Life: Sale's Koran; Universal History, Mod, 
 Series, vol. i. ; Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the 
 Roman Empire; Prideaux's Life of Mahomet, 
 that in the Library of Useful Knowledge ; Bou- 
 lainvillier and Gagnier Vie de Mahomet ; Hottin- 
 ger's Historia Orientalis ; Abul-Faragii Historia 
 Dynastarum, Pocock's Transl. ; Morgan's Mahomet- 
 anism Explained, 2 vols. ; Forster's Mahometanism 
 Unveiled, 2 vols. ; D'Herbelot's Bibliotheque Ori- 
 entale ; Rycaut's Present State of the Ottoman 
 Empire ; Ockley's History of the Saracens, 2 vols.; 
 Lee's Translation of the Rev. H. Martyn's Con- 
 troversial Tracts ; Charles Mills's History of Mu- 
 hammedanism ; Rev. W. H. Neale's Mahometan 
 System, &c., with the authorities quoted by them 
 respectively. 
 
 On the subject of the Arabic proper names so 
 frequently occurring in this work, it may be use- 
 ful to the English reader to be informed, that Al 
 is a particle equivalent to our definite article The. 
 Thus Alcoran is composed of two distinct words, 
 signifying The Koran, of which the last only ought 
 to be retained in English. Again, Ebn is the 
 Arabic word for son, as is Bint or Binta for 
 daughter, and with the particle Al after it, ac- 
 cording to the Arabic usage, Ebno'l is, the son. 
 So Abu, father, with the article after it, Abu'l, the 
 father. Thus, Said Ebn Obeidah Abu Omri, is, 
 Said, the son of Obeidah, father of Omri ; it being 
 usual with the Arabs to take their names of dis- 
 tinction from their sons as well as their fathers. 
 In like manner, Ebno'l Athir, is, the son of Athir;
 
 Till PREFACE. 
 
 Abu'l Abbas, the father of Abbas : and as Abel 
 signifies servant, and Allah, God; Abdo'lah or 
 Abdallah is, servant of God ; Abdo'l Shems, ser- 
 vant of the sun. 
 
 The deciding between the different modes in 
 which the prophet's name is, or ought to be, writ- 
 ten, and the adoption of the most eligible, has 
 been a matter of perplexing deliberation. Upon 
 consulting the Greek Byzantine historians, it ap- 
 pears that the same diversity of appellation which 
 now prevails, has obtained for seven centuries. 
 In some of them we meet with Maometis, from 
 which comes our Mahomet, the most popular and 
 familiar title to the English ear ; and in others, 
 Machomed. Other varieties among ancient au- 
 thors might doubtless be specified. It has been 
 thought best on the whole to adopt in the follow- 
 ing pages the orthography most familiar to English 
 ears, though if the Arabic usage were followed, 
 doubtless the name would be written Mohammed 
 or Muhammed. 
 
 The principal object of the following pages is his- 
 torical, not religious, so that no lengthened disserta- 
 tion may be expected onthe mysterious subject of the 
 fulfilment of scripture prophecy in the person and 
 proceedings of Mahomet. Still it would be un- 
 pardonable not to look at him as an instrument in 
 the hands of divine providence, and no Christian 
 should shrink from repelling the scepticism and 
 infidelity of which a celebrated historian of ancient 
 events has unhappily made his pages the vehicle. 
 The reader may expect such topics to be occasion- 
 ally adverted to. If he wishes to look at the his- 
 tory of Mahomet in connexion with scripture pro- 
 phecy, he will do well to consult Faber's Sacred
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 Calendar of Prophecy, Fry's Second Advent of 
 Christ, Whitaker's Origin of Arianism, "White's 
 Bampton Lectures, and such modern travels in 
 Syria, Arabia, and adjacent countries as are in- 
 tended to throw light on the subject. 
 
 A list of names and titles frequently occurring 
 in connexion with the affairs of the East, together 
 with their etymological import, will not be deemed 
 inappropriate to the object of the present work. 
 
 MOSLEM, MUSSULMAN, ISLAM, ISLAMISM. All from 
 the same root, ASLAM ; signifying to yield up, 
 dedicate, consecrate entirely to the service of 
 religion. 
 
 KORAN. From KARA, to read ; the reading, le- 
 gend, or that which ought to be read. 
 
 SULTAN. Originally from the Chaldaic SOLTAN ; 
 signifying authority, dominion, principality. 
 
 VIZIER. An assistant. 
 
 HADJ. Pilgrimage ; HADJI ; one who makes the 
 pilgrimage to Mecca. 
 
 HEJIRA, or HEJRA. The Flight ; applied empha- 
 tically to Mahomet's flight from Mecca to 
 Medina. The period from which Arab writers 
 commence their dates. 
 
 MUFTI. The principal head of the Mahometan 
 religion, and the resolver of all doubtful 
 points of the law. An office of great dignity 
 in the Turkish empire. 
 
 IMAM. A kind of priest attached to the mosques, 
 whose duty it is occasionally to expound a 
 passage of the Koran. They, at the same 
 time, usually follow some more lucrative em- 
 ployment. 
 
 MOOLLAH. The Moollahs form what is called the
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 Ulema, or body of doctors in theology and 
 jurisprudence, who are entrusted with the 
 guardianship of the laws of the empire, and 
 from whose number the Mufti is chosen. 
 
 EMIR. Lineal descendants of the Prophet him- 
 self, distinguished by wearing turbans of 
 deep sea-green, the colour peculiar to all the 
 race of Mahomet. They have special immu- 
 nities on the score of their descent, and one 
 of them carries the green standard of the 
 Prophet when the Grand Seignior appears in 
 any public solemnity. 
 
 PASHA. The title given to the provincial govern- 
 ors. A Pasha is to a province or pashalic, 
 what the Sultan is to the empire, except that 
 the judicial power is in the hands of the 
 cadis, the provincial magistrates. The tails 
 of a Pasha are the standards which he is 
 allowed to carry ; one of three tails is one of 
 three standards, which number gives the 
 power of life and death. 
 
 HEIS EFFENDI. This officer may be termed the 
 High Chancellor of the Ottoman empire. He 
 is at the head of a class of attorneys which 
 at this time contains the best informed men 
 of the nation. 
 
 SERAGLIO. This word is derived from Serai, a 
 term of Persian origin, signifying a palace. 
 It is therefore improperly used as synonymous 
 with Harem, the apartments of the women. 
 The Seraglio is, in strictness of speech, the 
 place where the court of the Grand Seignior 
 is held ; but it so happens that at Constan- 
 tinople this building includes the imperial 
 Harem within its walls.
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 CRESCENT. The national ensign of the Turks, 
 surmounting the domes and minarets attached 
 to their mosques, as the Cross does the 
 churches of the Roman Catholics in Christian 
 countries. This peculiar and universal use of 
 the Crescent is said to have owed its origin to 
 the fact, that at the time of Mahomet's flight 
 from Mecca to Medina the moon was new. 
 Hence the half moon is commemorative of 
 that event. 
 
 SUBLIME PORTE. This title, which is frequently 
 applied to the court, cabinet, or executive 
 department of the Ottoman empire, is de- 
 rived, as the words import, from a lofty 
 arched gateway of splendid construction, 
 forming the principal entrance to the Seraglio 
 or palace. It is a phrase equivalent to 
 "Court of St. James," "Court of St. Cloud," 
 &c.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Importance of the inquiry as to the history of the country 
 of Mahomet Imperfect knowledge of it Great interest 
 of the events that have occurred in Arahia Description 
 of Arahia Mecca and Medina Manners of the different 
 classes of inhabitants Bedouins The Arabs of the 
 cities Commerce of Arahia Pride of the Arabs Their 
 strifes Government Independence Classification 
 Reflections . . . . . .1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The descent of the Arabs from Ishmael Obscurity of their 
 early history, and their care as to genealogical record 
 Gibbon's scepticism on their origin Argument from 
 their practice of circumcision from scripture references 
 to Arab tribes and from the coincidence of their cha- 
 racter and habits with those prophetically attributed to 
 Ishmael Mahomet's descent from Arab princes Idol- 
 atry of the early tribes . . . . .19 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Adnan The Kaaba or temple at Mecca Birth of Ma- 
 homet The Koreish Mahomet's most celebrated pre- 
 decessors The prophetic lustre Prodigies in connexion 
 with Mahomet's birth and infancy Death of his parents 
 He is committed by his grandfather to Abu Taleb his 
 uncle Boheira or Sergius How Mahomet was cm- 
 ployed up to his twenty-fifth year His marriage with 
 Kadijah Account of the Mahometan pilgrimage . 'i4 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Mahomet's seclusion His designs Gabriel The peculiar 
 tone of the Koran Mahomet's first converts His at- 
 tempt with his relatives The enmity of the Koreish
 
 COMTENTS. Xlll 
 
 PAGE 
 
 His followers fly from Mecca The exercises of his own 
 mind His cause strengthens League against him and 
 his family He is not discouraged The burden of his 
 preaching His paradise Women not excluded His 
 Hell Success Challenged to work miracles His man- 
 ner of getting rid of the demand . . .67 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The miracles to which Mahomet laid claim Intercourse 
 with Gahriel The composition of the Koran Mode in 
 which it was revealed Specimens of its denunciations on 
 his persecutors Miracle of the splitting of the moon 
 Mahomet's nocturnal journey Affinity of some of its 
 circumstances with rabbinical fables Effect produced by 
 relating it. Death of Abu Kaleb and of Kadijah 
 Mahomet's temporary withdrawment from Mecca Re- 
 turn and marriage with Ayesha and Sawda . . 92 
 
 CHAPTER VI, 
 
 Council of the Koreish against Mahomet He conceals 
 himself Converts from Medina bind themselves by an 
 oath of fidelity to him and his cause Mahomet's escape 
 from his foes in the cave of Thor His flight and recep- 
 tion at Medina Gathers his converts in that city to- 
 gether How he was regarded by some professed Chris- 
 tians by Jews Unites his followers, and inspires them 
 with martial courage Observations on his wars as com- 
 pared with the scripture account of the wars against the 
 Canaanites . . , . . .111 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Mahomet draws the sword contrary to his early pro- 
 fessions proclaims war against the Koreish Battle of 
 Bedr Victory attributed to God Policy as well as piety 
 of this Caravan surprised and taken at Nejed Dispute 
 about spoils Reverse of Ohod War of the ditch or 
 nations Mahomet guilty of cold-blooded murder His 
 wars against the Jews of the families of Kainoka, Nadir, 
 and Khoraida Reduction of Khaibar Motives inducing 
 these wars . . , , . .129 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Koran its style Coincidences with the sacred writ- 
 ings Design fundamental doctrines The unity and
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 providence of God The mission of Mahomet Angels 
 
 The Devil Genii The inspired writings of the Old 
 and New Testaments The resurrection and final judg- 
 ment Predestination or fate Prayer Alms Fasting 
 
 Pilgrimage Minor precepts Reflections . . 148 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Koran its civil and judicial precepts Infanticide 
 Laws relating to marriage Inheritance Usury, debts, 
 and contracts Criminal code Murder Theft Laws of 
 evidence Oaths Civil and sacred functionaries Value 
 of the system Its success as compared with that of 
 Christianity . . . . . . Ki'.l 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Mahomet thinks of gaining possession of Mecca His pil- 
 grimage thither Opposition of its inhabitants His 
 truce with them He violates it, and conquers the city 
 
 Other tribes of Arabs subdued The prophet medi- 
 tates the conquest of Syria A rival prophet, and his 
 fate Mahomet's life attempted by poison His illness 
 The prodigious increase of his cause Mahomet's death . 187 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Mahomet's wives Sawda Ayesha Hafsa Zeinab Say- 
 fer Allowance of the Koran to Mahomet as to mar- 
 riage Sketch of the prophet's career Description of his 
 person Gibbon's remarks on the character of the pro- 
 phet ..... .205 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The rise of the Arabian empire Disputes about the suc- 
 cession to Mahomet's power Abubeker appointed He 
 
 . assumes the title of caliph Troubles at the commence- 
 ment of his reign He calls the followers of the prophet 
 to war for the spread of their religion Ardour of the 
 Arab troops Success against the Greek army Fall of 
 Bozra Battle of Aiznadin Fall of Damascus Death 
 of Abubeker Omar declared his successor Continua- 
 tion of the Syrian campaign Omar's journey to Jeru- 
 salem Fall of that city of Aleppo -of Antioch
 
 CONTENTS. XV 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The plague breaks out in the Arab army Death of its 
 generals Kaled's disgrace Amrou leads the army into 
 Egypt Pelusium, Memphis, Alexandria, successively 
 taken Medina supplied with corn from Egypt En- 
 trance of the Arabs into Persia Victories gained in that 
 empire Omar and the Persian satrap Review of Omar's 
 reign His assassination Character . . . 223 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The progress of the Arabian empire Death of Omar, and 
 elevation of Othman Alexandria dismantled Africa 
 entered by the Saracen troops Battle near Tripoli and 
 fall of that city Disaffection against Othman His 
 assassination Ali becomes caliph Ayesha's opposition 
 to him Battle of Bassora Rebellion of Moawiyah 
 Ali's murder Hassan his son made caliph Resigns in 
 favour of Moawiyah New dynasty Ayesha's death 
 Yezid Hosein's fate Arab factions Dynasty of Ab- 
 bas Africa conquered Spain Conquests in the east 
 Samarcand and Tartary China Siege of Constantino- 
 ple Reverse of the Arab arms Charles Martel Greeks 
 subdued Mediterranean islands Rome . . 254 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The decline of Mahometan power Extent of the Arabian 
 empire Causes which led to that extent Continuance 
 of Mahometanism Decay of the empire What led to 
 it Spain revolts, and sets up a separate caliph Africa 
 Egypt Bagdad Fall of the house of the Abassides- 
 Sects of Mahometans Orthodox Heretical Intole- 
 rance of Mahometanism .... 273 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Literature and science of the Arabs. Their facilities for 
 literary and scientific pursuits Patronage of literature 
 by the princes of the house of Abbas Almamoun 
 Arabian schools Eloquence Poetry The Arabian 
 tales History Geography Speculative sciences . 
 Astrology Mathematical knowledge of the Arabs 
 Astronomy Architecture The fine arts Agriculture 
 Medicine Chemistry Our obligations to Arab 
 literature . 290
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The present condition of Mahometanism in Turkey 
 The doctrines believed there Then- forms of devotion 
 Lustrations Prayer Mahometan Sabbath Fast of 
 Kamadan -* - Meccan Pilgrimage Prosely tism Maho- 
 metan hierarchy Islamism in Tartary In Hindustan 
 In China In Persia In Africa In the Indian 
 Archipelago The Sooffees The Wahabees . . 309 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 1. The fulfilment of scripture prophecy in the rise and pro- 
 gress of Mahometanism .... 335 
 
 2. The Mahometan confession of faith . . . 369 
 
 :5. Style of the Koran . ... 379
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Importance of the Inquiry into the History of the Country 
 of Mahomet. Imperfect knowledge of it. Great interest of 
 the events that have occurred in Arabia. Description of Ara- 
 bia. Mecca and Medina. Manners of the different classes of 
 Inhabitants. Bedouins. The Arabs of the Cities. Commerce 
 of Arabia. Pride of the Arabs. Their strifes. Government. 
 Independence. Classification. Reflections. 
 
 IN reviewing the life of Mahomet, one of the most 
 extraordinary of men, it is desirable first to have 
 some account of the country which gave him 
 birth, and of the circumstances which, in all pro- 
 bability, exercised a considerable influence upon 
 his education, mind, and habits. 
 
 The physical and moral condition of a country 
 contribute, in no small degree, to form the cha- 
 racter of men, and especially of men of an ardent, 
 ambitious, enterprising disposition, and of a 
 gloomy, morose, and superstitious temperament. 
 Perhaps, in some respects, these various element?, 
 widely different as they are, will be found to have 
 existed in the subject of the following pages ; and 
 certainly no individual whose life and actions com- 
 mon history records, ever exercised an influence, 
 
 B
 
 _ LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 or produced an effect on the condition and destiny 
 of nations at all approaching to that of which 
 Mahomet was the author. Even down to this 
 day, a large portion of the human family (consi- 
 derably more than one-eighth) in various countries 
 are familiar with his name, and devotedly follow 
 the doctrines and precepts which he taught a 
 number nearly as great as that which has pro- 
 fessedly embraced the Christian Faith. His sys- 
 tem has interwoven with the polity of large and 
 flourishing communities not of the barbarous 
 and half-civilized of mankind only but of those 
 from which much of our own refinement and 
 civilization have been derived. It were an affec- 
 tation, therefore, as great as that which would blot 
 Greece and Rome from the map of the world, that 
 should profess indifference to the history of so re- 
 markable a person, or gratulate itself upon igno- 
 rance of the singular country from which he 
 sprung. 
 
 Still we must be content with but an imperfect 
 acquaintance with that country. Its physical fea- 
 tures are little known ; its civil and moral history 
 are still less understood. Perhaps the extrava- 
 gancies of oriental fable, and the natural and just 
 contempt with which, as a religious system, the 
 dogmas of the prophet and his followers have been 
 regarded in better instructed countries, may have 
 greatly contributed to this ignorance ; perhaps it 
 may have resulted partly from the inscrutable 
 dealings of that Providence which permits a people 
 who love error to remain in darkness, and almost 
 decrees that they who will not know God shall 
 themselves be disesteemed and unknown. 
 
 Nevertheless, Arabia has been the scene of
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 3 
 
 events too interesting in the religious history of 
 mankind to be contentedly shrouded in obscurity 
 from these western nations. Here our first parents 
 were planted : here have occurred some of the 
 most memorable of all the dispensations of divine 
 providence that have arrested the attention of 
 mankind, and shed light and counsel over future 
 times. It was in this land that the ark of Noah 
 rested safely, after the awful wonders of the de- 
 luge. Here Job was tried the faith of the Pa- 
 triarchs was exhibited Moses, the servant of 
 God, received bis divine commission, and the pos- 
 terity of Abraham wandered for forty years in the 
 wilderness. Had Mahomet never lived, it would 
 have been unphilosophical in the student of na- 
 tional annals to be indifferent to the history of 
 this country ; but now that he has secured to his 
 native land so wide a civil as well as religious re- 
 nown, it will be difficult to find an apology for the 
 general neglect with which, till of late, Arabia 
 has been treated in our educational course. To 
 account for this neglect, something may be said 
 concerning the almost inaccessibility of the lan- 
 guage of the country, the worthlessness of much 
 that is opened when this language is overcome, 
 and the unsettled and apparently unsocial cha- 
 racter of the institutions and habits of the people 
 a character with which we have almost nothing in 
 common : but if there be any thing to admire in 
 poetic fiction and imagery any thing attractive in 
 the noble virtues of unflinching fidelity, ardent 
 gratitude, and generous hospitality, or any thing 
 to repay our toil in innumerable and beautiful 
 illustrations to holy writ, this neglect cannot be 
 suffered to continue. " In order," says the learned
 
 4 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 Michaelis, " to understand properly the writings 
 of the Old Testament, it is absolutely necessary to 
 have an acquaintance with the natural history, as 
 well as the manners of the east," And the intel- 
 ligent Burckhardt says, to the same effect, that 
 "the sacred historian of the children of Israel will 
 never be thoroughly understood as long as we 
 are not minutely acquainted with every thing re- 
 lating to the Arabian Bedouins, and the countries 
 in which they move and pasture."* 
 
 Arabia, a name derived from a Hebrew word, 
 denoting a wilderness, or a land of deserts and 
 plains, comprehends, as commonly used, a much 
 larger territory than that to which, in the most au- 
 thentic records, it was first applied, Moses uses 
 it for the western wilderness, which he describes 
 as " over against the Red Sea, between Paran and 
 Tophel, and by the way of Elath and Ezion-gaber." 
 Deut. i. 1, ii. 8. This was the country between 
 the 29 and 31 of north latitude, and the 51 and 
 53 east longitude, a mountainous land, over 
 which the Israelites journeyed during a consider- 
 able part of their wanderings in the wilderness ; 
 and here, probably, some of the earliest colonies 
 of men fixed their habitation. The tribes of Avan- 
 dering Ishmaelites would sojourn here, and, as 
 their conquests extended, the name by which 
 their country was distinguished would also extend. 
 From this, or from some other cause not now to 
 be ascertained, the denomination of this compara- 
 
 * It must not be understood, however, that Europe has no 
 scholars in Asiatic literature. France has produced many ; 
 and England may be justly proud of the proportion she has 
 added to the number. Pococke, and Sale, and Lee, and some 
 others, stand very high in the list.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 5 
 
 tively small tract of country usually includes a 
 vast peninsula, extending from the Red Sea on 
 the west, to the Persian Gulf on the east, and 
 from Syria and the Holy Land on the north and 
 north-west, to the straits of Babelmandeb, and 
 the Indian Ocean on the south and south-east. A 
 considerable portion of this territory consists of 
 arid desert, and rocky plain, so as to be incapable 
 of sustaining many inhabitants. The coasts, and 
 chiefly the western, that which borders upon the 
 Red Sea, and the country included in lines drawn 
 through the twenty-third and the thirtieth degrees 
 of north latitude, are the parts chiefly inhabited. 
 The length of the whole region from north to 
 south, that is, from Anah to Aden, is reckoned at 
 nearly 1500 miles ; its middle breadth, measuring 
 from Suez to Bussorah, is about 900 miles. Per- 
 haps its base, from Muscat on the Persian Gulf, to 
 Mocha on the Strait of Babelmandeb, is not less 
 than 1200 miles. 
 
 Of course the features of so extensive a terri- 
 tory would be exceedingly various ; generally it 
 may be described as a table land, sloping gradually 
 towards the east. The south and south-eastern 
 coasts are composed, with but little interruption, 
 of a ridge of dismal, barren, naked rocks, desti- 
 tute of soil or herbage, and yielding to the ma- 
 riner, as he passes up the Indian ocean, a picture 
 of the most gloomy and forbidding kind. They 
 rise dark, waste, and wild, to the height of a thou- 
 sand or fifteen hundred feet ; on the land side of 
 them lies that part of the peninsula which is 
 known by the name of Arabia Deserta, a name 
 not bestowed in vain ; the whole rock and desert 
 combining as if to keep off all intrusion, and for-
 
 D LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 bid all approach to that other part of the penin- 
 sula which is as aptly called Arabia Felix, or 
 " Araby the blest." There is another part of this 
 territory to which our predecessors in geographical 
 delineation have given the appropriate name of 
 Arabia Petrrea, the two latter being more known 
 for the very obvious reason they are the more 
 habitable. 
 
 The aspect of desolation and barrenness so 
 widely pervading Arabia, is occasionally relieved 
 by verdant spots in valleys, along which some pe- 
 rennial stream, or mountain torrent, pursues its 
 way: wells, partly natural, partly artificial, mark 
 the route of the desert wanderers, secure inter- 
 course between their several tribes, and sustain 
 and refresh their numerous cattle and dependants. 
 These cultivated patches, of varying extent, af- 
 forded grass for cattle, and corn and fruits for 
 man. In such a country, wells would be a most 
 valuable property, and as it was inhabited chiefly 
 by a pastoral and simple race, it would have but 
 few wants which would not find a supply at these 
 fertile spots. The wealth of such a people would 
 chiefly consist in these possessions, and their con- 
 tentions most frequently arise out of them. Lot, 
 in making his election of a country to abide in, 
 chooses the " well watered plain ;" Abraham and 
 Isaac both have to contend for retaining the wells 
 which they had respectively secured ; and which 
 the people of the neighbouring chief Abimelech 
 had unjustly seized ; and throughout the scripture, 
 blessings of the utmost importance are represented 
 under the apt emblems of wells and springs. 
 
 Barren, however, as a large part of the country, 
 with the exceptions just now mentioned, is, there
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 are. other parts of it exceedingly rich and delight- 
 ful. " The air is temperate, while the rains and 
 dews are copious. The hills are wooded to the 
 top, or covered with a rich alpine turf. From 
 their sides fall perennial streams, sometimes in 
 beautiful cascades, which run for a considerable 
 extent among cultivated fields, or luxuriant gar- 
 dens. Fruits of all kinds are delicious and abun- 
 dant. The fertility of the earth at once invites 
 and rewards the industry of the husbandman, and 
 nature, by lavishing her choicest favours here, 
 seems to have compensated for her want of hos- 
 pitality everywhere else." 
 
 The last of the three divisions mentioned above, 
 Arabia Petra?a, is that part of the country which 
 is most frequently mentioned in the sacred writ- 
 ings, comprising the Peninsula of Sinai, and the 
 country of Edom or Idumsea, with the territory 
 anciently inhabited by the tribes to which the 
 names are given of Hivites, Hittites, Midianites, 
 Amalekites, Kedarenes, Hagarenes, and Naba- 
 tha3ans, with others descended from the father of 
 the faithful. No part of the whole country has 
 been so accurately described as this division, which 
 is a vast wilderness composed of naked rocks and 
 craggy precipices, interspersed with narrow defiles 
 and sandy valleys, seldom refreshed with rain, and 
 destitute of vegetation. Here Moses, an exile 
 from Egypt, kept the flocks of his father-in-law 
 Jethro, and here Elijah dwelt when he had to 
 conceal himself in Horeb, on account of the 
 persecutions of Ahab and Jezebel. Other me- 
 morable circumstances of Scripture history are 
 identified with this land. Mount Seir, a lofty 
 ridge, on the east of Idumeea, and Moab, bounded
 
 8 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 this part of the country, from Arabia De- 
 serta. On the west are Wady Ghor, and Wa- 
 dy Arabah, the ancient bed of the Jordan, before 
 the overthrow of the cities of the plain. A re- 
 cent traveller has described this region as a sea of 
 desolation. " It would seem," he adds, " as if 
 Arabia Petraea had once been an ocean of lava, 
 and that while its waves were running mountains 
 high, it was commanded suddenly to stand still." 
 Of Arabia Deserta but little is known. Arabia 
 Felix, the region of spices, of incense, and if 
 ancient geographers are to be credited, of almost 
 all things precious and valuable, is the most fer- 
 tile, and consequently the most numerously inha- 
 bited district. The Arabs better know it by the 
 name of Yemen, its largest province. It includes 
 the territory on the south-west, bordering upon 
 the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean ; but though 
 known by the name indicating fertility, it is by 
 no means free from the curse of sterility. The 
 ancients speak comparatively, when dwelling with 
 romantic extravagance on its costly productions, 
 and on the wealth and number of its inhabitants. 
 
 Among its considerable places, were the two 
 cities of Mecca and Medina ; the former celebrated 
 as the birth-place of Mahomet, the latter as the 
 place where his ashes repose. 
 
 Mecca is the capital of the province of Hejaz, 
 described by D'Auville as of about 750 miles in 
 extent, and almost an absolute desert, consisting 
 of sandy plains towards the shore and rocky hills 
 in the interior. Around the capital, thousands of 
 these hills rise bleak and bare, all of nearly the 
 same height ; some of them, especially Safa, Ara- 
 fat, and Merona, have become celebrated as sta-
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 9 
 
 tions in the Mahometan pilgrimages. Among 
 them, and especially near the city, are deep and 
 spacious caverns, fit residences for a morbid and 
 gloomy superstition. The vicinity of Medina is 
 somewhat more fertile. Mecca is said to be one 
 of the most ancient cities of the world ; the Ma- 
 coraba of the Greeks, and the Mesha (Gen. x. 
 30) of scripture. 
 
 Besides Hejaz, Arabia contained the provinces 
 of Yemen, the finest and most fertile of all its 
 provinces, Tehama, Hadramant (the Hagarma- 
 veth of holy writ, Gen. x. 26), Oman, Lasha, 
 and Nejed, which last is divided into fourteen 
 smaller compartments or provinces, but little more 
 than nominally known to western writers. 
 
 The inhabitants of Arabia, from age to age the 
 same in customs, habits of life, and general cha- 
 racteristics, are commonly divided into two classes, 
 Arabs of the desert, or the dwellers in tents ; and 
 Arabs of the cities. The former are roving bands, 
 wandering with their flocks and herds from place 
 to place, and living very much by plunder upon 
 each other, or upon the more peaceful and indus- 
 trious of their countrymen engaged in trade and 
 commerce. They have been called Bedouins, and 
 the Nomadic tribes. They had but little inter- 
 course with other tribes : their wants were few, 
 and easily supplied, and they regarded their per- 
 fect freedom from control as their chief glory. 
 They were a bold, enterprising, and generous race, 
 strong in their attachments, and, like all savages, 
 equally so in their resentments. Their vow, whe- 
 ther of hospitality or of revenge, was seldom vio- 
 lated. The lowly wilderness, and the rugged 
 mountain, were the scenes of their greatest enjoy-
 
 10 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 merit, because there they could live without 
 ceremony, and without restraint. They boasted 
 that God had bestowed on them four precious 
 gifts : turbans instead of diadems, tents in place 
 of walls and bulwarks, swords for intrenchments, 
 and poems instead of written laws. 
 
 Among these lawless tribes, however, some 
 usages obtained, without which, humanly speak- 
 ing, they must have become extinct. Among 
 these, they imposed upon themselves the obliga- 
 tion of observing, for the third part of every year, 
 some of the regulations of civilized society. " It 
 was a custom among the ancient Arabs, to observe 
 four months in the year as sacred, during which 
 they held it unlawful to wage war ; and took off 
 the heads of their spears ; ceasing from incursions 
 and other hostilities. During these months, who- 
 ever was in fear of his enemy lived in full se- 
 curity; so that if a man met the murderer of 
 his father or his brother, he durst not offer him 
 any violence." * An impatience of revenge some- 
 times induced the postponement for a month of 
 this sacred season, but it was not abridged in du- 
 ration, nor were its rules violated. All during 
 the allotted season lived in peace, though up to 
 its commencement, and from the moment it had 
 passed, they engaged in fiercest conflict. Another 
 of these salutary customs, was their inviolable re- 
 gard to the rites of hospitality. Bitterest foes, if 
 by any means one became the guest of the other, 
 were perfectly secure from each other's violence. 
 The members of tribes at variance, not infre- 
 quently enjoyed the protection of those to whom 
 
 * Sale. Prel. Dis. 7.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 11 
 
 they were most relentlessly opposed ; and when 
 that protection could avail them no longer, they 
 have been urged by their adversary to fly, lest he 
 himself should fall upon them. These wanderers 
 of the desert, insecure and destitute of comfort 
 as we should judge their modes of life to be, were 
 so strongly attached to it as never to settle with- 
 out profound regret, into the more regular habits 
 of the city Arabs. Abulfeda has exhibited this 
 feeling in the instance of a Bedouin princess, mar- 
 ried to a caliph of Damascus, and therefore com- 
 pelled to leave the desert. The pomp and splen- 
 dour of a court could not make her forget the 
 charms of her lonely wilderness. Her hours were 
 consumed in melancholy musings, her greatest de- 
 light was in singing the simple pleasures which 
 that wilderness had afforded her. 
 
 Nebassar's queen 
 
 Fatigued with Babylonia's level plains, 
 Sighed for her Midian home, where nature's hand 
 Had scooped the vale, and clothed the mountain side 
 With many a verdant wood. 
 
 Roberts' Judah Restored. 
 
 Even at this day Bedouins are seen passing the 
 night in the open air in Cairo, Mecca, and Aleppo, 
 having declined the conveniences of apartments 
 offered to them. They would regard themselves 
 as degraded and fallen from the nobility of their 
 birth, if they could ever bring themselves to the 
 habits of such as they contemptuously describe as 
 " dwellers in houses of clay." 
 
 The stationary Arabs, or Arabs of the cities, are 
 an equally remarkable race. Like the Bedouins, 
 they held a certain portion of the year sacred to 
 peace, and were strictly mindful of the rites of
 
 12 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 hospitality; but as they were more addicted 
 to agriculture and commerce, their modes of 
 life were somewhat more artificial. The traffic 
 between Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and the wander- 
 ing tribes of the desert, was carried on through 
 them. Ostrich feathers, coffee, frankincense, and 
 other costly commodities they procured from their 
 wandering neighbours, and exchanged in the fairs 
 and marts of those countries for such articles as 
 were in request in their own land. They carried 
 on their trade by means of caravans of camels, the 
 merchants, like our travelling merchants and 
 pedlars, accompanying their goods, and superin- 
 tending the transactions of commerce. By them 
 was conducted for many ages, the most lucrative 
 trade between India and Egypt. The Greeks 
 at first purchased these commodities of them. 
 " Tarshish," says Ezekiel, " was thy merchant 
 by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches ; 
 with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy 
 fairs. Dedan was thy merchant in precious 
 clothes for chariots. Syria was thy merchant 
 by reason of the multitude of the wares of 
 thy making ; they occupied in thy fairs with 
 emeralds, purple, and broidered work, . and fine 
 linen, and coral, and agate. Dan and Javan, going 
 and fro, occupied in thy fairs : bright iron, cassia, 
 and calamus, were in thy market."* Tyre, of 
 which the prophet speaks, was a principal com- 
 mercial part of Arabia ; and long before this time, 
 another sacred writer alludes to the pearls and 
 rubies, the precious onyx, the sapphire, the coral 
 and the topaz, t so that even from the earliest age., 
 
 * Ezck. chap, xxvii. f Jt- xxvii. !? 19.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 13 
 
 the wealth and luxuries of the farther east flowed 
 through Arabia into more civilized and prospe- 
 rous parts of the world. Hence, the almost ro- 
 mantic descriptions of the wealth of Arabia. 
 That country, by the earliest historians, is described 
 as abounding with every production that could 
 make life happy. In addition to common produc- 
 tions, the land is said to have yielded balm, cassia, 
 incense, myrrh, and cinnamon. Who has not 
 heard of the rich gums, the fragrant perfumes, the 
 spices of Arabia ? Its inhabitants were fabled to 
 be compelled to burn pitch and goats' hair, for the 
 purpose of renewing their cloyed sense of fra- 
 grance ; their food was cooked with scented woods ; 
 they rivalled the magnificence of princes, in the 
 very habits of common life ; their houses were de- 
 corated with pillars glistening with gold and silver, 
 they opened with doors of ivory, every niche was 
 filled with the most costly vases, and every wall 
 sparkled with jewels. The people themselves, 
 Strabo says, wore bracelets and necklaces made of 
 gold and pellucid gems arranged alternately, and 
 used cups and other domestic utensils of the same 
 precious materials. Gold, he tells us, was so 
 abundant, as to be but thrice the value of brass, 
 and twice that of iron ; while silver was ten times 
 more valuable than gold. The most extravagant 
 accounts of the abundance of the precious metal 
 are given by Arrian, Strabo, and Diodorus ; after 
 having subtracted duly for these writers' want of 
 information and romance, it must be allowed 
 that this part of Arabia, notwithstanding its 
 present poverty, was a land of great affluence and 
 fertility.
 
 14 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 Wealth, in connexion with the love of independ- 
 ence, engendered pride, and nursed those other 
 dispositions which were manifested in the frequent 
 wars of Arab tribes and in their cruelty and rapine. 
 Everywhere they affected a lofty disdain of all 
 other men, and were in the highest degree unso- 
 cial and selfish. Wars and domestic broils, not in- 
 frequently rendered the Arab perfectly insensible 
 to the voice of law and humanity. Their nume- 
 rous clans constituted so many separate interests, on 
 behalf of which the most violent and vindictive 
 proceedings were indulged, often originating in 
 trivial causes, and prosecuted with revolting 
 atrocity. A word or an action thought con- 
 temptuous, an insult to a woman of a particular 
 clan, would involve multitudes in war, and cost 
 probably the life of hundreds. The quarrels of 
 the clans were hereditary. Wilful offences were 
 never forgiven, and such was their patience of 
 revenge, that providing no convenient opportunity 
 occurred, they would wait months and even years, 
 ere they executed it. Such was their relentless fe- 
 rocity, that not the offender only, but sometimes 
 many others of his tribe, and among them its 
 principal men, became its victims. Offences were 
 thus multiplied and prolonged, feuds and quarrels 
 were made to endure for ages. 
 
 Government among such a people, must have 
 been exceedingly loose and irregular. The want 
 of written records renders it impossible to trace 
 with any hope of accuracy, what it was. It is pro- 
 bable, that the father of each family, as in the 
 case of Noah, Abraham, and Job, united in him- 
 self the functions of both civil ruler and priest of
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 15 
 
 his household. Of this, there are evidences down 
 to the time of Mahomet. Kahtan, the founder of 
 the Arab race the Joktan of the scripture, is re- 
 garded as the first sovereign of Arabia Felix or 
 Yemen. He was succeeded by his son Yarab, from 
 whom some derive the name of the territory, and 
 during a long period of 2,020 years, according to 
 Pococke, this dynasty continued ; twenty-nine 
 kings having successively reigned about seventy 
 years each. He gives the names, which are here 
 omitted, as nothing more is known concerning 
 them. The natives of this province were more 
 easily governed than those of other provinces. 
 Mecca and Medina exhibit the form, and something 
 of the substance also of a commonwealth. The 
 grandfather of Mahomet, and his lineal ancestors 
 reigned among their fellow citizens, as Pericles did 
 at Athens, by the opinion held of their wisdom and 
 integrity ; their patrimony and their power went 
 together. From the -uncles of the prophet, the 
 sceptre descended to a younger branch of the 
 family, so that by the law of succession no power 
 pertained to Mahomet ; it belonged to his relatives. 
 Lists of monarchs of other districts, and pertain- 
 ing to different dynasties, are also preserved by 
 various historians, which for the same reason are 
 passed over. The little that can be ascertained 
 concerning these early times, is emphatically im- 
 plied in the denomination of " times of ignorance," 
 by which they are known among Arab writers; 
 still it is evident that the wanderers of the desert 
 have always maintained their freedom from foreign 
 power. Their necks never bent to a yoke. The 
 reason for this, when all other nations were subdued, 
 is to be found partly in the character of the Arab,
 
 16 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 partly in the nature of their country. " Surrounded 
 with inhospitable deserts, they could easily elude 
 the vigilance of their enemies, by retiring within 
 those natural barriers of rocks and sands which 
 bade defiance to their persecutors." The historian 
 of the Decline and Fall of the Roman empire, 
 questions this historical fact, just as he does every 
 thing else out of which arguments have been 
 drawn in support of revealed religion. Yet it is 
 remarkable, that even his own pages contain evi- 
 dence of the truth of what he would fain deny.* 
 He says of the tribes, whose independence he 
 nevertheless questions, " When they advance to 
 battle, the hope of victory is in the front ; in the 
 rear, the assurance of a retreat. Their horses and 
 camels, who in eight or ten days can perform a 
 march of four or five hundred miles, disappear before 
 the conqueror ; the secret waters of the desert elude 
 his search, and his victorious troops are consumed 
 with thirst, hunger, and fatigue, in the pursuit of 
 an invisible foe, who scorns his efforts, and safely 
 reposes in the heart of a burning solitude. Their 
 friendship," he adds, "was venal, their faith incon- 
 stant, their enmity capricious : it was an easier 
 task to excite than to disarm these roving barba- 
 rians; and in the familiar intercourse of war they 
 learned to see and to despise the splendid weak- 
 ness both of Rome and Persia." With both these 
 powers, whole tribes of Arabia were occasionally 
 in alliance ; they were hired to aid in their wars ; 
 but this is widely different from being in subjection 
 and independence, as Gibbon, on that account, 
 would have us believe. 
 
 * See note in chap. 50., Vol. 9. p. 232., Edition 1819, in 12 Vols.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 17 
 
 All uncivilized nations divide themselves into 
 clans or tribes, and it is by no means uncommon 
 for these tribes to pride themselves respectively on 
 the simplicity and purity of their descent. A 
 similar division occurs also among nations, to 
 which pre-eminent religious distinctions and privi- 
 leges pertain. Every one has read of the castes of 
 India ; and who is ignorant of the pride with 
 which a Jew styled himself a Hebrew of the 
 Hebrews. Thus the Arabs are classified and divided. 
 There are the old extinct Arabs the genuine or pure 
 Arabs and the Most-Arabi,or the mixed and natu- 
 ralized Arabs. Of the first class we have nothing but 
 tradition and fable, seldom worth recording, except 
 that among them are numbered the very tribes, con- 
 cerning which inspired prophecy declares that their 
 names should be blotted out for ever.* The pure 
 Arabs trace their origin to Joktan, and divide into 
 families or tribes called after the names of their 
 respective ancestors ; the sons of that patriarch or 
 of his immediate descendants, just as the family of 
 Jacob divides into tribes after the names of his 
 sons and two grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh. 
 Such a division was adverse to the consolidation of 
 their power and influence ; it contributed how- 
 ever in no small degree to some of those remark- 
 able peculiarities which distinguish the people. 
 Gagnier, and after him, Sale, have enumerated 
 nearly three score tribes of genuine Arabs; the 
 chief and most honoured of whom were the 
 Koreish descendants of Fehr the courageous. 
 
 Mahomet sprung from the third class, for which 
 reason we defer saying any thing of them till the 
 next chapter. 
 
 * Exod,. xr'u. 14. 
 C
 
 18 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 We cannot approach the history of such an in- 
 dividual as the prophet of Arabia was, without 
 one reflection on the perfect facility with which 
 the Most High raises up instruments to punish the 
 idolatry of mankind : for if He rules, as unques- 
 tionably he does, over all the nations of the earth, 
 and men are but his instruments, we can have no 
 more doubt that Mahomet was guided by his pro- 
 vidence, than that Moses and Joshua were. The 
 . guidance they respectively enjoy widely differs; 
 their courses are dissimilar ; they are men alto- 
 gether differing from each other ; but they are all 
 instruments in the hand of God of fulfilling his 
 purposes. Moses and Joshua, in remote ages, and 
 in furtherance of true religion, are commissioned 
 to draw the sword against the enemies of God ; 
 Mahomet, in comparatively modern times, without 
 any such commission, and in furtherance of a 
 system but little better than those he opposed, 
 employs the same weapon against persons of a 
 similar description. We are wont to refer to the 
 justice and wisdom of the Most High the opera- 
 tions of the former, can we regard those of the 
 latter in an opposite light ? Who can read the 
 overthrow of the nations of Canaan by the leaders 
 of Israel, or the victorious progress of the armed 
 prophet and his legions against Arabian idolaters, 
 without feeling that verily there is a God that 
 judgeth in the earth ; and that though as yet de- 
 lusion, error, and vice greatly prevail in our world, 
 they will eventually, by one means or other, be 
 uprooted. If for a system that was merely pre- 
 paratory, as was the Jewish, and if for a system 
 which, false as was one part of it, contained never- 
 theless the great essential truth of the divine unity,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 19 
 
 God with such facility raised up his instruments, 
 and secured to them prosperity, what shall stay 
 his hand when he ariseth to shake terribly the 
 kingdoms of the earth, and to render them the 
 empire of his Son ? 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The descent of the Arabs from Ishmael. Obscurity of their 
 early history, and their care as to genealogical record. Gib- 
 bon's scepticism on their origin. Argument from their practice 
 of circumcision from scripture reference to Arab tribes and 
 from the coincidence of their character and habits with those 
 prophetically attributed to Ishmael. Mahomet's descent from 
 Arab princes. Idolatry of the early tribes. 
 
 THE tribes inhabiting Arabia, and who are known 
 by the general name of Arabs, trace their descent 
 from Ishmael, the son of the venerable patriarch 
 Abraham. From the same parent in the line of 
 Isaac descended, the yet more wonderful people, 
 whose history is chiefly recorded in the Old Testa- 
 ment scriptures. The Israelites and the Arabs, 
 alike in many particulars, are thus nearly related 
 to each other. Every reader of the Bible will 
 remember the story of Hagar and her son. Sarai, 
 the wife of the patriarch, was barren ; and to pre- 
 vent his being childless, an evil which was then 
 considered the greatest that could occur, especially 
 to a man of wealth and power, Hagar, according 
 to the manners of the times, also becomes his wife. 
 From this marriage Ishmael sprung ; but such was 
 the envy and jealousy with which Hagar was re- 
 garded, that she was at length compelled to leave 
 the patriarch's house. The birth of Isaac, when 
 Ishmael was about fourteen years of age, led to 
 c2
 
 20 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 this event ; and probably the injuries Ishmael and 
 his mother had received from Sarah, had no small 
 influence in determining his future character. 
 God had said, concerning this son of Abraham, 
 "Behold, I have blessed him, and I will make 
 him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly ; 
 twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make 
 him a great nation ;" * a declaration which was 
 again and again repeated, t Accordingly, we find 
 in the earliest and most authentic records, that 
 Ishmael was the father of twelve princes, or heads 
 of tribes, named Nebajoth, Kedar, Abdeel, Mib- 
 sam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hada, Tema, 
 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. " These are the 
 sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by 
 their towns and by their castles, twelve princes 
 according to their nations." $ Where they respec- 
 tively settled, whether they continued separate for 
 any number of ages, and to what degree, it is im- 
 possible now to ascertain. The remotest history 
 of each of them, if it could be perused, would 
 doubtless illustrate the truth and fulfilment of the 
 divine prediction, " He will be a wild man, his 
 hand will be against every man, and every man's 
 hand against him ; and he shall dwell in the pre- 
 sence of all his brethren." It is, perhaps, no 
 matter of astonishment that this remote history is 
 lost in obscurity. Dwelling for many ages in a 
 rocky peninsula, having no intercourse with other 
 nations, and, from their frequent feuds and fac- 
 tions, having but little inclination and leisure to 
 cultivate the arts of the historian and the chro- 
 nicler, they produced no written documents from 
 
 * Gen. xvii. 20. f Gen. xxi. 13, 18. 
 
 f Gen. xxv. 1316. Gen. xvi, 12
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 21 
 
 whence it may be gathered. As to genealogies, 
 they were particular in retaining them, most 
 probably from a tradition they preserved of certain 
 inspired declarations describing their greatness and 
 prosperity, and from the necessity imposed by 
 their patriarchal government of tracing the most 
 direct descendants of their venerated progenitor. 
 Genealogical tables, however, can preserve only 
 isolated facts ; they assist in throwing light upon 
 the descent of particular men, but they leave 
 all that is important in the history of the tribe to 
 which those men belong, and in that of all kin- 
 dred tribes, in almost entire and impenetrable 
 darkness. 
 
 This is exactly what in the present case has 
 happened. Ignorant as we are of the early his- 
 tory of the Arabs, among them there is no ques- 
 tion as to their national descent. All early tra- 
 ditions concur in deducing their origin from Jok- 
 tan, or Kahtan. Two of his sons, perhaps the 
 Jerah and Hadoram mentioned by Moses * among 
 the thirteen planters of this division of the earth, 
 called by the Arabian genealogists Jorham and 
 Yarab, are said to have founded the two kingdoms 
 of Hejaz and Yemen. The posterity of Yarab, 
 from whom most probably the name Arabia was 
 derived, multiplied into innumerable clans. The 
 genealogical tables of Mr. Sale, than whom few 
 men have been more learned in Arabic lore, enu- 
 merate some three score tribes of pure Arabs, many 
 of whom, retaining even to this day their original 
 names, were celebrated long before the time of 
 the prophet, t His descent is traced to Jorham, 
 
 * Gen. x. 26, 27. 
 
 t Sale, Preliminary Discourse to his translation of the 
 Koran.
 
 22 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 whose family was of the class called the Most- 
 Arabi, or mixed and naturalized Arabians, the 
 dignity of their connexion with the prophet being 
 accounted sufficient to compensate for the want of 
 perfect purity in descent. Jorham reigned in He- 
 jaz, he was succeeded by Abd-Yalil, Jorsham, 
 Abdolmadan, Nogailah, Abdolmasih, Modad, Am- 
 ru, and Modad II., a daughter of whom is said to 
 have been married to Ishmael. The sacred his- 
 tory informs us that Hagar took for her son a wife 
 out of the land of Egypt, and probably she was 
 the mother of the twelve heads of tribes already 
 mentioned; but Mussulman historians make no 
 allusion to this alliance. Polygamy was common 
 in that early age, and in that country, so that 
 it is not improbable that Ishmael had more wives 
 than one. 
 
 The historian of the decline and fall of the 
 Roman Empire, affects to doubt the Ishmaelitish 
 origin of the Arab race. Their derivation howexer, 
 is too well established to be shaken by the scepti- 
 cism of a writer, w r ho thinks to invalidate scrip- 
 ture by surrounding its history with the air of fic- 
 tion. An isolated and independent nation like 
 the Arabs, can of course much more exactly 
 reckon their generations, and trace out their an- 
 cestry, than the inhabitants of countries frequently 
 subject to revolutions and conquest can do. Fables 
 may embellish, [anachronism may perplex, and 
 fiction multiply the story of their lineage; yet 
 that story is substantially correct. The sturdy 
 tree of the forest may be overgrown and concealed 
 by parasitical plants, whose leaves and flowers 
 make us fancy it only a frail garland of beauty; 
 but remove the parasites there is the oak. So
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 23 
 
 "whatever the fiction, the embellishments, or even 
 the difficulties which surround the lineage of 
 Arahian tribes : take these away, that lineage re- 
 mains ; the veracity of scripture, and the general 
 interests of history, are in no respects impaired. 
 
 The rite of circumcision practised by the Ara- 
 bians from time immemorial, furnishes no inconsi- 
 derable evidence on this subject. This rite, it is 
 well known, was instituted for Abraham and his 
 posterity. Its religious uses we have in this place 
 nothing to do with. The fact of its having been 
 uniformly[practised by the Arabians, and that with 
 some circumstances of remarkable difference from 
 the Jewish practiser of the same rite, is at present 
 our only point. 
 
 Josephus has a remarkable passage on the origin 
 of circumcision, both among Jews and Arabs; in 
 which, after mentioning the performance of the 
 rite upon the persons of Isaac and Ishmael, he 
 states as a matter of universal and immemorial 
 notoriety, that the Jews and the Arabians severally 
 practised the rite, conformably with the precedents 
 given them, in the persons of their respective 
 fathers. His words are these : " Now when 
 Sarah had completed her ninetieth, and Abraham 
 his hundredth year, a son (Isaac) is born unto them : 
 whom they forthwith circumcise on the eighth 
 day ; and from him the Jews derive their custom 
 of circumcising children after the same interval. 
 But the Arabians administer circumcision at the 
 close of the thirteenth year: for Ishmael the 
 founder of their nation, the son of Abraham by 
 his concubine, was circumcised at that time of 
 life."* Similar to this is the testimony of Origen, 
 
 * AnL Jud. 1. 1. c, JO, 5.
 
 24 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 who wrote in the third century of the Christian 
 era. " The natives of Judea," says he, " generally 
 circumcise their children on the eighth day ; but 
 the Ishmaelites who inhabit Arabia, universally 
 practise circumcision in the thirteenth year. For 
 this history tells us concerning them."* This 
 writer, like Josephus, lived near the spot, and had 
 the best opportunities of obtaining correct infor-^ 
 mation respecting the Arabians. So that it is 
 perfectly evident, that at this early period, theiij 
 derivation from Abraham through Ishmael, was an 
 admitted point of historical record. 
 
 To this origin, there are many references in later 
 inspired writers, and particularly in the prophets. 
 Through the long course of sacred history and pro-* 
 phecy, we meet with reiterated allusion to Arabian, 
 tribes, as bearing the names of the second sons of 
 Ishmael, among which those of Nebajoth and 
 Kedar usually predominate. Thus the prophet 
 Isaiah, in foretelling the future conversion of the 
 Gentiles, makes mention of " the rams of Neba- 
 joth," the eldest, and " all the flocks of Kedar," 
 the second, of the sons of Ishmael; that is, of the 
 Arab tribes descended from these brothers " f a pas- 
 sage which affords strong proof of their origin. 
 The same prophet, in another part of his predic- 
 tions, notices "the cities of the wilderness, the 
 villages that Kedar doth inhabit." And again, 
 when denouncing impending calamity upon the 
 land of Arabia, he foretells how " all the glory of 
 Kedar shall fail ;" the name of this single tribe 
 being employed as synonymous with that of the 
 entire peninsula. In this connexion the words of 
 
 * Orig. Op. torn, ii, p. 16., Ed. Bedred.
 
 LIFE Of MAHOMET* 25 
 
 the psalmist may be cited : " Wo is me that I 
 sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of 
 Kedar" which are supposed to have been written by 
 David, under the influence of inspiration, as the 
 complaint of the church, labouring and groaning, 
 as it has sometimes done, under the yoke of Ma- 
 hometan oppression. Jeremiah also mentions 
 Kedar, as "the wealthy nation that dwelleth 
 without care, which have neither gates nor bars, 
 which dwell alone." Ezekiel, moreover, prophe- 
 sies conjointly of " Arabia and all the princes of 
 Kedar" An allusion to Tema, the ninth son of 
 Ishmael, as the name of a warlike people of 
 Arabia, occurs as early as in the book of Job : 
 "The troops of Tema looked, the companies of 
 Sheba waited for them." And finally, the tribes 
 sprung from Jetur and Naphish, the tenth and 
 eleventh sons of Ishmael, are mentioned in the 
 first book of Chronicles, under the name of 
 HagarlteS) from Hagar, a tolerably plain indication 
 of their descent. 
 
 To these proofs moreover, we must add the ac- 
 knowledged coincidence between the national cha- 
 racter of the Arabians in every age,and that of their 
 alleged progenitor. They are a wild race, their 
 hand is against every man, and every man's hand 
 is against them. And to complete the evidence, 
 their own traditions already mentioned, have been 
 constant and unwavering ; and these are confirmed 
 by names of countries, and of distinguished indivi- 
 duals, than which there are few landmarks of his- 
 tory more universal, definite, and permanent. It 
 were as reasonable to question the derivation of 
 Hungary from the Huns, France from the Franks, 
 Turkey from the Turks, or Judea, from the Jews ;
 
 26 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 as to doubt whether the several districts of Arabia 
 be in truth denominated after the respective sons 
 of Ishmael.* 
 
 To gain for their favourite prophet the greater 
 celebrity, some writers have described him as 
 springing from a low origin, and as left in early 
 life very much without culture. Christian au- 
 thors for an opposite purpose have repeated these 
 statements. The former will be deemed little 
 worthy of credit, when the Arab chronicles are 
 known to make him the descendant in a direct 
 line of their patriarchal princes, the son of a 
 parent who swayed the sceptre. Still, however, 
 we are liable to some illusion, when from this 
 circumstance, we surround him with pomp, wealth, 
 and power. The Arab princes were not always 
 distinguished in these respects, that people having 
 retained far longer than any other, the simplest 
 form of patriarchal government ; so that their 
 chief man or ruler, might be at the same time 
 among the poorest of the tribe. And though it 
 may be granted, that to a very great degree Ma- 
 homet was destitute of the advantages of early mental 
 culture; it would admit of question, whether the cir- 
 cumstances of his early history together with a vigo- 
 rous and reflecting mind, like his, enlarged by travel 
 and observation of mankind, did not greatly tend to 
 supply this deficiency. Upon this' question, how- 
 ever, we will not at present enter. Although among 
 the ancient Arabians, the pure doctrines of the pa- 
 triarchal faith retained considerable power ; nay, 
 though perhaps these doctrines were never entirely 
 lost, idolatry and superstition speedily overspread 
 
 * See this subject fully discussed in Forster's learned work, 
 Mahometanism Unveiled.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 27 
 
 tlie land. Sabaism, the primitive error of those 
 who forsook the worship of the true God, was 
 almost universally practised. One of the funda- 
 mental doctrines of this system was the unity of 
 God ; still it permitted divine adoration to be paid 
 to the stars, or to devils, and to intelligences re- 
 siding in them, and governing the world under the 
 Supreme Deity. The disciples of this system 
 performed many superstitious practices, such as 
 finishing, just as the sun rose, eight adorations, 
 each containing three prostrations, five more 
 exactly at noon, and five at sunset. They offered 
 sacrifices, and went on pilgrimage to several 
 places, among which, according to Mahometan 
 writers, was the very spot still held as peculiarly 
 sacred, where the temple stands at Mecca, and 
 where Ishmael was laid by his mother to die. 
 This temple is said to have been originally conse- 
 crated to Saturn, one of the planetary deities of 
 the Ancient Arabians, another built in honour of 
 Venus, occupied the city of Sanaa, the metropolis 
 of Yemen. The Sun, Mercury, and several of the 
 constellations and single stars, "as Aldebaran and 
 Sirius, were objects of homage ; and idols repre- 
 senting these and other divinities, rec'eived reli- 
 gious adoration. Of these idols, the chief were, 
 All Lattah, All Uzzah, and Manah, female deities 
 mentioned in the Koran. The first had a temple 
 at Naklah, near Taif ; the second was adored by 
 the Koreish, and the third, by the tribes Hodhail 
 and Khozaiah. There are also five other idols 
 specified in the Koran, Wadd, Sawah, Yank, the 
 image of a horse, Narr, that of an eagle, and Tag- 
 huth, that of a lion, exceedingly popular in 
 Yemen. On the top of the Kaaba at Mecca, were
 
 28 LIFE or* MAHOMET. 
 
 placed images of Abraham and Ishmael; and 
 around them, three hundred and sixty inferior 
 deities swarmed, so that in this one city, the Arabs 
 could approach a fresh object of devotion every 
 day in the year. By some tribes, a lump of dough 
 was adored as a divinity ; and thus their idolatry 
 symbolized with that of Egypt, where the gods 
 were used at once for worship, and for food. The 
 images which crowded the Arabian pantheon, were 
 innumerable. Every head of a family, every 
 householder, had his tutelar deity, which received 
 when he went abroad his last adieus, and when 
 he returned home, his first salutations. Their 
 children were named after their favourite idols ; 
 they gloried in being reckoned the servants and 
 votaries of these deities ; and some tribes, as we 
 learn from Porphyry, Procopius, Evagrius, and 
 others, stained their orgies with human blood.* 
 
 In later ages, but long previously to Mahomet's 
 birth, many Jews sought an asylum in Arabia, 
 from the troubles afflicting their own country. 
 In Hejaz, they were sufficiently numerous to ven- 
 ture on hostile measures against a viceroy of one of 
 the kings of Yemen, on account of his cruelty. 
 When the monarch came to avenge this insult, the 
 persuasions of the Jews it is said, had such effect 
 upon him, that he not only relinquished the war, 
 but instantly abandoned the absurdities of idol 
 worship, and became a zealous convert to the 
 Mosaic ritual, a change of religion which led to con- 
 siderable commotions among his subjects. These 
 commotions are said to have been decided in 
 
 * Procopius Bell. Persii. lib. viii. c. 28. Evagrius lib. vi. 
 c. 21. See also Selden de Diis Syriis, and Hyde Hist, relis. 
 Vet. Pers. 129.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 29 
 
 favour of the Jewish rabbis, in the following 
 manner. In a cavern near his capital, was a sub- 
 terraneous fire, to which from time immemorial 
 the people had been accustomed to submit all 
 those nice points of difference which could not be 
 decided by ordinary methods to this in the pre- 
 sent case, the appeal was agreed to be carried. 
 The Jewish rabbis entered the cavern, with por- 
 tions of their holy writings suspended from their 
 necks, and returned untouched by the flames; 
 while the idols, and those by Avhom they were car- 
 ried in, were instantly consumed to ashes ; an 
 event which of course would be followed with the 
 acknowledgement of the supreme authority of the 
 law of Moses. Who is not aware that Jews can 
 invent fables, in support of the honour of their 
 faith ? 
 
 Christianity also obtainedafooting in several parts 
 of the Arabian peninsula, probably three or four 
 centuries before the birth of Mahomet. Whetherthe 
 apostle of the Gentiles, or any one of his coadju- 
 tors preached there, is uncertain. Some say that 
 Thomas preached in Arabia Felix; and others 
 think that the Christian faith was carried to that 
 country by merchants who had heard Paul during 
 his residence in the kingdom of Gassan, or in their 
 journeys to the fairs of Damascus and Bosra. How- 
 ever introduced, the seeds of truth were widely 
 scattered over these extensive regions, so much so, 
 that in the third century, Origen was invited over 
 from Alexandria by an Arabian prince, and so 
 successful were his- preaching and his labours, that 
 by him alone, a whole tribe are said to have been 
 converted.* The persecutions and disorders that 
 
 * Euseb. Hist. 1. iv. c. 19.
 
 30 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 speedily sprung up in the eastern church, obliged 
 great numbers to seek for shelter in Arabia, who 
 probably were deeply tinged with the errors preva- 
 lent in the regions they had abandoned. Many 
 embraced their faith ; and so widely did it threaten 
 to prevail, that at lengtb, as the only means of ar- 
 resting its progress, the advocates of Mosaic insti- 
 tutions, challenged the Christians.to a public dispu- 
 tation. This challenge was accepted, and for three 
 days, one Gregentius, bishop of Dhafar, on behalf 
 of the Christians, and one Herbanus on behalf of 
 the Jews, disputed in the open air before the king, 
 the nobility, and great numbers of the people. At 
 length, on the third day, it is said, that Herbanus 
 to end the dispute, demanded that Jesus should 
 appear from heaven in their sight, if he were, as 
 the Christians said he was, actually living, and 
 could hear the prayers of his worshippers : "shoAV 
 us your Christ," said the ^Jews " and we will be- 
 come Christians;" whereupon, after a terrible 
 storm of thunder and lightning, he appeared in 
 the air surrounded with rays of glory, walking 
 on a purple cloud, with a diadem of inestimable 
 value on his head, uttering to the astonished as- 
 sembly these words : " Behold I appear to you ii 
 in your sight, I, who was crucified by you 
 fathers ;" after which, he was seen no more. Th< 
 Christians cried out, Kyrie Eleeson, " Lord hav< 
 mercy;" the Jews were struck blind, in which con 
 dition they remained, till according to their owi 
 stipulation, they received Christianity and public!, 
 submitted to its rites. 
 
 This story, fabulous as unquestionably it i'> 
 shows that Christianity had attracted considerable 
 attention, and, as the event which it records hap-
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 31 
 
 pened before the birth of Mahomet, and near the 
 very centre of his earliest operations, it is per- 
 fectly conceivable that he was not unacquainted 
 with the story. Other events also show that 
 Christianity had, at that time, made considerable 
 progress in Arabia. There were bishops in seve- 
 ral places, and, most probably, flourishing churches 
 also, though doubtless they were overrun with 
 the erroneous doctrines and superstitious practices 
 which, even in purer regions, came to be engrafted 
 upon the simple and beautiful system of faith, in- 
 culcated by the Son of God. There were Ebion- 
 ites and Nazarenes, who denied the divinity of 
 Christ ; Nestorians, who taught that he not only 
 had two natures, but two persons, and Collyri- 
 dians, who paid divine honours, to the Virgin 
 Mary. The Millenarian, the Manicheean, and 
 the Arian heresies; Eutychians, Gnostics, Mon- 
 tanists, Marcianites, Sabellians, Valentinians, and 
 a host of inferior sects, propagated their respective 
 errors, and contributed to the general corruption. 
 Political liberty and independence are sure, 
 moreover, to encourage freedom of thought : 
 hence various sects were likely to obtain among 
 the Arabs, who had never submitted either to 
 Judaism or Christianity. Zendicism, a system not 
 very unlike the Sadducee heresy among the Jews, 
 or Deism among ourselves, prevailed chiefly among 
 the Koreish, a sect by no means free from idola- 
 try, but yet setting up for reformers of religion, 
 as well as of language. The Zendicists wor- 
 shipped but one God they abjured idols;* yet 
 
 * Reland. de Relig. Moham. p. 270; Mill, de Moliam. ante 
 Moham. p. 311.
 
 32 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 they did not embrace either of the other forms of 
 religious faith prevalent in their country. 
 
 If then it be found, as undoubtedly it will be, 
 that the doctrines inculcated and the precepts 
 urged by the founder of the Moslem faith, sym- 
 bolize to a considerable degree, both with Juda- 
 ism and Christianity, we are not surprised. This 
 fact, which has occasionally startled less attentive 
 observers, ceases to be wonderful when the reli- 
 gious circumstances of Mahomet's early life are 
 considered. 
 
 It seems proper to observe in this place fur- 
 ther, that of the arts and accomplishments, on 
 account of which the Arabs mostly prided them- 
 selves, eloquence and a perfect skill in their own 
 language was one of the principal. Their fond- 
 ness for poetry and oratory was excessive. " Fine 
 sentiments," they said, " delivered in prose, were 
 like gems scattered at random, but when confined 
 in poetical measure, they resembled bracelets and 
 strings of pearls." The book of Job in the Old 
 Testament, is probably the most ancient specimen 
 of their art in this department. They paid the 
 greatest attention to its cultivation. Assemblies 
 were held in various districts, where rival poets 
 and orators disputed the palm, like the rival com- 
 batants in the Grecian games ; and once a-year a 
 general assembly was held at Ocadb,* which 
 lasted for a month, during which time poetical 
 compositions were repeated, and those Avhich were 
 judged to excel were laid up among the royal trea- 
 sures, with seven celebrated poems, called Al 
 Modhahebat, or golden, either from their having 
 
 * Poc. Spec. 159.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. f 33 
 
 had the honour of being hung up by public or- 
 der in the Kaaba, or from their being written 
 on Egyptian silk, in letters of gold. 
 
 The language of the pure Arabs, or of the Ko- 
 reish, is exceedingly copious, flexible, and ex- 
 pressive, so that it admirably adapts itself to such 
 exhibitions. Their periods were full, their ex- 
 pressions elegant, their imagery was chaste and 
 striking, and their proverbial sayings were exceed- 
 ingly acute. So proud were they of excelling in 
 these arts, that they hardly allowed to any other 
 people an understanding of how to speak in pub- 
 lic. The Persians were next to themselves, but 
 greatly inferior. The Koran is written in the 
 Koreish, or classical dialect of the Moslems; but 
 whether this be at all surprising, or calculated to 
 support the pretensions of the prophet to direct 
 intercourse with the Deity, when he belonged to 
 that tribe, and, of course, eagerly cultivated its 
 distinguishing peculiarities, we can be at no loss 
 to determine. This subject, however, will have 
 to be again adverted to. At present, it will be 
 sufficient to remark, that, copious as the language 
 was, its nomenclature was confided, in great mea- 
 sure, to the tablet of memory : its preservation is 
 chiefly owing to the extemporaneous eloquence of 
 an acute, though illiterate people. With all its 
 force and beauty, of which we have no manner of 
 doubt ; with its remarkable delicacy, its bold and 
 energetic sublimity, adapted equally to the simple 
 pathos of love, the piquancy of satire, and the 
 loftiest efforts of popular oratory, it is a singular 
 fact, that its highest elegance and purity were ac- 
 quired under the tents of wandering shepherds, 
 and by individuals in common life, not at all re-
 
 34 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 markable for grammatical skill, and laying no 
 claim to divine inspiration. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Adnan. The Kaaba, or Temple at Mecca. Birth of Maho- 
 met. The Koreish. Mahomet s most celebrated predecessors. 
 The prophetic lustre. Prodigies in connexion with Maho- 
 met's birth and infancy. Death of his parents. He is com- 
 mitted by his grandfather to Abu Taleb, his 'uncle. Boheira 
 or Sergius. How Mahomet was employed up to his twenty- 
 fifth year. His marriage with Kadijah. Account of the ma- 
 hometan Pilgrimage. 
 
 IT has been remarked in the former chapter, 
 that the Arab chroniclers trace the descent of their 
 prophet in a direct line from their patriarchal 
 princes, of whom Ishmael is regarded as one of 
 the chief. Who succeeded this son of the faithful 
 patriarch for a few generations some say forty, 
 others ten, and others a smaller number there 
 are now no accounts, till we come to Adnan, who 
 is considered to have lived at about 122 years be- 
 fore the Christian era. The story of Arabian 
 writers is, that Abraham, by divine command, 
 built a temple at Mecca, on the spot where his 
 son's life was preserved when apparently perish- 
 ing with thirst, and that Ishmael was constituted 
 the first high priest of this temple. 
 
 As this sacred edifice will have to be frequently 
 mentioned in the following pages, it may be ne- 
 cessary to give a brief account of it.* It was an- 
 
 * We are of course compelled, in this description, to take the 
 accounts of the modern temple at Mecca. It is not greatly 
 different, however, from the ancient structure.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 35 
 
 ciently called the Kaaba; and, centuries before 
 Mahomet was horn, while the Arabs were yet 
 Pagans, this building was held to possess a pe- 
 culiar sanctity : pilgrimages were made to it from 
 distant regions ; and that tribe or family was ac- 
 counted the most honourable, who were the keep- 
 ers of its keys. It is an oblong, massive structure, 
 built of large blocks of different sized stones, 
 joined rudely together, and is about eighteen paces 
 in length, fourteen in breadth, and from thirty- 
 five to forty feet in height. It has but one door, 
 on the north side, seven feet above the ground, 
 wholly plated with silver, and embellished with 
 gilt ornaments. From the door's being placed, 
 not in the centre, but near to one corner of the 
 building, it appears not to have been originally 
 designed for a sacred use; but at what time, or 
 for what reasons, it became thus appropriated, it 
 is not possible now to determine. Near the door, 
 in the angle of the wall of the north-east corner of 
 the Kaaba, about seven spans from the ground, is 
 the celebrated " black stone," so devoutly kissed 
 by every pilgrim visiting the sacred city. It is of 
 an oval shape, about seven inches in diameter, 
 composed of about seven small stones, of different 
 sizes and shapes, well joined together with ce- 
 ment, and perfectly smooth ; appearing as if the 
 original stone had been broken into many pieces 
 by a violent blow, and then united again, which 
 indeed is reported to have been the fact. A bor- 
 der of some kind of cement, rising a little above 
 the surface of the stone, surrounds it, and both 
 this and the stone are encircled by a silver band. 
 
 According to the fabulous legends of the Mus- 
 sulmans, the " black stone" was brought down 
 
 D2
 
 36 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 from heaven by Gabriel, at the creation of the 
 world; it was then of a pure white, but it has 
 contracted its present sable hue from the guilt of 
 the sins committed by the sons of men. If a con- 
 jecture, however, may be hazarded, we should 
 not hesitate to refer its origin to that peculiar trait 
 in the character of the Ishmaelites, which has ever 
 led them to imitate the Israelites. Scarcely a fea- 
 ture in the religious institutions, usages, or tradi- 
 tions of the Jews, but has its counterpart in those 
 of the seed of Hagar. Jacob's pillar of stone, at 
 Bethel, would of course become celebrated among 
 his descendants. In like manner, from causes 
 now unknown, we may imagine this stone to have 
 received a similar sanctity among the Arabs. This 
 is rendered more probable from the circumstance, 
 that one of the names given to the Kaaba, in the 
 Arabic language, is Beit-Allah, house of God ; a 
 word of the same import and similar sound with 
 Beth-el, from which the Greek term Baitulia was 
 frequently applied to sacred stones or memorial 
 pillars, like that of Jacob. 
 
 The double roof of the Kaaba is supported 
 within by three octangular pillars of aloes- wood, 
 between which, on a bar of iron, hang a number 
 of silver lamps. The four sides without are co- 
 vered with a rich black silk stuff hanging down to 
 the ground, and encircled near the top with an 
 embroidered band of gold, which compasses the 
 whole building. This covering, which is renewed 
 every year, was formerly supplied by the Caliphs, 
 afterward by the Sultans of Egypt ; but is now sent 
 from Cairo, at the expense of the Grand Seignior, 
 at the time of the Hadj, or pilgrimage, ,when the 
 old one is cut into small pieces, and sold to the pil-
 
 LITE OF MAHOMET. . 37 
 
 grims for nearly as much money as the new one 
 costs. This curtain or veil, called Kesoua, is bla- 
 zoned all over with the words, " There is no God 
 but God, and Mahomet is his prophet," in gold 
 letters of great size ; and such a sacredness at- 
 taches to it, that the camel which transports it to 
 Mecca is ever after exempted from labour. This 
 circumstance of the Kaaba being covered in the 
 manner described, suggests the probability, that 
 the structure was intended as a rude imitation of 
 the Jewish tabernacle, which was also enveloped 
 in embroidered curtains without, while within was 
 a golden candlestick, with seven branches, kept 
 constantly burning. 
 
 The Kaaba, at a slight distance, is surrounded 
 with a circular inclosure of thirty-two slender gilt 
 pillars, between every two of which are suspended 
 seven lamps, upon small bars of silver, connecting 
 the pillars towards the top. These lamps are 
 always lighted after sunset. This sacred paling 
 reminds us again of the tabernacle ; the court of 
 which, though of an oblong instead of a circular 
 form, was constructed of pillars, and hung with 
 curtains, with only a single place of entrance. 
 Within this inclosure of the Kaaba, and almost 
 contiguous to its base, lies the " white stone," said 
 to be the sepulchre of Ishmael, which receives 
 the rain-water falling off the flat roof of the 
 edifice through a spout, formerly of wood, but 
 now of gold. According to the account of Burck- 
 hardt, the effect of the whole scene, the mys- 
 terious drapery, the profusion of gold and silver, 
 the blaze of lamps, and the kneeling multitudes, 
 surpasses any thing the imagination could have 
 pictured.
 
 38 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 At a small distance from the Kaaba, on the 
 east side, is the station or place of Abraham, 
 Tvhom the Arabs affirm to have been the builder 
 of the temple, where there is another stone much 
 respected by the Moslems, as they pretend that 
 the patriarch stood upon it while employed about 
 the building, and profess to show the prints of 
 his footsteps to this day. Just without the cir- 
 cular court, on its south, north, and west sides, 
 are three buildings designed as oratories, or places 
 of prayer, where the pilgrim worshippers perform 
 their devotions. Besides these, there are several 
 small buildings near to the main structure, in one 
 of which is the famous well of Zemzem, said by 
 the Mussulmans to be the very spring which the 
 angel discovered to Hagar in the wilderness, and 
 whose waters of course possess the most miracu- 
 lous virtues. They cure all diseases, both of body 
 and spirit, and supply the whole town for drinking 
 and oblation. It is said to be the only sweet 
 water in the whole valley ; but Pitts, an English 
 traveller, found it brackish, and says, the pilgrims 
 drink it so inordinately, that " they are not only 
 much purged, but their flesh breaks out all in 
 pimples ; and this they called the purging of their 
 spiritual corruption." They not only drink, but 
 have buckets of water poured over them, and then 
 think their sins are washed into the well. One 
 of the miracles of Mecca is, that the water of 
 this well never diminishes ; but this is not sur- 
 prising to the true believers, who regard it as 
 Staying been miraculously created to save the in- 
 fant Ishmael when dying of thirst in the wilder- 
 ness. Burckhardt, however, explains it without 
 a miracle, by supposing that the water flows
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 39 
 
 through the bottom, being supplied by a subter- 
 raneous rivulet. The water, he says, is perfectly 
 sweet, but heavy to the taste, slightly tepid, and 
 sometimes in its colour resembles milk. The pil- 
 grims frequently destroy the ropes, buckets, and 
 other appendages of the well in their eagerness 
 to quaff its holy water. 
 
 Surrounding all the objects now described, 
 which occupy the centre of an open space, is the 
 square colonnade or grand piazza, consisting of a 
 quadruple row of columns on one side, and a tri- 
 ple row on the other three sides, united by pointed 
 or Gothic arches, every four of which support a 
 dome, plastered white the number of these domes 
 amounting to one hundred and fifty-two, and the 
 pillars to four hundred and forty-eight. From 
 the arches of these colonnades are suspended 
 lamps> some of which are lighted every night, 
 and the whole of them during the nights of the 
 Ramadan. The columns are upwards of twenty 
 feet high, and somewhat more than a foot and a 
 half in diameter ; some are of a reddish-grey gra- 
 nite, some of red porphyry, and others of white 
 marble. No two capitals or bases are exactly 
 alike ; in some cases, by the ignorance of the 
 workmen, the former have been placed upside 
 down on the shafts. The arches, and some parts 
 of the walls are gaudily painted in stripes of yel- 
 low, red, and blue, colours peculiar to Mahome- 
 tanism. At each of the four corners of this im- 
 mense quadrangular court, towering above the 
 pillared domes, rises a lofty minaret, surmounted 
 with a gilded crescent, the invariable accompa- 
 niment of the Moslem temple. 
 
 " The high antiquity of the Kaaba," says Mr.
 
 40 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 Forster,* "is undisputed. The permanent cha- 
 racter of its rites is certified by our knowledge of 
 the adherence of the Arabs, in every age, to their 
 ancient customs. But, from the uniform consent 
 of Mahometan writers, ' it farther appears that the 
 statues of Abraham and Ishmael, which from re- 
 mote antiquity had held a conspicuous place in 
 the Kaaba, and constituted the principal object of 
 its idol worship, remained to the time of Ma- 
 homet, and were there found by the Mussulmans 
 after the capture of Mecca. Mahomet, Abulfeda 
 tells us, when he took Mecca in the eighth year of 
 the Hejira, found and destroyed in the Kaaba, on 
 his entering the temple, the image of Abraham 
 holding in his hand seven arrows without heads or 
 feathers, such as the Arabs use in divination, and 
 surrounded with a great number of angels and 
 prophets, as inferior deities, among whom, as Al 
 Janabi and other writers add, was Ishmael with 
 divining arrows also in his hand. 
 
 Various external signs, betokening its patri- 
 archal origin, may be traced in the Anti-Maho- 
 metan worship of the Kaaba. Among these, one 
 custom is sufficiently remarkable to claim distinct 
 notice in this place, inasmuch as it has been al- 
 luded to and censured in the Koran, t The pagan 
 Arabs were used to compass the Kaaba naked, 
 because clothes, they said, were the signs of their 
 disobedience to God. The celebrated black stone 
 of the Kaaba also, the primitive source and object 
 of Arabian idolatry, strongly indicates the origin 
 to which it has been uniformly referred. The 
 Arabs attribute its introduction into the tem- 
 
 * Maliom. Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 404. 
 t Chap. vii.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 41 
 
 pie of Mecca to the immediate posterity of Ish- 
 mael. The peculiar kind of superstition is just 
 what might be expected to arise from the abuse of 
 an early patriarchal custom that of setting up 
 stones on particular spots in honour of the true 
 God.* 
 
 It is said that at the solemn assemblies at this 
 temple Ishmael continued to preach and offer in- 
 structions for half a century to incredulous Arabs ; 
 and that he died at the age of one hundred and 
 thirty-seven, just forty-eight years after the death 
 of Abraham. Twenty-seven centuries afterwards, 
 they say, Mahomet was born; or as near as 
 can be ascertained, in the 570th year of the 
 Christian era. His place of birth was Mecca, and 
 his pedigree is traced to the second son of Ish- 
 mael, who, by some means had obtained the ho- 
 nour which more properly belonged to his elder 
 brother. The Jorhamites seized and enjoyed, for 
 three centuries, the sovereignty in the sacred city 
 and temple ; but having greatly corrupted the true 
 worship, they were at length assailed by the scimi- 
 tars of the legitimate successors of Ishmael, and 
 by the judgments of heaven, so as to have been 
 finally destroyed ; but not before they had com- 
 mitted great indignities against the hallowed spot. 
 The well Zemzem they .filled up by throwing into 
 it the treasures and sacred utensils of the temple ; 
 the black stone encased in the walls of the build- 
 ing on which Abraham had stood to offer his sup- 
 plications ; the image of the ram, substituted ac- 
 cording to sacred story, for Isaac, on Mount Mo- 
 riah ; and various other articles, at once the pro- 
 
 * See a description of the pilgrimage to Mecca, at the end 
 of this chapter.
 
 42 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 ductions and the objects of superstitious devotion. 
 The descendants of Ishmael for many centuries 
 retained the power they had regained ; but who 
 they were, and what the circumstances of their 
 reigns respectively, cannot be recovered. The 
 tenth of Adnan's successors, who, allowing three 
 and thirty years to each, as the average duration 
 of their supremacy, may be supposed to have 
 swayed the sceptre about A.D. 208, was surnamed 
 Koreish the Courageous, on account of his bold- 
 ness in defending the temple from the daring in- 
 sults of infidel tribes. In its services, probably 
 some traces of patriarchal worship remained, and 
 hence the epithet Koreish came to distinguish a 
 tribe especially zealous for the purity of the 
 Arab faith, and the honour of the sacred edifice. 
 It was used as a proud distinction of all who 
 thenceforward occupied the seat of supreme dig- 
 nity in the city of Mecca. Of these there were 
 ten, the last being the father of Mahomet. Their 
 names were Galeb, Lowa, Caab, Morra, Kelab, 
 Kosa, Abdolmenaf, Hashem, Abdol Motalleb, and 
 Abdallah. Hashem is said to have surpassed all 
 his predecessors in grandeur and magnificence. 
 He was of unbounded wealth, and equal gene- 
 rosity, keeping a well-stored table, to which, 
 whether in times of plenty or scarcity, all were 
 equally welcome. His caravans were sent annually 
 to Syria and Yemen to procure provisions, which 
 were distributed with so lavish a bounty as to 
 place the poor on an equal footing with their 
 richer neighbours. The emperor of Rome is said 
 to have sought alliance with him by offering him 
 his daughter in marriage ; which, however, the 
 haughty Arab refused, alleging that the pure
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 43 
 
 blood of the Koreish, the servants and apostles of 
 God, ought not to be mingled with that of the 
 heathen. His son, Abdol Motalleb was equally 
 generous, carrying his profuse bounty to the ex- 
 travagant pitch of spreading on the tops of the 
 mountains food for beasts and birds. Hospitality, 
 it must be remembered, always ranked in the 
 estimation of Arabs, among the greatest virtues. 
 He is said to have found and restored the lost 
 treasures and sacred utensils of the Kaaba, the 
 gold of which, however, he melted down to gild 
 the walls of the sacred edifice. Abdallah, the 
 father of Mahomet, was a younger son of Abdol 
 Motalleb, from whom, on that account, the pro- 
 phet would probably have inherited no particular 
 dignity, neither Abdallah nor Mahomet seems to 
 have affected civil rule, this belonged to an elder 
 son of Abdol Motalleb. From Hashem, already 
 mentioned, the appellation of Hashemites is be- 
 stowed upon the kindred of the prophet ; and even 
 to this day, the chief magistrate, both at Mecca 
 and Medina, who must always be of the race of 
 Mahomet, is invariably styled " the Prince of the 
 Hashemites." The name of Mahomet's mother 
 was Amina, whose parentage was traceable also 
 to a distinguished family of the same tribe. Her 
 lot was envied in gaining the hand of the son of 
 Abdol Motalleb, as the surpassing beauty of his 
 person is said to have ravished the hearts of a 
 hundred maidens of Arabia, who were left, by his 
 choice of Amina, to sigh over the wreck of their 
 fondest hopes. 
 
