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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1All the elements of centralisation were there, and it only wanted such a master-spirit as Mohammed's to turn their thoughts towards the common idea which should induce them to unite. A prophet who starts in his career with no better stockin-trade than visionary enthusiasm or deliberate imposture has but a poor chance. Musdilimah, Mohammed's rival, has left nothing behind him but his sobriquet of El KeDHDH4b, ‘the liar,’ and a few bitterly satirical parodies on some verses of the Qur’4n, which are still occasionally quoted by the less reverential of Muslims. El Mukanna’, the ‘ veiled prophet of Khorassan,’ earned no more immortality than an occasional mention in Persian poetry, and the honour of being the hero of an English popular poem. Mutanebbi, ‘the would-be prophet,’ as his name signifies, who flourished in the tenth century of our era, was an Arab of the Arabs, xlvi THE QUR'AN. and one of the greatest poets of his age. He, too, set up as a prophet, but with so little success that he had to retire from the business at an early period of his career. It was probably his wonderful facility in language that induced him to imitate Mohammed’s example, and rely upon the ‘miraculous’ eloquence of his language in support of his pretensions to inspiration. He, however, missed the opportunities which Mohammed had; he was no great reformer himself, and there was no urgent need of a reform at the time. Moreover, he was entirely destitute of religious feeling, and, even in his earliest poems, so blasphemes and sneers at holy names that his most devoted commentators are frequently at a loss to find excuses for him. In forming our estimate of Mohammed’s character, therefore, and of the religion which we are accustomed to call by his name, we must put aside the theories of imposture and enthusiasm, as well as that of divine inspiration. Even the theory of his being a great political reformer does not contain the whole truth; and although it is certain that his personal character exercised a most important influence on his doctrine, yet it is not by any means evident that it even moulded it into its present shape. The enthusiasm which he himself inspired, and the readiness with which such men as Abu Bekr and Omar, Arabs of the noblest birth, ranged themselves amongst his followers, who consisted for the most part of men of the lowest rank, slaves, freedmen, and the like, prove that he could have been no mere impostor.
2The early portions of the Qur’dn are the genuine rhapsodies of an enthusiast who believed himself inspired, and Mohammed himself points to them in the later Sirahs as irrefragable proofs of the divine origin of his mission. In his later history, however, there are evidences of that tendency to pious fraud which the profession of a prophet necessarily involves. Although commenced in ‘perfect good faith, such a profession must place the enthusiast at last in an embarrassing position, and the very desire to prove the truth of what he himself believes may reduce him to INTRODUCTION. xl vii the alternative of resorting to a pious fraud or of relinquishing all the results which he has previously attained. At the outset of his career he turned to the Jews, imagining that, as he claimed to restore the original religion of Abraham, and appealed to the Jewish scriptures for confirmation of his teaching, they would support him. Disappointed in this quarter, he treated them with more bitter hostility than any other of his opponents. In the latter part of his career he took but little notice either of the Jews or Christians, and when he does mention the latter it is without any of the conciliatory spirit which he at first displayed to them, and they are not only sharply reproved for their errors, but are included in the general mass of infidels against whom the true believers are to fight. Mohammed styles himself in the Quran En Nebiy el’ummiy (Chap. VII, vers. 156 and 158), which may be interpreted either ‘the illiterate prophet’ or ‘the prophet of the Gentiles,’ as the word 7Ummiydin in Chap. II, ver. 73 means rather ‘those who have no scriptures.’ Mohammedans themselves differ very much as to whether the prophet could read or write, the Sunnis denying it and the Shi‘ahs declaring that he was able to do both. The evidence of the fact, though, is very untrustworthy, and in the traditional accounts of the occasions on which he is said to have written, the words may mean nothing more than that he dictated the documents in question. In the Qur'an, XXIX, 47, it is merely said that he never ‘recited a book before this,’ and the passages in Chap. XCVI, vers. 1-6, which begin ‘ Read,’ and in which the angel Gabriel is supposed to exhibit the Umm al Kitab (see p. 2, note 2), and to command him to read it, the act implied may be nothing more than an intuitive perception of the contents of the book thus mysteriously shown to him. It is probable that he could neither read nor write, and it is almost certain that he could not have done so sufficiently to have made use of any of the Jewish or Christian scriptures. The oral Jewish and Christian traditions incorporated in the Qur'an were, no doubt, current among the Jewish and xl viii THE QUR'AN.
