Remarks on the Nature of Muhammadanism [On the Creation]

2.—ON THE CREATION

The Muhammadans believe in good and evil spirits, or in angels and devils, like the Christians; but, though they have taken the doctrine concerning them from Scripture, like other doctrines borrowed from this source, they have greatly disfigured it, and deprived it of its sublime simplicity as well as of its practical tendency, as will be seen by a few extracts from their traditions on this head.

Satan was one of the higher angels, but because he was disobedient when God commanded all angels to pay homage to Adam, he became Satan

and was cast out of heaven. He then became the father of the devils; and, as is related in a tradition to be relied upon, his offspring lay eggs and hatch them, and his children are all male children. There is no female amongst them; Hayát ul Kúlúb, vol. i. leaf 16.” Besides angels and devils, they believe in Jins or Déws which according to their ideas are between men and angels, or according to some, below man. Some of them are good, and some bad; they live somewhere on earth or in the air, and can appear to man, and have intercourse with him. These consist of both sexes; they marry and have children.

The angels are, according to their traditions, of an immense stature; it seems Muhammad and his followers thought this a necessary attribute of perfection. To give an idea of the size of one of the angels bearing the throne of God, it is said in the Mishcát, vol. ii. p. 651, “Verily, the distance from the lower part of his ears to his shoulders, is 70 years’ journey.” Babívihi relates, according to an approved tradition, that they once asked the Amir ul Mumenín (the prince of the believers, that is Ali) about the power of God, and he said, “The Lord of the universe has some angels, who are so large, that if one of them should come down upon earth, the earth could not contain him, on account of the magnitude of his body and the expanse of his wings; and there are some of the angels of whom neither jins nor man would be able to give any description, on account of their immense

size and the exceeding beauty of their form and face; for how can an angel be described, who is so great, that there is 700 years’ journey from his shoulder to his earlap? And there are some which, not mentioning the size of their body, fill alone with one of their wings the vault of heaven. Others are so great that the heavens reach only to their loins, and others, standing on the air, the earth* comes up only to their knees; and there are others again, whose thumb-pit could contain all the waters of the world, if they were to be poured into it. Again, others are so great, that in the waters of their eyes, or dropping from their eyes, ships can sail for years.” (Ain ul Hayát, leaf 26.) And as if this size were not enough, it is said, in the same place, according to another tradition, “that there is an angel, the distance from his ear to his eye amounts to the length of 500 years of a bird’s flight.” (Ibid. leaf 27.) Muhammad in his journey to heaven, when Gabriel led him about to show him the wonders of heaven, saw, among many other wonderful things, described at large in their Hadiths, an angel called Khorús, or the Cock, of whom it is said, “His feet stand on the extremities of the seventh earth, and his head reaches to the throne of God. He has two wings, and when he unfolds his wings they reach from east to west.

* According to tradition there are seven earths as well as seven heavens contained one in the other, each of the heavens being 500 years’ way thick, and as many years distant from the other.

At the dawn of the morning he opens his wings and strikes them together, singing aloud the praise of God. And as soon as his voice is heard, all the cocks on the earth strike their wings together and crow, singing the praise of God, and when he ceases, they too cease crowing. The wings of this heavenly Khorús are white, the feathers under the wings are green, and the beauty of these two colours is beyond description.” (Hayát ul Kúlúb, vol. ii. leaf 175.) Another of the wonders which were shown to Muhammad in heaven by his guide, was an angel, half of his body consisted of snow and the other half of fire; the fire did not melt the snow, and the snow did not extinguish the fire. And he heard the angel say with a loud voice, “O God, I praise thee, that thou hast prevented the heat of the fire from melting the snow, and the cold of the snow from extinguishing the fire.” (Ibid. leaf 174.) Again, another of the wonders which Muhammad saw in heaven has been related by him in the following manner: “In passing on I saw one of the angels, sitting in a company, having the whole world between his knees, and a table of light in his hand. On the table was a name written, and turning his eyes neither to the right nor to the left, he looked with a doleful face always on this table;* I said, O Gabriel, who is