 Abdallah, though the son of a rich and princely 
 father, was possessed of but little wealth ; and as 
 he died while his son w r as an infant, or, as some
 
 44 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 say, before he was born, it is probable that that 
 little was seized with the characteristic rapacity of 
 the Arabs, and shared among his twelve surviving 
 brothers, the powerful uncles of Mahomet. 
 
 According to a tradition universally received 
 among Mahometans, all the lineal ancestors of 
 their prophet were distinguished from collateral 
 tribes by an extraordinary prophetic light resting 
 upon them. This miraculous lustre, they say, was 
 first placed upon Adam, after his repentance, and 
 from him it descended to Seth, Noah, Shem, &c. 
 distinguishing every true prophet. The hallowed 
 radiance at length rested upon the head of Abra- 
 ham, from whom it was divided into a two-fold 
 emanation, the greater or clearer descending upon 
 Isaac and his seed, the less or obscurer to Ishmael 
 and his posterity. The light in the family of Isaac 
 is represented as having been perpetuated in a 
 constant glow through a long line of inspired 
 messengers and prophets, among the children of 
 Israel. All the progenitors of Mahomet bore this 
 celestial imprint, faint or splendid, according to 
 their respective faith and virtues. It did not, 
 however, always follow the rule of primogeniture ; 
 and, as it distinguished all the progenitors of the 
 prophet, it is pretty evident that it was no very 
 trusty index of personal excellence. Many of 
 them, according to whatever rule they are esti- 
 mated, were individuals of exceedingly question- 
 able character. 
 
 To render Mahomet equally marvellous with 
 Moses, the prophet of the Jewish faith, or with 
 Christ, the founder of the Christian, Arabian 
 writers have reported a tissue of astonishing pro- 
 digies, said to have occurred in connexion with
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 45 
 
 his birth. If the reader will receive their state- 
 ments with the same implicit faith with which they 
 are delivered, he must acknowledge, that at the 
 moment when the favoured infant was ushered 
 into the world, a flood of light burst forth with 
 him and illuminated every part of Syria ; that the 
 waters of the lake Sawa were entirely dried up, 
 so that a city was built upon its bottom ; that an 
 earthquake threw down fourteen towers of the 
 king of Persia's palace ; that the sacred fire of 
 the Persians was extinguished, and all the evil 
 spirits which had inhabited the moon and stars 
 were expelled together from their celestial abodes, 
 nor could they ever after animate idols or deliver 
 oracles on earth. The child, also, if we may trust 
 to the same authorities, discovered the most won- 
 derful presages. He was no sooner born than he 
 fell prostrate, in a posture of humble adoration, 
 praying devoutly to his Creator, and saying, " God 
 is great ! there is no God but God, and I am his 
 prophet !" By these and many other supernatural 
 signs, equally astounding, is the prophet's nati- 
 vity said to have been marked. To some of them 
 it would indeed appear that the earlier Christians 
 gave an honest credence; with this difference, 
 however, between their belief and that of the 
 Mahometans, that while the latter ascribed them, 
 without hesitation, to the hand of God, giving in 
 this manner a gracious attestation to the prophe- 
 tic character of his servant, the former referred 
 them directly to the agency of the devil, who might 
 naturally be supposed, they thought, to work some 
 special wonders on the present occasion. Upon 
 the narrative of these miraculous phenomena the 
 reader will form his own judgment. They are
 
 46 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 mentioned, in the absence of all authentic infor- 
 mation, touching the period and the event in ques- 
 tion. Until the facts alleged are proved, by com- 
 petent historical testimony, to have taken place, 
 it is scarcely necessary to call in the aid of divine 
 or diabolical agency to account for them ; as it is 
 much easier to imagine that an imposition or illu- 
 sion may have been practised upon the first re- 
 porters, or that the whole catalogue of wonders is 
 a mere fabrication of interested partisans, than 
 that the ordinary course of nature should have been 
 disturbed at this crisis. 
 
 The Arabic biographers of the prophet, more- 
 over, inform us that Abdol Motalleb, his grand- 
 father, the seventh day after the birth of the 
 child, gave a great entertainment, to which he 
 invited the principal men of the Koreish, who, 
 after the repast was over, desired him to give the 
 infant a name. Abdol Motalleb immediately re- 
 plied "I name this child Mohammed."* The 
 Koreish grandees at once expressed their surprise 
 that he did not call his grandson, according to 
 custom, by a na'me which had belonged to some 
 one of the family. But he persisted in the selec- 
 tion he had made, saying, " May the Most High 
 glorify in Heaven him whom he has created on 
 earth!" alluding to the name Mohammed,* which 
 signifies praised or glorified. 
 
 Within a short time after the death of Abdal- 
 lah, the father of Mahomet, his mother . also 
 
 * Mohammed, the past participle of the verb Hamad, signi- 
 fying " praised," or most glorious. There is little doubt that 
 this is the true orthography of the name, but throughout 
 this work we have used Mahomet, as somewhat more accus- 
 tomed to our English ears.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 47 
 
 died, so that he was cast a helpless orphan upon 
 the kindness of his relations. He was taken into 
 the house and family of his grandfather, under 
 whose guardian care, however, he remained hut 
 two years, when the venerable Motalleh himself 
 was also called to pay the debt of nature. In a 
 dying charge, he confided this tender plant of the 
 ancient stock of the Koreish to the faithful hands 
 of Abu Taleb, the eldest of his sons and the suc- 
 cessor of his authority. " My dearest, best be- 
 loved son" thus history or tradition reports the 
 tenor of his instructions " to thy charge I leave 
 Mahomet, the son of thine own brother, strictly 
 recommended, whose natural father the Lord hath 
 been pleased to take to himself, with the intent 
 that this dear child should become ours by adop- 
 tion : and much dearer ought he to be unto us 
 than merely an adopted son. Receive him, there- 
 fore, at my dying hands, with the same sincere 
 love and tender bowels with which I deliver him 
 to thy care. Honour, love, and cherish him as 
 much, or even more than if he had sprung from 
 thine own loins ; for all the honour thou showest 
 unto him shall be trebled unto thee. Be more 
 than ordinarily careful in thy treatment towards 
 him, for it will be repaid thee with interest. Give 
 him the preference before thine own children, for 
 he exceedeth them and all mankind in excellency 
 and perfection. Take notice, that whensoever he 
 calleth upon thee, thou answer him not as an in- 
 fant, as his tender age may require, but as thou 
 wouldst reply to the most aged and venerable per- 
 son when he asketh thee any question. Sit not 
 down to thy repasts of any sort soever, either alone 
 or in company, till thy worthy nephew Mahomet
 
 48 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 is seated at the table before thee ; neither do thou 
 ever offer to taste of any kind of viands, or even 
 to stretch forth thine hand towards the same, 
 until he hath tasted thereof. If thou observest 
 these my injunctions, thy goods shall always in- 
 crease, and in nowise be diminished."* 
 
 Whether Abu Taleb recognised in the deposit 
 thus solemnly committed to his trust an object of 
 such high destiny and such profound veneration as 
 his father's language would imply, we are not in- 
 formed ; but there is good evidence that he acted 
 towards his nephew the part of a kind friend and 
 protector, giving him an education, scanty indeed, 
 but equal to that usually received by his country- 
 men. 
 
 Of the infancy, childhood, and youth of the fu- 
 ture prophet no authentic details have reached us. 
 The blank has indeed been copiously supplied by 
 the fabulous legends of his votaries, but as they 
 are utterly void of authority, they will not repay 
 the trouble of transcribing. Being destined by 
 his uncle to the profession of a merchant, he was 
 taken, as some affirm, at the age of thirteen, 
 into Syria, with Abu Taleb's trading caravan, in 
 order to his being perfected in the business of 
 his intended vocation. Upon the simple circum- 
 stance of this journey, the superstition of his fol- 
 lowers has grafted a series of miraculous omens, 
 all portending his future greatness. Among other 
 things, it is said, that upon his arriving at Boz- 
 rah, a certain man named Boheira, a Nestorian 
 monk, who is thought by Prideaux to be other- 
 
 * Morgan's Mahom. Explained, vol. i. p. 50.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 49 
 
 wise called Sergius, advanced through the crowd 
 collected in the market-place, and, seizing him 
 by the hand, exclaimed, " There will be something 
 wonderful in this boy ; for when he approached 
 he appeared covered with a cloud." He is said to 
 have affirmed also that the dry trees under which 
 he sat were everywhere instantly covered with 
 green leaves, which served him for a shade ; and 
 that the mystic seal of prophecy was impressed be- 
 tween his shoulders, in the form of a small lu- 
 minous excrescence. According to others, instead 
 of a bright cloud being the criterion by which 
 his subsequent divine mission was indicated, the 
 mark by which Boheira knew him was the pro- 
 phetic light which shone upon his face. 
 
 When Abu Taleb was about to return with his 
 caravan to Mecca, Boheira, it is said, again repeated 
 his solemn premonition, coupled with a charge, 
 respecting the extraordinary youth. " Depart 
 with this child, and take great care that he does 
 not fall into the hands of the Jews ; for your 
 nephew will one day become a very wonderful 
 person." 
 
 This Boheira is the individual who, according 
 to some writers, instructed Mahomet in the histo- 
 ries and doctrines of the Bible, and also in those 
 corrupted forms of Christian truth and practice 
 then prevailing among the Syrian monks. They 
 go indeed so far, as to intimate, that between the 
 artful monk and his pupil, a concerted plan was 
 formed for creating a new religion, a motley com- 
 pound of Judaism and Christianity, which was not 
 to be brought to light for some twenty years ; 
 when accordingly it came, out in some of the ear- 
 liest chapters of the Koran. They attribute the
 
 50 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 production of this work rather to the monk than 
 to Mahomet. 
 
 It is scarcely probable however, that a youth of 
 only thirteen years, should have been a party in 
 so vast, and as to a virtuous mind, it must have 
 seemed so wicked a design. H e might have been 
 of a contemplative, studious, and superstitious turn; 
 the discourses of Sergius might have arrested his 
 attention, and produced a considerable effect upon 
 his subsequent inquiries and meditations ; they 
 might have suggested the ideas, which afterwards 
 ripened into the form they take in that celebrated 
 work; and possibly he might afterwards be assisted 
 by instructions from the more artful and designing 
 monk, or from some brother of a similar character, 
 perhaps this can never be ascertained ; it is per- 
 fectly incredible, that at so early a period of life, a 
 dependent youth could have conceived, or enter- 
 tained when it was suggested to him, a project so 
 magnificent, and withal so perilous. 
 
 The intervening period of Mahomet's life, up to 
 his twenty-fifth year, is wrapped in impenetrable 
 obscurity. Some writers have made him a soldier, 
 and some have described him as engaged in hunt- 
 ing, and in the manly pastimes of the field, while a 
 few have carried him through various voyages and 
 travels all over the east. It is not improbable, 
 that in the first of these capacities, he did ren- 
 der considerable service to his uncle, who, in com- 
 mon with all Arab princes, held an envied and 
 precarious dignity. The Kenan and Hawazan 
 tribes, were rivals to the Koreish; and the state- 
 ments of some writers, that Abu Taleb em- 
 ployed the talents and courage of his nephew 
 against these tribes, is at least not incredible;
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 5 
 
 though, as they are not authenticated by well in- 
 formed Arab writers, we are not inclined to re- 
 peat them. In after life Mahomet discovered a 
 skill and prowess which would seem to require, 
 that at some period in his early history, he should 
 have been in a situation to gain the rudiments of 
 military knowledge. 
 
 Chiefly employed in mercantile pursuits, as he 
 advanced in years, there is reason to believe 
 that his personal endowments, which were doubt- 
 less of a superior order, together with strong native 
 powers of intellect, an acute observation, a ready 
 wit, and pleasing address, combined,to render him 
 both popular and prominent among his associates. 
 Such, at least, is the concurrent testimony of all his 
 biographers, and we have no means of invalidating 
 their statements. It is, however, natural to sup- 
 pose, that a strong colouring would be put upon 
 every superior quality of a pretended messenger of 
 God, sent to restore the true religion to the world ; 
 and that he, who was by character a prophet, should 
 be represented by his adherents as a paragon of all 
 external perfections. About this period, by the as- 
 sistance of his uncle, he was entered into the service 
 of a rich trading widow of his native city, who had 
 been twice married, and whose name was Kadijah. 
 In the capacity of factor or agent to this his wealthy 
 employer, he took a second journey of three years 
 iato Damascus and the neighbouring regions of 
 Syria, in which he devoted himself 'so assiduously 
 to the interests of Kadijah, and managed the trust 
 committed to him so entirely to her satisfaction, 
 that upon his return, she rewarded his fidelity with 
 the gift of her hand and her fortune. It may be 
 E 2
 
 52 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 imagined, that in entering into this alliance, she 
 was probably influenced by the family connexions 
 and the personal attractions of her suitor. But 
 whatever were her motives, the union subsequently 
 appears to have been one of genuine affection on 
 both sides ; Mahomet never forgot the favours he 
 had received from his benefactress, and never made 
 her repent of having placed her person and her 
 fortune at his absolute disposal. Although Kadi- 
 jab, at the time of her marriage, was forty, and 
 Mahomet not more than twenty-eight, yet till the 
 age of sixty-four, when she died, she enjoyed the 
 undivided affection of her husband ; and that too 
 in a country where polygamy was allowed, and 
 very frequently practised. By her he had eight 
 children, of whom Fatima alone, his eldest daugh- 
 ter, survived him. And such was the prophet's 
 respect to the memory of his wife, that after her 
 death he placed her in the rank of the four per- 
 fect women. 
 
 The nuptials of the prophet and his bride, were 
 celebrated with great festivity, mirth, music, and 
 dancing. Heaven, it is said, was filled with un- 
 wonted joy, and the whole earth was intoxicated 
 with delight. Arab writers would have us believe, 
 that a voice from the skies pronounced the union 
 happy; that the boys and girls of Paradise were 
 led out on the joyous occasion in their bridal robes ; 
 that the hills and valleys capered for gladness at the 
 sounds of unearthly music; and that fragrance was 
 breathed through all nature. The uncle of Maho- 
 met, who had been the means of introducing him 
 to Kadijah, and the chief men of the Koreish were 
 present at the festival. Abu Taleb paid the dowry
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 53 
 
 in twenty ounces of gold, or, as some say, in 
 twenty camels; and doubtless the union was re- 
 garded by all parties, as exceedingly happy. 
 
 It is said indeed, that the father of the bride was 
 unwilling that his wealthy daughter should fall 
 into the hands of a commercial agent, a driver of 
 camels, and a menial servant of her own. There 
 can however, be no reason for such an unwillingness. 
 Mahomet, it must be remembered, was the repre- 
 sentative of the most distinguished family, of the 
 most renowned of all the Arab tribes. He was 
 the grandson of the prince of Kadijah's father, 
 young, handsome, and affectionate. His occupa- 
 tion was no dishonour. The noblest and the 
 bravest engaged in it. Sovereigns reckoned it no 
 indignity to command their own caravans ; the 
 passage of which, to and fro, was not merely an 
 affair of merchandize ; it was a military expedi- 
 tion, the robbers of the desert, a formidable and 
 well disciplined body, being the foes against whom 
 the caravan had to be defended. The finances of 
 state, and the freedom of trade, were both so inti- 
 mately connected with the merchandize thus con- 
 ducted, that to repel all troublesome and rapacious 
 aggressions upon it, was to perform the most im- 
 portant duties. We must not therefore hastily ad- 
 mit what writers, whether Arab or Christian, may 
 have written on this subject. The object of the 
 one was unduly to exalt ; of the other, unduly to 
 depress and degrade the celebrated subject of these 
 pages. 
 
 Whether Mahomet continued to follow his mer- 
 cantile pursuits after his marriage, and, if he did, 
 for how long, are questions which we cannot solve, 
 and if we could, no importance would be due to
 
 54 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 the solution. He seems to have cherished domes- 
 tic virtues, and thus contributed to the happiness 
 of his wife. Her wealth restored him to the splen- 
 dour of his ancestors ; he was among the ^richest 
 men of Mecca ; and whether or not his subsequent 
 ambition had already begun to fire his soul, his 
 freedom from all worldly anxieties left him very 
 much at leisure. He could either be retired and 
 studious, or active and employed, as should best 
 suit his inclination. How he did employ himself 
 future chapters will disclose. 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE MAHOMETAN PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 In connexion with the account given in the pre- 
 ceding chapter of the Kaaba, the place of the 
 Moslem solemnities, the reader may be interested 
 by the following animated sketch of the Pilgrimage 
 to Mecca, from the Review (in the Quarterly) of 
 Burckhardt's Travels in Arabia. 
 
 " At a certain distance from the Holy City, all 
 pilgrims are required to strip themselves naked, 
 throwing away their garments, and put on the 
 ihram, or ehram, two pieces of linen or cotton 
 cloth, generally white, one of them wrapped round 
 the loins, the other thrown loosely over the neck 
 and shoulders, while the head remains wholly un- 
 covered. Burckhardt at once complied with this 
 custom, which has occasioned the death of many; 
 for when the pilgrimage happens in winter, the 
 assumption of the ihram is extremely prejudicial to 
 the most robust constitution, more especially to 
 that of the northern Mussulmans, who have been 
 accustomed to thick woollen clothes ; ' yet,' says 
 Burckhardt, ' the religious zeal of some who visit 
 the Hedjaz is so ardent, that if they arrive
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 55 
 
 several months previous to the Hadj, they vow, 
 on taking the ihram, not to throw it off till after 
 the completion of their pilgrimage to Arafat.' It 
 is said, that Haroun Al Rascbid and his wife 
 Zobeyda once performed the pilgrimage on foot 
 from Bagdad to Mecca, clothed only with the 
 ihram ; but indulged in the luxury of walk- 
 ing on splendid carpets the whole way. 
 
 " The ancient Arabs, who reckoned time by 
 lunar months, and intercalated a month every three 
 years, had the pilgrimage fixed to a certain season, 
 for the Hadj is not a Mussulman invention ; but 
 but when Mahomet ordained that the same pilgrim- 
 age should be continued, in honour of the living- 
 God, which for ages before him, had been, in for- 
 getfulness of the original patriarchalfaith of the race, 
 performed in honour of senseless idols, he pre- 
 scribed the ceremony to a particular lunar month ; 
 and as the modern Arabs do not intercalate, its 
 periodical returns became irregular, and in thirty- 
 three years shifted through all the months of the 
 year, from the height of summer to the depth of 
 winter. 
 
 " On entering Mecca, the temple or mosque 
 must be immediately visited, whether the stranger 
 be pilgrim or not. The prescribed ceremonies are, 
 first, to repeat certain prayers, in different parts of 
 the temple ; then to begin the towaf, or walk round 
 the Kaaba seven times, kissing the black stone at 
 each circuit ; then to proceed to the well of Zem- 
 zem, and drink as much water as they wish or can 
 get: The second ceremony wbich the pilgrim has 
 to perform is, to proceed to the hill of Szafa, and 
 there repeat certain prescribed prayers before he 
 sets out on the holy walk, or say, which is along a
 
 56 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 level spot, about six hundred paces in length, ter- 
 minating at a stone platform, called Meroua. This 
 walk, which in certain places must be a run, is to 
 be repeated seven times, the pilgrims reciting 
 prayers uninterruptedly, with a loud voice the 
 whole time. The third ceremony is that of shaving 
 the head and walking to the Omra, about one 
 hour and a half from Mecca, chanting pious ejac- 
 ulations all the way. The two former ceremonies 
 must, after this, be again repeated. The walk 
 round the Kaaba seven times may be repeated as 
 oft as the pilgrim thinks fit, and the more fre- 
 quently the more meritorious. 
 
 " About seventy thousand persons assembled at 
 Mecca, when Burckhardt made his pilgrimage, 
 and submitted to the performance of these ceremo- 
 nies. This is the least number which the Mussul- 
 mans told Ali Bey there must necessarily be as- 
 sembled at every pilgrimage, on Mount Arafat ; 
 and that in case any deficiency should occur, 
 angels are sent down from heaven to complete 
 the number. Pitts says precisely the same 
 thing. "When Ali Bey went through this part of 
 the ceremony, he tells us, an assemblage of eighty 
 thousand men, two thousand women, and one 
 thousand little children, with sixty or seventy 
 thousand camels, asses, and horses, marched 
 through the narrow valley leading from Arafat, in 
 a cloud of dust, carrying a forest of lances, guns, 
 swivels, &c., and yet no accident occurred that he 
 knew of, except to himself, he received, it seems, 
 a couple of wounds in his leg. One would have 
 thought that Burckhardt's seventy thousand was a 
 prodigious number ; yet he tells us, that two only 
 of the five or six regular caravans made their ap-
 
 LIFE OP MAfiOMET. 57 
 
 pearance this year, the Syrian and the Egyptian. 
 About four thousand pilgrims from Turkey came 
 by sea ; and perhaps half as many from other dis- 
 tant quarters of the Mahometan world. The 
 Syrian was always considered the most numerous. 
 It is stated, that when the mother of Motessem 
 b'lllah, the last of the Abassides, performed the 
 pilgrimage in the year of the Hejira 631 , her cara- 
 van was composed of one hundred and twenty 
 thousand camels, that in 1814 consisted of not 
 more than four or five thousand persons, and fif- 
 teen thousand camels. Barthema states the Cairo 
 caravan, when he was at Mecca, to have amount- 
 ed to sixty-four thousand camels ; in 1814 the 
 same caravan consisted mostly of Mahomet Ali's 
 troops, with very few pilgrims. But Burckhardt 
 says, that in 1816, a single grandee of Cairo joined 
 the Hadj with one hundred and ten camels, for 
 the transport of his baggage and retinue, whose 
 travelling expenses alone, he supposes, could not 
 have been less than ten thousand pounds. The 
 tents and equipage of the public women and dan- 
 cing girls were among the most splendid in this 
 caravan. The Moggrebyn (i. e. Western, or Bar- 
 bary) caravan, comprised, of late years, altogether 
 from six to eight thousand men (it has been forty 
 thousand) ; in the year 1814 very few joined it. 
 The Eastern caravan of this year consisted chiefly 
 of a large party of Malays from Java, Sumatra, 
 and the Malabar coast. A solitary Afghan pil- 
 grim, an old man of extraordinary strength, had 
 walked all the way from Cabul to Mecca, and 
 intended to return in the same manner. Vast 
 numbers of Bedouins flock to Mecca at the time 
 of the pilgrimage; and others from every part of
 
 58 % LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 Arabia. Many of these pilgrims depend entirely 
 for subsistence, both on the journey and at Mecca, 
 on begging; others bring some small productions 
 from their respective countries for sale, j 
 
 " The Moggrebyns, for example, bring their red 
 bonnets and woollen cloaks ; the European 
 Turks, shoes and silppers, hardware, embroidered 
 stuffs, sweetmeats, amber, trinkets of European 
 manufacture, knit silk purses, &c. ; the Turks of 
 Anatolia bring carpets, silks, and Angora shawls ; 
 the Persians, Cashmere shawls and large silk hand- 
 kerchiefs; the Afghans, tooth-brushes made of 
 the spongy boughs of a tree growing in Bokhara, 
 beads of a yellow soapstone, and plain coarse 
 shawls, manufactured in their own country ; the 
 Indians, the numerous productions of their rich 
 and extensive region ; the people of Yemen, snakes 
 for the Persian pipes, sandals, and various other 
 works in leather ; and the Africans bring various 
 articles adapted to the slave trade. 
 
 " When all the required ceremonies have been 
 gone through at Mecca, the whole concourse of 
 pilgrims repair together on a certain day to Mount 
 Arafat, some on camels, some on mules, or asses, 
 and the greater number barefooted, this being the 
 most meritorious way of performing a journey of 
 eighteen or twenty miles. ' We were several 
 hours,' says Burckhardt, ' before we could reach 
 the outskirts of the town, so great was the crowd 
 of camels. Of the half-naked Hadjis, all dressed 
 in the white ihram some sat on their camels, 
 mules, or asses, reading the Koran, some ejacu- 
 lated loud- prayers, while others cursed their dri- 
 vers, and quarrelled with those near them, who 
 were choking up the passages.' Having cleared a
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 59 
 
 narrow pass in the mountains, the plain of 
 Arafat opened out. Here the different caravans 
 began to disperse in search of places to pitch their 
 tents. Hadjis were seen in every direction wan- 
 dering among the tents in search of their compa- 
 nions, whom they had lost in the confusion along 
 the road; and it was several hours before the noise 
 and clamour had subsided. 
 
 " In the morning, Burckhardt ascended the sum- 
 mit of Mount Arafat, from whence he counted 
 about three thousand tents, dispersed over the 
 plain, of which two-thirds belonged to the two 
 Hadj caravans, and to the suite and soldiers of 
 Mahomet Ali ; but the greater number of the as- 
 sembled multitudes ' were,' says our traveller, ' like 
 myself, without tents.' Those of the wife of Ma- 
 homet Ali, the mother of Tousoun and Ibrahim 
 Pasha, were magnificent, the transport of her 
 baggage alone, from Djidda to Mecca, having re- 
 quired five hundred camels. 
 
 " 'Her tent was in fact an encampment, con- 
 sisting of a dozen tents of different sizes, inhabited 
 by her women ; the whole inclosed^by a wall of 
 linen cloth, eight hundred paces in circuit, the 
 single entrance of which was guarded by eunuchs 
 in splendid dresses. Around this inclosure were 
 pitched the tents of the men who formed her nu- 
 merous suite. The beautiful embroidery on the 
 exterior of this linen palace, with the various co- 
 lours displayed in every part of it, constituted an 
 object which reminded me of some descriptions in 
 the Arabian Tales of a Thousand and One Nights.' 
 
 " Mr. Burckhardt says, he estimated the number 
 of persons assembled on the plain at seventy thou- 
 sand ; bnt whether any, or how many of them,
 
 60 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 were supplied by ' angels,' he does not say : it is, 
 however, deserving of remark, that he is the 
 third traveller who mentions the same number. 
 This enormous mass, after washing and purifying 
 the body according to law, or going through the 
 motions where water was not to be bad, now 
 pressed forwards towards the mountain of Arafat, 
 and covered its sides from top to bottom. At the 
 appointed hour, the Cadi of Mecca took his stand 
 on a stone platform on the top of the mountain, 
 and began his sermon, to which the multitude ap- 
 peared to listen in solemn and respectful silence. 
 At every pause, however, the assembled multi- 
 tudes waved the skirts of their ihrams over their 
 heads, and rent the air with shouts of ' Lebeyk, 
 allahuma lebeyk !' 'Here we are, at thy com- 
 mands, O God!' 'During the waving of the 
 ikramsj says Burkhardt, ' the side of the moun- 
 tain, thickly crowded as it was by the people in 
 their white garments, had the appearance of a ca- 
 taract of water ; while the green umbrellas, with 
 which several thousand hadjis, sitting on their ca- 
 mels below, were provided, bore some resemblance 
 to a verdant plain.' The assemblage of such a 
 multitude, to every outward appearance humbling 
 themselves in prayer and adoration before God, 
 must be an imposing and impressive spectacle to 
 him who first observes it, whether Mahometan, 
 Christian, Jew, or Pagan. ' It was a sight, in- 
 deed,' says Pitts, ' able to pierce one's heart, to 
 behold so many in their garments of humility and 
 mortification, with their naked heads and cheeks 
 watered with tears, and to hear their grievous 
 sighs and sobs, begging earnestly for the remission 
 of their sins.' Burckhardt mentions the first ar-
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 61 
 
 rival of a black Darfoor pilgrim at the temple, 
 at the time when it was illuminated ; and from 
 eight to ten thousand persons in the act of adora- 
 tion, who was so overawed, that, after remaining 
 prostrate for some time, ' he burst into a flood of 
 tears ; and in the height of his emotion, instead 
 of reciting the usual prayers of the visitor, only 
 exclaimed, " God ! now take my soul, for this 
 is paradise!' " 
 
 " As the sun descended behind the western 
 mountains, the Cadi shut his book : instantly "the 
 crowds rushed down the mountains : the tents 
 were struck, and the whole mass of pilgrims moved 
 forward, across the plain, on their return. Thou- 
 sands of torches were now lighted ; volleys of ar- 
 tillery and of musketry were fired : sky-rockets 
 innumerable were let off ; the Pasha's band of mu- 
 sic were played till they arrived at a place called 
 Mezdelfe, when every one lay down on the bare 
 ground, where he could find a spot. Here another 
 sermon was preached, commencing with the first 
 dawn, and continuing till the first rays of the sun 
 appear, when the multitude again move forward, 
 with a slow pace, to Wady Muna, about three 
 miles off. This is the scene for the ceremony of 
 ' throwing stones at the devil ;' every pilgrim must 
 throw seven little stones at three several spots in 
 the valley of Muna, or twenty-one in the whole ; 
 and at each-throw repeat the words, ' In the name 
 of God ; God is great ; we do this to secure our- 
 selves from the devil and his troops.' Joseph Pitts 
 says, ' as I was going to throw the stones, a fa- 
 cetious hadji met me : saith he, " You may save 
 your labour at present, if you please, for I have 
 hit out the devil's eyes already.' " The pilgrims
 
 62 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 are here shown a rock, with a deep split in the 
 middle, which was made by the angel turning 
 aside the knife of Abraham, when he was about 
 to sacrifice his son Isaac. Pitts, on being told 
 this, observes, ' it must have been a good stroke 
 indeed.' The pilgrims are taught also to believe, 
 that the custom of ' stoning the devil' is to com- 
 memorate the endeavour of his satanic majesty 
 to dissuade Isaac from following his father, and 
 whispering in his ear that he was going to slay 
 him. 
 
 " This ' stoning' in the valley of Muna occupies 
 a day or two, after which comes the grand sacri- 
 fice of animals, some brought by the several hadjis, 
 others purchased from the Bedouins for the occa- 
 sion; the throats of which must always be cut 
 with their faces towards the Kaaba. At the pil- 
 grimage in question, the number of sheep thus 
 slaughtered, ' in the name of the most merciful 
 God,' is represented as small, amounting only to 
 between six and eight thousand. The historian 
 Kotobeddyn, quoted by Burckhardt, relates, that 
 when the Caliph Mokteda performed the pilgrim- 
 age, in the year of the Hejira 350, he sacrificed 
 on this occasion forty thousand camels and cows, 
 and fifty thousand sheep. Barthema talks of 
 thirty thousand oxen being slain, and their car- 
 casses given to the poor, who appeared to bun 
 ' more anxious to have their bellies filled than 
 their sins remitted.' One is at a loss to imagine 
 where, in such a miserable country, all these thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands of camels, cows, and 
 sheep can possibly be subsisted ; the numbers may 
 be exaggerated, but there is no question of their 
 being very great. The feast being ended, all the
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 63 
 
 pilgrims had their heads shaved, threw off the 
 ihram, and resumed their ordinary clothing ; a 
 larger fair was now held, the valley blazed all 
 night with illuminations, bonfires, the discharge 
 of artillery, and fireworks; and the hadjis then 
 returned to Mecca. Many of the poorer pilgrims, 
 however, remained to feast on the offals of the 
 slaughtered sheep. At Mecca, the ceremonies of 
 the Kaaba and the Drura were again to be re- 
 peated, and then the hadj was truly performed. 
 Burckhardt makes no mention of any females be- 
 coming hadjis by a visit to Arafat, though AH 
 Bey talks of two thousand. There is no absolute 
 prohibition, but from what follows, no great en- 
 couragement for the fair sex to go through the ce- 
 remonies. 
 
 " 'The Mahometan law prescribes, that no 
 unmarried woman shall perform the pilgrimage ; 
 and that even every married woman must be ac- 
 companied by her husband, or at least by a very 
 near relation (the Shaffay sect does not even allow 
 the latter). Female hadjis sometimes arrive from 
 Turkey for the hadj ; rich old widows, who wish 
 to see Mecca before they die ; or women who set 
 out with their husbands, and lose them on the 
 road by disease. In such cases, the female finds 
 at Djidda delyls (or, as this class is called, Mu- 
 hallil) ready to facilitate their progress through 
 the' sacred territory in the character of husbands. 
 The marriage contract is written out before the 
 Kadhy ; and the lady, accompanied by her delyl, 
 performs the pilgrimage to Mecca, Arafat, and all 
 the sacred places. This, however, is understood 
 to be merely a nominal marriage ; and the delyl 
 must divorce the woman on his return to Djidda :
 
 64 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 if he were to refuse a divorce, the law cannot 
 compel him to it, and the marriage would be con- 
 sidered binding ; but he could no longer exercise 
 the lucrative profession of delyl ; and my inform- 
 ant could only recollect two examples of the delyl 
 continuing to be the woman's husband. I believe 
 there is not any exaggeration of the number, in 
 stating that there are eight hundred full-grown 
 delyls, besides boys who are learning the profes- 
 sion. Whenever a shop-keeper loses his custom- 
 ers, or a poor man of letters wishes to procure 
 as much money as will purchase an Abyssinian 
 slave, he turns delyl. The profession is one of 
 little repute ; but many a prosperous Mecca wy has, 
 at some period of his life, been a member of it.' 
 
 " Burckhardt remained at Mecca a whole month 
 after the conclusion of the hadj, at which time it 
 appeared like a deserted town. 
 
 " ' Of its brilliant shops one-fourth only re- 
 mained ; and in the streets, where a few weeks 
 before it was necessary to force one's way through 
 the crowd, not a single hadji was seen, except so- 
 litary beggars, who raised their plaintive voices 
 towards the windows of the houses which they 
 supposed to be still inhabited. Rubbish and filth 
 covered all the streets, and nobody appeared dis- 
 posed to remove it. The skirts of the town were 
 crowded with the dead carcasses of camels, the 
 smell from which rendered the air, even in the 
 midst of the town, offensive, and certainly con- 
 tributed to the many diseases now prevalent.' 
 
 " Disease and mortality, which succeed to the 
 fatigues endured on the journey, or are caused by 
 the light covering of the ihram ; the unhealthy 
 lodgings at Mecca, the bad fare, and sometimes
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 65 
 
 absolute want, fill the mosque with dead bodies 
 carried thither to receive the Imam's prayer, or 
 with sick persons, many of whom, when their 
 dissolution approaches, are brought to the colon- 
 nades, that they may either be cured by the sight 
 of the Kaaba, or at least to have the satisfaction 
 of expiring within the sacred inclosure. Poor 
 hadjis, worn out with disease and hunger, are seen 
 dragging their emaciated bodies along the co- 
 lumns ; and when no longer able to stretch forth 
 their hand to ask the passenger for charity, they 
 place a bowl to receive alms near the mat on which 
 they lay themselves. When they feel their last 
 moments approaching, they cover themselves with 
 their tattered garments ; and often a whole clay 
 passes before it is discovered that they are dead. 
 For a month subsequent to the conclusion of the 
 hadj, I found, almost every morning, corpses of 
 pilgrims lying in the mosque ; myself and a Greek 
 hadji, whom accident had brought to the spot, 
 once closed the eyes of a poor Moggrebyn pil- 
 grim, who had crawled into the neighbourhood of 
 the Kaaba to breathe his last, as the Moslems 
 say, ' in the arms of the prophet and of the guar- 
 dian angels.' He intimated, by signs, his w r ish 
 that we should sprinkle Zemzem w r ater over him ; 
 and while we were doing so, he expired : half an 
 hour afterward he was buried. 
 
 " The situation of Mecca is singularly unhappy, 
 and ill-adapted for the accommodation of the nu- 
 merous votaries of Islam that flock thither to per- 
 form the rites of the pilgrimage. The town is 
 built in a narrow valley, hemmed in by barren 
 mountains; the water of the wells is bitter or 
 brackish ; no pastures for cattle are near it ; no 
 F
 
 66 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 land fit for agriculture ; and the only resource from 
 which its inhabitants derive their subsistence is a 
 little traffic, and the visits of the hadjis. Mr. 
 Burckhardt estimates the population of the town 
 and suburbs at twenty-five to thirty thousand sta- 
 tionary inhabitants, to which he adds three or 
 four thousand Abyssinian and black slaves. 
 
 " On the whole, notwithstanding all that Burck- 
 hardt records as to certain symptoms of enthu- 
 siasm in the course of his hadj, it is sufficiently 
 plain, that even in the original seat of Mahom- 
 metanism, the religious feelings of the people 
 have cooled down considerably. The educated 
 Moslems, everywhere, are mostly of the sect of 
 Mahomet Ali of Egypt, nor can we have any doubt 
 that all things are thus working together for the 
 re-establishment of the true religion in the regions 
 where man was first civilized, and where the ora- 
 cles of God were uttered. In the meantime, the 
 decline of the arch-heresy of the east will be re- 
 gretted by no one who judges of the tree by the 
 fruit. ' A long residence,' says Burckhardt, ' among 
 Turks, Syrians, and Egyptians' (and no man knew 
 them better), 'justifies me in declaring that they 
 are wholly deficient in virtue, honour, and jus- 
 tice; that they have little true piety, and still less 
 charity or forbearance ; and that honesty is only 
 to be found in their paupers or idiots.' "
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 67 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Mahomet's seclusion his designs. Gabriel. The peculiar 
 tone of the Koran. Mahomet's first converts. His attempt 
 with his relatives. The enmity of the Koreish. His followers 
 fly from Mecca. The exercises of his own mind. His cause 
 strengthens. League against him and his family. He is not 
 discouraged. The burden of his preaching. His Paradise. 
 Women not excluded. His hell Success. Challenged to work 
 miracles. His manner of getting rid of the demand. 
 
 BEING now raised by his marriage to an equality 
 with the first citizens of Mecca, Mahomet was 
 enabled to pass the next twelve years of his life 
 in comparative affluence and ease ; and, until the 
 age of forty, nothing remarkable distinguished his 
 history. It is probable that he still followed the 
 occupation of a merchant, as Arabian tribes, like 
 the t lshmaelites, have always been addicted to 
 commerce. It was during this interval, however, 
 that he meditated and matured his boldest design. 
 It therefore becomes, in its results, the most im- 
 portant in his whole life ; and it is greatly to be 
 regretted, that his policy, and the ravages of time, 
 have deprived us of all sources of information, 
 which might satisfactorily explain the purposes he 
 had in view, and the motives by which he was 
 influenced. The circumstances which first sug- 
 gested his design, the peculiar train of reflection 
 which went to cherish it, together with the real 
 agencies employed in bringing it forward, are 
 wrapped in impenetrable mystery ; yet these are 
 the points on which the inquiring mind, intent 
 upon tracing great events to their primary sources, 
 is most eager for information. At the present 
 day, it is impossible to determine whether Ma-
 
 68 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 hornet commenced his career as a deluded enthu- 
 siast, or a designing impostor. Those who have 
 most profoundly considered the whole subject of 
 Mahometanism in its rise, progress, genius, and 
 effects, are divided in their opinion. Perhaps 
 the point is not of much importance, for when 
 did ever an imposture succeed, whether it were 
 civil or religious, without an admixture of both 
 enthusiasm and cunning. Men who have made 
 any figure, if not entirely formed by circum- 
 stances, are yet greatly modified by them; and 
 it will appear in the sequel, that the Arabian ad- 
 venturer, if at first he were a mere enthusiast, 
 became, through what befel him at the outbreak 
 of his fanaticism, a proud conqueror, whom no 
 victories could satisfy, and whose progress no ex- 
 tent of dominion could stay. 
 
 Whatever the religious corruption of the Arabs, 
 it should be borne in mind that the fundamental 
 article of the patriarchal faith among them was 
 never entirely obliterated. Many held it. The 
 presence of so many Jews, together with the re- 
 verence in which their Scriptures were held, be- 
 came its safeguard. In the immediate vicinity of 
 the most celebrated temple of patriarchism, and 
 surrounded by men who gloried in the character 
 of religious reformers, a mind like Mahomet's 
 would naturally be occupied on religious subjects. 
 He would ponder deeply all he had heard, from 
 those into whose way commerce had thrown him. 
 He would read, and meditate, and inquire. The 
 idolatry of the generality of his countrymen would 
 seem to him gross and degrading ; and perhaps he 
 would be disgusted with many of the superstitious, 
 or offended with many of the false doctrines which
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 69 
 
 he found grafted upon the Jewish and the Chris- 
 tian faith. Amidst the darkness which hangs 
 over this period of his life, one thing is known, 
 namely, that he daily retired to a cave, in the 
 vicinity of Mecca, called the cave of Hera, to 
 spend his time in fasting, prayer, and devout me- 
 ditation. If he contemplated the work of public 
 instruction, he thought at first in all probability 
 of nothing more than raising his voice, and pre- 
 senting his own example in condemnation of the 
 errors and vices of the times. Some would have 
 us believe, that in the cave he had secret inter- 
 views with those accomplices by whose help he 
 composed the Koran ; * but it is remarkable that 
 these accomplices were never detected. We have 
 read, indeed, that as soon as his own purposes 
 with one of them, Sergius a monk, were an- 
 swered, Mahomet procured his murder, a tale 
 much more likely to be the invention of prejudice, 
 than to have the support of historic testimony. 
 Such an act does not agree with the early cha- 
 racter of the prophet. 
 
 Mahomet made at first but slow progress in gaining 
 converts. He was the victim of fierce persecution, 
 but it does not appear that either Jews or Chris- 
 tians are ever mixed up with him in the contempt 
 or the sufferings he had to endure. 
 
 There was indeed one being with whom in the 
 cave Mahomet pretended that he held frequent 
 and intimate converse. The angel Gabriel often 
 visited him. The revelations which he records in 
 the Koran, purport to be immediate communica- 
 tions from the Most High made to him by this 
 angelic guide and visitor. A feAV prayers ex- 
 * Prideaux. Edition 16967, page 14.
 
 70 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 cepted, that volume throughout is written in 
 the person of the Almighty. Its readers plunge 
 at once into things invested with the most aw- 
 ful sublimity. Remonstrances, instructions, pro- 
 mises, threats, blessings, and curses are all re- 
 presented as coming directly from God ; and 
 though sometimes the strong current of enthu- 
 siasm and indignation it pours forth makes its 
 writer apparently forget the source whence his 
 sentences come, he constantly recals himself before 
 the end of the period. Mahomet had continued 
 his visits to the cave for some four or five years, 
 when, according to the opening of the seventy- 
 fourth chapter of the Koran, he was commanded 
 to " arise and preach, and magnify the Lord." The 
 voice proceeded of course from his supernatural 
 attendant, who continually waited on him, reveal- 
 ing divine doctrine, urging him to make known 
 what he had received, and promising success to 
 all his undertakings. At length he acquainted 
 his beloved Kadijah with the commission he had 
 received, who probably was prepared to submit to 
 it instantly, partly by the austerities she had en- 
 gaged in with her husband, and partly by that 
 supreme devotion to him and his interests which 
 she seems on all occasions to have manifested. 
 The best authorities make her receive the news 
 of Mahomet's honour with great joy, swearing by 
 the author of her life, that she regarded him as 
 the prophet of his nation. 
 
 A subsequent chapter of the Koran * describes 
 the night on which Mahomet received his com- 
 mission as the most memorable of all nights. " In 
 the name of the most merciful God. Verily, we 
 * Chap, xcvii.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. l 
 
 sent down the Koran in the night of Al Kadr. 
 And what shall make thee understand how excel- 
 lent the night of Al Kadr is? This night is better 
 than a thousand months. Therein do the angels 
 descend, and the spirit Gahriel also, by the per- 
 mission of their Lord, with his decrees concerning 
 every matter. It is peace until the rising of the 
 morn."* On this favoured night, between the 
 23d and 24th of Ramadan, according to the pro- 
 phet, the angel appeared to him, in glorious form, 
 to communicate the happy tidings of his mission. 
 The light issuing from his body, was too dazzling 
 for mortal eyes to behold ; he fainted under the 
 splendour ; nor was it till Gabriel had assumed a 
 human form, that he could venture to approach 
 or look upon him. The angel then cried aloud, 
 " O MAHOMET, THOU ART THE APOSTLE OF GOD, 
 
 AND I AM THE ANGEL GABRIEL !" " Read !" COn- 
 
 tinued the angel ; the prophet declared that he 
 was unable to read. " Read !" Gabriel again ex- 
 claimed, " read, in the name of thy Lord, who 
 hath created all things ; who hath created man of 
 congealed blood. Read, by thy most beneficent 
 Lord, who hath taught the use of the pen ; who 
 teacheth man that which he knoweth not."t The 
 prophet, who professed hitherto to have been illi- 
 terate, then read the joyful tidings respecting his 
 ministry on earth, when the angel, having ac- 
 complished his mission, majestically ascended to 
 heaven, and disappeared from his view. 
 
 Kadijah, overjoyed, is said to have immediately 
 
 imparted what she had heard to one Waraka, her 
 
 cousin, who is supposed by some to have been in 
 
 the secret, and who had learned to write in the 
 
 * Chap, xcvii. t Chap. xcvj.
 
 72 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 Hebrew character, and was tolerably well versed 
 in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. He un- 
 hesitatingly assented to her opinion respecting the 
 divine designation of her husband, and even af- 
 firmed, that Mahomet was no other than the great 
 prophet foretold by Moses, the son of Amram. 
 This belief, that both the prophet and his religion 
 were subjects of inspired prediction in the Old 
 Testament Scriptures,- is studiously inculcated in 
 the Koran. " Thy Lord is the mighty, the mer- 
 ciful. This book is certainly a revelation from the 
 Lord of all creatures, which the faithful spirit 
 (Gabriel) hath caused to descend upon thy heart, 
 that thou mightest be a preacher to thy people in 
 the perspicuous Arabic tongue; and it is borne 
 witness to in the Scriptures of former ages. Was 
 it not a sign unto them that the wise men among 
 the children of Israel knew it ?" * 
 
 Having succeeded in gaining over his wife, he 
 persevered in that retired and austere kind of life 
 which tends to beget the reputation of pre-emi- 
 nent sanctity, and ere long had his servant, Zeid 
 Ebn Hareth, added to the list of proselytes. He 
 rewarded the faith of Zeid by manumitting him 
 from servitude, and it has hence become a stand- 
 ing rule among his followers always to grant free- 
 dom to such of their slaves as embrace the religion 
 of the prophet. Ali, the son of Abu Taleb, Ma- 
 homet's cousin, was his next convert, but the 
 impetuous youth, disregarding the other two as 
 persons of comparatively little note, used to style 
 himself the first of believers. His fourth and 
 most important convert was Abubeker, a powerful 
 citizen of Mecca, by whose influence a number of 
 
 * Chap, xxiii.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 73 
 
 persons possessed of rank and authority were in- 
 duced to profess the religion of Islam. These 
 were Othman, Zobair, Saad, Abdorrahman, and 
 Abu Obeidah, who afterwards became the prin- 
 cipal leaders in his armies, and his main instru- 
 ments in the establishment both of his imposture 
 and of his empire. Four years were spent in the 
 arduous task of winning over these nine indivi- 
 duals to the faith, some of whom were the prin- 
 cipal men of the city, and who composed the 
 whole party of his proselytes previously to his be- 
 ginning to proclaim his mission in public. Ma- 
 homet was now forty-four years of age. 
 
 Hitherto his mission had been conducted with 
 comparative privacy ; now however, having as he 
 hoped sufficient interest to support him, the pro- 
 phet made it no longer a secret. God had com- 
 manded him, he said, to admonish his near relations, 
 and he obeyed. In order to enable him the more 
 successfully to gain their attention, he directed his 
 cousin Ali to prepare a generous entertainment, 
 and invite to it the sons and descendants of Abdol 
 Motalleb, where, when they were all convened, he 
 would formally divulge to them the solemn fact of 
 his apostolic commission. Some disturbance, oc- 
 casioned by Abu Laheb, caused the company to 
 break up before he had an opportunity of effecting 
 his purpose, which induced him to give them a 
 second invitation on the ensuing day. About forty 
 of them accordingly assembled around his board, 
 when the prophet arose, and thus addressed his 
 wondering guests : " I know no man in the 
 whole peninsula of the Arabs who can propose any 
 thing more excellent to his relations than what I 
 now do to you ; I offer you happiness both in this
 
 74 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 life and in that which is to come"; God Almighty 
 hath commanded me to call you unto him ; who 
 therefore among you will be my vizier (assistant), 
 and will become my brother and vicegerent?" 
 General astonishment kept the assembly silent ; 
 none accepted the preferred office till the fiery Ali 
 burst forth and declared that he would be the 
 brother and assistant of the prophet. " I," said 
 he, " O prophet of God, will be thy vizier ; I my- 
 self will beat out the teeth, pull out the eyes, rip 
 open the bellies, and cut off the legs, of all those 
 who shall dare to oppose thee." The prophet 
 caught the young proselyte in his arms, exclaim- 
 ing, " This is my brother, my deputy, my succes- 
 sor ; show yourselves obedient unto him." At 
 this apparently extravagant command, the whole 
 company hurst into laughter, telling Abu Taleb 
 that he must now pay obedience and submission to 
 his own son ! As words were multiplied, surprise 
 began to give way to indignation, the pretensions 
 of the prophet were seriously resented, and in the 
 issue the assembly broke up in confusion, afford- 
 ing the ardent apostle but slender prospects of suc- 
 cess among his kinsmen. 
 
 Undeterred by the failure of his first public at- 
 tempt, Mahomet began to preach still more openly 
 before the people of Mecca. He announced to 
 them that he was commissioned by the Almighty 
 to be his prophet on the earth ; to assert the unity 
 of God ; to denounce the worship of images ; to 
 recall the people to the true and only religion ; to 
 bear the tidings of paradise to the believing ; and 
 to threaten the deaf and unbelieving with terrible 
 vengeance. The bold freedom of his denunciations 
 scon weared out the patience with which his tribe
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 7^ 
 
 at first listened to his pretensions. When he up- 
 braided them with their idolatry, obstinacy, and 
 perverseness, they were highly provoked, declared 
 themselves his enemies, and in all probability 
 would soon have procured his ruin, and that of 
 his whole scheme, but that he enjoyed the power- 
 ful protection of his uncle Abu Taleb. This dis- 
 tinguished friend was urged to desert his nepheAV 
 by every kind of solicitation his adversaries could 
 employ. The Koreish, with their chief at their 
 head, remonstrated, and appealed, and persuaded 
 till at length Abu was prevailed upon, so far as to 
 dissuade his nephew from proceeding further, by 
 representing the great danger which he incurred, 
 both for himself and his friends. It has often been 
 seen that faith and a love of truth, have been proof 
 against friendly efforts, more painful and difficult 
 of resistance, than all the attempts of avowed foes ; 
 but not often that mere imposture and supersti- 
 tion have stood firm against them. In this case, 
 however, they were employed in vain. " Mahomet's 
 reply to his uncle was worthy of a better cause. 
 " If," said he, " they set the sun against me on the 
 right hand, and the moon on the left, I will not 
 abandon my enterprise ; and to Abu's honour it 
 is to be added, that as his nephew was found so 
 firmly resolved to proceed, he declined to employ 
 extremities, indeed he resolved to stand by him as 
 a friend to the very last. 
 
 The tribe at whose instance Abu had attempted 
 these persuasions, were not so wise, or so gene- 
 rous. Indignant at the rebukes of Mahomet, and 
 uninfluenced by the ties of relationship, which 
 most probably had restrained the hands of his 
 uncle, they determined at all events to put a stop
 
 76 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 to his progress; accordingly, when neither fair 
 words nor menaces could prevail, they had recourse 
 to violence. The followers of the prophet were 
 persecuted ; he himself escaped, chiefly because of 
 his high connexions ; and speedily this persecution 
 became so fierce, and the threats of their enemies, 
 the idolatrous Koreish, so loud and deep, that they 
 deemed it no longer safe to remain at Mecca, to 
 which place hitherto the fanaticism of Mahomet 
 had been confined. Such of his followers as 
 were without the protection of powerful friends, 
 received permission to fly and seek protection 
 elsewhere ; upon which sixteen of them, twelve 
 men, and four women, one of the latter being 
 a daughter of Mahomet, fled into the neigh- 
 bouring country of Ethiopia. Thither also, soon 
 afterwards, others of his followers, to the num- 
 ber, it is said, of eighty-three men, and eighteen 
 women besides children escaped ; all of whom 
 were kindly received by the sovereign, who pro- 
 tected them from the demands of their persecutors, 
 and who also, according to Arab writers, received 
 the faith for which they suffered. 
 
 It may be supposed, that the mind of the pro- 
 phet Avould be greatly perplexed by this continued 
 and bitter opposition. His followers could scarcely 
 escape the worst of evils, and he himself, in his 
 native city, is treated with contumely and scorn. 
 He endured moments of diffidence, the warmth of 
 his spirit was chilled, and the hopes which had 
 lifted him above all his friends and companions 
 around, seemed destined to disappointment, so 
 that he sunk into the depths of disquietude and 
 suspense. It was probably when his mind was in 
 this condition, that the 93rd and 94th chapters of
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 77 
 
 the Koran were composed. They contain the mu- 
 sings of a mind trembling with apprehension, yet fain 
 to look for some divine interposition in its favour. 
 Sale translates the former: "By the brightness 
 of the morning; and by the night when it groweth 
 dark ; thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither 
 doth he hate thee. Verily the life to come, shall 
 be better for thee than this present life. And thy 
 Lord shall give thee a reward, wherewith thou shalt 
 be well pleased. Did he not find thee an orphan, 
 and hath he not taken care of thee ? And did he 
 not find thee wandering in error, and hath he not 
 guided thee into the truth ? And did he not find 
 thee needy, and hath he not enriched thee ? 
 Wherefore oppress not the orphan ; neither re- 
 pulse the beggar ; but declare the goodness of thy 
 Lord." The latter is rendered by the same trans- 
 lator : " Have we not opened thy breast, and eased 
 thee of thy burden which galled thy back ; and 
 raised thy reputation for thee ? Verily a difficulty 
 shall be attended with ease. When thou shalt 
 have ended thy preaching, labour to serve God in 
 return for his favours, and make thy supplication 
 unto the Lord." A more recent version of the 
 former of these two chapters, conceived in poetical 
 numbers, as the original undoubtedly is, assists us 
 in forming some idea, though confessedly a feeble 
 one, of the beauty of the Arabic composition. 
 
 No ! by the morning's splendour No ! by the frown of night, 
 
 Thy omnipotent defender will not desert the right ; 
 
 Tho' present sorrows rend thee, the future brings their bairn, 
 
 High destinies attend thee, be thankful and be calm. 
 
 By him hast thou been cherished, an orphan in thy youth, 
 
 An infidel thou'dst perished, had he not taught thee truth. 
 
 His bounteous hand has freed thee from poverty and scorn, 
 
 Then do thou relieve the needy, do thou the thoughtless warn."
 
 78 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 Consolatory passages of this kind abound in those 
 chapters of the Koran, which are said to have 
 heen revealed to the prophet at Mecca ; evidently 
 the effusions of enthusiasm. As yet, however, 
 the prophet's mind does not seem to have con- 
 ceived those vast designs of ambition, and yielded 
 to those sentiments of ferocious cruelty by which 
 afterwards it was distinguished. Now and then, 
 indeed, in these chapters we catch a glimpse of 
 what the man afterwards became, as in the cxi., 
 where he writes concerning one of his uncles a 
 bitter persecutor. " The hands of Abu Laheb 
 shall perish, and he shall perish. His riches shall 
 not profit him, neither that which he hath gained. 
 He shall go down to be burned into flaming fire, 
 and his wife also bearing wood, having on her 
 neck a cord of twisted fibres of a palm tree." And 
 when maintaining his sacred character to its ut- 
 most height, he consoles his animosity with mys- 
 terious hints of the future and inevitable retribu- 
 tion, or relieves his passion by the terrific outpour- 
 ings of a prophet's curse. An instance occurs in 
 the 74th chapter. "Yes, he considered and he 
 plotted curse him, how he plotted ay, curse him, 
 how he plotted then he looked, then he frowned 
 and looked grave then he turned away in his 
 pride and said, what is this but a charm that is 
 repeated, what is this but the speech of a man." 
 Still it is observable, that in these passages Ma- 
 homet rather indicates some mysterious vengeance 
 to be taken on the foes of his religion by the Most 
 High in another world, than any triumph over 
 them which he hoped to gain in this ; or if they 
 exhibit indications of his own becoming the in- 
 strument of vengeance, as he most certainly did 
 before many years had elapsed, it is by no means
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 79 
 
 improbable that these indications were foisted into 
 the work after they were justified by the event. 
 Mahomet, in the later periods of his life, was 
 continually adding to the revelations contained in 
 the Koran. These additions were sometimes writ- 
 ten separately as an independent chapter, some- 
 times they were placed in a former chapter to 
 some passage in which he considered them perti- 
 nent. It is now impossible therefore, to trace 
 from the volume any thing approaching to an ac- 
 curate history of the progress of his mind and 
 feelings. It may be observed in general terms, 
 that there is no evidence in his early history of his 
 aspiring to the power he subsequently realized. 
 
 Within a short time, notwithstanding the flight 
 of his friends, Mahomet found himself strength- 
 ened by the conversion of others, including some 
 of the most powerful men of Mecca, his own re- 
 lations, Omar, Ebn Al Khattub, andhis uncle Ham- 
 za, a man of great valour and merit, were of this 
 number. The excellencies of the prophet's con- 
 duct, and the purity of his faith, contrasted 
 strongly with those of his foes; and, as in all 
 other cases, persecution did but extend his doc- 
 trine and his fame. 
 
 At length, in order effectually to destroy his 
 rising interests, the Koreish entered into a cove- 
 nant, to contract no marriages with his family or 
 relatives ; to abstain from all commercial and social 
 transactions ; in a word, to suspend all communi- 
 cations with them ; and for the greater solemnity, 
 this covenant was reduced to writing, and laid up 
 in their sacred temple- Thus the principal fami- 
 lies of Mecca were divided into factions. The 
 Hashemites under Abu Taleb, maintained the
 
 80 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 cause of the prophet; the Ommeyans under Abu 
 Sofian, Ebn Harb ranged against him : their dis- 
 putes were kept up for three years. At length, how- 
 ever, they were terminated by an accident which 
 some writers have made to tell in advancing the 
 prophetic fame of Mahomet, but in which nothing 
 very extraordinary is to be traced. The written 
 covenant lying in the Kaaba, was attacked by the 
 worm, so frequently destructive in almost all the 
 east to books and writings of every kind. Maho- 
 met, who probably had obtained secret informa- 
 tion of the fact, told his uncle Abu Taleb, that to 
 manifest his disapprobation against the league of 
 the idolatrous Koreish, God had sent a worm to de- 
 vour every part of it, except the divine name which 
 it bore. Abu, as soon as he became aware of the 
 fact, communicated it to the opposing parties ; offer- 
 ing in case, on examination, his statement proved 
 false, to deliver his nephew up to them ; and re- 
 quiring if it were true, that their animosity should 
 cease, or at least, that every thing the league con- 
 tained, should be annulled. In these terms the par- 
 ties acquiesced; an examination was immediately set 
 on foot, when to the great surprise and mortification 
 of the Koreish,it was found that Abu's statement 
 was correct ; the league was thereupon relinquish- 
 ed, and perhaps even among his foes, a suspicion 
 might begin to prevail, that Mahomet was, as he 
 pretended, a messenger from God ; at all events, 
 the circumstances obtained for him considerable 
 credit, and augmented the number of his followers. 
 The pilgrimages of the Arabs from all parts to 
 their sacred edifice at Mecca, in which both ido- 
 laters and the adherents of the prophet joined, af- 
 forded to him an excellent opportunity of inculcat-
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 81 
 
 ing the leading truths of his system. Multitudes 
 listened to his harangues, nor could the jealousy 
 or hatred of the Koreish extinguish his rising 
 popularity. Prohibited from open hostilities 
 during the sacred months, when these assemblies 
 were taking place, the respective parties could 
 hardly be restrained from secret violence. And 
 sometimes in defiance of their most sacred customs 
 the factious met and came to blows. The orations, 
 both of idolaters and of Mahomet in the Kaaba, 
 were not unfrequently drowned, amid the din of 
 strife, and the clashing of their scimitars. 
 
 No repulses, however rude or rebellious, could 
 deter the prophet from prosecuting his ministry. 
 No injuries or insults, however galling, availed to 
 quench that glow of philanthropy, that earnest so- 
 licitude for the salvation of his countrymen, for 
 which his divine revelations plainly give him cre- 
 dit. " Peradventure, thou afflictest thyself unto 
 death, lest the Meccans become not true believers."* 
 *' Verily, God will cause to err whom he 
 pleaseth, and will direct whom he pleaseth. Let 
 not thy soul, therefore, be spent in sighs for their 
 sakes on account of their obstinacy ; for God well 
 knoweth that which they do."+ And it must be 
 acknowledged, that his firmness at this stage of his 
 career, in the midst of bitter opposition, oppro- 
 brious taunts, and relentless ridicule, has very 
 much the air of having been prompted by a sincere 
 belief in the truth and rectitude of his cause. The 
 scope of several chapters of the Koran promulgated 
 at this time leads to the same impression. 
 
 They were strikingly hortatory and impassioned, 
 
 * Koran, ch. xxvi. t Ch. xxxv.
 
 82 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 inculcating the being and perfections of the one 
 only God, the vanity of idols, a future resurrection, 
 a day of judgment, a state of rewards and punish- 
 ments, and the necessity of works of righteous- 
 ness. The marks of imposture are much more 
 discernible upon the pages subsequently revealed, 
 in Avhich the prophet had private ends of a sinister 
 nature to accomplish. He contented not himself 
 with merely preaching in public assemblies, and 
 proclaiming in streets and market places, the 
 solemn and awakening burden of his message ; but 
 with a zeal worthy of a better cause, he backed 
 his public appeals by private addresses, and put in 
 requisition all the arts of persuasion and prosely- 
 tism, in which he was so eminently skilled. He 
 applied himself in the most insinuating manner to 
 all classes of people ; he was complaisant and 
 liberal to the poor, cultivating their acquaintance 
 and relieving their wants ; the rich and noble, he 
 soothed by flattery ; affronts he bore and without 
 seeking to avenge them. The effect of this politic 
 management was greatly enhanced by the pe- 
 culiar character of those inspired promises and 
 threatenings which he brought to enforce his mes- 
 sage. 
 
 His promises were chiefly of a blissful paradise 
 in another life ; and these he studiously aimed to 
 set forth in colours best calculated to work upon 
 the fancies of a sensitive and sensual race, whose 
 minds, in consequence of their national habits, were 
 little susceptible of the images of abstract enjoy- 
 ment. The notions of a purely intellectual or spi- 
 ritual happiness pertain to a more cultivated 
 people. The scorching heat of those tropical re- 
 gions, the aridity of the soil, and the consequent
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 83 
 
 lack of a verdant vegetation, made it natural to the 
 Arabs, and other oriental nations, to conceive of 
 the most exquisite scenes of pleasure under the 
 images of rivers of water, cooling drinks, flowery 
 gardens, shaded bowers, and luscious fruits. The 
 magnificence also of many of the Eastern buildings, 
 their temples and places, with the sumptuousness 
 of their dresses, the pomp of processions, and the 
 splendour of courts, Avould all tend to mingle in 
 their ideas of the highest state of enjoyment an 
 abundance of gold and silver and precious stones 
 treasures for which the East has been famed 
 from time immemorial. Mahomet was well aAvare 
 that a plenitude of these visible and palpable at- 
 tractions, to say nothing of grosser sources of plea- 
 sure, was an indispensable requisite in a heaven 
 suited to the temperament of his countrymen. 
 Accordingly, he assures the faithful, that they shall 
 enter into delectable gardens, where the rivers flow, 
 some with water, some with wine, some with 
 milk, and some with clarified honey ; that there 
 will be fountains and purling streams, Avhose 
 pebbles are rubies and emeralds, their earth of 
 camphire, their beds of musk, and their sides of 
 saffron. In feasting upon the banks of paradise, 
 at one time the most delicious fruits shall hang 
 dependent from tbe branches of the trees, under 
 which their couches are spread, so that they have 
 only to reach forth their hands to pluck them : 
 again, they shall be served in dishes of gold filled 
 with every variety of grateful food, and supplied 
 with wine of ambrosial flavour. But the prophet's 
 own glowing pictures of the joys of his promised 
 paradise, will do more justice to the subject. 
 " They shall repose on couches, the linings where- 
 G 2
 
 84 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 of shall be of thick silk, intenvoven with gold ; 
 and the fruit of the two gardens shall be near at 
 hand to gather. Therein beauteous damsels shall 
 receive them, refraining their eyes from beholding 
 any besides their spouses, having complexions like 
 rubies and pearls. Besides these, there shall be 
 two other gardens that shall be dressed in eternal 
 verdure. In each of them shall be two fountains 
 pouring forth plenty of water. In each of them 
 shall be fruits, and palm trees, and pomegranates. 
 Therein shall be agreeable and beauteous damsels, 
 having fine black eyes, and kept in pavilions from 
 public view, whom no man shall have dishonoured 
 before their predestined spouses, nor any genius." 
 " They shall dwell in gardens of delight, reposing on 
 couches adorned with gold and precious stones ; 
 sitting opposite to one another thereon. Youths, 
 which shall continue in their bloom for ever, shall 
 
 fo round about to attend them, with goblets and 
 eakers, and a cup of flowing wine : their heads 
 shall not ache by drinking the same, neither shall 
 their reason be disturbed." " Upon them shall be 
 garments of fine green silk, and of brocades, and 
 they shall be adorned with bracelets of silver, and 
 their Lord shall give them to drink of a most pure 
 liquor a cup of wine mixed with the water of 
 Zenjebil, a fountain in paradise named Salsabil." 
 " But those who believe and do that which is right, 
 we will bring into gardens watered by rivers, 
 therein shall they remain for ever, and therein 
 shall they enjoy wives free from all infirmities ; 
 and we will lead them into perpetual abodes." 
 " For those who fear their Lord will be prepared 
 high apartments in paradise, over which shall be 
 other apartments built; and rivers shall run be-
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 85 
 
 neath them." " But for the pious is prepared a 
 place of bliss : gardens planted with trees, and 
 vineyards, and damsels of equal age with them- 
 selves, and a full cup."* 
 
 Such is the Mahometan paradise, rendered 
 alluring by its gross, carnal, and luxurious cha- 
 racter. It cannot indeed be denied, that there are 
 occasional intimations, in the Koran, of some kind 
 of spiritual happiness to be enjoyed by the pious, 
 in addition to their corporeal pleasures. " Their 
 prayer therein shall be, Praise be unto thee, O 
 God ! and their salutation therein shall be, Peace ! 
 and the end of their prayer shall be, Praise be 
 unto God, the Lord of all creatures."t But it is 
 beyond question, that the main ingredients in the 
 anticipated happiness of the Moslem saints are of 
 a sensual kind, addressed to the inferior principles 
 of our nature, and making their paradise to dif- 
 fer but little from the Elysium of the heathen 
 poets. 
 
 The reader of the Koran will meet with re- 
 peated declarations subversive of the vulgar opi- 
 nion, that the religion of Mahomet denies to 
 women the possession of souls, and excludes 
 them from all participation in the joys of paradise. 
 Whatever may have been imagined or affirmed 01 
 this point by some of his more ignorant followers, 
 it is certain that Mahomet himself thought too 
 highly of women to inculcate any such doctrine, as 
 the following passages will evince : " Whoso doeth 
 evil, shall be rewarded for it ; and shall not find 
 any patron or helper besides God; but whoso 
 doeth good works, whether he be male or female, 
 
 * Koran, ch. iii. iv. xxxvi. xxxvii. xliii. xlviL Ixxviii. f Ch. x.
 
 86 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 and is a true believer, they shall be admitted into 
 paradise, and shall not in the least be unjustly 
 dealt with."* " The reward of these shall be pa- 
 radise, gardens of eternal abode, which they shall 
 enter, and whoever shall have acted uprightly, of 
 their fathers, and their wives, and their posterity ; 
 and the angels shall go in unto them by every gate, 
 saying, Peace be upon you, because ye have en- 
 dured with patience ; how excellent a reward is 
 paradise !"t 
 
 If these vivid representations of the future bliss 
 of the faithful were calculated to work strongly 
 upon the passions of his hearers, his denunciations 
 of the fearful torments reserved for unbelievers, 
 were equally fitted to produce the same effect. 
 The most revolting images of bodily suffering, 
 hunger, thirst, the torture of fire, and the anguish 
 of piercing cold, were summed up by the preacher 
 to alarm the workers of evil, and to call off 
 the worshippers of idols from their impiety. 
 " But for the transgressors is prepared an evil re- 
 ceptacle, namely hell : they shall be cast into the 
 same to be burned, and a wretched couch shall it 
 be." " And they who believe not, shall have gar- 
 ments of fire fitted unto them : boiling water shall 
 be poured on their heads ; their bowels shall be 
 dissolved thereby, and also their skins : and they 
 shall be beaten with maces of iron. So often as 
 they shall endeavour to get out of hell, because of 
 the anguish of their torments, they shall be drag- 
 ged back into the same ; and their tormentors shall 
 say unto them, Taste ye the pain* of burning.":}: 
 " It shall be said unto them, Go ye into the pun- 
 
 * Koran, ch. iv. f Ch. xiii. J Ch. xvii.
 
 LIFE OF MAIIOMET. . 87 
 
 ishment which ye denied as a falsehood : go ye 
 into the shadow of the smoke of hell, whieh shall 
 ascend in three columns, and shall not shade you 
 from the heat, neither shall it he of service against 
 the flame ; but it shall cast forth sparks as big as 
 towers, resembling yellow camels in colour."* 
 " Hath the news of the overwhelming day of 
 judgment reached thee ? The countenances of 
 some, on that day, shall be cast down ; labouring 
 and toiling ; they shall be cast into a scorching 
 fire to be broiled : they shall be given to drink of 
 a boiling fountain : they shall have no food but of 
 dry thorns and thistles : which shall not fatten 
 neither shall they satisfy hunger." " Is this a bet- 
 ter entertainment, or the tree of Al Zaccum? How- 
 different is the tree Al Zaccum from the abode of 
 Eden ! We have planted it for the torment of the 
 wicked. It is a tree which issueth from the bot- 
 tom of hell : the fruit thereof resembleth the heads 
 of devils ; and the damned shall eat of the same, 
 and shall fill their bellies therewith ; and there 
 shall be given them thereon a mixture of filthy and 
 boiling water to drink : afterwards shall they re- 
 turn into hell."t 
 
 Such was the burden of his exhortations, while 
 he warned the people of the danger of unbelief, 
 and urged them by his eloquence to avoid eternal 
 damnation by putting faith in the apostle of God. 
 In addition to these powerful motives, drawn from 
 another world, he was lavish in the menaces 
 of fearful punishments in this life also, if they 
 hearkened not to his voice. For this purpose, he 
 set before them the calamities which had overtaken 
 
 * Koran, ch. Ixxviii. f Ch. xxxvii.
 
 00 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 those who, in former times, had refused to listen 
 to the prophets sent among them. " Do they not 
 consider how many generations we have destroyed 
 before them ? Other apostles have been laughed 
 to scorn before thee, but the judgments which they 
 made a jest of, encompassed those who laughed 
 them to scorn. Say, Go through the earth, and 
 behold what has been the end of those who ac- 
 cused our prophets of imposture."* " We have 
 already sent messages unto sundry nations before 
 thee, and we afflicted them with trouble and ad- 
 versity, that they might humble themselves: yet 
 when the affliction which we sent came upon them, 
 they did not humble themselves ; but their hearts 
 became hardened, and Satan caused them to find 
 charms in rebellion. And when they had forgot- 
 ten that concerning which they had been admon- 
 ished, we suddenly laid hold on them, and behold 
 they were seized with despair; and the utmost 
 part of the people which had acted wickedly was 
 cut off: praise be unto God, the Lord of all crea- 
 tures !"t He cited the case of the inhabitants of 
 the old world, who perished in the deluge for not 
 giving heed to the preaching of Noah ; of Sodom, 
 overwhelmed by fire for not receiving the admo- 
 nition of Lot ; and of the Egyptians, who were 
 buried in the Red Sea for despising Moses. To 
 give still greater effect to his warnings, and ingra- 
 tiate himself into the favour, as well as to awaken 
 the fears, of his auditors, he took repeated occasions 
 to allege his entire disinterestedness in the work 
 in which he was engaged. He preached because 
 he was commanded to preach, and not because he 
 
 * Koran, ch. vi. f Ch. vi.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 89 
 
 intended covertly to make gain of his hearers- 
 He therefore boldly takes them to witness that he 
 demanded no compensation for his services. He 
 looked to a higher source for reward. " But we 
 have brought them their admonition ; and they 
 turn aside from their admonition. Dost thou 
 ask of them any maintenance for thy preaching ? 
 since the maintenance of thy Lord is better ; for 
 he is the most bounteous provider."* " We have 
 sent thee to be no other than a bearer of good 
 tidings, and a denouncer of threats. Say, I ask 
 not of you any reward for this my preaching, be- 
 sides the conversion of him who shall desire to 
 take the way unto his Lord."t As the prophet there- 
 fore disclaimed all sinister views in the execution of 
 his office, as he expressly renounced the expect- 
 ancy of any earthly advantage whatever, so he was 
 commanded to divest his mind of all undue anx- 
 iety as to the result of his labours of love. " O 
 apostle, let not them grieve thee who hasten to 
 infidelity." " Whoso is wilfully blind, the conse- 
 quence will be to himself. We have not appoint- 
 ed thee a keeper over them : neither art thou a 
 guardian over them." " And be not thou grieved 
 on account of the unbelievers, neither be thou 
 troubled for that which they subtly devise."^ 
 
 It is not therefore to be wondered at, that the 
 rousing appeals of the prophet should have taken 
 effect ; that one after another should have listened 
 pondered wavered and yielded especially as 
 the gravity and sanctity of his deportment seem, 
 at this time, to have corresponded with the solemn 
 strain of his expostulations. Such accordingly 
 
 Koran, cli. xxiii. f Ch. xlii. J Ch. xvi.
 
 90 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 was the fact. The number of his followers gradu- 
 .ally increased, so that in five years, from the com- 
 mencement of his mission, his party amounted to 
 about forty persons. 
 
 Those who regarded his pretences with incredu- 
 lity, continually annoyed and disconcerted him 
 with demands to prove the truth of his mission by 
 working miracles. He spoke of Moses and Jesus. 
 " They," said his hearers, " and other prophets, as 
 you tell us, wrought miracles to prove that they were 
 sent of God. If thou be a prophet, and greater 
 than any that were before thee, as thou boastest, 
 let us see a miracle from thee also. Do thou make 
 the dead to rise, the dumb to speak, the deaf to 
 hear ; or else cause fountains to spring out of the 
 earth, and make this place a garden adorned with 
 vines and palm trees, and watered with rivers run- 
 ning through it in divers channels ; or do thou 
 make thee a house of gold beautified with jewels 
 and costly furniture ; or let us see the book which 
 thou allegest to have come down from heaven, or 
 the angel which thou sayest brings it unto thee, 
 and we will believe." This natural and not un- 
 reasonable demand, he had several ways of evad- 
 gin, as we learn from the Koran. At one time, he 
 tells them, he is only a man sent to preach to them 
 the rewards of paradise and the punishments of 
 hell. " The infidels say, unless a sign be sent 
 unto him from his Lord, we will not believe. 
 Thou art commissioned to be a preacher only, and 
 not a worker of miracles."* " Answer, Signs are 
 in the power of God alone ; and I am no more 
 than a public preacher. Is it not sufficient for 
 
 * Ch. xiii.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 91 
 
 them that we have sent down unto thee the book 
 of the Koran, to be read unto them ?"* " We sent 
 not our messengers otherwise than bearing good 
 tidings and denouncing threats. Say, I say not 
 unto you, The treasures of God are in my power : 
 neither do I say, I know the secrets of God : nei- 
 ther do I say unto you, Verily I am an angel : I 
 follow only that which is revealed unto me. "t At 
 another time he reminds them, that their predeces- 
 sors had despised the miracles' of the former pro- 
 phets, and for this reason God would work no more 
 among them. Again, that those whom God had or- 
 dained to believe, should believe without miracles, 
 while the hapless non-elect, to whom he had not 
 decreed the gift of faith, would not believe though 
 ever so many miracles were wrought before them. 
 " And though we had sent down angels unto them, 
 and the dead had spoken unto them, they would not 
 have believed, unless God had so pleased."! " ^ 
 their aversion to thy admonitions be grievous unto 
 thee, if thou canst seek a den whereby thou mayest 
 penetrate into the inward parts of the earth, or a 
 ladder by which thou mayest ascend into heaven, 
 that thou mayest show them a sign, do so, but thy 
 search will be fruitless; for if God pleased he 
 would bring them all to the true direction."^ At 
 a later period, when he was at Medina at the head 
 of an army, he had a more summary way of sol- 
 ving all difficulties arising from this source, for his 
 doctrine then was, that God had formerly sent 
 Moses and Jesus with the power of working mira- 
 cles, and yet men would not believe, and therefore 
 he had now sent him, a prophet of another order, 
 
 * Ch. xiii. t Chap. vi. t Chap. vi. Ibid.
 
 92 LIFfe OP MAHOMET. 
 
 commissioned to enforce belief by the power of the 
 sword. The sword accordingly was to be the true 
 seal of his apostleship, and the remark of Gibbon 
 is equally just and striking, that *' Mahomet with 
 the sword in one hand, and the Koran in the other, 
 erected his throne on the ruins of Christianity and 
 of Rome." 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The miracles to which Mahomet laid claim. Intercourse 
 with Gabriel. The composition of the Koran. Mode in which 
 it was revealed. Specimens of its denunciations on his perse- 
 cutors. Miracle of the splitting of the moon. Mahomet's 
 nocturnal journey. Affinity of some of its circumstances with 
 Rabbinical fables. Effect produced by relating it. Death of 
 Abu Taleb and of Kadijah. Mahomet's temporary withdraw- 
 ment from Mecca. Return and marriage with Ayesha and 
 Sawda. 
 
 ALTHOUGH by these artifices Mahomet succeeded 
 in satisfying his friends, that the demand for mi- 
 racles in support of his pretensions, was an unrea- 
 sonable one, and would not be gratified, nothing 
 could prevent or conceal his mortification that it 
 was so repeatedly urged. He probably felt that 
 it was both natural and just; and hence, though 
 b,e could not invent the wonders for which his 
 enemies were so urgent, he had recourse to mira- 
 culous agency of another kind, as supporting his 
 claims. His converse with the angel Gabriel was 
 of this character a miracle which he affected to 
 consider sufficient to convince gainsayers ; and the 
 composition of the Koran he continually urges as 
 a most complete proof of his divine mission. Its 
 original, or archetype, he taught, was laid up from
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 93 
 
 everlasting in the archives of heaven, being writ- 
 ten on what he termed the preserved table, near 
 to the throne of God, from which the series of 
 chapters communicated by Gabriel were a tran- 
 script. " If," he says, " ye be in doubt concerning 
 the revelation which we have sent down unto our 
 servant, produce a chapter like unto it, and call 
 upon your witnesses, besides God, if ye say the 
 truth."* " Say, verily, if men and genii were pur- 
 posely assembled, that they might produce a book 
 like this Koran, they could not produce one like 
 it, although the one of them assisted the other." t 
 " "Will they say, he hath forged the Koran ? 
 Bring, therefore, ten chapters like unto it, forged 
 by yourselves, and call on whomsoever ye may to 
 assist you.";}; The infatuation of the Meccans in 
 rejecting this inestimable " admonition," stamped 
 as it was with the evident impress of the divinity, 
 he hesitates not to ascribe to the effect of a fearful 
 judicial obstinacy, such as the Jewish prophets 
 frequently threaten against the perverse nation of 
 Israel. " If we had revealed the Koran in a fo- 
 reign language, they had surely said, Unless the 
 signs thereof be distinctly explained, we will not 
 receive the same : Answer, It is unto those who 
 believe a sure guide and a remedy ; but unto those 
 who believe not, it is a thickness of hearing in 
 their ears, and it is a darkness which covereth 
 them." " As for the unbelievers, it will be equal 
 unto them whether thou admonish them or do not 
 idmonish them ; they will not believe. God hath 
 ealed up their hearts and their hearing ; a dim- 
 ness covereth their sight, and they shall suffer a 
 
 * Ch. ii. f Ch. xvii. I Ch. xi. Ch. xli.
 
