31 OCTOBER 1846, Page 15

BIBLICAL LEGENDS OF THE MUSSULMANS.

THE sources whence these Mahometan histories of the lives of several principal Scriptural characters are drawn, are various Arabic collec- tions in Continental libraries, together with the Koran and its commen- taries : but it is not clear to us whether Dr. Well has translated the legends from some single authority, merely using the Koran and the rest for purposes of correction or comparison, or whether he has himself com- piled his book from the various sources indicated. As regards the sub- stance of the work, this is of small importance; for the reader has ob- viously the Arabian facts and opinions ; but the form would be affected, and perhaps advantageously—the style seems closer and less flowery than the OrientaL

The precise age of these legends is doubtful. Of course, those which are alluded to in the Koran date back to Mahomet, and Dr. Well is in- clined to attribute most of them to him ; but he defends the apostle of theism from the charge of wilfully falsifying the Scriptures. In the first place, argues be, it is probable that Mahomet only learned late in life to write or even to read Arabic : it is unquestionable that he knew no other language, and that he was therefore obliged to draw his knowledge of Scrip- ture from such Jews and Christians as he fell in with, in an age and country where Christianity, at all events, if not Judaism, was corrupted by idola- try and overlaid by the most ignorant superstitions. These arguments, however, strike us as a better excuse for Mahomet's opposition to Christi- anity than as a valid defence against the charge of adding and altering. He might have got a corrupt version of Scripture narratives, and he might himself believe that they were corrupted ; but there can be no doubt of his interpolating the text to answer his own purposes, since nothing could be found there about Mahomet and his advent. Some of the wilder

superstitions, especially those relating to Solomon, are perhaps Oriental, rather than peculiarly Syrian or Arabian; • and they might, be used by Mahomet as a general Eastern belief, if he did not believe them himself.

The persons whose lives are included in these legends are the leading characters of Scripture from Adam to Christ; but those most elaborately exhibited are Joseph, Moses, and Solomon, with the story of the Queen of Saba or Sheba. In the leading facts of the patriarchal lives the He- brew Scriptures are pretty closely adhered to. Man falls through the weakness of Eve, tempted by the Evil Spirit, who has entered into the serpent ; Cain slays Abel; Abraham offers up his son—but it is Ismael instead of Isaac; Joseph is hated by his brethren, sold into bondage, re-

sists Potiphar's wife, rises to be the ruler of Egypt, and deals with his brethren mach as it is described in Genesis. The Hebrew birth and Egyptian training of Moses, with his flight, exile, call, and miracles, are all told in general conformity with the Scriptural account. David slays Goliah with the stone, and sins with the wife of Uriah ; but the punish- ment is inflicted directly upon himself. The life of Solomon is one of the "tales of the Genii," which it is probable that Mahomet only adopted.

In the narrative of events, however, there is a wide gulf between the comprehensive brevity and natural simplicity of Scripture and these Arabian compositions. Not only is everything told in detail, and the discourse of subordinates and principals reported at length, but great additions are made by filling up what Scripture leaves untold, or by en- grafting unnecessary particulars upon the fact,—as the manner in which Moses was begotten, after Pharoah, terrified by his dreams, had antici- pated modern Poor-law Commissioners by the separation of the sexes. In the story of Saul, too, all his humanity and all the epic interest of his touching narrative escapes. The aptitude of the Scripture miracles, or indeed their necessity for the purpose in hand, is also lost. Wonders are frequently multiplied without reason, till they look like the tt icks of a pantomime rather than the special interference of the Deity by the means of his chosen prophets ; and some are of the species of fable invented by all nations to account for the appearances of nature. The composition is " barbaric gold and pearl." Precious stones and metals, with all human rarities, are heaped up to mark greatness ; the rewards and punishments,

especially the punishments, are physical, and remind one of the horrors of Dante's Hell ; and the machinery of the Arabian Nights and the middle age stories of enchanters predominate. Here is a description of the genii Who were slaves to Solomon.

