Moses was commanded to destroy, and others of the tribe of Lakhm.
Their idols, it is said, were images of oxen, which gave the first
hint to the making of the golden calf.—S. (B.)
[288] The Eastern writers say these quails were of a peculiar kind of
be found nowhere else but in El-Yemen, from whence they were brought
by a south wind in great numbers to the Israelites’ camp in the
desert. The Arabs called these birds ‘selwa,’ which is plainly the
same with the Hebrew ‘salwim,’ and say they have no bones, but are
eaten whole.—S.
[289] The word here rendered ‘a great city,’ namely ‘miṣran,’ is
rendered by Marracci and Sale ‘Egypt,’ and is so understood by many
learned Arabs; but according to a general rule, to have this
signification it should be ‘miṣra:’ in some copies of the Ḳur-án,
however, it is thus written.
[290] See Sale’s note _in loc._
[291] A kind of soft stone, like dry mud.
[292] The story here alluded to, though it occurs among passages
respecting Moses and his people, is said to relate to a different age
and to be as follows:—In the days of David, some Israelites dwelt at
Eyleh, or Elath, on the Red Sea, where, on the night of the Sabbath,
the fish used to come in great numbers to the shore, and stay there
all the Sabbath, to tempt them; but the night following they returned
into the sea again. At length, some of the inhabitants, neglecting
God’s commandment, catched fish on the Sabbath, and dressed and ate
them; and afterwards cut canals from the sea, for the fish to enter,
with sluices, which they shut on the Sabbath, to prevent their return
to the sea. The other part of the inhabitants, who strictly observed
the Sabbath, used both persuasion and force to stop this impiety, but
to no purpose, the offenders growing only more and more obstinate;
whereupon David cursed the Sabbath-breakers, and God transformed them
into apes. It is said, that one going to see a friend of his that was
among them found him in the shape of an ape moving his eyes about
wildly; and asking him whether he was not such a one, the ape made a
sign with his head that it was he; whereupon the friend said to him,
Did not I advise you to desist? at which the ape wept. They add, that
these unhappy people remained three days in this condition, and were
afterwards destroyed by a wind which swept them all into the sea.—S.
(A. F.)
[293] His breath before [he used the tooth-stick] had the odour of
musk.—S. (B.)
[294] It is said that not only the ten commandments, but the whole law
was written thereon.—S.
[295] That is, as some understand it, consisting of flesh and blood;
or, as others, being a mere body or mass of metal, without a soul.—S.
(B.)
[296] The person who cast this calf, the Moḥammadans say, was not
Aaron but Es-Sámiree, 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. It was made of the rings 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 Es-Sámiree to collect those
ornaments from the people, who carried on a wicked commerce with them,
and to keep them together till the return of Moses, Es-Sámiree,
understanding the founder’s art, put them altogether into a furnace,
to melt them down into one mass, which came out in the form of a calf.
One writer says, that all the Israelites adored this calf, except only
twelve thousand.—S. (A. F.)
[297] After he had completed his forty days’ stay in the mount, and
had received the Law.—S. (B.)
[298] Or, I knew that which they knew not—that the messenger sent to
thee from God was a pure spirit, and that his footsteps gave life to
whatever they touched; being no other than the angel Gabriel, mounted
on the horse of life: and therefore I made use of the dust of his feet
to animate the molten calf. It is said, Es-Sámiree knew the angel
because he had saved and taken care of him when a child and exposed by
his mother for fear of Pharaoh.—S. (B., Jelál.)
[299] The word here rendered ‘hearts’ often signifies stomachs; and if
this be its meaning here, the narrative agrees with the [so-called]
Mosaic account: for Moses ‘took the calf which they had made, and
burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the
water, and made the children of Israel to drink of it.’—Exod. xxxii.
20.
[300] 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’
intercession restored to life.—S.
[301] This person is represented by the commentators as the most
beautiful of the Israelites, and so far surpassing them all in
opulence that the riches of Ḳároon have become a proverb.—S.
[302] Moses, as some say, having complained to God of a false
accusation brought against him by Ḳároon, He directed him to command
the earth what he pleased, and it should obey him; whereupon he said,
‘O earth, swallow them up;’ and immediately the earth opened under
Ḳároon and his confederates, and swallowed them up, with his palace
and all his riches.—There goes a tradition that as Ḳároon sank
gradually into the ground, first to his knees, then to his waist, then
to his neck, he cried out four several times, ‘O Moses, have mercy on
me!’ but that Moses continued to say, ‘O earth, swallow them up!’ till
at last he wholly disappeared: upon which God said to Moses, ‘Thou
hadst no mercy on Ḳároon, though he asked pardon of thee four times;
but I would have had compassion on him if he had asked pardon of me
but once.’—S. (B.)