 94 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 grievous punishment," "There is of them who 
 hearkeneth unto thee when thou readest the Ko- 
 ran ; but we have cast veils over their hearts, that 
 they should not understand it, and a deafness in 
 their ears ; and though they should see all kinds 
 of signs, they will not believe therein ; and their 
 infidelity will arrive to that height, that they will 
 even come unto thee to dispute with thee." 
 
 The master-stroke of Mahomet's policy, in re- 
 gard to this volume, is seen in the manner of its 
 revelation. It was made known gradually and by 
 piecemeal. " The unbelievers say, unless the 
 Koran be sent down to him entire at once, we 
 will not believe. But in this manner have we re- 
 vealed it, that we might confirm thy heart thereby, 
 and we have dictated it gradually by distinct par- 
 cels." Had the whole volume been published at once, 
 so that a rigid examination could have been insti- 
 tuted into its contents as a whole, and the differ- 
 ent parts brought into comparison with each other, 
 glaring inconsistencies would have been easily de- 
 tected, and objections urged which it would proba- 
 bly have been found impossible to answer. But by 
 pretending to receive his oracles in separate por- 
 tions, at different times, according as his own 
 exigencies or those of his followers required, he 
 had a ready way of silencing all cavils, and extri- 
 cating himself with credit, from every difficulty, 
 as nothing forbade the message or mandate of 
 to-day being modified or abrogated by that of to- 
 morrow. In this manner, twenty-three years 
 elapsed before the whole chain of revelations was 
 completed, though the prophet informed his dis- 
 ciples, that he had the consolation of seeing the 
 entire Koran, bound in silk and adorned with gold
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 95 
 
 and gems of Paradise, once a-year, till, in the 
 last year of his life, he was favoured with the 
 vision twice. The first part of these spurious 
 oracles were published at Mecca, the remainder 
 at Medina. The particular mode of publication 
 is said to have been this : When a new chapter 
 had been communicated to the prophet, and was 
 about to be promulgated for the benefit of the 
 world, he first dictated it to his secretary, and 
 then delivered the written paper to his followers, 
 to be read and repeated till it had become firmly 
 imprinted upon their memories, when the paper 
 was again returned to the prophet, who carefully 
 deposited it in a chest, called by him " the chest 
 of his apostleship." The hint of this sacred 
 coffer was doubtless taken from the Ark of the 
 Covenant, the holy chest of the Jewish taberna- 
 cle, in which the authentic copy of the law was 
 laid up and preserved. This chest Mahomet left 
 at his death in the care of one of his wives ; and 
 from its contents the volume of the Koran was 
 afterward compiled. The first collection and ar- 
 rangement of these prophetic relics, more precious 
 than the scattered leaves of the Sybils, was made 
 by Abubeker, but the whole was afterward 
 revised and new-modelled by Othman, who left 
 the entire volume of the Koran in the order in 
 which we now have it. 
 
 The reader will be amused by the insertion of a 
 few out of the scores of allusions with which this 
 volume abounds, to the profane and contemptuous 
 treatment shown towards the prophet at this time. 
 " The Meccans say, O thou, to whom the admo- 
 nition (the Koran) hath been sent down, thou art 
 certainly possessed with a devil : wouldst not thou
 
 96 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 have come unto us with an attendance of angels, 
 if thou hadst spoken the truth ? Answer, We 
 send not down the angels but on a just occasion."* 
 " Verily I have permitted these Meccans and their 
 fathers to live in prosperity, till the truth should 
 come unto them, and a manifest apostle : but noAV 
 the truth is come unto them, they say, this is a 
 piece of sorcery; and we believe not therein. 
 And they say, Had this Koran been sent down 
 unto some great man in either of the two cities, 
 we would have received it."t " The tune of giving 
 up their account draweth nigh unto the people of 
 Mecca. No admonition cometh unto them from 
 their Lord, but when they hear it they turn it to 
 sport. They say, The Koran is a confused heap 
 of dreams ; nay, he hath forged it." j " And the 
 unbelievers say, this Koran is no other than a for- 
 gery which he hath contrived ; and other people 
 have assisted him therein : but they utter an un- 
 just thing and a falsehood. They also say, These 
 are fables of the ancients, which he hath caused to 
 be written down ; and they are dictated unto him 
 morning and evening. Say, He hath revealed it 
 who knoweth the secrets in heaven and earth. 
 And they say, W-hat kind of apostle is this ? He 
 eateth food, and walketh in the streets as we do. 
 The ungodly also say, Ye follow no other than a 
 man who is distracted." "When our evident 
 signs are rehearsed unto them, the unbelievers 
 say of the truth, This is a manifest piece of sor- 
 cery. Will they say, Mahomet hath forged it ? 
 Answer, If I have forged it, verily, ye will not 
 obtain for me any favour from God: he well 
 
 * Ch. vi. f Ch. xliii. J Ch. xxi. Ch. XXY.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 97 
 
 knoweth the injurious language which ye utter 
 
 concerning it. 1 follow no other than what is 
 
 revealed unto me ; neither am I any more than a 
 public warner."* 
 
 But these stiff-necked idolaters were plainly 
 taught that they were not to promise themselves 
 impunity in thus pouring contempt upon the testi- 
 mony of an authorized legate of heaven. The 
 Most High himself was brought in confirming by 
 an oath the truth of his prophet's mission. " I 
 swear by that which ye see and that which ye see 
 not, that this is the discourse of an honourable 
 apostle, and not the discourse of a poet : how 
 little do ye believe ! Neither is it the discourse of 
 a soothsayer : how little are ye admonished ! It 
 is a revelation from the Lord of all creatures. If 
 Mahomet had forged any part of these discourses 
 concerning us, verily we had taken him by the 
 right hand, and had cut in sunder the vein of his 
 heart ; neither would we have withheld any of 
 you from chastising him. And verily, this book 
 is an admonition unto the pious; and we well 
 know there are some of you who charge the same 
 with imposture : but it shall surely be an occasion 
 of grievous sighing unto the infidels ; for it is the 
 truth of a certainty."* " Because he is an adver- 
 sary to our signs, I will aflflict him with grievous 
 calamities ; for he hath devised contumelious ex- 
 pressions to ridicule the Koran. May he be cursed ! 
 I will cast him to be burned in hell. And what 
 shall make tbee understand what hell is ? It 
 leaveth not any thing unconsumed, neither doth 
 it suffer any thing to escape ; it searcheth men's 
 
 * Ch xlvi f CLlxix.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 flesh ; over the same are nineteen angels appointed. 
 We have appointed none but angels to preside 
 over hell-fire." * " Verily we have prepared for 
 the unbelievers chains, and collars, and burning 
 fire."t " Verily those who disbelieve our signs 
 we will surely cast out to be broiled in hell-fire : 
 and when their skins shall be well burned, we 
 will give them other skins in exchange, that they 
 may taste the sharper torment."! 
 
 Still all his efforts were in vain either to silence 
 the demand for more obvious indications of mira- 
 culous power, or to allay the disquietude which it 
 awakened in his own mind. Accordingly, he pre- 
 tended that he did perform such miracles as his 
 adversaries called for, though, unlike the miracles 
 of scripture, they are avouched only by friends, 
 or were performed in secret. Among these, tra- 
 dition reports, that trees went forth to meet him ; 
 that water flowed from between his fingers ; that 
 the stones sainted him ; that a beam out of a wall 
 groaned at him ; that a camel complained to him 
 with an audible voice ; and that a shoulder of mut- 
 ton, of which he was about to partake, informed 
 him of its being poisoned. It ought, however, in 
 justice to be remarked, that Mahomet himself does 
 not appear to have claimed the credit of these pro- 
 digies ; they are attributed to him by some of his 
 followers, perhaps with no other reason than their 
 own credulity. 
 
 The miracle of the splitting, as it has been 
 called, is considered, perhaps with better reason, 
 to have been asserted by himself; nevertheless, it 
 may be doubted whether the only passage in the 
 
 * Ch. Ixxiv. t Ch. xi. J Ch. iv.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 99 
 
 Koran, quoted as authority, does not refer rather 
 to a stupendous sign, ushering in the day of judg- 
 ment, than to any event Avhich had taken place. 
 It is found at the commencement of the liv. chap- 
 ter, and some others : "The hour of judgment ap- 
 proacheth, and the moon hath been split in sunder ; 
 but if the unbelievers see a sign, they turn aside, 
 saying, this is a powerful charm." 
 
 Gagnier has preserved the story. It is, in brief, 
 that on being pressed by the Koreish to confirm 
 his mission by miracles, Mahomet accepted a chal- 
 lenge to bring the moon from heaven, in presence 
 of the whole assembly. He uttered his command, 
 when that luminary, full orbed, though but five 
 days old, leaped from the firmament, and, bound- 
 ing through the air, alighted on the top of the 
 Kaaba, after having encircled it by seven distinct 
 evolutions. She is said to have paid reverence to 
 the prophet, addressing him in elegant Arabic, in 
 set phrase of encomium, and concluding with the 
 formula of the Moslem faith. This done, the 
 moon is said to have descended from the Kaaba ; 
 to have entered the right sleeve of Mahomet's 
 mantle, and made its exit by the left. After hav- 
 ing traversed every part of his flowing robe, the 
 planet is said to have separated into two parts, as 
 it mounted to the air. Then these parts re- united 
 in one round and luminous orb, as before. 
 
 This story is sufficiently ridiculous : on reading 
 it, we are compelled to hesitate, whether, most to 
 wonder at the effrontery that could invent and 
 propagate it, or the credulity that could yield it 
 belief. Perhaps, the principle explaining this cre- 
 dulity, is shown in the inspired testimony concern- 
 ing other victims of falsehood and imposture. " God
 
 100 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 shall send them strong delusions that they should 
 believe a lie." 
 
 Another story of a miracle equally absurd, perhaps 
 more so, is however dwelt upon by Moslem 
 writers, in a manner sufficiently indicative of their 
 anxiety, to have their faith sustained by miracu- 
 lous evidence. Mahomet unquestionably gives the 
 authority of the Koran for this tale. " Praise be 
 unto him," he writes at the beginning of the xvii. 
 chapter, " who transported his servant by night, 
 from the sacred temple of Mecca, to the farther 
 temple of Jerusalem, the circuit of which we have 
 blessed, that we might show him some of our 
 signs." For the particulars of this wonderful 
 journey, we are indebted chiefly to the Moslem 
 writers after his time. 
 
 Abulfeda, in his life of the prophet, has detailed 
 it at length. They dispute however, whether the 
 journey were literal, or a dream, or vision ; but 
 into this dispute we are not at all inclined to 
 enter. In either case, it must be regarded as an 
 indication of bold effrontery in Mahomet, to sup- 
 pose that such an extravagant relation could ever 
 have been received by his countrymen, in evidence 
 of his high pretensions ; its being believed by any, 
 affords us but a gloomy and painful idea of either 
 the strength, or the independence of their under- 
 standings. 
 
 At the time this wonderful excursion com- 
 menced, Mahomet is represented as sleeping 
 soundly between two of the hills in the vicinity of 
 Mecca. The night was calm but dark. The 
 angel Gabriel approached and awoke him,, and at 
 once apprised him of his intended journey. He 
 was furnished with an animal which they call
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 101 
 
 Borak, a word signifying lightning ; it was the 
 animal they say, on which prophets were wont to 
 ride a nondescript of a nature partly ass and 
 partly mule, with a human face, and the body of 
 a horse. Its colour was a milky white, its mane 
 was of the finest pearls, its ears emeralds, and its 
 eyes sparkling hyacinths : its whole body, the 
 wings with which it was furnished, and its flow- 
 ing tail, bristled with the richest jewellery. Of its 
 prodigious swiftness, nothing need be said, this 
 will sufficiently appear by the tale. 
 
 Immediately that the prophet had mounted, 
 they were on the summit of Sinai, where the print 
 of Borak's hoof is still shewn by devout Arabs. 
 On this sacred spot prayers were offered ; and the 
 next instan* they were at the holy city, where 
 again devotional services were performed. Maho- 
 met met with sundry adventures; among them, he 
 was respectfully accosted by all the ancient pro- 
 phets, and by many departed saints of the Mosaic 
 economy, who acknowledged his mission and 
 readily did him honour. Borak was left tied to a 
 ring at the gate of the temple at Jerusalem, while 
 the travellers, Mahomet and Gabriel, ascended by 
 a ladder of light to the first heaven, the distance 
 of which is said to be ordinarily five hundred years 
 travel from the earth. This heaven is described 
 as a subtle vapour, with a roof of silver pendent 
 with stars, the chains of which were massive gold. 
 On the announcement of Mahomet's name, the 
 gate was immediately opened, and the travellers 
 entered, receiving the salutations of Adam, repre- 
 sented as a decrepit old man, who immediately 
 embraced him, gave God thanks for so great and 
 highly favoured a descendant, and then besought
 
 102 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 his supplications on his behalf, before the throne 
 of the Eternal. In this first heaven, angels swarm- 
 ed, all busily occupied in their several avocations, 
 some watering the clouds, some chanting hymns, 
 others discharging duties of no less importance. 
 They were of all conceivable shapes ; for as the 
 guardianship of the several orders of terrestrial 
 beings was assigned to them, each appeared in the 
 shape of the creatures, of which he was constitu- 
 ted the protector and patron. The most conspicu- 
 ous of these, was an enormous cock of milky 
 whiteness, whose head touched.the sscond heaven, 
 a distance from the first, equal to the space be- 
 tween the first and the earth. To him it pertained 
 to give the signal for angelic matins, and on his 
 crowing, it was said all the cocks of the universe 
 caught and prolonged the sound. 
 
 To the second heaven the travellers ascended, 
 by means similar to those by which they had 
 reached the first. This was of pure gold, and 
 contained a number of angels, double that of the 
 preceding mansion. Here the prophet is introdu- 
 ced to Noah, who intreats his prayers as Adam had 
 done before. Of the marvellous things of this 
 portion of heaven, Mahomet was not permitted to 
 take particular notice. The third heaven which 
 they visited, is described as of precious stones, 
 more crowded than the second with inhabi- 
 tants. David and Solomon greeted the travellers 
 here, and here they saw an immense angel called 
 the 'faithful of God,' who had a multitude of 
 others under his command. In the fourth heaven, 
 Mahomet received the felicitations of Enoch, and 
 Joseph ; and here they met with an angel of ter- 
 rible aspect, whose eyes were distant from each
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 103 
 
 other, some seventy thousand days' journey, and 
 whose mouth and throat were of such dimensions, 
 that he could as easily have swallowed seven 
 heavens, and seven earths, with all their contents, 
 as we can a common pea. No wonder that his 
 aspect Avas terrible, A large table stood continu- 
 ally before him, at which he constantly wrote ; in- 
 serting the names of all who were born, computing 
 the length of their lives, and blotting them from 
 his register, the moment they respectively filled up 
 the allotted period This angel was named Azrael, 
 or the angel of death. No smile ever lighted up his 
 dark and frowning visage, for to him it pertained to 
 make lamentations and ^ weeping for the sins and 
 calamities of men. 
 
 The fifth heaven, at the entrance of which was 
 a gate of massive silver inscribed with the Maho- 
 metan creed, was the storehouse of the wrath of 
 God. They were congratulated on their arrival at 
 this awful point in their journey, by Aaron the 
 ancient High Priest of the wilderness. The region 
 was presided over by an angel of most hideous de- 
 formity, whose look, Mahometan writers describe, 
 as enough to blast the material universe. He had 
 rolling flames set for eyes, in a face of copperas, 
 which was disfigured with wens and excrescences ; 
 around him were darts and chains of fire, in con- 
 stant preparation for rebellious sinners, and espe- 
 cially for Arabs who submitted not to the prophet. 
 In the sixth heaven, the travellers beheld an aged 
 man of venerable aspect, with shaggy hair, clothed 
 in a woollen garment, and leaning on a staff. This 
 was Moses, who saluted Mahomet cordially as his 
 brother prophet, not however without weeping
 
 ]04 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 profusely at the thought that he had induced fewer 
 of the descendants of Isaac, to acknowledge the 
 true God, and inherit the bliss of paradise, than 
 this 'Arabian boy' would of the race of Ishmael. 
 In this stage of their journey, the travellers met 
 with a prodigy before inconceivable ; an angel of 
 prodigious size, half fire, half snow ; neither of 
 these discordant elements being subdued by the 
 other. 
 
 The most marvellous part of their journey, 
 however, was yet to be performed. The presiding 
 angel of the seventh heaven, was endowed with 
 seventy thousand heads, each head having seventy 
 thousand faces, every face as many mouths, 
 seventy thousand tongues in every mouth, each 
 tongue uttering seventy thousand languages, and 
 every language being incessantly employed, in 
 praise and adoration. Such is the magnificent 
 hyperbole, by which Arabs describe the worship 
 offered to Deity. This heaven was composed of 
 pure substantial light, far above the brilliancy of 
 the sun, a fitting abode for the very highest and 
 best of all God's creatures. Here was Abraham. 
 Here also dwelt Jesus Christ, whom it may not be 
 improper to observe, Mahomet regarded as a created 
 messenger of the Most High of great dignity and 
 excellence, and here also Mahomet in all probabi- 
 lity expected to dwell. He is represented as having 
 been treated by the distinguished inhabitants of 
 this loftiest of the heavenly spheres, as on an 
 equality with the greatest of all the prophets. 
 
 At the extremity of this seventh heaven, the 
 Sedra or lotus-tree was placed, which is the ut- 
 most limit of angelic knowledge. Gabriel had
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 105 
 
 here to take leave of his fellow-traveller, com- 
 mending him to the protection of superior spirits 
 during the remainder of his journey. 
 
 Mahomet pursued his way alone, through hosts 
 of glorified cherubim, across two seas, one of 
 light, the other of darkness, passing seventy thou- 
 sand veils of separation, each five hundred years 
 journey in thickness, with an equal distance be- 
 tween them. These veils are described as of dark- 
 ness, light, water, fire, sno\V, ether, chaos; and 
 having finally passed the veils of beauty, perfec- 
 tion, omnipotence, singularity, immensity, and 
 unity, the prophet found himself in presence of 
 the eternal God ; before whose throne, surrounded 
 by a light of dazzling brightness, seventy thou- 
 sand spirits were prostrate, and on whose will and 
 power all the marvels which he had seen were de- 
 pendent. Mahomet heard the voice of God bid- 
 ding him approach, and accordingly he advanced 
 to within a few feet of the person of the Almighty. 
 As a mark of his favour, God placed his hand on 
 the prophet's shoulder, when a thrill of intense 
 cold passed over his whole frame, which, however, 
 was immediately succeeded by a sensation of inex- 
 pressible sweetness. A long and familiar conver- 
 sation then followed between the Most High and 
 his servant, in the course of which many hidden 
 mysteries were revealed. Mahomet was instructed 
 in the knowledge of the divine law, and many 
 other extraordinary privileges were conferred upon 
 him. Among the instructions he received was 
 one commanding every Mussulman to offer fifty 
 daily prayers, a number afterwards reduced to 
 five, in consideration of human weakness and in- 
 firmity.
 
 106 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 From this glorious region Mahomet returned to 
 the lotus- tree, where he had left the angel Ga- 
 briel, whom he found waiting for him. They 
 passed together through all the regions into which 
 the prophet had been introduced, till they arrived 
 at the temple of Jerusalem, where the faithful and 
 convenient Borak was waiting, and by its aid Ma- 
 homet was reconveyed to the vicinity of Mecca, 
 after an absence of no more than a very few hours. 
 
 To attempt the refutation of a fiction so grossly 
 puerile and absurd, would be almost to emulate 
 the folly of the writers who gravely represent it as 
 a fact. It may be proper to observe, that the nar- 
 ration we have given differs a little from that of 
 some Arabic writers, who also differ among them- 
 selves : we have not thought it necessary to ex- 
 amine on what grounds. The reader who is skilled 
 in Hebrew lore will trace in the account given of 
 the several heavens, a pretty close affinity to Rab- 
 binical fables, especially in the story of the cock, 
 and the enormous size of the presiding angels. 
 The Talmud also speaks of seven paradisaical 
 houses or dwellings, each house twelve times ten 
 thousand miles long, and of equal width, and of 
 limits beyond which no inhabitant of either hea- 
 ven may pass. The points of coincidence are nu- 
 merous and somewhat striking, affording, to say 
 the least, some shadow of evidence in support of 
 a generally received notion, that Mahomet was in- 
 debted for some of his reveries to the aid of a 
 Jewish Rabbi. 
 
 All devout Mussulmen regard this journey, 
 whether a vision or literal, as a most convincing 
 proof of the inspiration of their prophet. To 
 doubt it, is an error as damnable as to reject the
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 107 
 
 Koran. That it was the design of the fiction to 
 produce this idea of its author there can be no 
 question. It was invented at the time when his 
 inspiration was most doubted. It was intended 
 to stop the reasonable outcry of his enemies for 
 miracles in support of his pretensions ; and most 
 likely, also, Mahomet thought by it to sustain the 
 minds of his friends, by the assurance, that he to 
 whom they adhered was indeed an especial fa- 
 vourite God. Hitherto he had been the mes- 
 senger, merely through whom divine revelations 
 were given to the people the hand, so to speak, 
 through which Gabriel presented to them the Ko- 
 ran : now he appears as himself, the inspired ser- 
 vant of God, more favoured than even Gabriel, 
 the disbelief and rejection of whose testimony, 
 therefore, was tantamount to the rejection of God 
 himself. 
 
 The people, to whom next morning this marvel- 
 lous story was related, are said to have received it 
 with marks of general contempt and ridicule ; 
 such was its effect, that had not Abubeker, the 
 sworn friend of the prophet, come forward and 
 vouched the truth of all he had said, it is probable 
 that both he and his religion would have sunk 
 into deserved scorn. To the testimony of his 
 friend, Mahomet had the dexterity to add that of 
 the Most High. Thus in chap. liii. of the Koran, 
 he is made to say that, in this communication, 
 " Mahomet erred not, nor was he led astray." " The 
 heart of Mahomet did not falsely represent what 
 he saw ;" and somewhat frequently, as if aware of 
 the vast importance of the claim set up for the 
 prophet by this stupendous miracle, it is urged, in 
 this book, as a verity not to be questioned.
 
 108 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 The death of his generous uncle, Abu Taleb, 
 had deprived the prophet of the powerful protec- 
 tion which had hitherto kept him safe, though in 
 the very midst of his enemies. What could have 
 induced that chief to shield his nephew for so 
 long a time, it is, perhaps, impossible for us now 
 to ascertain. Probably it was in obedience to that 
 custom of inviolable fidelity which has been al- 
 ready referred to as universal among the Arabs. 
 Perhaps it was the expression of personal regard. 
 To something of this kind it must be attributed, 
 since Abu Taleb never received the faith which 
 Mahomet promulgated : the stern inflexibility of 
 the prophet may be inferred from his ceasing to 
 pour forth supplications for this beloved relative, 
 on ascertaining that he died an unbeliever. Ma- 
 homet had attended his death- bed, and unsuc- 
 cessfully urged him, in his last hours, to pro- 
 fess Islamism, adding, that he would not cease 
 to pray for him so long as God should permit 
 him the privilege of thus expressing his filial af- 
 fection and duty. This, however, was forbidden 
 in the following passage : *' It is not allowed unto 
 the prophet, nor those who are true believers, that 
 they pray for idolaters, although they be of kin, 
 after it has become known to them that they are 
 inhabitants of hell."* And Mahomet instantly 
 obeyed. He continued, however, to cherish a 
 most grateful sense of the kindness of his early 
 benefactor. 
 
 Soon after this affliction, Mahomet met with 
 another still more severe in the death of his be- 
 loved Kadijah, the wife of his youth the creator 
 
 * Ch. ix.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 109 
 
 of his fortune, and his counsellor in difficulties. 
 He had been exceedingly fond of her ; had main- 
 tained his fidelity to her inviolate, a somewhat 
 unusual thing for men of that country and age; 
 and was inconsolable at her loss. His subsequent 
 wife, an extremely beautiful and youthful daugh- 
 ter of his friend and ally, Abubeker, reproached 
 him one day with his excessive grief on account 
 of Kadijah. "Was she not old," said Ayesha, 
 with the insolence of blooming beauty ; " has not 
 God given you a younger, a better, and a more 
 beautiful wife in her place." " More beautiful, 
 truly," said the prophet, "and younger, but not 
 better. There cannot be a better : she believed in 
 me when men despised me she relieved my wants 
 when I was poor and persecuted." After her 
 death, he placed her among the four perfect 
 women. 
 
 This twofold affliction of the prophet, in the 
 loss of his uncle and his wife on the same year, 
 induced him ever afterwards to call this "The 
 Year of Mourning," by which name it is known 
 among his followers. 
 
 The unprotected apostle was now left com- 
 pletely exposed to the attacks of his enemies, and 
 they failed not to improve their advantage. They 
 redoubled their efforts to crush the pestilent he- 
 resy, with its author and abettors ; and some of 
 his followers and friends, seeing the symptoms 
 of a fiercer storm of persecution gathering, for- 
 sook the standard of their leader. In this extre- 
 mity, Mahomet perceived, that his only chance 
 of safety was in a temporary retreat from the 
 scene of conflict. He accordingly withdrew to 
 Tayef, a village situated sixty miles to the east
 
 110 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 of Mecca, where he had an uncle named Abbas, 
 whose hospitality afforded him a seasonable shel- 
 ter. Here, however, his stay was short, and his 
 prophetic labours unavailing. He returned to 
 Mecca, and boldly taking his stand in the pre- 
 cincts of the Kaaba, among the crowds of pil- 
 grims who resorted annually to this ancient 
 shrine, he preached the gospel of Islam to the 
 numerous assemblies. New proselytes again re- 
 warded his labours ; and, among the accessions 
 now made to his party from these pilgrim hordes, 
 were six of the inhabitants of Medina, then called 
 Yatreb, who, on their return home, began at 
 once to relate to their fellow-citizens the story of 
 their conversion, and to extol, in no measured 
 terms, their new religion and its apostle. This 
 circumstance gave eclat to Mahomet in the city of 
 Medina, and paved the way to a train of events 
 which tended mo - e than any thing else to promote 
 his final success. 
 
 His marrying the daughter of Abubeker had 
 strengthened his interest in Mecca; and, about 
 the same time, or perhaps somewhat earlier, he 
 also married the daughter of another powerful 
 man in that city; so that his foes had the morti- 
 fication of seeing the place of his friend and pa- 
 tron, Abu Taleb, supplied by his two. fathers-in- 
 law, both of them men of great power and influ- 
 ence.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. Ill 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Council of the Koreish against Mahomet. He conceals him- 
 self. Converts from Medina bind themselves by an oath of 
 fidelity to him and his cause. Mahomet's escape from his foes 
 in the cave of Thor. His flight and reception at Medina. 
 Gathers his converts in that city together. How he was re- 
 garded by some professed Christians. By Jews. Unites his 
 Followers. And inspires them with martial courage. Obser- 
 vations on his wars, as compared with the scripture account of 
 the wars against the Canaanites. 
 
 DEPRIVED of the domestic repose and comfort to 
 which he had been accustomed, and abandoned, 
 by the death of his generous protector and uncle, 
 to the cruelty and power of his foes, Mahomet 
 was now likely to suffer, in his own person, what 
 his less protected followers had already suffered. 
 The chief of his adversaries, Abu Sofian, a mor- 
 tal foe of the Hashemites, had succeeded to the 
 principality in Mecca, and very soon an assembly 
 of the enemies of Mahomet was called to decide his 
 fate. They were weary of the disorders which 
 had so long prevailed in their city, and alarmed 
 at the hostile feeling of the surrounding country. 
 How could they best get rid of both ? To impri- 
 son the prophet would be to excite his own enthu- 
 siasm, so that he would utter more bitter and 
 awful maledictions than he had hitherto poured 
 upon his enemies ; nor was it quite safe that the 
 common people, awakened to sympathy and com- 
 passion by the sufferings of their favourite, should 
 listen to these effusions. To banish him from the 
 city would be to send an eloquent and popular 
 fanatic throughout the provinces of Arabia, the 
 effect of whose harangues might endanger the
 
 1J2 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 already threatened power of his adversaries, and 
 probably arouse innumerable hosts against them. 
 They determined to put him to death. The time, 
 the place, the manner of executing their purpose, 
 were settled. It was agreed that a man should be 
 chosen out of each of the confederated tribes for 
 the execution of the project, and that each man 
 should have a blow at him with his sword, in or- 
 der to divide the guilt of the deed, and to baffle 
 the vengeance of the Hashemites ; as it was sup- 
 posed, that with their inferior strength they would 
 not dare, in the face of this powerful union, to 
 attempt to avenge their kinsman's blood. The 
 prophet declared that the angel Gabriel had re- 
 vealed to him the atrocious conspiracy, to which 
 he thus alludes some time afterwards : " And call 
 to mind when the unbelievers plotted against thee, 
 that they might either detain thee in bonds, or 
 put thee to death, or expel thee the city ; and 
 they plotted against thee; but God laid a plot 
 against them ; and God is the best layer of plots."* 
 The heavenly minister, however, who disclosed 
 the plot, pointed out no way of defeating it but 
 by a speedy flight. Even this chance of safety 
 had like to have been cut off through the vigi- 
 lance of his enemies. He was indebted for his 
 escape to the devoted zeal of Ali, who wrapped 
 himself in the green mantle of the prophet, and, 
 lying down upon his bed, deceived the assassins 
 who had besieged the house of his friend. The 
 Koreish respected the piety of the heroic youth, 
 so that he escaped. A few verses of his own, de- 
 scribing the feelings of this fearful hour, give an 
 
 * Koran, ch. viii-
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 113 
 
 interesting picture of his anxiety, his tenderness, 
 and his religious confidence. Could they have 
 moderated their animosity, Mahomet, abused and 
 incensed as he was, would still have heen reluctant 
 to leave the city of his birth the place of his 
 warmest affection, and in whose venerable temple 
 he, in all probability, begun to anticipate the 
 eventual triumph of his faith. He might have 
 continued tolerated by some and revered by others, 
 till the spirit of his party perhaps till his own. 
 spirit burnt feebly and faintly to a close. Per- 
 secution is always unfortunate defeating its own 
 purposes, and giving strength and consistency to 
 what it seeks to destroy. 
 
 For a considerable time Mahomet had to con- 
 ceal himself as best he could. He first retired to 
 Tayef, or Taif, a small town, about sixty miles 
 eastwards of Mecca, where he was received in a 
 manner far from cordial. The higher class of the 
 inhabitants treated him with a measure of respect, 
 but the inferior classes rose against him, and ex- 
 pelled him from their town, so that he was again 
 obliged to return to Mecca, at the imminent ha*- 
 zard of his life. 
 
 During this period of his difficulty and danger, 
 the fame of Mahomet continued to spread through 
 the towns and cities of Arabia. At the close of the 
 last chapter, it was mentioned that his cause had 
 gained converts among the pilgrims to the Kaaba, 
 from the city of Yatreb or Medina. This place, 
 about seventy miles northvyard of Mecca, and 
 therefore nearer to the countries in which Chris- 
 tianity had obtained a footing, had been distin- 
 guished by the early introduction of letters, arts, 
 and science ; and its inhabitants, composed of 
 i
 
 114 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 pagan Arabs, heretical Christians, and Jews, were 
 frequently designated as the people of the book. 
 The two principal tribes which now had posses- 
 sion of the city were the Karejites and the Aws- 
 ites, between whom a hereditary feud had, long 
 subsisted, and the disturbances occasioned by the 
 rivalry of these two tribes were enhanced by the 
 disputes of the religious factions, Jewish and 
 Christian, which distracted all classes of citizens. 
 
 The converts of Mahomet from this place had 
 not been slothful in their propagation of their new 
 sentiments. That they were both sincere and 
 successful disciples of the prophet may be inferred 
 from the fact, that in this year, the twelfth of the 
 mission, called the accepted year, twelve men came 
 to Mecca, and took an oath of fidelity to Mahomet 
 at Al Akaba, a hill on the north of that city. 
 The amount of this oath was : " That they should 
 renounce all idolatry ; that they should not steal 
 nor commit fornication, nor kill their children, as 
 the pagan Arabs used to do when they apprehended 
 they should not be able to maintain them ; nor 
 forge calumnies ; and that they should obey the 
 prophet in every thing that was reasonable." 
 When they had solemnly bound themselves to the 
 conditions of the oath, Mahomet sent one of his 
 disciples, named Masab Ebn Omair, to instruct 
 them fully in the principles and practices of the 
 new religion. Masab's mission was eminently 
 successful. Among the proselytes were Osaid 
 Ebn Hodeira, a chief man of the city, and Saad 
 Ebn Moadh, prince of the tribe of Aws ; and there 
 was scarcely a house in the city that did not num- 
 ber one or more converts. 
 
 The next year, the thirteenth of the mission,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 115 
 
 Masab returned to Mecca accompanied by seventy- 
 three men and two women, who had professed 
 Islamism, besides several who were as yet unbe- 
 lievers. The object of this deputation was to 
 proffer to the apostle an asylum, or any assistance 
 in their power, as they had learned that, from the 
 the strength and malice of his adversaries, he stood 
 in special need of auxiliaries. It was in fact a 
 political association which was proposed to be en- 
 tered into, " in which we may perceive," says 
 Gibbon, " the first vital spark of the empire of the 
 Saracens." In this secret conference with the pro- 
 phet, his kinsmen, and his disciples, vows of fealty 
 and of mutual fidelity were pledged by the parties. 
 The deputies from Medina promised, in the name 
 of the city, that if he should be banished, they 
 would "receive him as a confederate, obey him as 
 a leader, and defend" him to the last extremity, 
 like their wives and children." " But if you are 
 recalled to your country," they asked, " will you 
 not abandon your new allies ?" " All things," 
 replied Mahomet, " are now common between us ; 
 your blood is as my blood; your ruin as my 
 ruin. We are bound to each other by the ties of 
 honour and interest. I am your friend and the 
 enemy of your foes." " But if we are killed in your 
 service, what will be our reward ?" " PARADISE !" 
 replied the confident apostle. The treaty was 
 then ratified, and they separated, Mahomet having 
 first chosen twelve out of their number, who were to 
 have the same authority among them, as the twelve 
 apostles of Christ had among the disciples. 
 
 From this time, the Medinian converts looked 
 impatiently for the " arrival of Mahomet among 
 them, influenced perhaps, partly by political mo- 
 i2
 
 116 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 tives. Mecca had become great and wealthy, from 
 the number of pilgrims who resorted thither, on 
 account of its being the seat of the ancient temple 
 of their faith. Mahomet's preaching and writings 
 were beginning.to make a considerable impression ; 
 and the city that offered him an asylum, might 
 become equally great as the seat and centre of a 
 new faith. He had had repeatedly to fly for his 
 life from his native town, from the schemes of the 
 Koreish ; and now again he fled. At the dead of 
 night, the prophet left a place, where hourly he 
 expected assassination, and concealed himself for 
 some time in the caves in the neighbourhood of 
 the city. Abubeker accompanied him. In a cave 
 about a league from Mecca, called the cave of 
 Thor, they remained for three days, sustained by 
 the kind and generous devotion of the children of 
 the prophet's companion, who brought them food 
 and intelligence of what their adversaries were 
 doing. Every haunt was explored by the diligence 
 of the Koreish, who are said to have come at last 
 to the mouth of the prophet's place of concealment, 
 but to have been diverted from their design of en- 
 tering, by an artful contrivance of a pigeon's nest, 
 and a spider's web, so placed by the fugitives, as 
 to induce the suppositions that the cave was 
 empty. " We are only two," said the trembling 
 Abubeker. " There is a third," replied the pro- 
 phet. " It is God himself," and truly it does ap- 
 pear, as if the providence of the Most High at this 
 critical period, interposed for the protection of a 
 man whose genius and power were destined to 
 produce an extensive change in the history of the 
 world. 
 
 As soon as the pursuit of the Koreish had
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 117 
 
 somewhat abated, Mahomet and his companion 
 issued from the cave, on the road to Medina ; but 
 while urging their flight, they were overtaken 
 by their pursuers, from whose hands they with 
 difficulty redeemed themselves by prayers and pro- 
 mises ; and in sixteen days after leaving Mecca, 
 they approached in safety the place which was 
 destined to be the future home of Mahomet and 
 his faith. The escapes he had just experienced, 
 had the effect of strengthening his confidence in 
 God, even in the entire destitution of human re- 
 sources. " If ye assist not the prophet, verily 
 God will assist him, as he assisted him formerly, 
 when the unbelievers drove him out of Mecca, the 
 second of two when they were both in the cave ; 
 when he said unto his companion, be not grieved, 
 for God is with us. And God sent down his se- 
 curity upon him and strengthened him with armies 
 which ye saw not."* 
 
 Having halted at Koba, two miles from Medina, 
 he was met by five hundred of the citizens who had 
 gone forth for the purpose, and by whom his arri- 
 val was greeted with a cordial welcome. The pro- 
 phet, having mounted a camel, with an umbrella 
 spread over his head, and a turban unfurled in- 
 stead of a banner, made his public and solemn 
 entry into the city, which was hereafter to be sanc- 
 tified as the place of his throne. This flight of the 
 apostle of Islamism, called in the Arabic tongue 
 the HEJIRA, or more properly the HEJRA, has be- 
 come the grand era of all the Mahometan nations, 
 being employed by them for the same purposes as 
 the year of our Saviour's birth is throughout the 
 
 * Koran, ch. ix.
 
 118 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 nations of Christendom. It took place A. D. 622, 
 in the fifty-third year of the prophet's age. 
 
 The waiting adherents of the messenger of truth, 
 composed of those of his friends who had by his 
 orders fled from Mecca a short time before him, 
 and the proselytes of Medina whom he had never 
 seen, now flocked obsequiously about his person, 
 and the distinction became henceforth established 
 among his followers, of the Mohajerin, or the 
 companions of his flight, and the Ansars, or help- 
 ers ; familiar appellations for the fugitives of 
 Mecca, and the auxiliaries of Medina. "As for 
 the leaders and the first of the Mohajerin and the 
 Ansars, and those who have followed them in well 
 doing ; God is well pleased with them, and they 
 are well pleased in him ; and he hath prepared 
 them gardens watered by rivers ; they shall remain 
 therein for ever ; this shall be great felicity."* 
 
 The first care of Mahomet was to gather his 
 scattered followers into one body, and have them 
 under his immediate influence. The treatment 
 he had met with at Mecca, and the expectation 
 which he entertained, that his foes would follow 
 him anywhere, had probably made him think of 
 other means of protection, than threats of future 
 punishment and a prophet's curse. The thirty-sixth 
 chapter of the Koran, revealed at Mecca, a short 
 time previously to his departure, is charged deep 
 with his resentment. He reminds the Meccans 
 of heavy calamities endured by the inhabitants of 
 other cities, for rejecting messengers of the Most 
 High, and intimates that they mighty expect similar 
 calamities. The twenty-third chapter pertaining 
 
 * Koran, ch. ix.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 119 
 
 to the same period, pointed still more distinctly to 
 the manner in which unbelief was to be punished. 
 " Thou certainly invitest them to the right way, 
 and they who believe not in the life to come, 
 do surely deviate from that way. If we had had 
 compassion on them, and had taken off from them 
 the calamity which had befallen them, they would 
 surely have more obstinately persisted in their 
 error, wandering in confusion. We formerly chas- 
 tised them with a punishment ; yet they did not 
 humble themselves before their Lord, neither did 
 they make supplications unto him, until we have 
 opened upon them a door from which a severe 
 punishment hath issued, behold they are driven to 
 despair thereat." The prophet himself is greatly 
 exasperated, every thing he says and does is calcu- 
 lated to exasperate his folloAvers, and make them 
 familiar with an approaching struggle. His doc- 
 trines had been unavailingly preached for some 
 years, but were now to be maintained and diffused 
 by other means. His followers therefore, must 
 have a rallying point. Accordingly, almost imme- 
 diately a piece of ground was procured, on which 
 the delighted citizens soon beheld a mosque rising, 
 which however humble its pretensions, they fondly 
 imagined would rival the black temple of Mecca, 
 together with a house for the prophet's residence, 
 near to which another was added for his beautiful 
 wife Ayesha ; and subsequently others for the nu- 
 merous wives whom cupidity, lust, or ambition, 
 perhaps all combined, led the prophet to take. To 
 expedite the completion of the Mosque, Mahomet 
 laboured at its erection with his own hands, as well 
 as encouraged the builders with his powerful exhor- 
 tations, and in a short time the wish of his heart
 
 120 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 was gratified. He had a temple in which to ha- 
 rangue his followers, and to serve as a centre around 
 which they might at any moment be assembled ; 
 nor can we help admiring the sagacity which had 
 dictated this proceeding. Not only would he turn 
 the tide of pilgrimage which annually flowed in 
 the direction of Mecca, towards his own adopted 
 abode, and give an air of permanence to his under- 
 taking, in which it was previously utterly wanting ; 
 but he would infuse into the breasts of his fol- 
 lowers, the ardour and courage of men, who if 
 they fought maintained a religious war. Who 
 fight so desperately, who are so valiant as they 
 who contend not for liberty or life merely, but for 
 their religion ; their hearths and their altars being 
 involved in one common peril. 
 
 Prejudice has accused the prophet of despoiling 
 two hapless orphans of their property, to obtain the 
 ground on which to plant this symbol of the union 
 of his followers ; conduct of which he was too poli- 
 tic to be guilty, if even he had been influenced by 
 no higher motives : and as may be supposed, this 
 tale like many others, turns out on investigation to 
 be a pure invention of malignity. It is said, and 
 not without considerable likelihood, that the 
 ground on which to erect the mosque, was offered 
 to him as a gift. He was urged to accept it, and 
 doubtless had he been rapacious or cruel, he would 
 have clone so, but he insisted on paying for its ut- 
 most value. " II lui disent," says his biographer, 
 Gagnier, " apotre de Dieu nous vous le cedons 
 en pur don. Le Prophete voulut absolurnent, 
 1'acheter et Abu Becre, le paya de ses propres 
 deniers." 
 
 It has been said that certain persons at Medina
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 121 
 
 usually ranked among the Christians, united in in- 
 viting Mahomet to that city,, nor is it at all 
 improbable. Heresies symbolizing, in many par- 
 ticulars, with modern Unitarianism, or, as more 
 properly designated, with Socinianism, were ex- 
 ceedingly rife among the nominal Christians of 
 that day; and Mahomet, in his views of Christ, co- 
 incided with them. As the discussions awakened 
 by opposing views on these points ran high, and 
 sometimes issued in violence, it is likely that they 
 regarded the rising prophet as a powerful coadju- 
 tor. From a passage in the third chapter of the 
 Koran it has been inferred that the Christians of 
 this class were active in securing the reception he 
 met with, and that they were among the most 
 ready to embrace his cause. Had the Jews ge- 
 nerally regarded him, as some of their number were 
 disposed to do, as their expected Messiah, it is 
 probable that this honour would have belonged to 
 them ; but they were prevented from this, equally, 
 by his own explicit declarations, and by his con- 
 duct towards them. He had treated them with 
 respect, but some circumstances, which cannot 
 now, perhaps, be accurately ascertained, led to 
 a change in this part of his conduct. He says, 
 " Thou shalt surely find the most violent of all 
 men in enmity against the true believers, to be the 
 Jews and idolaters, and thou shalt surely find those 
 among them to be the most inclinable to entertain 
 friendship for the true believers, who say, ' We 
 are Christians.' This cometh to pass, because 
 there are priests, among them, and monks, and be- 
 cause they are not .elated with pride ; and when 
 they hear that which has been sent down unto 
 the apostle read unto them, thou shalt see their
 
 122 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 eyes overflow with tears because of the truth 
 which they perceive therein ; saying, Lord, we 
 believe ; write us down, therefore, with those who 
 bear witness to the truth : and what should hin- 
 der us from believing in God, and the truth which 
 hath come unto us, and from earnestly desiring 
 that our Lord would introduce us into paradise 
 with the righteous people ?" 
 
 This unbelief of the Jews has been attributed 
 to the prophet's altering a permission Avhich he 
 had given, that in prayer, men might direct their 
 faces, as the Jews were wont to do, towards Jeru- 
 salem. So long as this permission lasted, he was 
 supposed to be favourable to their faith, but this 
 illusion vanished, when on account of the clamour 
 of his followers, whose rooted attachment to the 
 ancient edifice at Mecca, could not be readily sub- 
 dued, he pretended that a new revelation was 
 given, directing that the Kaaba, and not the tem- 
 ple at Jerusalem, should be the Kebla or point to- 
 wards which to direct the face in prayer. An 
 earlier cause for the prophet's dislike of the Jews 
 may be assigned. Many of them had gone to 
 Mecca during the efforts of the Koreish against 
 him; and had offered to unite in their con- 
 federacy. They also were among the most urgent 
 in the demand for some miraculous proof of his 
 mission ; a demand in which they felt they were 
 strengthened by the recollections of their own pro- 
 phets ; nor is it at all unlikely, that Mahomet's pre- 
 tended miracles altogether failed to satisfy them. 
 They were not of the right kind to have this effect. 
 " They might probably expect," says Mr. Sale, 
 " that a prophet who came to restore God's true 
 religion, should rekindle for them the sacred fire,"
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. ]23 
 
 which had consumed their ancient sacrifices ; hut 
 which had heen extinguished ever since the cap- 
 tivity of their tribes in Babylon, nor would they 
 receive any pretensions which could not claim the 
 support arising from conferring this favour upon 
 them." The objections which they urged to Ma- 
 homet's mission, were furnished by a religion which 
 he acknowledged to have come from God, whom 
 he claimed as the author of his own, and were 
 therefore extremely difficult to deal with. The 
 prophet was compelled to denounce where he could 
 not argue, and to hate, and in his turn persecute 
 where he could not reason, or cajole into con- 
 formity Avith his views. 
 
 The state of society, in almost every part of 
 Arabia, divided into small independent tribes, and 
 easily excited on religious questions, rendered it 
 comparatively facile for Mahomet to assume a kind 
 of sovereignty over a people so devoted to his in- 
 terests as his Medinian converts were. In religi- 
 ous affairs, he was their acknowledged instructor, 
 and from hints which he began to pour forth, in 
 his pretended revelations, it seemed likely that 
 their temporal interests would be advanced by ac- 
 knowledging him as their leader. Still he did not 
 always succeed in obtaining implicit deference to 
 his mandates. The tribes most powerful in Me- 
 dina regarded each other with a hatred which fre- 
 quently broke forth into more than words and ges- 
 tures ; and the distinguishing epithets designating 
 those who were most forward in supporting his 
 cause, were likely to occasion considerable jarring. 
 The Ansars or Helpers was the more honourable 
 designation ; the Mohajerin or Refugees, was that 
 of dependent protected parties. These he sought
 
 124 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 to bind together by a brotherly league, not only 
 to dwell in peace and concord, i>ut to cherish one 
 another with a fraternal affection and tenderness. 
 The prophet, moreover, knowing how ineffectual 
 mere promises and leagues were, as an additional 
 tie joined them in pairs, associating together one 
 of each class. This device was effectual ; the bro- 
 therhood cemented by a holy devotion to the same 
 cause, because indissolubly close and strong ; they 
 respected their mutual obligations, and maintained 
 their fidelity to each other. It is recorded that on 
 one occasion only was this affectionate union inter- 
 rupted ; and then so stern was the fidelity by 
 which the respective parties were animated, that 
 the believing son offered to lay the head of his 
 idolatrous and offending parent at the prophet's 
 feet. 
 
 Such provisions as these, and Mahomet's care to 
 secure the fidelity of his followers, interpreted as 
 they are by subsequent events indicated approach- 
 ing conflict. They were like the first blast of the 
 trumpet of war, and were followed by louder and 
 more portentous blasts in the oracular revelations 
 which he received from above. The confidence 
 of the prophet was excited, and his hope of suc- 
 cess was strengthened by the perpetually increas- 
 ing multitudes who flocked to his standard. He 
 did not long remain the leader of a band con- 
 temptible on account of their numbers. Hundreds 
 yielded to his sway, and upon their fidelity, almost 
 any dependence might be placed. What therefore 
 he had previously only whispered in accents of 
 almost desponding fanaticism began to assume the 
 tone of certainty. The incredulity of enemies is 
 denounced as most unreasonable and criminal ;
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 125 
 
 they had raised his resentment, and the prospect 
 of revenge began to open ; " God propoundeth 
 unto men," he said, " examples," probably referring 
 to the wars undertaken by divine command against 
 the ancient idolaters of Canaan. " When ye en- 
 counter the unbelievers, strike off their heads un- 
 til ye have made a great slaughter among them, 
 and bind them in bonds ; and either give them a 
 free dismission afterwards, or exact a ransom ; until 
 the Avar shall have laid down its arms. This shall 
 ye do. Verily, if God pleased, he could take 
 vengeance on them without your assistance ; but 
 he commandeth you to fight his battles, that he 
 may prove the one of you by the other." Cow- 
 ardice, or reluctance to engage, were denounced as 
 among the greatest crimes courage as the highest 
 virtue. " As for those who fight in defence of 
 God's true religion, God will not suffer their works 
 to perish ; he will guide them, and will dispose 
 their heart aright ; and he will lead them into pa- 
 radise, of which he hath told them."* Innumera- 
 ble passages of a similar kind might be quoted 
 from the chapters revealed at Medina, nor is it to 
 be questioned, that they succeeded in raising the 
 martial spirit of his hearers to the highest pitch. 
 " The sword," says the prophet, " is the key of 
 heaven and of hell : a drop of blood shed in the 
 cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more 
 avail than two months' fasting or prayer. Who- 
 soever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven ; at the 
 day of judgment, his wounds shall be resplendent 
 as vermillion, and odoriferous as musk ; and the 
 loss of limbs shall be supplied by the wings of 
 angels and cherubim." 
 
 * Chap, xlvii.
 
 126 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 We are aware of the difficulty of assigning pre- 
 cisely the date of these effusions, but if, as is 
 most probable, they were poured forth previously 
 to his drawing the sword they must have been de- 
 signed, as unquestionably they were adapted, to 
 fire the Arabs with enthusiasm and intrepidity ; 
 nor was the hope of considerable booty wanting, 
 still further to produce this effect, since the weal- 
 thy caravans, of their more southern countrymen, 
 were continually passing the deserts of Medina, 
 and sometimes they were but poorly guarded. 
 
 It has been insinuated that Mahomet first took 
 up arms in his own defence, and by more than one 
 historian, he has been justified in seeking to re- 
 pel, or prevent the hostilities of his enemies, and 
 to exact a reasonable measure of retaliation. "The 
 choice of an independent people," says Gibbon, 
 " had exalted the fugitive of Mecca to the rank of 
 a sovereign, and he was invested with the just 
 prerogative of forming alliances, and of waging 
 offensive or defensive war."* That such a sen- 
 timent was entertained by a Mahometan does not 
 at all surprise us, nor is it marvellous that it should 
 be justified by an infidel ; if it be true, war needs 
 nothing to render it laudable, but the pretext of 
 former injuries, and the possession of power. The 
 defence set up for Mahomet, is equally availing 
 for every sanguinary and revengeful tyrant; and 
 men, instead of being bound together by the ties 
 of clemency and mutual forgiveness of injuries, 
 are transformed into fiends, watching for the op- 
 portunity of destroying each other. 
 
 The same learned and eloquent historian, with 
 
 * Decline and Fall, chap. 1.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 127 
 
 characteristic malignity against revealed religion, 
 associates Mahomet with Moses and the judges 
 and kings of Israel. "The military laws," he 
 says, "of the Hebrews are still more rigorous 
 than those of the Arabian legislator," an allegation 
 which we apprehend he would find it difficult to 
 maintain : but if it were so, in the one case there 
 was divine authority for the proceeding, which 
 was wanting in the other. Unless the fanatical, 
 unconnected, and rabid enthusiasm of the Koran 
 be entitled to equal respect with the sober, chas- 
 tened, and sanctifying revelations of the Bible, 
 we must take away from the former that solemn 
 sanction, that explicit direction which distin- 
 guished the latter. Moses, Joshua, and the pro- 
 phets, demonstrated their commission, Mahomet 
 affirmed, but could never give proof of his. It 
 will not be denied, that there is some similarity in 
 the proceedings taken in the two cases; but it 
 must be observed, that the wars of Mahomet were 
 professedly in support of his religion ; those of the 
 Israelites never contemplated making converts : 
 the one were general, against all unbelievers, ad- 
 mitting of no exception ; the other, under divine 
 direction, contemplated the punishment and over- 
 throw of particular nations only : to the one, men 
 were incited by every appeal that could be made 
 to their cupidity, their revenge, or their lust ; to 
 the other, the incentive was simply obedience to 
 the divine command. The wars in which the Is- 
 raelites engaged, were as obviously a punishment 
 upon certain idolatrous and guilty nations, as the 
 various plagues had been upon the Egyptians, or 
 the destruction of the Pentapolis upon their ill- 
 fated inhabitants ; and none will dispute the right
 
 ]28 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 of the author of our being to punish crimes against 
 himself in such manner as to him may seem best. 
 An observation of Dr. Paley on the Israelitish 
 wars is exceedingly philosophical and just. " In 
 reading the Old Testament account of the Jewish 
 wars and conquests in Canaan, and the terrible 
 destruction brought upon the inhabitants thereof, 
 we are constantly to bear in our minds that we are 
 reading the execution of a dreadful but just sen- 
 tence, pronounced by God against the intolerable 
 and incorrigible crimes of these nations; that 
 they were intended to be made an example to the 
 whole world of God's avenging wrath against sins 
 of this magnitude and this kind, sins which, if 
 they had been suffered to continue, might have 
 polluted the whole ancient world, and which could 
 only be checked by the signal and public over- 
 throw of nations notoriously addicted to them, and 
 so addicted as to have incorporated them even into 
 their religion and their public institutions; that 
 the miseries inflicted upon the nations by the in- 
 vasion of the Jews, were expressly declared to be 
 inflicted on account of their abominable sins : that 
 God had borne with them long : that God did not 
 proceed to execute his judgments till their wicked- 
 ness was full : that the Israelites were mere in- 
 struments in the hands of a righteous Providence, 
 for effectuating the extermination of a people 
 of whom it was necessary to make a public ex- 
 ample to the rest of mankind : that this extermi- 
 nation, which might have been accomplished by 
 a pestilence, by fire, by earthquakes, was ap- 
 pointed to be done by the hands of the Israelites, 
 as being the clearest and most intelligible method 
 of displaying the power and righteousness of the
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 129 
 
 God of Israel his power over the pretended 
 gods of other nations, and his righteous hatred 
 of the crimes into which they were fallen."* 
 
 Similar arguments cannot be urged in favour of 
 the wars undertaken by Mahomet, whose history 
 shows that he sanctioned fraud, perfidy, cruelty, 
 and injustice, for the propagation of his faith, 
 whose character was stained by the deliberate 
 murder of fugitives not yielding the required 
 submission, and whose numerous other vices are 
 by no means compensated by those personal and 
 social virtues which he deemed necessary to main- 
 tain the reputation of a prophet, among his fol- 
 lowers and friends. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Mahomet draws the sword contrary to his early professions- 
 Proclaims war against the Koreish. Battle of Bedr. Victory 
 attributed to God. Policy as well as piety of this. Caravan 
 surprised and taken at Nejed. Dispute about spoils. Reverse 
 of Ohod. War of the ditch or nations. Mahomet gwiltv of 
 cold-blooded murder. His wars against the Jews of the families 
 of Kainoka, Nadir, and Rhoraida. Reduction of Khaibar. 
 Motives inducing these wars. 
 
 HITHERTO Mahomet had confined himself to a 
 war of words. At Mecca he had used only the 
 milder forms of persuasion and argument in pro- 
 pagating his religion. " Warn thy people," had 
 been the direction given to him, " for thou art a 
 warner only, thou art not empowered to act with 
 authority over them." t Up to the period of his 
 
 * Paley's Sermons ; Serm. 29. f Koran, ch. 88. 
 
 K
 
 130 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 flight, he had utterly disclaimed the use of any 
 species of coercion in propagating, or of violence 
 in defending, the principles of his holy faith. In 
 numerous passages of the Koran, published at 
 Mecca, he expressly declares that his business was 
 only to preach and admonish ; that he had no au- 
 thority to compel any one to embrace his religion ; 
 and that whether people believed or disbelieved 
 was no concern of his, but a matter that belonged 
 solely to God. " We have also spoken unto thee, 
 O Mahomet, by revelation, saying, Follow the re- 
 ligion of Abraham, who was orthodox, and was 
 no idolater. Invite men unto the way of thy 
 Lord by wisdom and mild exhortation ; and dis- 
 pute with them in the most condescending man- 
 ner : for thy Lord well knoweth him who strayeth 
 from his path, and he well knoweth those who are 
 rightly directed. Wherefore do thou bear opposi- 
 tion with patience ; but thy patience shall not be 
 practicable, unless with God's assistance. And be 
 not thou grieved on account of the unbelievers." * 
 " Let there be no violence in religion." t In- 
 deed, so far was he from allowing his folloAvers to 
 resort to violence, that he exhorted them to bear 
 with meekness the injuries offered them on ac- 
 count of their faith ; and when persecuted himself, 
 chose rather, as we have seen, to quit the place of 
 his birth, and retire to a distant village than make 
 resistance. He pursued this moderate course for 
 twelve years, that is, so long as his cause was weak. 
 The revelations which he said were made to him 
 at Medina, spoke, as it has been shown, in another 
 tone. They said, " War is enjoined you against 
 
 * Koran, ch. xvi. t c ^- "
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 131 
 
 the infidels."* "Fight, therefore, against the 
 friends of Satan, for the stratagem of Satan is 
 weak." t "0 true believers, take your necessary 
 precaution against your enemies, and either go 
 forth to war in separate parties, or go forth all 
 together in a body." | And when the months 
 wherein ye shall not be allowed to attack them 
 shall be past, kill the idolaters wherever ye shall 
 find them, and take them prisoners, and besiege 
 them, and lay wait for them in every convenient 
 place." " Verily God hath purchased of the true 
 believers their souls, and their substance, promising 
 them the enjoyment of paradise on condition that 
 they fight for the cause of God : whether they slay 
 or be slain, the promise for the same is assuredly 
 due by the law, and the gospel, and the Koran." || 
 And faithfully were these precepts obeyed. Within 
 one year after the prophet's settlement at Medina, 
 he proclaimed a holy war against the Koreish, in 
 prosecuting which various ambuscades were sta- 
 tioned in the desert to annoy their commerce, and 
 to seize their caravans as they slowly pursued their 
 way through the defiles and mountain passes ; but 
 for some months his success was small. At length 
 the prophet himself headed a small band of his 
 followers on the plain of Bedr, about forty miles 
 from Mecca, which was waiting to seize a caravan 
 of that city on its return from Syria, richly laden 
 with grain, fruit, and other costly merchandize. 
 It was escorted by a few armed men, perhaps 
 thirty or forty, uncler command of his old adver- 
 sary Abu Sofian, the chief magistrate of Mecca. 
 A similar attempt under his uncle Hamza had 
 
 * Koran, ch. ii. f ch. iv. J Ibid. ch. ix. || ch. is. 
 K 2
 
 132 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 been unsuccessful, because of the numbers who 
 escorted the caravan, but here they were too few 
 to threaten much resistance or danger. Sofian, 
 who was aware of his danger, had secured pre- 
 viously to the attack a large reinforcement from 
 the city ; the prophet, however, went boldly for- 
 ward. Abu Beker, and probably the flower of his 
 disciples it is said, to the number of three hundred 
 men, accompanied him. They were but poorly 
 furnished for battle, and still worse for retreat; 
 two horses and seventy camels being all the beasts 
 they could boast to bear them to the charge, or 
 carry them beyond reach of their enemies should 
 flight be necessary. Both parties rushed fiercely to 
 the charge. The idolaters were three to one in num- 
 ber, and much the better equipped, and in a short 
 time it seemed as if the victory would be decided 
 in their favour. The prophet, seated in a wooden 
 hut or sanctuary, erected for his safety, and fixing 
 his eagle-eye upon the field of battle, most fer- 
 vently addressed God on their behalf. " Courage!" 
 he exclaimed to his soldiers ; " courage, my chil- 
 dren, and fight like men ! close your ranks, dis- 
 charge your arrows, and the day is your own ! O 
 God, execute what thou hast promised !" a prayer 
 which had respect to angelic assistance in the con- 
 flict, which he had taught his followers to expect. 
 His anxiety was evidently very great, and his 
 pleadings with the Most High exceedingly earnest, 
 till most probably because his little army was ob- 
 served to be beginning to give way, he started as 
 from a trance, and exclaimed aloud, " Triumph, 
 Abu Beker, triumph ; behold the squadrons of 
 heaven flying to our aid !" and rushing forth on his 
 horse, he placed himself at the head of his men,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 133 
 
 announcing, in a few verses of the Koran, the ar- 
 rival of the anticipated aid, and led them on with 
 ail the confidence of success. He was politic 
 enough to perceive that such a movement involved 
 his only chance of success, and the result fully 
 justified his anticipations. His own friends were 
 inflamed with renewed ardour. The Koreish, who 
 probably begun to suspect there was something 
 supernatural about him, were thrown into the ut- 
 most alarm and confusion ; the slain and the cap- 
 tives of their number affording substantial proof 
 of the victory of the Moslems. 
 
 To this victory Mahomet in his next revelation 
 refers with indications of deep humility and gra- 
 titude, " Ye have had," he says, " a miracle 
 shown you in two armies which attacked each 
 other; one army fought for God's true religion, 
 but the other were infidels ; they saw the faithful 
 twice as many as themselves in their eye-sight, for 
 God strengtheneth with his help whom he pleas- 
 eth." * " O God, who possessest the kingdom ; 
 thou givest the kingdom unto whom thou wilt, and 
 thou takest away the kingdom from whom thou 
 wilt. Thou exaltest whom thou wilt, and thou 
 humblest whom thou wilt." t Nor can we won- 
 der that with his turn of mind such should be his 
 feeling and language; for inconsiderable as this 
 action may seem to us, it was of great importance 
 to the prophet's cause. It laid the foundation of 
 his future power and success, so that it has become 
 famous in Arab annals, and is especially vaunted 
 in their sacred volume. During the action, Ma- 
 homet is said to have taken a handful of gravel at 
 
 * Koran, ch. iii. f Ibid,
 
 134 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 the instigation of Gabriel, and thrown it towards 
 his advancing foes. " Ye slew not," says the Ko- 
 ran, " those who were slain at Bedr yourselves, 
 but God slew them. Neither didst thou, O Ma- 
 homet, cast the gravel into their eyes when thou 
 didst seem to cast it ; but God cast it, that he 
 might prove the true believers by a gracious trial 
 from himself." An illusion is said to have come 
 over the eyes of the Koreish, so that Mahomet's 
 forces appeared to be double the number they ac- 
 tually were; nothing perhaps very unnatural or 
 surprising ; and to make the affair the more mira- 
 culous, one thousand, some say three thousand, 
 and others three times that number, of the hea* 
 venly host were despatched to his assistance,, who 
 really did the execution which the Mahometan 
 troops seemed to do. 
 
 It must not, however, be supposed that Ma- 
 homet's piety alone is concerned in attributing 
 this success to God. His policy has a great deal 
 to do with the language he held. The enthusiasm 
 of his little band must be inflamed they must 
 have something to compensate for the loss of 
 their companions, for fourteen of their number 
 fell, and to re-assure them in the prospect which 
 now, perhaps, increased in probability that they 
 also might fall in battle ; and what so effectually 
 would accomplish these purposes as the assurance 
 that God Avas their coadjutor, and, that if they 
 fell, to adopt the modern phrase, they fell glori- 
 ously, to inherit, as their reward, a blessedness 
 which no hand but His could give. The pro- 
 mises of Mahomet surpass by far the semi-pagan 
 promises, made in some Christian harangues to 
 men about to join in mortal strife ; and they are
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET; 135 
 
 the more consistent. A God who employed such 
 means of extending the triumphs of his religion 
 in the world, would of course be bound to reward 
 a zeal and fidelity which should lead forth his ser- 
 vants to die in his cause. 
 
 This success was followed by similar exploits ; 
 for though the Meccan merchants, to avoid the 
 annoyance and losses inflicted upon them by their 
 Mussulman adversaries, chose a different route to 
 Syria from that usually taken, they could not 
 escape. The banks of the Euphrates and the 
 shores of the Red Sea were equally hazardous. 
 A wealthy caravan was surprised by Zaid, a faith- 
 ful follower of the prophet, who had five hundred 
 cavalry under his command, and totally routed. 
 The plunder, on both occasions, was very large. 
 
 Adventurers and plunderers, whether of the 
 desert or of more civilized regions, have generally 
 fallen out with each other when their booty has 
 increased ; and such threatened to be the result of 
 the robberies committed by the successful follow- 
 ers of the prophet. Those who fought and those 
 who staid " by the stuff," as in the time of David,* 
 disputed how the spoils should be divided : the 
 former insisted that they should have the whole ; 
 the latter contended for a share. The dispute was 
 referred to the prophet, who has a revelation on 
 the subject. Some would make this revelation to 
 have come at an exceedingly convenient season. 
 One of Mahomet's friends had taken great um- 
 brage at being denied a particular sword which 
 he claimed, having himself slain its original pos- 
 sessor. " It is not mine," said the prophet^ " to 
 
 * 1 Sam. xx3k
 
 136 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 give away : place it with the other spoils." To 
 calm the indignation of this friend, Mahomet re- 
 ceives permission to divide among his followers 
 what had been taken. " You asked of me," he 
 said to his disappointed friend, " this sword when 
 I had no power to dispose of it ; hut now I have 
 received from God authority to distribute the 
 spoils, you may take it." " Know," said the ora- 
 cle to Mahomet, " that whenever ye gain any 
 spoils, a fifth part thereof belongeth unto God, 
 and to the apostle, and his kindred, and the or- 
 phans, and the poor, and the traveller ;"t a law 
 which is subsequently repealed, except that to 
 Mahomet is reserved the right of granting to his 
 military companions and followers such propor- 
 tion as he pleased. In the portion reserved for 
 distribution among the poor, especial considera- 
 tion is had of the Mohajerin, who, for the sake 
 of the faith, had left all they possessed in Mecca, 
 and had become fugitives and orphans. These 
 different laws of distribution relate, however, it 
 is said, to the spoils taken in different expeditions. 
 Under the first, so great was the booty taken, that 
 Mahomet's share of the money alone amounted to 
 from twenty to twenty-five thousand drachms. 
 
 The success of the Moslems in their predatory 
 warfare was not, however, uniform. At Bedr and 
 Nejed they had been victorious : the battle of 
 Ohod turned the tide of success in favour of their 
 adversaries. 
 
 The resentment of Abu Sofian and the citizens 
 of Mecca, for the loss and the disgrace sustained 
 in the conflicts of the preceding year, stimulated 
 
 * Ch. Till. Kor.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 137 
 
 them to undertake a new expedition against the 
 warlike apostle. The Koreisn accordingly assem- 
 bled an army of three thousand men, under the 
 command of Sofian, and proceeded to besiege 
 their enemy in the city of Medina. Mahomet, 
 being greatly inferior in numbers to the invading 
 army, determined at first to await and receive 
 their attack within the walls of the city. But the 
 ardour of his men, enkindled by the recollection 
 of their former success, could not brook restraint ; 
 they clamorously demanded to be led out to bat- 
 tle; and he unwisely yielded to their request. 
 Impelled also himself by the same spirit of rash 
 confidence, he unwarily promised them certain 
 victory. The prophetic powers of the apostle 
 were to be estimated by the event. Mahomet, in 
 every encounter, seems to have manifested, in a 
 high degree, the talents of a general. In the 
 present instance his army, consisting of about 
 one thousand men, was advantageously posted on 
 the declivity of the mountain Ohod, four miles 
 to the north of Medina. Three standards were 
 confided each one to a separate tribe, while the 
 great standard was carried before the prophet, and 
 a chosen band of fifty archers were stationed in 
 the rear, with peremptory orders to remain there 
 till commanded to the attack by Mahomet himself. 
 The Koreish advanced in the form of a crescent : 
 Kaled, the fiercest of the Arabian warriors, led 
 the right wing of the cavalry ; while Hinda, the 
 wife of Abu Sofian, accompanied by fifteen ma- 
 trons of Mecca, incessantly sounded timbrels to 
 animate the troops to the approaching conflict. 
 The action commenced by the Moslems charging 
 down the hill, and breaking through the enemy's
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 ranks. Victory or paradise was the reward pro- 
 mised by Mahomet to his soldiers, and they strove 
 with frantic enthusiasm to gain the expected re- 
 compense. The line of the enemy was quickly 
 disordered, and an easy victory seemed about to 
 crown the spirit and valour of the Moslem troops. 
 At this moment, the archers in the rear, impelled 
 by the hope of plunder, deserted their station, and 
 scattered themselves over the field. The intrepid 
 Kaled, seizing the favourable opportunity, wheeled 
 his cavalry on their flank and rear, and exclaiming 
 aloud, " Mahomet is slain !" charged with such 
 fury upon the disordered ranks of the Moslems, 
 as speedily to turn the fate of the day. The fly- 
 ing report of the death of their leader so dispirited 
 the faithful, that they gave way in every direc- 
 tion, and the rout soon became general. Maho- 
 met endeavoured in vain to rally his broken troops ; 
 he fought with desperate valour ; exposing his 
 person where the danger appeared greatest : he 
 was wounded in the face by a javelin^ had two of 
 his teeth shattered by a stone, was thrown from 
 his horse, and would, in all probability, have been 
 slain, but for the determined bravery of a few cho- 
 sen adherents, who rescued their leader from the 
 throng, and bore him away to a place of safety. 
 The day was utterly lost ; seventy of his soldiers 
 were slain, among whom was his uncle Hamza ; 
 and his reputation as a prophet and apostle was in 
 imminent peril. His followers murmured at the 
 disastrous issue of the conflict, and had the hardi- 
 hood to affirm that the prophet had deceived them ; 
 that the will of the Lord had not been revealed to 
 him, since his confident prediction of success had 
 been followed by a signal defeat. The prophet,
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET; 139 
 
 on the other hand, threw the blame on the sins of 
 the people ; the anger of the Lord had fallen upon 
 them in consequence of an overweening conceit of 
 their security, and because he had determined to 
 make trial of their sincerity. " After a misfor- 
 tune hath befallen you at Ohod, do ye say, 
 Whence cometh this ? Answer, This is from 
 yourselves : for God is almighty ; and what hap- 
 pened unto you was certainly l>y the permission of 
 God, that he might know the faithful and that he 
 
 might know the ungodly. And we cause these 
 
 days of different success interchangeably to suc- 
 ceed each other among men, that God might prove 
 those who believe, and might destroy the infidels* 
 Did ye imagine that ye should enter paradise^ 
 when as yet God knew not those among you who 
 fought strenuously in his cause ; nor knew those 
 who persevered with patience ? Verily, they 
 among you who turned their backs on the day 
 whereon the two armies met each other at Ohod, 
 Satan caused them to slip for some crime which 
 they had committed."* In order to stifle the 
 murmurs of those who were overwhelmed with 
 grief at the loss of their friends and relatives, he 
 represented to them, that the time of every man's 
 death is distinctly fixed by the divine decree, and 
 that those who fell in battle could not have 
 avoided their predetermined fate even if they had 
 staid at home ; whereas now they had obtained 
 the glorious privilege of dying martyrs for the 
 faith, and were, consequently, translated to the 
 bliss of paradise. " O true believers, be not as 
 they who believe not, and said of their brethren 
 
 * Koran, ch. iii.
 
 140 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 when they had journeyed in the land, or had been 
 at war, If they had been with us, those had not 
 died, nor had these been slain : whereas, what be- 
 fel them was so ordained. No soul can die unless 
 by the permission of God, according to what is 
 written in the book containing the determination 
 of things. Thou shalt in nowise reckon those 
 who have been slain at Ohod, in the cause of 
 God, dead : nay, they are sustained alive with 
 their Lord, rejoicing for what God of his favour 
 hath granted them."* With these miserable eva- 
 sions did he excuse the falsehood of his predic- 
 tion, and conceal the ignominy of his defeat. This 
 doctrine of fatalism, however, took a deep root 
 among his followers; and to this day the Maho- 
 metans are among its most strenuous and deter- 
 mined advocates. "No accident," saith the Koran, 
 " happeneth in the earth, nor in your persons, but 
 the same Avas entered in the book of our decrees, 
 before we created it."t 
 
 * Kor. ch. iii. 
 
 f " We had at the same time the following striking instance 
 of the frivolous appeals to the Deity among the Mahometans. 
 A man went round the caravan, crying with a loud voice, In 
 the name of God, the just, the merciful. My cup is gone from 
 me : it disappeared while I prayed at sunset (and may God 
 grant my evening prayer). To whoever may find the same, 
 may God lengthen out his life ; may God augment his plea- 
 sures, and may God bring down affairs of business on his head !' 
 This pompous appeal to heaven, and prayers for good fortune 
 to the finder of the missing utensil, were all powerless, however, 
 in their effect. The lost cup was not found ; and the consola- 
 tion then assumed was, ' God knows where it is gone ; but it was 
 written in heaven from of old.' " Buckingham's Travels in Me- 
 sopotamia, vol. i. p. 281, Lond. 1827. 
 
 " While this was going on, the author of our calamity [a ves- 
 sel had been run aground] was pacing the deck, the picture of 
 terror and indecision, calling aloud on Mahomet to assist us out
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 141 
 
 Abu Sofian, for reasons now inexplicable, did 
 not pursue the advantages he had gained on this 
 occasion. He merely gave the prophet a challenge 
 to meet him again in the field on the ensuing year, 
 which was readily accepted, although somewhat 
 more than a year elapsed before the actual renewal 
 of hostilities. 
 
 In the fifth year of the Hejira occurred the war 
 of the ditch, or, as it is otherwise termed, the war 
 of the nations ; Avhich, but for peculiar circum- 
 stances, would probably have resulted in the entire 
 overthrow of the prophet. The Koreish, in con- 
 junction with a number of the neighbouring tribes 
 or nations, many of whom were Jews, assembled 
 an army of ten thousand men, and making common 
 cause against the grand adversary of their ancient 
 religion, advanced to the seige of Medina. On 
 their approach, Mahomet, by the advice of Soliman, 
 or Salman, the Persian, whose tomb is still shown, 
 and whose memory is still cherished with pro- 
 found respect, ordered a deep ditch, or intrench- 
 ment, to be dug around the city for its security, 
 behind which he remained fortified for near a 
 month. During this period, no other acts of hos- 
 tility occurred than a few ineffectual attempts to 
 
 of the danger. His fears were not much lessened by the threats 
 thrown out by each passing tar. ' I say, Jack,' said one of 
 them, ' we '11 string you up for this ;' making his observation 
 intelligible, by pointing with one hand to the yard-arm, and 
 with the other to the neck of his auditor, at the same time 
 imitating the convulsive guggle of strangulation. When called 
 to account for his obstinacy, the pilot gave us an answer in the 
 true spirit of (Mahometan) predestination 'If it is God's 
 pleasure that the ship should go ashore, what business is it of 
 mine?'" KeppeVs Journey from India to England, in 1824, 
 p. 33.
 
 142 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 annoy each other by shooting arrows and slinging 
 stones. In the mean time, tradition says, the 
 prophet was husily employed by his arts and emis- 
 saries, in corrupting and bringing over to his in- 
 terest the leading men among the enemy, a course 
 which men who deem themselves more honour- 
 able warriors, do not scruple to pursue. Having 
 succeeded with several, he employed them in sow- 
 ing dissensions among the rest ; so that at length 
 the camp of the confederate was torn to pieces 
 with divisions, and one party breaking off after 
 another, nearly the whole army was finally dissipa- 
 ted, and the little remnant that remained, was 
 thrown into confusion and made powerless by the 
 direct visitation of an angry God. While they lay 
 encamped about the city, a remarkable tempest, 
 supernaturally excited, benumbed the limbs of the 
 besiegers, blew dust in their faces, extinguished 
 their fires, overturned their tents, and put their 
 horses in disorder, The angels, moreover, co-ope- 
 rated with the elements in discomfiting the enemy, 
 and by crying " ALLAH ACBAR !" GOD is GREAT ! 
 as their invisible legions surrounded the camp, 
 struck them with such a panic, that they were 
 glad to escape with their lives. 
 
 The prophet was not insensible to the marks of 
 the divine favour vouchsafed him in these illustri- 
 ous prodigies, nor did he fail to hold them up to 
 the consolation of his followers on subsequent oc- 
 casions. " true believers, remember the favour 
 of God towards you, when armies of infidels came 
 against you, and we sent against them a wind, and 
 hosts of angels which ye saw not."* But to what- 
 
 * Koran, ch. xxxiii.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. ]43 
 
 ever it were owing, whether to human or heavenly 
 agency, it is certain that from this time the Koreish 
 gave up all hopes of putting an end to the growing 
 power and spreading conquests of Mahomet. They 
 henceforth undertook no more expeditions against 
 him. 
 
 It is scarcely to he supposed that any man, even 
 though of lower pretensions than the prophet, 
 could pass through scenes of conflict like those 
 which have been described without having his 
 hands stained by deeds which his friends must 
 deplore. It is not given even to great minds, 
 to maintain their magnanimity unsullied through a 
 career of success, much less when that success 
 gives way to adversity. Many a man who has 
 braved an armed band, has quailed and lost his 
 self possession, where exposed to attacks of another 
 kind. This was the case with Mahomet ; Kaab, a 
 son of Al Ashraf, a Jew, indulged his satirical 
 powers at his expense, nor was he content with 
 venting his effusions among the men of Mecca. 
 Having a genius for poetry, and being inveterately 
 opposed to Mahomet, he went to Mecca after the 
 battle of Bedr,and with a view to excite the Koreish 
 to revenge, deplored in touching verses, the unhappy 
 fate of those of their brethren, who had fallen 
 while valiantly resisting a renegade prophet, with 
 his band of marauders. He afterwards returned 
 to Medina, and had the. hardihood to recite his 
 poems to the people within the walls of that city. 
 The prophet was so exceedingly provoked by the 
 audacity of the poet, who must, indeed, have been 
 possessed of the highest phrenzy of his tribe, to 
 promise himself impunity in these circumstances, 
 that he exclaimed, " who will deliver me from the
 
 144 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 son of Al Ashraf?" A certain namesake of Ma- 
 homet, the son of Mosalama, a ready tool of his 
 master, replied, " I, O prophet of Ged, will rid you 
 of him." Kaab was soon after 'murdered, while 
 entertaining one of the apostle's followers. 
 
 An excuse for this deed may perhaps be found 
 partly in the predominant features of the Arab 
 character, and partly in the effect which poetry has 
 been found in all ages capable of producing, and 
 especially among the inflammable minds of orien- 
 tals. Modern times have not been without simi- 
 lar circumstances, in some who have the reputa- 
 tion of being better men than Mahomet. 
 
 Another act of blood stains this part of his his- 
 tory, i Being informed that Sofian, the son of 
 Kaled, was collecting men for the purpose of at- 
 tacking him, he ordered Abdallah, the son Onais, 
 surnamed Dhul-Malldhrat, that is, a man ready to 
 undertake any thing, to assassinate his designing 
 foe. Abdallah obeyed the prophet's command, 
 and murdered Sofian in the valley of Orsa. He 
 immediately returned to Mahomet, who, upon 
 hearing the success of the enterprise, gave him, 
 as a token of his friendship, the cane with which 
 he usually walked. 
 