* On the table in the hand of the angel of death are written the names of those who are to die. And as soon as any names appear he goes and takes their souls, that is, makes them die. The way in which he took the soul of Moses is related in the Mishcát, vol. ii. p. 647, in the following manner: “The angel of death came to Moses and said, God sent me to take your soul; approve of his order. Then Moses gave him a slap over his eyes, and blinded him. Then the angel of death returned to God, and said, Verily, you sent me to a servant who did not wish for death, and verily he has blinded my eyes. Then God gave the angel his sight again, and said: Return to him, and say, Do you wish for long life? If you do, put your hand upon the back of a bullock, and your life shall be as the number of hairs you cover with it. His majesty Moses said, What is after long life? The angel said, To die. Moses said, Then I choose death now.” In Hayát ul Kúlúb, vol. i. leaf 177, however, the death of Moses is given in the following story: “Moses one day, when going with Joshua on the mountain Sinai, met at the top of it a man with a hoe and a basket. Moses said to him, Where are you going to? He said, One of the friends of God has died, and I am going to dig the grave for him. Moses said, Shall I assist you in digging the grave? He said, Yes. They digged therefore the grave together, and when they had finished, the man wanted to go down into the grave to see if it was well digged; but Moses said, Let me go. And when Moses had gone in, and seen the grave and approved of it, the angel of death came and took his holy soul, and the mountain closed itself over the grave, which therefore remained undiscovered.” For this, as for many other foolish stories, the Muhammadans are, no doubt, indebted to the Jewish rabbis.

that? He said, This is the Maluk-ul-maut, angel of death, always occupied in taking the souls. He has the most difficult work of all the angels, and more to do than all others. I said, Does he indeed himself take the soul of every person? He said, Yes. I said, O Maluk-ul-maut, canst thou see them wherever they are, and be present at every one of them? He said, Yes, for according to the power which God has given me, the whole world is to me but like a penny in the hands of one

of you, which he turns on whatever side he pleases, and there is no house whose inhabitants I do not closely examine one by one five times every day.” (Ibid. leaf 174.)

The beginning of creation, however, was Muhammad. It is related that the Amir ul Mumenín, (Ali,) said, “God the glorious and great created the holy light, the glory of the prophets, before the heavens and earth, before the arsh, the throne, the table, the kalam*, before paradise and hell. He created him 424,000 years before any one of the prophets.† And with that light he created 12 veils, the veil of power, the veil of magnitude, the veil of favour, the veil of mercy, &c. He placed that holy light 12,000 years behind the veil of power, and he (Muhammad) was saying there: “Praised be the Lord the most high;” and behind the veil of magnitude 11,000 years, and he was saying there “Praised be the knower of secrets,” and so on. Behind the last veil, the

* The arsh, is the place or flat on which the throne of God stands, and is supported or carried by angels. The idea has been clearly borrowed from Ezek. x. The table, is the table of the eternal decrees of God, which are written upon it, and the kalam, the instrument by whose means they have been written upon the table. The table, however, as well as the kalam, are in several traditions spoken of as heavenly and rational beings.

† The Muhammadans believe that no less than 124,000 prophets have been sent by God; to 104 of them he sent down from heaven written revelations or books, but of these heavenly books, only four have remained, namely; the Taurat (Pentateuch), the Zábur (Psalms), the Injil (Gospel), and the Koran.

veil of intercession, he remained 1000 years, and was saying, “Praised be the magnificent.” After this God made to appear the holy name of that majesty upon the table, and there it was shining 4000 years; and then made he appear the pure name of this Lord on the arsh, and there it shined for 7000 years. In this manner he was transmigrating the heavenly states till God gave a place to this light in the back of his majesty Adam; and from Adam it went from loin to loin till God brought it forth out of the loin of Abdullah Ibn Abdulmutaleb, who was the father of Muhammad.* Hayát ul Kúlúb, vol. i. leaf 1. Muhammad accordingly is in their idea the holiest of all men, and greater than all the prophets. He never committed any sin, and the black spot of original sin, or the devil’s part, was taken out of his heart in the following miraculous manner: “Annas says; verily, Gabriel came to his majesty Muhammad when he was playing with boys, and took hold of him, and laid him upon the ground, and split his heart, and brought out a little bag of blood; and Gabriel said, This is the devil’s