3The oral Jewish and Christian traditions incorporated in the Qur'an were, no doubt, current among the Jewish and xl viii THE QUR'AN. Christian tribes ; there is not the least evidence in support of the accusation made against Mohammed by Christian writers, that the greater part of his revelations were due to the suggestions of a Christian monk. The person referred to in the Qur’4n, Chapter XVI, ver. 105, is probably Salman the Persian ; the Persian legends being in the Arab mind the very archetype of those ‘old folks’ tales’ to which his revelations were so often compared by his contemporaries. Other stories, such as those of ‘Ad and Thamid; the legends of their great forefather Abraham; of the Seil al ‘Arim, or the bursting of the dyke at Marab, were all commonplaces of the folk lore of the country. He, however, told them over again with the additional particulars which he had derived from Jewish and Christian sources, and appealed to this additional information in proof of the divine origin of his version. The city of YaTHrib, better known afterwards as El Medinah, ‘the city,’ contained many Jewish inhabitants, and Mecca itself was no doubt also frequented by Jewish Arabs, and the influence of their beliefs and superstitions is apparent throughout the Qur'an. Christianity too, as we have seen, contributed considerably to the new religion, though not to so great an extent as Judaism. It is clear, however, that Mohammed was not acquainted with the originals themselves, either of the Jewish or Christian scriptures. The only passage of the Old Testament quoted in the Qur’4n is in Chapter X XI, vers. 104, 105, ‘And already have we written in the Psalms after the reminder that “the earth my righteous servants shall inherit,”’ which is an Arabic paraphrase of Psalm xxxvii, ver. 29, ‘ The righteous shall inherit the land.’ The well-known exclusiveness of the Jews and their unwillingness that any Gentile hand should touch their holy Book, renders it extremely improbable that even this sentence was borrowed direct from the scriptures themselves, even if Mohammed could have understood the language in which they are written, INTRODUCTION, xlix The Qur'an appeals several times to the prophecies concerning Mohammed which are alleged to exist in the New and Old Testaments: thus in Chap. II, 141, ‘Those to whom we have given the Book know him as they know their own sons, although a sect of them do surely hide the truth, the while they know ;’ and again, VI, 20, ‘Those to whom we have brought the Book know him as they know their sons,—those who lose their souls do not believe.’
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1All the elements of centralisation were there, and it only wanted such a master-spirit as Mohammed's to turn their thoughts towards the common idea which should induce them to unite. A prophet who starts in his career with no better stockin-trade than visionary enthusiasm or deliberate imposture has but a poor chance. Musdilimah, Mohammed's rival, has left nothing behind him but his sobriquet of El KeDHDH4b, ‘the liar,’ and a few bitterly satirical parodies on some verses of the Qur’4n, which are still occasionally quoted by the less reverential of Muslims. El Mukanna’, the ‘ veiled prophet of Khorassan,’ earned no more immortality than an occasional mention in Persian poetry, and the honour of being the hero of an English popular poem. Mutanebbi, ‘the would-be prophet,’ as his name signifies, who flourished in the tenth century of our era, was an Arab of the Arabs, xlvi THE QUR'AN. and one of the greatest poets of his age. He, too, set up as a prophet, but with so little success that he had to retire from the business at an early period of his career. It was probably his wonderful facility in language that induced him to imitate Mohammed’s example, and rely upon the ‘miraculous’ eloquence of his language in support of his pretensions to inspiration. He, however, missed the opportunities which Mohammed had; he was no great reformer himself, and there was no urgent need of a reform at the time. Moreover, he was entirely destitute of religious feeling, and, even in his earliest poems, so blasphemes and sneers at holy names that his most devoted commentators are frequently at a loss to find excuses for him. In forming our estimate of Mohammed’s character, therefore, and of the religion which we are accustomed to call by his name, we must put aside the theories of imposture and enthusiasm, as well as that of divine inspiration. Even the theory of his being a great political reformer does not contain the whole truth; and although it is certain that his personal character exercised a most important influence on his doctrine, yet it is not by any means evident that it even moulded it into its present shape. The enthusiasm which he himself inspired, and the readiness with which such men as Abu Bekr and Omar, Arabs of the noblest birth, ranged themselves amongst his followers, who consisted for the most part of men of the lowest rank, slaves, freedmen, and the like, prove that he could have been no mere impostor.