 The disputes occasioned between the Jews and 
 Moslems, by the change of the Kebla, referred to 
 in last chapter, were less readily settled than Ma- 
 homet had been accustomed to settle matters of 
 controversy among his own followers alone. He 
 had pretended to revelations on the subject ; but, 
 either, because they were mutually contradictory, 
 or because the Jews in general had little or no 
 faith in the prophet, they still contended for their 
 ancient practice of praying with their faces to-
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 145 
 
 wards Jerusalem. The odium theologicum has 
 often been found to augment as the parties ap- 
 proached each other. Arahs and Jews had 
 many things in religion in common ; perhaps, 
 this will account for their mutual intolerance. 
 The one people were obstinate, the other 
 unflinching in their demands. Mahomet fre- 
 quently took occasion to speak of the Jews in the 
 most severe and contemptuous manner in the 
 Koran, and to accuse them of crimes, such as, 
 with all their wickedness, they were never accused 
 of by Jesus and his apostles. They were charged 
 with having corrupted the oracles of truth com- 
 mitted to them, by altering some passages, and 
 expunging or stifling others ; charges but illcon- 
 ceived to conceal the deep rooted hatred with which, 
 on other accounts the prophet regarded them. A 
 considerable number of that people, denominated 
 the tribe of Kainoka, dwelt at Medina, and carried 
 on trade there, under protection of the authorities of 
 the city ; an accidental tumult arose, in which 
 they were conspicuous, and Mahomet seized the 
 occasion it offered to demand their unconditional 
 submission to his religion, or to contend with him 
 in battle. " Alas !" they replied, " we are igno- 
 rant of the use of arms, but we persevere in the 
 faith and worship of our fathers, why wilt thou 
 reduce us to the necessity of a just defence." For 
 several days the city was disturbed by the unequal 
 conflict, till at length, the importunity of certain 
 friends of the prophet obtained for the Jews the 
 very doubtful benefit of escaping without arms 
 or treasure, to implore refuge on the confines of 
 Syria. Another family, or tribe, possessing a 
 castle about three miles from Mecca, were also
 
 146 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 attacked, but their bravery obtained for them an 
 honourable capitulation, and they were permitted 
 to march forth with all the honours of war. Others 
 were less fortunate. As soon as Mahomet was re- 
 lieved from his apprehensions on account of the 
 war of the ditch, having ascertained that many 
 Jews joined with his adversaries, he marched 
 without putting his armour aside, even for a brief 
 repose, against the family of Khoraida, a race 
 who had become especially obnoxious to his wrath, 
 with the determination to extirpate them at once. 
 The intercessions of friends were in vain ; their 
 own submission to the clemency of the prophet 
 was equally unavailing. They appealed to the 
 judgment of a venerable elder, but he pronounced 
 the sentence of death upon them ; and says Gib- 
 bon, " seven hundred Jews were dragged to the 
 market-place of the city ; they descended alive 
 into the grave prepared for their execution and 
 burial, and the prophet beheld, with an inflexible 
 eye, the slaughter of his helpless enemies. Their 
 sheep and camels were inherited by the Mussul- 
 mans ; three hundred cuirasses, five hundred pikes, 
 a thousand lances, composed the most useful por- 
 tion of the spoil." 
 
 The prophet's successful troops were next di- 
 rected against the city of Khaibar, where a con- 
 siderable number of the people who had become 
 victims of his especial hatred dwelt. It was a 
 strong place, and was likely to stand out success- 
 fully against all his efforts to reduce it. At length 
 Mahomet revived the spirits of his weary and discou- 
 raged men, and by the commendations he bestowed 
 upon the impetuous Ali, who is said to have per- 
 formed at this place prodigies of valour, he aroused
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 147 
 
 their courage and emulation. The castles of the 
 place, and soon afterwards, the town, itself, were 
 reduced ; torture was employed to obtain a con- 
 fession that might lead to the detection of con- 
 cealed treasure, and when at length Mahomet 
 could gain nothing more from the unfortunate 
 inhabitants, they obtained from him a precarious 
 toleration, and the opportunity of following their 
 respective occupations, on condition of paying a 
 heavy tribute to enrich his treasury. 
 
 It must not be supposed that these wars were 
 all undertaken from religious considerations alone. 
 In part undoubtedly they were, but there were 
 other passions in the mind of Mahomet, inducing 
 them. Among th6se, it has already appeared 
 that revenge was by no means inconsiderable in its 
 influence. He and his followers, moreover, were 
 needy, and in each of these instances, a consider- 
 able booty might be anticipated as the reward of 
 their exertions. They were little more, in fact, 
 than marauding expeditions, undertaken without 
 scruple, and conducted without pity. The habits 
 of the people, and the grudge owed by the pro- 
 phet to his ancient adversaries, united to render 
 his deeds honourable, at least to Arab minds ; and 
 probably, he was anxious to inure his followers to 
 toil, to establish their confidence of success, and 
 to sharpen their appetite for spoil, ere he en- 
 gaged them in more important conflicts. It were 
 too much for even Mahomet's romantic enthusiasm 
 to suppose that he anticipated for his doctrine the 
 extensive influence and the lasting hold which it 
 has acquired ; but, unquestionably, he did begin to 
 harbour the thought of a dominion far wider than 
 that which belonged to him as the sxiccessful pro- 
 
 L2
 
 148 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 phet of Medina : Mecca must also submit. Ara- 
 bia, and the neighbouring provinces must acknow- 
 ledge his sovereignty. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Koran. Its style. Coincidences with the sacred writ- 
 ings. Design. Fundamental doctrines. The unity and pro- 
 vidence of God. The mission of Mahomet. Angels. The 
 devil. Genii. The inspired writings of the Old and New Tes- 
 taments. The resurrection and final judgment. Predestina- 
 tion or fate. Prayer. Alms. Fasting. Pilgrimage. Minor 
 precepts. Reflections. 
 
 SOME idea may be formed of the Koran as a sys- 
 tem of religion from extracts already copied, but 
 it will be expedient to give a more detailed and 
 connected view of its leading contents. 
 
 It may be proper at the outset to remark, that 
 the language in which it is written is the purest 
 Arabic, that of the tribe from which Mahomet 
 sprung. It resembled the Hebrew in many re- 
 spects, and is accounted by competent judges the 
 richest, and most energetic, and copious language in 
 the world, the classical language of India, Sans- 
 crit, only excepted. The Koran is mostly written 
 in prose, interspersed with occasional poetry and 
 rhyme. As to manner, it is exceedingly uncon- 
 nected and desultory, which may have been partly 
 the effect of design, and partly that of the differ- 
 ence of time and circumstances under which its 
 several parts were composed. The Arabic fable 
 concerning it is, that the original existed entire in 
 a volume in some part of the heavenly world. Its 
 place at first was near the throne of the Most High,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 149 
 
 from whence it was removed to the lowest heaven 
 for the purpose of being revealed by Gabriel to 
 Mahomet as occasion required ; the prophet having 
 the consolation of seeing it once every year entire, 
 bound in silk and adorned with gold and precious 
 stones, except in the last year of his life, when he 
 saw it twice. It bears abundant marks of its 
 author's acquaintance with both the Jewish and 
 Christian scriptures, the facts and doctrines of 
 which, intermingled with rabbinical fables, and 
 with the superstitions common among Jewish and 
 oriental professors of the faith of Christ of the 
 fifth and sixth centuries, are constantly referred to. 
 Some assert that in framing his book Mahomet 
 was aided by Abdia ben Salen, a Jew, and by the 
 Christian monk whose name has already been 
 mentioned, Sergius or Bahira, as he is called in 
 the western and eastern churches respectively. 
 Professor Lee traces in it many coincidences with' 
 the writings of Ephrem, a Syrian, who lived in 
 the fourth century, and was greatly esteemed on 
 account of the sanctity of his conversation and 
 manners, and the many excellent writings in which 
 he contended for various points of Christian doc- 
 trine, explained the scriptures, and unfolded the 
 duties and obligations of Christians. His works 
 were publicly read in their assemblies in Syria. It 
 is probable, therefore, that Mahomet had access to 
 them during the journeys to that country which 
 he was accustomed to make in early life. How- 
 ever this may be, it is beyond doubt that the. Ko- 
 ran owes every thing to scripture, except its spirit, 
 its manifest contradictions, its puerile follies, and 
 its superstition. The reader will observe, as this
 
 150 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 chapter proceeds, the particulars in which this 
 obligation is apparent. 
 
 Mr. Sale, whose translation of the Koran into 
 English is the most popular, and the best, reckons 
 its number of chapters at 114, of unequal lengths, 
 some revealed entire at each of the two cities in 
 which Mahomet made his abode ; the remainder 
 partly at one city, and partly at the other. To an 
 English reader their titles seem whimsical. The 
 Cow, the Bee, the Ant, the Spider, the Wrapped 
 up, the Fig, Congealed blood, the Elephant, &cz, 
 are specimens; but their titles are taken respec- 
 tively from the passage in the chapter where the 
 word occurs for the first time, it having been, it 
 was said, the first that was revealed. Every 
 chapter, except the ninth, which is wholly war- 
 like, and exhorts the believers not to keep 
 truce with an enemy, begins in the auspicatory 
 form ; " In the name of the most merciful God.'* 
 Learned Arabian doctors have not determined 
 whether this commencement be divine in the same 
 sense as other parts of the chapter, or not. " The 
 general design of the Koran," * to use the words 
 of the learned Golius, " seems to be this : To 
 unite the professors of the three different religions 
 then followed in the populous country of Arabia, 
 who for the most part lived promiscuously, and 
 wandered without guides, the far greater number 
 being idolaters, and the rest Jews and Christians, 
 mostly of erroneous and heterodox belief in the 
 knowledge and worship of one eternal invisible 
 God, by whose power all things were made, and 
 
 -;.. * Sale's PreL 4?.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 151 
 
 those which are not may be; the Supreme Go- 
 vernor, Judge, and absolute Lord of the creation, 
 established under the sanction of certain laws, and 
 the outward signs of certain ceremonies, partly 
 of ancient, and partly of novel institution, and 
 enforced by setting before them rewards and pu- 
 nishments, both temporal and eternal; and to 
 bring them all to the obedience of Mahomet as 
 the prophet and ambassador of God, who, after the 
 repeated admonitions, promises, and threats of 
 former ages, was at last to establish and propagate 
 God's religion on earth by force of arms, and to 
 be acknowledged chief pontiff in spiritual matters, 
 as well as supreme prince in temporal." For better 
 achieving this design, two fundamental doctrines 
 were necessary, and accordingly we find them at 
 the basis of the Moslem faith. One is the unity 
 of God, and the other that Mahomet was the 
 apostle or prophet of God; his decisions were 
 therefore final, and his word was law. The first 
 of these doctrines is inculcated in almost every 
 page of the Koran, in contradistinction from the 
 pagan polytheists, and from the scripture doctrine 
 of the Trinity believed by both Jews and Chris- 
 tians. Idolatry and creature worship is discarded 
 on the simple principle " that whatever rises must 
 set, whatever is born must die, and whatever is 
 corruptible must decay and perish." On this ar- 
 gument the Koran borrows a story from the Jew- 
 ish Talmud. " When the night overshadowed 
 Abraham, he saw a star, and he said, this is my 
 Lord ; but when it set, he said, I like not gods 
 which set. And when he saw the moon rising, 
 he said, this is my Lord ; but when he saw it set, 
 he said, verily if my Lord direct me not, I shall
 
 152 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 become one of the people who go astray. And 
 when he saw the sun rising, he said, this is my 
 Lord, this is the greatest; hut when it set, he 
 said, O my people, verily I am clear of that which 
 ye associate with God : I direct my face unto him 
 who hath created the heavens and the earth. I 
 am orthodox, and not one of the idolaters."* 
 " Say, God is one, the eternal God, he begetteth 
 not, neither is he begotten, and there is not any 
 one like unto him." t This doctrine of the divine 
 unity includes that of the attributes of Deity, 
 together with the all-presiding care and bounty of 
 a wise and omnipresent providence. " men of 
 Mecca," we read in the second chapter, "serve 
 your Lord who hath created you, and those who 
 have been before you : peradventure ye will fear 
 him who hath spread the earth as a bed for you, 
 and the heaven as a covering; and hath caused 
 water to descend from heaven, and thereby pro- 
 duced fruits for your sustenance. Set not up 
 therefore any equals unto God, against your own 
 knowledge. To God belongeth the east and the 
 west, he directeth whom he pleaseth into the right 
 way. God knoweth that which ye do. Whatever 
 is in heaven and on earth is God's ; and whether 
 ye manifest that which is in your minds, or con- 
 ceal it, God will call you to account for it, and 
 will forgive whom he pleaseth, and will punish 
 whom he pleaseth ; for God is almighty. Your 
 God is one God, there is no God but he; the 
 most merciful. Now in the creation of heaven 
 and earth, and the vicissitude of night and day, 
 and in the ship which saileth in the sea, loaden 
 
 * Koran, ch. vi. f Koran, ch. cxii,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 153 
 
 with what is profitable for mankind, and in the 
 rain water which God sendeth from heaven, quick- 
 ening thereby the dead earth, and replenishing 
 the same with all sorts of cattle, and in the change 
 of winds and the clouds that are compelled to do 
 service between heaven and earth are signs to peo- 
 ple of understanding; yet some men take idols 
 beside God, and love them as with the love due 
 to God ; but the true believers are more fervent in 
 love towards God." * 
 
 One of the sublimest uninspired descriptions of 
 the Most High has often been quoted from the sacred 
 chapter by writers on Mahometan matters, "God! 
 there is no God but he, the living, the self-sub- 
 sisting ; neither slumber nor sleep seizeth him ; 
 to him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on 
 earth. Who is he that can intercede with him, 
 but through his good pleasure. He knoweth that 
 which is past, and that which is to come unto them, 
 and they shall not comprehend any thing of his 
 knowledge, but so far as he pleaseth. His throne 
 is extended over heaven and earth, and the pre- 
 servation of both, is no burthen unto him. He is 
 the high and mighty." The reader of the sacred 
 oracles cannot fail to be reminded of certain pas- 
 sages in them, of which this is no feeble imita- 
 tion, t and will be convinced, that he who could 
 thus write, had imbibed no small share of the 
 poetic fire and spirit of the inspired prophets, as 
 well as copied the sublime truths they inculcate. 
 
 It would extend this volume beyond due limits, 
 were quotations of this kind to multiply as they 
 
 * Koran, ch. ii. 
 t Job xxiii. 37. Ps. cxxi., and Isa. xl. 2528.
 
 154 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 might easily do. These will be sufficient to show 
 how the Koran taught the fundamental truth of 
 the divine unity. What Moses declared to the 
 Israelites, Hear, Israel, Jehovah our God is one 
 Jehovah, is the leading doctrine of Islamism, writ- 
 ten in every page of the Koran; inscribed on every 
 altar of their devotion, and confessed by every 
 Mussulman, almost with each returning hour. 
 
 On his own mission, as the apostle of God, Ma- 
 homet speaks, with equal decision and clearness. 
 Indeed the faith of his followers everywhere is 
 expressed in the compendious formula. "There 
 is no God but God, and Mahomet is his prophet ;" 
 both parts of which are held in equal veneration. 
 It has been already seen, how anxious the Koran 
 is to establish this point, and to what pretended 
 miracles recourse was had in support of it. Once 
 fully established, it prepared for the reception of 
 any dogma, and for submission to any deity it 
 might inculcate ; for wherein could a divinely in- 
 spired prophet err ? 
 
 Other articles of the Mahometan creed will re- 
 mind the reader of articles taught in the Book of 
 God. Thus, angels both good and bad, are often 
 affirmed to exist. Their names, their abodes and 
 offices may be regarded either as rabbinical, or as 
 the creations of a bold Asiatic fancy. To Gabriel, 
 it belonged to communicate revelations. Michael 
 was the protecting angel of the Jews, Azrael, and 
 Israfil, the one the angel of death, and the other 
 the trumpeter at the general resurrection, are re- 
 peatedly introduced ; besides these, Mahomet as- 
 signs to other angelic spirits, functions and offices, 
 of great importance, in directing the aft'airs of men. 
 Some are employed in taking an account of good
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 155 
 
 and evil actions ; others watch in the chambers of 
 death, and investigate the faith of such as have 
 descended into the invisible state ; while to others 
 it pertains either to reward or punish, as the de- 
 cision on each case may require. The four angels 
 first mentioned, are spoken of as most eminently the 
 favourites of God, and on them chiefly he is said 
 to lay the cares and honours of government. Of 
 inferior spirits, every man is attended by two, 
 whose business it is to take account of his ac- 
 tions ; they are changed every day, and are there- 
 fore denominated Moakibat, or the angels who con- 
 tinually succeed one another. 
 
 To the devil. Mahomet gives a name signifying 
 despair, describing him as once filling an honour^ 
 able station near to the throne of God, from 
 which he was expelled without hope of recovery, 
 for refusing to pay homage to Adam at the divine 
 command. To his machinations, the Koran at- 
 tributes Adam's loss of Paradise. " Satan caused 
 them to forfeit Paradise, and turned them out of 
 the state of happiness wherein they had been ; 
 whereupon we [[that is God] said, get ye down, 
 the one of you an enemy unto the other, and there 
 shall be a dwelling place for you on earth, and a 
 provision for a season. And Adam learned the 
 words of prayer from his Lord, and God turned 
 unto him, for he is easy to be reconciled and 
 merciful."* 
 
 An intermediate order of beings, neither angels 
 nor devils, is admitted into the Mahometan 
 creed ; perhaps its doctrine concerning them was 
 borrowed from the Persian or Magi. We may find 
 
 * Kor. ch. ii.
 
 156 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 traces of this class of beings in all the writings of 
 the East. They are said to have been the inha- 
 bitants of the world previously to the creation of 
 Adam, the greater part of whom, falling into ge- 
 neral corruption, were driven into confinement in 
 a remote part of the earth, under the vigilant 
 guardianship of Eblis, or the devil. Some re- 
 mained in their ancient habitations till they were 
 driven by a king of Persia into the famous 
 mountain of Kaf. These beings are of grosser 
 material than angels, they eat and drink, and mul- 
 tiply and die just as men ; they are distinguished 
 by their moral character as men are ; occupy a 
 similar state of probation, and are as capable of fu- 
 ture rewards and punishments. They are called 
 Gin, or Genii by Mahometans, and are the Peri, 
 fairies, Dio, Giants, Facwiris, or fates, of other 
 oriental writers. 
 
 As to the inspired writings of the Old and New 
 Testament, Mahomet acknowledges the Penta- 
 teuch, the Psalms, and the Gospel. The Koran 
 is often affirmed to be in accordance with them, 
 and a supplementary revelation. Mahomet pre- 
 tended that they contained prophecies concerning 
 himself, claiming especially, to be the paraclete 
 or comforter, whom our Lord promised to send 
 to his followers after his ascension. " Jesus, 
 the Son of Mary, said, O children of Israel, 
 verily, I am the apostle of God sent unto you, 
 confirming the law which was delivered before 
 me, and bringing good tidings of an apostle 
 that shall come after me, whose name shall be 
 Ahmed."* And still further, to support these 
 
 * Koran, ch. bd.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 157 
 
 preposterous claims, he does not scruple to charge 
 both Jews and Christians with mutilating their 
 respective parts of the word of God. By this 
 means he contrives to render nugatory whatever 
 the Bible contains, not supported by the Koran. 
 Prophets, and heavenly instructors, he said, had 
 been sent from God to mankind in abundance. 
 His followers say there were two hundred and 
 twenty-four thousand previously to Mahomet, of 
 whom Jesus is regarded as among the greatest ; 
 but Mahomet is greater than them all. Every- 
 Avhere the Koran abounds with expressions of con- 
 tempt at the belief of those Christians who repre- 
 sented Christ as the Son of God, divine in his 
 nature, and entitled to the worship of mankind ; 
 and it is observable, that it contains nothing equi- 
 valent or akin to the great Christian doctrine of 
 atonement, except a few vague principles ex- 
 pressed in loose and unsatisfactory terms. Maho- 
 met seems to have regarded Christianity only in 
 the very imperfect and corrupted form in which 
 it was represented by the ancient Arians, and from 
 these, he separated some acknowledged notions, 
 approaching to orthodoxy, as unworthy of notice. 
 The doctrine of the resurrection, and the day 
 of judgment, are part of the faith of the Koran. 
 " Abraham said, O Lord, shew me how thou wilt 
 raise the dead. God said, Dost thou not yet believe ? 
 He answered, yea ; but I ask this, that my heart 
 may remain at ease. God said, Take, therefore, 
 four birds and divide them, then lay a part of 
 them on every mountain, then call them, and they 
 shall come swiftly unto thee, and know that God 
 is mighty and wise.* O men, if ye be in doubt 
 * Koran, ch. ii.
 
 158 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 concerning the resurrection, consider that we first 
 created you of the dust of the ground, we cause 
 that which we please to rest in the wombs, until 
 the appointed time of delivery. Then we hring 
 you forth infants, and afterwards, we permit you 
 to attain your age of full strength, and one of 
 you dieth in his youth, and another of you is post- 
 poned to decrepit age, so that he forgetteth what- 
 ever he knew. Thou seest the earth sometimes 
 dried up and barren ; but when we send down 
 rain thereon, it is put in motion, and swelleth, and 
 produceth every kind of luxuriant vegetables. This 
 showeth that God is the truth, and that he raiseth 
 the dead to life, and that he is Almighty, and 
 that the hour of judgment will surely come ; there 
 is no doubt thereof, and that God will raise again 
 those who are in their graves/'* 
 
 On the final judgment, with the respective ad- 
 judications of men, according to their character 
 we meet with language equally explicit. " On a 
 certain day we will call all men to judgment, with 
 their respective leader : and whoever shall have 
 this book given him in his right hand, they shall 
 read their book with joy and satisfaction ."t " One' 
 blast shall sound the trumpet, and the earth shall 
 be moved from its place, and the mountains also, 
 and shall be dashed in pieces at one stroke ; on 
 that day, the inevitable hour of judgment shall 
 surely come, and the heavens shall cleave in sunder, 
 and shall fall in pieces at that day, and the angels 
 shall beat the sides thereof, and eight ; shall 
 bear the throne of thy Lord on that day. On 
 that day he shall be presented before the judg- 
 
 * Koran, ch. xxii. f ch. xfii.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 15 
 
 ment seat of God, and none of your secret actions 
 shall be hidden.* He, whose balance shall be 
 heavy with good works, shall lead a pleasing life ; 
 but as to him whose balance is light, his dwelling 
 shall be in the pit of hell."t The Mahometan 
 paradise for the righteous, and hell for the wicked, 
 have been already described.^ 
 
 One other doctrine deserves to be mentioned. 
 It is that of the fixed unalterable predetermination 
 of all things. The fifth, sixth, and seventeenth chap- 
 ters of the Koran, furnish abundant and decisive 
 evidence, that this doctrine was prominent in the 
 instructions of the prophet. In the fifty-seventh 
 also we read, ' ; No accident happeneth on the 
 earth or on your persons, but the same was entered 
 into the book of our decrees before we created it : 
 verily, this is easy with God : and this is written, 
 lest ye immoderately grieve for the good which 
 escapeth you, or rejoice for that which hap- 
 peneth unto you." Indeed, one of the highest 
 excellencies in the character of a true believer, is 
 a perfect superiority, on account of this " fixed 
 fate, foreknowledge absolute," to all the ills and 
 blessings of life. The one must not depress, the 
 other must not elate. By this doctrine, chiefly, he 
 incited his followers to war. Nothing was left to 
 chance, so that there was no room for danger or 
 dismay. The same inevitable destiny that might 
 have ordained them to perish in their beds, would 
 not overtake them a moment sooner on the field 
 of death, or render their persons more insecure 
 amidst the arrows of the enemy. The lot of all 
 was determined by a fixed and resistless determi- 
 
 * Koran, Ixix. } ch. ci. J See ch. iv.
 
 160 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 nation, with this only difference the man of peace 
 departed in inglorious obscurity, the warrior fell 
 amidst the commendation of angels, with the crown 
 of martyrdom, and the joys of paradise, in their 
 highest degree, before his eyes. Down to the pre- 
 sent day, this doctrine of blind absolute fate, ren- 
 ders the Mahometan, of whatever country, reckless 
 of danger, and a passive instrument of the will of 
 his superior. 
 
 To these doctrines Mahomet added, not all at 
 once, but as occasion required, certain precepts re- 
 gulating the religious practices of his followers. 
 Among these, the most prominent is that of prayer. 
 The prophet himself used' to call prayer " the pil- 
 lar of religion, and the key of paradise," and to 
 say that there could be no good in that religion 
 which dispensed with it. He therefore prescribed 
 to his followers five stated seasons in the space of 
 twenty-four hours for the performance of their de- 
 votions. 1. In the morning, between daybreak 
 and sunrise. 2. Just after noon, when the sun 
 begins to decline from the meridian. 3. At the mid- 
 dle hour between noon and sunset. 4. Between 
 sunset and dark. 5. An hour and a half after 
 night has fully closed in. At these times, of which 
 public notice is given by the muezzins, or criers, 
 from the galleries of the minarets attached to the 
 mosques for Mahometans use no bells every 
 conscientious Moslem engages in this solemn duty, 
 either in a mosque, or by spreading his handker- 
 chief, and kneeling in any clean place upon the 
 ground. Such extreme sacredness do they attach 
 to this part of worship, and with such inten- 
 sity of spirit do they hold themselves bound to at- 
 tend upon it, that the most pressing emergency,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 161 
 
 the bursting out of a fire in their chamber, or the 
 sudden irruption of an armed enemy into their 
 gates or camps is not considered a sufficient war- 
 rant for abruptly breaking off their prayers. Nay, 
 the very act of coughing, spitting, sneezing, or 
 rubbing their skin in consequence of a fly-bite, 
 in the midst of their prayers, renders all the past 
 null and void, and obliges them to begin anew. 
 In their devotions, they make use of a great va- 
 riety of postures and gestures, such as putting their 
 hands one on the other before them, bending the 
 body, kneeling, touching the ground with their 
 foreheads, moving the head from side to side, and 
 several others, among which it is impossible to dis- 
 tinguish those enjoined by Mahomet himself from 
 those which were common among the ancient 
 Arab tribes before he arose. Still it is affirmed 
 by travellers, that, notwithstanding the scrupulous 
 preciseness of the Moslem devotions, no people 
 are more deeply tinctured with the spirit of osten- 
 tation, or love better to pray in the market-places, 
 and in the corners of the street, that they may be 
 seen of men, and obtain their praise. The Turks 
 especially, wherever they find the greatest con- 
 course of spectators, and particularly of Chris- 
 tians, are ever sure to spread their handkerchiefs, 
 whatever inconveniences may attend the location, 
 and begin their adorations. In these petitions, a 
 prominent object of request is, that God would 
 grant the blessing of dissensions, wars, and tu- 
 mults to be enkindled among Christians ; and the 
 rumours of such events are hailed as tokens of 
 his gracious answer. 
 
 The first or introductory chapter of the Koran, 
 is a form of adoration and prayer, in as frequent 
 M
 
 162 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 use among Mahometans, as the Lord's prayer 
 is among Christians. "Praise be to God, the 
 Lord of all creatures ; the most Merciful, the King 
 of the day of judgment. Thee do we worship, 
 and of thee do we beg assistance. Direct us in 
 the right way, in the way of those to whom thou 
 hast been gracious ; not of those against whom 
 thou art incensed, nor of those who go astray." 
 Certain ablutions and purifications, in imitation of 
 the Jewish rabbis, are prescribed as necessary to the 
 right performance of this duty. " true believers, 
 when ye prepare yourselves to pray, wash your faces 
 and your hands unto the elbows, and rub your 
 heads and your feet up to the ancles ;"* and though, 
 as we have seen, there were at first disputes, and 
 afterwards indulgencies, as to the point towards 
 which the face of the worshipper was to be di- 
 rected, in the second year of the Hegira all Ma- 
 hometans were ordered to pray with their faces to- 
 wards Mecca. " Turn thy face towards the holy 
 temple of Mecca, and wherever ye be, turn your 
 faces towards that place. They to whom the 
 Scripture hath been given, know this to be truth, 
 from their Lord."t Accordingly, every devout 
 Mussulman, in whatever part of the globe he may 
 reside, ascertains, as exactly as possible, the place 
 of the Kebla, and offers his devotions accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 Alms, fasting, and pilgrimage to their holy city, 
 are the remaining duties of practical piety en- 
 joined by Mahomet upon all good Mussulmans. 
 Of the first he had given beautiful examples in 
 early life ; and subsequently he collected and di- 
 
 * Koran, ch. v. f ch. ii.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 163 
 
 vided, with his own hands, what was given by his 
 followers, in obedience to his precepts, always 
 taking care of his poor relations and followers, 
 and of those who had served in his wars, and were 
 disabled in what he termed the maintenance of 
 the cause of God. " They will ask thee," it is 
 said in chapter ii. of the Koran, " what they shall 
 bestow in alms : Answer, The good which ye be- 
 stow let it be given to parents, and kindred, and 
 orphans, and the poor, and the stranger : whatso- 
 ever good ye do, God knows it. Oh, true be- 
 lievers, bestow alms of the good things which ye 
 have gained, and of that which ye have produced 
 for you out of the earth, and choose not the bad 
 thereof to give in alms, such as ye would not ac- 
 cept yourselves, otherwise than by connivance ; 
 and know that God is rich, and worthy to be 
 praised ! If ye make your alms to appear, it is 
 well > but if ye conceal them and give them to the 
 poor, this will be better for you, and atone for your 
 sins." A tenth of the revenue of every Mussul- 
 man is thus to be disposed of; and " if his con- 
 science accuse him of fraud and extortion, the 
 tenth, under the idea of restitution, must be en- 
 larged to a fifth."* To this may be added, the 
 precepts of the Koran respecting the forgiveness 
 of injuries and the returning of good for evil, 
 among his followers, to each other. A familiar 
 story, illustrative of these precepts, is told of Ha- 
 za, a son of Ali, the devoted friend of the pro- 
 phet. A slave, Avhile serving at table, inadver- 
 tently overthrew a dish of scalding broth on his 
 master ; on perceiving what he had done, the slave 
 
 * Gibbon. 
 M 2
 
 164 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 immediately fell prostrate at his master's feet, sup- 
 plicating clemency. " Paradise," said he, repeat- 
 ing a verse from the Koran, " is for those who 
 command their anger." " I am not angry," was 
 the reply. " And for those who pardon offences," 
 resumed the slave. " I pardon your offence," said 
 the astonished master. " And for those who re- 
 turn good for evil." " I give you your liberty, and 
 four hundred pieces of silver." Towards those of 
 another faith, it will have heen seen, Mahomet 
 inculcates no such clemency. His disciples are to 
 love each other, and to minister to each other's ne- 
 cessities : they are to hate implacably all the world 
 beside. " Kill the idolaters wheresoever ye shall 
 find them, and take them prisoners, and besiege 
 them, and lay wait for them in every convenient 
 place."* 
 
 Of the fasts enjoined by Mahomet, the most 
 holy was that of Ramadan, or Ramagan, so called 
 from its being continued through the month of 
 that name, which is the ninth in the order of the 
 months of the Arabic year. Of this duty, Ma- 
 homet used to say, it was " the gate of religion," 
 and that " the odour of the mouth of him who 
 fasted, is more grateful to God than that of musk." 
 An acceptable fast, according to the Moslem doc- 
 trine, includes abstinence from food, the restrain- 
 ing all the senses and members from their accus- 
 tomed gratifications, and the withdrawment of 
 the thoughts from every thing but God. The in- 
 stitution is thus announced in the Koran : " O 
 true believers, a fast is ordained you, as it was or- 
 dained unto those before you, that ye may fear 
 
 Ch. ix
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 165 
 
 God. A certain number of days shall ye fast ; 
 but he among you who shall be sick, or on a jour- 
 ney, shall fast an equal number of other days. 
 And those who can keep it, and do not, must re- 
 deem their neglect by maintaining a poor man. 
 But if ye fast, it will be better for you, if ye knew 
 it. The month of Ramadan shall ye fast, in which 
 the Koran was sent down from heaven, a direc- 
 tion unto men."* By the law of their religion, 
 therefore, the disciples of Islam are required to 
 fast, while the sun is above the horizon, during 
 the entire month of Ramadan, from the time the 
 new moon first appears, till the appearance of the 
 next new moon. Throughout that period they 
 abstain wholly from the pleasures of the table, the 
 pipe, and the harem ; they neither eat, drink, nor 
 receive any thing into their mouths during the 
 day, till the evening lamps, hung around the mi- 
 narets, are lighted by the Imam, or priest of the 
 mosque, when they are released. They then give 
 themselves, without restraint, to the pleasures of 
 the palate, and compensate, in full measure, for 
 the penance of the day by the indulgence of the 
 night. This is continued, according to the law 
 of the prophet, " till they can plainly distinguish 
 a white thread from a black thread by the day- 
 break." t when the season of self-denial commences 
 again for the ensuing day. As most of the Ma- 
 hometans, however, are not too scrupulous to 
 quell the annoyance of appetite by sleeping away 
 the hours of the day, the observance of the fast of 
 Ramadan is little more than turning day into 
 night, and night into day. As the Arabic year is 
 
 * Ch. ii, t Ibid.
 
 166 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 lunar, each month- in a period of thirty-three 
 years, falls into all the different seasons of the 
 solar year ; and, consequently, the observance of 
 the fast, when the month of Ramadan occurs in 
 summer, is rendered, by the length and heat of 
 the days, extremely rigorous and trying; espe- 
 cially as the poor are still compelled to labour dur- 
 ing the day ; and yet are forbidden, upon pain of 
 death, to assuage their thirst by a drop of water. 
 
 Other fasts are practised by Moslems, recom- 
 mended by either the example or approbation of 
 their prophet ; some of them copied from the prac- 
 tice of the Jews, and some being only perpetua- 
 tions of ceremonies -observed by the Arabs before 
 his law was propounded. They need not here 
 be particularized. 
 
 Of the pilgrimage to Mecca, though, of course, 
 this could not be enjoined till after the period of 
 Mahomet's life, with which the last chapter closed, 
 it may be expedient to say a few words, in this 
 place, that our view of his system may be com- 
 plete. The sacred edifice distinguishing that city 
 has been already described.* All the buildings 
 surrounding it, together with the ground on which 
 the whole city stands, was deemed sacred. Every 
 Mahometan, whose health and means were suffi- 
 cient, was obliged to travel thither once at least in 
 his life. From this duty women are not exempted. 
 " Proclaim," says the solemn voice, from whence 
 the Koran proceeded, " proclaim unto the people 
 a solemn pilgrimage : let them come unto thee on 
 foot and on every lean camel, arriving from every 
 distant road : let them pay their vows, and com- 
 
 * Chap. iii.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 167 
 
 
 
 pass the ancient house."* Certain ceremonies 
 were to be observed in the pilgrimage. The 
 Kaaba was to be compassed a certain number of 
 times, and in different paces, the pilgrim observ- 
 ing to run between two specified mountains, and 
 to throw stones into a particular valley. He was 
 to be clothed in a vestment, described by some 
 Arabian writers with great minuteness : life was 
 on no account to be destroyed, except in certain 
 cases which are mentioned : the pilgrims must have 
 a constant guard over their words and actions : 
 they must avoid all quarrelling or ill language 
 all intercourse with women and obscene discourse; 
 and their whole attention must be employed in the 
 good work in which they were engaged. 
 
 The object of these pages is rather history 
 than moral and religious discussion ; yet it is im- 
 possible to take even this cursory glance at a sys- 
 tem of religion, in which, though it acknowledged 
 God, the distinguishing doctrines of revealed truth 
 are rejected, without receiving an additional il- 
 lustration of the weakness and perversity of the 
 human mind, whenever it abandons, or attempts to 
 improve upon the instructions he vouchsafes. 
 " The world by wisdom knew not God," is the tes- 
 timony of an inspired apostle ; nor can we con- 
 sider either the highest flights of the heathen 
 philosophy, or the wisest and best of the instruc- 
 tions of men, who, though they owed much to 
 revelation, neither understood nor revered it with- 
 out feeling how true is this decision. Some have 
 affected that the Koran may compete with the 
 Scriptures. The idea is utterly ridiculous. " In 
 
 * Chap xxii.
 
 168 LIFE OP MAHOMET, 
 
 the spirit of enthusiasm or vanity," says Gibbon, 
 " the prophet rests the truth of his mission on 
 the merit of his book, audaciously challenges 
 both men and angels to imitate the beauty of a 
 single page, and presumes to assert that God alone 
 could dictate this incomparable performance. This 
 argument is most powerfully addressed to a devout 
 Arabian, whose mind is attuned to faith and rap- 
 ture, whose ear is delighted by the music of 
 sounds, and whose ignorance is incapable of com- 
 paring the productions of human genius. The 
 harmony and copiousness of style will not reach, 
 in a version, the European infidel ; he will peruse 
 with impatience the endless, incoherent rhapsody 
 of fable, and precept and declamation, which sel- 
 dom excites a sentiment or idea, which sometimes 
 crawls in the dust, and is sometimes lost in the 
 clouds. The divine attributes exalt the fancy of 
 the Arabian missionary ; but his loftiest strains 
 must yield to the sublime simplicity of the book 
 of Job, composed in a remote age, in the same 
 country and in the same language." 
 
 " Islamism appears," says a historian of the Ma- 
 hometan faith, " to most advantage when viewed 
 distinct from Christianity; the nearer they approxi- 
 mate, the more glaring its defects become. Esti- 
 mated as a system of deism, propagated at a very 
 benighted period and time of apostacy, comprising 
 the existence of a Supreme Being, the obligations 
 of natural religion and a future state, it shines 
 with some advantage over the wretched schemes 
 of paganism, however modified. The abolition of 
 infanticide, the encouragement given to alms and 
 charitable deeds, must be mentioned with high 
 approbation. The Koran also may lay claim to
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 169 
 
 elegance of style, but it is not an equable perform- 
 ance : it is disfigured by frequent absurdities, con- 
 tradictions, anachronisms. Yet, after all, beauty 
 of style, conceded to the utmost extent, would of 
 itself be no proof of a divine original. The mere- 
 tricious ornaments of language are rather calcu- 
 lated to mislead the judgment and excite suspi- 
 cion, being artifices which truth seeks not, and if 
 they come, arise unsought and unsolicited. The 
 Koran carries within itself decided marks of fal- 
 lacy, and may be refuted out of its own mouth ; 
 but in examining those far more ancient writings, 
 from which Mahomet has so largely borrowed yet 
 endeavours still to depreciate, it may be justly 
 affirmed, that the materials of which they are 
 composed, the divine enthusiasm, simplicity, gran- 
 deur of sentiment and figure, the moral lessons, 
 doctrines, and prophetical predictions, proclaim 
 aloud. 
 
 " ' The hand that made us, is divine.' "* 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Koran. Its civil and judicial precepts. Infanticide. 
 Laws relating to marriage. Inheritance. Usury, debts, and 
 contracts. Criminal code. Murder. Theft. Laws of evi- 
 dence. Oaths. Civil and sacred functionaries. Value of the 
 system. Its success as compared with that of Christianity. 
 
 WE cannot have a complete view of the Koran, 
 nor of the character of its author without reference 
 to its civil and judicial precepts, as well as to its 
 religion. A few pages must therefore be devoted 
 
 * Neale's History of Mahometanism, p. 131.
 
 170 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 to a consideration of these. In one point of view 
 they illustrate the genius and character of Ma- 
 homet even more than his religious doctrine they 
 exhibit more of his perspicacity and courage. His 
 religion must commend itself to esteem and con- 
 fidence its claim of a divine origin was adapted 
 to arouse attention and to strike with awe ; but 
 unless it was seen to restrain the vices which had 
 been freely indulged and to cherish the opposite 
 virtues, it would not he likely to obtain permanent 
 influence. Mahomet foresaw this and as soon 
 therefore, as he had audiences prepared to listen 
 to his instructions he began to unfold moral pre- 
 cepts, imperfect indeed, and some of them, when 
 compared with the morality of the Scriptures ex- 
 tremely corrupt and detestable, yet a vast improve- 
 ment upon every thing his countrymen had hitherto 
 acknowledged. And here we mark his moral 
 courage. He could not but be aware that the 
 restraints he imposed, and the practices he en- 
 joined would be somewhat unwelcome to a people 
 of hitherto unbridled passions. They might hazard 
 the success of his enterprise, they might awaken 
 against him hosts of adversaries still he urges 
 them. He promulges his laws under the highest 
 and holiest sanction, and directed the thunder of 
 his eloquence against the most common practices. 
 Perhaps this courage is the more remarkable from 
 the fact that his precepts are mostly prohibitory. 
 They wear the form as well as involve the sub- 
 stance of attack upon evils indulged by his coun- 
 trymen. 
 
 One of the most important of these negative 
 precepts related to an inhuman practice which all 
 historical writers attribute to the pagan Arabs,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 The birth of daughters they reckoned a great 
 misfortune their death as a great happiness ; and 
 often to free themselves from the expense of main" 
 taining them, or to avoid the disgrace of their 
 being reduced to captivity, and subjected to the 
 unbridled lust of a foe, they consigned them in in- 
 fancy or childhood alive to the grave. In this 
 horrid custom they were not singular affording 
 illustrations of the truth of the inspired testimony. 
 " The dark places of the earth are full of the habi- 
 tations of cruelty." Many a revolting spectacle of 
 this kind had been presented in the mountains 
 near the city of Mecca, in one of which, Abu 
 Dalamar, the Koreish were accustomed to con- 
 sign their female offspring to destruction. It is 
 to Mahomet's honour that he absolutely forbids 
 this practice. Several passages may be quoted in 
 proof. " Kill not your children for fear of being 
 brought to want, we will provide for them, and 
 for you, verily the killing them is a great sin.* 
 When any of them is told the news of the birth of 
 a female, his face becometh black, and he is deeply 
 afflicted ; he hideth himself from the people be- 
 cause of the ill-tidings which have been told him, 
 considering within himself whether he shall keep 
 it with disgrace, or bury it in the dust. Do they 
 not make an ill judgment.t In like manner have 
 their companions induced many of the idolaters to 
 slay their children that they might bring them 
 Qthat is the idolaters] to perdition.^ When the 
 sun shall be folded up and when the stars shall 
 fall, when the mountains shall be made to pass 
 away, when the seas shall boil, and when the 
 
 * Koran, ch. xviL f Ch. xvi. J Ch. vi.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 souls shall be joined again to their bodies ; and 
 when the girl who hath been buried alive shall be 
 asked for what crime she was put to death, and 
 when the books shall be laid open, and when the 
 heaven shall be removed, and when hell shall 
 burn fiercely, and when Paradise shall be brought 
 near, every soul shall know what it hath wrought."* 
 It is not necessary to prove that his legislation 
 on this subject was altogether original to sustain 
 the commendation of humanity, which we have 
 bestowed upon it. To his countrymen the pro- 
 hibition was new, it might be taken from the 
 book of God, to which, though they were unac- 
 quainted with it, Mahomet was not a stranger ; 
 still it was a courageous thing for him to enforce it^ 
 when by leaving the subject, or inculcating an op- 
 posite doctrine he might have secured to himself 
 immediate popularity. It must be borne in mind 
 that his denunciation of idolatrous practices, and 
 this among them, excited the first expressions of 
 the hatred of the Koreish ; still with the collected 
 authority of the moralist, the legislator, and the 
 divine, he commands the preservation of all the 
 children that may be born. Solon is on all hands 
 deemed a wise legislator, but he permitted the 
 practice of infanticide. Seneca, a philosopher 
 ranking high among ancient sages even to the 
 present day, speaks of the destruction of deformed 
 and imperfect children among the proper sacri- 
 fices, and the greatest moralist of antiquity com- 
 mends the act. Romans committed it without 
 shame ; heathens blush not at its perpetration. 
 Mahomet destroyed it with one stroke of his pen : 
 
 * Koran, cb. Ixxxi.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 173 
 
 can we refuse him the commendation of a magna-* 
 nimous and humane disposition ? 
 
 Such commendation cannot be bestowed upon 
 other parts of his civil code. The laws for in- 
 stance relating to marriage, will scarcely bear ex- 
 amination. We shall wrong him, however, by 
 judging of these laws under the influence and di- 
 rection of Christianity. They should be compared 
 not with what now prevails in civilized and 
 Christain communities, but with the practices and 
 laws previously observed among his countrymen. 
 Some judging from the practice among a few 
 of his followers, and especially among the rich 
 and influential, fancy that the prophet indulged 
 unlimited polygamy. His own practice is in fa- 
 vour of such a supposition, but the precepts of 
 the Koran are clear and decisive. No man was 
 to have more than four women, wives or concu- 
 bines, and if from this number inconvenience was 
 apprehended, advice is added, that one only should 
 be taken, which advice is generally followed by 
 the inferior and middling classes of Moslems. 
 Mahomet certainly grants indulgence to such of 
 his followers as might adopt it, their female slaves 
 within the prescribed number being placed at 
 their disposal. In pronouncing upon Mahomet's 
 allowed polygamy, however, it behoves us to re- 
 member that the ancient patriarchs of the Bible 
 indulged it ; nor does it appear to be forbidden 
 nay, it is by implication allowed, in the Mosaic 
 law. The Koran is particular in specifying the 
 degrees of relationship within which persons might 
 not marry, and in this particular it comes near to 
 the law which Christian canons prescribe. The 
 Mosaic institutions direct that younger brothers
 
 174 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 should unite with the widows of elder brothers, in 
 case there were no children; the Koran contains 
 no similar provision, most probably because Ma- 
 homet s acute and observing mind saw that this 
 was a requirement originating in a state of things 
 as to inheritance, to which the Arabs could lay 
 no claim. " Marry not women," says the prophet 
 in chapter the fourth, " whom your fathers have 
 had to wife. Ye are forbidden to marry your 
 mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters, 
 and your aunts, both on your father's and your 
 mother's side, and your brother's daughters, and 
 your sister's daughters, and your mothers-in-law, 
 and your foster sisters, and your wives' mothers, 
 and your daughters-in-law, and the wives of your 
 sons, and you are also forbidden to take to wife 
 two sisters." 
 
 Fosterage and kindred are here placed upon the 
 same footing, and generally among Musulmans 
 this doctrine is carried so far, that if two children 
 are nursed by the same foster parent, though they 
 belong by birth to different families, they are 
 thenceforth regarded as brother and sister ; matri- 
 monial connexion between them is forbidden. 
 
 Husbands are permitted by the Koran to di- 
 vorce their wives ; nor is the occasion on which 
 this is to be done always of great importance. 
 The laws of Mahomet, in this particular, assimi- 
 late very much to those of Moses perhaps they 
 were borrowed and repeated second hand. There 
 is one particular, however, in which they differ. 
 Moses permitted no man to take back a wife whom 
 he had divorced, and whom another man had 
 married. Mahomet, to check the frequency of 
 the practice, ordained, that a wife divorced for
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 175 
 
 tliree successive times, should not be taken back 
 a third time by her husband, till she had been 
 married to another man, and divorced by him. 
 The dowry of a divorced wife was to be given 
 her entire for her future maintenance. 
 
 Infidelity in the female sex, whether married 
 or otherwise, was subject to severe punishment. 
 The guilty person was to be imprisoned till death 
 released her, or till " God afforded her a way to 
 escape;" but the proof of guilt was rendered ex-' 
 tremely difficult : it must be testified by four wit- 
 nesses. This punishment as to unmarried fe- 
 males was commuted by the sonna, or traditional 
 law of the Mahometans : they were punished with 
 a hundred stripes, or a year's banishment. By 
 the same law unfaithful wives were stoned. 
 
 Mahomet's laws as to inheritance were among 
 the best he devised. He had suffered, in early 
 life, from the barbarous custom of depriving or- 
 phans of the property of their parents. His un- 
 cles had shared Abdallah's possessions among 
 them, and left him dependent on a precarious 
 charity. It was likely, therefore, that a mind 
 like his would seek to prevent the recurrence of 
 similar oppression. " Surely they who devour the 
 possessions of orphans unjustly, shall swallow 
 down nothing but fire into their bellies, and shall 
 broil in raging flames. God hath thus commanded 
 you concerning your children. A male shall have 
 as much as the share of two females ; but if they 
 be females only, and above two in number, they 
 shall have two third parts of what the deceased 
 shall leave ; and if there be but one, she shall have 
 the half. And the parents of the deceased shall 
 have, each of them, a sixth part of what he shall
 
 176 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 leave, if he have a child ; but if he have no child, 
 and his parents be his heirs, then his mother 
 shall have a third part. And if he have brethren, 
 his mother shall have a sixth part, after the le- 
 gacies which he shall bequeath and his debts be 
 paid. Ye know not whether your parents or 
 your children be of greater use unto you. This 
 is an ordinance from God, and God is knowing 
 and wise. Moreover, you may claim half of what 
 your wives shall leave, if they have no issue ; 
 but if they have issue, then ye shall have the 
 fourth part of what they shall leave, after the le- 
 gacies which they shall bequeath and the debts be 
 paid. They also shall have the fourth part of 
 what ye shall leave, in case ye have no issue ; but 
 if ye have issue, then they shall have the eighth 
 part of what ye shall leave, after the legacies 
 which ye shall bequeath and your debts be paid. 
 And if a man or woman's substance be inherited 
 by a distant relation, and he or she have a bro- 
 ther or sister, each of them two shall have a 
 sixth part of the estate : but if there be more than 
 this number, they shall be equal sharers in a third 
 part, after payment of the legacies which shall be 
 bequeathed, and the debts, without prejudice to 
 the heirs. This is an ordinance of God, and God 
 is knowing and gracious. These are the statutes 
 of God."* 
 
 Before the days of Mahomet, the property of a 
 deceased Arab was divided between such of his 
 relations as were able to bear arms the share of 
 the widow and orphan was unjustly seized and 
 taken from them ; so that these appointments fur- 
 
 * Chap, iv.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 177 
 
 nish another instance, where, in defence of what 
 was humane and right, he had the magnanimity 
 to set himself against the cupidity and oppressions 
 practised by his countrymen. It may be observed 
 in passing, that the law we have quoted on this 
 subject is an improvement upon what the Koran 
 at first prornulged ; and that among the children 
 to whom the inheritance was to descend, those of 
 slaves and concubines were on an equality with 
 the children of wives. The Arab law knew no- 
 thing of illegitimacy, except as to the offspring 
 of common prostitutes. 
 
 On the subject of usury the Koran is positive 
 and peremptory. " They who devour usury shall 
 not arise from the dead, but as he ariseth whom 
 Satan hath infected by a touch. Whoever return- 
 eth to usury, they shall be the companions of hel 
 fire they shall continue therein for ever."* 
 " Whatever ye shall give in usury to be an in- 
 crease of men's substance, shall not be increased 
 by the blessing of God ; but for whatever ye shall 
 give in alms, for God's sake, ye shall receive a 
 twofold reward." t Towards such as borrowed 
 and paid not again, Mahomet was exceedingly se- 
 vere. Every crime might be expiated by killing 
 infidels except debt and hypocrisy ; and those who 
 left this world without a sufficiency to pay their 
 just and reasonable obligations, were denied the 
 benefit of his intercessions. 
 
 The commentators of Mahometan law will not 
 allow the plea of indigence in any man who fol- 
 lows an art or calling. He must satisfy his cre- 
 ditor by working, if he cannot otherwise pay him. 
 
 * Chap. ii. ) Chap. xxx.
 
 178 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 Mahomet's laws on contracts, also, are explicit; 
 and they require that all such engagements should 
 be punctually performed. They must be made in 
 writing, and duly attested. In cases of obliga- 
 tion, the party obliged is to dictate to the scribe 
 employed the terms of the engagement doubt- 
 less to avoid extortion : and his short and beau- 
 tiful precept, applicable to all cases, is, "O be- 
 lievers, perform your contracts. If one of you 
 trust the other, let him who is trusted return what 
 he is trusted with, and fear God his Lord : and 
 conceal not the testimony ; for he who concealeth 
 it hath surely a wicked heart. God knoweth that 
 which ye do."* 
 
 The criminal code of the prophet lies within 
 a narrow compass. Reference has already been 
 made to infanticide and adultery. The provision 
 against murder has been said to reflect little praise 
 upon Mahomet, t The crime must have been fre- 
 quent among a people whose thirst for revenge 
 was among the strongest of their passions ; it may 
 be conceived that to have repressed it, Mahomet 
 ought to have legislated for a judicial inquiry, ter- 
 minating in such punishment as would have been 
 a salutary restraint upon its recurrence. Instead 
 of abolishing the practice of private revenge, he 
 subjected it to a slight regulation. " Whosoever 
 shall be slain unjustly, we have given his heir 
 power to demand satisfaetion ; but let him not 
 exceed the bounds of moderation in putting to 
 death the murderer in too cruel a manner, or by 
 revenging his friend's blood on any other than the 
 person who killed him." J This right of revenge 
 
 * Koran, chaps, v. and ii. 
 t Mills's History of Mahometanism. t Chap. xriL
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 179 
 
 in other passages Mahomet recommends to be 
 commuted for a fine. " true believers, the law 
 of retaliation is ordained you for the slain : the 
 free shall die for the free, and the servant for the 
 servant, and a woman for a woman ; but he whom 
 his brother shall forgive may be prosecuted and 
 obliged to make satisfaction, according to what is 
 just, and a fine shall be set on him with humanity. 
 This is indulgence from your Lord, and mercy." * 
 Doubtless this provision was intended to check the 
 horrible slaughter which often followed in aveng- 
 ing a single murder. It deserves commendation 
 for its clemency, especially when the state of so- 
 ciety on this particular is duly considered. Its 
 wisdom is open to exception. Ought not Ma- 
 homet to have foreseen the results ? His recom- 
 mendation has never been observed, the acceptance 
 of a sum of money in compensation for the life of 
 a friend or relative being in opposition to Ara- 
 bian maxims of honour, besides which this pro- 
 vision would make the crime light and easy to a 
 Avealthy offender. In the pentateuch, which he 
 evidently makes his model, he might have found a 
 juster law. 
 
 On theft the law of the Koran is more severe. 
 " If a man or woman steal, cut off their hands in 
 retribution for what they have committed." t Why 
 so severe a punishment should have been decreed 
 we cannot now ascertain. In this case, however, 
 as well as in every other, our remarks upon Ma- 
 hometan law must take their complexion not from 
 what prevails in communities in which the refine- 
 ments of modern civilization prevail. It is to be 
 
 * Mills's History of Mahometanism, chap. ii. f Chap. v. 
 N 2
 
 180 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 judged of rather by the practices of communities 
 of the same date with itself. Justinian's law, 
 enacted in the same century with Mahomet's, for- 
 bidding the thief to be maimed, was far more 
 reasonable. The traditional law in force among 
 Mahometans in general, limits the severe enact- 
 ment of the prophet to those cases in which the 
 thing stolen is of considerable value. Our present 
 inquiry, however, has not to do with the modifi- 
 cations which juster views may have imposed 
 upon the institutions of the Koran, but with those 
 institutions themselves. In executing this bar- 
 barous punishment for the first offence, the right 
 hand of the thief was struck off at the wrist ; for 
 the second his left foot at the ankle ; for the third 
 his left hand ; and for the fourth his right foot. 
 Robbery and murder are deemed punishable with 
 crucifixion or death in some other way, with or 
 without amputation, at the discretion of the judge, 
 a passage of the Koran which must be acknow- 
 ledged capable of another interpretation, being 
 understood to enact such a punishment. 
 
 The laws of evidence are of the highest mo- 
 ment in every juridical system. The principle 
 laid down in holy writ, and acknowledged by most 
 nations, " In the mouth of two or three wit- 
 nesses every thing shall be established," seems to 
 have been adopted by the Mahometan code. Two 
 were sufficient in any case, except that of a charge 
 of adultery, where four are indispensable to the 
 proof of the fact. Their moral character was to 
 be regarded ; and every reader of the Koran must 
 have observed how frequent and solemn are the 
 appeals made in favour of truth and righteous- 
 ness to the omnipresent, all-seeing eye of God.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 181 
 
 " Whether ye wrest your evidence, or decline giving 
 it, God is well acquainted with what ye do. O 
 true believers, observe justice when ye appear as 
 witnesses before God, and let not hatred towards 
 any induce you to do wrong. Fear God, for God 
 knoweth the innermost parts of the breasts of 
 men." * Oaths are numerous in that volume. It 
 swears by the heavens, by the earth, by every 
 thing, though God is the speaker, an indecency of 
 which Mahomet seems to be utterly insensible. 
 It however cautions against swearing by him: 
 " Make not God the object of your oaths, that ye 
 will deal justly and be devout, and make peace 
 among men." t What the oath confirming testi- 
 mony was, we have no means of ascertaining. 
 Doubtless it was in perfect harmony with a system 
 which, like the divinely inspired oracles, taught 
 the omniscience of God, and the existence of fu- 
 ture rewards and punishments. 
 
 To this brief account of the religious and civil 
 institutions of Mahomet^ a word may be added as 
 to the respective functionaries by whom they were 
 to be carried into effect. A priesthood or clergy 
 is not provided by the Koran. It is doubtful 
 whether the necessity or expediency of appointing 
 such an order ever entered the mind of Mahomet. 
 Islamism is not burdened with sacrifices : its cere- 
 monies are comparatively few and simple, designed 
 to be performed by every individual for himself. 
 The prophet was the public instructor at his own 
 mosque, and probably if he thought of other 
 mosques arising in different places, -his utmost 
 hope was that individuals v/ould easily be found 
 
 * Mills's History of Mahometanism, chap. iv. T. f Ch. ii.
 
 182 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 to read and expound his revelations in them. Such 
 in all probability, was the simple practice in his 
 time, both in the synagogue and the Christian 
 temple. Of magistrates he makes no mention : 
 tradition, however, attributes to him a saying 
 which indicates that he contemplated their ap- 
 pointment. " Whoever is appointed Cadi, suffers 
 the same torture as an animal whose throat is 
 mangled, instead of being cut with a sharp knife." 
 The saying refers to the difficulties and responsi- 
 bility of the office. This officer sits openly in the 
 mosque to hear and adjudicate causes; he must 
 be at all times accessible : justice is to be impar- 
 tially administered ; and, as a preventive of bribery, 
 he must accept of no presents, and comply with 
 no invitation to join in private parties. These, 
 however, are requirements more modern than the 
 Koran, having no other connexion with the sub- 
 ject of the present work than as tradition sanctions 
 them by Mahomet's venerable name. 
 
 That there was much in the Mahometan sys- 
 tem that was commendable will scarcely need to 
 be said, after the sketch which |has been given. 
 As compared with the Paganism prevailing among 
 the Arabs previously, it was a religion of justice 
 and mercy ; its doctrines were pure, and jits pre- 
 cepts righteous : but when compared with Chris- 
 tianity, many of whose features it attempted to 
 borrow, it sinks to a level with other false sys- 
 tems ; and, but for its wide prevalence, would be 
 beneath contempt. There was one feature distin- 
 guishing it, in common with 'some other false 
 systems of religion, that will never fail to secure 
 for it the detestation of every upright mind. It 
 was inexorably persecuting. While in its in-
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 183 
 
 fancy its author commanding but little respect, 
 an exile and a wanderer from his native home 
 this feature could not be developed ; but no 
 sooner did it rise to power, than it required reli- 
 gious unity, at the expense of justice, truth, and 
 humanity. Innumerable passages from the Ko- 
 ran might be quoted in support of this charge. 
 Mahomet's charity was confined to Moslems. His 
 demeanor was haughty and stern to all who ques- 
 tioned his inspiration : his followers are cut off 
 from intercourse with all other people, against 
 whom, if they continued infidels, a war of ex- 
 termination was decreed as the ordinance of hea- 
 ven. To promote the cause he had at heart, in- 
 trigue, falsehood, cunning, every art of deceit 
 was sanctioned. Force was his paramount law, 
 under direction of which, revenge and every bad 
 passion of the heart are unavoidably cherished. 
 The state of society under Mahometan rule, and 
 especially during the first few years after the 
 death of the prophet, accorded with this repre- 
 sentation. " Lordly pride, savageness, and fero- 
 city, must be the strong and prominent features 
 of the character of men who are influenced by a 
 religion which breathes war and persecution. The 
 stamp of divinity and eternity which Islamism 
 fixes on every institution, has preserved the prin- 
 cip 1 ^ of Asiatic despotism ; and the evils conse- 
 quent on such a state of society, are sufficiently 
 numerous and dreadful to prevent, or at least to 
 check, the practice of morality, however pure and 
 beautiful such morality may be."* 
 
 By those persons who consider success a sure 
 
 * Mills, p. 369.
 
 184 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 indication of ditine favour, Mahomet and his sys- 
 tem have sometimes been looked upon doubtfully ; 
 as if, notwithstanding glaring proofs of imposture, 
 there were something divine about the prophet 
 and the truths he taught : and infidels have not 
 been wanting, who affect to regard the success of 
 Mahometanism as a parallel, or almost a parallel, 
 with that of Christianity. A moment's considera- 
 tion will be sufficient to dispel such an illusion. 
 
 The principles and practices taught by Jesus 
 Christ were totally unlike every system of religion 
 existing when it was introduced. Mahometanism 
 studiously copied Judaism and Christianity. The 
 Saviour's doctrines acquired their influence with- 
 out adequate and powerful instrumentality : Ma- 
 homet's were the creation of a man of powerful 
 connexions, who eagerly and successfully sought 
 the support of the mighty and influential among 
 the people he sought to gain. Determined and 
 universal opposition was unremittingly offered to 
 the advance of Christian truth: Mahomet's sys- 
 tem was opposed, but the enmity was partial, and 
 its effects were prevented by his enjoying the 
 friendship and protection of men more powerful 
 than his foes. Christianity set itself against the 
 very principles and propensities of human nature. 
 It proposed to annihilate selfishness, and to in- 
 duce a noble superiority to the world upon all its 
 disciples : it rejected those in whom this effect was 
 not apparent. Mahometanism indulges these 
 principles and propensities; it furnishes present 
 and promises future gratification to them. Chris- 
 tianity, by abrogating Mosaic institutions, ren- 
 dered itself hateful to Jews ; by its assimilation to 
 the Old Testament faith, it equally became an
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 185 
 
 object of hatred to Gentiles. Mahoraetanism had 
 not these prejudices to contend against to any 
 great degree ; and where it had, it pared down, 
 and conceded, and did every thing to disarm and 
 conciliate. The Arabs, to whom Mahomet ad- 
 dressed himself, were a wild, untutored people^ 
 having, for the most part, but little stake in any 
 established modes of worship. Christ and his 
 disciples addressed the devout Jew, and the highly 
 civilized and superstitious Greek and Roman; 
 Mahomet employed worldly policy, courted civil 
 power, and everywhere wielded a sword of ter- 
 rible severity. Christianity refused all alliance 
 with civil power, and unhesitatingly declared, that 
 those who used the sword should perish with the 
 sword. Her weapons were not carnal, but spi- 
 ritual : resistance to wrong she discountenanced ; 
 and upon revenge she frowned ; meekness, sub- 
 mission, and forgiveness, were the only means of 
 withstanding evil which she prescribed. Granting 
 that the success of Mahomet and his system was 
 surprising and this we will concede it may be 
 accounted for without the direct and favouring in- 
 tervention of divine power. Christianity, in its 
 success, commands much more surprise, and 
 presents the very case to which the rule of the 
 poet applies 
 
 " Nee Dens intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus 
 Incident." 
 
 The one is the success of a bold and skilful inno- 
 vator ; the other is manifestly the operation of the 
 Most High. 
 
 As a religionist, Mahomet could only either 
 frame a new system, or graft all that was peculiar 
 to him on old systems already possessed of weight
 
 186 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 and credibility. He chose the latter alternative. 
 " Had he formed a new plan, comprising the unity 
 of the Deity, probably we should not have heard 
 of him at this day, otherwise than as the leader 
 of an obscure sect ; but he had materials at hand 
 far superior to what Lycurgus or others possessed, 
 and penetration and sagacity to employ them in 
 the way best calculated to promote his wicked and 
 ambitious designs. The claims of Christianity 
 and Judaism were recognised to a far greater ex- 
 tent than mere superstition ever influenced ; he 
 chose higher ground, therefore, and wielded wea- 
 pons more formidable than had ever been tried by 
 mortal hands before : by transfusing a certain por- 
 tion of Christianity into the Koran, he cast, as it 
 were, a vivifying principle into the otherwise dull, 
 inert mass, giving it a plausibility and consistence 
 sufficient to pass at a dark, benighted period, be- 
 fore printing was discovered, while knowledge 
 was at a low ebb, and access to sources of infor- 
 mation difficult. The aid thus obtained, proved 
 a passport and introduction into many places 
 where some knowledge of Christianity and Juda- 
 ism had previously entered. The natural discern- 
 ment of Mahomet comprehended the full extent 
 and superior efficacy of such a plan ; and, in ad- 
 dition to the superstition of his countrymen, he en- 
 listed the most powerful auxiliaries that could be 
 employed in any cause. By this deep and politic 
 mode of procedure he laid the foundation of a 
 dominion, composed indeed of heterogeneous ma- 
 terials, but kept together by the power of the 
 sword, and likely to continue so, till the superior 
 force of truth, slow, yet sure in its progress,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 187 
 
 should overthrow and reduce the motley fabric to 
 its original insignificance.* 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Mahomet thinks of gaining possession of Mecca. His pil- 
 grimage thither. Opposition of its inhabitants. His truce with 
 them. He violates it, and conquers the city. Other tribes of 
 Arabs subdued. The prophet meditates the conquest of Syria. 
 A rival prophet, and his fate. Mahomet's life attempted by 
 poison. His illness. The prodigious increase of his cause. 
 Mahomet's death. 
 
 BEFORE reducing the Jewish tribes mentioned in 
 a preceding chapter, Mahomet began to turn his 
 attention more undividedly to the object of his 
 supreme solicitude, the possession of the city of 
 Mecca, and its ancient temple. The Koreish had 
 felt in many battles his increasing power ; they 
 beheld with dismay his numerous conquests and 
 listened, perhaps, with affected contempt, but with 
 real terror to his rising pretensions. He sought 
 civil as well as religious supremacy. 
 
 In the sixth year of the Hejira, with fourteen 
 hundred men, he undertook what he declared to 
 be a peaceful pilgrimage to the holy temple of 
 Mecca. The inhabitants were jealous of his in- 
 tentions, as they had abundant reason to be. What 
 he chose to describe as purely a religious visit, was 
 in all probability a hostile demonstration. Their 
 own conduct towards him and his followers in 
 times past, they must have regarded as entitling 
 him to vengeance, if it could be exacted ; so 
 
 * Neale's History of Mahometanism, p. 63.
 
 188 
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 that while he halted at Hodeibiya, to despatch an 
 emissary to the city to announce his intention, 
 the Koreish came to a determination to refuse 
 him admittance, and sent him word, that if he 
 entered, it must be by forcing his way at the point 
 of the sword. Upon this intelligence, the warlike 
 pilgrim called his men together, and it was re- 
 solved to attack the city. The Meccans, in the 
 mean time, haying more accurately measured their 
 strength, or estimated their policy, and having 
 been, besides, somewhat wrought upon by an un- 
 expected act of clemency on the part of Mahomet, 
 in pardoning and dismissing eighty prisoners of 
 their fellow-citizens, who had fallen into his hands, 
 altered their purpose of resistance, and sent an 
 ambassador to his camp to confer upon terms of 
 peace. Some umbrage was given to the Moslems 
 by the facility with which their leader waived the 
 title of Apostle of God,* but the result was the 
 concluding of a truce of ten years, in which it was 
 stipulated, that the'prophet and his followers should 
 have free access to the city and temple whenever 
 they pleased, provided they came unarmed as be- 
 fitted pilgrims, and remained not above three days 
 at a time. In the 48th chapter of the Koran, en- 
 
 * " In wording the treaty, when the prophet ordered All to 
 begin with the form, In the name of the most merciful God, 
 the Meccans objected to it, and insisted that he should begin 
 with this, In thy name, O God ; which Mahomet submitted to, 
 and proceeded to dictate ; These are the conditions on which 
 Mahomet, the apostle of God, has made peace with those of 
 Mecca. To this Sohail again objected, saying, If we had ac- 
 knowledged thee to be the apostle of God, we had not given 
 thee any opposition. Whereupon Mahomet ordered Aii to 
 write as Sohail desired, These are the conditions which Ma- 
 homet, the son of Abdallah," &c. Safe's Koran, vol. ii. p. 384, 
 note.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 189 
 
 titled " The Victory," the prophet thus alludes to 
 the events of this expedition ; "If the unbelieving 
 Meccans had fought against you, verily they had 
 tnrned their backs ; and they would not have 
 found a patron or protector ; according to the or- 
 dinance of God, which hath been put in execution 
 heretofore against the opposers of the prophets. 
 It was he who restrained their hands from you, 
 and your hands from them, in the valley of Mecca." 
 The entrance into the sacred city on this occasion 
 is vaunted of by Mahomet as the fulfilment of a 
 prophetic dream. " Now hath God in truth verified 
 unto his apostle the vision, wherein he said, Ye 
 shall surely enter the holy temple of Mecca, if 
 God please, in full security." 
 
 This event tended greatly to confirm the power 
 of Mahomet, and not long after, he was solemnly 
 inaugurated and invested with the authority of a 
 king by his principal men. With the royal dignity 
 he associated that of supreme pontiff of his reli- 
 gion, and thus became at once the king and priest 
 of his Moslem followers, whose numbers had by 
 this time swelled to a large amount. So intense 
 had their devotion to their leader become, that 
 even the hairs that dropped from his head, and 
 the water in which he washed himself, were care- 
 fully collected and preserved, as partaking of su- 
 perhuman virtue. A deputy, sent from another 
 city of Arabia to Medina to treat with him, beheld 
 with astonishment the blind and unbounded vene- 
 ration of his votaries. " I have seen," said he, 
 " the Chosroes of Persia, and the Caesar of Rome, 
 but never did I behold a king among his subjects 
 like Mahomet among his companions." 
 
 "With this new addition to his nominal authority,
 
 190 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 he began to assume more of the pomp and parade 
 due to'his rank. After the erection of the mosque 
 at Medina, in which the prophet himself officiated 
 as leader of the worship, he had for a long time 
 no other convenience in the way of stand, desk, or 
 pulpit, than the trunk of a palm-tree fixed per- 
 pendicularly in the ground, on the top of which 
 he was accustomed to lean'while preaching. This 
 was now become too mean, and by the advice of 
 one of his wives he caused a pulpit to be con- 
 structed, with a seat and two steps attached to it, 
 which he henceforth made use of instead of the 
 palm-trunk called the " beam." The beam, how- 
 ever, was loath to be deprived of its honour, and 
 the dealers in the marvellous among his followers 
 say, that it gave an audible groan of regret when 
 the prophet left it. Othman Ebn Affan, one of 
 Mahomet's successors, hung this pulpit with tapes- 
 try, and Moawiyah, another, raised it to a greater 
 height by adding six steps more, in imitation, 
 perhaps, of the ivory throne" of Solomon, and in 
 this form it is said to be preserved and shown at 
 the present day, as a holy relic, in the mosque of 
 Medina. 
 
 It ill-suited the prophet's idea of himself as the 
 special delegate of the Most High, and was, more- 
 over, but an imperfect proof of his power, and un- 
 satisfactory to his followers, that he could enter 
 Mecca only by sufferance of its powerful inhabi- 
 tants. Within a short time therefore, during 
 which his cause had steadily advanced by the ad- 
 dition of thousands to his standard he sought 
 occasion of quarrel against the Koreish. Two 
 years of the ten had scarcely elapsed when he 
 accused them of violating the truce, and made
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMfiT. 191 
 
 their alleged breach of faith a pretence for sum- 
 moning an army of ten thousand men with a de-^ 
 sign to make himself master of the 'city. He was 
 now strong, and his enemies were weak. His super- 
 stitious reverence for the city of his birth, and the 
 temple it contained, served to influence his deter- 
 mination for war. The time since the concluding 
 of the truce had been skilfully employed in se- 
 ducing the adherents of the Koreish, and convert- 
 ing to his religion, or enticing under his standard, 
 the chief citizens of Mecca. By forced marches 
 he urged his large army forward, and so unex- 
 pectedly was the place invested by the Moslem 
 troops, that its inhabitants had scarcely time to 
 put themselves in a posture of defence before they 
 were driven to such extremities, that the surrender 
 of the city at discretion, or its total destruction, 
 seemed to be the only alternative. In these cir- 
 cumstances the former step was resolved upon 
 humiliating as it was, and Abu Sofian, the former 
 inveterate enemy of Mahomet and his religion, 
 accompanied by Al Abbas, an uncle of the prophet, 
 came forth and presented to him the keys of the 
 city. Nor was this all : they both crowned their 
 submission by bowing to the prophetic claims of 
 their new master, and acknowledging him as the 
 apostle of God. This we may suppose was a 
 constrained admission, made under the uplifted 
 scimitar of the furious Omar, and yielded as the 
 price of life. Mahomet, though a conqueror and 
 a fanatic, was not habitually cruel ; his anger was 
 directed rather against the gods of his country, 
 than its inhabitants. The chiefs of the Koreish 
 prostrated themselves before him, and earnestly 
 demanded mercy at his hands. " What mercy
 
 192 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 can you expect from the man you have wronged?" 
 exclaimed the prophet. " t We confide in the gene- 
 rosity of our kinsman." " You shall not confide 
 in vain," was the generous or politic reply. " Be 
 gone ; you are safe ; you are free." They were 
 thenceforth left unmolested, and places of honour 
 and trust were still confided to them. On his 
 entry into the city, of which he had now made 
 himself absolute master with the sacrifice of only 
 three men and two women, whom he ordered to 
 be executed, he proceeded to purge the Kaaba of 
 its three hundred and sixty idols, and to conse- 
 crate that temple anew to the purposes of his reli- 
 gion. The apostle again fulfilled the duties of a 
 pilgrim, and a perpetual law was enacted, that no 
 unbeliever should dare to set his foot on the terri- 
 tory of the holy city. On the day on which Ma- 
 homet entered Mecca in triumph, he ordered Belal, 
 his crier, to mount to the top of the temple at 
 noon, and from thence to call the people to prayer 
 for the first time under the new institution. This 
 custom has been religiously observed in Mahometan 
 countries from that day to the present ; the crier, 
 who is called Muezzin, still giving the people 
 notice of the hour of prayer from the minarets of 
 their mosques. 
 
 When the news of the conquest of Mecca 
 reached the neighbouring tribes of Arabs, the Ha- 
 wazins, Takifians, and others, hastily assembled a 
 force amounting to about four thousand men, with 
 the design of crushing the usurper before his dan- 
 gerous power had attained greater height. Ma- 
 homet, appointing a temporary governor of the 
 city, marched out with an army of no less than 
 twelve thousand, and met the enemy in the valley
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 193 
 
 of Honein, three miles from Mecca, on the way 
 to Tayef. The Moslems, seeing themselves so 
 vastly superior in point of numbers, were inspired 
 with a presumptuous confidence of victory, which 
 had nearly resulted in their ruin. In the first en- 
 counter, the confederates rushed upon the faithful 
 with such 'desperate valour, that they put nearly 
 the whole army to flight, many of them retreating 
 back to the walls of Mecca itself. Mahomet 
 mounted on a white mule, with a few of his faith- 
 ful followers at his side, boldly maintained his 
 ground; and such was his ardour, that it was by 
 main force that one of his uncles and a cousin, 
 laying hold of his bridle and stirrup, restrained 
 him from rushing alone into the midst of the 
 enemy. " O my brethren," he exclaimed, " I am 
 the son of Abdallah ! I am the apostle of truth ! 
 O men, stand fast in the faith ! O God, send down 
 thy succour!" His uncle Abbas, who possessed a 
 stentorian voice, exerting the utmost strength of 
 his lungs, recalled the flying troops, and gradually 
 rallied them again around the holy standard ; on 
 which the prophet, observing with pleasure " that 
 the furnace was rekindled," charged with new 
 vigour the ranks of the infidels and idolaters, and 
 finally succeeded in obtaining a complete victory, 
 though not, as appears from the Koran, without 
 the special assistance of angels. The giving way 
 in the first instance was a mark of the Divine dis- 
 pleasure against the Moslems for their overweening 
 confidence in their superior numbers. " Now 
 hath God assisted you in many engagements, and 
 particularly at the battle of Honein; when ye 
 pleased yourselves in your multitudes, but it was 
 no manner of advantage unto you; the earth seemed
 
 194 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 to be too narrow in your precipitate flight : then 
 did ye retreat and turn your backs. Afterward 
 God sent down his security upon his apostle and 
 upon the faithful, and troops of angels which ye 
 saw not."* 
 
 The remaining part of the year was spent in 
 demolishing the temples and idols of the subject 
 Arabs. Saad, Kaled, and others of the Moslem 
 chieftains were despatched in various directions 
 over the conquered provinces with orders to wage 
 a war of extermination against the idols of the 
 ancient superstition. This work was crowned with 
 the conversion of many idolaters, as well as with 
 the destruction of the lying vanities of their wor- 
 ship, and it is not strange that they should admit 
 the doctrine of the divine unity, when the de- 
 stroying sword of the apostle had cut off all gods 
 but one. 
 
 The prophet having now become in fact the so- 
 vereign of Arabia, began, in the ninth year of the 
 Hejira, to meditate the conquest of Syria. He 
 did not live to accomplish this design, which was 
 executed by his successors ; but he entered upon 
 it, and notwithstanding the expedition was un- 
 dertaken in the heat of the summer, when the 
 scarcity of water subjected his men to almost into- 
 lerable sufferings, it was ultimately successful. The 
 battle of Muta well nigh decided the fate of Greece. 
 It was the first conflict in which the Moslems 
 tried their swords against a disciplined army. 
 An ambassador was previously sent to Bosra to 
 offer salvation to its chief, in case he renounced 
 Christianity for belief in the Koran, but by an act 
 
 * Koran, p. 141.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 195 
 
 of treachery he was assassinated by the governor 
 of Muta, a small town on the borders of Syria ; a 
 cruel insult which a successful warrior was not 
 likely to endure. An army consisting of three 
 thousand men was urged across the burning desert 
 under the command of the faithful Zeid, who, 
 when they arrived, found a body of Greeks and 
 auxiliary Arabs, of not less than ten thousand col- 
 lected against them. Should they immediately 
 give battle, or wait for reinforcements ? " Friends," 
 said Zeid, " let us cut our way to paradise through 
 the ranks of the enemy. We have no alternative 
 but martyrdom or victory." They accordingly 
 rushed forward : the contest was long and bloody, 
 Zeid fell among the foremost, and the standard 
 was transferred to Jafar, Ali's brother, whose va- 
 lour was equal to that of the fallen general. His 
 right-hand was struck off while grasping the sacred 
 banner, and afterwards his left, when he seized it 
 between his bleeding stumps, and held it to his 
 breast, though wounded and bleeding in every 
 part, till his head was cleft in twain by a Roman 
 sabre. Abdallah the third in command also fell, 
 upon perceiving which the Mussulmans, thinking 
 the day was lost, turned their backs for inglorious 
 flight. At this crisis the intrepid Kaled who had 
 only a short time before embraced the faith of the 
 prophet, seized the fallen standard, rallied the fu- 
 gitives, and led them on with redoubled fury to 
 the charge. This onset directed to the centre of 
 the Greek army, threw them into confusion, and 
 but for the friendly intervention of night the car- 
 nage must have been tremendous. Kaled re- 
 mained with his troops all night in the field. A 
 false apprehension as to the number of his men, 
 o 2
 
 196 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 produced by the skilful manner in which he had 
 arranged them, induced the vanquished Greeks to 
 fly with precipitation, leaving their camp, baggage, 
 and spoil in possession of the victors. This bril- 
 liant achievement obtained for Kaled the highest 
 honour. The grateful apostle surnamed him ' the 
 sword of God.' His science and personal courage 
 as Well as his signal success, pointed him out as 
 the leader of the forces of the faithful. The result 
 of this victory upon adjacent territories may be 
 easily conceived ; their princes yielded to the des- 
 tiny which accompanied the arms of Mahomet 
 wherever they were turned, and they were hence- 
 forth enrolled among his tributaries, and the fame 
 of his power had now become so extensive and 
 imposing, that distant tribes were awed into sub- 
 mission, and sent their emissaries to tender to him 
 the voluntary acknowledgment of their homage 
 and fealty. The numerous deputations which for 
 this and other purposes, waited upon Mahomet 
 this 'year, induced him to call it " The Year of 
 Embassies." 
 
 Its close was distinguished by the prophet's last 
 pilgrimage ~ to Mecca, called, from its being the 
 last, " The Pilgrimage of Valediction." An idea 
 of the amazing increase of his followers since he 
 last visited that city may be formed from the fact, 
 that on this occasion he is said to have been ac- 
 companied by one hundred and fourteen thousand 
 Moslems ! 
 