* The Muhammadans according to their tradition believe in the pre-existence of the soul, and say that God created all souls at once in the beginning, but in the birth they are united to their bodies. In this state of pre-existence, as they further assert, the belief in God and Muhammad, has been proclaimed to the souls before the creation of the world, and whichever soul has there said, Yes, that is, accepted the faith, he will be a believer, or has been pre-destined by God for the true faith, and for paradise; and whoever there said, No, has been pre-destined by God for unbelief and hell.

part of you. After that he washed his majesty’s heart in a golden vessel of Zemzem water, then sewed it up and replaced it.” Mishcát, vol. ii. p. 684. This story is mentioned in the same way in the Shíá traditions, and referred to in the Koran.

But though in many traditions Muhammad’s purity and holiness are extolled beyond all bounds, there are notwithstanding several, in which as well as in some passages of the Koran, it is mentioned, that Muhammad made confession of his sins, and asked pardon of them from God.*

* It is said, in the Koran: “O prophet, ask pardon for thy fault; and celebrate the praise of thy Lord in the evening and in the morning.” Sale’s Koran, vol. ii. p. 328. Again it is said to Muhammad: “Ask pardon for thy sin, and for the true believers, both men and women.” Ibid. p. 366. And again; “Verily we have granted thee a manifest victory; that God may forgive thee thy preceding and thy subsequent sin.” Ibid. p. 369. In the traditions there are passages to the following effect. It is said: “It has been related by Imám Muhammád Baker (the 5th of the 12 Imáms of the Shíás) that Muhammad one night, being at the house of Ayeshá, one of his wives, was much engaged in prayer. Ayeshá said to him, Why do you trouble yourself so much, as God has forgiven you the preceding and the subsequent sins?” He said, “O Ayeshá, should I not be thankful?” Hayát ul Kúlúb, vol. ii. leaf 77. And in the same book at another place, it is mentioned that Muhammad, at the conclusion of an address to the people, said repeatedly, “O God, forgive me and my people. I ask forgiveness from God for myself and for you.” Ibid. leaf 301. And in the Mishcát ul Masábíh, vol. i. p. 184, is mentioned, that Abu Hurairah related that the prophet said in his prostration, “O Lord, forgive me all my faults, the many and the few, the great and the small, the first and the last, the secret and the disclosed.” Again, it is mentioned that Muhammad said, “I swear by God, that verily I ask pardon of God, and turn from sin towards Him, more than seventy times a day,” Ibid. p. 554. Again it is related that Muhammad used to say, “O Lord, wash my sins with ice-water and hail-water; and purify my heart as a white cloth, from dirt; and make the distance between me and my faults far as the east from the west.” Ibid. p. 588.

Besides this, in direct contradiction to the above-mentioned tradition in which Muhammad is called the glory of the prophets, and a light created before the world, it is said in the Koran that Muhammad was living in ignorance and without faith before he had received his revelations. The words are as follows: “Did he not find thee an orphan, and has he not taken care of thee? And did he not find thee wandering in error, and has he not guided thee into truth?” Sale’s Koran, vol. ii. p. 489. Again, “Thou didst not understand before this, what the book was, nor what the faith was, but we have ordained the same for a light; we will thereby direct such of our servants as we please.” Ibid. p. 343.

