Imran, who kept her maidenhood, and into whose womb we breathed of our spirit."1 When the child was born, his mother was accused of unchastity, but the infant prophet at once opened. his mouth and declared his prophetic character. From this narrative it appears that, in Mahomet's opinion, Jesus was neither begotten by a human father, nor was the son of God. He finds a via media in the doctrine that he was created, like Adam, by an express exertion of the power of the Almighty. "He created him of dust: He then said to him, 'Be,' and he was." And again, in the Sura above quoted: "It beseemeth not God to beget a son, Glory be to him! when he decreeth a thing, he only saith to it, Be, and it is." 3 He is very indignant against those who hold the doctrine of the incarnation, which he apparently considered as equivalent to that of physical generation by the Deity, and which, under any aspect, is certainly shocking to a genuine monotheist. "They say: "The God of Mercy hath gotten offspring.' Now have ye done a monstrous thing! Almost might the very heavens be rent thereat, and the earth cleave asunder, and the mountains fall down in fragments, that they ascribe a son to the God of Mercy, when it beseemeth not the God of Mercy to beget a son!"4 "And they say, 'God hath a son: No! Praise be to him! heavens and the earth! 1 K., p. 604.-Sura, 66. 12. by a confusion between Mary, Moses. 3 K., p. 130.-Sura, 19. 36. But his whatever is in the All obeyeth him, sole Maker She is called the daughter of Imran, mother of Jesus, and Miriam, sister of 2 K., p. 502.-Sura, 3. 52. K., p. 135.—Sura, 19. 91–93. MAHOMET'S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF. 199 of the heavens and of the earth! And when he decreeth a thing, he only saith to it, Be, and it is." 1 Mahomet's conception of his own character is most clearly expressed in the seventh Sura, where, after enumerating some of the prophets who had who had gone before him (as already related), he proceeds to describe a supposed dialogue between Moses and God, in which the Deity speaks thus: "My chastisement shall fall on whom I will, and my mercy embraceth all things, and I write it down for those who shall fear me, and pay the alms, and believe in our signs, who shall follow the Apostle, the unlettered Prophet-whom they shall find described with them in the Law and Evangel. What is right will he enjoin them, and forbid them what is wrong, and will allow them healthful viands and prohibit the impure, and will ease them of their burden, and of the yokes which were upon them; and those who shall believe in him, and strengthen him, and help him, and follow the light which hath been sent down with him, these are they with whom it shall be well." - The revelation to Moses now ceases, and God continues to address Mahomet with the usual preliminary "Say: "— "Say to them: O men! Verily I am God's apostle to you all: whose is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! There is no God but he! He maketh alive and killeth! Therefore believe on God and his apostle-the unlettered Prophet-who believeth in God and his word. And follow him that ye may be guided aright." 2 Mahomet liked to describe himself as unlettered, and thus to obtain for the scriptural knowledge and 1 K., p. 445.—Sura, 2. 110, 111. 2 K., p. 386.-Sura, 7. 155-158. 1 ! literary skill displayed in the Koran the credit of its being due to inspiration. In another place he again describes his prophetic character in the following strain : "Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Apostle of God and the seal of the prophets and God knoweth all things. O Prophet! we have sent thee to be a witness, and a herald of glad tidings, and a warner; and one who, through his own permission, summoneth to God, and a light-giving torch." 1 A conspicuous feature of the Koran to which allusion has not yet been made is its frequent reference to the pleasures of Paradise to be enjoyed by the faithful, and the pains of hell to be suffered by the infidels. The day of judgment is continually held out as an encouragement to the former, and a terror to the latter. The 56th Sura contains a description of heaven which is enough to make the mouth of good Moslems water. "The people of the right hand" are to be happy; those of the left hand, wretched. The former are to have " gardens of delight," with "inwrought couches," whercon reclining, "aye-blooming youths" are to bring them "flowing wine" of the best celestial vintage. They are to enjoy their favourite fruits, and to eat whatever birds they long for. "Houris with large dark eyes," and "ever virgins," never growing old, are to supply them with the pleasures of love, so strangely overlooked in the Christian pictures of heavenly life. On the other side, we have "the people of the left hand," who are to be tormented with "pestilential winds" and "scalding water," and are to live "in the shadow of 1 K., p. 567.—Sura, 33. 40, 44, 45. THE HEAVEN AND HELL OF THE KORAN. 201 a black smoke," with the fruit of a bitter tree to eat and boiling water to drink. The prophet delights in warning his enemies of their coming fate. "Verily," says God in another place, "we have got ready the flame for the infidels." 2 "O Prophet!" we read elsewhere, "make war on the infidels and hypocrites, and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their abode! and wretched the passage to it!" "God promiseth the hypocritical men and women, and the unbelievers, the fire of hell—therein shall they abide-this their sufficing portion! " + Some, who had declined to march with the Prophet from Medina on account of the heat, are sternly reminded that "a fiercer heat will be the fire of hell."s In contradistinction to the deplorable state of the hypocrites and unbelievers-blind in this world and destined to suffer eternally in the next-we have a pleasing picture of the condition of the faithful Moslems: "Muhammad is the Apostle of God; and his comrades are vehement against the infidels, but full of tenderness among themselves. Thou mayst see them bowing down, prostrating themselves, imploring favours from God, and his acceptance. Their tokens are on their faces, the marks of their prostrations. This is their picture in the Law and their picture in the Evangel; they are as the seed which putteth forth its stalk; then strengtheneth it, and it groweth stout, and riseth upon its stem, rejoicing the husbandman-that the infidels may be wrathful at them. To such of them as believe and do the things that are right, hath God promised forgiveness and a noble recompense." 6 1 K., p. 60.-Sura, 56. 24 2 K., p. 598.-Sura, 48. 13. 3 K., p. 603.-Sura, 66. 9. 4 K., p. 621.—Sura, 9. 69. SECTION VII.-THE OLD TESTAMENT. Before entering upon the comparative examination of the Hebrew Canon, it is necessary to say a few words of the extraordinary race who were its authors. There is probably no other book of which it may be said, with the same depth and fulness of meaning, that it is the work of a nation and the reflection of a nation's life. The history of the Bible and the history of the Jews are more intimately bound up together than is that of any other nation with that of any other book. During the period of their political existence as a separate people they wrote the Canon. During the long period of political annihilation which has succeeded, they have not ceased to write commentaries on the Canon. This one great production has filled the imaginations, has influenced the intellect, has fed the religious ardour of each succeeding generation of Jews. To name the Canonical Scriptures, and the endless series of writings suggested by them or based upon them, would be almost to sum up the results of the literary activity of the Hebrew race. Our first historical acquaintance with the Hebrews brings them before us as obtaining by conquest, and then inhabiting, that narrow strip of territory bordering the Mediterranean Sea which is known as Palestine. Their own legends, indeed, carry us back to a still earlier period, when they lived as slaves in Egypt; but on these, from the character of the narrative, very little reliance can be placed. The story, gradually |