 Signal success in any enterprise seldom fails to 
 call forth imitators and rivals. Mahomet had now 
 become too powerful to be resisted by force, but 
 not too exalted to be troubled by competition. His 
 own example in assuming a sacred character, and
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 197 
 
 the brilliant success which had attended him, gave 
 a hint to others of the probable means of advanc- 
 ing themselves to a similar pitch of dignity and 
 dominion. A formidable fellow-prophet appeared 
 in the person of Moseilama, called to this day by 
 the followers of Islam, " the 'lying Moseilama," a 
 descendant of the tribe of Honeifa, and a prin- 
 cipal personage in the province of Yemen. This 
 man headed an embassy sent by his tribe to Ma- 
 homet, in the ninth year of the Hejira, and then 
 professed himself a Moslem; but on his return 
 home, pondering on the nature of the new religion 
 and the character and fortunes of its founder, the 
 suggestion occurred to him, that by skilful manage- 
 ment he might share with his countryman in the 
 glory of a divine mission ; and accordingly, in the 
 ensuing year, he began to put his project in ex- 
 ecution. He gave out that he also was a prophet 
 sent of God, having a joint commission with Ma- 
 homet to recall mankind from idolatry to the true 
 worship. He moreover imitated his model so 
 closely as to publish written revelations like the 
 Koran, pretending to derive them from the same 
 source. Having succeeded in gaining a consider- 
 able party from the tribe of Honeifa, he at length 
 began to put himself still more nearly upon a level 
 with the prophet of Medina, and even went so far 
 as to propose a partnership in his spiritual su- 
 premacy. His letter commenced thus: "From 
 Moseilama, the apostle of God, to Mahomet, the 
 apostle of God. Now let the earth be half mine 
 and half thine." But the latter, feeling himself 
 too firmly established to stand in need of an asso- 
 ciate, deigned to return him only the following 
 reply : " From Mahomet, the apostle of God, to
 
 198 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 Moseilama, the liar. The earth is God's : he 
 giveth the same for inheritance unto such of his 
 servants as he pleaseth ; and the happy issue shall 
 attend those who fear him." For a few months 
 Moseilarna continued, on the whole, to gain ground, 
 and became at length so formidable, as to occasion 
 extreme anxiety to the prophet, now rapidly sink- 
 ing under the effects of disease. An expedition 
 under the command of Kaled, ' ; the Sword of 
 God," was ordered out to suppress the sect which 
 he headed, and the bewildered imagination of 
 Mahomet, in his moments of delirium, was fre- 
 quently picturing to itself the results of the en- 
 gagement between his faithful Moslems and these 
 daring apostates. "With the result he did not live 
 long enough to be acquainted. 
 
 The army of Kaled returned victorious. Mo- 
 seilama himself, and ten thousand of his followers, 
 were left dead on the field ; while the rest, con- 
 vinced by the shining evidence of truth that 
 gleamed from the swords of the conquerors, re- 
 nounced their errors, and fell quietly back into 
 Mahometanism. Several other insurgents of 
 similar pretences, but of minor consequence, were 
 crushed in like manner in the early stages of their 
 defection. 
 
 Reference has been made to a disease which had 
 begun to prey upon the vigorous constitution of 
 the prophet, and to threaten his life. It originated 
 in the desperate attempt of a female to poison him 
 at the house in which he remained for a short time 
 at Khaibar, after the overthrow of that city by his 
 arms. Mahomet took up his quarters at the house 
 of Hareth, one of the principal inhabitants. Zei- 
 nab, the daughter of Hareth, while preparing a
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 199 
 
 meal for the conqueror and his attendants, inserted 
 a quantity of poison into a shoulder of mutton 
 which was served up at the table. Bashar, a com- 
 panion of Mahomet, had scarcely began to eat of 
 it, before he was seized with convulsions, and died 
 upon the spot. The prophet, by spitting out the 
 greatest part of what he had taken into his mouth, 
 escaped immediate death, but the effects of the 
 fatal drug had entered his system, and, resisting 
 every effort of medicine to expel or counteract it, 
 in somewhat more than three years afterwards it 
 brought him to his end. If, as the reporters of 
 Mahomet's miracles affirm, the shoulder of mut- 
 ton informed him of its being poisoned, the intel- 
 ligence came too late. The seeds of death were 
 henceforth effectually sown in his constitution ; 
 and his own decline ever after kept pace with his 
 growing power. When Zeinab was asked how 
 she had dared to perpetrate a deed of such unpa- 
 ralleled enormity, she is said to have answered, 
 " that she was determined to make trial of his 
 powers : if he were a true prophet," said she, " he 
 would know that the meat was poisoned ; if not, 
 it would be a favour to the world to rid it of such 
 a tyrant." It is not agreed among the Mahometan 
 writers what was the punishment inflicted upon 
 her, or whether she suffered any. Some affirm 
 that she was pardoned ; others that she was put to 
 death. 
 
 At first the effect of this attempt upon Ma- 
 homet's life was productive of but little inconveni- 
 ence. His vigorous efforts to extend his conquests, 
 were continued without intermission. He pro- 
 ceeded against the Jews of the cities of Beder, 
 Watiba, and Selalirna; places which he brought
 
 200 LUTE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 under subjection, permitting their inhabitants to 
 retain possession on condition of paying him one 
 half the product of their date-trees as an annual 
 tribute. On these terms they remained undis- 
 turbed in their towns and villages during the life- 
 time of the prophet ; till at length, in the reign of 
 Omar, who pretended that Mahomet in his last 
 sickness had given him a charge not to permit two 
 religions to coexist in Arabia, they were all ex- 
 pelled. 
 
 At length, however, the prodigious labours and 
 fatigues, together with the restraints and self- 
 denial he endured, made it apparent that he could 
 not continue long among his admiring followers. 
 Weakness and infirmity invaded his person, while 
 his cause acquired strength and influence with 
 every returning month. The conquest of Mecca 
 and of the Koreish, was the signal for the submis- 
 sion of the rest of Arabia ; and though several of 
 the petty tribes offered, for a time, the show of 
 resistance to his arms, they were all eventually 
 subdued. Between the taking of Mecca and Ma- 
 homet's death, somewhat more than three years 
 elapsed, in which short period he destroyed the 
 idols of Arabia; extended his conquests to the 
 borders of the Greek and Persian empires ; ren- 
 dered his name formidable to those once mighty 
 kingdoms ; tried his arms against the disciplined 
 troops of the former, and defeated them in the 
 desperate encounter at Muta, which has been de- 
 scribed. His throne was now firmly established ; 
 and an impulse was given to the Arabian nations, 
 which induced them to invade, and enabled them 
 to conquer a large portion of the globe. India, 
 Persia, the Greek empire, the whole of Asia
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 201 
 
 Minor, Egypt, Barbary, and Spain, were reduced 
 by their victorious arms. Mahomet himself did 
 not live to see these mighty conquests achieved, 
 but he commenced the train which resulted in this 
 wide-spread dominion, and before his death which 
 established over the whole of Arabia, and in some 
 parts of Asia, the religion he had devised. 
 
 And now, having arrived at the sixty-third year 
 of his age, and the tenth of the Hejira, A.D. 632, 
 the fatal effects of the poison, which had been so 
 long rankling in his veins, began to discdver them- 
 selves more and more sensibly, and to operate with 
 alarming virulence. These effects were accele- 
 rated by an attack of bilious fever. Day by day 
 he visibly declined, and it was evident that his 
 life was hastening to a close. For some time pre- 
 vious to the event, he was conscious of its ap- 
 proach, and is said to have viewed and awaited it 
 with characteristic firmness. The third day before 
 his dissolution, he ordered himself to be carried 
 to the mosque, that he might, for the last time, 
 address his followers, and bestow upon them his 
 parting prayers and benedictions. Being assisted 
 to mount the pulpit, he edified his brethren by the 
 pious tenor of his dying counsels, and in his own 
 example taught a lesson of humility and penitence, 
 such as we shall scarcely find inculcated in the 
 precepts of the Koran^ " If there be any man," 
 said the apostle, " whom I have unjustly scourged, 
 I submit my own back to the lash of retaliation. 
 Have I aspersed the reputation of any Mussul- 
 man ? let him proclaim my faults in the face of 
 the congregation. Has any one been despoiled of 
 his goods ? the little that I possess shall compen- 
 sate the principal and the interest of the debt."
 
 202 LIFE OF MAHOMETl 
 
 " Yes," replied a voice from the crowd, " thou 
 owest me three drachms of silver." Mahomet 
 heard the complaint, satisfied the demand, and 
 thanked his creditor, that he had accused him in 
 this Avorld rather than at the day of judgment. 
 He then set his slaves at liberty, seventeen men, 
 and eleven women ; directed the order of his fu- 
 neral; strove to allay the lamentations of his 
 weeping friends, and waited the approach of 
 death. His death was hastened by the force of a 
 burning fever, which deprived him at times of the 
 use of reason. In one of these paroxysms of de- 
 lirium, he demanded pen and paper, that he might 
 compose or dictate a divine book. Omar, who 
 was watching at his side, refused his request, lest 
 the expiring prophet might dictate something 
 which should supersede the Koran. Others, how- 
 ever, expressed a great desire that the book might 
 be written; and so warm a dispute arose in the 
 chamber of the apostle, that he was forced to re- 
 prove their unbecoming vehemence. The writing 
 was not performed, and many of his followers 
 have mourned the loss of the sublime revelations 
 which his dying visions might have bequeathed to 
 them. His favourite wife Ayesha hung over her 
 husband in his last moments, sustaining his droop- 
 ing head upon her knee, as he lay stretched upon 
 the carpet, watching with trembling anxiety his 
 changing countenance, and listening to the last 
 broken sounds of his voice. His disease, as it 
 drew towards its termination, was attended at in- 
 tervals with most excruciating pains, which he 
 constantly ascribed to the fatal morsel taken at 
 Khaibar ; and as the mother of Bashar, the com- 
 panion who had died upon the spot from the same
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 203 
 
 cause, stood by his side, he exclaimed, " O mother 
 of Bashar, the cords of my heart are now break- 
 ing of the food which I ate with your son at 
 Khaibar." In his conversation with those around 
 him, he mentioned it as a special prerogative 
 granted to him, that the angel of death was not 
 allowed to take his soul till he had respectfully 
 asked his permission, which he condescendingly 
 granted. Recovering from a swoon into which 
 the violence of his pains had thrown him, he 
 raised his eyes towards the roof of the house, and 
 with faltering accents exclaimed, " O God ! par- 
 don my sins. Yes, I come among my fellow- 
 labourers on high !" His face was then sprinkled 
 with water, and that by his own feeble hand, when 
 he shortly after expired. 
 
 The city, and more especially the house, of the 
 prophet, became at once a scene of sorrowful, but 
 confused, lamentation. Some of his followers 
 could not believe that he was dead. " How 
 can he be dead, our witness, our intercessor, our 
 mediator with God ? He is not dead. Like Moses 
 and Jesus, he is wrapped in a holy trance, and 
 speedily will return to his faithful people." The 
 evidence of sense was disregarded, and Omar, 
 brandishing his scimitar, threatened to strike off 
 the heads of the infidels who should affirm that 
 the prophet was no more. The tumult was at 
 length appeased by the moderation of Abubeker. 
 " Is it Mahomet," said he, " or the God of Ma- 
 homet, whom ye worship ? The God of Mahomet 
 liveth for ever, but the apostle was a mortal 
 like ourselves, and, according to his own pre-
 
 204 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 diction, he hath experienced the common fate of 
 mortality."* 
 
 The prophet's remains were deposited at Me- 
 dina, in the very room in which he breathed his 
 last, the floor being removed to make way for 
 his sepulchre, and a simple and unadorned monu- 
 ment some time after erected over them. The 
 house itself has long since mouldered or been 
 demolished, but the place of the prophet's inter- 
 ment is still exhibited to the superstitious reve- 
 rence of his disciples. The story of his relics 
 being suspended in the air, by the power of load- 
 stone, in an iron coffin, at Mecca, is an idle fa- 
 brication ; as his tomb at Medina has been 
 resorted to by millions of pilgrims, and from the 
 authentic accounts of travellers who have visited 
 both these holy cities in disguise, we learn that 
 it is constructed of plain mason work, fixed with- 
 out elevation upon the surface of the ground. 
 
 The precious relics of the prophet have ren- 
 dered Medina sacred in the eyes of all Moslem 
 nations, they regard it as the second among the 
 cities of the earth. The pious pilgrim, on his 
 way to Mecca, increases the worth of his pilgrim- 
 age, if he canjurn aside to visit also the city 
 which contains the ashes of Mahomet. 
 
 * " Mahomet is no more than an apostle : the other apostles 
 have already deceased before him : if he die, therefore, or be slain, 
 will ye turn back on your heels ?" Koran, ch. iii. 
 
 " Verily, thou, O Mahomet, shalt die, and they shall die ; and 
 ye shall debate the matter [idolatry] with one another before 
 your Lord at the day of resurrection. Ibid. ch. xxxix.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 205 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Mahomet's wives. Sawda. Ayesha. Hafsa. Zcinab. 
 Sayfa. Allowance of the Koran to Mahomet as to marriage. 
 Sketch of the prophet's character. Career. Description of 
 his person. Gibbon's remarks on his character. 
 
 As the subject of women occupies a prominent 
 place in the Koran, so in a history of the pro- 
 phet's life, his numerous wives form a topic of too 
 much interest to be omitted. 
 
 During the lifetime of Kadijah, it does not ap- 
 pear that she was ever pained with the sight or 
 suspicion of a rival. After her death, when at 
 length Mahomet's reputation as a prophet had be- 
 come established, and his authority too firmly 
 rooted to be shaken, the restraints which policy 
 had imposed upon passion were gradually thrown 
 off, and the utmost license marked his subsequent 
 conduct. 
 
 The Koran, in one of its later chapters, re- 
 stricted his followers. " If ye fear that ye 
 shall not act with equity towards orphans of the 
 female sex, take in marriage of such other women 
 as please you, two, or three, or four, and not more."* 
 From the terms of a subsequent chapter, it appears 
 that Mahomet was exempted from this law. " O 
 prophet, we have allowed thee thy wives, unto whom 
 thou hast given their dower, and also the slaves 
 which thy right hand possesseth,of the booty which 
 God hath 'granted thee, and the daughters of thy un- 
 cle, and the daughters of thy aunts, both on thy fa- 
 
 * Koran, ch. iv.
 
 206 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 ther's side, and on thy mother's side, who have fled 
 with thee from Mecca, and any other believing 
 woman, if she give herself unto the prophet, in 
 case the prophet desireth to take her to wife. This 
 is a peculiar privilege granted unto thee, above 
 the rest of the true believers."* That he availed 
 himself of this liberty is well known, marrying 
 chiefly the daughters of powerful men at the head 
 of tribes ; or princes in their respective localities, 
 consulting at once his political interests, and his 
 unbridled lusts. 
 
 Sawda has been mentioned, but of her little 
 only is known. His third and best beloved wife 
 was Ayesha, the daughter of Abubeker. Vague 
 rumours of conjugal infidelity have cast a stain 
 upon the character of Ayesha not entirely eifaced, 
 even at the present day. They were not believed, 
 however, by the prophet, and the divine acquittal 
 in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Koran, has 
 done much towards shielding her fame from re- 
 proach. " As to the party among you, who have 
 published the falsehood concerning Ayesha ; every 
 man of them shall be punished according to the 
 injustice of which he hath been guilty ; and he 
 among them who hath undertaken to aggravate 
 the same shall suffer a grievous punishment. Did 
 not the faithful men, and the faithful women, say, 
 This is a manifest falsehood? Have they pro- 
 duced four witnesses thereof ? Wherefore, since 
 they have not produced the witnesses, they are 
 surely liars in the sight of God. Had it not been 
 for the indulgence of God towards you, and his 
 mercy in this world, and in that which is to come, 
 
 * Koran, ch. xsxiii.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 207 
 
 verily a grievous punishment had been inflicted on 
 you for the calumny which ye have spread ; when 
 ye published that with your tongues, and spoke 
 that with your mouths, of which ye had no know- 
 ledge ; and esteemed it to be light, Avhereas it was 
 a matter of importance in the sight of God."* 
 
 Ayesha was married such is the surprising 
 physical precocity peculiar to an eastern climate 
 at the early age of nine ; and survived her hus- 
 band forty-eight years. Her memory is held in 
 great veneration by the Moslems, who have be- 
 stowed upon her the title of Prophetess, and Mo- 
 ther of the Faithful, probably from the circum- 
 stance of her being much resorted to after her 
 husband's death, as an expositor of the doubtful 
 points of the law ; an office which she performed 
 by giving the sense which she had heard the pro- 
 phet affix to them in his lifetime. Her exposi- 
 tions, together with those of Mahomet's first ten 
 converts, form what is called the Sonnah, or the 
 Authentic Traditions, of the professors of Islam, 
 they bear a striking resemblance to the tradi- 
 tions of the Jews. Ayesha was the inveterate 
 enemy of Ali, the rival candidate with Abubeker 
 to the honour of being the prophet's successor; 
 and when at last he attained to that dignity, she 
 appeared in arms against him. Her expedition 
 was unsuccessful, yet she found means, some 
 time after, to excite a defection among Ali's 
 followers, which finally resulted in the ruin of 
 himself and his house. 
 
 Hafsa, the daughter of Omar, was next in fa- 
 vour with the prophet. To her, as being the 
 
 * Koran, ch. xiv.
 
 208 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 eldest of his wives, he committed the chest of 
 his apostleship, containing the original copies of his 
 pretended revelations, from which the volume of 
 the Koran was composed after his death, hy Abu- 
 beker. She died at the age of sixty-six. 
 
 Zeinah, was originally the wife of his servant 
 Zeid ; upon whom, as we learn from the Koran, 
 God had bestowed the gi-ace to become one of the 
 earliest converts to the true faith. The circum- 
 stances which led to her becoming the wife of the 
 prophet, form a story worth relating. Mahomet, 
 having occasion one day, to call at the house of 
 Zeid upon some matter of business, and not find- 
 ing him at home, accidentally cast his eyes on 
 Zeinab his wife. Being a woman of distinguished 
 beauty, he was so smitten with her charms at first 
 sight, that he could not forbear exclaiming, 
 " Praised be God, who turneth the hearts of men 
 as he pleaseth !" and thenceforth became violently 
 in love with her. Zeid, when made acquainted 
 with the circumstance, was thrown into great per- 
 plexity. His affection for his wife, and his wish 
 to retain her, were counterbalanced by his sense 
 of obligation to his master, who had not only 
 freed him from servitude, but had also publicly 
 adopted him as his son and heir, by a religious 
 ceremony at the black stone of the Kaaba. Upon 
 mature reflection, he determined to part with Zei- 
 nab in favour of his benefactor, whom he privately 
 acquainted with his intention, at the same time 
 giving out in public that he no longer retained any 
 affection for her, in order to pave the way for a 
 divorce. Mahomet aware of the scandal that 
 would ensue among his people, from his taking to 
 his bed one who stood to him in the relation of a
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 209 
 
 daughter, made a feint of dissuading him from 
 his purpose, and endeavoured to suppress the vio- 
 lence of his passion. But finding the flame which 
 consumed him unconquerable, a chapter of the 
 Koran came seasonably to his relief, which at once 
 removed^ all impediments in the way of a union. 
 M And remember, when thou saidst to him unto 
 whom God had been gracious, and on whom thou 
 also hadst conferred favours, keep thy wife to 
 thyself, and fear God ; and thou didst conceal 
 that in thy mind which God had determined to 
 discover, and didst fear men ; whereas it was more 
 just that thou shouldst fear God. But whenZeid had 
 determined the matter concerning her, and had 
 resolved to divorce her, we joined her in marriage 
 unto thee, lest a crime should be charged on the 
 true believers in marrying the wives of their 
 adopted sons : and the command of God is to be 
 performed. No crime is to be charged on the 
 prophet as to what God hath allowed him."* Here 
 the Most High is represented not only as sanction- 
 ing the marriage, but as conveying 'a gentle re- 
 buke to the prophet, that he should so long have 
 abstained from the enjoyment of this favour out 
 of regard to public sentiment, as though he feared 
 men rather than God ! Zeinab hereupon became 
 the wife of this most favoured of mortals, and 
 lived with him in great affection to the time of 
 his death ; always glorying over her associates, 
 that whereas they had been married to Mahomet 
 by their parents and kindred, she had been united 
 to him by God himself, who dwells above the seven 
 heavens ! 
 
 * Koran, ch. xxxiii. 
 P
 
 210 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 Another of his wires, Safya, was a Jewess. Of 
 her nothing remarkable is related, except that she 
 once complained to her husband of being thus re- 
 proached by her companions : " O thou Jewess, the 
 daughter of a Jew and of a Jewess." To which 
 the prophet answered, "Canst thou not say, 
 Aaron is my father, Moses is my uncle, and Ma- 
 homet is my husband?" But to the authors of 
 these insulting taunts, an admonition was con- 
 veyed to the offenders from a higher source. " O 
 true believers, let not men laugh other men to 
 scorn, who peradventure may be better than them- 
 selves ; neither let women laugh other women to 
 scorn, who may possibly be better than themselves. 
 Neither defame one another, nor call one another 
 by opprobrious appellations."* 
 
 In addition to his wives, the harem of the pro- 
 phet contained a number of concubines, among 
 whom Mary, the Egyptian, was his favourite. By 
 her he had a son, Ibrahim, who died in infancy, 
 to the unspeakable grief of the prophet and his 
 disciples. He had no children by any of the rest 
 of his wives except Kadijah, who was the mother 
 of eight four sons and four daughters ; but most 
 of these died in early life, none of them surviving 
 their father except Fatima, the wife of Ali, and 
 she only sixty days. 
 
 The following passages from the Koran evince, 
 that not the prophet only was an object of the di- 
 vine care, beneficence, and guidance, but that his 
 wives also shared in the same kind providence, and 
 that whatever instructions or admonitions their 
 frailties might require, were graciously bestowed 
 
 * Chap. xiix.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 211 
 
 upon them. From an infirmity not uncommon to 
 the sex, they had become, it appears, more de- 
 voted to the decoration of their persons than was 
 creditable for the wives of a holy prophet, and 
 had demanded of him a larger allowance on the 
 score of dress than he deemed it prudent to grant. 
 They are thus rebuked : " prophet, say unto thy 
 wives, If ye seek this present life and the pomp 
 thereof, come, I will make a handsome provision 
 for you, and I will dismiss you with an honourable 
 dismission : but if ye seek God and his apostle, 
 and the life to come, verily God hath prepared 
 for such of you as work righteousness a great re- 
 ward."* " O wives of the prophet, ye are not as 
 other women.: if ye fear God, be not too com- 
 plaisant in speech, lest he should covet in whose 
 heart is a disease of incontinence ; but speak the 
 speech which is convenient. And sit still in your 
 houses ; and set not out yourselves with the osten- 
 tation of the former time of ignorance, and ob- 
 serve the appointed times of prayer, and give 
 alms ; and obey God and his apostle ; for God 
 desireth only to remove from you the abomination 
 of vanity, since ye are the household of the pro- 
 phet, and to purify you by a perfect purifi ca- 
 tion." t 
 
 The prophet interdicted to all his wives the pri- 
 vilege of marrying again after his death, and 
 though some of them were then young, they scru- 
 pulously obeyed his command, delivered to them, 
 like every thing else in the Koran, in the form of 
 a mandate of heaven, and lived and died in wi- 
 dowhood. The passage in which this severe edict 
 
 * Chap, xxxiii. f I^ul.
 
 212 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 is found is a curiosity, and will doubtless lead the 
 reader to suspect that it was prompted by a spirit 
 of jealousy, the effects of which Mahomet aimed 
 to perpetuate when he was no more. It is pre- 
 faced by some wholesome cautions to his followers 
 respecting the etiquette to be observed in their in- 
 tercourse with the prophet and his household. 
 
 " O true believers, enter not into the houses of 
 the prophet, unless it be permitted you to eat 
 meat with him, without waiting his convenient 
 time ; but when ye are invited, then enter. And 
 when ye shall have eaten, disperse yourselves ; and 
 stay not to enter into familiar discourse ; for this 
 incommodeth the prophet. He is ashamed to bid 
 you depart, but God is not ashamed of the truth. 
 And when ye ask of the prophet's wives what ye 
 may have occasion for, ask it of them behind a 
 curtain. This will be more pure for your hearts 
 and their hearts. Neither is it fit for you to give 
 any uneasiness to the apostle of God, or to marry 
 his wives after him for ever ; for this would be a 
 grievous thing in the sight of God." 
 
 Of the character of Mahomet little needs to be 
 said, after the sketch of his life and history which 
 have been given : indeed, the task of delineating 
 it would be sufficiently difficult after the lapse of 
 thirteen centuries, though religious prejudice had 
 never intermingled with the accounts handed 
 down of him by both friendly and opposing biogra- 
 phers. As matters are, the task is almost impos- 
 sible. Moslem writers are unbounded in their 
 eulogy ; Christian, whether pertaining to Papal er 
 to Protestant churches, are almost as unbounded 
 in their censure. Many of the former explain his 
 great excellence by a ridiculous legend, which, it
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 213 
 
 Is just to say, others reject with merited contempt, 
 It is, that when he was a child, he was taken by 
 t\vo angels, who laid open his body with a knife, 
 took out his heart, and pressed and wrung it till 
 its original corruptions oozed out in the form 
 of large black fetid drops, when it was re- 
 placed, purified and perfect, in his bosom, and the 
 wound miraculously healed. But here the history 
 of his life and the pages of the Koran will enable 
 us to make those abatements from the general ac- 
 count of his moral worth which ought to be made. 
 His followers extol his piety, veracity, justice, 
 liberality, humility, and self-denial, in all which 
 they do not scruple to propose him as a perfect 
 pattern. His charity, in particular, they say, was 
 so conspicuous, that he seldom had any money in 
 his house, keeping no more than was sufficient to 
 maintain his family, and frequently sparing even 
 a part of his own provisions to supply the neces- 
 sities of the poor. All this may have been so ; 
 but in forming our judgment of the exhibition of 
 these moral traits, we cannot forget that he had 
 private ends to answer ; and we thus find it im- 
 possible to distinguish between the generous im- 
 pulses of a kind and noble heart, and the actings 
 of an interested policy. It is no unusual thing 
 for a strong ruling passion to bring every other 
 passion, even the most opposite and discordant, 
 into harmony and subserviency to its dictates. 
 Ambition will sometimes control avarice, and the 
 love of pleasure not unfrequently govern both. A 
 man may afford to be just and generous, and to 
 act the part of a saint, when he has no other mo- 
 tive than to gain the character of a prophet and 
 the power of a monarch. If Mahomet really
 
 214 LIE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 evinced the virtues of a prophet, he doubtless 
 had his eye upon a prophet's reward. But we 
 must not be harsh in our judgment of his moral 
 qualities. We think it by no means improbable, 
 that his disposition was naturally free, open, noble, 
 engaging, perhaps magnanimous. We doubt not 
 injustice may have been done by Christian writers 
 to the man, in their unmeasured detestation of the 
 impostor. But as long as we admit the truth of 
 history, as it relates to Islamism and its founder, 
 it is plain, that if he were originally possessed of 
 praiseworthy attributes, they ceased to distinguish 
 him as he advanced in life ; for his personal de- 
 generacy kept pace with his success, and his de- 
 linquencies became more numerous, gross, and 
 glaring, the longer he lived. 
 
 Of his intellectual endowments his followers 
 speak in the same strain of high panegyric. His 
 genius, soaring above the need of culture, un- 
 aided by the lights of learning, despising books, 
 bore him by its innate strength into the kindred 
 sublimities of prophecy and poetry, and enabled 
 him in the Koran, without models or masters, to 
 speak with an eloquence unparalleled in any hu- 
 man production. But here it has escaped them, 
 that they praise the prophet at the expense of his 
 oracles ; that whatever credit, on the score of au- 
 thorship, they give to him, so much they detract 
 from the evidence of its inspiration ; since Ma- 
 homet himself constantly appeals to his reve- 
 lations as carrying, in their style, the clearest 
 evidence of being, not a human, but a divine 
 composition. On the point, however, of the lite- 
 rary merits of the Koran, and of the mental en- 
 dowments of its author, the reader will judge for
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 215 
 
 himself. We can more readily assent to the state- 
 ments of these writers, when they inform us, that 
 his intellect was acute and sagacious, his memory 
 retentive, his knowledge of human nature, im- 
 proved as it was hy travel and extended inter- 
 course, profound and accurate ; and that in the 
 arts of insinuation and address he was without a 
 rival. Neither are we able to gainsay their ac- 
 counts, when they represent him as having heen 
 affable, rather than loquacious ; of an even cheer- 
 ful temper ; pleasant and familiar in conversation ; 
 and possessing the art, in a surprising degree, of 
 attaching his friends and adherents to his per- 
 son. 
 
 On the whole, from a candid survey of his life 
 and actions, we may safely pronounce Mahomet to 
 have been a man of a superior cast of character, 
 and very considerably in advance of the age in 
 which he lived. But that age was rude and bar- 
 barous ; and the standard which would determine 
 him great among the roving tribes of Arabia, 
 might have left him little more than a common 
 man in the cultivated climes of Europe. Men's 
 characters are moulded as much by their circum- 
 stances and fortunes as by their native genius 
 and bias. Under another combination of acci- 
 dents, the founder of the Moslem faith and of the 
 empire of the Saracens might have sunk to obli- 
 vion with the anonymous millions of his race, as 
 the drops of rain are absorbed into the sands of 
 his native deserts. His whole history makes it 
 evident, that fanaticism, ambition, and lust, were 
 his master-passions ; of which the former appears 
 to have been gradually eradicated by the growing 
 strength of the two last. An enthusiast by na-
 
 216 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 ture; he became a hypocrite by policy; and as 
 the violence of his corrupt propensities increased, 
 he scrupled not to gratify them at the expense of 
 truth, justice, friendship, and humanity. It is 
 right, indeed, in forming our estimate of his con- 
 duct in its most repulsive respects, that we should 
 make allowance for the ignorance, the prejudices, 
 the manners, and the laws of the people among 
 whom he lived. A heathen people cannot be fairly 
 judged by the rules of Christian morality. In the 
 mere circumstance of multiplying his wives, he 
 followed the example of his countrymen, with 
 whom polygamy had been, from the earliest ages, 
 a prevailing practice. And so, though we cannot 
 justify, yet we may in some measure palliate, the 
 murder of Kaab and Sofian, if we supposed the 
 prophet to have viewed them as enemies, from 
 whom his own life was in jeopardy ; for in this no 
 violence was done to the common sentiments of 
 the Arab race. Even at the present day, among 
 the prophet's disciples all over the east, no trait is 
 more common or more revolting than recklessness 
 of life, which is doubtless to be ascribed as much 
 to national habits as to a native cruelty or ferocity 
 of disposition. We must, indeed, ftiink but little 
 of the morality of such a people, and must behold 
 with indignation a pretended prophet, while pro- 
 fessing to purify the moral code of his countrymen, 
 continuing still in tne practice of some of the 
 worst of its tenets. Here, in fact, our heaviest 
 condemnation falls upon Mahomet. No excuse 
 can be offered for him. He abused his claims as 
 a prophet, to screen the guilty excesses of his pri- 
 vate life, and under the pretence of a special reve- 
 lation, dispensing him from the laws imposed by
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 217 
 
 his own religion, had the female sex abandoned 
 without reserve to his desires. 
 
 Respect to decorum forbids our entering into 
 details relative to this part of Mahomet's conduct 
 and character. But from what has been already 
 adduced, the reader cannot have failed to per- 
 ceive how completely his imposture was made an 
 engine for promoting the gratification of sensual 
 passion. One of the grossest instances of his un- 
 hallowed abuse of the claims to which he pre- 
 tended occurs in the history of his intercourse with 
 Mary, an Egyptian slave. The knowledge of his 
 illicit amours with this " possession of his right 
 hand" having come to the ears, or rather to the 
 eyes of one of his lawful wives, who, thereupon, 
 reproached him most bitterly for his infidelity, he 
 went so far, in order to pacify her, as to promise, 
 with an oath, never to be guilty of a repetition of 
 the offence. But the infirmity of nature having 
 not long after triumphed over the strength of 
 his resolution, he had recourse to his revelations 
 to cover the scandal of his shameless lapse. The 
 expedient now resorted to, forms one of the black- 
 est stains upon the pages of the Koran, and upon 
 the character of its author. It absolved the prophet 
 from the obligation of his oath. " O prophet, why 
 boldest thou that to be prohibited which God hath 
 allowed thee, seeking to please thy wives ; since 
 God is inclined to forgive, and merciful ? God 
 hath allowed you the dissolution of your oaths, and 
 God is your Master."* Here is an alleged dis- 
 pensation legalizing perjury on the part of a pro- 
 fessed messenger of truth ; one too who thus in- 
 
 * Koran, ch. Ixvi.
 
 218 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 structs his followers : " Perform your covenant 
 with God, when ye enter into covenant with 
 him, and violate not your oaths after the ratifica- 
 tion thereof; since ye have made God a witness 
 over you. Verily, God knoweth that which ye do. 
 And be not like unto her who uiidoeth that which 
 she hath spun, untwisting it after she hath twisted 
 it strongly." " Therefore take not your oaths be- 
 tween you deceitfully, lest your foot slip after it 
 hath been steadfastly fixed, and ye taste evil in 
 this life, and suffer a grievous punishment in the 
 life to come."* This is but too fair a specimen 
 of the general character of the Koran. By far 
 the greater part of its contents were fabricated to 
 answer particular purposes, which he could effect 
 in no other way ; this expedient 'never failed. If 
 any new enterprise was to be undertaken, any new 
 objections answered, any difficulty to be solved, 
 any disturbance among his followers to be hushed, 
 or any offence to be removed, immediate re- 
 course was had to Gabriel, and a new revela- 
 tion, precisely adapted, to meet the necessities 
 of the case, was granted. As an inevitable con- 
 sequence, a vast number of variations and contra- 
 dictions, too palpable to be denied, occur in the 
 course of the book. His commentators and dis- 
 ciples acknowledge the fact, but account for it by 
 saying, that whenever a subsequent revelation 
 plainly contradicts a former, the former is to be 
 considered as having been revoked or repealed by 
 the latter ; and above a hundred and fifty verses 
 are enumerated as having been thus set aside by 
 after-discoveries of the divine will. In this they 
 
 * Koran, cb. xvi.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 219 
 
 are countenanced by the words of the prophet 
 himself. " Whatever verse we shall abrogate, or 
 cause thee to forget, we will bring a better than it, 
 or one like unto it."* " When we substitute in the 
 Koran an abrogating verse in lieu of a verse abro- 
 gated (and God best knoweth the fitness of that 
 which he revealeth), the infidels say, Thou art 
 only a forger of these verses ; but the greater part 
 of them know not the truth from falsehood."t 
 When this feature of their religion is objected to 
 modern Mahometans, as it was by Henry Mar-- 
 tyn in his controversy with them, they reply, that 
 " this objection is altogether futile ; for the pre- 
 cepts of God are always delivered with a special 
 regard to the necessities of his servants. And 
 there can be no doubt that these must vary with 
 the varying exigencies of the times in which they 
 are delivered. The divine Lawgiver may here 
 be considered as the spiritual physician of his peo- 
 ple ; who, like a temporal physician, prescribes 
 such regimen and medicines as are most likely to 
 suit the wants of his patient."! The pupil here is 
 certainly worthy of the master, when they both 
 agree in teaching, that the grand principles of mo- 
 rality are not eternal and immutable, growing out 
 of the very nature of the relation subsisting between 
 the Creator and his creatures, but are mere arbi- 
 trary rules, subject to be relaxed, modified, or dis- 
 pensed with, as circumstances may dictate. See- 
 ing that this pitiful device of feigning dispensa- 
 tions and abrogations of particular duties subjects 
 the immutable counsels of the Almighty to the 
 
 * Koran, ch ii. t Ch. xvi. 
 
 J Lee's Translation of II. Martyn's Controversial Tracts.
 
 220 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 charge of weakness and fickleness, it is sur- 
 prising that his disciples should have been blinded 
 by so flimsy a disguise; yet such is the fact. 
 And it adds another proof of the truth of the re- 
 mark, that as there is no error or absurdity in reli- 
 gion too monstrous to be conceived or broached, 
 so there is none too gross to be imposed upon the 
 credulity of others. 
 
 That his career was one of the most extraordi- 
 nary occurring in the annals of any nation, or age, 
 will not be questioned. By force of a vast am- 
 bition, giving direction to native talents of a su- 
 perior order, he had risen from small beginnings 
 to the pinnacle of power among the Arab na- 
 tion, and before his death, had commenced one 
 of the greatest revolutions known in the history of 
 man. He laid the foundation of an empire, which, 
 in the short space of eighty years, extended its 
 sway over more kingdoms and countries than 
 Rome had mastered in eight hundred. And when 
 we pass from the political to the religious ascen- 
 dency which he gained, and consider the rapid 
 growth, the wide diffusion, and the enduring per- 
 manence of the Mahometan imposture, we are still 
 more astonished. Indeed, in this, as in every other 
 instance where the fortunes of an individual are 
 entirely disproportioned to the means employed, 
 and surpass all reasonable calculation, we are 
 forced to resolve the problem into the special pro- 
 vidence of God. Nothing short of this could have 
 secured the achievement of such mighty results ; 
 and we must, doubtless, look upon Mahometanism 
 at the present day, as a standing monument of 
 the mysterious wisdom of Jehovah, designed to
 
 LIFE OP MAUOMET. 221 
 
 compass ends which are beyond the grasp of hu- 
 man minds. 
 
 As to person, Mahomet, according to his Arabic 
 biographers, was of a middling stature, and of a 
 florid complexion. His head was large and well 
 formed ; his hair smooth, and of a glossy black ; 
 his eye of the same colour ; and so uncommonly 
 vigorous and robust was his frame, that at the 
 time of his death, scarcely any of the marks or 
 infirmities of age had appeared upon him. His 
 features were large, yet regular ; his cheeks full ; 
 his forehead prominent; his eyebrows long and 
 smooth, mutually approaching each other, yet not 
 so as to meet ; and between them was a vein, of 
 which the pulse was quicker and higher than usual 
 whenever he was angry. He had an aquiline 
 nose and a large mouth, with teeth of singular 
 brilliancy and somewhat singular form, as they 
 were pointed like the teeth of a saw, and placed 
 at some distance from each other, though still in 
 beautiful order. When he laughed he discovered 
 them, and they appeared, if tradition may be cre- 
 dited, like hail-stones, or little white pearls. Even 
 his laughter is said to have been full of majesty, 
 and in his smile there was such a peculiar contrac- 
 tion of the muscles of the mouth and cheeks, and 
 such an expression given to the countenance, as 
 rendered it irresistibly attractive. In his later 
 years he became corpulent ; but he had always a 
 free open air, a majestic port, and a most engaging 
 address. 
 
 Of the eloquent account of the prophet, given 
 by the historian of the ' Decline and Fall,' the fol- 
 lowing passage is selected as especially discrimi-
 
 222 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 nating and just. " Charity may believe that the 
 original motives of Mahomet were those of pure 
 and genuine benevolence, but a human missionary 
 is incapable of cherishing the obstinate unbelievers 
 who reject his claims, despise his arguments, and 
 persecute Kis life ; he might forgive his personal 
 adversaries, he may lawfully hate the enemies of 
 God; the stern passions of pride and revenge 
 were kindled in the bosom of Mahomet, and he 
 sighed like the prophet of Nineveh for the de- 
 struction of the rebels whom he had condemned. 
 The injustice of Mecca, and the choice of Medina, 
 transformed the citizen into a prince, the humble 
 preacher into a leader of armies ; but his sword 
 was consecrated by the example of the saints ; 
 and the same God who afflicts a sinful world with 
 pestilence and earthquakes, might inspire for their 
 conversion or chastisement the valour of his ser- 
 vants. In the exercise of political government, he 
 was compelled to abate the stern rigour of fana- 
 ticism, to comply, in some measure, with the pre- 
 judices and passions of his followers, and to em- 
 ploy even the vices of mankind as the instruments 
 of their salvation. The use of fraud and perfidy, 
 of cruelty and injustice, were often subservient to 
 the propagation of the faith ; and Mahomet com- 
 manded or approved the assassination of the Jews 
 and idolaters who had escaped from the field of 
 battle. By the repetition of such acts, the cha- 
 racter of Mahomet must have been gradually 
 stained ; and the influence of such pernicious ha- 
 bits, would be poorly compensated by the practice 
 of the personal and social virtues which are ne- 
 cessary to maintain the reputation of a prophet 
 among his sectaries and friends. Of his late years,
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 223 
 
 ambition was his ruling passion, and a politician 
 will suspect that he secretly smiled (the victorious 
 impostor !) at the enthusiasm of his youth, and 
 the credulity of his proselytes. A philosopher 
 would observe, that their cruelty, and his success 
 would tend more strongly to fortify the assurance 
 of his divine mission ; that his interest and reli- 
 gion were inseparably connected, and that his con- 
 science would be soothed by the persuasion, that 
 he alone was absolved by the Deity from the obli- 
 gation of positive and moral laws."* 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The rise of the Arabian empire. Disputes about the suc- 
 cession to Mahomet's power. Abubeker appointed. He as- 
 sumes the title of Caliph. Troubles at the commencement of 
 his reign. He calls the followers of the prophet to war for the 
 spread of their religion. Ardour of the Arab troops. Success 
 against the Greek army. Fall of Bozra. Battle of Aiznadin. 
 Fall of Damascus. Death of Abubeker. Omar declared his 
 successor. Continuation of the Syrian campaign. Omar's 
 journey to Jerusalem. Fall of that city. Of Aleppo. Of 
 Antioch. The plague breaks out in the Arab army. Death of 
 its generals. Kaled's disgrace. Amrou leads the army into 
 Egypt. Pelusium-Memphis. Alexandria, successively taken. 
 Medina supplied with corn from Egypt. Entrance of the 
 Arabs into Persia. Victories gained in that empire. Omar 
 and the Persian satrap. Review of Omar's reign. His assas- 
 sination. Character. 
 
 THE death of Mahomet without nominating a 
 successor, led, as might be expected, to disputes 
 as to who should be invested with this high ho- 
 
 * Gibbon, ch. 1.
 
 224 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 nour. The claimants were principally two, Ali, 
 the early friend and first disciple, as he called him- 
 self, of the prophet, and Abubeker, who had on 
 all occasions been distinguished by zeal and cou- 
 rage in his service. Ali was the husband of Ma- 
 homet's only child Fatima; Abubeker was the 
 father of the prophet's favourite wife Ayesha. The 
 dispute was carried on with considerable fierceness 
 and obstinacy for some time, and threatened the 
 extinction of the rising empire. Neither of the 
 claimants would yield. Both pleaded the sanction 
 of the prophet's preference. The zealous Ali, the 
 poet, the soldier, and the saint, had been ap- 
 pointed by Mahomet at a very early period as his 
 chief minister, and obedience had been claimed 
 for him from all the faithful. The prophet had 
 often fondled his sons on his lap, and exhibited 
 them in his pulpit as the hope of his age, and the 
 chief of the youth of his paradise. Abubeker 
 had been charged by Mahomet during his brief 
 illness, with the duty of officiating in his mosque 
 at Medina, and to the artful Ayesha it is not im- 
 probable intimations had been given by the pro- 
 phet on his death-bed, which she had sufficient 
 address to urge in her father's favour. The dis- 
 pute was increased by the respective parties of the 
 Moslems, the fugitives and the auxiliaries claiming 
 the right of making the appointment. Each no- 
 minated its candidate, Abu Obeidah and Omar. 
 At length Abubeker pretended to relinquish his 
 own claims, and attempted to overrule those of his 
 opponent, by advising the people to appoint Omar, 
 who was in high repute among both parties. This 
 counsel was likely to prevail ; and somewhat ap- 
 peased the tumult ; but when Omar svas on the
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 225 
 
 point of gaining the suffrages of the multitude, he 
 suddenly declared his inability to sustain the 
 mighty office, renounced his pretensions, stretched 
 out his hand to Abubeker as his first subject, and 
 called upon the assembled people to follow his 
 example. Probably the wily candidate was pre- 
 pared for such a result, and from this time Omar 
 zealously supported his cause. The whole assem- 
 bly shouted their acknowledgments of the wisdom 
 of the choice, and hastened to salute the venerable 
 father-in-law of the prophet as their supreme lord 
 and judge. Ali, with a few adherents of the 
 Hashemite family, refuses their concurrence : but 
 no great or long continued mischief arose from 
 this source; they were not powerful, though for- 
 merly they had been so ; and Omar's threat to 
 destroy the house of Ali, and to plunge his sword 
 into the heart of every one of his supporters, if 
 they did not yield to the people's choice, combined 
 with the rnild but more powerful remonstrances of 
 Abubeker, produced silence and submission. 
 
 Abubeker, on the establishment of his power, 
 expressed his real or affected contempt of the usual 
 accompaniments of royalty. In person and habits 
 he was simple and unassuming; the only designa- 
 tion he would accept was that of caliph, * or de- 
 puty of the prophet, a course dictated both by the 
 customs of a people yet in great degree uncivilized, 
 and by the enthusiastic reverence in which all par- 
 ties held the name of Mahomet. He found his 
 throne no easy seat. The empire was but in its
 
 226 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 infancy, it was weak and wayward : all his pru- 
 dence, therefore, and the mild virtues of his cha- 
 racter, as well as the skill and courage of the 
 generals who had acquired renown in the prophet's 
 time, were requisite for its support, guidance, and 
 consolidation. 
 
 The overthrow of Moseilama, the rival prophet, 
 whose progress was the first cause of anxiety and 
 alarm for the empire of the Saracens, * has already 
 been mentioned. The suppression of this revolt 
 was not his only care. Mahomet had done little 
 more than kindle a blaze of fanaticism, which was 
 likely to expire quickly ; and scarcely was Abu- 
 beker seated on his throne, when he was over- 
 whelmed with reports of revolt, apostasy, and 
 imposture from almost all quarters. But few were 
 willing subjects. Mahomet had suppressed the 
 idolatry of Mecca, not rooted it out : he had re- 
 duced Christians to the payment of tribute, but a 
 precarious token of subjection ; and the Jews, 011 
 whom he had imposed his faith, with characteristic 
 obstinacy watched for the opportunity of returning 
 to the ritual of Moses. Nothing appeared to be 
 stable. The prompt display of military force, 
 however, speedily put down the spirit of insur- 
 rection, and revived the loyalty of the faithful. 
 Kaled, whose valour extinguished Moseilama and 
 his formidable sect, pursued a victorious career. 
 
 * Saracens. This title is supposed to be a corruption of the 
 Arabic word Saracini, a pastoral people : it is said to be used 
 on that account. The Arabians emphatically sustained this 
 character. Others think the name taken from a word signify- 
 ing a desert, and that it was at first, perhaps, somewhat con- 
 temptuously applied to them by Europeans ; " Hordes of the 
 desert." Western writers generally employ it to describe the 
 empire founded by Mahomet.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 227 
 
 The wavering Koreisli were established by the 
 eloquent appeal of Abubeker. " Ye men of 
 Mecca, will ye be the last to embrace, and the first 
 to abandon^ the religion of Islam ?" and the idola- 
 ters of the desert, who, having reluctantly sub- 
 mitted to the yoke of Mahomet, were now about 
 to throw it off, were again subdued by the fierce 
 and untiring general who, as if to maintain his 
 reputation as ' the sword of God,' had sworn espe- 
 cial enmity to apostates. 
 
 Princes whose power has been endangered by 
 divisions and factions among their subjects, have 
 frequently resorted to foreign warfare as a means 
 of security. Abubeker did this, iricited probably 
 by the fanaticism which had guided the proceed- 
 ings of the later periods of Mahomet's life, and 
 by the necessity of gratifying the military ardour 
 and enthusiasm of his subjects. He had incul- 
 cated the duty of fighting for the spread of the 
 truth, and it was said that on his death-bed he had 
 charged his followers never to lay down the sword 
 till Islainism became the universal faith. Abu- 
 beker accordingly wrote to the Arai> tribes a cir- 
 cular to the following effect : " In the name of the 
 most merciful God ; to the rest of the true be- 
 lievers, health and happiness, and the blessing of 
 God, be upon you. I praise the most high God, 
 and I pray for his prophet Mahomet. This is to 
 acquaint you that I intend to send the true be- 
 lievers into Syria to take it out of the hands of the 
 Infidels. And I would have you know that the 
 fighting for religion is an act of obedience to God." 
 The prize their sovereign had offered was a rich 
 one, enough at any time to excite the cupidity of 
 desert tribes ; and now that they had so recently 
 Q2
 
 226 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 tasted of the fruits of victory, its influence was 
 irresistible, so that a large arm) 7 was speedily ga- 
 thered around Medina, and placed under the com- 
 mand of Yezid Ebn Abu Sofian. At the com- 
 mencement of their march they were accompanied 
 by Abubeker, who proceeded with them on foot, 
 an indication of humility in which the officers 
 would fain have joined with him, but that he for- 
 bad them, saying that they who walked, and they 
 who rode were equally meritorious in the sight of 
 God. On leaving them at the close of their first 
 day's march, he addressed the general as follows : 
 " Be sure you do not oppress your own people, nor 
 make them uneasy, but advise with them in all 
 your affairs, and take care to do that which is just 
 and right, for those that do otherwise shall not 
 prosper. When you meet your enemies, quit your- 
 selves like men, and do not turn your backs ; and 
 if you get the victory, kill no little children, nor 
 old men, nor women. Destroy no palm-trees, nor 
 burn any fields of corn. Cut down no fruit-trees, 
 nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill 
 for the necessary purpose of subsistence. When you 
 make any covenant or article, stand to it, and be 
 as good as your word. As you go on, you will 
 find some religious persons that live retired in 
 monasteries, who propose to themselves to serve 
 God that way. Let them alone, and neither kill 
 them, nor destroy their monasteries. And you 
 will find another sort of people that belong to the 
 synagogues of Satan, who have shaven crowns ; be 
 sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no 
 quarter, till they either turn Mahometans or pay 
 tribute." 
 
 The ardour of the troops may be inferred from
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 229 
 
 an incident which a learned historian of the Sara- 
 cen empire records. * The mother and sister of 
 an Arabian youth accompanied him to the Syrian 
 war. Previously to a combat in which he fell, he 
 embraced his family and said, " It is not the deli- 
 cacies of Syria, or the fading delights of this 
 world, that have prompted me to devote my life 
 in the cause of religion. But I seek the favour 
 of God and his apostle, and I have heard from one 
 of the companions of the prophet, that the spirits 
 of the martyrs will be lodged in the crops of green 
 birds, who shall taste the fruits and drink of the 
 rivers of paradise. Farewell, we shall meet again 
 among the groves and fountains which God has 
 promised to his elect." 
 
 The emperor Heraclius, who at that time occu- 
 pied the throne which controlled the destinies of 
 Syria, and all the adjacent territories, in vain ap- 
 pealed to the pride and courage of his subjects 
 against the insults of a contemptible people. Their 
 progress was not to be resisted. Jn the first con- 
 flict the Christian army lost their general and 1200 
 men, and day after day tidings announced to the 
 caliph fresh successes of his soldiers. There was 
 no difficulty, therefore, in raising reinforcements, 
 and especially as the spoils sent to Abu according 
 to the law of the Koran, indicated that they were 
 likely to enrich themselves at the expense of the 
 conquered. A second army was despatched under 
 command of Amrou. The intrepid Kaled, whose 
 claims to that honourable distinction were the 
 stronger, declaring with great apparent disinterested- 
 ness and devotion that he cared not who had the com- 
 
 * Ockley.
 
 230 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 mand, so that he was but permitted under any 
 circumstances to fight for the spread of religion. 
 For some cause, not now ascertainable, Obeidah 
 had superseded Sofian in the command of the 
 forces which had hitherto been so successful, and 
 the determination was taken to subdue the whole 
 of Palestine. The two generals, however, were 
 less successful than suited the ardent expectations 
 of their prince ; he therefore sent Kaled to super- 
 sede them both, and under his command the whole 
 aspect of the campaign was changed. Bozra, 
 which, as its name imports, was a place of great 
 strength, and which Heraclius had rendered almost 
 impregnable, was rashly attacked by a force under 
 Serjabil, in obedience to the orders of Obeidah, 
 which was repulsed with loss. Kaled met the 
 flying troops : " See the villains come," exclaimed 
 he, as from the opened gates of the fortress the 
 emperor's soldiers poured into the plain, " they 
 know we are weary, but let us go on, and the 
 blessing of God will go with us." Shouts of 
 " Allah Akbar, Alhamlah, Aljannah," God is 
 great fight paradise, inflamed the courage of the 
 Arab troops, their impetuous valour threw the 
 Syrian ranks into confusion, and with a loss of not 
 not more than 230 men, Kaled remained master 
 of the field, having driven the enemy back to the 
 fortress. Bozra, nevertheless, in all probability 
 would have held out, but that its governor traitor- 
 ously gave it up to the Arabs, professing himself 
 a convert to their faith, his object most probably 
 was to save his own wealth and life. 
 
 Damascus was the next city against which the 
 arms of Kaled were directed. In accordance with 
 the custom of the times, that intrepid general
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 231 
 
 twice tried his strength and valour, in single com- 
 bat, with the Christian leader, in presence of the 
 legions on hoth sides, each of whom became his 
 prisoner. From Antioch the emperor had sent 
 5000 men to the assistance of the Damascenes; 
 but as they found themselves inferior to the foe in 
 every sally, it was resolved to reduce their city to 
 a closer defence. At length, a valuable booty was 
 offered to Kaled by the disheartened citizens, if he 
 would raise the siege. " No," said the unmoved 
 veteran, " no peace : either become tributaries or 
 Mahometans. Your armies do not affright us : 
 we are promised victory by our prophet Mahomet, 
 and we reject with scorn your proffered vests, tur- 
 bans, and money. We like war better than peace ; 
 and however poorly you may think of us, we 
 reckon you no better than dogs." Means had 
 been found of sending to the emperor an account 
 of the condition of the city, upon which he des- 
 patched another force, intended to relieve it, con- 
 sisting of not less than 100,000 men, with Wer- 
 dan, a celebrated Roman general, at their head. 
 On the arrival of news of this approaching suc- 
 cour, the joy of the citizens was tumultuous. 
 Kaled suspected the cause, and determined to in- 
 tercept the march of the Romans.* "You be- 
 hold," he cried to his soldiers, as they were ap- 
 proaching this numerous army, " the collected 
 force of the Romans. You cannot hope to escape ; 
 but if you are conquerors, all Syria will be sub- 
 
 * The Christian soldiers, in these wars, are called indifferently 
 Greeks, Syrians, or Romans. They have the first name from 
 the seat of the- empire ; the second, because Syria was their 
 country, or because it was the largest province of their empire ; 
 the last is their name of honour.
 
 232 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 jected to you : therefore fight in good earnest- 
 take religion's part ; and be sure you do not turn 
 your backs, and so deserve and obtain damna- 
 tion." He had issued orders to all the Arab com- 
 manders, with their forces, to join him in this 
 decisive conflict ; and by some fortunate chance, 
 which the Arab writers piously ascribe to the in- 
 tervention of divine providence, they all met in the 
 plain of Aiznadin on the same day, in the eleventh 
 year of the Hejira, the 13th July, 633. The Da- 
 mascenes obtained some advantage against part of 
 the Arab force while withdrawing, according to 
 this arrangement, which, however, Kaled amply 
 retrieved. Not more than 100 men, out of some 
 16,000, who bad gained this temporary victory, 
 were allowed to return to the city. 
 
 On the field of Aiznadin, about 45,000 Mos- 
 lems were assembled. Among them was a squa- 
 dron of female troops, whom enthusiasm had led 
 to the holy war. To them Kaled addressed his 
 exhortation " Noble girls, be assured that what 
 you do is very acceptable to God and to his apos- 
 tle. You will hereby purchase a lasting memo- 
 rial, and the gates of paradise will be open to you." 
 To all his troops Kaled addressed similar exhor- 
 tations ; while on his side Werdan endeavoured to 
 excite the courage of his somewhat dispirited 
 troops by representing to them the shame and 
 misery of defeat. Nothing, however, that he 
 could say, overcame their fears ; they had to en- 
 counter an army that had almost never known 
 defeat ; a general who could not fly : and it i& 
 said that, on the eve of battle, an offer was made 
 to Kaled of a turban, a robe, and a piece of golc 
 for every soldier, with ten robes and a hundred
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 233 
 
 pieces for their leaders, and ten times the amount 
 to be sent to the caliph, as the price of peace. 
 "Ye Christian dogs," said the Saracen general, 
 " ye know your option the Koran, the tribute, 
 or the sword. As for your proffer of vests, tur- 
 bans, and money, we shall, in a short time, be 
 masters of them all." 
 
 The event justified this insolent prophecy. 
 Both sides maintained the conflict with the ut- 
 most vigour and firmness ; but, in a short time, 
 the Greek troops were forced to give way before 
 the tremendous and irresistible charges of the 
 Saracens. The carnage was fearful, and the spoil 
 immense. Crosses of gold and silver, and armour 
 of inestimable costliness, adorned the persons of 
 the conquerors. News of this victory was imme- 
 diately transmitted to the caliph, who is said to 
 have rejoiced that, by the arms of his intrepid 
 warriors, fifty thousand souls were sent to hell ; 
 while by those of their foes, paradise was made to 
 reap a harvest of four hundred and seventy of the 
 faithful. 
 
 After this victory there was nothing to obstruct 
 the march of the Arabs upon Damascus, which 
 city was accordingly invested. Amrou, with nine 
 thousand of the victorious foe, presented himself 
 on one side ; Obeidah, with a second force of 
 equal magnitude, took up a second position ; while 
 a third was occupied by the fiery Kaled and the 
 largest part of the Saracen army. Ignorant as 
 they were in military tactics, the siege lasted for a 
 long time : several unsuccessful sallies were made 
 from the city; and Thomas, an excellent soldier, 
 son-in-law to the emperor, performed feats of 
 valour that might have inspirited his party, but
 
 234 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 that the Saracen arms seemed destined to carry 
 every thing before them. As a last means of 
 saving their lives, the citizens sent a deputation, 
 consisting of some hundred clergy, to Obeidah, 
 whose mildness and urbanity gave them some hope 
 of success. They were courteously received : a 
 written promise was given them that hostilities 
 should cease ; that as many of them as chose 
 might depart from the city, with their families and 
 such effects as they could carry away : and that all 
 who remained might, on paying tribute, retain 
 their lands and houses, and also the use of seven 
 churches, with liberty of worship. A capitula- 
 tion was agreed to on these terms, and the general 
 and his men were accordingly admitted into the 
 city. 
 
 Of these transactions Kaled either was, or pre- 
 tended to be, entirely ignorant. He occupied the 
 opposite side ; and was storming the walls when 
 the terms were being concluded between the 
 clergy and Obeidah. Treachery enabled him to 
 effect an entrance, and the horrid war-cry of the 
 desert now arose within the walls of the affrighted 
 Damascenes. The word " no quarter" was given, 
 and the scimitars of the soldiers of Kaled were 
 used with tremendous effect. At length, the san- 
 guinary chief reached the church of St. Mary, 
 where he beheld, with astonishment and wrath, 
 Obeidah and his troops with their swords sheathed, 
 and suiTounded by a large number of the men 
 " belonging to the synagogues of Satan, who have 
 shaven crowns." An angry dispute immediately 
 arose between the generals ; one insisting on 
 the observance of the treaty, the other urging his 
 right to put every unbeliever to the sword. Gladly
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 235 
 
 would the Arabs have ranged themselves on the 
 fiercer side of the question ; but at length it was 
 determined, that that part of the city which had 
 surrendered should enjoy the benefit of the capitu- 
 lation, the question between the generals being 
 referred for decision to the caliph. Under the 
 guidance of Thomas, a large number of the citi- 
 zens, who disdained to pay tribute to a haughty 
 foe, for the liberty of worshipping according to 
 the dictates of their conscience, accordingly left 
 the city in mournful procession, " to seek," says 
 Mr. Mills, " in pride and anguish, some more 
 tranquil spot in the heart of the empire. Three 
 days of truce Avere allowed them ; but on the 
 fourth the sanguinary Kaled commenced the pur- 
 suit ; his cavalry overtook the Christians, already 
 overcome by sorrow and fatigue, and one indi- 
 vidual alone of the wretched band escaped the 
 lances and scimitars of the Saracens." 
 
 On the day that Damascus fell.* Abubeker 
 died, after a brief reign of two years and three 
 months. He had lived with great simplicity and 
 frugality ; his manners were austere ; the utmost 
 attention was given, by his direction, to the whole 
 of his expenditure, that the state should suffer no 
 loss through him. All he claimed, was a stipend 
 of three pieces of gold, three drachms ; with suf- 
 ficient maintenance for one camel and one slave. 
 All beyond this, over which he had control was 
 distributed to the soldiers, and the most deserving; 
 and next to them, to the most indigent of his 
 people. 
 
 By a testamentary document, Abubeker pre- 
 
 Aug. 3, 634.
 
 236 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 vented the renewal of the disputes which had ac- 
 companied his own accession to the throne. He 
 devolved the honour on Omar, who had given way 
 to him. At first, Omar would fain have refused 
 the dignity. " I have no occasion for the place," 
 said he ; " but," said his dying friend, " the place 
 has need of you ;" and thus his scruples were over- 
 come. His deposition of Kaled from the com- 
 mand of Syrian armies and appointment of Obei- 
 dah, gave promise of justice, and less sanguinary 
 proceedings than had filled the former reign. The 
 intelligence of the victory at Aiznadin, and of the 
 fall of Damascus had not reached Medina, when 
 the order for their changes in the command of the 
 army was dispatched. Obeidah thought the recep- 
 tion of that intelligence would cause Omar to re- 
 scind his appointment, and waited, therefore, till 
 further tidings from home reached him, ere he as- 
 sumed his command. The caliph however was 
 inflexible, and certainly it is impossible not to ad- 
 mire the loyalty, implicit obedience, and patriotism 
 of the disgraced general ; he could not have re- 
 sisted without hazard to the empire he had bound 
 himself to serve. " I know," he said, " that 
 Omar loves me not, but he is my master, and I 
 submit to his decrees. My zeal shall suffer no 
 abatement, and whenever he chooses to em- 
 ploy me, I will give every possible proof of zeal 
 and devotion to our holy cause." It has some- 
 times been said that truth only can inspire 
 genuine self-denial ; but if so, how shall we ex- 
 plain this part of the conduct of the intrepid 
 warrior ? 
 
 Narratives like those which have been given, 
 might fill the remaining pages of this volume,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 237 
 
 did it design to follow the victorious Arabs 
 through all their campaigns. It will be enough 
 to say, that the cities of Emesa and Balbec 
 had to follow the hitter example of Bozra and 
 Damascus. Upon the banks of a small stream, 
 which falls into the lake of Tiberias, the last 
 unavailing struggle was made by the Greeks 
 for their falling dominion in Syria previously to 
 the commencement of which, Obeidah resigned, 
 and Kaled once more took possession of the su- 
 preme command. " Paradise" he said to his sol- 
 diers in an oration of tremendous brevity ; " Pa- 
 radise is before you, the devil and hell fire are be- 
 hind you." For a time the Romans were likely 
 to prevail ; but Arabian women, forming the last 
 line of the Saracen army drove their flying hus- 
 bands and brethren back to the conflict. Here as 
 at Aiznadin, the Syrian soldiers were slain or scat- 
 tered ; and in his dispatch to the caliph, the Sara- 
 cen general congratulated him on the slaughter of 
 thousands of the infidels. " The Yermou," said 
 he, the stream on which the battle was fought, 
 " has drowned a number known only to God ; 
 the fugitives into the deserts and mountains have 
 been destroyed ; their wives, their children, and 
 their country have fallen into the hands of the 
 faithful." 
 
 The immense disproportion between the slain 
 on the respective sides in their battles, fills us with 
 surprise ; and after allowing for Arabic exaggera- 
 tion, it can be accounted for only by the terror that 
 the name of Kaled, and the horrid tecbir, or war 
 cry of the Arabs raised. It was but for the Sa- 
 racens to strike, the Greeks, disciplined as they
 
 238 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 were, fell by hundreds and thousands ; while of 
 their own forces, units only were slain ; the effect 
 would be an unwavering confidence in the good- 
 ness of their cause, and of the constant and pow- 
 erful protection over them of the God of battles ; 
 and thus flushed with self complacency and hope, 
 their progress presents no difficult problem. Every 
 thing seemed to be in their favour. 
 
 The last victory left Jerusalem, Aleppo, and 
 Antioch almost without defence, open whensoever 
 it might please the victorious army to advance. 
 To the first, their march was speedily 'directed. 
 By sending forward a detachment of five thou- 
 sand men an ineffectual attempt was made to sur- 
 prise the garrison ; and afterwards the city was 
 closely invested with the whole army. The alter- 
 native of tribute or conversion was offered by 
 Obeidah to the inhabitants. He wrote to the 
 chief commanders of the .city, and to the inhabi- 
 tants generally. " Health and happiness to every 
 one that follows the right way, and believes in God, 
 and his apostle. We require of you to testify, that 
 there is but one God, and that Mahomet is his 
 apostle ; and when you have borne witness to this, 
 it is unlawful for us, either to shed your blood, or 
 meddle with your substance and children. If you 
 refuse this, consent to pay tribute, and be under 
 us forthwith, otherwise I shall bring men against 
 you, who love death better than you do the drink- 
 ing of wine, or the eating of hogs' flesh. Nor 
 will I ever stir from you, if it please God, till I 
 have destroyed those that fight for you, and made 
 slaves of your children." 
 
 Four months did this city, which had suffered
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 239 
 
 so much in former time, sustain the siege of the 
 Saracens, at the end of which time, the patriarch 
 Sophronius offered to capitulate. Obeidah never 
 reluctant to listen to overtures that might issue in 
 comparative mercy, was ready to treat with him. 
 He accordingly proposed to surrender the city, 
 only insisting upon the strange condition that the 
 caliph himself should enter within their venerable 
 walls, and that from his own hands they should 
 receive the articles of their protection and security. 
 They might fancy that as much as this was due 
 to a place which had been the abode of God him- 
 self, or, as is more probable, they imagined that 
 the request could not but be gratifying to the suc- 
 cessor of a prophet who had invariably professed 
 to honour the religion which was so intimately 
 connected with the destinies of their city. 
 
 Whatever might occasion the demand, after a 
 council held upon it in the mosque at Medina, 
 Omar determined that it should be acceded to. 
 He yielded, perhaps, quite as much to the wish of 
 refreshing and encouraging his own troops by the 
 sight of their venerated caliph, as to his desire of 
 seeing and treading the ground of that sacred 
 spot. His progress was a remarkable contrast to 
 the gaudy pageantry and pomp of eastern monarchs 
 generally. Ockley thus describes it, " When the 
 caliph had said his prayers in the mosque, and 
 paid his respects at Mahomet's tomb, he substi- 
 tuted AH in his place, and set forward with some 
 attendants ; the greatest part of which, having 
 kept him company a little way, returned back to 
 Medina. He rode upon a red camel with a cou- 
 ple of sacks, in one of which he carried that sort 
 of provisions which the Arabs call sawick, which
 
 240 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 is either barley, rice, or wheat, sodden and un- 
 husked ; the other was full of fruits. Before him 
 he carried a great leathern bottle (very necessary 
 in those desert countries to put water in), behind 
 him a large wooden dish. Thus furnished and 
 equipped, the caliph travelled, and when he came 
 to any place where he was to rest all night, he 
 never went from it till he had said the morning 
 prayer. After Avhich, turning himself about to 
 those that were with him, he said, " Praise be to 
 God, who has strengthened us with the true reli- 
 gion, and given us his prophet, and led us out of 
 error, and united us (who were at variance) in 
 the confession of the truth, and given us the vic- 
 tory over our enemies, and the possession of his 
 country. O, ye servants of God ! Praise him 
 for these abundant favours ; for God gives increase 
 to those that ask it. and are desirous of those 
 things that are with him, and fulfils his grace upon 
 those that are thankful." Then filling his platter 
 with the sawick, he very liberally entertained his 
 fellow travellers, who did, without any distinction, 
 eat with him out of the same dish." 
 
 On the way he redressed the wrongs of the tri- 
 butaries who appealed to him, and reproved the 
 luxury of the Arabs, many of whom he found 
 clothed in the rich vestments acquired with their 
 .spoils at Damascus and Yermouk. As he ap- 
 proached Jerusalem, his followers persuaded him 
 to assume a somewhat more imposing appearance, 
 in order, as they said, to excite in the minds of 
 his newly conquered subjects an idea of his great- 
 ness more befitting the expectations they had 
 formed. He accordingly attired himself in white 
 robes, and exchanged the camel hitherto shared
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 241 
 
 with his slave for a horse, but the equipment did 
 not suit him, and he returned to the simplicity 
 the almost barbarous guise of former times. Thus 
 he entered the camp before Jerusalem, exclaiming 
 against the absurdity of forsaking established 
 usages for the gratification of vanity and pride, or 
 for the indulgence of a foolish caprice. 
 
 The simplicity of his appearance increased rather 
 than diminished those sentiments of terror and 
 respect which his name had inspired. " Resistance 
 to these men," said the patriarch, " without mira- 
 culous assistance from heaven will be in vain. 
 Their prophet enjoined them to exercise the vir- 
 tues of humility, modesty, and submission, and 
 these qualities lead to greatness. Their laws will 
 soon become absolute over all other laws, and their 
 empire will extend from the east to the west." 
 
 AVhile such sentiments pervaded the Christian 
 leaders, there was no great difficulty in agreeing 
 upon terms of capitulation. The lives, fortunes, 
 churches, and religion, of the conquered were 
 henceforth to be hld on condition of paying a 
 heavy tribute. The sovereignty of the city, and 
 of all the adjacent territory was ceded to the caliph ; 
 Mahometans were to be admitted at all times into 
 the churches of Christians, they were to be en- 
 tertained gratuitously at any time for the space of 
 three days their names, dress, and forms of salu- 
 tation were never to be used by any others than 
 themselves. " Neither should the Christians," 
 proceeds the treaty, " ride upon saddles, nor bear 
 any sort of arms, nor use the Arabic tongue in 
 the inscriptions of their seals, nor sell any wine. 
 They shall be obliged to wear the same sort of 
 habit wherever they go, and always wear girdles
 
 34z LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 upon their waists. They shall set no crosses upon 
 their churches, nor show the crosses in their books, 
 openly in the streets of the Mussulmans. They 
 shall not ring, hut only toll their bells ; nor take 
 any servant that had once belonged to the Mus- 
 sulmans." " Upon these terms," observes Ockley, 
 " the Christians had liberty of conscience ; and 
 Jerusalem, once the glory of the east, was forced to 
 submit to a heavier yoke than ever she had borne 
 before. For though the number of the slain, and 
 the calamities of the besieged, were greater when 
 it was taken by the Romans, yet the servitude of 
 those that survived was nothing comparable to 
 this, either in respect of the circumstances or du- 
 ration. Now it fell, as it were once for all, into 
 the hands of the most mortal enemies of the Chris- 
 tian religion, in which it has continued ever since, 
 excepting only that interval of near ninety years, 
 in which it was possessed by the Christians in the 
 Holy War." 
 
 These terms which form the basis of all future 
 treaties assented to by the Mahometans are suffi- 
 ciently humbling, but the Greek empire was too 
 much weakened to resist them ; and from that 
 time to the present, wherever they have been con- 
 querors, similar degradation as been inflicted upon 
 all of a different faith. Omar ordered the ground 
 on which the temple of Solomon had stood to be 
 cleared of its rubbish, and a splendid mosque was 
 immediately founded, which still bears his name. 
 His stay at Jerusalem was confined to ten days, 
 during which time he regulated the plans of fu- 
 ture conquest to be pursued by his subjects. 
 
 Aleppo the Berea of the Greeks, next fell 
 ^^nder the Moslem arms; not so easily, however,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 24,3 
 
 as other cities had fallen. It was defended by a 
 strong castle, hefore which during a tedious siege 
 of five months thousands of the Arabs were slain. 
 Their generals applied to the caliph for permis- 
 sion to seek an easier conquest, but he would by 
 no means permit them to abandon the siege, and 
 stratagem at last effected what power could not. 
 
 Damas, a volunteer, who had recently arrived in 
 the Saracen army, engaged to capture the city with 
 the aid of thirty companions, and the army was 
 ordered to withdraw for the purpose of beguiling 
 the citizens into security by the show of a retreat. 
 The scheme was successful; Damas soon learned 
 that the garrison was sunk into supineness, and 
 immediately creeping forth with his associates from 
 behind the eminence which concealed them from 
 observation, he approached the castle with silence 
 and caution. He was a man of immense strength. 
 Stooping down he allowed seven of the strongest 
 of his companions to place themselves successively 
 on his shoulders; the foremost leaped upon the 
 battlements, and immediately the drowsy sentinels 
 were put to the sword, or thrown into the fosse. 
 His thirty associates were drawn up the walls of the 
 castle, and entered, headed by himself, repeating 
 their accustomed prayer, " O apostle of God, help 
 and deliver us." In one of the chambers which 
 he traversed alone, Damas discovered the general 
 of the Greek forces and made him prisoner. The 
 intrepid band maintained their ground till day- 
 light discovered to Kaled what had been effected, 
 upon which he hastened with his army to their 
 relief. They were instantly admitted, and the 
 castle which they had found more disastrous to 
 R 2
 
 244 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 them than any other in the campaign was in their 
 hands. 
 
 Antioch now remained the only considerable 
 place in Syria over which the Mahometan standard 
 did not wave ; a distinction which it preserved 
 but a few weeks. The general whom Damas 
 found in the castle at Aleppo had turned Mussul- 
 man ; and by him the Arabs were conducted so as 
 to become masters, with comparative ease, of the 
 strong castle of Arzuz, and of the iron bridge over 
 the Orontes, which were the principal defences of 
 that city against the approaching army. Here 
 the emperor of the Greeks was holding his court, 
 and in the days of the Caesars the city was adorned 
 with the titles of free, holy, and inviolate, but now 
 its glory was about to fade. The emperor yielding 
 to considerations of prudence and personal safety 
 meditated a dishonourable flight. The bishops 
 and principal men of the place assembled in one 
 of the churches to bewail the unhappy fate of the 
 empire, ascribing it to the sins of the people. 
 Heraclius ascended a hill in the vicinity, surveyed 
 with a sorrowful heart his beloved city, and the 
 fruitful valley in which it was situate, and with 
 tears took leave of both for ever. It is said that 
 he inquired of one of the Moslem captives who 
 was brought before him, as to the person and dig- 
 nity of the sovereign of Arabia, the answers he 
 received, filled him as much with terror as sur- 
 prise. " What sort of a palace," said the emperor, 
 " has your caliph ?" " Of mud," was the reply. 
 " And who are his attendants ?" " Beggars and 
 poor people." " What tapestry does he sit upon?" 
 " Justice and uprightness." " And what is his
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 245 
 
 throne ?" " Abstinence and wisdom." " And what 
 is his treasure ?" " Trust in God." " And who are 
 his guards?" " The bravest of all the worshippers 
 of our God." 
 
 At the intelligence of this victory Omar is said 
 to have fallen upon the ground to weep tears of 
 joy, and to give thanks to God and the prophet. 
 Obeidah had removed his soldiers from the ener- 
 vating luxuries of the city, to the hard and stern 
 discipline of the camp, a course which his pru- 
 dence dictated. The caliph, however, mildly re- 
 proved him for it. " God," he said in his letter, 
 " did not forbid the use of the good things of this 
 life to faithful men, and such as performed good 
 works : wherefore the lieutenant should have given 
 them leave to rest themselves, and partake freely 
 of those good things which the country afforded : 
 that if any of the Saracens had no family in Arabia, 
 they might marry in Syria ; and whoever among 
 them Avanted any female slaves, he might purchase 
 as many as he had occasion for." 
 
 This year proved a disastrous one to the Arab 
 troops, notwithstanding their successes. The plague 
 broke out among them, and twenty-four thousand, 
 including their general and some others who had 
 been companions of Mahomet, became its victims. 
 The Arabs accordingly distinguish this year as the 
 year of destruction. 
 
 After these exploits, but little was left to com- 
 plete the conquest of Syria. Many of its towns 
 surrendered without resistance. Tripoli and Tyre 
 were betrayed. A fleet, destined for Cyprus and 
 Crete, fell into the hands of the Arabs, and 
 yielded them a welcome supply of arms and pro-
 
 246 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 visions, and within six years from their first ex- 
 pedition this fertile region was completely under 
 their power. 
 
 Kaled, whose name has so frequently heen 
 mentioned in connexion with these events, was in 
 the right when he said, Omar loved him not. The 
 death of Obeidah and other officers by the plague, 
 had removed every obstacle to his advancement ; 
 but a charge of appropriating to his own use the 
 public treasure, was preferred against him, and 
 encouraged by the caliph. His liberal dower to 
 a beautiful widow, whom he married while his 
 hands were yet reeking with the blood of her hus- 
 band murdered by himself, gave probability to 
 the accusation. He was ordered home and exa- 
 mined, some say with the indignity of his turban 
 fastened round his neck, the ends being held by 
 the common crier. He submitted to this disgrace 
 with exemplary moderation, declaring, that no- 
 thing should induce him to resist the will of his 
 superiors, and was condemned to heavy fines, in 
 punishment of his supposed guilt. At length, 
 however, he sunk under the accumulated weight 
 of suffering, poverty, and dishonour ; and when 
 his horse, his armour, and one slave, were found 
 to constitute all his wealth, Omar wept over liis 
 grave at the injustice done him. His history fur- 
 nishes one illustration, in addition to many more, 
 of the ingratitude of ancient nations to their 
 bravest soldiers, and of the utter emptiness of 
 the honour and applause which military prowess 
 is universally regarded as securing. His last mo- 
 ments were embittered by the reflection, that after 
 having sought the glory of martyrdom in many a 
 bloody field, and felt the weapons of the enemy in
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 247 
 
 every limb, he should descend to the grave, wronged 
 and dishonoured, among the common herd of or- 
 dinary mortals. 
 
 Amrou, the equal of Kaled in war, and greatly 
 his superior in counsel, succeeded to the com- 
 mand ; and the subjugation of Egypt to the Maho- 
 metan power, was the next enterprise to which the 
 fanaticism and courage of the army were directed. 
 Omar hesitated, however, as to whom he should 
 entrust with the responsibilities and the glory of 
 this enterprise. He wrote to Amrou " Should 
 this letter reach you while you are in Syria, re- 
 turn ; but if you are entered into Egypt when the 
 messenger arrives, advance, with the blessing of 
 God ; and assure yourself, that if you want any 
 supplies I will take care to send them." The ge- 
 neral was on his march when the letter arrived. 
 He had not left Syria ; but bent on attempting the 
 conquest, he immediately pushed on to Arish, a 
 town at the extremity of Syria", and near the con- 
 fines of Egypt. Here he made known to his offi- 
 cers the command of the caliph ; but either 
 because his presence was deemed necessary to the 
 success of the army, or because he could describe 
 himself as having passed the limits beyond which 
 the recal was not intended to apply, he did not 
 return. His army speedily obtained Pelusium, 
 the key of Egypt ; and reduced Memphis, after 
 a siege of seven months. The Greek emperors 
 had tyrannized over the native Egyptians, so 
 that they hailed the approach of the Moslems 
 as affording them hope of deliverance from a 
 hated power; and this "basest of the nations" 
 almost universally fell beneath the Arab yoke. 
 Alexandria, to which the Greeks of Egypt fled,
 
 248 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 offered a long and desperate resistance to the 
 Mahometan troops, twenty-three thousand of 
 whom obtained the crown of martyrdom beneath 
 its walls. At length, however, it yielded, and 
 Amrou wrote to the caliph " I have taken the 
 great city of the west. It is impossible for me to 
 enumerate the variety of its riches and beauty ; 
 and I shall content myself with observing, that it 
 contains four thousand palaces, four thousand 
 baths, four hundred theatres or places of amuse- 
 ment, twelve thousand shops for the sale of vege- 
 table food, and forty thousand tributary Jews. 
 The town has been subdued by force of arms, 
 without treaty or capitulation, and the Moslems 
 are impatient to seize the fruits of their victory." 
 Omar, in reply, commanded that private property 
 should be respected, and that the public stores 
 should be employed in the pious work of furnish- 
 ing means for extending still further the religion 
 of the prophet. He regulated also the tribute to 
 be paid, as the price of safety, distinguishing be- 
 tween the poor and the wealthier inhabitants ; as 
 if he were not entirely lost to the sense of justice 
 and compassion, by the occasional display of which 
 he sought to alleviate the terrors awakened by the 
 Arab name. 
 
 This conquest enabled Amrou to relieve the 
 distresses of a famine in the land from whence he 
 had come. The corn of Egypt, as in ancient 
 time, was transferred, on the backs of camels, to 
 a people who, like the family of Jacob, were in a 
 state of famine ; and probably this supply sug- 
 gested to the prudent and munificent Omar the 
 desirableness of a canal between the Nile and the 
 Red Sea. His means were adequate ; the under-
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 249 
 
 taking, therefore, was accomplished by the sol- 
 diers of Amrou. As long as the seat of the Arab 
 government was continued at Medina, this means 
 of commercial intercourse was kept open, and 
 yielded immense advantage to its subjects. 
 
