which ye conceal'? conceal? And when we said unto the angels, Worship ADAM; they all worshipped him except EBLIS, who refused, and was puffed up with pride, and became of the number of unbelievers". And we said, O ADAM, dwell thou and thy wife in the garden, and eat of the fruit thereof plentifully wherever ye will; but approach not this tree, lest ye become of the number of the transgressors. But SATAN caused them to forfeit paradise, and turned them out of the state of happiness wherein they had been; whereupon we said, Get ye down, the one of you an enemy unto the other; and there shall be y This story Mohammed borrowed from the Jewish traditions, which say, that the angels having spoken of man with some contempt, when GOD consulted them about his creation, GOD made answer, that the man was wiser than they; and to convince them of it, he brought all kinds of animals to them; and asked them their names; which they not being able to tell, he put the same question to the man, who named them one after another; and being asked his own name, and GOD's name, he answered very justly, and gave GOD the name of JEHOVAH (1). The angels' adoring of Adam is also mentioned in the Talmud (2). z Worship.] The original word signifies properly to prostrate one's self, till the forehead touches the ground; which is the humblest posture of adoration, and strictly due to GOD only; but it is sometimes as in this place used to express that civil worship or homage which may be paid to creatures (3). a This occasion of the devil's fall has some affinity with an opinion which has been pretty much entertained among Christians (4), viz. that the angels being informed of God's intention to create man after his own image, and to dignify human nature by Christ's assuming it, some of them thinking their glory to be eclipsed thereby, envied man's happiness, and so revolted. Mohammed, as appears by what presently follows, does not place this garden or paradise on earth, but in the seventh heaven (5). Concerning this tree, or the forbidden fruit, the Mohammedans, as well as the Christians, have various opinions. Some say it was an ear of wheat; some will have it to have been a fig-tree, and others a vine (6). The story of the fall is told, with some further circumstances, in the beginning of the 7th chapter. d Satan caused them to forfeit paradise.] They have a tradition that the devil offering to get into paradise to tempt Adam, was not admitted by the guard: whereupon he begged of the animals, one after another, to carry him in, that he might speak to Adam and his wife; but they all refused him, except the serpent, who took him between two of his teeth, and so introduced him. They add, that the serpent was then of a beautiful form, and not in the shape he now bears (7). e Get ye down.] The Mohammedans say, that when they were cast down from paradise, Adam fell on the isle of Ceylon, or Serendib, and Eve near Joddah (the port of Mecca) in Arabia; and that after a separation of 200 years, Adam was, on his repentance, conducted by the angel Gabriel to a mountain near Mecca, where he found and knew his wife, the mountain being thence named Arafât; and that he afterwards retired with her to Ceylon, where they continued to propagate their spe cies (8). It (1) V. RIVIN. Serpent. seduct. p. 56. (2) R. MOSES HADDARSHAN, in Bereshit rabbah. (3) JALLALO'DDIN. (4) IRENEUS. LACT. GREG. Nys SEN, &C. (5) Vid. MARRACC. in Alc. p. 24. (6) V. MARRACC: in Alc. p. 22. (7) V. ib. (8) D'HERBELOT, Bibl. Orient. p. 55. a dwelling-place for you on earth, and a provision for a season. And ADAM learned words of prayer from his LORD, and GOD turned unto him, for he is easy to be reconciled, and merciful. We said, Get ye all down from hence; hereafter shall there come unto you a direction from me', and whoever shall follow my direction, on them shall no fear come, neither shall they be grieved; but they who shall be unbelievers, and accuse our signs of falsehood, they shall be the companions of hell-fire, therein shall they remain for ever. O children of ISRAEL", remember my favour wherewith I have favoured you; and perform your covenant with me, and I will perform my covenant with you; and revere me: and believe in the revelation which I have sent down, confirming that which is with you, and be not the first who believe not therein, neither exchange my signs for a small price; and fear me. Clothe not the truth with vanity, neither conceal the truth against your own knowledge; observe the stated times of prayer, and pay your legal alms, and bow down yourselves It may not be improper here to mention another tradition, concerning the gigantic stature of our first parents. Their prophet, they say, affirmed Adam to have been as tall as a high palm-tree (1); but this would be too much in proportion, if that were really the print of his foot, which is pretended to be such, on the top of a mountain in the isle of Ceylon, thence named Pico de Adam, and by the Arab writers Rahûn, being somewhat above two spans long (2); though others say it is seventy cubits long, and that when Adam set one foot here, he had the other in the sea (3); and too little, if Eve were of so enormous a size, as is said, that when