As Muhammad is, according to their notion, the greatest of all the prophets, he has also, as they say, done more miracles than all of them. And numberless are indeed the wonders performed by Muhammad, as related in their traditions. In the Koran, however, there is not a single word about Muhammad’s miracles; on the contrary, Muhammad confesses there, in several places, that he has been sent only to preach, not to work miracles.* The Muhammadans, when

* “They say, unless a sign be sent down from Him we will not believe. Answer, Signs are in the power of God alone, and I am no more than a public preacher.”—Sale’s Koran, vol. ii. p. 241. And again, “They have sworn by God with a most solemn oath, that if a sign came down unto them they would certainly believe therein: Say, verily, signs are in the power of God alone, and He permitteth you not to understand that when they come, they will not believe.”—Ibid. vol. i. p. 162. And in another passage, “That which ye desire should be hastened (that is, the miracle which Muhammad’s opponents requested him to perform), is not in my power: judgment belongeth only unto God. Say, if what ye desire should be hastened, were in my power, the matter had been determined between me and you.”—Ibid. pp. 153 and 154. That Muhammad did no miracle is still more clearly expressed in the following passage; where it is said: “Nothing hindered us from sending thee with miracles, except that the former nations have charged them (that is, the former prophets) with imposture.”—Ibid. vol. ii. p. 99.

pressed on this subject, commonly say, that as Muhammad’s proof for his mission was not miracles, but the Koran, and its incomparable style, these therefore were not mentioned in the Koran, although he performed many of them. We shall, as they do not properly come within the scope of these remarks, relate but a few of them, as specimens. It is related, “One day, when Muhammad and Ali went through the streets of Mecca, Abúlaháb went after them, throwing stones at Muhammad, whom he wounded in his foot so severely that blood ran from the blessed foot of his majesty. Abúlaháb then called out, O people of Koreish, this man is a sorcerer and a liar; throw stones at him, and keep aloof from him and his sorcery. A mob having collected threw stones at them, and drove them out of Mecca. But no sooner were they out of the town, than lo, stones came rolling down from the mountain towards his majesty. The infidels rejoiced over this, and said; Now these stones will destroy Muhammad and Ali, and we shall

be released from their evil. But when the stones had come near his highness, they began to speak by the power of God, and said, “Peace be with thee, O Muhammad, son of Abdullah, and peace be with thee, O Ali, son of Abutaleb; and peace be with thee, O messenger of the Lord of the universe and the best of all creatures, and peace be with thee, O successor of the messenger of the Lord of the universe.” When the unbelievers saw this wonderful circumstance, they laughed, and ten of them, who were worse than the others, said, “These words did not proceed from these stones, but from some people whom Muhammad had hidden in the ditches to deceive us.” When saying this, ten of the stones by the power of the Lord of his Highness, went up and flew each at the head of one of these unbelievers, and went up, and down again they came on their heads till they bruised their heads, and the brain came down their nostrils, and all ten were destroyed. And when they had laid their bodies on biers, the biers began to call out; “Muhammad hath spoken the truth, but you said a lie.” Then began the biers to shake, and threw those dead bodies on the ground, saying, “We will not carry these enemies of God.” The infidel Abujahál said, “All this is nothing but Muhammad’s sorcery; if he speaks the truth, let him pray to God to quicken these dead bodies.” Muhammad hearing this, said to Ali, “I will pray for six, and do thou pray for four of them.” And

when they prayed, all were quickened, got up and said, “O Musalmáns, Muhammad and Ali possess a very high degree of glory in the world where we have been. Muhammad’s likeness we saw there sitting on a throne near the arsh, and Ali near him; and all the angels of heaven came and extolled their praises, and presented them their good wishes; and whatever they commanded, they did.”—(Hayát ul Kúlúb, vol. ii. leaf 107.) Another of Muhammad’s wondrous deeds is the following:—Abujahál requested Muhammad to tell him what he (Abujahál) had eaten to-day and done at his house, if he were a prophet. Muhammad told him, that he had eaten half a fowl, and kept the other half for the next meal; and that he had borrowed a certain sum of money, and put it into bags, with his own, and hidden it. Abujahál denied all and said, that he had neither eaten the fowl nor hidden the money, but that thieves had stolen the latter. Muhammad then said, “O Gabriel, bring the remainder of the fowl of which he has eaten.” Immediately the fowl was produced. Muhammad said, “O Abujahál, do you know this fowl?” He said, “No, I have not eaten of this fowl, and fowls half-eaten, are many in the world.” His majesty said, “O fowl, Abujahál wants to make me a liar; therefore give testimony to the truth of my words and to the falsehood of his.” Immediately the fowl by the command of God began to speak, and said, “I testify, O Muhammad, that thou art the prophet of God and the best of all creatures, and I testify