 Persia, an empire of long standing, which, had 
 experienced, moreover, numerous changes, became 
 the next object of Arab cupidity, its wealth much 
 more than its idolatry inciting the attempt to 
 subjugate it. It had felt in one of its provinces, 
 westward of Babylon and near the Euphrates, the 
 power of these insatiable, unconquered foes ; but 
 for some time the Avar in Syria had diverted them 
 from this ancient empire. It had been overrun 
 by the soldiers of Heraclius, whose ravages were 
 succeeded by the accumulated evils of famine and 
 anarchy. Its nobles were not united, its sove- 
 reigns were feeble ; little more than the splendid 
 pageants of faction. When Syria and Egypt had 
 yielded to the Moslem arms, there was nothing to 
 divert the attention of the wanderers of the desert 
 from a conquest which they had so long meditated. 
 The empire was governed by the feeble hand of a 
 woman; but on the approach of the formidable 
 troops of Medina she was compelled to resign a 
 dignity to which her sex was deemed unequal, and 
 a youth of fifteen, a descendant of the ancient so- 
 vereigns of the empire, was chosen to fill her place. 
 One of his first acts was to reply insultingly to a 
 deputation of Arab chiefs who had been despatched 
 to the head quarters of the Persian army. " We 
 have always," he said, "held you in the lowest 
 estimation. Arabs hitherto have been known in 
 Persia only in two characters ; as merchants and as 
 beggars. Your food is green lizards ; your drink,
 
 250 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 salt-water; your covering, garments made of coarse 
 hair. But of late you have come in numbers to 
 Persia ; you have eaten of good food ; you have 
 drunk of sweet waters; and have enjoyed the 
 luxury of soft raiment. You have reported these 
 enjoyments to your brethren, and they are flocking 
 to partake of them. You appear to me like the 
 fox in our fable, who went into a garden where 
 he found plenty of grapes : the ge"nerous gardener 
 would not disturb him, and thought the produce 
 of his vineyard would not be diminished by a poor 
 hungry fox enjoying himself. But the animal, 
 not content with his good fortune, went and in- 
 formed all his tribe. The garden Avas filled with 
 foxes, and its indulgent master was forced to bar 
 the gates, and kill all the intruders to save himself 
 from ruin. However,' as I am satisfied that you 
 have been compelled to this conduct by absolute 
 want, I will not only pardon you, but load your 
 camels with Avheat and dates, that when you re- 
 turn to your native land you may feast your coun- 
 trymen. But be assured, if you are insensible to 
 my generosity, and still remain in Persia, you 
 shall not escape my just vengeance." 
 
 To this ebullition of vanity arid weakness the 
 Arab messengers listened unmoved, and without 
 attempting to reply to the insults it offered to their 
 country and themselves, they briefly laid before 
 the youthful emperor the dreadful alternative 
 conversion, tribute, or the sword. The terms were 
 rejected, and the war commenced. The feeble and 
 foolish emperor knew not the kind of power he had 
 to deal with. An army of one hundred and twenty 
 thousand, including many who rather incumbered 
 than aided its operations, was assembled to repel
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 251 
 
 it. The first battle was fought in the plains of 
 Cadesia, and ended in victory on the side of the 
 invaders. Other battles followed with similar 
 success. The monarch disheartened, resigned his 
 crown and fled to drag out a miserable existence, 
 under the protection of Scythian shepherds ; but 
 still the nation maintained the conflict for inde- 
 pendence, till the victory of victories at Nehavend 
 in 649, annexed Persia to the dominions of the 
 ealiph. 
 
 The usual offer of conversion or tribute was 
 changed, since the Persians were deemed idolaters, 
 and they had to choose between death and acknow- 
 ledging the faith of Mahomet. A few only es- 
 caped to maintain in the solitude of their distant 
 mountains the ancient worship of their fathers. 
 
 It would be tedious to detail the events of this 
 war, which was uniformly successful to the Arab 
 arms, and which enriched them with large and va- 
 luable booty. During its progress a fallen satrap 
 or Persian governor was sent to Medina, When 
 he arrived the caliph was reposing .among a crowd 
 of paupers, and the satrap not at all expecting to 
 meet with royalty connected with so much sim- 
 plicity, demanded to be conducted to Omar. The 
 caliph awakened by the noise, gave orders that 
 the prisoner should be led to the mosque, in a 
 chamber of which after being first stripped of his 
 gorgeous robes, he was questioned. " Dost thou 
 know," said Omar, " the judgments of God and 
 the rewards of infidelity and obedience?" " Alas!'* 
 replied the satrap, " I feel them too deeply. In 
 the days of our common ignorance, we fought with 
 the weapons of the flesh, and my nation was su- 
 perior ; God was then neuter : since he has es-
 
 252 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 poused your quarrel, you have subverted our king- 
 dom and religion." The Persian complained of 
 thirst, and wished to drink in the presence of his 
 conqueror, since, according to the custom of the 
 orientals, that circumstance would have entitled 
 the prisoner to the privileges of his friendship. 
 " Why do you ask for water?" demanded the 
 caliph. " My thirst is intolerable," answered the 
 satrap. " and I ask for water for the preservation 
 of my life." " Your life is not in danger till you 
 have drank the water," said the caliph. The 
 crafty Persian dashed the vase to the ground. 
 Though a promise of perpetual safety was far from 
 being the meaning of Omar, yet the calls of mercy 
 and the sacred solemnity of justice forbade the 
 Caliph from recalling his unguarded language. 
 
 These conquests chiefly have given renown to 
 the reign of Omar. Not entirely so; for an Arab, 
 and a zealous Mahometan, he was a prince of 
 justice and humanity, and he has been held in 
 veneration through all succeeding ages for the at- 
 tention which he bestowed upon the Koran. By 
 his orders its detached parts laid up in the sacred 
 chest, or scattered among the followers of Ma- 
 homet, were brought together and made to form 
 one volume. Of all other literature he will never 
 cease to be known as the relentless foe. The 
 Alexandrian library was sacrificed to his wretched 
 fanaticism. "If," said he, when a proposal was 
 made to save that collection of sound and classical 
 learning, " if what be written in those books agree 
 with the Koran, they are not necessary the 
 Koran is enough without them, if they do not, it 
 is fit that they should be destroyed /' a sophism 
 before which the literary stores collected from all
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 253 
 
 parts of the world by the pride or learning of the 
 Ptolemies at once perished. 
 
 At length Omar fell by the hand of an assassin, 
 a Persian slave, who thought, perhaps, by this 
 means to avenge the wrongs of his miserable 
 country. Watching his opportunity when the 
 caliph was at morning prayers the murderer rushed 
 into the mosque, and with a small dagger inflicted 
 six wounds upon his person, ere he had left the 
 pulpit. One of these proved mortal, and the 
 reign of Omar terminated after ten years of pros- 
 perity. His piety, justice, abstinence, and sim- 
 plicity have procured him more reverence among 
 good Mussulmans than the grandeur of any of.his 
 successors could command. " His walking stick," 
 says.Alwakide, " struck more terror into those who 
 were present, than another man's sword." His 
 diet was dates, or coarse barley-bread dipped in salt ; 
 his drink water ; and sometimes, by way of pe- 
 nance, he would eat his bread without salt. Of 
 religious duties he was a punctual observer, and, 
 during his brief caliphate, had performed nine 
 pilgrimages to Mecca. He preached in a tattered 
 cotton gown, torn in twelve places ; and a Persian 
 satrap, when he paid homage to the conqueror of 
 his nation, found him lying asleep among the 
 beggars on the steps of the mosque at Medina. 
 During the ten years of his administration, 4000 
 churches were destroyed, and 1400 mosques erected 
 on their ruins. Abubeker had styled himself the 
 caliph or deputy of Mahomet. Omar if he adopted 
 a similar style would have been caliph of the 
 caliph of the prophet ; but as such a title was 
 deemed tautological and might have increased to 
 an inconvenient length, he took that of Emir el
 
 254 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 Muemenin or emperor of the faithful, a designa- 
 tion which continued till the word ealiph came 
 to be almost synonymous with emperor. They 
 are now used almost interchangeably. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The progress of the Arabian empire. Death of Omar, and 
 elevation of Othman. Alexandria dismantled. Africa entered 
 by the Saracen troops. Battle near Tripoli, and fall of that 
 city. Disaffection against Othman. His assassination. Ali 
 becomes caliph. Ayesha's opposition to him. Battle of Bas- 
 sora, Rebellion of Moawiyah. All's murder. Hassan his 
 son made caliph. Resigns in favour of Moawiyah. New 
 dynasty. Ayesha's death. Yezid. Hosein's fate. Arab fac- 
 tions. Dynasty of Abbas. Africa conquered. Spain. Con- 
 quests in the East. Samarcand and Tartary. China. Siege 
 of Constantinople. Reverse of the Arab arms. Charles Mar- 
 teL Greeks subdued. Mediterranean islands. Rome. 
 
 THE death of Omar renewed the contests for the 
 caliphate. The claims of his own son were passed 
 over, and probably distrusting his judgment in a 
 matter of so much importance, and equally doubt- 
 ful of the merits of any one of the few remaining 
 companions of Mahomet, he left it to a committee 
 of six to choose his successor. They rejected the 
 claims of Ali, "the first of the disciples," and 
 elected Othman, who was deemed the fitter for the 
 office, on account of the fierceness of his counsels, 
 and the sincerity of his devotion. His reign lasted 
 ten years, during which the empire of the Sara- 
 cens was extended beyond the Tigris, over large 
 districts of Armenia and Mesopotamia. His lieu- 
 tenants subdued the cities of Balk, Herat, Thous, 
 and Nichabour, and pushed their conquests as far
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 255 
 
 as to the rapid Oxus, the western boundary of a 
 part of the vast empire of Tartary. 
 
 Othman's imprudent desire to elevate his own 
 family nearly lost to the empire one of its richest 
 conquests. Amrou had secured the confidence 
 and affection of the inhabitants of Egypt by the 
 clemency, the justice and wisdom with which 
 he conducted the government of their country. 
 Othman recalled him, and Alexandria was imme- 
 diately besieged by the Greeks. The danger led 
 to a reinstatement of the deposed governor, and 
 the opposing fleet and army speedily disappeared. 
 
 Another attempt was made during a second 
 absence of the victorious general and governor, 
 and enraged at this repetition of hostilities, Am- 
 rou declared that if God should give him the vic- 
 tory over the Syrians, he would raze the walls of 
 the town, and make it as accessible as was the 
 house of a courtezan. He did gain the victory, 
 and Alexandria was accordingly dismantled. A 
 terrible carnage of Egyptians and Greeks was 
 being carried on, till under some impulse of mercy 
 the Saracen general ordered it to cease, and a 
 mosque dedicated to that virtue, and called by its 
 name, commemorated for ages the spot on which 
 the scimitar of destruction was sheathed. 
 
 Abdallah, the general, entrusted with command 
 by Othman, was directed when the conquest of 
 Egypt was secured, to turn the Arab arms towards 
 Africa and the unknown regions of the west. On 
 what provocation, except that of the ambitious 
 and fanatical desire to render the religion and the 
 empire of Mahometans universal, it would be 
 difficult to conjecture. A painful march brought 
 his troops to the walls of Tripoli, then and still a
 
 256 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 considerable city, capital of a district of Barbary 
 bearing its name ; but the appearance of Gregory 
 the Greek general with a large force, amounting 
 to one hundred and twenty thousand, suspended 
 the siege. The issue of the expedition was made 
 to depend upon the result of a general engage- 
 ment, which accordingly took place in the sandy 
 plains not far distant from the city. For several 
 days victory was doubtful ; both sides fought with 
 the most obstinate valour. At length by strata- 
 gem, as was usual with the Mussulmans, the 
 question was decided in their favour. The Greek 
 general was slain, thousands of his army were left 
 dead upon the field, the rest fled to Suietala, and 
 Tripoli yielded on the first attack of the victorious 
 Saracens. So great was the spoil of this victory, 
 that every foot soldier of the Arabs is said to have 
 gained for his share one thousand pieces of gold ; 
 each mounted soldier received twice as much ; the 
 officers and the caliph in proportion. A daughter of 
 the Greek general, of incomparable beauty, had 
 fought by his side ; her courage and exhortations 
 had animated the soldiers of her country, till she 
 was at length taken prisoner, and led into the 
 presence of Abdallah. According to the laws of 
 Saracen war, she was the prize of him whose in- 
 genuity and courage had ensured the victory. 
 " Why do you not claim the rich reward of your 
 conquest," said Abdallah. " I fight not," was the 
 reply, " for ignoble motives, but for glory and re- 
 ligion." The prize, however, was forced upon him, 
 and, what he valued much more, the office of 
 communicating to the caliph the splendid success 
 of the Saracen arms. 
 
 The Moslems were much less attached and obe-
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 257 
 
 dient to Othman than to their former caliphs. 
 They accused him of an undue partiality to his 
 family, of appropriating the public money to the 
 use of his friends, and of presumption in occupy- 
 ing the seat of Mahomet in the pulpit, whereas 
 Abubeker and Omar sat, one on the second, and 
 the other on the third step below it. The pro- 
 vinces loudly complained of injustice, and the 
 danger threatening his power was apparent in an 
 assembling of a large body of insurgents, who en- 
 camped about a league from Medina, and de- 
 spatched a haughty mandate to Othman, requiring 
 him to execute justice or to vacate his throne. 
 
 Ayesha still lived to foment these quarrels, most 
 probably because she wished some partisan of her 
 own to be acknowledged as the successor of her 
 revered husband. Though Othman yielded all the 
 demands of the insurgents, they were not satis- 
 fied. False allegations were employed against 
 him, when those which might have been proved 
 were found to fail, and the unhappy caliph was 
 besieged in his palace. For a short time the sons 
 of Ali, and some lingering of regard for the sacred 
 person of the prophet's successor protected him ; 
 but at length the palace was forced by the rebels, 
 and Othman, while engaged in the study of the 
 Koran, fell pierced with the daggers of his as- 
 sailants. 
 
 This event occurred twenty-two years after Ma- 
 homet's death, as if to discover the internal weak- 
 ness of an empire which had sprung up with such 
 incredible celerity. Ali now ascended the throne, 
 notwithstanding Ayesha's opposition, which most 
 probably had kept him from it on each of the 
 three former occasions ; and as if a simple garb
 
 258 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 and humble manners were considered the chief 
 qualifications in their sovereign, the Arabs were 
 invited to behold him proceed to the mosque in a 
 thin cotton dress, without ornament, with a coarse 
 turban on his head, his slippers in one hand, and 
 his bow, instead of a walking staff, in the other. 
 Here he received the salutations, and the right 
 hand of fealty and subjection from the representa- 
 tives of the empire, to which he was recom- 
 mended by his talents as an orator, and his in- 
 trepidity as a warrior. Arabia still deemed courage 
 a virtue, and eloquence wisdom. 
 
 It was not likely, however, that Ali should be 
 allowed peacefully to retain a throne, the two 
 former possessors of which had fallen under the 
 hand of faction. His accession was the signal for 
 commencing those convulsions which ultimately 
 rent the creed of Moslem in twain, and divided 
 the empire. Ali was suspected of encouraging 
 the murder of the late caliph ; and Ayesha, though 
 she was the more guilty, countenanced the sus- 
 picion as aiding her intrigues against liim. Telha 
 and Zobeir became the instruments of her faction, 
 and the standard of revolt was raised in an en- 
 campment of insurgents near Bassora. Their first 
 movements promised success, but in the battle 
 which ensued, both their generals were slain ; their 
 army was totally routed, and the widow of the 
 prophet, who had not been ashamed to join them, 
 was carried captive into All's presence. He re- 
 ceived her courteously, he could not do otherwise, 
 since she was regarded as the ' mother of the faith- 
 ful.' Still she was reproved, and urged to return 
 to her duties at Medina, a course much more befit- 
 ting her character and sex, than fomenting the
 
 LIFE Of MAHOMET. 259 
 
 flame of rebellion, and following the standard of 
 revolt. 
 
 Having gained by the battle of Bassora, or Day 
 of the camel, as it has been fancifully denominated, 
 the allegiance of Irak, Egypt, Persia, Khorasan, 
 and other parts of Arabia, yielded to the caliph, 
 but the repose he enjoyed was not tranquil nor of 
 long duration. Moawiyah, a new leader of the 
 insurgents, took up the cause, put himself at their 
 head, and was acknowledged caliph by a body of 
 eighty thousand Arabs and allies in the plains of 
 Siffia, on the western bank of the Euphrates. To 
 strengthen their cause, the mosques resounded 
 with cries of vengeance against the suspected 
 murderer of Othman, and his bloody shirt was 
 carried at the head of their troops. Ali raised a 
 lai'ge army to suppress this formidable insurrection ; 
 and for nearly three months the respective parties, 
 with various success, were perpetually skirmishing. 
 Neither of them seemed disposed to hazard a 
 general battle. 
 
 Ali's orders to his troops were always on the 
 side of humanity ; still a great multitude fell in the 
 course of this irregular war. At length victory 
 was declaring on his side, when cunning, so often 
 resorted to with success in the conflicts of this 
 people, turned the scale against him. Amrou, 
 the conqueror of Egypt, who took part with the 
 insurgents, advised that the Koran should be ele- 
 vated on the point of their lances, and that the 
 dispute should be referred to its dictates for de- 
 cision. The sight of this venerable book suspended 
 the fierceness of conflict. Ali's soldiers would not 
 fight ; a long negociation ensued between the par- 
 ties, which served only to extend the flame of 
 
 a 9 
 
 H
 
 260 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 revolt among the followers of the lawful caliph ; 
 till at length a sect of religious and political zeal- 
 ots called Charegites, or revolters, from their 
 having with especial zeal thrown off their allegi- 
 ance to the chosen successor of the apostle, con- 
 ceived that unity would not be restored to the faith 
 nor peace to the empire, so long as Ali, Moawiyah, 
 or Amrou lived ; they therefore determined on the 
 murder of each. Against the first the murderers 
 were successful. Moawiyah escaped with a severe 
 wound, and the secretary of Amrou received the 
 fatal stroke destined for his master. In death Ali 
 was generous, and commanded his son to inflict no 
 useless torture upon his murderer. " He was," 
 says Abulfeda, " an example of a brave and good 
 prince, than whom the Mahometan empire never 
 had a better, and who without impropriety may 
 be compared with the philosophic monarch An- 
 toninus. He sank beneath adversity, and the 
 violence of an ambitious woman, strengthened by 
 the rebellious daggers of a disaffected people. In 
 battle he was always victorious, yet he never acted 
 otherwise than as if he had been the vanquished ; 
 and when he was escaping the wretched arts of 
 Moawiyah's cunning, he still refused to enrich 
 himself at the expense of his conquered foes. In 
 the conflict between him and the insurgent leaders, 
 valour on his part confronted low artifice, and 
 virtue combated with vice." 
 
 The fall of Ali led to the elevation of his eldest 
 son, Hassan, to the vacant dignity by some of the 
 Moslems ; others, especially in the provinces of 
 Egypt and Syria, ranged under the banner of the 
 wounded Moawiyah. Hassan was endowed with 
 his father's piety, but deficient in courage: in
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 261 
 
 firmness and determination he was altogether unfit 
 to rule a turbulent people. Soon he discovered 
 this unfitness ; and, as his followers seemed fickle 
 and unfaithful, he hegan to disrelish the trappings 
 of royalty. He offered to resign his honours to 
 Moawiyah, on condition of receiving part of the 
 revenues of the empire, and that no successor 
 should be appointed during his life. A sum equal 
 to 150,000 per annum was accordingly assigned 
 him, the whole of which he expended in deeds of 
 charity, and Moawiyah ascended the throne. Has- 
 san, however, did not escape the dire effects of 
 envy and jealousy ; his wife was induced to put 
 an end to his existence by rubbing him, while 
 warm, with a linen cloth, strongly impregnated 
 with poison. 
 
 With Moawiyah the sceptre of Arabia passed 
 into a new dynasty. He was the first of the Om- 
 miade princes, a son of Abu Sofian, a nephew of 
 Hashem, and, consequently, but a collateral branch 
 of the noble tribe of the Koreish. Ayesha, the 
 cause of so many calamities, intrigued still ; and 
 the new caliph was insulted in a personal inter- 
 view, by the refusal of her allegiance ; but he 
 found means of removing this cause of disquie- 
 tude. The mother of the faithful was invited to 
 an entertainment; beneath the spot upon which 
 she was to sit a deep well was sunk, artfully 
 covered with leaves and twigs. The unsuspecting 
 guest proceeded to the treacherous spot ; but the 
 moment she placed herself at the table she sunk, 
 say the Persian authors, "to everlasting night." 
 Moawiyah did not long survive her ; but, previ- 
 ously to his death, he succeeded in changing the 
 government of the empire from an elective to a
 
 262 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 hereditary monarchy. His son Yezid was ac- 
 cordingly nominated in his room, not, however, 
 with the concurrence of the chief cities of Me- 
 dina and Mecca, which still claimed the continu- 
 ance of their privilege of electing the new ca- 
 liph. Hosein, the remaining son of Ali, was 
 their candidate ; and, as may be supposed, a con- 
 siderable part of the reign of Yezid was occupied 
 in subduing the refractory spirits of the partisans 
 of this direct descendant of Mahomet. 
 
 The fate of Hosein was melancholy. He at- 
 tempted to cross from Mecca to Irak, attended 
 only by a small band of devoted followers : be- 
 cause in that province it was said there were 
 140,000 Mussulmans ready to defend his claims : 
 but the lieutenants of Yezid obtained information 
 of his route, and he was speedily surrounded by 
 their cavalry. His proposition to the enemy when 
 he found himself in this condition was peaceful. 
 " Give me," he said, " an opportunity of retiring 
 to Medina, a safe conduct into the presence of 
 your prince, or a station in a frontier garrison 
 against the Turks." This was met by the alterna- 
 tive of captivity or death, from the lieutenant, 
 who felt that he could enforce his demands. Ho- 
 sein was resigned and tranquil : a sister who ac- 
 companied him was loud and frequent in her 
 lamentations. His followers would not attempt 
 to fly ; his own exhortations were encouraging and 
 animating. On all sides, except in front, they 
 secured themselves from attack, by digging a deep 
 trench, which the cavalry could not pass ; and 
 their friend and leader, with the Koran in his 
 hand, incited them to await calmly the approach
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 263 
 
 of the foe. One of their princes, Hanno, with 
 thirty followers, deserted to Hosein, rather than 
 incur the guilt of sharing in the destruction of the 
 grandson of the prophet : hut nothing could save 
 him. The battle commenced : one after another of 
 the friends of the unfortunate child of Fatima fell 
 under the arrows of their assailants ; nor did it 
 terminate till the last of his companions, the sharer 
 of his own tent only excepted, was slain. When 
 the fatal blow was about to be struck at Hosein 
 himself, his sister rushed forward, and entreated 
 that the legitimate representative of their holy 
 prophet might be spared : the murderer wept, and 
 the soldiers who accompanied him fell back, as 
 the dying hero threw himself among them. Sha- 
 mar, a name held in detestation by the Mussul- 
 mans, reproached a feeling which he could not 
 distinguish from cowardice, and Hosein fell, 
 pierced with three-and- thirty wounds, inflicted by 
 the soldiers, yet writhing under the sting of these 
 reproaches. His body was treated with every in- 
 dignity, though there Avere some who lamented 
 his fate. " Alas ! " said an aged Mussulman, " on 
 these lips have I seen the lips of the apostle of 
 God." His sister and children were led in chains 
 to the court of Yezid, at Damascus, who was ad- 
 vised to destroy them all, and extirpate the race ; 
 but he was merciful, and honourably dismissed 
 the mourning family, with leave to proceed to 
 their kindred at Medina ; and, by a decree, the 
 whole race were excluded for ever from the ca- 
 liphate. They have been held in honour, never- 
 theless, in every Mahometan country ; and very 
 generally, especially in Turkey, a green turban
 
 264 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 distinguishes them from other disciples of the 
 Moslem faith.* 
 
 The dynasty of the Ommiades, which had thus 
 succeeded to the throne of Arabia, possessed that 
 dignity for nearly a century ; but none of its 
 princes merit attention in a brief record like the 
 present. Insurrection, revolt, and civil war, filled 
 up almost the whole period. The white and black 
 factions the respective supporters of Abdallah, 
 Moktar, Marvan, and a host of other candidates 
 for sovereignty, some of the house of Ali, others 
 of that of Moawiyah, convulsed the empire, 
 and filled it with torrents of blood. It is said of 
 one governor of Irak only, whose authority con- 
 tinued for twenty years, or thereabouts, that a 
 hundred and twenty thousand persons of rank fell 
 under his sword ; and at his death, the prisons 
 under his jurisdiction were found to contain fifty 
 thousand captives, nearly one half of whom were 
 women. 
 
 To this dynasty succeeded that which, from its 
 founder, Abbas, has received the name of Abas- 
 sides, in the early days of which, the empire, no 
 longer united, as in the time of Abubeker and 
 Omar, was weakened by the acknowledgment of 
 three caliphs : the first, the caliph of Spain, the 
 second, the caliph of Africa and Egypt, and the 
 third, the caliph of Bagdad. A brief reference 
 
 * The descendants of Mahomet are everywhere exceedingly 
 numerous : whole villages in Arabia are full of them ; and in 
 Turkey they constitute almost a thirtieth part of the popula- 
 tion. They are called Scherifs and Seids names taken from 
 tbeir respective occupations, whether war or commerce. The 
 former appellation sometimes denotes the descendants of Ho- 
 sein : Seids, those of Hassan. The green turban is not con- 
 fined exclusively to Mahomet's posterity.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 265 
 
 to these respectively shall be reserved for an 
 ensuing chapter. The reigns of the first four 
 successors of Mahomet are distinguished in 
 Arabic history with the title of the perfect 
 caliphate, perhaps with some reference to their 
 exemption from the scenes of civil confusion and 
 war which have been referred to ; or more likely 
 from the election having been confined to the citi- 
 zens, who were deemed the earliest and best fol- 
 lowers of the prophet, and, therefore, the most 
 capable of determining who should occupy his 
 pulpit and his throne. Their successors are known 
 as imperfect caliphs. The Ommiade dynasty is 
 sometimes spoken of as the caliphs of Syria, 
 Damascus being the place of their court. The 
 Abassides fixed the seat of government at Hasche- 
 miah, on the Euphrates ; till, in 760, about ten 
 years after their accession, Almansor, their se- 
 cond prince, built Bagdad, where the monarchs of 
 that race continued to reside. 
 
 The conquest of Syria, Egypt, and Persia, in 
 addition to that of all the wandering tribes of 
 Arabia, has already been detailed. A large part 
 of Africa, namely, that which composed the Ro- 
 man provinces, between the Red Sea and the 
 Atlantic, next acknowledged the sovereignty of 
 the Saracens. The inhabitants were oppressed 
 with taxes to support the sinking empire of the 
 Romans, and had other causes of complaint against 
 the government. Their murmurs were loud and 
 deep, and soon reached the court of Damascus, 
 where a resolution was taken to extend to them 
 the supposed benefits of the Saracen rule. Car- 
 thage was destroyed ; and the whole coast between 
 Tripoli and Tangiers was quickly conquered. The
 
 266 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 similarity of character and habits between the 
 Bedouins and the tribes inhabiting the interior 
 of Africa, contributed to the facility of conquest 
 among them ; and having adopted the religion of 
 the Arabs, they would have no difficulty in adopt- 
 ing their name and language also. Akbar, a 
 general of the caliph Moawiyah, is said to have 
 crossed the wilderness in which are now standing 
 the cities of Fez and Morocco; and having ar- 
 rived at the Atlantic Ocean, he spurred his horse 
 into it, exclaiming, " Great God ! were not my 
 course stopped by this sea, I would still go on to 
 the unknown kingdoms of the west, preaching 
 the unity of thy holy name, and putting to the 
 sword the rebellious nations who worship any 
 other God but thee." 
 
 The conquest of Spain, which had already been 
 repeatedly subdued by the Carthaginians, the Ro- 
 mans, and the Goths, was now again to be effected 
 by Moslem arms. Internal revolt and disquietude, 
 added to the proverbial wealth and indolence of 
 the Spaniards, invited the approach of the wan- 
 dering hordes : their progress was facilitated by 
 treachery ; and, having gained possession of their 
 dependencies in Africa, a descent was made upon 
 Spain, in the reign of Walid, the sixth prince of 
 the Ommiade destiny. This was effected by five 
 hundred Arabs and Africans, and seems to have 
 been rather to acquire information, than to effect 
 any thing considerable by way of conquest. In 
 the following spring, an army of seven thousand 
 followed, under command of the Saracen general, 
 Tarik. The Goths hastened to the relief of the 
 threatened kingdom, and a force of one hundred 
 thousand was quickly raised to oppose the progress
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 267 
 
 of the dreaded Arab army. Their efforts were 
 unavailing. Emulating the simplicity, fanaticism, 
 and eloquence of his predecessors, Tarik ad- 
 dressed his soldiers, who, by reinforcements, now 
 amounted to twenty thousand. " My friends, the 
 enemy is before you the sea is behind : whither 
 would you fly ? Follow your general : I am re- 
 solved either to lose my life, or trample on the 
 prostrate king of the Goths." 
 
 The terror inspired by their name, not less than 
 their military courage and resolution, contributed 
 to secure the victory, and the enemy fled. Their 
 prince in vain attempted to recal his flying 
 squadrons, till at length his own courage for- 
 sook him, and on one of his fleetest horses, he 
 also sought safety in flight ; but he perished in 
 his attempt to pass the waters of the Boetis or 
 Guadalquivir. 
 
 There was now nothing to impede the progress 
 of Tarik, and in a few months, having subjugated 
 Cordova, Grenada, Malaga, and Tadmir, he made 
 himself master of the whole country, from Gib- 
 raltar to the shores of the Bay of Biscay. In 
 this triumphant march he was greatly assisted by 
 the Jews, of whom Spain contained considerable 
 numbers, though it had always subjected them to 
 great oppressions and persecutions. 
 
 Tarik's conquests fired the jealousy of Mousa, 
 the lieutenant of the caliph in Africa ; and he ac- 
 cordingly directed his attention to parts of Spain 
 which that conqueror had not subdued. Seville, 
 Merida, and other towns fell under his arms, and 
 either the insolence of authority, or the 'envy of 
 the ungrateful lieutenant, perhaps both, led him 
 to subject Tarik to indignity. Soliman, who oc-
 
 268 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 cupied the throne at Damascus, when the quarrel 
 came before him, acknowledged the merits of the 
 insulted general, and imposed a heavy fine upon 
 Mousa. Severer punishments were also inflicted 
 Upon him, and probably this quarrel between the 
 caliph's generals, saved the western world at this 
 time, from the desolating scourge of the Arab arms. 
 A plan of conquest, including France, Germany, 
 Hungary, Servia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, through 
 Constantinople to Antioch had been determined 
 upon ; but the caliph supposing the governments 
 in these countries stronger than they really were, re- 
 jected it as impracticable and visionary : upon such 
 small circumstances, sometimes, do the destinies of 
 nations turn. Who can calculate what might have 
 been the* result to Europe generally, had Mousa 
 and Tarik, the framers of this magnificent .plan, 
 remained in harmony ? 
 
 While the Saracen arms were thus victorious in 
 the West, the East also was made to feel their in- 
 vincible power. The banks of the Indus, and even 
 the frozen regions of Tartary were compelled to 
 receive the doctrines of the Koran. The Oxus 
 was crossed ; the Turkish territories were repeat- 
 edly invaded ; and in the reign of Wai id, Samar- 
 cand opened its gates to his lieutenants. This 
 city, from time immemorial, had been the resting 
 place for caravans from China to the Western 
 parts of Asia and Europe ; it was, therefore, of 
 great commercial importance. The command of 
 it ensured the means of regulating the commerce 
 of the greatest part of the known world. All the 
 neighbouring territory yielded to the Saracen arms ; 
 the rude idols of the Tartars were committed to 
 the flames, or their worship purchased by payment
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 269 
 
 of a heavy tribute to the successors of the pro- 
 phet ; his faith was preached with great zeal, and 
 many a Scythian shepherd pronounced the formu- 
 lary. " There is no God but God ; and Mahomet is 
 his prophet." 
 
 To the palace of the emperors to whom China 
 yielded homage, and which was situated in a country 
 then comparatively unknown to military adven- 
 ture, the messengers of the Arab chief penetrated. 
 That monarch alarmed at the threats employed by 
 the ambassador, and filled with dismay at the ac- 
 counts he was perpetually hearing of the progress 
 of the Saracen arms, yielded to the required terms, 
 and retained his empire and his religion, as the 
 price of vast sums paid to the insatiable foe. 
 
 During the turbulent caliphate of Moawiyah, 
 when Syria, Persia, Egypt, and Arabia, consti- 
 tuted the empire over which his power extended, 
 siege was laid to Constantinople. For several 
 years it effectually resisted the Saracen arms ; and 
 so powerful was the Roman empire, though in its 
 decline, that instead of yielding, ambassadors from 
 the capital demanded and received tribute from 
 the Arab prince. Abdalmalek, Walid, and Soli- 
 man, caliphs of the Abassidan dynasty, refused 
 this tribute, and were compelled to sustain their 
 resistance by force. Constantinople was again 
 invested, and during a thirteen months siege, in 
 the last of these reigns, thousands of the Mahome- 
 tan forces were slain before its walls, by the 
 dreadful composition which the Greeks have ever 
 since used, especially in naval wars. Modern foes 
 have trembled at their fireships. 
 
 This disaster of the Saracens was followed with 
 defeat in another direction. They were over-
 
 270 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 running the beautiful provinces of France, and 
 had begun seriously to threaten Christendom Avith 
 destruction when the celebrated Charles Martel, 
 mayor of the palace of that kingdom and prin- 
 cipal minister collected the forces of his country, 
 and sought the enemy in its very centre. In the 
 encounter, the orientals maintained the advantage 
 in slight and irregular contests for six successive 
 days ; but on the seventh, when auxiliaries had 
 been sent from all quarters to the intrepid French- 
 man, a general battle ensued, which at the 
 close of the day Avas suspended, the advantage 
 evidently lying on the side of the Europeans. 
 During the night the various tribes composing the 
 Arab army, turned their weapons against each 
 other : their host was suddenly dissolved, and 
 every emir consulted his safety by a hasty and se- 
 parate retreat. To this victory, France was in- 
 debted for the integrity of her dominions and her 
 freedom from the Moslem yoke. 
 
 During the reign of the princes of the house of 
 Abbas, the Avar against the Greeks Avas renewed 
 with great fury, and Avas at length successful. 
 Their fairest provinces were Avrested from them ; 
 for the rest, Constantinople included, a disgrace- 
 ful stipulation of tribute Avas consented to by the 
 empress Irene. Her successor, Nicephorus, re- 
 newed the struggle for liberty in vain, and though 
 the caliphs were becoming too Aveak long to en- 
 force their demands, he was at length obliged to 
 yield to the stipulation, paying an immense tribute 
 for his power, and his faith. 
 
 Over the principal islands of the Mediterranean 
 sea, the Mahometan arms triumphed. Cyprus Avas 
 subdued in 647, and for nearly three centuries it
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 271 
 
 remained in their hands. Crete was also subdued. 
 Corsica, by the united power of arms and elo- 
 quence, was induced to drive away the Greeks, 
 and to embrace the Moslem faith, which prevailed 
 there for nearly one hundred and fifty years. Sar- 
 dinia, though for a short time it admitted the 
 yoke, freed itself by securing the powerful protec- 
 tion of France, afterwards, about the commence- 
 ment of the tenth century, it became a Moslem 
 province, in which condition it remained for nearly 
 a hundred years Sicily also submitted to the 
 Moors from Spain and Africa, after enormous 
 cruelties and exactions. 
 
 Rome at length was made to hear the war cry 
 of the desolating Arabs. When Sicily was in 
 their possession, the passage up the Tiber was 
 easy, and soon the affrighted citizens of that an- 
 cient capital beheld a Saracen encampment before 
 their walls. In a battle occasioned by the ap- 
 proach of the emperor Lothaire, to the relief of 
 the city, the Saracens were victorious, as they had 
 been in other similar engagements ; and the valour 
 of a pope, with the bad conduct of the invaders 
 themselves, saved Rome from destruction. " Us 
 revinrent bientot apres avec une armee formi- 
 dable,"* says Voltaire, "qui semblait devoir detruire 
 1'Italie et faire une bourgade Mahometane de la 
 capitale du Christianisme. Le Pape Leon IV., 
 prenant dans ce danger une autorite que les gene- 
 raux de 1'Empereur Lothaire semblaient abandon- 
 ner, se montra digne, en defendant Rome, d'y com- 
 mander en souverain. II avait employe les richesses 
 de 1'eglise a reparer les murailles a elever des tours, 
 
 * Essai sur 1'histoire Generate, torn. I., ch. xviii., Ed. 1756.
 
 272 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 a tendre des chain es sur le Tibre. II anna les milices 
 a ses depens engagea les habitans de Naples et de 
 Gayette a venir defendre les cotes, et le port 
 d'Ostie, sans manquer a la sage precaution de 
 prendre d'eux des Stages, sachant bien que ceux 
 qui sont assez puissans pour nous secourir, le sont 
 assez pour nous nuire. II visita lui meme tous les 
 postes, et re9ut les Sarasins a leur descente, non 
 pas en equipage de Guerrier, ainsi qu'en avoit use 
 Goslin. Eveque de Paris, dans une occasion en- 
 core plus pressante, mais comme uu Pontif qui ex- 
 hortait un peuple Chretien et comme un roi qui 
 veillait a la surete des ses sujets. II etait ne Ro- 
 main. Le courage des premiers ages de la repub- 
 lique revivait en lui dans un temps de lachete et 
 de corruption, tel qu'un des beaux monumens de 
 1'ancienne Rome, qu'on trouve quelquefois dans 
 les ruines de la nouvelle. Son courage et ses soins 
 furent secondes. Ou regut les Sarasins courageuse- 
 ment a leur descente ; et la tempete ayant dissipe 
 la moitie de leurs vaisseaux, une partie de ces con- 
 querans, echappes au naufrage, fut mise a la 
 chaine. Le Pape rendit sa victoire utile, en fai- 
 sant travailler aux fortifications de Rome, et a ses 
 embelissemens, les memes mains qui devaient les 
 detruire."
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 273 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The decline of Mahometan power. Extent of the Arabian 
 empire. Causes which led to that extent. Continuance of 
 Mahometanism, Decay of the empire. What led to it. 
 Spain revolts and sets up a separate caliph. Africa. Egypt. 
 Bagdad. Fall of the house of the Abbassides. Sects of Maho- 
 metans. .Orthodox. Heretical. The intolerance of Maho- 
 metanism. 
 
 THE first battle in which the Arabs tried their 
 power against the disciplined forces of the Roman 
 empire was the battle of Muta. Though on that 
 occasion they were successful, it can hardly be 
 supposed that the most sanguine would have ven- 
 tured to predict that before the close of a century 
 their empire would become more extensive than 
 any former kingdom. It overthrew the power of 
 the Romans, and rendered the successors of the 
 prophet the mightiest and most absolute sove- 
 reigns on earth. Yet such was the fact. 
 
 Under the last monarch of the Ommiade house 
 the Arabian dominion, except only a part of Africa 
 not much known, and of but little account, in- 
 cluded a compact dominion of six months' march 
 of a caravan in length, and four in breadth, with 
 innumerable tributary and dependent states. In 
 the exercise of their prerogative the caliphs were 
 unfettered by popular rights, by the votes of a se- 
 nate, or by the laws of a free constitution ; the 
 Koran was their professed rule of action, but they 
 alone were its interpreters, so that their will was 
 law. The loss of Spain from the empire was more 
 than made up by conquests in India, Tartary, and 
 European Turkey. Samarcand and Timbuctoo 
 studied with equal devotion the language and re-
 
 274 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 ligion of the Koran, and at the temple of Mecca 
 the Moor and the Indian met as brother pilgrims. 
 Throughout the countries west of the Tigris the 
 language of Arabia became the vehicle of popular 
 intercourse, and though in Persia, Tartar y, and 
 Hmdostan the native dialects continued in com- 
 mon usej the Arabic was the sacred language. 
 The forms of worship and religion enjoined by 
 Mahomet, were all but universal. 
 
 Before we advert to the decline of the Arabian 
 empire a few sentences may be introduced as to 
 the causes contributing to its unparalleled pros- 
 perity. 
 
 One of them has already been mentioned in the 
 observations in chapter the second, on the condi- 
 tion of the Christian church in Syria, and the 
 neighbouring countries at the time Mahomet com- 
 menced his career. The leading article of his 
 faith, the unity of God, harmonized with what 
 Jews and Christians universally contended for. 
 He propounded this doctrine so as by excluding 
 the Deity of Jesus Christ to fall in with the views 
 of the greater number of the Christian sectaries. 
 Mahomet, moreover, enjoined practices which in 
 the then corrupting state of piety were beginning 
 widely to prevail. To the untutored mind of a 
 desert wanderer, his doctrine would have all the 
 attractiveness which he might have heard of, as 
 pertaining to Christianity; besides that having 
 appeared to originate in his own land it would se- 
 cure from him the greater attention. Systems in 
 which truth and error have been combined are by 
 no means unwillingly received, especially by those 
 portions of mankind who are already superstitious 
 and fanatical, and such we have seen was the
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 275 
 
 Arabian character. Mahomet's religious, moral, 
 and juridical system was in general accordance 
 with Asiatic opinions, it provided a paradise ex- 
 actly adapted to the imagination and character of 
 an Oriental and as the superstitious are always 
 rather worshippers of what awakens apprehension 
 and appeals to fear, than what enkindles hope, 
 his hell contributed more than his heaven to mul- 
 tiply disciples. 
 
 Still had no appeal been made to arms, the" Ma- 
 hometan faith in all probability "would have been 
 confined to the deserts of Arabia. The whole of 
 Asia was in a state of unprecedented military in- 
 activity. Opportunity was thus afforded for the 
 success of his enterprise. Empires were prover- 
 bially tottering and powerless in the seventh cen- 
 tury, political wisdom almost disappeared, and to 
 military talents and courage, all except the Arabs, 
 were strangers. Previous contentions, as for in- 
 stance those between the Persian and Byzantine 
 empires, had entirely destroyed what little remains 
 of internal vigour the governments might otherwise 
 have had. Civil revolts, tyranny, and extortion, 
 sensuality, and sloth, annihilated the ambition of 
 universal rule, which the Greek and Roman em- 
 pires had cherished ; and their provinces neglected 
 or oppressed, became an easy prey to the Moslem 
 yoke. 
 
 The more easily was this yoke imposed on the 
 nations, when to the indomitable courage and fe^ 
 rocity of the desert wanderer, the Saracens added 
 those other features which make up a warlike 
 character. They despised death, were self-deny- 
 ing and energetic to a degree far beyond the sol- 
 diers of civilized countries, while they were al- 
 x2
 
 276 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 most equally familiar with military art. The 
 lieutenants of the caliphs soon vied with Roman 
 generals in skill, and it is not difficult to explain 
 their almost uniform superiority, when we bear in 
 mind the character of the armies they respectively 
 commanded Terror moreover, is epidemic; a 
 successful force commonly finds its victorious pro- 
 gress aided by the prevailing notion of its prowess. 
 Who has not witnessed in the wars of more disci- 
 plined troops the tremendous effect of a name ? 
 
 It may be added to these remarks that the Sa- 
 racen success is greatly attributable to that glow- 
 ing and impetuous spirit of religious enthusiasm 
 with which they fought. They deemed their 
 cause the cause of God heaven was engaged on 
 their behalf, every one who fell in their wars was 
 a martyr, cowardice was tantamount to apostasy. 
 
 In the eleventh and twelfth centuries and onwards 
 the crusaders were enthusiastically resolved on ex- 
 tirpating Mahometanism, but their religious ardour 
 did not exceed, if even it equalled that of the Arab 
 troops, by whom that system had been originally pro- 
 pagated. Whatever secular principles and ambition 
 influenced them, they took credit for fighting in 
 support of truth and virtue. The sword and the 
 Koran were equally the companions and instru- 
 ments of their war. " The circumstance," says 
 Paley in his admirable exhibition of the Evidences 
 of Christianity,* " that Mahomet's conquests should 
 carry his religion along with them will excite little 
 surprise, when we know the conditions which he 
 proposed to the vanquished : death or conversion 
 was the only choice offered to idolaters. To the 
 
 * Vol. ii. 3.
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 277 
 
 Jews and Christians was left the somewhat milder 
 alternative of subjection and tribute, if they per- 
 sisted in their own religion, or of an equal parti- 
 cipation of the rights and liberties, the honours 
 and privileges of the faithful, if they embraced 
 the religion of their conquerors." 
 
 Literature was as little regarded in the days of 
 Mahomet, as was pure and practical Christianity. 
 His followers everywhere met with an ignorant, 
 and easily deluded people. The monuments of 
 science, and the means of freedom to the mind 
 of man had been abolished by the barbarians 
 of the north. Philosophy and the liberal arts 
 found no patrons amongst indolent and luxuri- 
 ous emperors and nobility. Superstition, there- 
 fore, naturally took possession of the mind, and 
 as neither fears nor hopes were moderated by 
 knowledge, idle, unnecessary, and uncommanded 
 ceremonies easily obtained currency. Mahomet 
 only changed one set of ceremonies for another, 
 and in this there was no difficulty, when in the al- 
 most universal darkness of mankind, terror and 
 credulity prevailed. 
 
 The continuance of the religion of Mahomet in 
 countries over which the Arab dominion ceased, 
 may with equal ease be accounted for. " Every 
 thing in Asia is a matter of regulation, and free- 
 dom of opinion being but little permitted or en- 
 couraged in the despotic government of the east, 
 Mahometanism when once received became sta- 
 tionary. The human code is mingled with the 
 divine, and the ideas of change and profanation 
 are inseparable. As the unsettling of the poli- 
 tical and social fabric might ensue from a change 
 of modes of faith, all classes of men are interested
 
 278 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 in preserving the national religion."* Besides 
 this, in their own nature religious doctrines are 
 more permanent in their hold, than forms of civil 
 government ; it may be questioned whether, what- 
 ever changes in civil respects Scotland, for in- 
 stance, may undergo, presbyterianism will ever 
 cease to be the prevalent faith of its inhabitants. 
 A people may with the overthrow of usurped civil 
 pOAver return to their ancient religion, whatever 
 it is ; but when once a religion has become so to 
 speak indigenous, it is likely to become perma- 
 nent. Such is the doctrine of the Koran, both 
 in Asia and Africa. 
 
 The elements of weakness and decay in the 
 chief seat of the Saracen empire were referred to 
 in the last chapter. Perhaps, in the earliest days 
 of the caliphate, after the accession of the Om- 
 miade dynasty, the princes of Damascus were 
 chiefly regarded as heads of the Moslem religion ; 
 the governors of Arabia in succession obtained as 
 to civil rule, their independence. To this the 
 wide and extensive wars in which the caliphs 
 were engaged might contribute. Other provinces 
 followed the example, and as the empire enlarged, 
 the degeneracy and remoteness of the Syrian 
 court, encouraged the governors to assume every 
 thing, except the name of kings, and to render 
 their dignities hereditary; all the provinces were 
 nominally connected with the empire by the pay- 
 ment of tribute, but means were easily found of 
 detaining this under pretence of prosecuting the 
 wars of the caliph, but really to strengthen against 
 him his rebellious deputies. If in this represen- 
 
 Mills, p. 179.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 279 
 
 tation, politicians detect the want of an efficient 
 system of government, as well as of warfare, we 
 need not be surprised. The Macedonian hero, 
 and the Roman conquerors, were equally defective ; 
 and, perhaps after all, this deficiency may he at- 
 tributed to a wise and kind arrangement of divine 
 Providence, which in order that oppression may 
 never become universal, does not permit one em- 
 pire for any long time to hold dominion over 
 countries independent of each other, and dissi- 
 milar in their habits and character. 
 
 To the establishment of these separate domi- 
 nions, the luxury and effeminacy of the court at 
 Damascus in no small degree contributed. Dur- 
 ing the perfect caliphate, simplicity and charity 
 chiefly distinguished the supreme rulers ; but, as 
 the wealth and power of the Saracens increased, 
 they imitated the splendour and magnificence of 
 the monarchs of Persia and Greece. Abulfeda 
 says of the court of the year 917 " The caliph 
 Moctadi's whole army, both horse and foot, were 
 under arms, which, together, made a body of one 
 hundred and sixty thousand men. His state offi- 
 cers stood near him in the most splendid apparel, 
 their belts shining with gold and gems. Near 
 them were seven thousand black and white eu- 
 nuchs. The porters or door-keepers were in num- 
 ber seven hundred. Barges and boats, with the 
 most superb decorations, were swimming on the 
 Tigris. Nor was the palace itself less splendid, in 
 which were hung thirty-eight thousand pieces of 
 tapestry, twelve thousand five hundred of which 
 were of silk, embroidered with gold. The car- 
 pets on the floor were twenty-two thousand. An 
 hundred lions were brought out, with a keeper
 
 280 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 to each lion. Among the other spectacles of rare 
 and stupendous luxury, was a tree of gold and 
 silver, which opened itself into eighteen larger 
 branches, upon which, and the other less branches, 
 sat birds of every sort, made also of gold and sil- 
 yer. The tree glittered with leaves of the same 
 metals; and while its branches, through machi- 
 nery, appeared to move of themselves, the several 
 birds upon them warbled their natural notes." 
 
 When, moreover, decline had commenced, its 
 progress was accelerated by the means taken to 
 arrest it. The caliphs, for the defence of their 
 person and government, formed militias, when 
 the regular troops had been corrupted by faction ; 
 but these, not unfrequently foreigners, soon go- 
 verned with military despotism, like the Janissaries 
 of Turkey, the Marueluks of Egypt, or the prae- 
 torian guards of Rome : and, in addition to these 
 causes of decay, a rife and rampant sectarianism 
 tore asunder the very strength and heart of the 
 empire. The colossal power of the successors of 
 Mahomet, suddenly towering to its awful height, 
 almost as suddenly fell, as if to yield more per- 
 fect confirmation of the truth, that all earthly 
 things are destined to pass away, while the word 
 of the living God abideth for ever. 
 
 Spain was the first distant province of the Arab 
 empire which succeeded in dismembering itself, 
 and setting up a separate and independent ca- 
 liph. This country had always been attached to 
 the Ommiade dynasty : the accession of the house 
 of Abbas was the signal for its revolt. A fugi- 
 tive of the fallen house sought refuge among its 
 inhabitants, who pledged themselves to sup- 
 port his fortunes. The throne was offered him,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 281 
 
 and he accepted it. During a successful reign of 
 thirty years he founded an empire, over which, 
 for three centuries, his own descendants were 
 permitted to rule. There were Gothic nobles, 
 however, in Spain, who disdained submission to 
 the Moorish yoke ; and these, in a few years, so 
 increased, as to secure the establishment of a 
 Christian kingdom at Oviedo. Charlemagne was 
 lord of a considerable part of the territory. Cen- 
 turies of war, and rivers of blood shed on both 
 sides, at length issued in the reduction of the 
 Mahometan to the Christian power : and at last 
 intermarriage, legal succession, and conquest, 
 brought the whole of the divided kingdom under 
 one dominion. Most happy would the historian 
 feel, could he add, that the establishment of the 
 Christian power secured the triumph of truth, jus- 
 tice, and clemency ; but fidelity will not allow 
 him this satisfaction. The bigotry of the Chris- 
 tians of Spain was as inimical to the welfare of 
 mankind as was the fanaticism of the Mahome- 
 tans or Moors. The furious zealot, Ximenes, 
 archbishop of Toledo, sanctioned the shameful 
 violation of a promise of toleration given to the 
 Mahometans, and thousands of them were put to 
 the sword, .while others were intimidated into a 
 profession of Christianity. The memory of Charles 
 the Fifth is disgraced by similar violations of 
 faith ; and, in despite of the frugality, temperance, 
 and industry of the Moors, together with, the great 
 prosperity which their numbers, skill, and com- 
 mercial enterprise secured, a decree was obtained 
 from one of his imbecile successors to expel them 
 from the kingdom. This decree was at length 
 successful the Mahometan power was annihilated,
 
 282 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 the Catholic bigots rejoiced, but a blow was in- 
 flicted on the nation, from which it has not yet 
 recovered. Religious persecution has never made 
 a people great. 
 
 Spain had been brought under the Moslem yoke 
 by means chiefly furnished from the northern 
 states of Africa : its independence, therefore, 
 would be likely to produce some corresponding 
 effect upon those states. They were governed in 
 the name of the Bagdad caliphs; but for nearly a 
 century they had been growing into independence, 
 under governors usually known from the name of 
 their progenitor, as the Aglabite dynasty. Early 
 in the ninth century, the throne of Mauritania, 
 Massylia, and Carthage, was seized by Obeidol- 
 lah, whose successors assumed the title of Mihidi, 
 or directors of the faithful. The districts of Fez 
 and Tangiers, which had been already wrested 
 from. the princes of Bagdad by the real or pre- 
 tended posterity of Ali, were soon brought under 
 his dominion ; and, before the end of the tenth 
 century, all acknowledgment of the Abassidan 
 rule was obliterated, by the suppression of the 
 public prayers for princes of that race. Various 
 kingdoms and fleeting dynasties distracted and 
 ravaged the country for some five centuries after- 
 wards : but about the year 1516, the descendants 
 of Mahomet were raised to the throne of Morocco, 
 which they have transmitted, without interrup- 
 tion, to its present possessors. It is not a little 
 interesting to the student of the progress of Ma- 
 hometan power, to contemplate the events which 
 are now taking place between the Moslems of 
 Algiers and the French. A recent declaration of 
 the general of the former, menaces the rising power
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 283 
 
 of the latter on these shores with annihilation. 
 What is to be the issue of the approaching con- 
 test ? Moez, the last of the African princes of 
 the house of Obeidollah, who seems to have de- 
 pended more for his dominion on his prowess 
 than on his supposed descent from Mahomet,* 
 transferred his court to Grand Cairo, a city which 
 he had built in Egypt, after his conquest of that 
 country. Africa was to be held as a fief of this 
 new empire. Large tracts of Syria and the whole 
 of Palestine acknowledged the sovereignty of his 
 descendants, commonly known as Fatimites, from 
 their supposed relationship to Ali and Fatima, 
 the prophet's daughter. They possessed the so- 
 vereignty of the holy land ; against them, there- 
 fore, the crusades of Europe were chiefly directed. 
 Under these formidable wars the caliphs of Egypt 
 sought assistance from those of Bagdad ; and 
 Noureddin, a prince of that empire, protected 
 them from the power of their western spoliators. 
 The weakness of Egypt, however, came thus to 
 be known to the crafty and powerful Mahometans 
 pertaining to the caliphate of Bagdad ; and, in a 
 short time, its Asiatic dominions were seized 
 upon by Noureddin and Saladin, the auxiliary 
 generals. In the mosque of Cairo, as Adhed, the 
 last caliph of Egypt, was dying, they proclaimed 
 the supremacy, civil and ecclesiastical, of Mort- 
 hadi, the thirty-third caliph of their own city. 
 Saladin, whose name, from his activity, courage, 
 and success against the crusaders, is more known 
 
 * When it was demanded of Moez from what branch of Ma- 
 homet's family he drew his title, " This," said he, showing 
 his scimitar, " is my pedigree ; and these," throwing gold among 
 his soldiers, " are my children,"
 
 284 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 to the readers of European history than that of 
 almost any other Mahometan prince, soon made 
 himself master of Egypt : but his successors 
 could not maintain the power he had acquired. 
 His brothers disputed the succession to the throne, 
 and Egypt was for ever torn from the Fatimite 
 caliphs. The country is now governed by a vice- 
 roy of the Turkish emperor ; but of late it has 
 been attempting, with various success, to regain 
 its independence. 
 
 The caliphs of the house of Abbas, to whom 
 repeated reference has been made, having built 
 the city of Bagdad soon after they had obtained 
 the throne, transferred thither their court and their 
 power. For five centuries they reigned with va- 
 rious degrees of authority, but when foreign wars 
 and domestic revolts had gradually dissolved the 
 empire, their dominion passed away. Radhi, the 
 twentieth caliph of the race, was " the last," says 
 Abulfeda, " who harangued the people from the 
 pulpit, who passed the cheerful hour of leisure 
 with men of learning and taste ; whose expenses, 
 resources, and treasures, whose table or magnifi- 
 cence had any resemblance to those of the ancient 
 caliphs." " During the next three centuries," says 
 a modern historian of the Arabian empire, " the 
 successors of Mahomet swayed a feeble sceptre. 
 Sometimes their state was so degraded, that they 
 were confined in their palaces like prisoners, and 
 occasionally were almost reduced to the want of 
 corporeal subsistence. The tragic scenes of fallen, 
 royalty at length were closed, for towards the mid- 
 dle of the seventh century of the Hejira, the 
 metropolis of Islamism fell into the hands of 
 Houlagou Khan, the grandson of Zingis Khan,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 285 
 
 and emperor of the Moguls and Tartars, who 
 reigned at that period with absolute and unmixed 
 despotism over every nation of the east. The ca- 
 liph Mostasem, the thirty-seventh of his house, 
 was murdered under circumstances of peculiar 
 harbarity, and the caliphate of Bagdad expired. 
 Though the dignity and sovereignty of the caliphs 
 were lost by this fatal event, and the soul which 
 animated the form had fled, yet the name existed 
 for three centuries longer in the eighteen descend^ 
 ants of Mostanser Billah, a son, or pretended son, 
 of Daker, the last but one of this race of princes. 
 
 Mostanser Billah, and his successors, to the 
 number of eighteen, were called the second dy- 
 nasty of the Abassides, and were spiritual chiefs 
 of the Mahometan religion, but without the 
 slightest vestige of temporal authority. When 
 Selim, emperor of the Turks, conquered Egypt, 
 and destroyed the power of the Mamlouks, he 
 carried the caliph, whom he found there a prisoner, 
 to Constantinople, and accepted from him a re- 
 nunciation of his ecclesiastical supremacy. On 
 the death of the caliph, the family 6f the Abas- 
 sides, once so illustrious, and which had borne 
 the title of caliph for almost eight hundred years, 
 sunk with him from obscurity into oblivion." * 
 
 It must not be supposed that because the terms 
 of the Mahometan profession were few and simple, 
 the followers of the prophet approached to uni- 
 formity of faith and practice. In the leading 
 articles included in their well known formulary, 
 there is indeed no difference among them, but 
 
 * Mill's History, 160.
 
 286 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 there are a thousand matters of a subordinate kind 
 on which every diversity of opinion prevails. 
 
 We have not room now to describe their several 
 sects, nor is it necessary. Mr. Sale divides the 
 orthodox Mahometans, or the Sonnites, that is 
 those who receive not only the Koran, but also 
 the traditionary law which has been handed down 
 from the prophet into four distinct parties. (1) 
 The Hanefites, so called from their founder, a 
 man who rather than serve as Kadi or magistrate 
 in the city of Bagdad, ended his days in prison. 
 They are called the followers of reason, probably 
 from their questioning some of the interpretations 
 put upon the prophet's decisions, and abound most 
 among the Turks and Tartars. (2) The followers 
 of Malec Ebn Ans, who is said to have wept that 
 he ever pronounced his own opinion upon any 
 question, the traditions handed down from Ma- 
 homet, being, a sufficient guide in every mat- 
 ter of belief and practice. This sect chiefly pre- 
 vails in Barbary and Africa. (3) The Shafeites, 
 or followers of Shafei, who first reduced the juris- 
 prudence of' Mahometans to a method. Shafei 
 was a great enemy to the scholastic interpreta- 
 tions of Mahometan divinity, which had begun to 
 be put forth ; and it is related of him that he 
 never confirmed a statement by an oath, deeming 
 it unlawful to swear. A sentiment very much 
 approaching a great practical truth of Christianity 
 is also attributed to him. " Whoever pretends to 
 love the world and its creator at the same time, is 
 a liar."* (4) The followers of Ahmed Ebn 
 
 * 1 John ii. 15.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 287 
 
 Hanbal, who was greatly esteemed on account of 
 his virtue and knowledge. It is said that he could 
 repeat nearly a million of the traditions of Ma- 
 homet. He maintained that the Koran was un- 
 created, an eternal essence, subsisting in the very 
 essence of God, for which opinion he was severely 
 scourged and imprisoned by the caliph Motassem. 
 Severe persecutions were instituted at Bagdad 
 against his followers, but the sect could not be 
 extinguished. They have never been numerous. 
 
 Of heretical Mahometans the same authority 
 numbers also four leading sects : the Motagalites, 
 the Sefatians, the Kharegites, and the Shiites. 
 
 The first denied that God was possessed of eter- 
 nal attributes, they denied also that his word was 
 uncreated, a doctrine maintained by some of the 
 Mahometans. God himself, they said, was eternal, 
 but he existed without attributes. They denied 
 the doctrines of absolute predestination, and of 
 the safety of every one who has received the faith, 
 whether he continue therein or not. They said 
 also that God can never be seen, even in paradise 
 itself, by the corporeal eye. This sect is sub- 
 divided into ten smaller sects. A second heretical 
 sect held the opposite opinions concerning God. 
 He was, in their view, eternal, and all his attri- 
 butes and operations were also eternal. These 
 also Mr. Sale subdivides into five smaller parties. 
 
 The Kharegites have been already mentioned 
 as revolters or rebels. They were so called because 
 they did not adhere to the house of Mahomet 
 when in the person of AH and his sons it was 
 raised to regal authority. Some of them were 
 remarkably strict in their morals. The Shiites 
 were the opposites of the Kharegites. In their
 
 288 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 opinion, regal and ecclesiastical power belonged 
 exclusively to the descendants of the founder of 
 the Moslem faith and dominion. Some of them 
 held peculiar and somewhat loose opinions con- 
 cerning the future state. Their heaven or paradise 
 was only the pleasures to be enjoyed in this pre- 
 sent life; their hell consisted exclusively of its 
 pains, and hence not unfrequently their conduct 
 was grossly immoral. That was right according 
 to them which contributed most to present enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 If the object of these pages were to give a 
 perfect history of Mahometanism, other more mo- 
 dern sects must be added, and a detail of per- 
 secution given, which would furnish illustrations 
 in addition to the many we are already familiar 
 with, of the folly of anticipating a uniformity of 
 religious belief, or practice, and condemning.', by 
 its results, in no measured terms, the- absurdity 
 of inflicting pains and penalties for differences 
 of opinion. Persecution is invariably the result 
 either of ignorance or tyranny. 
 
 Some have represented Mahomet as greatly 
 superior to the age in which he lived; and as 
 far surpassing his countrymen in the liberality 
 of his views. In some respects this represen- 
 tation is true, and despite of persecution and ig- 
 nominy he nobly persevered, as we have seen, in 
 a cause which he deemed sacred ; but that he 
 was tolerant, or that, as has been said, "he was 
 distinguished by clemency in the full career of 
 conquest," cannot be admitted. A few passages 
 in the Koran may indeed make bigotry blush. 
 "While Mahomet was an humble preacher and 
 reformer, he granted liberty of conscience ; but
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 289 
 
 what ruler, what pretended prophet ever breathed 
 fiercer language of persecution than he. No wars 
 in any age of the world have been so desolating 
 as those which have -been conducted under the 
 authority of the Koran ; they were all religious wars 
 and as was to be expected, when but little foreign 
 conquest remained to be achieved, the fierce spirits 
 of his followers fell upon each other ; nor has the 
 Christian world been subjected, among all its hor- 
 rors, to one half of the bloodshed and war; or 
 marked by a tithe of the implacable animosity 
 which controversies among Mahometans have oc- 
 casioned. We are not ignorant of the mischiefs, 
 the miseries which a political Christianity has 
 produced in almost every civilized nation, but 
 on comparing them with the miseries inflicted, 
 directly or indirectly, by Islamism, we are com- 
 pelled utterly to repudiate the infidel allegation, that 
 the religion of Jesus Christ has occasioned more 
 cruelty and war in our world than any other 
 cause whatsoever. The history of every age of 
 the Hegira, teems with details of horror. In its 
 prosperity, Mahometanism was the scourge of the 
 nations; and its decline, the representative of 
 its various sects emulated each other in mutual 
 detestation and hatred ; they agreed only in a 
 principle of discord ; and but that in mercy the 
 Sovereign ruler of the universe restrained its 
 fury, and limited its power, ere now it had ren- 
 dered the world one vast Aceldama, or field of 
 blood.
 
 290 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Literature and science of the Arabs. Their facilities tor 
 literary and scientific pursuits. Patronage of literature by the 
 princes of the house of Abbas. Almamoun Arabian schools. 
 Eloquence. Poetry. The Arabian tales. History. Geo- 
 graphy. Speculative sciences. Astrology. Mathematical 
 knowledge of the Arabs. Astronomy. Architecture. The 
 fine arts. Agriculture. Medicine. Chemistry. Our obliga- 
 tions to Arab literature. 
 
 HITHERTO the followers of the Arabian prophet 
 have been considered only as enthusiastic military 
 adventurers, subduing in their wide and rapid pro- 
 gress most of the nations of the then known world. 
 The lust of power, and successful military enter- 
 prise, are commonly unfavourable to the cultiva- 
 tion of liberal arts, so that a conquering people 
 usually exhibit a literary character not much above 
 that of the savage. The Goths and the Huns, for 
 instance, are everywhere known as among tho 
 most implacable foes of knowledge. Nor did the 
 early Arabs regard it with more favour. Mahomet 
 found his countrymen sunk in the deepest bar- 
 barism ; he was incapable of any direct effort to 
 raise them, and as has already appeared from the 
 ruthless destruction of the Alexandrian library by 
 Omar, one of his earliest successors, they were 
 not in a much better condition after the close than 
 at the commencement of his eventful career. 
 
 Their settlement in the countries they had sub- 
 dued, the unlimited resources which their wide 
 and general conquests placed within their reach, 
 and probably the leisure which their almost uni- 
 versal dominion afforded, led speedily to a change 
 in their character in relation to literary pursuits, of
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 291 
 
 which we of the more enlightened west are still 
 reaping the advantage. It was about the middle 
 of the seventh century that Omar committed the 
 famous collection at Alexandria to the flames: 
 before the end of the eighth, literature began to 
 enjoy the munificent patronage of the caliphs ol 
 the Abassidan race, who induced upon the stern 
 fanaticism of the followers of the prophet the 
 softening influence of learning ; and by an anomaly 
 in the history of mankind, the most valuable 
 lessons in science and arts were received from the 
 very people who pursued, with relentless hostility, 
 the religion and liberties of every other nation. 
 
 The Greeks were the early patrons of literature 
 and science. Among them philosophy found its 
 earliest home, and arts and systems are commonly 
 supposed to have sprung up chiefly under their 
 fostering care : but, as recent researches have 
 shown, very much of their knowledge was derived 
 from still more ancient sources. Their philoso- 
 phers did but little beyond copying and improving 
 upon the mysteries of Egyptian hierophants. and 
 Persian magi. Their system of the universe, which 
 made the nearest approach to the more correct 
 discoveries of modem times, was previously known 
 to the learned Hindus ; and it may admit of ques- 
 tion whether their whole mythology, allowing 
 only for the additions which a chastened and phi- 
 losophic, as well as vivid imagination would make 
 to it, has not its prototype in some Asiatic reli- 
 gio-philosophical system. A learned author on 
 the Philosophy of the Asiatics, says, that the 
 whole of the theology and part of the philosophy of 
 modern scientific research, maybe found in the 
 u2
 
 292 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 Hindu Vedas. He adds, " That most subtile spirit 
 which our own Newton suspected to pervade na- 
 tural bodies, and to lie concealed in them so as to 
 cause attraction and repulsion, the emission, re- 
 flection, and refraction of light, electricity, cale- 
 faction, sensation, and muscular motion, is de- 
 scribed by the Hindus as a fifth element, endued 
 with those very powers, and the Vedas abound 
 with allusions to a force universally attractive, 
 which they chiefly attribute to the sun." The ex- 
 tension, therefore, of the Arabian victories over 
 the eastern world, as well as their entire command, 
 after the overthrow of the Greek empire, of the 
 resources possessed by that people, gave them ac- 
 cess to all the literary stores then in existence. 
 
 It has been said, and probably not without good 
 reason, that Mahomet himself saw and felt the 
 importance of. literary distinction. Among the 
 sayings attributed to him, the following have been 
 taken as an evidence of his sense of the value of 
 learning, " A mind without erudition, is like a 
 body without a soul. Glory consists not in wealth, 
 but in knowledge;" and, as the Koran affords 
 abundant proof, he was by no means unmindful of 
 that mental cultivation, the means of which were 
 within his reach. His followers, absorbed with 
 the ideas of conquest and conversion, despised 
 equally the religion and the learning of the na- 
 tions they subdued ; but when the age of rapine and 
 violence yielded to comparative security and peace, 
 and the fair and splendid city of the oriental ca- 
 liphs arose, the muses were courted from their 
 ancient temples, and by the milder and more 
 graceful achievements of science and literature,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 293 
 
 strenuous attempts were made to expiate the guilt 
 of former conquest, and to shed lustre over the 
 Mahometan name. 
 
 Almansor, the second of the dynasty of the 
 Abassides, whose reign commenced A.D. 754, and 
 lasted twenty-one years, was among the first of 
 the Arab princes who fostered the arts of science. 
 Jurisprudence and astronomy Avere the principal 
 subjects of his study, which, however, through 
 the assistance of a Greek physician introduced 
 into his court, he extended to the art of healing, 
 and probably those other arts with which in all 
 ages and countries medical science has been con- 
 nected. What progress he himself made, or what 
 was made by the subjects of his government, we 
 cannot now ascertain. His two successors are not 
 greatly signalized as treading in his steps, though 
 it is exceedingly probable they did not destroy 
 what he had done, for the next caliph, Haroun al 
 Raschid, is renowned as one of the most munificent 
 patrons that literature in these early ages enjoyed. 
 He was fond of poetry and music : he is said to 
 have constantly surrounded himself with a great 
 number of learned men, and the Arabs were 
 deeply indebted to him for the progress in know- 
 ledge which they were enabled to acquire. Every 
 mosque in his dominions had a school attached to 
 it, by his order ; and as if his love of learning was 
 even superior to his hereditary faith, he readily 
 tolerated men of science who had not yielded to 
 the bold pretensions of the prophet. A Nestorian 
 Christian presided over his schools, and directed 
 the academical studies of his subjects. His suc- 
 cessor imitated his wise and generous course, and 
 probably to this circumstance chiefly was owing
 
 294 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 the knowledge which extended from the capital to 
 the most distant extremities of the empire. 
 
 But it was during the supremacy of Almamoun, 
 the seventh of the Abassidan princes, A.D. 813 
 833, that literature flourished most among the 
 Arabs. Learned men, professors of the Christian 
 faith, had multiplied at Bagdad under the tolerant 
 reign of his predecessor?, and now they were libe- 
 rally encouraged to unfold the ample stores of 
 knoAvledge in their possession. The copious lan- 
 guage of Arabia was employed to repeat whatever 
 that of the Greeks had hitherto concealed, though 
 with a barbarism for which it is difficult to ac- 
 count, many of the original works were destroyed 
 as soon as these translations were made. Alma- 
 moun in his youth had associated with the most 
 eminent scholars of Greece, Persia, and Chaldea ; 
 he invited them afterwards to his court. Bagdad 
 was resorted to by poets, philosophers, and ma- 
 thematicians, from every country, and of every 
 creed. Armenia, Syria, and Egypt were searched 
 by his ambassadors for literary treasures, which 
 were amassed with infinite care, and presented at 
 the foot of the throne as the richest and most ac- 
 ceptable tribute conquered provinces could render. 
 Camels, hitherto employed exclusively in com- 
 merce, were seen entering the royal city, laden 
 with Hebrew, Persian, and Grecian literature. 
 The court assumed the appearance rather of an 
 academy, than of a council guiding the affairs of 
 a luxurious and warlike government, and all classes 
 were encouraged to acquaint themselves with what- 
 ever with these advantages could be studied. " I 
 chose," said Almamoun, when remonstrated with 
 on the appointment of a learned Christian to an
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 295 
 
 office of considerable influence over the mental 
 pursuits of his people, " I chose this learned man, 
 not to be my guide in religious affairs, but to be 
 my teacher of science, and it is well known that 
 the wisest men are to be found among the Jews 
 and Christians." * 
 
 Under such favourable auspices, it is not to be 
 wondered at that the Saracens became a literary 
 people. The caliphs of the west, and of Africa, 
 imitated their brethren of the east. " At one pe- 
 riod six thousand professors and pupils cultivated 
 liberal studies in the college of Bagdad. Twenty 
 schools made Grand Cairo a chief seat of letters, 
 and the talents of the students were exercised in 
 the perusal of the royal library, which consisted 
 of one hundred thousand manuscripts. The Afri- 
 can writers dwell with pride and satisfaction on 
 the literary institutions which adorned the towns 
 on the northern coast of their sandy plain, The 
 sun of science arose even in Africa, and the man- 
 ners of the Moorish savage were softened by phi- 
 losophy. Their brethren in Europe amassed nu- 
 merous and magnificent collections ; two hundred 
 and eighty thousand volumes were in Cordova, and 
 more than seventy libraries were open to public 
 curiosity in the kingdom of Andalusia." 
 
 We know but little of the internal government 
 of the Arabian schools, or of the studies actually 
 pursued. Aristotle, no doubt, was the great mas- 
 ter, to whom in philosophy all deference was paid. 
 The prophet had prescribed their religion. The 
 schools were of two kinds, or rather classes, one 
 comprehending the inferior institutions in which 
 
 * Abulferage, p. 160.
 
 296 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 elementary branches of instruction, such as read- 
 ing, writing, and religious doctrine were chiefly 
 attended to, the other called Madras, mostly con- 
 nected with the mosques, as were all schools of 
 the former class, included those institutions in 
 which the higher departments of knowledge were 
 explored. Here grammar, logic, theology, and 
 jurisprudence were studied. The management of 
 each school was confided to a rector of known 
 ability, not always a Mahometan. The professors 
 lectured on books, obtained as has already been 
 mentioned, and esteemed text books in the several 
 sciences ; and the pupils, if not of every depart- 
 ment of knowledge, of which there is some doubt, 
 certainly all medical pupils, were publicly ex- 
 amined, the result of which was intimated wherever 
 it was satisfactory, in a testimonial or diploma given 
 under the hand of the chief physician. 
 
 Of elegant composition, the Koran is universally 
 esteemed the model. Hence it is studied with the 
 most diligent care by all who seek to distinguish 
 themselves in the art of eloquence, one of the 
 grand leading arts of Arab scholars. Subordinate 
 to this divine composition, their schools of oratory 
 boast of models scarcely inferior to the celebrated 
 orators of antiquity. Malek and Sharaif, the one 
 for pathos, the other for brilliancy, are the chief 
 of these. Horaiai is esteemed as the compeer of 
 Demosthenes and Cicero. Bedreddin, of Grenada, 
 is their torch of eloquence, and Sekaki has ob- 
 tained the honourable designation of the Arabian 
 Quinctilian. 
 
 To poetry there was considerable tendency in 
 the ancient Arabs. The wild, romantic scenery of 
 the land they inhabited, the sacred recollections of
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 297 
 
 their earliest history, the life they led, every thing 
 around them, would contribute to poetic inspira- 
 tion. After the revival of letters, this art was 
 cultivated with enthusiasm. The heroic verses of 
 Ferdousi, the didactic strains of Sadi, and the 
 lyre of Hafiz, even through the dark medium of 
 imperfect and almost tasteless versions, discover 
 animated descriptions, hold metaphors, and strong 
 expressions, far surpassing all that in our inhos- 
 pitable regions has ever been attempted. In splen- 
 dour, if not in strength, the poets of the courts of 
 Haroun and Almamoun, or those of the Ommiades 
 of Spain, have in no age been excelled. In this 
 art, as among other people, so among the Arabs, 
 the fair sex have distinguished themselves. Vala- 
 data, Aysha, Labana, Sana, and others have ob- 
 tained the highest encomiums. 
 
 So great is the number of Arabian poets, that 
 Abul Abbas, a son of Motassem, who wrote an 
 abridgment of their lives in the ninth century, 
 numbers one hundred and thirty. Other authors 
 have found enough to occupy, one twenty-four, 
 one thirty, and another no less than fifty volumes, 
 in recording their history. 
 
 The Arabs, however, are entirely without epic 
 poetry, so important a part of classical writing; 
 nor have they any thing that may be properly 
 ranked as dramatic composition. Sophocles, Eu- 
 ripides, Terence, and Seneca, the classic models 
 of Greece and Rome, they despised as timid, con- 
 strained, and cold, and under whatever obligation 
 to these ancient nations the Arabs may be in 
 other departments of literature, they owe them 
 nothing, or next to nothing, in this. Their poetry 
 was original and local ; their figures and compari-
 
 298 LIFK OF MAHOMET. 
 
 sons were preeminently their own. To under- 
 stand and properly appreciate them, we must have 
 a knowledge of the productions of their country, 
 and of the manners and peculiarities of its inha- 
 bitants. The classic muse delights in illustrations 
 and figures borrowed from pastoral life, that of 
 Judea revels among the roses of Sharon, the ver- 
 dant slopes of Carmel, and the glory of Lebanon. 
 The Arab muse selects for its ornaments the pearls 
 of Omar, the musk of Hadramaut, the groves and 
 nightingales of Aden, and the spicy odours of 
 Yemen. If these ornaments seem fantastic, it 
 must be remembered that they are borrowed from 
 scenes of which we know but little. 
 
 Who is not acquainted with the Alif lita wa 
 lilin, or the thousand and one tales, commonly 
 known as the Arabian Nights' Entertainment ? 
 Some have doubted whether they are an original 
 work, or a translation from some Indian or Per- 
 sian original, made in the Augustan period of 
 Arab literature, a doubt certainly not warranted 
 by any deficiency of exactness in their description 
 of Arabian life and manners. They seem to have 
 been at first the legends of itinerant story-tellers, 
 a class of persons still very numerous in every part 
 of the Mahometan world. The scenes they un- 
 fold true to nature the simplicity displayed in 
 their characters, their beauty and moral instruc 
 tion, have won a gradual way to the bosom of the 
 multitude ; while the learned cede to them the 
 honour of more perfectly describing the manners 
 of the singular people they have sprung from, than 
 the works of any traveller, however accomplished 
 and indefatigable. They are replete with oriental 
 information, illustrating the feelings and customs
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 299 
 
 prevalent in those interesting regions, and so well 
 acclimated to the places they depict, as to leave it 
 by no means an easy task to improve them. 
 
 Of history the ancient Arabs were greatly neg- 
 ligent ; but by the more modern, this department 
 of knowledge has been cultivated with more suc- 
 cess and care. Annals, chronicles, and memoirs, 
 almost numberless, are extant among them : king- 
 doms, provinces, and towns are described, and 
 their history is narrated in volumes, a bare cata- 
 logue of which Avould extend to a wearisome 
 length. They abound, however, more in the fan- 
 ciful than in the substantial and correct. Of this 
 the titles of some of the most approved among 
 them may be taken as a specimen. A Chrono- 
 logy of Caliphs of Spain and Africa is denomi- 
 nated, " A Silken Vest, embroidered with the 
 Needle ;" a History of Grenada, " A Specimen of 
 the Full Moon ;" Ibu Abbas and Abu Bakri are 
 authors of historical collections, entitled respec- 
 tively, " Mines of Silver" and " Pearls and picked 
 up Flowers." Yet some of their writers, as Ibn 
 Katib, are chiefly remarkable for the extent and 
 accuracy of their historical knowledge : and the 
 works they composed, in some cases, are exceed- 
 ingly voluminous. A full history of Spain occu- 
 pied six authors in succession, and cost the labour 
 of one hundred and fifteen years to complete. 
 Their biography was not confined to men. Ibn 
 Zaid and Abul Mondar wrote a genealogical his- 
 tory of distinguished horses; and Alasucco and 
 Abdolmalec performed the same service for camels 
 worthy of being had in renown. Encyclopaedias 
 and gazetteers, with dictionaries of sciences and 
 other similar works, occupied Arabian pens ere
 
 300 
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 they came into vogue among the modern literati. 
 Every species of composition, indeed, and almost 
 every subject, in one age or other, have engaged 
 the attention of learned Mahometans. 
 
 Geography they did not so well understand, 
 their means being exceedingly limited. Yet their 
 public libraries could boast of globes, voyages, and 
 itineraries, the productions of men who travelled 
 in order to increase their geographical knowledge, 
 loaded their shelves. With statistics and political 
 economy also they had not much acquaintance ; 
 yet so early as the reign of Omar II. we find a 
 work devoted to these subjects, giving an account 
 of the provinces and cities of Spain, with their 
 rivers, ports, and harbours ; the climate, the soil, 
 the mountains, plants, and minerals of that coun- 
 try, with its imports, and the way in which its se- 
 veral productions, natural and artificial, might be 
 manufactured and applied to the best advantage. 
 Money, weights, and measures, with whatever 
 else political economy may be understood to in- 
 clude, were also subjects employing their inge- 
 nious industry, and, in some cases, their laborious 
 pen. 
 