2The early portions of the Qur’dn are the genuine rhapsodies of an enthusiast who believed himself inspired, and Mohammed himself points to them in the later Sirahs as irrefragable proofs of the divine origin of his mission. In his later history, however, there are evidences of that tendency to pious fraud which the profession of a prophet necessarily involves. Although commenced in ‘perfect good faith, such a profession must place the enthusiast at last in an embarrassing position, and the very desire to prove the truth of what he himself believes may reduce him to INTRODUCTION. xl vii the alternative of resorting to a pious fraud or of relinquishing all the results which he has previously attained. At the outset of his career he turned to the Jews, imagining that, as he claimed to restore the original religion of Abraham, and appealed to the Jewish scriptures for confirmation of his teaching, they would support him. Disappointed in this quarter, he treated them with more bitter hostility than any other of his opponents. In the latter part of his career he took but little notice either of the Jews or Christians, and when he does mention the latter it is without any of the conciliatory spirit which he at first displayed to them, and they are not only sharply reproved for their errors, but are included in the general mass of infidels against whom the true believers are to fight. Mohammed styles himself in the Quran En Nebiy el’ummiy (Chap. VII, vers. 156 and 158), which may be interpreted either ‘the illiterate prophet’ or ‘the prophet of the Gentiles,’ as the word 7Ummiydin in Chap. II, ver. 73 means rather ‘those who have no scriptures.’ Mohammedans themselves differ very much as to whether the prophet could read or write, the Sunnis denying it and the Shi‘ahs declaring that he was able to do both. The evidence of the fact, though, is very untrustworthy, and in the traditional accounts of the occasions on which he is said to have written, the words may mean nothing more than that he dictated the documents in question. In the Qur'an, XXIX, 47, it is merely said that he never ‘recited a book before this,’ and the passages in Chap. XCVI, vers. 1-6, which begin ‘ Read,’ and in which the angel Gabriel is supposed to exhibit the Umm al Kitab (see p. 2, note 2), and to command him to read it, the act implied may be nothing more than an intuitive perception of the contents of the book thus mysteriously shown to him. It is probable that he could neither read nor write, and it is almost certain that he could not have done so sufficiently to have made use of any of the Jewish or Christian scriptures. The oral Jewish and Christian traditions incorporated in the Qur'an were, no doubt, current among the Jewish and xl viii THE QUR'AN.
3The oral Jewish and Christian traditions incorporated in the Qur'an were, no doubt, current among the Jewish and xl viii THE QUR'AN. Christian tribes ; there is not the least evidence in support of the accusation made against Mohammed by Christian writers, that the greater part of his revelations were due to the suggestions of a Christian monk. The person referred to in the Qur’4n, Chapter XVI, ver. 105, is probably Salman the Persian ; the Persian legends being in the Arab mind the very archetype of those ‘old folks’ tales’ to which his revelations were so often compared by his contemporaries. Other stories, such as those of ‘Ad and Thamid; the legends of their great forefather Abraham; of the Seil al ‘Arim, or the bursting of the dyke at Marab, were all commonplaces of the folk lore of the country. He, however, told them over again with the additional particulars which he had derived from Jewish and Christian sources, and appealed to this additional information in proof of the divine origin of his version. The city of YaTHrib, better known afterwards as El Medinah, ‘the city,’ contained many Jewish inhabitants, and Mecca itself was no doubt also frequented by Jewish Arabs, and the influence of their beliefs and superstitions is apparent throughout the Qur'an. Christianity too, as we have seen, contributed considerably to the new religion, though not to so great an extent as Judaism. It is clear, however, that Mohammed was not acquainted with the originals themselves, either of the Jewish or Christian scriptures. The only passage of the Old Testament quoted in the Qur’4n is in Chapter X XI, vers. 104, 105, ‘And already have we written in the Psalms after the reminder that “the earth my righteous servants shall inherit,”’ which is an Arabic paraphrase of Psalm xxxvii, ver. 29, ‘ The righteous shall inherit the land.’ The well-known exclusiveness of the Jews and their unwillingness that any Gentile hand should touch their holy Book, renders it extremely improbable that even this sentence was borrowed direct from the scriptures themselves, even if Mohammed could have understood the language in which they are written, INTRODUCTION, xlix The Qur'an appeals several times to the prophecies concerning Mohammed which are alleged to exist in the New and Old Testaments: thus in Chap. II, 141, ‘Those to whom we have given the Book know him as they know their own sons, although a sect of them do surely hide the truth, the while they know ;’ and again, VI, 20, ‘Those to whom we have brought the Book know him as they know their sons,—those who lose their souls do not believe.’
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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