that Abujahál, the enemy of God, has eaten of me.” His majesty then put his blessed hand on the place of which Abujahál had eaten, and the flesh grew again and its parts got right as before. After this his majesty said, “O Gabriel, bring the money which this infidel has hidden in his house.” Instantly were the bags with the money laid before Muhammad, who returned the money to the people of whom Abujahál had borrowed it. When only the bag with his own money was left, Muhammad said to him, “Believe, and you may take your money.” He said, “I will not believe, but I shall take my money.” When he stretched out his hand to take the bag, his majesty called out to the roasted fowl; “Do not allow Abujahál to take the bag.” Accordingly the fowl, by the power of God, “jumped up, took hold of Abujahál with his claws, and carrying him up in the air, put him down on the roof of his house. And his majesty distributed the money to the poor.” (Ibid. leaf 601.) Another miracle, the returning of the sun, is related in the following manner; “One day his majesty the prophet had laid his blessed head on the skirts of Ali’s cloak and slept, and receiving a revelation he wrapt up his head in the cloak, and was engaged in hearing the revelation till the sun had nearly gone down. When he had received his revelation, he got up, and said, ‘Ali, have you performed the evening prayers?’ He said, ‘No, O prophet of God, for I could not remove thy blessed head from the skirts of my cloak.’ His majesty then

said, ‘O Lord, bring back the sun.’ Asman said, by God, I saw, that the sun returned and got high. And after his majesty had performed the prayer, the sun went down again.” (Ibid. leaf 127.) Once Muhammad went, accompanied by his followers, who were a large number, to the house of Abdullah. After he and Ali had eaten of the dish prepared for him, consisting of a roasted lamb, he gave it to his followers, and they all ate and were satisfied, leaving nothing but the bones. They said then; “O prophet of God, we want some milk to drink.” His majesty, having spread his handkerchief over the bones said; “O Lord, in like manner as Thou didst send Thy blessing on this animal and satisfy us with its meat, so bless it again, and do such an act, that we may drink of its milk.” Accordingly through the divine power, flesh grew on those bones, and the animal began to move, and got up, and its udder became full of milk. They then all drank, and filled besides all the basins in the house with its milk. (Ibid. leaf 126.) Also Muhammad made also the trees to walk and bear testimony to his mission. Hárith asking a miracle from Muhammad, pointed to a great tree with deep roots, and said, “Tell this tree to come, and if it comes, then I know that thou art God’s prophet.” Muhammad, as is related, stretched out his blessed hand and made a sign to the tree to come. The tree immediately began to move, and tearing up the earth like a mighty river, came to his Majesty and stood still, and said: “Here I am come to thee; O

prophet, what is thy command?” His majesty said: “I have ordered thee to come to bear testimony to the unity of God and my divine mission.” The tree then said with a loud voice: “I bear testimony that God is one and has none like Him, and I bear testimony, that thou, O Muhammad, art His servant and prophet; He has sent thee in truth.” (Ibid. page 121.) Many other miracles of the same nature are related in the same book, as the Kaaba on Muhammad’s account being suspended by God over the heads of the unbelievers; Muhammad being always overshadowed by a cloud; that food and fruits were brought down to him from heaven; that any dress, short or long put on by him would just suit him; that he healed sick persons and gave sight to the blind, and that animals, mountains, trees, and stones paid homage to him, and spoke his praise. The same kind of miracles are also related by the traditions of the Sunnís, though not quite in so great profusion. It is said in the Mishcát, vol. ii. p. 717, that hills and trees saluted Muhammad; that he fed once with a handful of millet, a few dates and a morsel of bread, his whole army, consisting of 100,000 men, (p. 714.) That a tree, and at another time a bunch of dates gave, on Muhammad’s command, testimony to his mission, &c. Many more such wonderful occurrences might have been easily added, but these will be enough to prove to the reader the childish nature of the miracles related of Muhammad, and to show how