 It scarcely needs to be added, that the specula- 
 tive sciences, almost as much as polite literature, 
 flourished among the. Arabs. What superstitious, 
 enthusiastic people has ever neglected them ? Their 
 ardour, in the more dignified of these pursuits, 
 was ill-regulated, subtleties were preferred to im- 
 portant practical truths ; and frequently the more 
 ingenious the sophism, constructed after the rules 
 of Aristotle, the more welcome it was to men who 
 rendered to that philosopher a homage almost di- 
 vine. The later Arabs, and the Turks of the pre-
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 301 
 
 sent day, pay considerable attention to astrology, 
 although it is strongly prohibited by their prophet. 
 This science had been universally employed by the 
 idolaters, against whom his denunciations are 
 scarcely less inveterate than are those of the in- 
 spired volume : and doubtless he suspected, that 
 its prevalence would hazard the purity, if not the 
 very existence of his own system of religion. 
 For many ages, therefore, it was discountenanced; 
 but, at length, the habit of consulting the stars, 
 on important public occasions, became frequent, 
 and was attended with as much anxiety and as 
 many ceremonies as disgraced the nations of anti- 
 quity. Among the modern Mahometans no dig- 
 nity of state is conferred no public edifice is 
 founded except at a time recommended by astrolo- 
 gers. These pretenders to knowledge are sup- 
 ported by personages of rank ; and in vain do the 
 more enlightened part of a community exclaim 
 that astrology is a false science. " Do not think," 
 said a prime minister, who had been consulting a 
 soothsayer as to the time for putting on a new 
 dress, " that I am such a fool as to put faith in all 
 this nonsense ; but I must not make my family 
 unhappy by refusing to comply with forms which 
 some of them deem of consequence." 
 
 After these references to the polite literature of 
 the Arabs, it will not be surprising that they 
 should have paid considerable attention to the na- 
 tural sciences. They were not discoverers and in- 
 ventors, but they did considerably improve upon 
 what they acquired in their extensive, intercourse 
 with other nations; and, a? forming the link 
 which unites ancient and modern letters, they are 
 entitled to our respect and gratitude. We derive
 
 302 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 our mathematics from them; and to them, also, 
 we owe much of our astronomical knowledge. 
 Almamoun, by a liberal reward, sought to engage 
 in his service a famous mathematician of Con- 
 stantinople ; and Ibn Korrah enriched the stores 
 of his country, in this department, with the trans- 
 lations of Archimedes and the conies of Apollo- 
 nius. Some have said, that, on the revival of 
 European literature in the fifteenth century, ma- 
 thematical science was found nearly in the state in 
 which it had been left by Euclid; and the justly 
 celebrated Briicker contends, that the Arabs made 
 no progress whatever in this most important branch 
 of knowledge : later writers, however, and par- 
 ticularly Montuela, the author of the Histoire des 
 Mathematiques, have done ample justice to their 
 researches. Numerical characters, without which 
 our study of the exact sciences were almost in vain, 
 beyond all doubt come to us from the Arabs : not 
 that they invented them, it is probable they were 
 originally words, perhaps Hindu words, express- 
 ing the quantities they respectively represent, but 
 abbreviated and brought to their present conveni- 
 ent form by the followers of the prophet. Tri- 
 gonometry and algebra both acknowledge obliga- 
 tions to their genius. The sines of the one of 
 these sciences instead of the more ancient chord, 
 and the representatives of quantities in the other 
 descend through Arabs to us, if they did not at 
 first invent them. Original works on spherical 
 trigonometry are among the productions of Ibn 
 Musa and Geber, the former of whom is ac- 
 counted the inventor of the solution of equations 
 of the second degree. The university of Leyden 
 still retains a mamiscript treatise on the algebra
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 303 
 
 of cubic equations, by Omar ibn Ibrahim, and 
 Casiri, who preserved and classed 1851 manu- 
 scripts, even after a fire had destroyed the magni- 
 ficent collection of the Escurial, informs us, that 
 the principles and praises of algebraic science 
 were sung in an elaborate poem, by Alcassem, a 
 native of Grenada. These departments of know- 
 ledge were studied by the Arabs as early as the 
 eighth and ninth centuries. 
 
 Astronomy, the science of a pastoral people, 
 and eminently so in regions of an almost cloud- 
 less sky, like the east, was studied with great 
 eagerness by Arabian philosophers. Almamoun, 
 who has been repeatedly mentioned, Avas devoted 
 to it : at his cost the necessary instruments of 
 observation were provided, and a complete di- 
 gest of the science was made. The land where, 
 many ages before, this science had been success- 
 fully studied by the Chaldeans, was in his power, 
 and upon its ample plains a degree of the earth's 
 circle was repeatedly measured, so as to deter- 
 mine the whole circumference of the globe to be 
 twenty-four thousand miles. The obliquity of the 
 ecliptic they settled at twenty-three degrees and 
 a-half : the annual movement of the equinoxes 
 and the duration of the tropical year were brought 
 to within a very little of the correct observations 
 of modern times, the slight error they admitted 
 resulting from the preference they gave to the sys- 
 tem of Ptolemy. Albathani, or, as his name 
 has been latinized, Albateuius, in the ninth cen- 
 tury, after forty years' observation, drew up ta- 
 bles, known as the Sabian tables, which, though 
 not now in very high repute, because of more 
 accurate calculations, were for a long time justly
 
 304 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 esteemed. Other Arabian astronomers have ren- 
 dered considerable service. Mahometanism did 
 not, like ancient Paganism, adore the stars ; but 
 its disciples studied them with a diligence, -with- 
 out which, perhaps, our own Newton, Flamstead, 
 and Halley, had observed and examined almost in 
 vain. 
 
 Architecture was an art in which the Arabs 
 greatly excelled ; their wide extension gave them 
 command of whatever was worthy of observation, 
 and their vast revenues afforded the most abundant 
 means of indulging a taste thus called into exer- 
 cise. The history of Arabian architecture com- 
 prises a period of about eight centuries, including 
 its rise, progress, and decay : their building mate- 
 rials were mostly obtained from the ruined struc- 
 tures and cities that fell into their hands ; and if 
 no one particular style has been followed, it is be- 
 cause they successfully studied most of the styles 
 then known. On their mansions but little exter- 
 nal art was bestowed ; all their pains were ex- 
 hausted on the interior, where no expense was 
 spared that could promote luxurious ease and per- 
 sonal comfort. Their walls and ceilings were 
 highly embellished, and the light was mostly ad- 
 mitted in such manner, as, by excluding all exter- 
 nal objects, to confine the admiration of specta- 
 tors to the beauties produced within. With the 
 art of preserving their buildings from decay they 
 must have had an adequate acquaintance. Their 
 stucco composition may still be found hard as 
 stone, without a crack or flaw : the floors and 
 ceilingg of Alhambra, the ancient suburb of Gre- 
 nada, have been comparatively uninjured by the 
 neglect and dilapidation of nearly seven centuries ;
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 305 
 
 and their paint retains its colour so bright and so 
 rich as to be occasionally mistaken for mother-of- 
 pearl. Sir Christopher Wren derives the Gothic 
 architecture from Mahometans : and the crescent 
 arch, a symbol of one of the deities anciently 
 worshipped throughout the heathen world, was 
 first adopted by the Arabs of Syria, and inva- 
 riably used in all the edifices erected during the 
 Supremacy of the Ornmiades. The succeeding 
 dynasty declined following this model ; but dur- 
 ing the reign of the house of Moawiyah, in Spain, 
 it was imitated from the Atlantic to the Pyrennees. 
 The fine arts, painting, and sculpture, were not 
 so much cultivated among the early Mahometans : 
 they were thought to involve a breach of the di- 
 vine law. In this respect they agreed with Jews. 
 Subsequently, however, these scruples were, by 
 degrees, overcome : that style of embellishment 
 denominated the Arabesque, which rejects figures 
 of men and animals, being first adopted, and af- 
 terwards sculpture, more nearly resembling that 
 of modern times. The Alhambra, or palace of 
 that suburb, had its lions, its ornamented tiles, 
 and paintings. Abdalrahman III. placed a statue 
 of his favourite mistress over the palace he erected 
 for her abode. Music was ardently cultivated. 
 At first, in the desert, its strains were rude and 
 natural ; subsequently the professors of the art 
 were cherished, honoured, and rewarded, as poets 
 also were- in the courts of Arab sovereigns. Many 
 are celebrated for their skill in this divine art, 
 especially Isaac Almouseli. It is said that Ilawun 
 al Raschid, having quarrelled with his mistress ; 
 Almouseli, by performing a song composed for 
 the occasion with great pathos, so wrought upon 
 
 X
 
 306 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 this monarch, that, full of grief, he rushed into 
 the presence of the injured and inconsolable fair 
 one, imploring her to forgive his indiscretion, and 
 to bury their unhappy discords in eternal oblivion. 
 Al Farabi has been denominated the Arabian 
 Orpheus : by his astonishing command of the lute, 
 he could produce laughter, or tears, or sleep in 
 his auditors at pleasure. He wrote a considerable 
 work on music, preserved in the Escurial. Abul 
 Faragi is also a famous writer among Mahome- 
 tans on this subject. To them we are indebted 
 for the invention of the lute, which they accounted 
 more beautiful than any other instrument; and 
 among them the use of many of the instruments 
 we also use, as the organ, flute, harp, tabor, and 
 mandoline, was common. Some say that the na- 
 tional instrument of the Scottish highlander is taken 
 from them. 
 
 In many of the useful arts of modern days, the 
 Arabs were proficients ; as agriculture, gardening, 
 metallurgy, and the preparing of leather. The 
 names Morocco and Cordovan are still applied, in 
 this last art, to leather prepared after the Ara- 
 bian mode. They manufactured and dyed silk 
 and cotton, made paper, were acquainted with the 
 use of gunpowder, and are best entitled to the 
 honour of inventing the mariner's compass. But 
 perhaps there is no art in which their knowledge 
 is so much a subject of curious inquiry as medi- 
 cine. Their country was salubrious, their habits 
 were simple, and their indulgences few ; so that 
 many opportunities of practically studying the art, 
 at least among the Arabs of earlier date, would 
 not occur. Anatomy, except that of the brute 
 creation, was shut up from their study, by the
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 307 
 
 prejudices of their creed; yet they excelled in 
 medical skill. Hareth ibn Kaldar, an eminent 
 practitioner, settled at Mecca, was honoured with 
 the conversation and applause of Mahomet. Ho- 
 nain was an eminent Arab physician of the middle 
 of the sixth century : Messue, the celebrated pre- 
 ceptor of Almamoun, belonged to this profession ; 
 and a host of others adorn the early annals of the 
 Saracens. Al Rhagi, or Rhages, as commonly 
 called, and Abdallah ibn Sina, or Avicenna, are 
 names to which, for centuries, deference was paid 
 by professors of the healing art throughout Eu- 
 rope, though it would not be difficult to show, 
 that his doctrines and practice must have been, 
 beyond measure, absurd. He administers gold, 
 and silver, and precious stones, to purify the 
 blood. 
 
 Of chemistry, so far as it relates to medicine, 
 the Arabs may be considered as the inventors ; and 
 botany, in the same connexion, they cultivated 
 with great success. Geber, in the eighth century, 
 is known as their principal chemical writer ; he is 
 said to have composed five hundred volumes, 
 almost every one of which is lost. The early no- 
 menclature of the science, indicates how much it 
 owes to this people. Alcohol, alembic, alkali, alu- 
 del, and other similar terms, are evidently of Arab 
 origin ; nor should it be forgotten, that the charac- 
 ters used for drugs, essences, extracts, and medi- 
 cines, the import of which is now almost entirely 
 unknown, and invested, therefore, in vulgar esti- 
 mate, with occult powers, are all to be traced to 
 the same source. 
 
 It may be impossible now to estimate accurately 
 the obligations under which we are laid to Ara- 
 x2
 
 308 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 bian literature. An empire so widely diffused, 
 must, if it encouraged letters at all, have had a 
 beneficial influence on almost every country. 
 Europeans, whether subject to their sway, or only 
 contemplating it from a distance, copied or emu- 
 lated their acquirements. Gerbert, who subse- 
 quently occupied the papal chair as Silvester II., 
 acquired the Arabic method of computation in his 
 travels in Spain, previously to his elevation ; but 
 others were permitted to profit but little from his 
 discovery. Leonardo, a Pisan merchant, acquired 
 the same art in his intercourse with Mahometans 
 on tbe coast of Africa, and by him it was intro- 
 duced into his own native republic, from whence it 
 Avas soon communicated to the western world. In the 
 city of Salernum, a port of Italy, Mussulmans and 
 Christians so intermixed as to communicate insen- 
 sibly the literature of the Saracens to the Italians, 
 and in the schools of that city, students were col- 
 lected from every quarter of Europe. Arabic 
 books, by command of Charlemagne, were 
 translated into Latin for the use of learned men 
 throughout his vast empire, and without exagge- 
 rating the merits of the followers of the prophet, 
 it may be acknowledged, that we are indebted to 
 them for the revival of the exact and physical 
 sciences, and for many of those useful arts and in- 
 ventions that have totally changed the aspect of 
 European literature ; and are still contributing to 
 the civilization, the freedom, and the best interests 
 of man.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 309 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The present condition of Mahometanism. In Turkey. 
 The doctrines believed there. Their forms of devotion. Lus- 
 trations. Prayer. Mahometan Sabbath. Fast of Ramadan. 
 Meccan Pilgrimage. Proselytism. Mahometan hierarchy. 
 Islamism in Tartary. In Hindustan. In China. In Per- 
 sia. In Africa. In the Indian Archipelago. The Sooffeee. 
 The Wahabees. 
 
 THE present condition of the Mahometan faith 
 with some account of the standing it maintains 
 in the world will not be deemed an inappropriate 
 subject for the closing pages of this volume. Its 
 votaries have long ceased to spread alarm through 
 the nations by their victorious and devastating pro- 
 gress ; the fire of its fanaticism is almost extinct, 
 nevertheless its doctrines prevail over a larger 
 number of mankind than any other system of 
 false religion : they are professed in nations and 
 countries remote from each other, and having no 
 other mutual resemblance than that involved in their 
 common superstition. In Spain, indeed, Chris- 
 tianity has triumphed over Islamism ; and in the 
 inhospitable regions of Siberia, a part of the ancient 
 Tartary, its advance has been somewbat checked, 
 but in middle and lower Asia, and in Africa, the 
 number of Mahomet's followers has increased. 
 We cannot state with accuracy the number of 
 either Mahometans, or of nominal Christians ; but 
 looking at religion geographically, while Christian- 
 ity has almost entire dominion in Europe ; in Asia, 
 Islamism is the dominant faith ; in America, the 
 cross is rapidly becoming the symbol of faith
 
 310 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 throughout both its vast continents ; but in Africa, 
 the crescent waves to the almost entire exclusion of 
 all other emblems. 
 
 It is in Turkey that Mahometanism exists at 
 the present day in its most perfect form. To this 
 country, therefore, both on this account, and be- 
 cause it is nearer to our own than any other un- 
 der the Moslem power, our attention shall be first 
 directed. 
 
 The attempts upon Constantinople, and the con- 
 quest by Saracen arms, of almost the whole of 
 those countries over which the emperors residing 
 in that city, anciently called Byzantium, had 
 reigned, have been already recorded. The power- 
 ful caliphs of Bagdad made themselves masters of 
 these regions, while those of Spain and the west 
 were endeavouring to push their conquests over 
 the fairest parts of Europe. The situation of Con- 
 stantinople and the surrounding empire, lay espe- 
 cially open to the eastern Mahometans, whose 
 warlike incursions were incessant. Tartars from 
 Asia overran the empire. Othman, in the early 
 part of the thirteenth century, laid the foundation 
 of Turkish greatness. Orchan, Amurath, and Ba- 
 jazet, his successors, amidst both foreign and do- 
 mestic wars greatly contributed to its establish- 
 ment and increase. The children of the last of 
 these conqxierors, threw the empire into a fright- 
 ful state of commotion by their unnatural quarrels, 
 till, at last, the youngest of them, named after the 
 prophet, restored its unity, and established some- 
 thing like domestic tranquillity. Under a grand- 
 son of his, Mahomet II., whom Bayle describes as 
 one of the greatest men recorded in history, the 
 Morea was subjugated, and the Greek empire, so
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 311 
 
 long shaken by internal dissensions, and tottering 
 to dissolution by its luxury, was trampled in the 
 dust by Moslem conquerors. Constantinople at 
 last yielded to their power, and a palace for the 
 conqueror was erected on the very spot where Con- 
 stantine had chosen his magnificent abode. 
 
 From this time to that of Solyman the magnifi- 
 cent, to whom the Turks owe their laws and police, 
 the empire continued to prosper, but immediately 
 afterwards its fall commenced. Letters and science 
 have advanced less among that people, than among 
 Europeans, and their Sultans possessed none of 
 the martial enterprise and energy of their prede- 
 cessors. Still the faith of Mahomet maintained, 
 and down to this day continues to maintain, a hold 
 which it enjoys in almost no other country. 
 
 The Turks generally repose the most implicit 
 faith in the two leading articles of the Mahome- 
 tan creed ; and since, in the opinion of Moslems, 
 a simple assent to these doctrines comprises all 
 that is valuable in religion, and will be followed 
 by the possession of heaven, either immediately, 
 or remotely, it is readily conceivable that infi- 
 delity will be exceedingly rare. In religious mat- 
 ters the heart opposes not so much what is to be 
 believed, as what is to be done. 
 
 Minor points of their theology have been from 
 time to time disputed, but generally these may 
 now be regarded as settled. Predestination is one 
 of the chief on which the faith of the Turk is 
 fixed, on a basis equally firm, with that which sus- 
 tains the most momentous article in his creed. 
 Fatalism was the great engine employed by Ma- 
 homet in establishing his religion. Since his time,
 
 312 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 this doch-ine has been affirmed to have no relation 
 to the present, moral, civil, and political state of 
 man ; but among the Turks it is received as regu- 
 lating their destiny, controlling their events, and 
 limiting the results of every individual's exertion ; 
 and, as may be supposed, this doctrine unnerves 
 the soul for generous and manly enterprize, and 
 casts a lethargy on the whole nation. In every 
 thing the exertions of reason are checked, and 
 even wait for the sensible operations of Deity. Ac- 
 cording to the creed of the Turks, not only is every 
 thing foreknown to God, every thing is predeter- 
 mined, and brought about by his positive agency. 
 The Turk is keen and wise in his ordinary 
 transactions ; in promoting his own interests, he 
 knQws how to exercise the powers of his mind, 
 but when difficulty or doubt overtakes him, he 
 makes no effort. The thick cloud of his misfor- 
 tunes is suffered to remain ; it is yielded to with 
 sullen indifference, he considers it impious to op- 
 pose the determinations of the Most High. To all 
 improvement such a doctrine is a decided and in- 
 vincible foe; in some circumstances, however, it ap- 
 pears to have its advantages. Does a Mahometan 
 suffer by calamity ? Is he plundered or ruined ? He 
 does not fruitlessly bewail his lot. His answers 
 to all murmuring suggestions is, ' It was written,' 
 and to the most unexpected transition from opu- 
 lence to poverty, he submits without a sigh. The 
 approach of death does not destroy his tranquillity ; 
 he makes his ablution, repeats his prayers, pro- 
 fesses his belief in God and his prophet, and in a 
 last calm appeal to the aid of affection, he says to 
 his child, " turn my head towards Mecca," and 
 dies in peace.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 3l3 
 
 A people's religion is traced in their established 
 and common forms of devotion, and none are more 
 regardful of these forms than the Turks. To 
 neglect any ceremony which their religion pre- 
 scribes, is deemed a mark of inferior understand- 
 ing, or of depraved character. Public decorum is 
 everywhere observed, and though both moral and 
 religious precepts are violated with impunity, and 
 without remorse, they are always spoken of Avith 
 great respect. A Mahometan is never ashamed to 
 defend his faith, and of his sincerity and firmness, 
 his earnest vindication of it may be taken as satis- 
 factory proof; indeed, he not infrequently inter- 
 rupts the progress of conversation by repeating the 
 formula of his faith. Travellers in Turkish towns 
 are incessantly met with the cry Allah Ackbar, and 
 by Mussulmans, who would be esteemed pious, the 
 divine name is as familiarly used as if reverent 
 and proper thoughts of him whom it represents 
 were habitually uppermost in their minds. 
 
 Purifications are constantly, and with great 
 strictness performed by the Mussulmans of every 
 country, but especially by those of Turkey. Their 
 professed object is to render the body fit for the 
 decorous performance of religious duties ; no act 
 being praiseworthy or accepted, unless the person 
 of the performer be in a condition of purity. Some 
 have thought, but without good grounds, that these 
 external purifications are intended to supersede an 
 inward cleansing of the heart. Fountains placed 
 round their mosques, and baths multiplied in every 
 city, enable the devout to perform their five prayers 
 daily, during which, if they chance to receive 
 pollution from any thing accidentally falling upon
 
 314 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 them, their devotion is suspended till the offensive 
 inconvenience is removed by water or other means. 
 At the appointed hour, the Maazeens or criers, with 
 their faces towards the holy city, their eyes closed, 
 and their hands upraised, pace the little gallery of 
 the minarets, and proclaim in Arabic, the Moslem 
 language for devotion, that the season for prayer 
 has arrived. Immediately every one, whatever 
 his rank or employment, gives himself up to it. 
 State ministers suspend the most important a/Fairs 
 and prostrate themselves on the floor ; the trades- 
 man forgets his dealings, and transforms his shop 
 into a mosque, and the student lays aside his 
 hooks to go through the accustomed devotions. 
 " Never to fail in his prayers," is the highest com- 
 mendation a Turk can receive ; and so prejudicial 
 is the suspicion of irreligion, that even libertines 
 dare not disregard the notices of the Maazeen. 
 The mosques, like chapels in catholic countries, 
 are always open, and two or three times every day 
 the prayers are offered within their hallowed walls. 
 It has often been remarked, with great propriety, 
 that the devotions of Christians might acquire 
 something valuable from the gravity, decorum, 
 and the apparently intense occupation of mind in 
 Turkish worship. The Jews trod their holy place 
 barefoot; the Turks, on the contrary, keep on 
 their boots and shoes. Christians uncover their 
 heads to pray; Moslems seldom lay aside their 
 turbans ; but for hours they will remain prostrate, 
 or standing in one position, as if absorbed in the 
 most intense, spirit-stirring engagements : they 
 make no light matter of communion with heaven. 
 They have neither altars, pictures, nor statues in
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 315 
 
 their places of public worship. Verses of the 
 Koran, the names and personal descriptions of 
 their prophet, of Ali and his two sons, Hassan and 
 Hosein, with other Moslem saints, are sometimes 
 inscribed in letters of gold on their sacred walls. 
 All distinctions of rank and acquirement are for- 
 gotten when they pray. Persons of every class, 
 on the first sound of the accustomed cry, cast 
 themselves on the floor, and thus declare their be- 
 lief in the equality of mankind in the sight of the 
 great Father of all. 
 
 The Mahometans of Turkey have a Sabbath, 
 though neither the Jewish nor the Christian has 
 served for any more than the model for this ob- 
 servance. Friday is their day of rest, which com- 
 mences on the preceding evening, when the illu- 
 minated minarets and colonnades of the mosques, 
 give their cities the appearance of a festival. At 
 noon, on friday, all business is suspended, the 
 temples are filled, and prayers of especial import- 
 ance and solemnity are read by the appointed 
 officers, accompanied by the prostrations and genu- 
 flexions of the people. Discourses are also fre- 
 quently delivered on some practical point in their 
 theology, or in the warmth of sincerity and zeal, 
 sometimes political corruption and courtly depravity 
 are fiercely declaimed against. A voluptuous sul- 
 tan has been known, as the result of these dis- 
 courses, to tear himself from his harem, and from 
 the soft indulgences of his court, to lead his mar- 
 tial subjects to war and victory on the plains of 
 their inveterate foes. As soon as this public ser- 
 vice is concluded, all return to their ordinary pur- 
 suits ; the day, however, is observed in the man- 
 ner prescribed by law by all classes, it being a
 
 316 LIFE OF MAHOMET, 
 
 received maxim, that he who without legitimate 
 cause absents himself from public devotion on three 
 successive fridays, abjures his religion. It is 
 worthy of observation, that the prayers in general 
 use among the Turks are chiefly acts of adoration : 
 confessions of the divine attributes, of the nothing- 
 ness of man, and of the homage and gratitude due 
 to the Eternal Majesty. A Turk must not pray 
 for the blessings of this frail and perishable life ; 
 the health of the sultan, the prosperity of his 
 country, and divisions and wars among Christians 
 only excepted ; the legitimate object of prayer they 
 hold to be spiritual gifts, and the blessings of eter- 
 nal felicity. 
 
 To the fast of Ramadan reference has already 
 been made in a former chapter : no sacred observ- 
 ance is more strictly regarded bj the Turks. He 
 who violates it is reckoned at once an infidel or an 
 apostate ; and if two witnesses establish his offence, 
 he is deemed to have incurred the severest penalty 
 of the law. Abstinence from food, and even from 
 the refreshment of perfumes, from sunrise to 
 sunset is enjoined ; the rich pass the hours in me- 
 ditation and prayer, the grandees sleep away their 
 time ; but the mechanic, pursuing his daily toil, 
 most heavily feels its rigour. " When the month 
 of Ramadan happens in the extremities of the 
 seasons, the prescribed abstinence is almost in- 
 tolerable, and is more severe than the practice of 
 any moral duty, even to the most vicious and de- 
 praved of mankind." Traffic during the day is 
 suspended, but in the evening, and till late at 
 night, it is carried on in streets, shops, and ba- 
 zaars, most splendidly illuminated. From sunset 
 to sunrise, revelry and excess are indulged in.
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 317 
 
 Every night is an appointed feast among the great 
 officers of court : the Turkish reserve is laid aside, 
 and friends and relations cement their union by 
 mutual intercourse. Sumptuous banquets, agree- 
 able converse, and convivial hilarity, are universal, 
 and were not women everywhere excluded from 
 the tables of the men, the pleasure of the festivals 
 would amply compensate the rigorous self-denial 
 of their fasts. 
 
 The pilgrimage to Mecca, which has been al- 
 ready described, is with the Turks more an affair 
 of form than reality. Its importance as a part of 
 the Moslem ritual is admitted, and apparently felt, 
 but the number of pilgrims annually decreases. 
 The sultan, having dominion over the country 
 through which the pilgrims must pass, preserves 
 the public ways leading to the sacred city; the 
 best soldiers of his empire are charged with the 
 business of protecting the caravans, which are 
 sometimes numerous; but of his own subjects, 
 properly so called, few comparatively accompany 
 them ; they are made up of devotees from a greater 
 distance. The sultan, moreover, thus facilitates 
 the pilgrimage as much on commercial as on reli- 
 gious accounts. The Koran has determined it to 
 be very proper to intermingle commerce and reli- 
 gion : " It shall be no crime in you," it says, "if 
 ye seek an increase from your Lord by trading 
 during the pilgrimage." Accordingly, articles 
 easiest of carriage, and of readiest sale, are trans- 
 ported by pilgrims from every country. The pro- 
 ductions and manufactures of India find their way 
 into other parts of Asia and throughout Africa. 
 The muslins and chintzes of Bengal and the Dec- 
 can, the shawls of Cashmere, the pepper of Mala-
 
 318 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 bar, the diamonds of Golconda, the pearls of 
 Kilkau, the cinnamons of Ceylon, and the spices 
 of the Moluccas, are made to yield advantage to 
 the Othman, .or Ottoman empire, and the luxury 
 of its subjects is sustained by contributions from 
 the most distant nations. 
 
 Mahometans of the present day, at least those 
 of Turkey, are less anxious about proselytism than 
 Avere those of a former age. Those of India and 
 Africa may, to some extent, still coincide in the sen- 
 timent, that to convert infidels was an ordinance of 
 God, and must be waged by the faithful in all ages; 
 but in Turkey little desire is felt for converting the 
 adherents of another faith, chiefly because by a 
 refinement in uncharitableness it is conceived that 
 converting the world is unworthy of their endea- 
 vours. Now and then a pious Moslem, instigated 
 by zeal or personal attachment, may pray in regard 
 to a Jew or a Christian, " Great God, enlighten 
 this infidel, and graciously dispose his heart to 
 embrace thy holy religion ;" and perhaps to a youth 
 esteemed for his talents or knowledge, the lan- 
 guage of persuasion may occasionally be addressed 
 with an air of gentleness and urbanity, but com- 
 monly the zeal of the missionary is subject to what 
 are conceived the rules of good breeding, and a 
 vague reply or silence is regarded as an indication 
 that the subject ought not to be continued. A 
 Mussulman may pray for the conversion of infidels, 
 but till they are converted, no blessing may be 
 supplicated on their behalf. " Their death is eter- 
 nal, why pray for them?" is the language of the 
 Mahometan creed ; do not "defile your feet by pass- 
 ing over the graves of men who are enemies of God 
 and of his prophet." "Thus," says David Hume, "do
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 319 
 
 the Mahometans of the present day deal out dam- 
 nation, though not fire and faggot, to every other 
 sect." 
 
 Of the Mahometan hierarchy, some idea may 
 be obtained from the form it takes in Turkey. The 
 Koran is the treasure of divine and human laws, 
 and the caliphs are the depositaries of this trea- 
 sure ; so that they are at once the pontiffs, legis- 
 latois, and judges of the people : their office com- 
 bines all authority, whether sacerdotal, regal, or 
 judicial. To the grand sultan, titles are given 
 which import that he is the vicar or the shadow of 
 God. The several powers which pertain to him 
 in this awful capacity, are delegated to a body of 
 learned men, called the Oulema. In this body, 
 three descriptions of officers are included; the 
 ministers of religion, called the Imams; the 
 expounders of the law, called the Muftis, and the 
 ministers of justice, called the Cadis. The minis- 
 ters of religion are chief and inferior, the former 
 of whom only belong to the Oulema. Both classes 
 are made up of Sheiks, or ordinary preachers, the 
 Khatibs, readers or deacons ; the Imams, a title 
 comprising those who perform the service of the 
 mosque on ordinary days, and those to whom per- 
 tain the ceremonies of circumcision, marriage, and 
 burial ; the Maazeens, or criers, who announce the 
 hours of prayer ; and the Cayuns, or common at- 
 tendants of the mosque. The idea of this classifi- 
 cation was, perhaps, taken from the Mosaic priest- 
 hood ; the Khatib being the Aaron, and the next 
 four the several orders of the Levites, with their 
 servants or helpers. The imperial temples have 
 one Sheik, one Khatib, from two to four Imams, 
 twelve Maazeens, and twenty Cayims, among
 
 320 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 whom, except in a few of the chief mosques of 
 Constantinople, the Khatibs have the pre-emi- 
 nence. All these ministers are under the authority 
 of the civil magistrate, who is looked upon as a 
 sort of diocesan, and who may perform at any 
 time all the sacerdotal functions. The clergy are 
 not distinguishable from other citizens, they mix 
 in the same society, engage in similar pursuits, 
 and affect no greater austerity than marks the be- 
 haviour of Mussulmans in common. Their influ- 
 ence is entirely dependent on their reputation for 
 learning and talents, or gravity and moral conduct; 
 their employment for the most part is simple, 
 chanting aloud the public service, and performing 
 offices which every master of a family also may 
 discharge. As Mahometanism knows nothing of 
 sacrifices, it appoints no priests; the duties dis- 
 charged by the ministers of religion, seem de- 
 volved on them, rather as a matter of convenience 
 than from any sacredness attaching to their order. 
 
 The vast territory to which the general name of 
 Tartary has been given, is that from whence Ma- 
 hometanism has gone forth to the east, and the 
 west, and the south. In Thibet, the Grand La- 
 ma, and the various national idols hold divided 
 empire with the prophet, and in the inhospitable 
 regions of Siberia, the churches of Greece and 
 Russia have successfully promulgated the Chris- 
 tian doctrine : the Circassians with some other 
 Tartar races are almost without religion. In the 
 Crimea, the people are Mussulmans, as rigid and 
 devoted as the Turks, and over the vast tract 
 called by modern geographers Independent Tar- 
 tary, the crescent triumphantly waves. From 
 these regions sprung, in the earlier ages of Ma-
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 321 
 
 hometan conquest, those vast empires, which, in 
 the east, comprise so large a number of the pro- 
 fessors of the faith of Islam. The first sovereign 
 of this country, to whom the title of sultan was 
 awarded early in the tenth century, conducted 
 several expeditions into Hindustan, and secured 
 the homage of many of the cities in that distant 
 country. The ancient Indian superstition, was in 
 great measure overturned by his victorious arms. 
 Long and fierce contests ensued : the princes of 
 subdued provinces often throwing off their forced 
 allegiance, and endeavouring to regain their in- 
 dependence, and re-establish their ancient faith, till 
 at length, the great Tamerlane having overrun the 
 country with his legions, received at Agra the 
 title of emperor of Hindustan. Scarcely, how- 
 ever, had two centuries and a half rolled by, when 
 his successors fell in their turn under the Persian 
 power ; and the empire he established was weak- 
 ened, and ultimately destroyed. As the result of 
 these conquests, Mahometanism much prevailed, 
 more nominally than really, among the millions of 
 India; it was the religion of the court and go- 
 vernment ; but either from indifference or timidity 
 in the Moslem conquerors, the ancient idols still 
 held extensive influence, and were at length gra- 
 dually restored. In the twelfth century, Benares, 
 the ancient seat of Brahminical learning, and the 
 chief city of Hindu idolatry, fell into the hands of 
 the conqueror, who destroyed its numerous idols of 
 popular adoration. Yet soon afterwards, the 
 sanctity of the place was restored, and the de- 
 stroyed idols were replaced by others as eagerly 
 resorted to as their predecessors had been. To 
 this consecrated metropolis, a pilgrimage was re-
 
 322 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 garded by the millions of India as imperative 
 and advantageous, as a visit to Mecca by 
 the Mahometans ; and the weakness or the po- 
 licy of its Moslem conquerors did not long with- 
 hold from them this valued privilege, its govern- 
 ment was reserved to the nations, and though 
 they were subdued, their conquerors, in the pleni- 
 tude of their bigotry, pride, and power, never 
 thought of suffering their magistrates to exercise 
 control within its walls. Mahometanism is the 
 religion, not of the ancient inhabitants of India, 
 but of the descendants of the millions of Tartars, 
 Persians, and Arabians, who, at various periods 
 have quitted their native seats, to enjoy the riches 
 pf these far famed plains. The north and north- 
 western parts are filled with them, from whence 
 they have wandered over the whole of that vast 
 continent. Perhaps their numbers may now 
 amount to near twenty millions, among whom, 
 however, though they are mostly of foreign ex- 
 traction, there are many converts from Hinduism. 
 They form separate communities, amalgamating 
 in some parts of the country, and living as 
 socially with Hindus as the differences in their 
 respective faiths will permit. Hindu princes have 
 sometimes paid their devotions at Mahometan 
 shrines, and observed their feasts ; while Mahomet- 
 ans have relaxed somewhat the strictness of their 
 practice, and have manifested a desire to conform, 
 as far as possible, to their Hindu neighbours. 
 Some five centuries since, the Bohrahs, a people 
 who once filled the kingdom of Guzerat, were 
 converted, en masse, to Islamism. The Arab 
 traders, to the coasts of Malabar, have always 
 been exceedingly earnest in their endeavours to
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 323 
 
 convert the natives, in which they have been 
 greatly aided by the facility with which they 
 have been allowed to purchase the children of the 
 poorer classes to educate in the principles of their 
 faith, and also, by the frequency with which the 
 inhabitants of such a district lose caste. This 
 badge of the Hindu faith can scarcely be re- 
 tained by a people mixing with those of other 
 countries, and when it is lost, the ^people easily 
 become Moslems. 
 
 It has been sometimes maintained that the na- 
 tive population of India, are absolutely unchange- 
 able in their sacred, domestic, and political insti- 
 tutions, and it may be acknowledged, that at first 
 sight, there is much to warrant such an opinion ; 
 but the history of many of them, and especially 
 of the Sikhs, who inhabit the provinces of Panjab, 
 between the rivers Jumna and Indus, may be al- 
 leged as proofs against its validity. It is not 
 without exception. In the religion of the Sikhs, 
 Mahometan fable and Hindu absurdity are mixed ; 
 their founder having desired to unite both these 
 prevalent systems in the religion he determined to 
 countenance. He had been educated in a part of 
 the country where these religions appeared to 
 touch each other, if not to commingle, and he 
 was no stranger to the violent rancour and ani- 
 mosity which the respective parties indulged; 
 fanatic as he was, he was benevolent, he sought 
 therefore to blend the jarring elements of both in 
 peaceful union. The Hindu was to abandon his 
 idols, and to worship the one Supreme Deity, 
 whom his religion acknowledged; the Mahomet- 
 an was to abstain from those practices, especially 
 the slaughter of cows, which were offensive to the 
 
 Y2
 
 324 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 Hindu superstition. This plan, so far prevailed, 
 as that the Sikhs became more Mahometans, with- 
 out acknowledging the prophet, than Hindus ; the 
 institutions of Brahma are not admitted among 
 them; they insult and persecute true Moslems, 
 however, in a manner more fierce and cruel than 
 any other people. They compel them to eat 
 what their law condemns. Animals, which they 
 account unclean, are frequently cast into their 
 places of public assembly, and they are prohibited 
 from proclaiming the hour of prayer to the 
 faithful. 
 
 China has been already mentioned in an early 
 chapter of this work, as one of those regions to 
 which Mahometanism was carried by the hordes of 
 Tartary. It is difficult, from the scrupulous jea- 
 lousy with which this vast empire is guarded from 
 observation, to say to what extent Mahometanism, 
 or indeed any other faith, prevails among its num- 
 berless inhabitants, but, without question, it is to- 
 lerated. It is, indeed, an ancient faith of the 
 country comprising, as it does, so large a part of 
 the Tartarian empire. 
 
 The irruption of the Saracens into China under 
 TValid, can scarcely be termed a conquest. Sub- 
 sequently, the successors of Zenghis Khan ac- 
 quired the throne of Pekin, by whom the country 
 was opened to an intercourse with all other lands. 
 The commercial Arabs had carried on a correspon- 
 dence with the ports and cities in the south of 
 China ; now that access to the capital was unre- 
 strained, multitudes of them repaired thither. 
 They acquired the language, and adopted the dress 
 and manners of the people, to whom also they 
 rendered valuable aid in adjusting their chrono-
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 325 
 
 logy, and making the necessary calculations for 
 .their calendar. Intercourse \vith the Chinese, 
 made the Mahometans desirous of effecting their 
 conversion, the means adopted for which, were, 
 however, wise and humane. Deserted children 
 were taken under their protection, and educated in 
 Islamism, and in other ways they sought to com- 
 mend themselves to confidence, and their religion 
 to respect, by alleviating the wretchedness induced 
 by a cruel superstition Mahometans in China seem 
 to partake in the mild and peaceable character of 
 the inhabitants generally. they are therefore to- 
 lerated ; but there are some exceptions to this en- 
 comium. About sixty years since, they were found 
 instrumental in promoting an unsuccessful rebel- 
 lion, and within a few months, the Emperor Kien 
 Long, after suppressing it, ordered one hundred 
 thousand to be put to death. 
 
 Persia, from an early period, has been almost 
 generally a Mahometan country. On its conquest 
 by the Saracens, the religion of Zoroaster, which, 
 till then had prevailed, was nearly destroyed. 
 Those who retained it were obliged to flee to the 
 mountains, or to the western parts of India, 
 where still their old forms of worship linger ; but 
 the faith of Mahomet is perpetually making in- 
 roads upon them. In the disputes as to the ca- 
 liphate, which ensued on the death of Mahomet, 
 the Persians espoused the cause of Ali, the pro- 
 phet's son-in-law, and to his memory they are still 
 most decidedly attached. " May this arrow go 
 to the heart of Omar," was a frequent expression 
 among them on drawing a bow ; and not long 
 since, when our countryman, Malcolm, in his 
 travels in Persia, was praising Omar, the oppo-
 
 326 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 nent of Ali, as the greatest of the caliphs, a Per- 
 sian overcome by the justice of 'his observation, 
 yet adhering to his rooted prejudices, replied, 
 " This is all very true, but he was a dog after all." 
 
 Here Mahometanism exists in less rigorous 
 forms than in Turkey. Its ceremonies are ob- 
 served by rulers, whose natural disposition never- 
 theless regulates them in practising or neglecting 
 its moral code : they say their prayers at the ap- 
 pointed seasons, they make a show of devotion to. 
 prevent their being suspected of irreligion, but 
 the mass of the population are little concerned on 
 the subject of the pilgrimage, and on some other 
 matters on which, in the Koran, much stress is 
 laid. They resort rather, to the tomb of Ali, and 
 to that of his son Hosein, whose name is reve- 
 renced among them with a feeling almost ap- 
 proaching to adoration. 
 
 In Africa, Mahometanism has very widely pre- 
 vailed. Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, all the northern 
 territory acknowledges its sway. From Arabia 
 and Egypt it spread to the eastern and southern 
 parts of that continent, nearly to the great rivers, 
 it is the established religion of Morocco, and in 
 "Western Barbary, and in' several kingdoms of the 
 interior, the Arabic language is spoken, the Koran 
 is believed, and the prophet is almost adored. 
 The Senegal up to the small Moorish state of 
 Gedumah, is the line of division between the 
 Mahometans and the Negroes : from thence the 
 line passes eastward of north, through Nigritia 
 and Nubia to the Nile. As yet, however, it is but 
 indistinctly marked, it being doubtful whether 
 Timbuctoo be a Mahometan or Negro town. The 
 courts of Bournou and Cassina are Mahometan,
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 327 
 
 but the majority of their subjects are Pagan=. 
 Islamism, in these vast territories, is in an ex- 
 ceedingly degenerate condition, when compared 
 with either its first development in the Arabian 
 desert, or with what obtains now in Turkey. It 
 is said that but little more than its exclusive, per- 
 secuting spirit remains. The oriental lustrations 
 are almost unknown, Mahometan temperance is 
 neglected, and the great doctrine of its faith, the 
 unity of God, is confounded with or resigned for 
 the polytheism of the original inhabitants. The 
 mussulman is more depraved than the Pagan ; 
 travellers are fond of dwelling upon the hospitality 
 they have been wont to receive from the latter, 
 while, by the former, they were constantly in- 
 sulted and annoyed on account of their religion. 
 In no quarter of the world, does the faith of 
 the prophet wear so frightful an aspect as it does 
 in Africa. 
 
 The region whence Mahometanism at first 
 sprung, has not remained in all respects faithful 
 to the precepts of the prophet. In Mecca and 
 Medina, indeed, his name and system are held in 
 profoundest veneration ; and no wonder, both these 
 cities are mainly supported by the superstitious 
 practices enjoined in the Koran; but the Bedouins 
 are as licentious in their religion, as in their 
 habits and politics. On the Turkish frontiers they 
 keep up the appearance of respect for the name of 
 the prophet and his doctrines ; but in answer to 
 all reproaches for their unfaithfulness, they say, 
 in words worthy of a better taught and more 
 civilized race, " The religion of Mahomet could 
 never have been intended for us. We have no 
 water in the deserts, how then can we make the
 
 328 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 
 
 prescribed ablutions ? We have no money, how 
 then can we give alms ? The fast of Ramadan is 
 a useless command to persons who fast all the year 
 round ; and if God be everywhere, why should we 
 go to Mecca to adore him ?" 
 
 From the southernmost part of Hindustan, Ma- 
 hometanism made its way to the Malayan penin- 
 sula ; to Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Manillas and 
 the Celebes ; one of the spice islands, Goram, is 
 its eastern boundary. In the interior of these 
 islands, it prevails less than on the shores, Chris- 
 tianity, and most other systems of religion having 
 obtained a footing. To these remote regions Is- 
 lamism has been carried, more by the commercial 
 than by the military enterprise of its votaries. What 
 its present condition is, it is difficult, perhaps impos- 
 sible to accurately ascertain. In Java, it was the 
 established religion, and Avhen the Dutch settled 
 there early in the seventeenth century, all the na- 
 tives, a few onlyresiding in the interior and in moun- 
 tainous tracts excepted, were converted. Little re- 
 spect is paid by the Javans of the present day, 
 either to their ancient paganism, or to Mahomet- 
 anism which took its place ; some of the forms 
 of the latter are still in force, and its institutions 
 are said to be gaining ground. 
 
 The reader of Mahometan history will meet 
 with the terms Sooffee and Wahabee, as describ- 
 ing certain divisions of the disciples of the reli- 
 gion of the prophet. It will not, therefore, be 
 inappropriate to close with a brief account of these 
 respective divisions. 
 
 Sooffee is a term originating in Persia, and de- 
 scribing enthusiasts or mystics, distinguished by 
 sentiments of great sublimity, and by a devotion
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 329 
 
 almost angelical. The object of the Sooffee is to 
 attain a divine beatitude, which he describes as 
 consisting in absorption into the essence of Deity. 
 The soul, according to his doctrine, is an emana- 
 tion from God, partaking of his nature; just as 
 the rays of light are emanations from the sun, and 
 of the same nature with him. The creature and 
 the Creator are of one substance. None can be- 
 come a Sooffee without strictly conforming to the 
 established religion, and practising every social 
 virtue ; and when by this means he has gained a 
 habit of devotion, he may exchange what they call 
 practical for spiritual worship, and abandon the 
 observance of all religious forms and ceremonies. 
 He at length becomes inspired, arrives at the 
 truth, drops his corporeal veil, and mixes again 
 with that glorious essence from which he has been 
 partially and for a time separated. The life of the 
 Sooffees of Persia, though generally austere, is 
 not rendered miserable, like that of the visionary 
 devotees of Hinduism, by the practice of dreadful 
 severities ; their most celebrated teachers have been 
 famed for knowledge and piety. The Persians are 
 a poetic people, and the very genius of Sooffeeism 
 is poetry. Its raptures are the raptures of inspira- 
 tion ; its* hopes are those of a highly sensitive and 
 excited imagination; its writers in the sweetest 
 strains celebrate the divine love, which pervades 
 all nature : every thing, from the very highest to 
 the lowest, seeking and tending towards union 
 with Deity as its object of supreme desire. They 
 inculcate forbearance, abstemiousness, and uni- 
 versal benevolence. They are unqualified predes- 
 tinarians. The emanating principle proceeding 
 from God or the soul, they say can do nothing
 
 330 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 without his will, nor refuse any thing that he in- 
 stigates. Some of them consequently deny the 
 existence of evil, and the doctrine of rewards and 
 punishments is superseded by their idea of re-ab- 
 sorption into the divine essence. The free opinions 
 of this class of enthusiasts subvert the doctrines 
 of Islamism, yet they pay an outward respect to 
 them; they unsettle the existing belief, without 
 providing an intelligible substitute ; they admit 
 the divine mission of the prophet, but explain 
 away the dogmas he uttered ; and while they af- 
 fect to yield him honour as a person raised up by 
 God, to induce moral order in the world, they 
 boast their own direct and familiar intercourse with 
 deity, and claim on that account unqualified obe- 
 dience in all that relates to spiritual interests. 
 
 The similarity of Sooffeeism to the ancient Py- 
 thagorean and Platonic doctrines will occur to 
 every one at all acquainted with the religion and 
 philoso'phy of antiquity. It as closely resembles 
 some of the distinguishing tenets of the Brahmin- 
 ical faith. In fact it seems as if designed, in con- 
 junction with the refined theology of ancient, and 
 the sublime visions of modern idolaters, to teach us 
 that without divine guidance the loftiest human 
 conceptions on subjects connected with God and 
 religion invariably err; the ignorant and the in- 
 structed are equally wrong ; " the world by wisdom 
 knows not God." 
 
 The Wahabees are a modern sect of Mahometan 
 reformers, whose efforts have considerably changed 
 the aspect of the religion of the prophet. Per- 
 haps to them may be owing much of that rigid ad- 
 herence to Mahometan doctrine and practice which 
 prevails in those parts where their influence has
 
 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 331 
 
 been felt. They are the followers of Abdol Wa- 
 hab, who commenced his career in the region 
 where, during the life-time of the prophet, Mosei- 
 lama had threatened a considerable division among 
 his followers. Wahab was an ambitious fanatic, 
 who aimed, nevertheless, at reforming the national 
 religion. He was aided by powerful princes of 
 the province of Nejed ; and within a short time, 
 the tenets he maintained spread throughout the 
 peninsula. His fundamental principle, like that 
 of Mahomet, was the unity of the Deity. The 
 Koran he regarded as divine, rejecting all the 
 glosses which ignorance and infatuation had put 
 upon it, and holding in utter contempt all the 
 traditions and tales concerning its author, \vhich 
 the devout of every generation had eagerly re- 
 ceived. The reverence, approaching to adoration, 
 which Arabs were wont to pay to the name of 
 Mahomet, all visits to his tomb, and all regard to 
 the tombs and relics of Arab saints he denounced ; 
 the costly ornaments with which a mistaken piety 
 had enriched these sacred spots, he thought might 
 be appropriated to common purposes. Wahab 
 would not suffer the common oath by Mahomet or 
 AH to be used among his followers ; on the very 
 rational ground that an oath is an appeal to a wit- 
 ness of our secret thoughts, and who can know 
 these but God ? The title of Lord, generally given 
 to the prophet by his followers, Wahab rejected as 
 impious. He was commonly mentioned by this 
 zealous reformer and his adherents, by his simple 
 name, without the addition of " our Lord, the 
 prophet of God." All who deviated in any degree 
 from the plain sense of the Koran, either in their 
 belief or practice, were infidels in their esteem,
 
 332 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 upon whom, therefore, according to its dictates, 
 war might be made. Thus was the martial spirit 
 of the early Saracens called again into exercise, 
 and with the ardour that characterized the days of 
 the immediate successors of the prophet, they were 
 prepared at once to assail the consciences and the 
 property of men not exactly of their own faith. 
 
 At the call of their leader, they assembled, first 
 in the plain of Draaiya, some 400 miles east of 
 Medina, armed and provided at their own expense 
 for war ; Bagdad and Mecca in vain attempted to 
 extinguish them ; the seraglio itself was filled with 
 their formidable war-cry; the sultan trembled 
 on his throne, and the caravans from Syria sus- 
 pended their usual journeys. The imperial city 
 suffered from their ravages in its usual supplies of 
 coffee, and the terror of their name was greatly 
 spreading among devout Mahometans of every 
 country, for they had violated the shrines of saints, 
 and levelled to the ground the chapels at Mecca, 
 which devotion had consecrated to the memory of 
 the prophet and his family. At the commence- 
 ment of the present century, however, Mecca was 
 recaptured from them by the Turkish arms, and a 
 plague, with the small-pox breaking out just at 
 this time among the followers of Wahab, pro- 
 bably saved the mighty fabric of Islamism. These 
 reverses did not quench the ardour of the "Wa- 
 habees; their leader had been assassinated, T)ut 
 his son, already distinguished for his prudence and 
 valour, succeeded him in the command. Medina 
 fell beneath his power, and from thence to the 
 Persian gulph he seemed likely to reign lord para- 
 mount. In 1805, he was able to impose a heavy 
 tax on the caravan of pilgrims from Damascus to
 
 LIFE OP MAHOMET. 333 
 
 the holy city, and declared that thenceforth it should 
 consist of pilgrims alone, without the pride and 
 pomp of a religious procession. Soon afterwards 
 they again entered Mecca, and immediately threat- 
 ened with destruction every sacred relic, but they 
 did not put their threats into execution. Various 
 conflicts between them and the orthodox Mahomet- 
 ans have since ensued, the general result of which 
 has been to break the martial and fanatical spirit 
 of the Wahabees, and to re-establish the power of 
 the grand sultan in cities and districts where it 
 had been placed in jeopardy. They are still, in- 
 deed, dreaded as plunderers, but no great national 
 convulsion has resulted from their efforts. 
 
 Some writers regret the suppression of this once 
 powerful class of Mahometans, believing that if 
 continued they would have been mainly instru- 
 mental in overthrowing the Moslem faith, and 
 making way for a purer religion ; for ourselves, we 
 see little occasion for these regrets. The Wahabees 
 must not be supposed more favourable to a pure 
 faith than are those by whom they have been over- 
 thrown. If they must be regarded as reformers, 
 they only attempted to improve a few absurd and 
 scandalous practices, the impious and abominable 
 dogmas of the Koran they left untouched ; or if 
 they touched them, it was only to enforce their 
 observance with greater rigour. Their creed was 
 even more sanguinary and intolerant than that of 
 the ancient Mahometans, and probably the con- 
 tinuance of their power would have been nothing 
 more than the continuance of injustice, cruelty, 
 and persecution. We do not look for the over- 
 throw of Mahometanism by such means. One 
 system of error may sometimes destroy another,
 
 334 LIFE OF MAHOMET. 
 
 but the pure faith, which blesses a miserable world, 
 and directs men in the path of safety, knowledge, 
 and happiness, will extend only as the sacred 
 volume is diffused, and as that holy influence from 
 God accompanies it, by which the understanding 
 is illuminated, and the heart is renewed. Fana- 
 ticism is no auxiliary of the religion of the bible, 
 it neither prepares its way, nor accelerates its pro- 
 gress. Violence and war are utterly rejected by 
 this divine system, as alien from its spirit and cha- 
 racter. " My kingdom," says its founder, " is not 
 of this world : if my kingdom were of this world, 
 then would my servants fight, but now is my king- 
 dom not from hence."
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 NO. I. THE FULFILMENT OF SCRIPTURE PROPHECY 
 
 IN THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF MAHOMET ANISM. 
 
 A FEW observations tracing the fulfilment of pro- 
 phecy in the rise and progress of Mahometanism 
 have been reserved for an Appendix to the pre- 
 ceding chapters, Faber's Calendar of Prophecy, 
 Foster's Mahometanism Unveiled, Fry's Second 
 advent of Christ, with one or two other works of 
 a similar kind, have been made to contribute the 
 materials of the following pages, which it is hoped 
 may render some assistance in exhibiting one 
 very important part of the evidences of revealed 
 religion. The prophecy and the fulfilment will 
 be placed together for the convenience of compa- 
 rison. 
 
 PKOPHECY. Dan. vii. 8 26. 
 (THE VISION.) 
 
 8. The he-goat waxed very great : and when he was strong, 
 
 the great horn was broken ; and for it came up four nota- 
 
 9. ble ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of 
 one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceed- 
 ing great toward the south and toward the east, and to- 
 
 10. ward the pleasant land. And it waxed great even to the 
 host of heaven ; and it cast down some of the host and of 
 
 11. the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, 
 he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host, and 
 by him was the daily sacrifice taken away, and the place
 
 336 APPENDIX. 
 
 12. of his sanctuary was cast down. And a host was given 
 him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression ; 
 and it cast down the truth to the ground ; and it practised 
 
 13. and prospered. Then I heard one saint speaking, and ano- 
 ther saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How 
 long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and 
 the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary 
 
 14. and the host to be trodden under foot ? And he said unto 
 me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then 
 shall the sanctuary be cleansed. 
 
 (THE INTERPRETATION.) 
 
 21. And the rough goat is the king (kingdom) of Grecia: and 
 
 the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king 
 
 22. (kingdom). Now that being broken, whereas four stood 
 up] for it, four kingdoms shall stand 'up out of the na- 
 
 23. tion, but not in his power. And in the latter time of their 
 kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, 
 a king of fierce countenance, and understanding (Heb. 
 making to understand, teaching) dark sentences, shall 
 
 24. stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his 
 own power : and 'he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall 
 prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and 
 
 25. the holy people. And through his policy also he shall 
 cause craft to prosper in his hand ; and he shall magnify 
 himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many : 
 he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes ; but 
 
 26. he shall be broken without hand. And the vision of the 
 evening and the morning which was told is true ; where- 
 fore shut thou up the vision : for it shall be for many 
 days. Dan. vii. 8 26. 
 
 The prophecy of Daniel contains a prospective 
 view of the providential history of the -world, in- 
 cluding the four great empires of antiquity, to- 
 gether with the powers which should succeed them 
 to the end of time, and consummation of all things. 
 It is reasonable therefore to expect, that a system 
 of predictions upon the history of the world thus 
 large, would not omit a revolution of such magni- 
 tude and prominence as that occasioned by Ma- 
 homet and Mahometanism. No event, moreover, 
 has had a more direct and powerful bearing upon
 
 APPENDIX. 337 
 
 the state of the church than the establishment of 
 this vast imposture ; and as the preceding chapter 
 contains a full and exact portraiture of the Papal 
 tyranny which was to arise and prevail in the 
 western portion of Christendom, so the present is 
 very generally admitted to contain a prediction of 
 that great apostasy which was destined to grow 
 up and overwhelm the church in the East. The 
 reasons of this opinion we now proceed to state. 
 
 The theatre of this prophecy is the Macedonian 
 empire, founded by Alexander; from one of the 
 four dismembered kingdoms of which the little 
 horn of the vision was to spring up. In the vision, 
 the prophet saw the first great horn of the he- 
 goat, or the kingdom of Alexander, " broken ;" 
 indicating that that kingdom was no longer to 
 have a place as a kingdom in the eye of prophecy. 
 The dominions of Alexander at his death were di- 
 vided between four of his generals : Macedon and 
 Greece in the west were assigned to Cassander; 
 Thrace and Bithynia in the north to Lysimachus ; 
 Egypt in the south to Ptolemy; and Syria with 
 the eastern provinces to Seleucus. 
 
 Ver. 9. And out of one of them came forth a 
 little horn. A " horn," in the symbolical language 
 of prophecy, represents a civil or ecclesiastical 
 kingdom. The little horn here mentioned was to 
 come forth out of one of the four notable horns or 
 members of the subdivided kingdom of Alexander. 
 The question has been much agitated whether 
 Alexander seized and retained any portion of the 
 Arabian peninsula : the fact of his having done so 
 may be seen in any map of the Macedonian em- 
 pire. "The empire of Alexander," observes M. 
 Rollin, " was distributed into four kingdoms ; of
 
 338 APPENDIX. 
 
 which Ptolemy had Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Coelo- 
 syria, and Palestine." The district occupied was 
 indeed no more than an outskirt, but that outskirt 
 comprised part of the province of Hejaz ; that is 
 to say, part of that very district which gave birth 
 to Mahomet and his religion. As the horn in the 
 vision was a little one, so Mahometanism in its 
 first rise perfectly corresponded with the symbol. 
 It originated with an obscure inhabitant of a de- 
 sert corner of Asia, whose earliest converts were 
 his wife, his servant, his pupil, and his friend ; 
 and whose party at the end of three years scarcely 
 numbered a dozen persons. 
 
 Which waxed exceeding great toward the 
 south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant 
 land. Mahometanism accordingly, in its primitive 
 course of conquest, did presently wax exceedingly 
 great ; and that in the very line marked out by 
 the prophecy. Its conquests extended southward 
 over the large peninsula of Arabia, over Egypt, 
 and over a considerable portion of central Africa ; 
 eastward, over Persia, Bokhara, and Hindustan ; 
 and northward, over Palestine, Asia Minor, Meso- 
 potamia, Greece, and Tartary, the countries now 
 forming the Turkish empire. u The pleasant land," 
 or, literally, " the beauty," " the ornament," is an 
 appellation bestowed upon the land of Judah, from 
 its being in a peculiar manner the residence of the 
 divine glory, the seat of worship, containing the 
 city of Jerusalem and the temple, which were " a 
 crown of beauty and a diadem of glory" to the na- 
 tion of Israel. The original word here employed 
 is found in a parallel sense in Ezek. xx. 6, 15 ; 
 " a land flowing with milk and honey, which is the
 
 APPEJv'DIX. 339 
 
 glory of all lands." Jerusalem was captured by the 
 Saracens A. D. 637, after a siege of four months. 
 
 Ver. 10. And it waxed great even to the host of 
 heaven. The "host of heaven" is but another 
 name for the multitude of stars in the firmament. 
 But stars, in the idiom of prophecy, are a standing 
 emblem of ecclesiastical officers. The word "host" 
 accordingly is not only applied to the priests and 
 Levites performing the service of the sanctuary 
 (Num. iv. 3), but to the nation of Israel as a great 
 organized ecclesiastical body, or kingdom of priests. 
 Ex. xii. 41. And when Christ says (Rev. i. 20), 
 " the seven stars are the angels of the seven 
 churches," his meaning undoubtedly is, that these 
 stars are symbols of the spiritual rulers of the 
 churches. The grand scope, therefore, of the pre- 
 sent prophecy is, to point out a spiritual desola- 
 tion, achieved by a hostile power suddenly attain- 
 ing great strength, and forcibly thrusting itself into 
 the body of true worshippers, with a view to their 
 discomfiture and dispersion. 
 
 And it cast down some of the host, and (i e. even) 
 of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. 
 As in the figurative language of prophecy the 
 stars denote the spiritual pastors of God's church, 
 so the violent dejection of such stars from heaven 
 to earth signifies a compulsory apostatizing from 
 their religion. Mahometanism strikingly fulfilled 
 this prophecy from the date of its first promulga- 
 tion, when it stood up against the allegorical host, 
 or the degenerate pastors of the Christian church. 
 Such of them as lay within the territories of the 
 Greek empire were especially given into the hand 
 of this persecuting superstition; but by its inroads 
 z 2
 
 340 APPENDIX. 
 
 into Africa, and Spain, and France, and Italy, it 
 waxed great against the whole host. Of the 
 eastern clergy, it cast some to the ground, or com- 
 pelled them altogether to renounce the Christian 
 faith. And as for those who still adhered to the 
 form of their religion, it stamped them, as it were, 
 under its feet with all the tyranny of brutal fana- 
 ticism. 
 
 Ver. 11. Yea, he magnified himself even to the 
 Prince of the host. If the starry host be the pas- 
 tors of the church, the prince of that host must 
 obviously be the Messiah. Mahometanism has most 
 clearly verified this prediction by magnifying its 
 founder to a pitch of dignity and honour equal to 
 that of Christ. In fact, it has set up Mahomet 
 -above Christ. The Arabian impostor allowed 
 Jesus to be a prophet ; but he maintained that he 
 himself was a greater prophet, and that the Koran 
 was destined to supersede the gospel. Thus did 
 Mahometanism magnify itself "even to" the Prince 
 of the host. 
 
 And by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, 
 and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. 
 The term rendered " daily sacrifice," or, literally, 
 " the daily," " the continual," is a term frequently 
 used respecting the daily repeated sacrifices of the 
 Jewish temple, typifying the death of Christ till 
 he should come. Now, what this continual burnt- 
 offering was with respect to Christ's first coming, 
 are the daily offerings of prayer and praise, and 
 all the solemnities of the Christian church, as ad- 
 ministered by a divinely appointed order of men. 
 When, therefore, the Saracens and Turks by their 
 victories and oppressions broke up and dispersed 
 the churches of the East, and abolished the daily
 
 APPENDIX. 341 
 
 spiritual worship of God, then did the " little 
 horn" take away the "continual offering" esta- 
 blished by the Prince of the host. But the pre- 
 dicted desolation was to extend yet farther. The 
 place of God's sanctuary was to be razed to its 
 foundation, and both the sanctuary and the host 
 for a long course of ages to be trodden under foot. 
 Accordingly, Mahometanism began this appointed 
 work by the subversion of the Christian churches 
 and altars in every stage of its progress against 
 the Greek empire ; and has continued the desola- 
 tion during nearly twelve hundred years, until it 
 has all but completed the extinction of Eastern 
 Christianity. Gibbon observes, that upon the 
 taking of Jerusalem, " by the command of Omar, 
 the ground of the temple of Solomon was pre- 
 pared for the foundation of the mosque."* And 
 it is worthy of notice, that whereas the original 
 word used by Daniel for " sanctuary" is Kodsh, 
 the same historian remarks, that the epithet Al 
 Kods is used now, and was then among the Arabs 
 as the proper appellation of the Holy City, of 
 which the sanctuary or temple was the distinguish- 
 ing ornament and glory. 
 
 Ver. .12. And an host teas given him against 
 the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression : and 
 it cast down the truth to the ground : and it prac- 
 tised and prospered. From this it would appear, 
 that power was to be given to the little horn, not 
 merely for the subversion of the true religion, but 
 also for the permanent substitution of another 
 faith. " Host," we may naturally suppose, means 
 in this place the same as when it was used in a 
 
 j, * Decline and Fall, chap. li.
 
 342 APPENDIX. 
 
 former verse, " a host of stars," symbolical of the 
 several orders of Christian pastors and ministers. 
 " An host," then, to be given to the little horn, 
 implies that he too should have his orders of 
 teachers, and a regular system of religious worship, 
 and that by means of this new and spurious eccle- 
 siastical polity, the Christian ministry should be 
 opposed and superseded, and " the truth cast to 
 the ground." The prediction, thus interpreted, 
 according to the natural force of the language and 
 construction, is applicable to no other known 
 power ; but as applied to the heresy of Mahomet, 
 its fulfilment appears perfect. For the religion of 
 Islam permanently overthrew the Christian priest- 
 hood and altars, by the permanent erection of 
 other altars and of another priesthood in their 
 room. Everywhere throughout its vast domains 
 the mosques replaced the Christian temples ; and 
 the Imams and the Maazzin were substituted for 
 the appointed ministry of Christ. In a more en- 
 larged view, the Saracens and Turks themselves 
 composed the antagonist host or priesthood. For 
 in Mahometanism, the sword being the grand en- 
 gine of conversion, the whole Mussulman people 
 became virtually a priesthood ; and each indivi- 
 dual Saracen and Turkish soldier a missionary 
 and maker of proselytes. 
 
 Ver. 23. And in the latter time of their king- 
 dom, when the transgressors are come to the full, 
 a king of Jierce countenance and understanding 
 (teaching) dark sentences shall stand up. We are 
 here furnished with a chronological clue to the 
 period of the commencement of this disastrous 
 power. The first three empires, forming a part of 
 the symbolic image which appeared in vision to
 
 APPENDIX. 343 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar, were indeed stripped of their 
 dominions by the conquests of the fourth, or Ro- 
 man empire; but still, in the view of prophecy, 
 their lives are considered as being nevertheless 
 prolonged ; Dan. vii. 12. Hence it is an indis- 
 putable fact that the little horn of Mahometanism 
 rose up in the latter time of the Greek empire. 
 Another striking note of the time of the rise of 
 this power is contained in the words, " When the 
 transgressors are come to the full," or, " when the 
 apostasy shall be completed." By the transgres- 
 sors or apostates here mentioned, we must under- 
 stand the corrupt Christian church, with its de- 
 generate pastors, the smitten ecclesiastical stars, 
 spoken of in a former verse. We learn both from 
 the civil and sacred history of the time when Ma- 
 homet arose, that the Christian church had then 
 arrived at the height of those corruptions in doc- 
 trine and practice, which had been so clearly fore- 
 told by the apostle Paul in his prediction of the 
 Man of Sin. The extraordinary success of the 
 Mahometan imposture was permitted as a punish- 
 ment of this great defection. The allegorical host, 
 by reason of their apostasy from the truth, were 
 subjected to the tyranny of the little horn. But 
 this apostasy, which had long previously infected 
 both the East and the West, was completed, or had 
 reached its highest point, about the commencement 
 of the seventh century, when the prophet of Islam 
 first appeared. Gibbon, the historian, introduces 
 his account of Mahometanism by observing, that 
 " the Christians of the seventh century had insen- 
 sibly relapsed into a semblance of paganism." 
 From this time, therefore, the stars were given 
 into the hand of the little horn, as the appointed
 
 344 APPENDIX. 
 
 rod of God's anger : they were penally consigned 
 to its tyranny by reason of their previous apostasy 
 into the idolatrous superstitions of the Gentiles. 
 Again, as far as the aspect of Mahometanism is 
 concerned, that wonderful ecclesiastical domina- 
 tion may well be described as a " kingdom of fierce 
 countenance," when the avowed maxim of its 
 founder was to employ the sword as the grand 
 engine of conversion. Of this ferocious spirit its 
 proselytes have in all ages largely partaken. Some, 
 however, suppose the words should be translated 
 " of a firm countenance," denoting the bold effron- 
 tery of the barefaced, impudent liar; and such 
 were Mahomet and his successors : their religion 
 is, in truth, the most glaring imposition that was 
 ever palmed upon the credulity of mankind. 
 As to the remaining character of this desolating 
 power that he should " understand dark sen- 
 tences" the expression, " dark sentences," is equi- 
 valent to the familiar scriptural phrases, " dark say- 
 ings," and "dark sayings of old." These phrases, in 
 the language of the sacred writers, will be found 
 uniformly to convey a spiritual signification. Thus 
 the Psalmist "I will open my mouth in a parable; 
 I will utter dark sayings of old." It seems pro- 
 bable, therefore, that the equivalent expression, 
 " dark sentences," relates, in one shape or other, 
 to religion ; and the " understanding dark sen- 
 tences," to real or pretended skill in the interpre- 
 tation of things spiritual. The Koran, so cele- 
 brated in the Mahometan religion, the book con- 
 taining their spiritual mysteries, exactly answers 
 to this description. And it is not a little remark- 
 able, that the author of the Koran should have
 
 APPENDIX. 345 
 
 been unconsciously led to appropriate the language 
 of this very prediction to himself. " O Lord, thou hast 
 given me a part of the kingdom, and hast taught 
 me the interpretation of dark sayings. We 
 taught him the interpretation of dark sayings, but 
 the greater part of them men do not understand. 
 This is a secret history which we reveal unto 
 thee, O Mahomet." As the fabricator, therefore, 
 of the Koran, Mahomet has himself confirmed his 
 claim to the prophetic distinction of " understand- 
 ing dark sentences ;" for it is the declared object 
 of this pretended revelation to revive the tradi- 
 tions of ancient times concerning God and religion; 
 and it professes farther to unfold the history of 
 futurity, and the secrets of the invisible world. 
 
 Ver. 24. And his power shall be mighty, but 
 not by his own power. Of this language a two- 
 fold interpretation may be suggested, either of 
 which is satisfactory, though it be not easy to de- 
 cide which of them is the true one. By " his 
 power being mighty, but not by his own power," 
 may be meant, that the temporal power of Ma- 
 homet and his successors was to owe its greatness 
 and perpetuity to his spiritual dominion; or, in 
 other words, that the empire which he founded 
 was to be upheld by the imposture which he esta- 
 blished. To this purpose the following passage 
 from Demetrius Cantemir, the historian of the 
 Ottoman empire, will be found very striking. 
 " The Turks," says he, " ascribe the fortunate suc- 
 cesses of the empire, not so much to human pru- 
 dence, policy, and valour, as that their first em- 
 perors waged war, not through ambition and a 
 desire of dominion, but through the zeal of propa-
 
 346 APPENDIX. 
 
 gating the Mahometan religion ; and by that means 
 they procured the divine assistance to their under- 
 takings." The temporal power of Mahometanism, 
 accordingly, has repeatedly risen and declined ; 
 the Mahometan world has again and again changed 
 masters, but its spiritual tyranny has subsisted in 
 undiminished vigour ; it has lived and reigned un- 
 altered, through the whole of its period thus far 
 fulfilled. It is mighty, therefore, by the power of 
 the host given unto it. According to another in- 
 terpretation, the passage may be simply designed 
 to teach, that the remarkable success of the Ma- 
 hometan power is to be referred directly to the 
 special providence of God, that the results attained 
 were so entirely to transcend all that could be an- 
 ticipated from the ordinary operation of human 
 causes, that the hand of God was to be clearly re- 
 cognised in every stage of its progress. Viewed 
 in this light, the language of the Most High re- 
 specting Nebuchadnezzar may afford a commen- 
 tary of most striking pertinency upon this preuic- 
 tion : " O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and 
 the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will 
 send him against an hypocritical nation, and against 
 the people of my wrath will I give him a charge 
 to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to 
 tread them down like the mire of the streets. 
 Howbeit, he meaneth not so, neither doth his 
 heart think so ; but it is in his heart to destroy 
 and cut off nations not a few. For he saith, by 
 the strength of mine hand I have done it, and by 
 my wisdom; for I am prudent. Shall the ax 
 boast itself against him that heweth therewith ? 
 or shall the saw magnify itself against him that 
 shaketh it ? as if the rod should shake itself against
 
 APPENDIX. 347 
 
 them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up 
 itself as if it were no wood."* . 
 
 And he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall pros- 
 per and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and 
 the holy people. It should be borne in mind that 
 the verses we are now considering contain the an- 
 gel's interpretation of the symbolic actions per- 
 formed by the little horn in the vision. Of these 
 the principal was his rudely invading the emble- 
 matic " host," or the hierarchy, violently casting 
 them to the ground, and stamping upon them with 
 his feet. The language before us is unquestion- 
 ably exegetical of this figurative scenery, and the 
 phrases, " shall destroy wonderfully," and " shall 
 destroy the mighty and the holy people," are 
 equivalent to saying, he shall succeed to a sur- 
 prising degree in causing multitudes to apostatize 
 from the Christian profession. This was to be 
 done by spreading the poison of a false religion. 
 For the original word rendered " destroy" is a term 
 implying not merely physical destruction, but 
 moral corruption, or the vitiating influence of false 
 doctrines and principles upon human conduct. It 
 is the term employed in the following passages : 
 " For all flesh had corrupted his way upon the 
 earth ;" " Take ye, therefore, good heed unto your- 
 selves, lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a 
 graven image, &c. ;" " They are corrupt ; they 
 have done abominable works." In allusion to 
 these expressions, it is said in the annunciation 
 of divine judgments in the Apocalypse, " Thy 
 wrath is come, that thou shouldst destroy them 
 
 * Isaiah, ch. x. 5 15.
 
 348 APPENDIX. 
 
 that destroy the earth ;" i. e. those that corrupt 
 the earth. In affixing this sense to the destruc- 
 tion to be achieved hy the little horn, or the Ma- 
 hometan power, it is not necessary to exclude 
 the idea of the bloodshed and desolation which 
 have marked the progress of the Saracen and 
 Turkish arms in planting and defending their do- 
 minion. Yet we think the sense of a moral de- 
 pravation, brought about by the introduction of 
 a spurious and pestilent faith, and accomplishing 
 a sad defection among the professors of the true 
 religion, answers better to the nature of the sym- 
 bol employed, and is equally accordant with the 
 truth of history. 
 
 Ver. 25. And through his policy also, he shall 
 cause craft to prosper in his hand : and he shall 
 magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall 
 destroy many : he shall also stand up against the 
 Prince of princes. The institution of the reli- 
 gion of the Koran with its " host," or orders of 
 teachers, and its system of worship, was Ma- 
 homet's masterpiece of " policy." It was by 
 this means that his followers supplanted the preach- 
 ers of the gospel, and converted to the faith mul- 
 titudes of those over whom the temporal autho- 
 rity had been extended by the power of the 
 sword. " Policy" here is probably to be under- 
 derstood in the sense of unprincipled shrewdness, 
 the working of a keen but depraved intellect, lay- 
 ing its plans with a serpentine subtlety, and exe- 
 cuting them with an entire recklessness of the 
 moral character of the means employed. In this 
 manner success has crowned the Mahometan 
 power ; their vile arts, their " craft," their perfidy, 
 have strangely prospered. No more striking cha-
 
 APPENDIX. 349 
 
 racteristic of the founder or the followers of Islam 
 could be designated. " In the exercise of politi- 
 cal government," says Gibbon, " Mahomet was 
 compelled to abate of the stern rigour of fanati- 
 cism, to comply, in some measure, with the pre- 
 judices and passions of his followers, and to em- 
 ploy even the vices of mankind as the instrument 
 of their salvation. The use of fraud and perfidy, 
 of cruelty and injustice, was often subservient to 
 the propagation of the faith." " In the support 
 of truth, the arts of fraud and fiction may be 
 deemed less criminal ; and he would have started 
 at the foulness of the means, had he not been satis- 
 fied of the importance and justice of the end." 
 The recent Travels in the East of Mr. Madden, an 
 English gentleman, furnish some very graphic 
 sketches of Mahometan character, which may be 
 adduced to fill up the prophetic portraiture we are 
 now considering. " His (the Turk's) inherent 
 hostility to Christianity is the first principle of 
 his law ; and the perfidy it is supposed to enjoin 
 is the most prominent feature in his character." * 
 " The most striking qualities of the Moslem are 
 his profound ignorance, his insuperable arrogance, 
 his habitual indolence, and the perfidy which di- 
 rects his policy in the divan, and regulates his 
 ferocity in the field."t " As to the outward man, 
 the Turks are, physically speaking, the finest ani- 
 mals, and, indeed, excel all Europeans in bodily 
 vigour as well as beauty. As to their moral 
 qualities, I found them charitable to the poor, 
 attentive to the sick, and kind to their domes- 
 
 * Madden's Travels, vol. i. p. 18. 
 t Ib. p. 19.
 
 350 APPENDIX. 
 
 tics ; but I also found them perfidious to their 
 friends, treacherous to their enemies, and thank- 
 less to their benefactors."* " I never found a 
 Turk who kept his word when it was his interest 
 to break it."t 
 
 As to the expression, " by peace he shall de- 
 stroy many," it has been interpreted by some, 
 as implying that the kingdom represented by the 
 little horn should destroy many by wasting in- 
 vasions, while their victims were slumbering in a 
 state of negligent security ; a peculiarity said to 
 have been exemplified in the whole progress of 
 the Saracen arms. Such may have been the case ; 
 but we incline to attribute another import to the 
 words. Adhering to the sense before given to 
 word " destroy," as implying the same as to cor- 
 rupt, seduce, lead into destructive error, we sup- 
 pose the allusion to be to the fact, that thousands 
 during the ' victorious progress of the Moslem 
 arms accepted of life, safety, and "peace," on 
 condition of their embracing the foul imposture 
 of the conquerors. Thus it was " by peace he 
 destroyed many ;" i. e. he corrupted them by the 
 terras on Avhich he granted peace. It is noto- 
 rious that these were " death, tribute, or the 
 Koran," and where the subject nations escaped 
 the point of the sword, they were destroyed by 
 the corrupting and deadly influence of the super- 
 stition which they embraced. 
 
 But he shall be broken without hand. That is to 
 say, not by human hands, or by the instrumen- 
 tality of man, as empires are usually overthrown ; 
 
 * Maddcn's Travels, vol. i. p. 29. 
 t Ib p. 31.
 
 APPENDIX. 351 
 
 but this spiritual dominion is to meet its fate when 
 the stone cut out " without hands" is dashed 
 against the image, and reduces all the power of 
 despotism and delusion to the dust. Expositors 
 of prophecy are many of them confident, in the 
 belief that the Mahometan imposture will begin 
 to be broken, without hand, at the time when the 
 great antichristian confederacy of the Roman 
 beast is destroyed ; and at the epoch when the 
 Millennium is on the point of commencing. At 
 this period the gospel will begin to be successfully 
 preached throughout the whole world; and the 
 issue, it is supposed, will be the universal gather- 
 ing of the gentiles into the pale of the Christian 
 church. During this period, the Mahometan will 
 be converted to the true faith ; and when their 
 conversion shall have become general, the spi- 
 ritual kingdom of the Eastern little horn will, no 
 doubt, be broken. But in that case, it will 
 plainly have been broken without hand ; for it 
 will not have been broken by the sword of vio- 
 lence, in the hand of an earthly conqueror; but 
 by the invisible agency of the Holy Spirit, inclin- 
 ing the hearts of its long-deluded votaries to re- 
 nounce their errors, and to embrace the faith of 
 the true Prophet of God. 
 
 Thus we have seen, that the little horn of the 
 symbolical he-goat answers in every important 
 particular, however circumstantial, which 'has 
 hitherto been accomplished, to the successful im- 
 posture of Mahomet. The result, therefore, of 
 the whole inquiry must be, that by the little horn, 
 described in this chapter of Daniel, is symbolized 
 the spiritual kingdom of Mahometanism.
 
 352 APPENDIX. 
 
 Another parallel prophecy is now to be traced 
 in the Apocalypse of John, who has confirmed 
 and illustrated the most important predictions of 
 Daniel. 
 
 REVELATION, CII. IX. 1 19. 
 
 1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from hea- 
 
 ven unto the earth : and to him was given the key of the 
 
 2. bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit ; and 
 there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a 
 great furnace ; and the sun and the air were darkened by 
 
 3. reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of 
 the smoke locusts upon the earth : and unto them was given 
 
 4. power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it 
 was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass 
 of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree ; 
 but only those men which have not the seal of God in 
 
 5. their foreheads. And to them it was given that they 
 should not kill them, but that they should be tormented 
 five months : and their torment was as the torment of a 
 
 6. scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall 
 men seek death, and shall not find it ; and shall desire to 
 
 7. die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the 
 locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle ; and on 
 their heads were as it were crowns, like gold, and their 
 
 8. faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair 
 as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of 
 
 9. lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates 
 of iron ; and the sound of their wings were as the sound 
 
 10. of chariots of many horses, running to battle. And they 
 had tails like unto scorpions ; and there were stings in their 
 
 11. tails : and their power was to hurt mea five months. And 
 they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bot- 
 tomless pit ; whose name, in the Hebrew tongue, is Abad- 
 don ; but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. 
 
 12. One woe is past ; and behold there come two more woes 
 
 13. hereafter. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a 
 a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is be-
 
 APPENDIX. 353 
 
 14. fore God; saying to the sixth angel, which had the trum- 
 pet, loose the four angels which are bound in the river 
 
 15. Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed which were 
 prepared for an hour and a day, and a month and a year, 
 
 16. for to slay the third part of men. And th% number of the 
 army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thou- 
 
 17. sand ; and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw 
 the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having 
 breastplates of fire, and jacinth, and brimstone; and the 
 heads of the horses were as the heads of lions ; and out of 
 
 18. their mouth is issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone. By 
 these three was the third part of men killed ; by the fire, 
 and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out 
 
 19. of their mouths. For then- power is in their mouth, and 
 in their tails : for their tails were like unto serpents, and 
 had heads, and with them they do hurt. 
 