[303] Or rather, fawn-coloured; as are most of the cows of Arabia. The
word in the original properly signifies yellow.
[304] The story of this young man is thus related:—A certain man at
his death left his son, then a child, a cow-calf, which wandered in
the desert till he came to age; at which time his mother told him the
heifer was his, and bid him fetch her and sell her for three pieces of
gold. When the young man came to the market with his heifer, an angel
in the shape of a man accosted him and bid him six pieces of gold for
her; but he would not take the money till he had asked his mother’s
consent; which when he had obtained, he returned to the market-place,
and met the angel, who now offered him twice as much for the heifer,
provided he would say nothing of it to his mother; but the young man,
refusing, went and acquainted her with the additional offer. The
woman, perceiving it was an angel, bid her son go back and ask him
what must be done with the heifer; whereupon the angel told the young
man that in a little time the children of Israel would buy that heifer
of him at any price.—S. (A.F.)
[305] The more common tradition seems to be that the man was murdered
by _one_ person, the son of his brother, who desired to obtain his
property (as his inheritance), or his daughter, or both.
(Mir-át-ez-Zemán).
[306] Also called El-Khaḍir. This mysterious person, whom the vulgar
and some others regard as a prophet, and identify with Ilyás (Elias or
Elijah), and whom some confound with St. George, was, according to the
more approved opinion of the learned, a just man or saint, the Wezeer
and counsellor of that equally doubtful personage Dhu-l-Ḳarneyn, whose
story has already been related in this volume. El-Khiḍr is said to
have drunk of the Fountain of Life, by virtue of which he still lives,
and will live till the day of judgment. He is also said to appear
frequently to Muslims in perplexity, and to be generally clad in green
garments; whence, according to some, his name.—Sale states, in a note
on this passage, that the Muslims usually confound El-Khiḍr with
Phineas, as well as Elias and St. George, saying that his soul passed
by a metempsychosis successively through all three; and he adds, that
part of these fictions they took from the Jews, some of whom also
fancy Phineas was Elias.
[307] Or, as some rather think, El-Ubulleh, near El-Basrah, or else
Bájarwán in Armenia.—S. (B.)
[308] They were ten brothers, five of whom were past their labour by
reason of their age.—S. (B.)
[309] That is, because of the great confidence the Israelites placed
in it, having won several battles by its miraculous assistance. I
imagine, however, that the Arabic word ‘sekeeneh,’ which signifies
‘tranquillity’ or ‘security of mind,’ and is so understood by the
commentators, may not improbably mean the ‘divine presence’ or
‘glory,’ which used to appear on the Ark, and which the Jews express
by the same word ‘Shekinah.’—S.
[310] Sale observes that Yaḥyá most rationally understands hereby the
divine revelations which David received from God, and not the art of
making coats of mail.—The cause of his applying himself to this art is
thus related in the Mir-át-ez-Zemán:—He used to go forth in disguise;
and when he found any people who knew him not, he approached them and
asked them respecting the conduct of David, and they praised him and
prayed for him; but one day, as he was asking questions respecting
himself as usual, God sent to him an angel in the form of a human
being, who said, ‘An excellent man were David if he did not take from
the public treasury:’—whereupon the heart of David was contracted, and
he begged of God to render him independent: so He made iron soft to
him, and it became in his hands as thread; and he used to sell a coat
of mail for four thousand [pieces of money—whether gold or silver is
not said], and with part of this he obtained food for himself, and part he
gave in alms, and with part he fed his family.—Hence an excellent coat
of mail is often called by the Arabs ‘Dáwoodee,’ _i.e._, ‘Davidean.’
See my translation of ‘The Thousand and One Nights,’ chap. viii. note
5.
[311] For David, they say, divided his time regularly, setting apart
one day for the service of God, another day for rendering justice to
his people, another day for preaching to them, and another day for his
own affairs.—S. (B.)
[312] They say that he had a carpet of green silk, on which his throne
was placed, being of a prodigious length and breadth, and sufficient
for all his forces to stand on, the men placing themselves on his
right hand, and the spirits [or jinn] on his left; and that when all
were in order the wind at his command took up the carpet and
transported it with all that were upon it wherever he pleased; the
army of birds at the same time flying over their heads and forming a
kind of canopy to shade them from the sun.—S.
[313] Whither the wind brought back Solomon’s throne in the evening,
after having carried it to a distant country in the morning.—S.
[314] After the space of forty days, which was the time the image had
been worshipped in his house, the devil [or jinnee] flew away, and
threw the signet into the sea: the signet was immediately swallowed by
a fish, which being taken and given to Solomon, he found the ring in
its belly, and, having by this means recovered the kingdom, took
Ṣakhr, and, tying a great stone to his neck, threw him into the
Lake of Tiberias.—S. (B., A.F.)