" Finally, another Angel brought to him a fourth jewel, which bore the in- scription, There is no God but one, and Mohamed is his messenger.' By means of this stone,' said the Angel, ' thou obtainest the dominion over the kingdom of

spirits; which is much greater than that of man and beasts, and fills up the whole space between the Earth and 'Heaven. Part of these spirits,' continued the Angel, believe in the only God, and pray to him; but others are unbelieving. • Some adore the fire; others the sun; others again the different stars; and many even the water. The first continually hover round the pious, to preserve them from

every evil and sin; but the latter seek in every possible manner to torment and to 'seduce them; which they do the more easily since they render themselves invisible,

or assume any form they please.' Solomon desired to see the genii in their original

form. The Angel rushed like a column of fire through the air, and soon returned with a host of daemons and genii; whose appalling appearance filled Solomon, spite Of his dominion over them, with an inward shudder. He had had no idea that

there were such misshapen and frightful beings in the world. He saw human heads on the necks of horses, with asses' feet; the wings of eagles on the drome-

dary's back; and the horns of the gazelle on the head of the peacoek. Astonished

at this singular union, he prayed the Angel to explain it to him, since Djan, from whom all the genii were descended, had only a simple form. This is the conse- quence,' replied the Angel, of their wicked lives, and their shameless intercourse with men, beasts, and birds: for their desires know no bounds, and the more they multiply, the more they degenerate.'"

Trick or circumvention is frequently put forth as a proof of wisdom. This is the way Solomon manages to overcome a reluctant genius who had absconded.

" When Solomon was returning again to Jerusalem, he beard such a noise, pro- ceeding from the constant hammering of the genii who were occupied with the

building of the temple, that the inhalaitants of Jerusalem were no longer able to converse with each other. He therefore commanded the spirits to suspend their labours, and inquired whether none of them was acquainted with a means by which the various metals might he wrought without producing such a clamour. Then there steppedout one from among them, and said, This is known only to the

mipty Sachr; but be has hitherto succeeded in escaping from thy dominion.' Is, then, this Sachr utterly inaccessible?' inquired Solomon. " Sachs,' replied the genius, is stronger than all of us put together, and is as much our superior in swiftness as in power. Still, I know that he drinks from a fountain in the province of Hidjr once in every month. Perhaps thou mayest -succeed, 0 wise king! to subdue him there to thy sceptre.' " Solomon commanded forthwith a division of his swift-flying genii to empty the fountain, and to fill it with intoxicating liquor. Some of them he then ordered

to linger in its vicinity, until they should see Sachr approaching, and then in- stantly to return and bring him word. A few weeks afterwards, when Solomon was standing on the terrace of his palace, he beheld a genius flying from the di- rection of Hidjr swifter than the wind. The king inquired of him if he brought news respecting Sachr. "`Sachr is lying overcome with wine at the brink of the fountain,' replied the genius, ' and we have bound him with chains as massive as the pillars of thy tem- ple; but he will burst them asunder as the hair of a virgin when he has slept off his wine.'

" Solomon then mounted hastily the winged genius, and in less than an hour was borne to the fountain. It was high time, for Sachr had already opened his eyes again; but his hands and feet were still chained; so that Solomon set the sig- net on his neck without any hindrance."

The following account of the cause of grey hairs is of Rabbinical origin ; 'a source whence a good many of the more mystical parts have been drawn.

" When Isaac attained the age of manhood, Abraham's beard became grey; which astonished him not a little, since no man before him had ever turned grey.. But Allah had performed this wonder that Abraham might be distinguished from Isaac. For as he was a hundred years old when Sarah bore Isaac, the people of Palestine derided bins and doubted of Sarah's innocence: but Allah gave to Isaac such a perfect resemblance of his fiither, that every one who saw him was con- vinced of Sarah's conjugal fidelity. But!, to prevent their being mistaken for each other, Allah caused grey hairs to grow on Abraham as a mark of distinction; and it is only since that time that the hair loses its dark colour in old age."