 " In the prediction of Daniel," observes Mr. 
 Faber, " Mahometanism alone is spoken of: its 
 two principal supporters, the Saracens and the 
 Turks, are not discriminated from each other : 
 a 'general history of the superstition from its 
 commencement to its termination is given, with- 
 out descending to particularize the nations by 
 which it should be successively patronised. In 
 the Revelation of John, this deficiency is sup- 
 plied ; and we are furnished with two distinct 
 and accurate paintings, both of the Saracenic lo- 
 custs under their exterminating leader, and of 
 the Euphratean horsemen of the four Turkish Sul- 
 tanies." These two departments of the prophecy 
 we shall now endeavour to explain in their minute 
 particulars. 
 
 Ver. 1. And I saw a star fall (Gr. " having 
 fallen") from heaven unto the earth ; and to him 
 was given the key of the bottomless pit, and there 
 arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a 
 great furnace : and the sun and the air mere 
 
 A A
 
 354 APPENDIX. 
 
 darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. Com- 
 mentators at the present day are almost univer- 
 sally agreed, in regarding the fifth trumpet as 
 symbolizing., and predicting the appearance of 
 the Arabian impostor, his spurious religion, and 
 his Saracen followers. But, as it is by no means 
 evident, how Mahomet himself can properly be 
 represented as a " star falling from heaven," the 
 usual symbol of an apostate Christian teacher, 
 or of a number of them, we apprehend the de- 
 sign of the Holy Spirit in this imagery to be, to 
 teach us, that Mahometanism is to be considered 
 as the fruit or product of a Christian heresy. The 
 star had fallen before the time of the false pro- 
 phet, in the person of Arius, and other gross 
 heretics ; and as the consequence of their apostasy 
 from the truth, the providence of God so ordered 
 it, that the desolating delusion of Mahometanism 
 should arise and overspread some of the fairest 
 portions of the church. This view of the arch 
 imposture of Islamism has been taken by some 
 very able writers of modern times ; particularly by 
 Mr. Whittaker in his " Origin of Arianism." The 
 grand heresies, therefore, of the Christian church, 
 previous to the time of Mahomet, seem to be here 
 personified in the fallen star, and represented as 
 being instrumental in introducing this master- 
 plague of error and superstition into the world. 
 The poetical machinery of the vision is supposed 
 to be taken from the sacred oracular caves of the 
 ancient Pagans, which were often thought to 
 communicate with the sea, or the great abyss, and 
 which were specially valued, when (like that at 
 Delphi) they emitted an intoxicating vapour : it 
 is used, therefore, with singular propriety in fore-
 
 APPENDIX. 355 
 
 telling the rise of a religious imposture. There 
 may possibly be an allusion also to the care of 
 Hera, whither the prophet was wont to retire 
 for the purpose of excogitating his system, and 
 from which it really emanated. The opening of 
 the bottomless pit, therefore, and the letting out 
 the vapour and smoke of the infernal regions, 
 aptly represents the wicked and diabolical sys- 
 tem of religion, the dense and noxious fumes 
 of the corrupt theology which he broached, and 
 by means of which so large a portion of Chris- 
 tendom was finally obscured and involved in dark- 
 ness. The preternatural darkening of the sun 
 foreshows the eclipse of the true religion; and 
 that of the air prefigures the uncontrolled do- 
 minion of the powers of darkness. As a striking 
 coincidence with the signs here predicted, it is 
 worthy of note, that a remarkable comet imme- 
 diately preceded the birth of Mahomet ; and that 
 an eclipse of the sun, of extraordinary degree and 
 duration, attended the first announcement of his 
 pretended mission. 
 
 Ver, 2. And there came out of the pit locusts 
 upon the earth. Arabia has long been noted for 
 giving birth to prodigious swarms of locusts, 
 which often overspread and lay waste the neigh- 
 bouring countries ; and it is remarkable, that in a 
 genuine Arabian romance, the locust is introduced 
 as _the national emblem of the Ishmaelites. The 
 symbol, therefore, of the locusts issuing out of the 
 smoke strikingly represent the armies of the Sara- 
 cens, the martial followers of the prophet, first 
 engendered, as it were, amid the fumes of his re- 
 ligion, and then marching forth, at his command, 
 to conquer and to proselyte the world. The pages 
 A A 2
 
 356 APPENDIX. 
 
 of history must be consulted to learn the devasta- 
 tions of those hosts of destructive Saracens, which, 
 under the guidance of Mahomet and his succes- 
 sors, alighted upon and wasted the apocalyptic 
 earth. Yet, notwithstanding the phantasms that 
 came forth from the pit of the abyss, bore a ge- 
 neral resemblance to locusts, they were marked 
 by several peculiarites, by which they were more 
 perfectly adapted to typify the people designed to 
 be thus shadowed out. These we shall consider as 
 we proceed. 
 
 Ver. 4. And it rcas commanded them that they 
 should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any 
 green thing, neither any tree , but only those men 
 which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 
 By the command that they should not hurt the 
 grass, nor the trees, but men only, it is evident 
 that these were not natural, but symbolical locusts; 
 and also that they were under providential control. 
 The same thing appears from other attributes as- 
 signed them, which plainly belong to the objects 
 signified, and not to the sign ; as the human 
 face, the woman's hair, the golden crowns, the 
 iron breastplates. But it is very common in the 
 symbolic diction of prophecy, to find the literal 
 and the allegorical sense intermixed, and that 
 even in the same passage. We are thus furnished 
 with a clew to the real meaning of the symbols. 
 By the precept here given, the emblematic locusts 
 were required to act in a manner perfectly dissi- 
 milar to the ravages of natural locusts : and yet 
 how faithfully the command was obeyed, may be 
 inferred from the remarkable injunction of the 
 caliph Abubeker to Yezid, upon setting out on 
 the expedition against Syria, the first undertaking
 
 APPENDIX. 357 
 
 of the Saracens in the way of foreign conquest, 
 recorded in chap. xii. of this volume.* It has ac- 
 cordingly been noticed, that those parts of the 
 Roman empire which were left untouched hy these 
 Saracen hordes, were those in which it appears 
 from history the remnant of the true church of 
 of God was still found residing : they were only 
 to hurt the men who had not the mark of God 
 on their foreheads. 
 
 Ver. 5. And to them it teas given that they 
 should not kill them^ but that they should be tor- 
 mented Jive months; and their torment was as 
 the, torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 
 Mr. Gibbon's undesigned commentary on these 
 words will show how the commission Avas fulfilled. 
 " The fair option of friendship or submission, or 
 battle was proposed to the enemies of Mahomet. 
 If they' professed the creed of Islam, they were 
 admitted to all the [temporal and spiritual benefits 
 of his primitive disciples, and marched under the 
 same banners, to extend the religion they had 
 embraced. The clemency of the prophet was de- 
 cided by his interests ; yet he seldom trampled on 
 a prostrate enemy, and he seemed to promise, 
 that on payment of a tribute, the least guilty of his 
 unbelieving subjects might be indulged in their 
 worship." The period assigned for the power of 
 the locusts, in this prediction, is " five months." 
 Prophecy has its peculiar mode of comput- 
 ing time. A day for the most part stands for 
 a year. Five months, therefore, of thirty days 
 each, amount, in the computation of prophecy, to 
 
 * See page 228,
 
 358 APPENDIX. 
 
 one hundred and fifty years. As five literal 
 months is the utmost term of the duration of the 
 natural plague of the locusts, so the prophetic 
 five months actually denote the period of the main 
 conquests of the Saracen empire, computing from 
 the appearance of Mahomet to the foundation of 
 Bagdad. " Read," says Bishop Newton, " the 
 history of the Saracens, and you will find, that 
 their greatest conquests made, within the space of 
 five prophetic months, or one hundred and fifty 
 years, between the year 612, when Mahomet 
 opened the bottomless pit, and began publicly to 
 teach and propagate his imposture ; and the year 
 762, when Almansor built Bagdad, and called it 
 the city of peace." The comparison of the locusts' 
 torments to that of the scorpion will be considered 
 subsequently. 
 
 Ver. 6. And in those days shall men seek 
 death, and shall not find it ; and shall desire to 
 die, but death shall fiee from them. This predic- 
 tion has usually been considered as awfully ex- 
 pressive of the hopeless sufferings and despair of 
 eastern Christendom, under the lawless insults, 
 violences, and oppressions systematically practised 
 by their Saracen masters. We would not deny 
 that this may have been alluded to ; yet, as it 
 would seem that men desirous of escaping suffer- 
 ing by death, might easily, in a thousand ways, 
 have accomplished their object, it may be sug- 
 gested, whether the Saracens themselves are not 
 the persons here referred to, as coveting death in 
 battle, from a view to the honour, and the rewards 
 of such a decease. The following passage from 
 the Koran, is worthy of special note in this con- 
 nection. " Moreover, ye did sometimes wish for
 
 APPENDIX. 359 
 
 death, before that ye met it."* On these words 
 Sale remarks, in a note, " that several of Ma- 
 homet's followers, who were not present at Beder, 
 wished for an opportunity of obtaining, in ano- 
 ther action, the like honour as those had gained 
 who fell martyrs in that event." The import of 
 the language, therefore, may be, that God should 
 give to the Moslem hosts such an uninterrupted 
 tide of conquests, they should so uniformly come 
 off victorious in their engagements, and that with 
 such inconsiderable losses, that numbers in the 
 height of their enthusiasm, should pant in vain 
 for the glorious privilege of dying in the field 
 of battle. 
 
 Ver. 7- And the shapes of the locusts were like 
 unto horses prepared unto battle. "Arabia," says 
 Gibbon, " is, in the opinion of naturalists, the 
 native country of the horse." The horsemanship 
 of the Arabs has ever been an object of admira- 
 tion. " The martial youth, under the banner of 
 the Emir, is ever on horseback and in the field, 
 to practise the exercise of the bow, the javelin, 
 and the scimitar." In correspondence, therefore, 
 with the hieroglyphic of the prophet, the strength 
 of the Saracens consisted very much in the nu- 
 merous cavalry, and the unrivalled speed of 
 the Arabian coursers forms the most striking 
 possible emblem of the rapid career of the Sa- 
 racen armies. 
 
 And on their heads were, as it tvere, crowns 
 of gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 
 " Make a point," says a precept of Mahomet 
 " of wearing turbans ; because it is the way of 
 
 * Koran, cli. iii.
 
 360 APPENDIX. 
 
 angels." The turban, accordingly, has ever been 
 the distinctive head-dress of the Arabs, and their 
 boast has been, that they wore, as their com- 
 mon attire, those ornaments, which, among other 
 people, are the peculiar badges of royalty. The 
 notice of the " faces of men" seems to be in- 
 tended merely to afford a clew to the meaning 
 of the emblem ; to intimate, that no natural lo- 
 custs, but human beings, were depicted under 
 this symbol. 
 
 Ver. 8. And they had hair, as the hair of 
 women, and their teeth mere as the teeth of lions. 
 The Arabs, as Pliny testifies, wore their beards, 
 or rather mustachios, as men, while their hair, like 
 that of women, was flowing or plaited. The "teeth 
 like those of lions," has reference to the .weapons 
 and implements of war ; and the " breastplates of 
 iron" to the armour made use of by the Saracen 
 troops in their expeditions. The " sound of 
 their wings as the sound of chariots of many 
 horses running to battle," is but a part of the same 
 expressive imagery denoting warlike scenes and 
 preparations. 
 
 Ver. 10. And they had tails like unto scorpions: 
 and there were stings in their tails. The interpre- 
 tation of the symbols of the Apocalypse must be 
 sought for in the Old Testament. From the fol- 
 lowing words of Isaiah (ch. ix. 14, 15) it appears 
 that the tail of a beast denotes the false doctrines 
 or the superstition which he maintains : " There- 
 fore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and 
 tail, branch and rush, in one day. The ancient 
 and honourable, he is the head ; and the prophet 
 that teacheth lies, he is the tail." The emblem, 
 therefore, strikingly represents the infliction of
 
 APPENDIX. 361 
 
 spiritual wounds by the propagation of poisonous 
 and deadly errors and heresies. And nothing is 
 more evident from the page of history than that 
 the Moslem followers of Mahomet have scattered, 
 like scorpions, the venom of their doctrines behind 
 them ; and whether conquering or conquered, have 
 succeeded in palming a new creed upon those with 
 whom they have had to do. By this symbol, then, 
 we are plainly taught, that the plague of the alle- 
 gorical locusts consisted not only in the ravages of 
 war, but in the successful propagation of a false 
 religion, of which the doctrines should be as dele- 
 terious in a spiritual point of view, as the sting of 
 a scorpion in a natural. In like manner, when it 
 is said (ch. xii. 3, 4) of the " great red dragon 
 having seven heads and ten horns, that his tail 
 drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did 
 cast them to the earth," the explication is, that 
 antichristian power, shadowed out by this formi- 
 dable monster should be permitted to instil the 
 most pernicious errors into the minds of the pro- 
 fessed ministers of the truth, and thus bring about 
 their entire defection from Christianity. 
 
 Ver. 11. And they had a Icing over them, which 
 is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the 
 Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongu& 
 hath his name Apollyon. Both these terms signify 
 destroyer. Since the locusts are at once secular 
 conquerors and the propagators of a false religion, 
 their king must stand to them in the double rela- 
 tion of a temporal and spiritual head. Such ac- 
 cordingly were Mahomet and the caliphs his suc- 
 cessors, who must be viewed as jointly constituting 
 the locust-king Abaddon; for in the usual lan- 
 guage of prophecy, a king denotes, not any single
 
 362 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 individual, but a dynasty or kingdom. The chief 
 of the locusts, when they first issued from the pit 
 of the abyss, was Mahomet himself; but during 
 the allotted period of the woe which they occa- 
 sioned, the reigning destroyer was of course the 
 reigning caliph. If, therefore, we were to suppose 
 the genius of Mahometanism under the caliphs to 
 he personified , and this symbolical personage to 
 be designated by the most appropriate title, Abad- 
 don, the destroyer would be the appellation. 
 
 As the portion of the prophecy thus far con- 
 sidered has reference to the origin of Mahomet's 
 imposture, and to the rise, progress, and conquests 
 of the Saracens, its earliest abettors and propa- 
 gators, so the remaining part announces the com- 
 mencement and career of the Turkish power, the 
 principal of its later supporters. 
 
 Ver. 13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I 
 heard a voice from the four horns of the golden 
 altar, which is before God, saying to the sixth an- 
 gel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels 
 which are bound in (rather at, by, in the vicinity 
 of) the great river Euphrates, and the four angels 
 were loosed. It is impossible, from the train of 
 events, and from the quarter of the world in which 
 we are directed to look for the irruption of these 
 prodigious multitudes of horsemen, to mistake to 
 whom the prophecy refers. The four angels who 
 are described as bound in the regions bordering 
 on the river Euphrates, not in the river itself, are 
 the four contemporary sultanies or dynasties, into 
 which the empire of the Seljukian Turks was 
 divided towards the close of the eleventh century: 
 PERSIA, KERMAN, SYRIA, and RHOUM. These 
 sultanies, from different causes, were long re-
 
 APPENDIX. 363 
 
 strained from extending their conquests beyond 
 what may be geopraphically termed the Euphra- 
 tean regions, but towards the close of the thirteenth 
 century, the four angels on the river Euphrates 
 were loosed in the persons of their existing repre- 
 sentatives, the united Ottoman and Seljukian 
 Turks. The historian of the Decline and Fall of 
 the Roman Empire must of necessity be the guide 
 to any English commentator on this part of the 
 prophetic history. The following is his testimony 
 as to the immense number of the Turkish cavalry. 
 " As the subject nations marched under the stand- 
 ard of the Turks, their cavalry, both men and 
 horses, were proudly computed by millions." " On 
 this occasion, the myriads of the Turkish horse 
 overspread a frontier of six hundred miles, from 
 Taurus to Erzeroum." 
 
 Ver. 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, 
 and those that sat on them, having breastplates of 
 fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone. These pro- 
 phetic characteristics of the Euphratean warriors 
 accord in the most perfect manner with the de- 
 scription which history gives of the Turks. They 
 brought immense armies into the field, chiefly 
 composed of horse, and from their first appearance 
 on the great political stage of nations their cos- 
 tume has been peculiarly distinguished by the 
 colours of scarlet, blue, and yellow, which are 
 here denoted by the terms "fire," "jacinth," and 
 " brimstone." Rycaut's " Present State of the Otto- 
 man Empire," published towards the close of the 
 seventeenth century, will satisfy the reader on this 
 point. 
 
 And the heads of the horses were as the heads of 
 lions, and out of their mouths issued fire and s-moke
 
 364 APPENDIX. 
 
 and brimstone. We have here a symbol which is 
 not elsewhere to be met with in the Scriptures. 
 The prophetic horses are represented as vomiting 
 out of their mouths " fire, and smoke, and brim- 
 stone," by which it is added, " the third part of 
 men was killed." Mede, Newton, Faber, and most 
 other eminent expositors of the Revelation, agree 
 in supposing that the flashes of fire attended by 
 smoke and brimstone, which seemed to proceed 
 from the mouths of the horses, were in reality the 
 flashes of artillery. The Turks were among the 
 first who turned to account the European inven- 
 tion of gunpowder in carrying on their w T ars. 
 Cannon, the most deadly engine of modern war- 
 fare, were employed by Mahomet II. in his wars 
 against the Greek empire ; and it is said that he 
 was indebted to his heavy ordnance for the re- 
 duction of Constantinople. The prophet, there- 
 fore, is to be considered as depicting in vision the 
 scene of a field of battle, in which the cavalry 
 and artillery are so mingled together, that while 
 flashes of fire and dense clouds of smoke issued 
 from the cannon, the horses' heads alone would be 
 dimly discerned through the sulphureous mist, and 
 would seem to the eye of the spectator to belch 
 forth the smoky flames from their own mouths. 
 As the design of this striking imagery is to de- 
 scribe the appearances rather than the reality of 
 things, the prophet employs an expression, * " in 
 the vision," or rather " in vision," i. e. apparently, 
 as it seemed, which evidently conveys the idea 
 that the phantasm of a battle scene was presented 
 to the imagination. We may now see how far
 
 APPENDIX. 365 
 
 history confirms this interpretation. " Among the 
 implements of destruction," says Mr. Gibbon, " he 
 (Mahomet II.) studied with peculiar care the re- 
 cent and tremendous discovery of the Latins; and 
 his artillery surpassed whatever had yet appeared 
 in the world." "The Ottoman artillery thundered 
 on all sides, and the camp and city, the Greeks 
 and Turks, were involved in a cloud of smoke, 
 which could only be dispelled by the final deliver- 
 ance or destruction of the Roman empire." The 
 great cannon of Mahomet has been separately an 
 important and visible object in the history of the 
 times. But that enormous engine, which required, 
 it is said, seventy yoke of oxen and two thousand 
 men to draw it, was flanked by two fellows almost 
 of equal magnitude : the long order of Turkish 
 artillery was pointed against the wall ; fourteen 
 batteries thundered at once on the most accessible 
 places ; and of one of these it is ambiguously ex- 
 pressed, that it was mounted with a hundred and 
 thirty guns, or that it discharged a hundred and 
 thirty bullets. 
 
 Ver. 19. For their power is in their mouth, and 
 in their tails ; for their tails were like unto serpents, 
 and had heads, and icith them they do hurt. The 
 emblematic import of the tail of a beast we have 
 already considered. The imagery in the present 
 symbol is slightly different from that of the Sara- 
 cen locusts, which had the tails of scorpions ; but 
 the import is the same. Here the tails of the 
 horses terminated in a serpent's head ; and it is 
 not a little remarkable, .that the Turks have been 
 in the habit, from the earliest periods of their 
 history, of tying a knot in the extremity of the 
 long flowing tails of their horses, when preparing
 
 366 APPENDIX. 
 
 for war ; so that their resemblance to serpents with 
 swelling heads must have been singularly striking. 
 Striking too is the fact, that so slight a circum- 
 stance should have been adverted to by the his- 
 torian so often quoted, who thought as little of 
 being an organ to illustrate the predictions of 
 Scripture, as the Turks themselves did of being 
 the agents to fulfil them. Speaking of Alp Arslan, 
 the first Turkish invader of the Roman empire, he 
 says, " With his own hands he tied up his horse's 
 tail, and declared that if he were vanquished, that 
 spot should be the place of his burial." The scope 
 of the hieroglyphic here employed is to predict 
 the propagation of a deadly imposture by the in- 
 strumentality of the same warlike power which 
 should achieve such prodigious conquests. The 
 event has corresponded with the prophecy. Like 
 the Saracens of the first woe, the Turks were not 
 merely secular conquerors. They were animated 
 with all the wild fanaticism of a false religion ; 
 they professed and propagated the same theological 
 system as their Arabian predecessors ; they injured 
 by their doctrines no less than by their conquests ; 
 and wherever they established their dominion, the 
 Koran triumphed over the gospel. Thus writes 
 Mr. Gibbon : " The whole body of the nation 
 embraced the religion of Mahomet." "Twenty- 
 five years after the death of Basil, his successors 
 were suddenly assaulted by an unknown race of 
 barbarians, who united the Scythian valour with 
 the fanaticism of new converts." 
 
 Sufficient proof has now been afforded, if we 
 mistake not, that the appearance of the Arabian 
 prophet in the world, and the rise, progress, and 
 results of his imposture, are clearly foretold in the
 
 APPENDIX. 367 
 
 sacred volume. Indeed, it would not be easy to 
 specify any admitted subject of prophecy, upon 
 which history and Providence have thrown a 
 stronger or clearer light. Interpreters have 
 been justly struck at the surprising exactness 
 of the delineations, and their perfect accordance 
 with the details of history. "The prophetic 
 truths," says Dr. Zouch, " comprised in the ninth 
 chapter of the Apocalypse are, of themselves, 
 sufficient to stamp the mark of divinity upon that 
 book. When I compare them with the page of 
 history, I am filled with amazement. The Sara- 
 cens, a people which did not exist in the time of 
 John, and the Turks, a nation then utterly un- 
 known, are there described in language the most 
 appropriate and distinct." If then the considera- 
 tions commonly adduced to account for the rise, 
 progress, and reign of Mahometanism appear to 
 be inadequate, if the human causes usually 
 quoted to explain the astonishing success of Ma- 
 hometan imposture still seem to us to leave many 
 of the phenomena inexplicable, and the greatest 
 revolution in the world connected with the history 
 of the Church stands forth an unsolved problem, 
 why should we hesitate to ascribe it directly to 
 the determinate will and counsel of the Most High, 
 and thus find a clew to all the mysteries connected 
 with it ? Why should we be anxious to escape 
 the recognition of a divine interference in the rise 
 of this arch-heresy ? If we have been correct in 
 our interpretation of the preceding predictions of 
 Daniel and John, the Mahometan delusion is as 
 real and as prominent a subject of prophecy as 
 any in the whole compass of the Bible. Now, to 
 insist upon the operation of merely human causes
 
 368 APPENDIX. 
 
 in the production of an event which is truly a sub- 
 ject of prophecy, is in fact to take the government 
 of the world out of the hands of God. And this 
 principle pushed to the extreme will inevitably 
 lower and impugn the sure word of prophecy ; for 
 it makes God the predicter of events over which, 
 at the same time, he has no special superintend- 
 ence or control. Such a principle cannot stand 
 the least examination. "When Daniel foretels the 
 fortunes of the four great empires ; or when Isaiah 
 speaks of Cyrus by name, as one who should ac- 
 complish certain great purposes of the infinite 
 mind, is it to be supposed, that the events pre- 
 dicted were to happen exclusive of providential 
 agency ? As easily and as justly then may we 
 acknowledge a special pre-ordainment in the case 
 of Mahomet, whose still more formidable dominion 
 and more lasting and more fatal agency in the 
 affairs of men, are equally the theme of unques- 
 tionable predictions. No admission of this nature 
 militates with the free agency of man, or at all 
 affects the moral character of his actions. The 
 mere fact that an event is foreknown or foretold 
 by the Deity, neither takes away nor weakens the 
 accountability of the agents concerned. Of this, 
 the whole Scripture is full of proofs. But the 
 reflecting reader will desire no farther confirmation 
 of so plain a position.
 
 APPENDIX. 369 
 
 NO. II. THE MAHOMETAN CONFESSION OF FAITH J 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC. 
 
 (From Morgan's Mahometanism Explained.) 
 
 The articles of our faith which every good Mus- 
 sulman is bound to believe and to receive with an 
 entire assurance are thirteen in number, whereof 
 the first and principal is, 
 
 I. Of God's Existence. 
 
 To believe from the heart, to confess with the 
 tongue, and with a voluntary and steadfast mind 
 to affirm, that there is but one only God, Lord 
 and Governor of the universe, who produced all 
 things from nothing, in whom there is neither 
 image nor resemblance, who never begot any 
 person whatsoever, as he himself was begotten 
 by none ; who, as he never was a son, so he 
 never hath been a father. It is this Lord and 
 Sovereign Arbiter of all things whom we Mussul- 
 mans are bound to serve and adore ; so that none 
 among us may deviate from this article, but every 
 one must imprint it deeply in his heart ; for it is 
 unquestionable. 
 
 II. Of the Prophet Mahomet and the Koran. 
 
 We must believe from our hearts and confess 
 with our mouths that the Most High God, after 
 having revealed himself to mankind by his ancient 
 prophets, sent us at length his elected, the blessed 
 Mahomet, with the sacred and divine law, which 
 
 B B
 
 870 APPENDIX. 
 
 through his grace he had created, the which is 
 contained in the venerable Koran, that hath been 
 from him remitted unto us. By this holy law it 
 is that God hath abolished all the preceding ones, 
 and hath withdrawn from their doubts and errors 
 all nations and people in order to guide them to a 
 firm and lasting state of happiness. Wherefore 
 we are obliged exactly to follow the precepts, rites, 
 and ceremonies thereof, and to abandon every 
 other sect or religion whatsoever, whether insti- 
 tuted before or since this final revelation. By this 
 article we are distinguished and separated from all 
 sorts of idolatry, lying rhapsodies, and false pro- 
 phecies, and from all those sects, societies, and 
 religions different from ours, which are either 
 erroneous, abrogated, or exaggerated, void of faith, 
 and without truth. 
 
 III. Of Providence and Predestination. 
 
 We must firmly believe and hold as a certainty 
 that, except God himself who always was and 
 always shall be, every tiling shall one day be an- 
 nihilated, and that the angel of death shall take 
 to himself the souls of mortals destined to a total 
 and universal extinction, * by the command of 
 God, our powerful Lord and Master, who was 
 able and hath vouchsafed to produce out of no- 
 thing, and in fine to set in form this universal 
 world, with all things therein contained, both good 
 and evil, sweet and bitter ; and hath been pleased 
 to appoint two angels, the one on the right, and 
 
 * Notwithstanding this annihilation, it is taught in the 
 Koran, that all intelligent creatures will be reproduced again at 
 the resurrection.
 
 APPENDIX. 371 
 
 the other on the left, to register the actions of 
 every one of us, as well the good as the bad, to 
 the end that judicial cognizance may he taken 
 thereof, and sentence pronounced thereupon, at 
 the great day of judgment. It is therefore neces- 
 sary to believe predestination : but it is not per- 
 mitted to discourse thereof to any whomsoever, 
 till after being perfectly well versed in the study 
 of our written law, viz. the Koran, and of our 
 Sonnah, which is our oral law. Seeing then all 
 things are to have an end, let us do good works, 
 and deport ourselves so that we may live for ever. 
 
 IV. Of the Interrogation in the Grave. 
 
 We must truly and firmly believe and hold as 
 certain and assured, the interrogation of the 
 sepulchre which will after death be administered 
 to every one of us by two angels upon these four 
 important questions: 1. Who was our Lord and 
 our God ? 2. Who was our prophet ? 3. Which 
 was our religion ? 4. On what side was our Keb- 
 lah ? He who shall be in a condition to make 
 answer, that God was his only Lord, and Mahomet 
 his prophet, shall find a great illumination in his 
 tomb, and shall himself rest in glory. But he 
 who shall not make a proper answer to these ques- 
 tions shall be involved in darkness until the day 
 of judgment 
 
 V. Of the Future Dissolution. 
 
 We must heartily believe and hold as certain, 
 that not only shall all things one day perish and 
 
 BB2
 
 372 APPENDIX. 
 
 be annihilated, viz. angels, men, and devils, but 
 likewise this shall come to pass at the end of the 
 world, when the angel Israfil shall blow the trum- 
 pet in such sort that except the Sovereign God 
 none of the universal creation shall remain alive 
 immediately after the dreadful noise, which shall 
 cause the mountains to tremble, the earth to sink, 
 and the sea to be changed to the colour of blood. 
 In this total extinction, the last who shall die will 
 be Azrael, the angel of death; and the power of 
 the Most High God will be evidently manifested. 
 
 VI. Of the Future Resurrection. 
 
 We are obliged cordially to believe and to hold 
 for certain, that the first before all others whom 
 God shall revive in heaven shall be the angel of 
 death ; and that he will at that time recall all the 
 souls in general, and reunite them to the respec- 
 tive bodies to which each belonged ; some of which 
 shall be destined to glory, and others to torment. 
 But upon earth, the first whom God will raise 
 shall be our blessed prophet Mahomet. As for 
 the earth itself, it shall open on all sides, and shall 
 be changed in a moment ; and by God's command 
 fire shall be kindled in every part thereof, which 
 shall be extended to its utmost extremities. God 
 will then prepare a vast plain, perfectly level, and 
 of .sufficient extent to contain all creatures sum- 
 moned to give an account of their past conduct. 
 May this solemn, definite, and irrevocable judg- 
 ment awaken us from our security ; for to nothing 
 that hath been created shall favour be shown.
 
 APPENDIX. 373 
 
 Every soul shall be judged there by the same rule, 
 and without exception of persons. 
 
 VII. Of the Day of Judgment. 
 
 We must believe from our hearts and hold for 
 certain, that there shall be a day of judgment, 
 whereon God shall ordain all nations to appear in 
 a place appointed for this great trial, of sufficient 
 vastness that His Majesty may there be evident in 
 splendour. It is in this magnificent and spacious 
 station that the universal assembly of all creatures 
 shall be made, about the middle of the day, and 
 in the brightness of noon : and then it is, that 
 accompanied by his prophet (Mahomet), and in 
 the presence of all mankind, God shall with jus- 
 tice and equity judge all the nations of the earth 
 in general, and every person in particular. To 
 this effect, every one of us shall have a book or 
 catalogue of our actions delivered to us ; that of 
 the good in such wise that it shall be received and 
 held in the right hand ; that of the wicked, so 
 that it shall be received and held in the left hand. 
 As to the duration of that day, it shall be as long 
 as the continuance of the present age. This shall 
 be a day of sighs and griefs, a day of tribulation 
 and anguish, when the cup of sorrow and misery 
 must be drunk up, even the very dregs thereof. 
 But this is what shall be particularly experienced 
 by the ungodly and the perverse ; every thing shall 
 present to them ideas of sorrow and affliction. To 
 them every thing shall become aloes and bitterness. 
 They shall not obtain one moment of repose. They 
 shall behold nothing that is agreeable, nor hear 
 one voice that shall delight them : their eyes shall
 
 374 APPENDIX. 
 
 see nothing but the torments of hell; their ears 
 shall hear nothing but the cries and bowlings of 
 devils ; and their terrified imaginations shall repre- 
 sent unto them nothing but spectres and tortures. 
 
 VIII. Of Mahomefs Intercession. 
 
 "We are bound to believe, and hold as certain, 
 that our venerable prophet Mahomet shall with 
 success intercede for his people at the great day of 
 examination. This will be the first intercession ; 
 but at the second, God will be entirely relented, 
 and all the faithful Mussulmans shall be trans- 
 ported into a state of glory, while not one excuse 
 or supplication in behalf of other nations shall be 
 accepted. As to the greatness of pain which those 
 among us are to undergo, who have been offenders 
 by transgressing the precepts of the Koran, it is 
 known to God alone, as there is none but He 
 who exactly knoweth how long the same is to con 
 tinue, whether its duration shall be more or less 
 than that of the examination or judgment. But 
 to us it belongeth to shorten its continuance by 
 good works, by our charity, and by all the endea 
 TOUTS we are capable of. 
 
 IX. Of the future Compensation at the last 
 Judgment. 
 
 We must sincerely believe, and hold as a cer- 
 tainty, that we must every one of us give up our 
 accounts before God, concerning the good and evil 
 we have transacted in this world. All who have 
 been followers of Mahomet shall be before all 
 others summoned to this examination, because
 
 APPENDIX. 375 
 
 they it will be who shall bear witness against all 
 other strange nations. It shall come to pass on 
 that day, that God will take away out of the ba- 
 lance of him who has slandered his brother some 
 of the good works, and put them unto that of him 
 who hath been slandered ; and if the slanderer is 
 found to have no good works, he will then deduct 
 from the punishment of the slandered, to include 
 them in the list of those of the slanderer, inso- 
 much that his great justice will be fully manifest 
 At least, then, that we not run the hazard of this 
 terrible compensation, let us not think of wrong- 
 ing others, or of diminishing their substance, their 
 honour, or their good name. 
 
 X. Of the Balance, and of Purgatory. 
 
 We must believe from the heart, and confess 
 with the mouth, that all our actions, good and 
 bad, shall one day be weighed in the balance, the 
 one against the other, insomuch that those whose 
 good works outweigh their bad. shall enter into 
 paradise; and that, on the contrary, they whose 
 bad works shall outweigh their good, shall be 
 condemned to the flames of hell. And for those 
 whose scales shall be equally poised, because the 
 good they have done is equivalent to the evil, they 
 shall be detained in a station situate in the middle, 
 between paradise and hell, where consideration 
 will be made both of their merits and of their de- 
 merits, since besides their being confined in that 
 place, they shall have no punishment inflicted on 
 them, nor shall they enjoy any part of the glory 
 ordained for the beatified righteous. It is true 
 ihat all those among that number who are JVlussul-
 
 376 APPENDIX. 
 
 mans shall be at length released from their cap- 
 tivity, and shall be introduced into paradise at the 
 second intercession of our blessed prophet Ma- 
 homet, whose great compassion will be signalized 
 by his engaging, in order to our redemption, to 
 supplicate the power and the mercy of the Most 
 High, as well as his justice, already satisfied by 
 the long captivity of the criminals. Wherefore let 
 us from henceforward weigh our good works, to 
 the end that we may assiduously strive to increase 
 their weight, and that they may have the advan- 
 tage over the bad. 
 
 XI. Of the Sharp-edged Bridge, and the unavoid- 
 able passage thei'eof. 
 
 We are obliged to believe from our hearts and 
 to hold as assured, that all mankind in the world 
 must pass one day over the Sharp-edged Bridge, 
 whose length shall be equal to that of this world, 
 whose breadth shall not exceed that of one single 
 thread of a spider's web, and whose height shall 
 be proportionable to its extent. The righteous 
 shall pass over it swifter than a flash of lightning ; 
 but the impious and the ungodly shall not, in as 
 much time as the present age shall endure, be able 
 to surmount the difficulties thereof, and that 
 through the want of good works. For which 
 reason, they shall fall and precipitate themselves 
 into hell-fire, in company with the infidels and 
 blasphemers, with those of little faith and bad 
 conscience, who have done few deeds of charity, 
 because they were void of virtue. There shall be 
 some among the good, notwithstanding, whose 
 passage shall be lighter and swifter than that of
 
 APPENDIX. 377 
 
 many others, who shall therein meet with tempta- 
 tions and obstructions from every precept which 
 they shall have ill -observed in this life. Good 
 God ! how dreadful to our sight will this for- 
 midable bridge appear ! What virtue, what secret 
 grace from the Most High shall we not need to be 
 enabled to pass over it ? 
 
 XIL Of Paradise. 
 
 We are to believe and to hold for a certainty 
 that God did create a paradise which he prepared 
 for the blessed, from among the number of the 
 faithful, by which are meant the followers of the 
 true religion, and of our holy prophet, Mahomet ; 
 where with him they shall be placed in perpetual 
 light, and in the enjoyment of heavenly delights ; 
 for ever beautiful in the vigour of their age, and 
 brighter than the sun ; and where they shall be 
 found worthy to contemplate and adore the face 
 of the Most High God. As for those who shall 
 be detained in the tortures of hell, to wit, the 
 sinners and transgressors who have nevertheless 
 believed in one only God, they shall be released 
 at the second intercession of the prophet, by whom 
 they shall immediately be washed in the sacred 
 laver, from whence being come forth whiter than 
 snow, and more refulgent than the sun, they shall, 
 with the rest of the blessed, behold themselves 
 s'eated in paradise, there to enjoy all the glory 
 they can desire. This is what shall befall the body 
 composed of clay; and what then shall be the 
 state of our souls? To the which it shall be 
 granted eternally to behold the light and bright- 
 ness of the divine majesty. Let us then endea-
 
 378 APPENDIX. 
 
 vour to do works of such a character, that we may 
 have no cause to fear hell-fire. Let us, I say, 
 chiefly apply ourselves to good works, let us not 
 refuse to exert our utmost strength in the exact 
 observation thereof, and of the fast of our vene- 
 rable month of Ramadan, and of the prayers and 
 ceremonies which are ordained; and let us not 
 defraud the poor of a tenth of all our goods. 
 
 XIII. Of HelL 
 
 We must sincerely believe and hold for certain, 
 that there is a hell prepared for the unrighteous, 
 the refractory transgressors of the divine law, ac- 
 cursed of God for their evil works, and for whom 
 it would have been better had they never have 
 been born, and to have never seen the light of day. 
 It is for such as those that a place of torment is 
 appointed, or rather a fire which burneth without 
 touching them, a fire of ice and north winds, 
 where there shall be nothing but snakes and ser- 
 pents, with other venomous and ravenous crea- 
 tures, which shall bite them without destroying 
 them, and shall cause them to feel grievous pains. 
 That place shall be the abode of the impious and 
 of the devils, where these shall, with all sorts of 
 cruelty and rage, incessantly torture those; and 
 lest the sense of their pain should cause them to 
 relent, a new skin shall continually succeed in the 
 stead of that which has been burned or mortified. 
 It is for us Mussulmans to conceive and entertain 
 a just horror of this detestable place ; such re- 
 flections are the duty of all God's servants. As 
 for those others who have declared war against our 
 religion, they shall one day feel the torments of
 
 APPENDIX. 379 
 
 hell. Let us all dread this punishment and these 
 frightful terrors. Let us confirm our faith hy the 
 sentiments of our hearts, and hy the confession of 
 our tongues, and let us engrave it in the bottom 
 of our souls. 
 
 NO. III.. STYLE OF THE KORAN. 
 
 Most of the extracts from the Koran, given 
 in the former parts of this \vork, are con- 
 nected -with some doctrine or practice taught by 
 that singular production. Our design will be 
 scarcely completed without giving a more perfect 
 specimen of its style. We select, therefore, an 
 entire chapter, the third, which perhaps is the best 
 adapted for this purpose. It will be at once per- 
 ceived, that whatever merits the Koran has, that 
 of originality does not belong to it. Its stories 
 are mostly borrowed in a corrupted form from the 
 sacred page. Its grandest passages, magnificently 
 describing the Almighty sitting on the eternal 
 throne, encompassed with clouds and darkness, 
 and giving laws to the universe, instantly remind 
 us of the hallowed manner, the ideas, and even 
 the language of the Hebrew prophets. Its account 
 of the attributes of Deity, whether natural or 
 moral, exhibits nothing new to the reader of the 
 inspired volume, the expressions of which are but 
 reechoed and feebly imitated ; and from the same 
 source it borrows the severe invectives, the fearful 
 punishments which it denounces on those who rob 
 the Almighty of the honour due exclusively to 
 him, by associating others with him as equals or
 
 380 APPENDIX. 
 
 partakers of his majesty and glory. The religious 
 practices for which the Koran provides were taken, 
 as in some instances has been already seen, from 
 the fanciful and superstitious ceremonies with 
 which the pagan Arabs had adored their imaginary 
 deities, and in its rewards and penalties the Koran 
 is almost equally indebted to divine revelation and 
 heathen mythology. Even those passages which 
 at first view appear most captivating by their no- 
 velty, and in Avhich Mahomet has most indulged 
 a luxuriant imagination, and expatiated in the 
 boundless regions of fancy, will be found on ex- 
 amination to contain as little really new, as they do 
 of valuable information. His future world, whe- 
 ther of happiness or misery, is derived from the 
 Jewish Rabbins, whose writings are an exhaustless 
 store of marvellous and improbable fiction. And 
 the precepts he enjoins, many of them good, as 
 was to be expected, though many are ridiculous 
 and immoral, are obviously drawn from the same 
 sources. Every duty which Mahomet inculcates, 
 every precept which he enforces, may be traced up 
 to the divine original contained in the sacred 
 volume, though its native beauty is greatly marred, 
 and though it is strongly marked with the impure 
 and corrupt channel through which it has passed. 
 Thus, when he summons his followers in a tone of 
 authority, to the practice of charity, when he 
 commands them to give alms, to relieve the dis- 
 tressed, to forgive injuries, the principle on 
 which he places the practice of these duties is base 
 and naiTOw, when compared with the expansive 
 charities of the gospel. The Koran pretends, 
 indeed, to be the grand close and consummation of 
 divine revelations, but instead of improving on the
 
 APPENDIX. 381 
 
 law and the gospel, it is a gross corruption and 
 perversion of both. These observations, however, 
 and others of a similar character that might be 
 made, are all sustained by the following chapter 
 from the Koran. 
 
 CHAP. III. Entitled the family of Imran, a 
 name given to the father of the Virgin Mary, 
 the Arabic form of Amram, or Amran ; the 
 father of Moses and Aaron. Some think 
 that Mahomet preserved alive the Miriam of 
 Aaron's family till the time of Christ, that 
 she might become his mother. 
 
 " In the name of the most merciful God. 
 A. L. M.," that is " God is gracious, and to be 
 glorified ;" or as God is the speaker, " To me be- 
 longs all perfection, from me proceeds all good." 
 
 There is no God but God, the living, the self- 
 subsisting : He hath sent down unto thee the 
 book of the Koran with truth, confirming that 
 which was revealed before it ; for he had formerly 
 sent down the law, and the gospel, a direction 
 unto men ; and he had also sent down the distinc- 
 tion between good and evil. Verily those who 
 believe not the signs of God, shall suffer a griev- 
 ous punishment ; for God is mighty, able to re- 
 venge. Surely nothing is hidden from God, of 
 that which is on earth, or in heaven : it is he who 
 formeth you in the wombs, as he pleaseth ; there 
 is no God but he, the mighty, the wise. It is he 
 who hath sent down unto thee the book, wherein 
 are some verses clear to be understood ; they are
 
 382 APPENDIX. 
 
 the foundation of the book ; and others are para- 
 bolical. But they whose hearts are perverse will 
 follow that which is parabolical within, out of love 
 of schism, and a desire of the interpretation there- 
 of ; yet none knoweth the interpretation thereof; 
 except God. But they who are well grounded in 
 knowledge say, We believe therein, the whole is 
 from our Lord ; and none will consider except the 
 prudent. O Lord, cause not our hearts to swerve 
 from truth, after thou hast directed us : and give 
 us from thee mercy, for thou art he who giveth. 
 Lord, thou shalt surely gather mankind toge- 
 ther unto a day of resurrection : there is no doubt 
 of it, for God will not be contrary to the promise. 
 As for the infidels, their wealth shall not profit 
 them anything, nor their children against God : 
 they shall be the fuel of hell-fire. According to 
 the wont of the people of Pharaoh, and of those 
 who went before them, they charged our signs 
 with a lie ; but God caught them in their wicked- 
 ness, and God is severe in punishing. Say unto 
 those who believe not, Ye shall be overcome, and 
 thrown together into hell : an unhappy couch 
 shall it be. Ye have already had a miracle shown 
 you in two armies, which attacked each other ; 
 one army fought for God's true religion, but the 
 other were infidels; they saw the faithful twice as 
 many as themselves in their eye-sight ; for God 
 strengtheneth with his help whom he pleaseth. 
 Surely herein was an example unto men of un- 
 derstanding.* The love and eager desire of wives, 
 and children, and sums heaped up of gold and 
 silver, and excellent horses, and cattle, and land, 
 
 * The allusion in this passage is to the battle of Bedr, de- 
 scribed in page 131, of this work.
 
 APPENDIX. 383 
 
 is prepared for men : this is the provision of the 
 present life : but unto God shall be the most ex- 
 cellent return. Say, Shall 1 declare unto you 
 better things than this ? For those who are de- 
 vout are prepared with their Lord, gardens through 
 which rivers flow ; therein shall they continue for 
 ever : and they shall enjoy wives free from im- 
 purity, and the favour of God ; for God regardeth 
 his servants ; who say, Lord, we do sincerely 
 believe ; forgive us therefore our sins, and deliver 
 us from the pain of hell-fire : the patient, and the 
 lovers of truth, and the devout, and the alms- 
 givers, and those who ask pardon early in the 
 morning. God hath borne witness that there is 
 no God but he ; and the angels, and those who 
 are endowed with wisdom, profess the same ; who 
 executeth righteousness ; there is no God but he : 
 the mighty, the wise. Verily the true religion, in 
 the sight of God, is Islam ; and they who had re- 
 ceived the Scriptures dissented not therefrom, until 
 after the knowledge of God's unity had come unto 
 them, out of envy among themselves : but whoso- 
 ever believe th not in the signs of God, verily God 
 will be swift in bringing him to account. If they 
 dispute with thee, say, I have resigned myself 
 unto God, and he who followeth me doth the 
 same : and say unto them who have received the 
 Scriptures, and to the ignorant, Do ye profess the 
 religion of Islam ? Now, if they embrace Islam, 
 they are surely directed ; but if they turn their 
 backs, verily unto thee belongeth preaching only; 
 for God regardeth his servants. And unto those 
 who believe not in the signs of God, and slay the 
 prophets without a cause, and put those men to 
 death who teach justice ; denounce unto them a
 
 384 APPENDIX. 
 
 painful punishment. These are they whose works 
 perish in this world, and in that which is to come ; 
 and they shall have none to help them. Hast 
 thou not observed those unto whom part of the 
 Scripture was given ? They were called unto the 
 book of God, that it might judge between them ; 
 then some of them turned their backs and retired 
 afar off. This they did because they said, The 
 fire of hell shall by no means touch us, but for a 
 certain number of days : and that which they had 
 falsely devised, hath deceived them in their reli- 
 gion. How then will it be with them, when we 
 shall gather them together at the day of judg- 
 ment, of which there is no doubt ; and every soul 
 shall be paid that which it hath gained, neither 
 shall they be treated unjustly ? Say, O God, who 
 possessest the kingdom ; thou givest the kingdom 
 unto whom thou wilt, and thou takest away the 
 kingdom from whom thou wilt : Thou exaltest 
 whom thou wilt, and thou humblest whom thou 
 wilt. In thy hand is good, for thou art al- 
 mighty. Thou makest the night to succeed the 
 day; thou bringest forth the living out of the dead, 
 and thou bringest forth the dead out of the living ; 
 and providest food for whom thou wilt, without 
 measure. Let not the faithful take the infidels 
 for their protectors, rather than the faithful : he 
 who doth this, shall not be protected of God at 
 all ; unless ye fear any danger from them : but 
 God warneth you to beware of himself; for unto 
 God must ye return. Say, Whether ye conceal 
 that which is in your breasts, or whether ye de- 
 clare it, God knoweth it ; for he knoweth what- 
 ever is in heaven, and whatever is on earth ; God 
 is almighty. On the last day every soul shall find
 
 APPENDIX. 385 
 
 the good which it hath wrought, present ; and the 
 evil which it hath wrought, it shall wish that be- 
 tween itself and that were a wide distance : but 
 God warneth you to beware of himself; for God 
 is gracious unto his servants. Say, If ye love God, 
 follow me : then God shall love you and forgive 
 you your sins ; for God is gracious and merciful. 
 Say, Obey God, and his apostle : but if ye go 
 back, verily God loveth not the unbelievers. God 
 hath surely chosen Adam and Noah, and the fa- 
 mily of Abraham, and the family of Imran, above 
 the rest of the world; a race descending the one 
 from the other ; God is he who heareth and 
 knoweth. Remember when the wife of Imran 
 said, Lord, verily I have vowed unto thee that 
 which is in my womb, to be dedicated to thy ser- 
 vice : accept it therefore of me ; for thou art he 
 who heareth and knoweth. And when she was 
 delivered of it, she said, Lord, verily I have brought 
 forth a female, (and God well knew what she had 
 brought forth,) and a male is not as a female; I have 
 called her Mary; and I commend her to thy pro- 
 tection, and also her issue, against Satan driven 
 away with stones. Therefore the Lord accepted 
 her with a gracious acceptance, and caused her to 
 bear an excellent offspring. And Zacharias took 
 care of the child. Whenever Zacharias went into 
 the chamber to her, he found provisions with her; 
 and he said, Mary, whence hadst thou this? 
 She answered, This is from God : for God pro- 
 videth for whom he pleaseth without measure. 
 There Zacharias called on his Lord, and said, 
 Lord, give me from thee a good offspring, for thou 
 art the hearer of prayer. And the angels called 
 to him, while he stood praying in the chamber, 
 2c "
 
 386 APPENDIX. 
 
 saying, Verily God promiseth thee a son named 
 John, who shall bear witness to the Word which 
 cometh from God ; an honourable person, chaste, 
 and one of the righteous prophets. He answered, 
 Lord, how shall I have a son, when old age hath 
 overtaken me, and my wife is barren ? The angel 
 said, So God doth that which he pleaseth. Za- 
 charias, answered, Lord, give me a sign. The 
 angel said, Thy sign shall be, that thou shalt 
 speak unto no man for three days, otherwise than 
 by gesture : remember thy Lord often, and praise 
 him evening and morning. And then the angels 
 said, O Mary, verily God hath chosen thee, and 
 hath purified thee, and hath chosen thee above 
 all the women of the world. O Mary, be devout 
 towards thy Lord, and worship, and bow down 
 with those who bow down. This is a secret his- 
 tory: we reveal it unto thee, although thou wast 
 not present with them when they threw in their 
 rods to cast lots which of them should have the 
 education of Mary; neither wast thou with them, 
 when they strove among themselves. When the 
 angels said, O Marv, verily God sendeth thee 
 good tidings, that thou shalt bear the Word, pro- 
 ceeding from himself; his name shall be Christ 
 Jesus the son of Mary, honourable in this world 
 and in the world to come, and one of those who 
 approach near to the presence of God ; and he 
 shall speak unto men in the cradle, and when he 
 is grown up ; and he shall be one of the righteous; 
 she answered, Lord, how shall I have a son, since 
 a man hath not touched me ? The angel said, So 
 God createth that which he pleaseth ; when he 
 decreeth a thing, he only saith unto it, Be, and 
 it is: God shall teach him the Scripture, and
 
 APPENDIX. 387 
 
 wisdom, and the law, and the gospel; and shall 
 appoint him his apostle to the children of Israel ; 
 and he shall say, Verily I come unto you with a 
 sign from your Lord ; for I will make before you, 
 of clay, as it were the figure of a bird ; then I 
 will breathe thereon, and it shall become a bird, 
 by the permission of God : and I will heal him 
 that hath been blind from his birth; and the 
 leper : and I will raise the dead by the permission 
 of God : and I will prophesy unto you what ye 
 eat, and what ye lay up for store in your houses. 
 Verily herein will be a sign unto you, if ye be- 
 lieve. And I come to confirm the Law which 
 was revealed before me, and to allow unto you, as 
 lawful, part of that which hath been forbidden 
 you : and I come unto you with a sign from your 
 Lord ; therefore fear God, and obey me. Verily 
 God is my Lord, and your Lord : therefore serve 
 him. This is the right way. But when Jesus 
 perceived their unbelief, he said, Who will be my 
 helpers towards God? The apostles answered, 
 We will be the helpers of God ; we believe in 
 God, and do thou bear witness that we are true 
 believers. O Lord, AVC believe in that which thou 
 hast sent down, and we have followed thy apostle; 
 write us down therefore with those who bear wit- 
 ness of him. And the Jews devised a stratagem 
 against him ; but God devised a stratagem against 
 them ; and God is the best deviser of stratagems. 
 When God said, O Jesus, verily I will cause thee 
 to die, and I will take thea up unto me, and I 
 will deliver thee from the unbelievers ; and I will 
 place those who follow thee above the unbelievers 
 until the day of resurrection : then unto me shall 
 ye return, and I will judge between you of that 
 '2c2
 
 388 APPENDIX. 
 
 concerning which ye disagree. Moreover as for 
 the infidels, I will punish them with a grievous 
 punishment in this world, and in that which is to 
 come ; and there shall be none to help them. But 
 they who believe, and do that which is right, he 
 shall give them their reward ; for God loveth not 
 the wicked doers. These signs and this prudent 
 admonition do we rehearse unto thee. Verily the 
 likeness of Jesus, in the sight of God, is as the 
 likeness of Adam : he created him out of the dust, 
 and then said unto him, Be ; and he was. This 
 is the truth from thy Lord ; be not therefore one 
 of those who doubt : and whoever shall dispute 
 with thee concerning him, after the knowledge 
 which hath been given thee, say unto them, Come, 
 let us call together our sons, and your sons, and 
 our wives, and your wives, and ourselves, and 
 yourselves : then let us make imprecations, and 
 lay the curse of God on those who lie. Verily 
 this is a true history: and there is no God, but 
 God ; and God is most mighty and wise. If they 
 turn back, God well knoweth the evil-doers. Say, 
 O ye who have received the Scripture, come to a just 
 determination between us and you ; that we wor- 
 ship not any except God, and associate no crea- 
 ture with him ; and that the one of us take not 
 the other for lords, beside God. But, if they 
 turn back, say, Bear witness that we are true be- 
 lievers. O ye to whom the Scriptures have been 
 given, why do ye dispute concerning Abraham, 
 since the Law and the Gospel were not sent down 
 until after him ? Do ye not therefore understand ? 
 Behold ye are they who dispute concerning that 
 which ye have some knowledge in ; why there- 
 fore do ye dispute concerning that which ye have
 
 APPENDIX. 389 
 
 no knowledge of? God knoweth, but ye know 
 not. Abraham was neither a Jew, nor a Chris- 
 tian ; but he was of the true religion, one resigned 
 unto God, and was not of the number of the ido- 
 laters. Verily the men who are the nearest of 
 kin unto Abraham, are they who follow him ; and 
 this prophet, and they who believe on him : God 
 is the patron of the faithful. Some of those who 
 hare received the Scriptures desire to seduce you ; 
 but they seduce themselves only, and they per- 
 ceive it not. O ye who have received the Scrip- 
 tures, why do ye not believe in the signs of God, 
 since ye are witnesses of them ? O ye who have 
 received the Scriptures, why do ye clothe truth 
 with vanity, and knowingly hide the truth ? And 
 some of those to whom the Scriptures were given, 
 say, Believe in that which hath been sent down 
 unto those who believe, in the beginning of the 
 day; and deny it in the end thereof: that they 
 may go back from their faith : and believe him 
 only who followeth your religion. Say, Verily 
 the true direction is the direction of God, that 
 there may be given unto some other a revelation 
 like unto what hath been given unto you. Will 
 they dispute with you before your Lord ? Say, 
 Surely excellence is in the hand of God; he 
 giveth it unto whom he pleaseth; God is bounte- 
 ous and wise ; he will confer peculiar mercy ou 
 whom he pleaseth ; for God is indued with great 
 beneficence. There is of those who have received 
 the Scriptures, unto whom if thou trust a talent, 
 he will restore it unto thee ; and there is also of 
 them, unto whom if thou trust a dinar, he will 
 not restore it unto thee, unless thou stand over 
 him continually with great urgency. This_they
 
 390 APPENDIX. 
 
 do because they say, We are not obliged to ob- 
 serve justice with the heathen : but they utter a lie 
 against God knowingly. Yea, whoso, keepeth 
 his covenant, and feareth God, God surely loveth 
 those who fear- him. But they who make mer- 
 chandise of God's covenant, and of their oaths, 
 for a small price, shall have no portion in the next 
 life ; neither shall God speak to them, or regard 
 them, on the day of resurrection ; nor shall he 
 cleanse them ; but they shall suffer a grievous pu- 
 nishment. And there are certainly some of them 
 who read the Scriptures perversely, that ye may 
 think what they read to be really in the Scrip- 
 tures, yet it is not in the Scripture ; and they say, 
 This is from God ; but it is not from God : and 
 they speak that which is false concerning God, 
 against their own knowledge. It is not fit for a 
 man, that God should give him a book of revela- 
 tions, and wisdom, and prophecy; and then he 
 should say unto men, Be ye worshippers of me, 
 besides God ; but he ought to say, Be ye perfect 
 in knowledge, and in works, since ye know the 
 Scriptures, and exercise yourselves therein. God 
 hath not commanded you to take the angels and 
 the prophets for your Lords: Will he command you 
 to become infidels, after ye have been true be- 
 lievers ? And remember when God accepted the 
 covenant of the prophets, saying, This verily is 
 the Scripture and the Avisdom which I have given 
 you : hereafter shall an apostle come unto you, 
 confirming the truth of that Scripture which is 
 with you ; ye shall surely believe on him, and ye 
 shall assist him. God said, Are ye firmly re- 
 solved, and do ye accept my covenant on this con- 
 dition ? They answered, We are firmly resolved.
 
 APPENDIX, 391 
 
 God said, Be ye therefore witnesses; and I also 
 bear witness with you : and whosoever turneth 
 back after this, they are surely the transgressors. 
 Do they therefore seek any other religion but 
 God's? since to him is resigned whosoever is in 
 heaven or on earth, voluntarily, or of force : and 
 to him shall they return. Say, We believe in 
 God, and that which hath been sent down unto 
 us, and that which was sent down unto Abraham, 
 and Ismael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, 
 and that which was delivered to Moses, and Jesus, 
 and the prophets, from their Lord ; we make no 
 distinction between any of them ; and to him are 
 we resigned. Whoever followeth any other reli- 
 gion than Islam, it shall not be accepted of him : 
 and in the next life he shall be of those who pe- 
 rish. How shall God direct men who have be- 
 come infidels after they had believed, and borne 
 witness that the apostle was true, and manifest 
 declarations of the divine will had come unto 
 them ? for God directeth not the ungodly people. 
 Their reward shall be, that on them shall fall the 
 curse of God and of angels, and of all mankind : 
 they shall remain under the same for ever : their 
 torment shall not be mitigated, neither shall they 
 be regarded ; except those who repent after this, 
 and amend : for God is gracious and merciful. 
 Moreover they who become infidels after they 
 have believed, and yet increase in infidelity, their 
 repentance shall in no wise be accepted ; and they 
 are those who go astray. Verily they who believe 
 not, and die in their unbelief, the world full of 
 gold shall in no wise be accepted from any of them, 
 even though he should give it for his ransom : 
 they shall suffer a grievous punishment, and they
 
 392 APPENDIX. 
 
 shall have none to help them. Ye will never 
 attain unto righteousness, until ye give in alms of 
 that which ye love : and whatever ye give, God 
 knoweth it. All food was permitted unto the 
 children of Israel, except what Israel forbade unto 
 himself, before the Pentateuch was sent down. 
 Say unto the Jews, Bring hither the Pentateuch, 
 and read it, if ye speak truth. Whoever therefore 
 contriveth a lie against God after this, they will 
 be evil-doers. Say, God is true; follow ye there- 
 fore the religion of Abraham the orthodox ; for he 
 was no idolater. Verily the first house appointed 
 unto men to worship in was that which is in 
 Mecca ; blessed, and a direction to all creatures. 
 Therein are manifest signs : the place where 
 Abraham stood; and whoever entereth therein, 
 shall be safe. And it is a duty towards God, in- 
 cumbent on those who are able to go thither, to 
 visit this house : but whosoever disbelieveth, verily 
 God needeth not the service of any creature. Say, 
 O ye who have received the Scriptures, why do ye 
 not believe in the signs of God ? Say, O ye who 
 have received the Scriptures, why do ye keep 
 back, from the way of God, him who believeth ? 
 Ye seek to make it crooked, and yet are witnesses 
 that it is the right : but God will not be unmind- 
 ful of what ye do. O true believers, if ye obey 
 some of those who have received the Scripture, 
 they will render you infidels, after ye have be- 
 lieved : and how can ye be infidels, when the 
 signs of God are read unto you, and his apostle is 
 among you? But he who cleaveth firmly unto God, 
 is already directed into the right way. O believers, 
 fear God with his true fear ; and die not, unless 
 ye also be true believers. And cleave all of you
 
 APPENDIX. 393 
 
 unto the'covenant of God, and depart not from it : 
 and remember the favour of God towards you : 
 since ye were enemies, and he reconciled your 
 hearts, and ye became companions and brethren 
 by his favour : and ye were on the brink of a pit 
 of fire, and he delivered you thence. Thus God 
 declareth unto you his signs, that ye may be di- 
 rected. Let there be people among you, who in- 
 vite to the best religion ; and command that which 
 is just, and forbid that which is evil; and they 
 shall be happy. And be not as they who are di- 
 vided, and disagree in matters of religion, after 
 manifest proofs have been brought unto them ; 
 they shall suft'er a great torment. On the day of 
 resurrection some faces shall become white, and 
 other faces shall become black. And unto them 
 whose faces shall become black, God will say, 
 Have ye returned unto your unbelief, after ye had 
 believed ? therefore taste the punishment, for that 
 ye have been unbelievers : but they whose faces 
 shall become white, shall be in the mercy of God ; 
 therein shall they remain for ever. These are the 
 signs of God ; we recite them unto thee with 
 truth. God will not deal unjustly with his crea- 
 tures. And to God belongeth whatever is in 
 heaven and on earth; and to God shall all things 
 return. Ye are the best nation that hath been 
 raised up unto mankind : ye command that wftich 
 is just, and ye forbid that which is unjust, and ye 
 believe in God. And, if they who have received 
 the Scriptures had believed, it had surely been the 
 better for them ; there are believers among them, 
 but the greater part of them are transgressors. 
 They shall not hurt you, unless with a slight hurt; 
 and, if they fight against you, they shall turn their
 
 394 APPENDIX. 
 
 backs to you ; and they shall not be helped. They 
 are smitten with vileness, wheresoever they are 
 found, unless they obtain security by entering into 
 a treaty with God, and a treaty with men ; and 
 they draw on themselves indignation from God, 
 and they are afflicted with poverty. This they 
 suffer, because they disbelieved the signs of God, 
 and slew the prophets unjustly; this, because they 
 were rebellious and transgressed. Yet they are 
 not all alike : there are of those who have re- 
 ceived the Scriptures, upright people ; they medi- 
 tate on the signs of God in the night season, and 
 worship; they believe in God, and the last day; 
 and command that which is just, and forbid that 
 which is unjust, and zealously strive to excel in 
 good works : these are of the righteous. And ye 
 shall not be denied the reward of the good which 
 ye do ; for God knoweth the pious. As for the 
 unbelievers, their wealth shall not profit them at 
 all, neither their children, against God ; they shall 
 be the companions of hell-fire ; they shall con- 
 tinue therein for ever. The likeness of that which 
 they lay out in this present life, is as a wind where- 
 in there is a scorching cold ; it falleth on the 
 standing corn of those men who have injured their 
 own souls, and destroyeth it. And God dealeth 
 not unjustly with them ; but they injure their 
 own souls. O true believers, contract not an in- 
 timate friendship with any besides yourselves : 
 they will not fail to corrupt you. They wish for 
 that which may cause you to perish : their hatred 
 hath already appeared from out of their mouths ; 
 but what their breasts conceal is yet more invete- 
 rate. We have already shown you signs of their 
 ill-will towards you, if ye understand. Behold,
 
 APPENDIX. 395 
 
 ye love them, and they do not love you : ye be- 
 lieve in all the Scriptures ; and when they meet 
 you, they say. We believe ; but, when they as- 
 semble privately together, they bite their fingers' 
 ends out of Avrath against you. Say unto them, 
 Die in your wrath : verily God knoweth the in- 
 nermost part of your breasts. If good happen 
 unto you, it grieveth them ; and if evil befal you, 
 tney rejoice at it. But if ye be patient and fear 
 God, their subtlety shall not hurt you at all ; for 
 God comprehendeth whatever they do. Call to 
 mind when thou wentest forth early from thy fa- 
 mily, that thou mightest prepare the faithful a 
 camp for war ; and God heard and knew it ; when 
 two companies of you were anxiously thoughtful, 
 so that ye became faint-hearted ; but God was 
 the supporter of them both ; and in God let the 
 faithful trust. And God had already given you 
 the victory of Bedr, when ye were inferior in 
 number; therefore fear God, that ye may be 
 thankful. When thou saidst unto the faithful, Is 
 it not enough for you, that your Lord should as- 
 sist you with three thousand angels, sent down 
 from heaven ? Verily if ye persevere, and fear 
 God, and your enemies come upon you suddenly, 
 your Lord will assist you with five thousand 
 angels, distinguished by horses and atti*e. And 
 this God designed only as good tidings for you, 
 that your hearts might rest secure : for victory is 
 from God alone, the mighty, the wise. That he 
 should cut off the uttermost part of the unbe- 
 lievers, or cast them down, or that they should be 
 overthrown and unsuccessful, is nothing to thee. 
 It is no business of thine, whether God be turned 
 unto them, or whether he punish them ; they are
 
 396 APPENDIX. 
 
 surely unjust doers. To God belongeth whatso- 
 ever is in heaven and on earth ; he spareth whom 
 he pleaseth, and he punisheth whom he pleaseth; 
 for God is merciful. O true believers, devour not 
 usury, doubling it twofold ; but fear God, that ye 
 may prosper ; and fear the fire which is prepared 
 for the unbelievers ; and obey God, and his apostle, 
 that ye may obtain mercy. And run with emula- 
 tion to obtain remission from your Lord, and para- 
 dise, whose breadth equalleth the heavens and 
 the earth, which is prepared for the godly; who 
 give alms in prosperity and adversity; who bridle 
 their anger, and forgive men : for God loveth the 
 beneficent. And who, after they have committed 
 a crime, or dealt unjustly with their own souls, 
 remember God, and ask pardon for their sins, (for 
 who forgiveth sins except God ?) and persevere 
 not in what they have done knowingly : their re- 
 ward shall be pardon from their Lord, and gardens 
 wherein rivers flow, they shall remain therein for 
 ever : and how excellent is the reward of those 
 who labour! There have already been before 
 you examples of punishment of infidels, therefore 
 go through the earth, and behold what hath been 
 the end of those who accuse God's apostles of im- 
 posture. This book is a declaration unto men, 
 and a direction, and an admonition to the pious. 
 And be not dismayed, neither be ye grieved ; for 
 ye shall be superior to the unbelievers, if ye be- 
 lieve. If a wound hath happened unto you in 
 war,* a like wound hath already happened unto 
 the unbelieving people : and we cause these days 
 of different success interchangeably to succeed 
 
 ' This passage is an allusion to the rererse at Ohod, for 
 which see page 137.
 
 APPENDIX. 397 
 
 each other among men : that God may know those 
 who believe, and may have martyrs from among 
 you; (God loveth not the workers of iniquity;) 
 and that God might prove those who believe, and 
 destroy the infidels. Did ye imagine that ye 
 should enter paradise, when as yet God knew not 
 those among you who fought strenuously in his 
 cause ; nor knew those who persevered with pa- 
 tience ? Moreover ye did sometime wish for death 
 before that ye met it ; but ye have now seen it, 
 and ye looked on, but retreated from it. Mahomet 
 is no more than an apostle ; the other apostles 
 have already deceased before him : if he die there- 
 fore, or be slain, will ye turn hack on your heels ! 
 But he who turneth back on his heels, will not 
 hurt God at all; and God will surely reward the 
 thankful. No soul can die unless by the permis- 
 sion of God, according to what is written in the 
 book containing the determinations of things. 
 And whoso chooseth the reward of this world, we 
 will give him thereof: hut whoso chooseth the 
 reward of the world to come, we will give him 
 thereof; and we will surely reward the thankful. 
 How many prophets have encountered those who 
 had many myriads of troops ! and yet they de- 
 sponded not in their mind for what had befallen 
 them in fighting for the religion of God; and 
 were not weakened, neither behaved themselves 
 n an abject manner : God loveth those who per- 
 severe patiently. And their speech was no other 
 than that they said, Our Lord, forgive us our of- 
 fences, and our transgressions in our business ; 
 and confirm our feet, and help us against the un- 
 believing people. And God gave them the re- 
 ward of this world, and a glorious reward in the
 
 398 APPENDIX. 
 
 life to come ; for God loveth the well-doers. ye 
 who believe, if ye obey the infidels, they will'cause 
 you to turn back on your heels, and ye will be 
 turned back and perish : but God is your Lord ; 
 and hel's the best helper. We will surely cast a 
 dread into the hearts of the unbelievers, because 
 they have associated with God that concerning 
 which he sent them down no power : their dwell- 
 ing shall be the fire of hell : and the receptacle of 
 the wicked shall be miserable. God had already 
 made good unto you his promise, when ye de- 
 troyed them by his permission, until ye became 
 faint-hearted, and disputed concerning the com- 
 mand of the apostle, and were rebellious; after 
 God had shown you what ye desired. Some of 
 you chose this present world, and others of you 
 chose the world to come. Then he turned you to 
 flight from before them, that he might make trial 
 of you ; (but he hath now pardoned you ; for God 
 is indued with beneficence towards the faithful ;) 
 when ye went up as ye fled, and looked not back 
 on any: while the apostle called you, in the ut- 
 termost part of you. Therefore God rewarded 
 you with affliction on affliction, that ye be not 
 grieved hereafter for the spoils which ye fail of, 
 nor for that which befalleth you ; for God is well 
 acquainted with whatever ye do. Then he sent 
 down upon you, after affliction, security; a soft 
 sleep, which fell on some part of you ; but other 
 part was troubled by their own souls; falsely 
 thinking of God a foolish imagination, saying, 
 Will anything of the matter happen unto us ? Say, 
 Verily the matter belongeth wholly unto God. 
 They concealed in their minds what they declared 
 not unto thee ; saying, If anything of the matter
 
 APPENDIX. 399 
 
 had happened unto us, we had not been slain 
 here. Answer, If ye had been in your houses, 
 verily they would have gone forth to fight, whose 
 slaughter was decreed, to the places where they 
 died : and this came to pass, that God might try 
 what was in your breasts, and might discern what 
 was in your hearts ; for God knovveth the inner- 
 most parts of the breasts of men. Verily they 
 among you who turned their backs on the day 
 whereon the two armies met each other at Ohod, 
 Satan caused them to slip, for some crime which 
 they had committed ; but now hath God forgiven 
 them ; for God is gracious and merciful. O true 
 believers, be not as they who believed not, and 
 said of their brethren, when they had journeyed in 
 the land, or had been at Avar, If they had been 
 with us, those had not died, nor had these been 
 slain : whereas what befel them was so ordained 
 that God might make it matter of sighing in their 
 hearts. God giveth life, and causeth to die : and 
 God seeth that which ye do. Moreover, if ye be 
 slain, or die in defence of the religion of God ; 
 verily pardon from God, and mercy, is better than 
 what they heap together of worldly riches. And 
 if ye die, or be slain, verily unto God shall ye be 
 gathered. And as to the mercy granted unto the 
 disobedient from God, thou, O Mahomet ! hast 
 been mild towards them ; but if thou hadst been 
 severe, and hard-hearted, they had surely sepa- 
 rated themselves from about thee. Therefore for- 
 give them, and ask pardon for them : and consult 
 them in the affair of war ; and, after thou hast de- 
 liberated, trust in God ; for God loveth those that 
 trust in him. If God help you, none shall con- 
 quer you ; but if he desert you, who is it that will
 
 400 APPENDIX. 
 
 help you after him ? Therefore in God let the 
 faithful trust. It is not the part of a prophet to 
 defraud ; for he who defraudeth, shall bring with 
 him what he hath defrauded any one of on the 
 day of the resurrection. Then shall every soul 
 be paid what he hath gained ; and they shall not 
 be treated unjustly. Shall he therefore who fol- 
 loweth that which is well-pleasing unto God, be 
 as he who bringeth on himself Avrath from God, 
 and whose receptacle is hell ? an evil journey 
 shall it be thither. There shall be degrees of re- 
 wards and punishments with God, for God seeth 
 what they do. NowTiath God been gracious unto the 
 believers when he raised up among them an apostle 
 of their own nation, who should recite his signs 
 unto them and purify them, and teach them the 
 book of the Koran and wisdom; whereas they 
 were before in manifest error. After a misfor- 
 tune hath befallen you at Ohod, (ye had already 
 obtained two equal advantages,) do ye say, Whence 
 cometh this? Answer, This is from yourselves; 
 for God is almighty. And what happened unto 
 you, on the day whereon the two armies met, was 
 certainly by the permission of God ; and that he 
 might know the faithful, and that he might know 
 the ungodly. It was said unto them, Come, fight 
 for the religion of God, or drive back the enemy: 
 they answered, If we had known ye went out to 
 fight, we had certainly followed you. They were 
 on that day nearer unto unbelief, than they were 
 to faith ; they spake with their mouths, what was 
 not in their hearts : but God perfectly knew what 
 they concealed ; who said of their brethren, while 
 themselves staid at home, If they had obeyed us, 
 they had not been slain. Say, Then keep back
 
 APPENDIX. 401 
 
 death from yourselves, if ye say truth. Thou 
 shalt in no wise reckon those who have heen slain 
 at Ohod in the cause of God, dead ; nay, they are 
 sustained alive with their Lord, rejoicing for what 
 God of his favour hath granted them ; and being 
 glad for those, who, coming after them, have not 
 as yet overtaken them ; because there shall no 
 fear come on them, neither shall they be grieved. 
 They are filled with joy for the favour which they 
 have received from God, and his bounty; and for 
 that God suffereth not the reward of the faithful 
 to perish. They who hearkened unto God and 
 his apostle, after a wound had befallen them at 
 Ohod, such of them as do good works, and fear 
 God, shall have a great reward ; unto whom cer- 
 tain men said, Verily the men of Mecca have al- 
 ready gathered forces against you, be ye therefore 
 afraid of them ; but this increased their faith, and 
 they said, God is our support, and the most excel- 
 lent patron. Wherefore they returned with favour 
 from God, and advantage ; no evil befel them : 
 and they followed what was well-pleasing unto 
 God ; for God is endowed with great liberality. 
 Verily that devil would cause you to fear his 
 friends: but be ye not afraid of them; but fear 
 me, if ye be true believers. They shall not grieve 
 thee, who emulously hasten unto infidelity; for 
 they shall never hurt God at all. God will not 
 give them a part in the next life, and they shall 
 suffer a great punishment. Surely those who pur- 
 chase infidelity with faith, shall by no means hurt 
 God at all, but they shall suffer a grievous punish- 
 ment. And let not the unbelievers think, because 
 we grant them lives long and prosperous, that it is 
 better for their souls: we grant them long and 
 2
 
 4U2 APPENDIX. 
 
 prosperous lives only that their iniquity may be 
 increased; and they shall suffer an ignominious 
 punishment. God is not disposed to leave the 
 faithful in the condition which ye are now in, 
 until he sever the wicked from the good ; nor is 
 God disposed to make you acquainted with what 
 is a hidden secret; but God chooseth such of his 
 apostles as he pleaseth, to reveal his mind unto : 
 believe therefore in God, and his apostles : and if 
 ye believe, and fear God, ye shall receive a great 
 reward. And let not those who are covetous of 
 what God of his bounty hath granted them, ima- 
 gine that their avarice is better for them . nay, 
 rather it is worse for them. That which they 
 have covetously reserved shall be bound as a 
 collar about their neck, on the day of the resur- 
 rection: unto God belongeth the inheritance of 
 heaven and earth; and God is well acquainted 
 with what ye do. God hath already heard the 
 saying of those who said, Verily God is poor, and 
 we are rich : we will surely write down what they 
 have said, and the slaughter which they have 
 made of the prophets without a cause ; and will 
 say unto them, Taste ye the pain of burning. 
 This shall they suffer for the evil which their 
 hands have sent before them, and because God is 
 not unjust towards mankind : who also say, Surely 
 God hath commanded us, that we should not give 
 credit to any apostle, until one should come unto 
 us with a sacrifice, which should be consumed by 
 fire. Say, Apostles have already come unto you 
 before me, with plain proofs, and with the miracle 
 Avhich ye mention : why therefore have ye slain 
 them, if ye speak truth ? If they accuse thee of 
 imposture, the apostles before thee have also been 
 accounted imposters, who brought evident demon-
 
 APPENDIX. 403 
 
 strations, and the Scriptures, and the book which 
 enlighteneth the understanding. Every soul shall 
 taste of death, and ye shall have your rewards on 
 the day of resurrection. ; and he who shall be far 
 removed from hell-fire, and shall be admitted into 
 paradise, shall be happy: but the present life is 
 only a deceitful provision. Ye shall surely be 
 proved in your possessions, and in your persons ; 
 and ye shall hear from those unto whom the Scrip- 
 ture was delivered before you, and from the ido- 
 laters, much hurt : but if ye be patient, and fear 
 God. this is a matter that is absolutely determined. 
 And when God accepted the covenant of those to 
 whom the book of the law was given, Faying, Ye 
 shall surely publish it unto mankind, ye shall not 
 hide it : yet they threw it behind their backs, and 
 sold it for a small price ; but woeful is the price 
 for which they have sold it. Think not that they 
 who rejoice at what they have done, and expect 
 to be praised for what they have not done ; think 
 not, O prophet, that they shall escape from punish- 
 ment, for they shall suffer a painful punishment ; 
 and unto God belongeth the kingdom of heaven 
 and earth : God is almighty. Now in the crea- 
 tion of heaven and earth, and the vicissitudes of 
 night and day, are signs unto those who are in- 
 dued with understanding; who remember God 
 standing, and sitting, and lying on their sides ; 
 and meditate on the creation of heaven and earth, 
 saying, O Lord, thou hast not created this in vain ; 
 far be it from thee : therefore deliver us from the 
 torment of hell-fire : O Lord, surely whom thou 
 shalt throw into the fire, thou wilt also cover with 
 shame : nor shall the ungodly have any to help 
 them. O Lord, we have heard a preacher in- 
 viting us to the faith, and saying, Believe in your
 
 404 APPENDIX. 
 
 Lord : and we believed. O Lord, forgive us there- 
 fore our sins, and expiate our evil deeds from us, 
 and make us to die with the righteous. O Lord, 
 give us also the reward which thou hast promised 
 by thy apostles ; and cover us not with shame on 
 the day of resurrection : for thou art not contrary 
 to the promise. Their Lord therefore answereth 
 them, saying, I will not suffer the work of him 
 among you who worketh to be lost, whether he be 
 male or female: the one of you is from the other. 
 They therefore who have left their country, and 
 have turned out of their houses, and have suffered 
 for my sake, and have been slain in battle ; verily 
 I will expiate their evil deeds from them, and I 
 will surely bring them into gardens watered by 
 rivers ; a reward from God : and with God is the 
 most excellent reward. Let not the prosperous 
 dealing of the unbelievers in the land deceive 
 thee : it is but a slender provision ; and then 
 their receptacle shall be hell : an unhappy couch 
 shall it be. But they who fear their Lord shall 
 have gardens through which rivers flow, they shall 
 continue therein for ever : this is the gift of God ; 
 for what is with God shall be better for the right- 
 eous than short-lived worldly prosperity. There 
 are some of those who have received the Scrip- 
 tures, who believe in God, and that which hath 
 been sent down to you, and that which hath been 
 sent down to them, submitting themselves unto 
 God ; they sell not the signs of God for a small 
 price : these shall have their reward with their 
 Lord ; for God is swift in taking an account. O 
 true believers, be patient, and strive to excel in 
 patience, and be constant-minded, and fear God, 
 that ye may be happy. 
 
 J. Haddon, Catlle Street, Fiibury. 
 
 L
 
 UCSB LIBRARY
 
 
 :> 
 
 
 VSTWV 
 
 5ten 
 
 >>:s*:5 
 
 J3fe>S 3 
 
 >3tt>>^Bk J9 
 
 .^S> * 
 
 5* ?2
 
 ?^ 
 
 -> ' ^ 
 jKjX 
 
 >. 
 
 ~> 
 ^> 
 >^> 
 
 
 ^>^> 
 ^ea 
 j> ^ 
 - 
 
 |R> 
 
 -> ^> 
 
 J 
 
 . * 
 
 
 - 
 
 ' 
 > 
 
 :^.-w3P 

 
 <; " ^.-'""'- : H 
 
 %s 
 
 
 
 sSW 
 
 v. -.- A . ^^.W^ :