totally void they are of every feature of that divine character, which is so strongly impressed on the miracles related in Scripture, and which is the strongest proof of a true miracle. Every one will therefore at once be convinced, that these tales of Muhammad’s miracles are but the fictions of human fancy and wickedness. Muhammad himself never pretended to have performed a miracle or to be able to perform one, else he would not have failed to mention it in his Koran, along with his other pretensions. He could speak of visions and of visits from Gabriel, and of his night journey to heaven and of the wonders seen there; but to say that he performed such and such a miracle in the sight of the people, or in the presence of his opponents, when he did not, for this he was too prudent. He knew that, however much he might otherwise impose on the people, he could not make them believe, that they had seen miracles wrought by him, when he never had performed any one before them. He therefore gave up altogether the pretension to miracles, as appears from the passages before alluded to in the Koran. But his followers, extolling him much more than he himself ever thought of, in order to make him also in this respect equal to the true prophets, thought it necessary to fill up the deficiency, and fabricated all these stories of miracles, as also many other things mentioned in their traditions. And this was easily practicable, as the traditions were not written till a hundred or two hundred years after

Muhammad; nor were they even then confined to a certain known number, or collected all in one book. Collections indeed have been made with great labour by several of the learned of the Muhammadans, but as they do not agree in all cases, latitude enough has been left to any renowned writer to add to or reject at his own choice*. And then to tell a lie for a good purpose, especially to add by it something to the glory of their prophet, is with them, and particularly with the Shíás, quite right and proper. Now if to all this it be further added, that they are not in the habit of mentioning accurately the source from which they have taken the tradition but merely say “this tradition is generally received,” or, “has been related by such and such a one,” often not mentioning the book in which they have found it, and never the page in which it is contained, then it will be easily perceived that there exists not the slightest difficulty

* Bukhári, one of the first of the collectors of the traditions, and esteemed the highest in point of authority, had, as is said, collected 200,000; or according to another statement, 630,000 traditions, of which he regarded but 100,000 as somewhat to be relied upon, and only 7275 as actually authentic and true. He died A. H. 256. Another collector has received only 5266, and the author of the Masábih only 4484 as authentic. The writers of the Shíás differ still more than those of the Sunnís about the number of the traditions to be regarded as actually to be relied upon; for since the Shíás regard as canonical also the sayings of their Imáms, they have a much greater number of traditions than the Sunnís, and consequently it is still more difficult for them to fix their number, or to distinguish between an authentic and an unauthentic tradition.

in adding to the traditions as much as they wished or thought convenient to their purposes.

Respecting the creation of man the traditions give the following explanation, or rather foolish account. “It is related by his majesty Imám Jáfar (the sixth of the 12 Imáms of the Shíás), that when God the Almighty sent Gabriel down upon earth to fetch that handful of clay from which man was to be created, the earth said: ‘I take refuge with God, and protest against thy taking anything from me.’ Then he returned and said, O God, it took refuge with Thee, (that is, did not allow me to take it.) Then God sent the angel Israphil, but the earth did the same; then He sent Michael, but the earth again taking refuge with God, he likewise did not succeed; then God sent the Màlakul-maut, telling him, that he must needs bring the handful of clay. And when the earth again took refuge with God, he said: And I likewise take refuge with God, that I shall not return except having taken a handful of clay from thee. He then took a handful of clay from the face of the earth. God then took a handful of sweet water, and mixing it up with the clay, said: From thee I create the prophets, and messengers or apostles, and all servants desiring and worthy of paradise. Then he took another handful of bitter and brackish water and mixing it up with the clay, said: From thee I create the oppressors, the deceivers, the transgressors, and all the companions of the devils. Then he mixed both

