Sacred Books of the East

36

Setting fire to his neighbor's corn, and killing his asses by night.

37

The person here meant was one Soheib, who being persecuted by the idolaters of Mecca forsook all he had and fled to Medina.

38

Under the name of wine all sorts of strong and inebriating liquors are comprehended.

39

The original word, al Meiser, properly signifies a particular game performed with arrows, and much in use with the pagan Arabs. But by lots we are here to understand all games whatsoever, which are subject to chance or hazard, as dice and cards.

40

Some commentators expound this negatively, "That ye will not deal justly, nor be devout …" For such wicked oaths, they say, were customary among the idolatrous inhabitants of Mecca; which gave occasion to the following saying of Mohammed: "When you swear to do a thing, and afterwards find it better to do otherwise, do that which is better, and make void your oath."

41

Yahya interprets this from a tradition of Mohammed, who, being asked which was the middle prayer, answered, The evening prayer, which was instituted by the prophet Solomon.

42

The following seven lines contain a magnificent description of the divine majesty and providence; but it must not be supposed the translation comes up to the dignity of the original. This passage is justly admired by the Mohammedans, who recite it in their prayers; and some of them wear it about them, engraved on an agate or other precious stone.

43

This throne, in Arabic called Corsi, is by the Mohammedans supposed to be God's tribunal, or seat of justice.

44

But this, say the Mohammedans, the Jews do, who receive Moses but reject Jesus; and the Christians, who receive both those prophets, but reject Mohammed.

45

That is, on the Jews, who, as the commentators tell us, were ordered to kill a man by way of atonement, to give one-fourth of their substance in alms, and to cut off an unclean ulcerous part, and were forbidden to eat fat, or animals that divided the hoof, and were obliged to observe the Sabbath, and other particulars wherein the Mohammedans are at liberty.

46

Footnote 46:

This name is given in the Koran to the father of the Virgin Mary.

47

Footnote 47:

The word Koran, derived from the verb Karaa, i.e., to read, signifies in Arabic "the reading," or rather "that which is to be read." The syllable Al, in the words Al Koran, is only the Arabic article signifying "the," and ought to be omitted when the English article is prefixed.

48

The miracle, it is said, consisted in three things: (1.) Mohammed, by the direction of the angel Gabriel, took a handful of gravel and threw it towards the enemy in the attack, saying, "May their faces be confounded"; whereupon they immediately turned their backs and fled. But, though the prophet seemingly threw the gravel himself, yet it is told in the Koran that it was not he, but God, who threw it, that is to say, by the ministry of his angel. (2.) The Mohammedan troops seemed to the infidels to be twice as many in number as themselves, which greatly discouraged them. (3.) God sent down to their assistance first a thousand, and afterwards three thousand angels, led by Gabriel, mounted on his horse Haizum; and, according to the Koran, these celestial auxiliaries really did all the execution, though Mohammed's men imagined themselves did it, and fought stoutly at the same time.

49

The proper name of the Mohammedan religion, which signifies the resigning or devoting one's self entirely to God and his service. This they say is the religion which all the prophets were sent to teach, being founded on the unity of God.

50

The Mohammedans have a tradition that the first banner of the infidels that shall be set up, on the day of judgment, will be that of the Jews; and that God will first reproach them with their wickedness, over the heads of those who are present, and then order them to hell.

51

This phrase signifies a man in full age, that is, between thirty and thirty-four.

52

Such as the eating of fish that have neither fins nor scales, the caul and fat of animals, and camel's flesh, and to work on the Sabbath.

53

In Arabic, al Hawâriyûn: which word they derive from Hâra, "to be white," and suppose the apostles were so-called either from the candor and sincerity of their minds, or because they were princes and wore white garments, or else because they were by trade fullers.

54

Some Mohammedans say this was done by the ministry of Gabriel; but others that a strong whirlwind took him up from Mount Olivet.

55

A gold coin worth about $2.50.

56

Becca is another name of Mecca. Al Beidâwi observes that the Arabs used the "M" and "B" promiscuously in several words.

57

It is related of Hasan the son of Ali that a slave having once thrown a dish on him boiling hot, as he sat at table, and fearing his master's resentment, fell immediately on his knees, and repeated these words, "Paradise is for those who bridle their anger." Hasan answered, "I am not angry." The slave proceeded, "and for those who forgive men." "I forgive you," said Hasan. The slave, however, finished the verse, adding, "for God loveth the beneficent." "Since it is so," replied Hasan, "I give you your liberty, and four hundred pieces of silver." A noble instance of moderation and generosity.