[315] See note 30 to the Introduction of my translation of the
‘Thousand and One Nights.’
[316] The Arab historians tell us that Solomon, having finished the
Temple of Jerusalem, went in pilgrimage to Mekkeh, where having stayed
as long as he pleased, he proceeded towards El-Yemen; and leaving
Mekkeh in the morning he arrived by noon at Ṣan´a, and being
extremely delighted with the country rested there; but wanting water
to make the ablution, he looked among the birds for the lapwing which
found it for him.—S. (B.)
[317] Some add that Bilḳees, to try whether Solomon was a prophet or
not, drest the boys like girls and the girls like boys, and sent him
in a casket a pearl not drilled and an onyx drilled with a crooked
hole; and that Solomon distinguished the boys from the girls by the
different manner of their taking water, and ordered one worm to bore
the pearl, and another to pass a thread through the onyx.—S. (B.)
[318] Others, however, suppose it was El-Khiḍr, or else Gabriel, or
some other angel; and some imagine it to have been Solomon himself.—S.
(B.)
[319] This fountain they say was in El-Yemen.—S. (B.)
[320] Some say these spirits made him two lions, which were placed at
the foot of his throne; and two eagles, which were set above it; and
that when he mounted it, the lions stretched out their paws; and when
he sat down, the eagles shaded him with their wings.—S. (B.)
[321] The commentators to explain this passage tell us that David,
having laid the foundations of the Temple of Jerusalem, which was to
be in lieu of the tabernacle of Moses, when he died, left it to be
finished by his son Solomon, who employed the genii in the work; that
Solomon, before the edifice was quite completed, perceiving his end
drew nigh, begged of God that his death might be concealed from the
genii till they had entirely finished it; that God therefore so
ordered it that Solomon died as he stood at his prayers, leaning on
his staff, which supported the body in that posture a full year; and
the genii, supposing him to be alive, continued their work during that
term, at the expiration whereof, the temple being perfectly completed,
a worm, which had gotten into the staff, ate it through, and the
corpse fell to the ground and discovered the king’s death.—S. (B.,
Jelál.)
[322] It is said that the fish, after it had swallowed Jonah, swam
after the ship with its head above water, that the prophet might
breathe; who continued to praise God till the fish came to land and
vomited him out.—S.
[323] Sale states that some imagine Jonah’s plant to have been a fig;
and others, the móz (or banana), which bears very large leaves and
excellent fruit.
[324] The commentators add that this plant withered the next morning,
and that Jonah being much concerned at it God made a remonstrance to
him in behalf of the Ninevites, agreeably to what is recorded in
Scripture.—S.
[325] When he first began to exhort them to repentance, instead of
hearkening to him, they used him very ill, so that he was obliged to
leave the city, threatening them at his departure that they should be
destroyed within three days, or, as others say, within forty. But when
the time drew near, and they saw the heavens overcast with a black
cloud which shot forth fire and filled the air with smoke and hung
directly over the city, they were in a terrible consternation, and
getting into the fields, with their families and cattle, they put on
sackcloth and humbled themselves before God, calling aloud for pardon
and sincerely repenting of their past wickedness. Whereupon God was
pleased to forgive them, and the storm blew over.—S. (B., Jelál, A.F.)
[326] ´Imrán, as observed by Sale, is the name of two several persons
according to the Muslims: one was the father of Moses and Aaron, and
the other was the father of the Virgin Mary. The latter is here meant,
and his wife’s name was Hannah.
[327] Or the devil driven away with stones.—See note 1. (38), p. 7.
[328] And for this reason, they say, neither of them was guilty of any
sin, like the rest of the children of Adam.—S. (Ḳatádeh.)
[329] That is, between thirty, or thirty-four, and fifty-one: and the
passage may relate to Christ’s preaching here on earth. But as he had
scarce attained this age when he was taken up into heaven, the
commentators choose to understand it of his second coming.—S.
[330] The age of the Virgin Mary at the time of her conception was
thirteen, or, as others say, ten; and she went six, seven, eight, or
nine months with him, according to different traditions; though some
say the child was conceived at its full growth of nine months, and
that she was delivered of him within an hour after.—S. (B., Yahya.)
[331] Some say the Virgin Mary had really a brother named Aaron, who
had the same father but a different mother: others suppose Aaron the
brother of Moses is here meant, but say Mary is called his sister
either because she was of the Levitical race, (as, by her having been
related to Elizabeth, it should seem she was,) or by way of
comparison: others say that it was a different person of that name who
was contemporary with her and conspicuous for his good or bad
qualities, and that they likened her to him either by way of
commendation or of reproach.—S. (B., Z., &c.)
[332] These were the first words which were put into the mouth of
Jesus, to obviate the imagination of his partaking of the divine
nature or having a right to the worship of mankind on account of his
miraculous speaking so soon after his birth.—S. (B.)