together and poured it down before the arsh; and both consisted of several small balls or globules. Then he commanded the four angels in charge of the four winds of heaven that they should let the winds blow over these globules. They then beat them together, rubbed them to dust and gave the mass a form, and by them the four properties of the body, the choleric, the sanguine, the phlegmatic, and the humoristic were produced. In this manner, the lifeless body of Adam remained for forty years. And the angels passed by it, and said: He has been created for a great purpose. And the devil went in at his mouth and passed through his body, and this is the reason why all that is in the belly and evacuated from it is not good and has a bad smell. At last God breathed the spirit into him. And when the spirit came down to his knees he attempted to jump up, but could not, and fell down. And this is the meaning of what is mentioned in the Koran, God created man hasty. And when the spirit had been breathed into the whole body, the same moment, Adam took a bunch of grapes and ate it.” In another tradition it is said: “The Almighty created man out of the clay of the earth, of which some was brackish, some saltish, and some good and agreeable: and this is the reason why there are godly and ungodly people among the offspring of Adam.” All this is literarily taken from the traditions about the creation of Adam found in Hayát ul Kúlúb, vol. i., leaves 16 and 18.

In these childish and materialistic tales regarding the creation of man, nothing is mentioned of the image of God in which Adam was created. This was too spiritual and too deep a matter for Muhammad and his followers to receive or to perceive its momentous importance. In consequence, the fall of Adam, though mentioned in the Koran and the traditions, and stated as having been occasioned by Satan’s deceit in inducing Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit, is merely taken as an external act, and nothing is said of the moral importance and consequences of this transgression. Original sin is therefore understood by them as resting in the body and being the consequence of it, and is but seldom taken as the moral consequence of Adam’s fall. Adam was before his transgression, according to their ideas, in the paradise of heaven, and his fall consisted only in his being cast down from the heavenly paradise to this poor earth.

The Muhammadans having heard of those giants mentioned in the Scripture and spoken of in ancient history, give us the following description of one of them. “It is related of Audj Ibin Anáq, that his stature was 23,333 cubits. He took a fish from the bottom of the sea, held it up to the disc of the sun, roasted, and ate it. The waters of the flood did not reach up to his knees. His age was 3000 years, and his mother Anáq was his majesty Adam’s daughter. It is said that he loosed a stone from Kúfa, as large as the camp of Moses’

army, and brought it to throw it upon the army of his majesty. But the Almighty sent the lapwing, which made a hole through the stone, that it fell on his neck and threw him to the ground. Then came Moses, the stature of his majesty was ten cubits, and the length of his staff was ten cubits, and ten cubits he jumped up from the ground, and struck such a blow at the heel of Audj that he died of it.” Hayát ul Kúlúb, vol. i. leaf 164.

Other wonders of creation are explained in the Hadith in the following way. It is said, “that Imám Jáfar asked, how odours have been caused; he answered, that Eve, before she ate of the tree, had dressed her hair with the delicious odours of paradise, and after having come down on earth, she opened the cues of it, and God sent a wind which scattered those odours from the east to the west. The cause of every odour has therefore been from this source.” And in another tradition, to be relied upon, it is said: “When Adam, peace be upon him! did eat of that tree, his clothes which he had on, flew off, he made therefore an apron of one of the leaves of paradise. And when he came down on earth the odour of this leaf adhered to the plants of Hindustán; in this way the odours of Hind have been occasioned.” Ibid. vol. i. leaf 43. How fruit-bearing and other trees, and wheat and barley have been produced, is in the same place related in the following manner: “Ali, according to a tradition to be relied on, said,