her head lay on one hill near Mecca, her knees rested on two others in the plain, about two musket shot asunder (4). A direction from me.] GoD here promises Adam that his will should be revealed to him and his posterity; which promise the Mohammedans believe was fulfilled at several times by the ministry of several prophets, from Adam himself, who was the first, to Mohammed who was the last. The number of books revealed unto Adam they say was ten (5). Signs.] This word has various significations in the Korân; sometimes, as in this passage, it signifies divine revelation, or scripture in general; sometimes the verses of the Korân in particular; and at other times visible miracles. But the sense is easily distinguished by the context. The Jews are here called upon to receive the Korân, as verifying and confirming the Pentateuch, particularly with respect to the unity of GOD, and the mission of Mohammed (6). And they are exhorted not to conceal the passages of their law, which bear witness to those truths, nor to corrupt them by publishing false copies of the Pentateuch, for which the writers were but poorly paid (7). (1) YAHYA, (2) MONCONY'S Voyage, part 1. p. 372. &c. See KNOX's Account of Ceylon. (3) Anciennes relations des Indes, &c. p. 3. (4) MoNCONY, ubi sup. (5) V. HOTTINGER, Hist. Orient. p. 11. RELAND, de relig. Mohammed. p. 21. (6) YAHYA. (7) JALLALO'DDIN. with those who bow bown. Will ye command men to do justice, and forget your own souls? yet ye read the book of the law: do ye not therefore understand? Ask help with perseverance and prayer: this indeed is grievous, unless to the humble, who seriously think they shall meet their LORD, and that to him they shall return. O children of ISRAEL, remember my favour wherewith I have favoured you, and that I have preferred you above all nations; dread the day wherein one soul shall not make satisfaction for another soul, neither shall any intercession be accepted from them, nor shall any compensation be received, neither shall they be helped. Remember when we delivered you from the people of PHARAOH, who grievously oppressed you; they slew your male children, and let your females live: therein was a great trial from your LORD. And when we divided the sea for you, and delivered you, and drowned PHARAOH's people while ye looked on'. And when we treated with Mos ES forty nights; then ye took the calf for your GoD, and did evil; yet afterwards we forgave you, that peradventure ye might give thanks. And when we gave Moses the book of the law, and the distinction between good and evil, that peradventure ye might be directed. And when I See the story of Moses and Pharaoh more particularly related, chap. vii. & xx. &c. *The calf.] The person who cast this calf, the Mohammedans say, was (not Aaron, but) al Sâmeri, one of the principal men among the children of Israel, some of whose descendants, it is pretended, still inhabit an island of that name in the Arabian gulf (1). It was made of the rings (2) and bracelets of gold, silver, and other materials, which the Israelites had borrowed of the Egyptians; for Aaron, who commanded in his brother's absence, having ordered al Sâmeri to collect those ornaments from the people who carried on a wicked commerce with (1) Georg. Nubiens. p. 45. them, and to keep them together till the return of Moses; al Sameri, understanding the founder's art, put them all together into a furnace, to melt them down into one mass, which came out in the form of a calf (3). The Israelites, accustomed to the Egyptian idolatry, paying a religious worship to this image, al Sâmeri went farther, and took some dust from the footsteps of the horse of the angel Gabriel, who marched at the head of the people, and threw it into the mouth of the calf, which immediately began to low, and became animated (4); for such was the virtue of that dust (5). One writer says that all the Israelites adored this calf, except only 12,000 (6). (2) Korân, c. 7. (3) See Exod. xxxii. 24. (4) Korân, c. 7. (5) JALLALO'DDIN. Vid. D'HERBELOT, Bibl. Orient. p. 650. (6) ABU'LFEDA. MOSES said unto his people, O my people, verily ye have injured your own souls, by your taking the calf for your God; therefore be turned unto your Creator, and slay those among you who have been guilty of that crime'; this will be better for you in the sight of your Creator: and thereupon he turned unto you, for he is easy to be reconciled, and merciful. And when ye said, O MOSES, we will not believe thee, until we see GOD manifestly; therefore a punishment came upon you, while ye looked on; then we raised you to life after ye had been dead, that peradventure ye might give thanks". And we caused clouds to overshadow you, and manna and quails" to descend upon you, saying, Eat of the good things which we have given you for food: and they injured not us, but injured their own souls. And when we said, Enter into this city, and eat of the provisions thereof plentifully as ye will; and enter the gate worshipping, and say, Forgiveness?! we will pardon you your sins, and give increase unto the well-doers. But the ungodly changed the expression into another, different from what had been spoken unto them; and we sent down upon the ungodly And slay