58

According to a tradition of Mohammed, whoever cheateth another will on the day of judgment carry his fraudulent purchase publicly on his neck.

59

Some copies, instead of min anfosihim, i.e., of themselves, read min anfasihim, i.e., of the noblest among them; for such was the tribe of Koreish, of which Mohammed was descended.

60

Mohammed is said to have declared, that whoever pays not his legal contribution of alms duly shall have a serpent twisted about his neck at the resurrection.

61

That is, dearly shall they pay hereafter for taking bribes to stifle the truth. "Whoever concealeth the knowledge which God has given him," says Mohammed, "God shall put on him a bridle of fire on the day of resurrection."

62

Namely, Mohammed, with the Koran.

63

Footnote 63:

This title was given to this chapter because it chiefly treats of matters relating to women: as marriages, divorces, dower, prohibited degrees.

64

Footnote 64:

By legacies in this and the following passages, are chiefly meant those bequeathed to pious uses; for the Mohammedans approve not of a person's giving away his substance from his family and near relations on any other account.

65

Their punishment, in the beginning of Mohammedanism, was to be immured till they died, but afterwards this cruel doom was mitigated, and they might avoid it by undergoing the punishment ordained in its stead by the Sonna, according to which the maidens are to be scourged with a hundred stripes, and to be banished for a full year; and the married women to be stoned.

66

Footnote 66:

According to this passage it is not lawful to marry a free woman that is already married, be she a Mohammedan or not, unless she be legally parted from her husband by divorce; but it is lawful to marry those who are slaves, or taken in war, after they shall have gone through the proper purifications, though their husbands be living. Yet, according to the decision of Abu Hanifah, it is not lawful to marry such whose husbands shall be taken, or in actual slavery with them.

67

The reason of this is because they are not presumed to have had so good education. A slave, therefore, in such a case, is to have fifty stripes, and to be banished for half a year; but she shall not be stoned, because it is a punishment which cannot be inflicted by halves.

68

These sins al Beidâwi, from a tradition of Mohammed, reckons to be seven (equalling in number the sins called deadly by Christians), that is to say, idolatry, murder, falsely accusing modest women of adultery, wasting the substance of orphans, taking of usury, desertion in a religious expedition, and disobedience to parents.

69

Such as honor, power, riches, and other worldly advantages.

70

By this passage the Mohammedans are in plain terms allowed to beat their wives, in case of stubborn disobedience; but not in a violent or dangerous manner.

71

The Arabic is, in Tibt and Taghût. The former is supposed to have been the proper name of some idol; but it seems rather to signify any false deity in general. The latter we have explained already.

72

That is, to the decision of the Koran.

73

These words are not to be understood as contradictory to the preceding, "That all proceeds from God," since the evil which befalls mankind, though ordered by God, is yet the consequence of their own wicked actions.

74

Which fine is to be distributed according to the laws of inheritance given in the beginning of this chapter.

75

These were certain inhabitants of Mecca, who held with the hare and ran with the hounds, for though they embraced Mohammedanism, yet they would not leave that city to join the prophet, as the rest of the Moslems did, but on the contrary went out with the idolaters, and were therefore slain with them at the battle of Bedr.

76

There being nothing in the following words of this sentence, to answer to the causal "for that," Jallalo'ddin supposes something to be understood to complete the sense, as "therefore we have cursed them," or the like.

77

For some maintained that he was justly and really crucified; some insisted that it was not Jesus who suffered, but another who resembled him in the face, pretending the other parts of his body, and by their unlikeness plainly discovered the imposition; some said he was taken up into heaven; and others, that his manhood only suffered, and that his godhead ascended into heaven.

78

This passage is expounded two ways. Some, referring the relative his to the first antecedent, take the meaning to be that no Jew or Christian shall die before he believes in Jesus: for they say, that when one of either of those religions is ready to breathe his last, and sees the angel of death before him, he shall then believe in that prophet as he ought, though his faith will not then be of any avail. According to a tradition of Hejâj, when a Jew is expiring, the angels will strike him on the back and face, and say to him, "O thou enemy of God, Jesus was sent as a prophet unto thee, and thou didst not believe on him;" to which he will answer, "I now believe him to be the servant of God"; and to a dying Christian they will say, "Jesus was sent as a prophet unto thee, and thou hast imagined him to be God, or the son of God," whereupon he will believe him to be the servant of God only, and his apostle. Others, taking the above-mentioned relative to refer to Jesus, suppose the intent of the passage to be, that all Jews and Christians in general shall have a right faith in that prophet before his death, that is, when he descends from heaven and returns into the world, where he is to kill Antichrist, and to establish the Mohammedan religion, and a most perfect tranquillity and security on earth.