that his majesty, the prophet, was asked, what is the reason, why some trees bear fruits and others do not? He replied, whenever Adam said the praise of God, a fruit tree was produced; but when Eve said it, a tree not bearing fruit was produced. They asked further, how has God created barley? The Almighty said to Adam, peace be over him! Plough and sow the ground with whatever you choose. Gabriel brought a handful of wheat, of which Adam took one handful and Eve also. Adam said, Do thou not sow it, but Eve did not obey. Now whatever Adam had sown became wheat, and whatever Eve sowed became barley.” The cause why the juice of the grape and of the date tree has become inebriating is explained in the following manner. “Imám Jáfar said, the devil, the cursed, went after the death of Adam under the date and wine tree, and defiled them, which penetrating to the veins mixed up with their sap. This is the reason why their juice has now a bad smell and is inebriating, and therefore God has made every inebriating drink unlawful to man.” Ibid. leaf 45. The creation of the dog is mentioned in this way: “According to a tradition to be relied on, it is related from Ali, that Muhammad was asked of what the Almighty created the dog? He replied, He created him from the spittle of the devil. They said, how was this, O prophet of God? He answered, when God sent Adam and Eve down upon earth, they fell trembling like two young chickens. The devil, the cursed,

ran then to the wild beasts, which were before man upon earth, and said: Two fowls have fallen from heaven upon earth, so great that none has yet seen greater fowls than these, come ye and devour them. The wild beasts therefore ran along with him; and the devil to make them eager for their prey, spoke loudly and ardently, saying the feast is nigh; but in the haste of his conversation some of his spittle fell on the ground; from this God created two dogs, a male and a female. The male dog stood in Hindustán by Adam, and the female dog by Eve in Jidda, and did not allow any of the wild beasts to approach unto them; from that day dogs and wild beasts became enemies of one another.” Ibid. leaf 39. To give an idea of the depth of the sea they have the following story: “It is related in a tradition to be relied upon, that Zúl Karnain* made a large box of glass, and having taken with him provisions, instruments, and other things, he went on board a ship. When he had arrived at a certain place in the sea, he bound ropes round his glass box, and having got into it, said, Throw the box into the sea, and whenever I shake the rope, then take me up; but if I do not shake it let me down as much as the rope will last. He went then down for forty days, at the end of which he saw a man knocking at the side of his box, saying, Zúl

* This is, according to the commonly received opinion, Alexander the Great. He is in the Koran as well as in tradition, represented as a true believer, and many of the Muhammadans make him one of their 124,000 prophets.

Karnain, whither art thou going? He said; I want to see the works of God in the sea, as I have seen them on the land. He replied, O Zúl Karnain, at this place, where thou now art, did Noah at the time of the flood let fall a hatchet, which this moment is still going down, and has not yet reached the bottom of the sea. When Zúl Karnain heard this, he shook the rope and went up again.” Ibid. vol. i. leaf 108.

Of Gog and Magog, they give the following description: “It is related that the Prophet said: Yajudge (Gog) is one nation, and Majudge (Magog) is another nation, and every one consists of 400 tribes, and none of them dies except he has begotten a thousand sons. They are of three different kinds; one kind are as tall as trees, another kind are as thick as they are tall, and neither mountain nor iron can resist them; and the third kind have ears so large, that they spread one of them under them and lie upon it, and with the other they cover themselves. And whatever animal they pass by, be it an elephant, a camel, a pig, or any other animal, they kill and devour it; and whoever among them dies they eat him up instantly.” Haq ul Yaqin, leaf 179.*

* Gog and Magog will, according to their tradition, appear at the end of time. The appearance of them is one of the signs of the approach of the day of judgment. Their advance will be in Syria and the rear of their army in Khorasan, so large shall their host be. The Imám Máhti, assisted by Christ, will destroy them, together with the Dijal or antichrist.

Many such stories are to be found in tradition, especially in the Shíá traditions, but these will suffice to show how inventive the authors of tradition have been in the production of such tales; how anxious they were, not to instruct, but merely to entertain and to amuse their followers with such gross fictions; and it is evident how much the taste and relish for simple truth, and even the good sense of a people, must become corrupted by a system of such traditions. But if traditions of the kind hitherto mentioned exercise only a degrading influence on the minds of those who believe in them, then those which follow must do it still more, and greatly tend, not only to corrupt the mind and judgment, but also the heart and the moral feelings, of all who adhere to them.

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