the guilty.] In this particular the narration agrees with that of Moses, who ordered the Levites to slay every man his brother (1): but the scripture says, there fell of the people that day about 3,000 (the Vulgate says 23,000) men (2); whereas the commentators of the Korân make the number of the slain to amount to 70,000; and add, that GOD sent a dark cloud, which hindered them from seeing one another, lest the sight should move those who executed the sentence to compassion (3). m The persons here meant, are said to have been seventy men who were made choice of by Moses, and heard the voice of GOD talking with him. But, not being satisfied with that, they demanded to see GOD; whereupon they were all struck dead by lightning, and, on Moses's intercession, restored to life (4). "The eastern writers say, these quails were of a peculiar kind, to be found no where but in Yaman, from whence they were brought by a south wind in great numbers to the Israelites' camp in the desert (5). The Arabs call these birds Salwa, which is plainly the same with the Hebrew Salwim, and say they have no bones, but are eaten whole (6). This city.] Some commentators suppose it to be Jericho ; others, Jerusalem. P Forgiveness.] The Arabic word is Hittaton, which some take to signify that profession of the unity of GOD, so frequently used by the Mohammedans, La ilaha illa 'llaho, There is no god but GOD. 4 Changed the expression into another.] According to Jallalo'ddin, instead of Hittaton they cried Habbat fi shaïrat, i. e. a grain in an ear of barley; and, in ridicule of the di (1) Exod. xxxii. 26, 27. (2) Ibid. 28. (3) JALLALO'DDIN, &c. (4) ISMAEL EBNALI. (5) See Psalm, lxxviii. 26. (6)V D'HERBELOT Bibl. Orient. p. 477. indignation from heaven', because they had transgressed. And when MOSES asked drink for his people, we said, Strike the rock with thy rod; and there gushed thereout twelve fountains', according to the number of the tribes, and all men knew their respective drinking-place. Eat and drink of the bounty of GOD, and commit not evil in the earth, acting unjustly. And when he said, O MOSES, we will by no means be satisfied with one kind of food; pray unto thy LORD therefore for us, that he would produce for us of that which the earth bringeth forth, herbs, and cucumbers, and garlic, and lentils, and onions"; vine command to enter the city in an humble posture, they indecently crept in upon their breech. Indignation from heaven.] A pestilence, which carried off near 70,000 of them (1). The rock.] The commentators say this was a stone which Moses brought from mount Sinai, and the same that fled away with his garments which he laid upon it one day while he washed: they add, that Moses ran after the stone naked, till he found himself, ere he was aware, in the midst of the people, who, on this accident, were convinced of the falsehood of a report, which had been raised of their prophet, that he was bursten, or, as others write, an hermaphrodite (2). They describe it to be a square piece of white marble, shaped like a man's head; wherein they differ not much from the accounts of European travellers, who say this rock stands among several lesser ones, about 100 paces from mount Horeb, and appears to have been loosened from the neighbouring mountains, having no coherence with the others; that it is a huge mass of red granite, almost round on one side, and flat on the other; 12 feet high, and as many thick, but broader than it is high, and about 50 feet in circumference (3). 'Twelve fountains.] Marracci thinks this circumstance looks like a Rabbinical fiction, or else that Mohammed confounds the water of the rock at Horeb with the twelve wells at Elim (4); for he says, several who have been on the spot, affirm there are but three orifices whence the water issued (5). But it is to be presumed, that Mohammed had better means of information in this respect, than to fall into such a mistake; for the rock stands within the borders of Arabia, and some of his countrymen must needs have seen it, if he himself did not, as it is most probable he did. And, in effect, he seems to be in the right. For one, who went into those parts in the end of the 15th century, tells us expressly, that the water issued from twelve places of the rock, according to the number of the tribes of Israel: egressæ sunt aquæ largissimæ in duodecim locis petræ, juxta, numerum duodecim tribuum Israel (6). A late curious traveller (7) observes that there are 24 holes in the stone, which may be easily counted; that is to say, twelve on the flat side, and as many on the opposite round side, every one being a foot deep, and an inch wide; and he adds, that the holes on one side do not communicate with those on the other; which a less accurate spectator not perceiving (for they are placed horizontally, within two feet of the top of the rock) might conclude they pierced quite through the stone, and so reckon them to be but twelve. u See Numb. xi. 5, &c. (1) JALLALO'DDIN. (2) JALLA LO'DDIN, YAHYA. (3) BREYDENBACH, Itinerar. chartâm. p. 1. SICARD, dans les Memoires des Missions, tom. 7. p. 14. (4) Exod. xv. 27. Numb. xxxiii. 9. (5) MARRAC. Prodr. part 4. p. 80. (6) BREYDENBACH, ubi sup. (7) SICARD, ubi sup. |