79

Namely, God, Jesus, and Mary—as the eastern writers mention a sect of Christians which held the Trinity to be composed of those three; but it is allowed that this heresy has been long since extinct. The passage, however, is equally levelled against the Holy Trinity, according to the doctrine of the orthodox Christians, who, as al Beid[=a]wi acknowledges, believe the divine nature to consist of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; by the Father understanding God's essence, by the Son his knowledge, and by the Holy Ghost his life.

80

And the other half will go to the public treasury.

81

That is, he shall inherit her whole substance.

82

This title is taken from the Table, which, towards the end of the chapter, is fabled to have been let down from heaven to Jesus. It is sometimes also called the chapter of Contracts, which word occurs in the first verse.

83

As camels, oxen, and sheep; and also wild cows, antelopes, but not swine, nor what is taken in hunting during the pilgrimage.

84

The sacred months in the Mohammedan calendar were the first, the seventh, the eleventh, and the twelfth.

85

A game similar to raffling, arrowheads being used as counters.

86

The Arabic word al Fatra signifies the intermediate space of time between two prophets, during which no new revelation or dispensation was given; as the interval between Moses and Jesus, and between Jesus and Mohammed, at the expiration of which last, Mohammed pretended to be sent.

87

But this punishment, according to the Sonna, is not to be inflicted, unless the value of the thing stolen amount to four dinars, or about $10. For the first offence, the criminal is to lose his right hand, which is to be cut off at the wrist; the second offence, his left foot, at the ankle; for the third, his left hand; for the fourth, his right foot; and if he continue to offend, he shall be scourged at the discretion of the judge.

88

This is to be understood of fish that live altogether in the sea, and not of those that live in the sea and on land both, as crabs. The Turks, who are Hanifites, never eat this sort of fish; but the sect of Malec Ebn Ans, and perhaps some others, make no scruple of it.

89

These were the names given by the pagan Arabs to certain camels or sheep which were turned loose to feed, and exempted from common services, in some particular cases; having their ears slit, or some other mark, that they might be known; and this they did in honor of their gods. Which superstitions are here declared to be no ordinances of God, but the inventions of foolish men.

90

This miracle is thus related by the commentators: Jesus having, at the request of his followers, asked it of God, a red table immediately descended, in their sight, between two clouds, and was set before them; whereupon he rose up, and having made the ablution, prayed, and then took off the cloth which covered the table, saying, "In the name of God, the best provider of food."

91

Footnote 91:

Mâra, the king of the world of desire. According to the Buddhist theogony he is the god of sensual love. He holds the world in sin. He was the enemy of Buddha, and endeavored in every way to defeat him. He is also described as the king of death.

92

Footnote 92:

That is, the Brahman wearing the twice-born thread.

93

Footnote 93:

The "eternal draught" or "sweet dew" of Ambrosia. This expression is constantly used in Buddhist writings. It corresponds with the Pali amatam, which Childers explains as the "drink of the gods."

94

Footnote 94:

The condition of the highest Deva, according to Buddhism, does not exempt him from re-birth; subject to the calamities incident on such a renewal of life.

95

Footnote 95:

This seems to mean that those who had not received benefit from the teaching of the four previous Buddhas, that even these were placable and well-disposed.

96

The description here given of the peace and content prevailing in the world on the birth of Bodhisattva (and his name given to him in consequence) resembles the account of the golden age in classic authors.

97

That is, raising his nose to look up at the sun.

98

This description of the prince's hair seems to contradict the head arrangement of the figures of Buddha, unless the curls denote the shaven head of the recluse.

99

Footnote 99:

The distance from the place of the interview with the ministers to the Vulture Peak would be, in a straight line, about 150 miles.

100

Footnote 100:

The sense of the text and context appears to be this, that as there are those who drink the rain-clouds and yet are parched with thirst, so there are those who constantly practise religious duties and yet are still unblest.

101

The dhyânas are the conditions of ecstasy, enjoyed by the inhabitants of the Brahmaloka heavens.

102

The "fortunate tree," the tree "of good omen," the Bodhi tree.

103

The six organs of sense.