This description of Hell, though put into the mouth of Samuel, is taken from the Night Journey of Mahomet ; parts of which were too mar- vellous for his followers, and had nearly lost him his influence.

"He beholds the pious amidst all their felicities in Paradise, and sinners in their varied agonies in Hell. Many of them are roaming there like ravenous beasts through barren fields; they are those who in this life enjoyed the bounties of Al- lah, and gave nothing thereof to the poor. " Others ran to and fro, carrying fresh meat in one hand and corroded flesh in the other; but as often as they would put the former into their mouths, their hands are struck with fiery rods until they partake of the putrefied morsel. This is the punishment of those who broke their marriage-vow, and found pleasure in guilty indulgences. The bodies of others are terribly swollen, and are still increasing in bulk: they are such as have grown rich by money, and whose avarice was insatiable. " The tongues and lips of others are seized and pinched with iron pincers, as the punishment of their calumnious and rebellious speeches, by which they caused so much evil in the earth.

"Midway between Paradise and Hell is seated Adam, the father of the human race who smiles with joy as often as the gates of Paradise are thrown open•' and the triumphant cries of the blessed are borne forth, but weeps when the gates of Hell are unclosed and the sighs of the damned penetrate to his ear."

The incarnation offered nothing repugnant to the mind of Mahomet. He admitted the miraculous birth and inspired character of Christ : it was his godhead to which he objected, and to the crucifixion. This is the Diussulinan account of that event, and of the resurrection.

" But while the true faith found many followers abroad, the hatred of the sons of Israel, but especially of the priests and the heads of the people, towards Christ, daily waxed in rancour, until at last, when he bad attained the age of thirty-and- three years, they sought to take his life: but Allah overthrew their plans, and raised him to Heaven unto himself; while another man, whom Allah had caused to have a perfect resemblance to him, was put to death in his stead. " The further particulars of the last moments of this prophet are variously nar- rated by the learned; but most of them run as follows. On the evening before the passover feast, the Jews took Christ captive, together with his Apostles, and shut them up in a house, with the intention of putting Christ publicly to death on the following morning. But in the night Allah revealed to hun, ' Thou shalt receive death from me, but immediately afterwards be raised up to Heaven, and be delivered from the power of the unbelievers.' Christ gave up his spirit, and re- mained dead for the space of three hours. In the fourth hour the Angel Gabriel appeared, and raised him unperceived by any through a window int ) Heaven. But an unbelieving Jew, who had stolen into the house to watch Christ that he might by no means escape, became so like him that even the Apostles themselves took him to be their prophet. He it was who, as soon as the day dawned, was chained by the Jews and led through the streets of Jerusalem, everybody crying to him, 'Hest thou not revived the dead ! why shouldest thou not be able to break thy fetters?' Many pricked him with rods of thorn, other spat in his face, until he at last arrived at the place of execution, where he was crucified; for no one would believe that he was not the Christ. " But when Mary had well-nigh succumbed from grief at the shameful death of her supposed son, Christ appeared to her from Heaven, and said, Mourn not for me, fur Allah has taken me to himself, and we shall be reunited in the day of the resurrection. Comfort my disciples, and tell them that it is well with me in Heaven, and that they shall obtain a place beside me if they continue steadfast in the faith., Hereafter, at the approach of the last day, I shall be sent, again upon the earth, when I 'Shall slay the false prophet Hadjal and the wild boar, (both of which cause similar distress in the earth;) and such a state of peace and unity shall ensue that the lamb and the hyaena shall feed like brothers beside each other. I shall then burn the Gospel, which has been falsified by un- godly priests, and the crosses which they have worshipped as gods, and subject the whole earth to the doctrines of Mohamed, who shall be sent in later times. When Christ bad thus spoken, he was once more lifted on a cloud to Heaven." - From these specimens a judgment may be formed of the reading that will be found in the Biblical Legends of the Mussulmans. The greater interest, however, is of a critical kind, and arises from the op- portunity of comparing the later Arabian with the Hebrew—the hu- man with the inspired composition. It is a curious book, and well worthy of a place in the library.