[333] It is related in the spurious Gospel of the Infancy of Christ
that Jesus being seven years old and at play with several children of
his age, they made several figures of birds and beasts of clay for
their diversion; and each preferring his own workmanship, Jesus told
them that he would make his walk and leap; which accordingly at his
command they did. He made also several figures of sparrows and other
birds, which flew about or stood on his hands as he ordered them, and
also ate and drank when he offered them meat and drink. The children,
telling this to their parents, were forbidden to play any more with
Jesus, whom they held to be a sorcerer.—S.
[334] The commentators observe that these words are added lest it
should be thought Jesus did these miracles by his own power, or was
God.—S. (B.)
[335] In Arabic, ‘el-Ḥawáreeyoon;’ which word they derive from ‘ḥára,’
‘to be white’ [or rather, ‘to whiten’ clothes], and suppose the
apostles were so called either from the _candour_ and _sincerity_ of
their minds, or because they were princes and wore white garments, or
else because they were by trade fullers.—(B., Jelál.) According to
which last opinion, their vocation is thus related: That as Jesus
passed by the sea-side, he saw some fullers at work, and, accosting
them, said, ‘Ye cleanse these clothes, but cleanse not your hearts;’
upon which they believed on him. But the true etymology seems to be
from the Ethiopic verb ‘hawyra,’ ‘to go;’ whence ‘hawârya’ signifies
‘one that is sent,’ a ‘messenger,’ or ‘apostle.’—S.
[336] The person crucified some will have to be a spy that was sent to
entrap him; others that it was one Titian, who by the direction of
Judas entered in at a window of the house where Jesus was; to kill
him; and others that it was Judas himself, who agreed with the rulers
of the Jews to betray him for thirty pieces of silver, and led those
who were sent to take him.—They add, that Jesus, after his crucifixion
in _effigy_, was sent down again to the earth to comfort his mother
and disciples and acquaint them how the Jews were deceived, and was
then taken up a second time into heaven.
It is supposed by several that this story was an original invention of
Moḥammad’s; but they are certainly mistaken: for several sectaries
held the same opinion long before his time. The Basilidians, in the
very beginning of Christianity, denied that Christ himself suffered,
but [asserted] that Simon the Cirenean was crucified in his place. The
Corinthians before them, and the Carpocratians next (to name no more
of those who affirmed Jesus to have been a mere man), did believe the
same thing, that it was not himself, but one of his followers, very
like him, that was crucified. Photius tells us that he read a book
entitled ‘The Journeys of the Apostles,’ relating the acts of Peter,
John, Andrew, Thomas, and Paul; and among other things contained
therein this was one, that Christ was not crucified, but another in
his stead, and that therefore he laughed at his crucifiers, or those
who thought they had crucified him.—S.
[337] 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.’ What the provisions
were with which the table was furnished is a matter wherein the
expositors are not agreed. One will have them to be nine cakes of
bread and nine fishes; another, bread and flesh; another, all sorts of
food except flesh; another, all sorts of food except bread and flesh;
another, all except bread and fish; another, one fish which had the
taste of all manner of food; another, fruits of Paradise: but the most
received tradition is that when the table was uncovered there appeared
a fish ready dressed, without scales or prickly fins, dropping with
fat, having salt placed at its head, and vinegar at its tail, and
round it all sorts of herbs except leeks, and five loaves of bread, on
one of which there were olives, on the second honey, on the third
butter, on the fourth cheese, and on the fifth dried flesh. They add
that Jesus at the request of the apostles showed them another miracle
by restoring the fish to life and causing its scales and fins to
return to it; at which the standers-by being affrighted, he caused it
to become as it was before: that one thousand three hundred men and
women, all afflicted with bodily infirmities or poverty, ate of these
provisions and were satisfied, the fish remaining whole as it was at
the first: that then the table flew up to heaven in the sight of all;
and every one who had partaken of this food were delivered from their
infirmities and misfortunes: and that it continued to descend for
forty days together, at dinner-time, and stood on the ground till the
sun declined, and was then taken up into the clouds. Some of the
Moḥammadan writers are of opinion that this table did not really
descend, but it was only a parable; but most think that the words of
the Ḳur-án are plain to the contrary. A further tradition is that
several men were changed into swine [and apes] for disbelieving this
miracle and attributing it to magic art; or, as others pretend, for
stealing some of the victuals from off it. Several other fabulous
circumstances are also told, which are scarce worth transcribing.—S.
(B.)
[338] Some say the table descended on a Sunday, which was the reason
of the Christians’ observing that day as sacred. Others pretend this
day is still kept among them as a very great festival; and it seems as
if the story had its rise from an imperfect notion of Christ’s last
supper and the institution of the Eucharist.—S.