and he is reckoned an infidel who Psalms, and Gospel, they say, have denies there are such beings, or undergone so many alterations and hates any of them, or asserts any corruptions, that, though there may distinction of sexes among them.possibly be some part of the true They believe them to have pure word of God therein, yet no creand subtle bodies, created of fire; dit is to be given to the present cothat they neither eat nor drink, pies in the hands of the Jews and nor propagate their species; that Christians. they have various forms and offi- 4. The number of the prophets ces, some adoring God in differ-which have been from time to ent postures, others singing praises time sent by God into the world, to him, or interceding for man-amounts to no less than 224,000, kind. They hold, that some of according to one Mahometan trathem are employed in writing dition; or to 124,000, according down the actions of men; others to another; among whom 313 were in carrying the throne of God, and apostles, sent with special commissions to reclaim mankind from in

other services. 3. As to the scriptures, the Ma-fidelity and superstition; and six hometans are taught by the Koran, of them brought new laws or disthat God, in divers ages of the pensations, which successively abworld, gave revelations of his will rogated the preceding: these were in writing to several prophets, the Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, whole and every one of which it Jesus, and Mahomet. All the prois absolutely necessary for a good phets in general the Mahometans Moslem to believe. The number believe to have been free from great of these sacred books were, accord-sins and errors of consequence, and ing to them, one hundred and four; professors of one and the same reof which ten were given to Adam,ligion, that is, Islam, notwithstandfifty to Seth, thirty to Edris or ing the different laws and instituEnoch, ten to Abraham; and the tions which they observed. They other four, being the Pentateuch, allow of degress among them, and the Psalms, the Gospel, and the hold some of them to be more exKoran, were successively deliver-cellent and honourable than others. ed to Moses, David, Jesus, and The first place they give to the reMahomet which last being the vealers and establishers of new disseal of the prophets, those revela-pensations, and the next to the tions are now closed, and no more apostles. are to be expected. All these divine books, except the four last, they agree to be now entirely lost, and their contents unknown; though the Sabians have several books which they attribute to some of the antediluvian prophets. And of those four, the Pentateuch,

In this great number of prophets they not only reckon divers patriarchs and persons named in scripture, but not recorded to have been prophets (wherein the Jewish and Christian writers have sometimes led the way), as Adam, Seth, Lot, Ishmael, Nun, Joshua, &c., and in

troduce some of them under different names, as Enoch, Heber, and Fethro, who are called, in the Koran, Edris, Hud, and Shoaib; but several others whose very names do not appear in scripture (though they endeavour to find some persons there to fix them on), as Saleh, Khedr, Dhu'lkefl, &c.

5. The belief of a general resurrection and a future judgment.

unto him, that he may be admitted into paradise; but if, on the contrary, his good works be exhausted, and there remain evil works only, and there be any who have not yet received satisfaction from him, God will order that an equal weight of their sins be added unto his, that he may be punished for them in their stead, and he will be sent to hell laden with both. This will be The time of the resurrection the the method of God's dealing with Mahometans allow to be a perfect mankind. As to brutes, after they secret to all but God alone; the shall have likewise taken venangel Gabriel himself acknowledg- geance of one another, he will ing his ignorance in this point, command them to be changed into when Mahomet asked him about it. dust; wicked men being reserved However, they say, the approach to more grievous punishment, so of that day may be known from cer- that they shall cry out, on hearing tain signs which are to precede it. this sentence passed on the brutes, After examination is past (the Would to God that we were dust alaccount of which is too long and so! As to the genii, many Mahotedious for this place), and every metans are of opinion that such of one's works weighed in a just ba- them as are true believers will unlance, they say, that mutual reta- dergo the same fate as the irrationliation will follow, according to al animals, and have no other rewhich every creature will take ven-ward than the favour of being congeance one of another, or have sa-verted into dust and for this they tisfaction made them for the in- quote the authority of their projuries which they have suffered. phet. And, since there will then be no other way of returning like for like, the manner of giving this satisfaction will be by taking away a proportional part of the good works of him who offered the injury, and adding it to those of him who suffered it. Which being done, if the angels (by whose ministry this is to be performed) say, Lord, we have given to every one his due, and there remaineth of this person's good works so much as equalleth the weight of an ant, God will, of his mercy, cause it to be doubled

The trials being over, and the assembly dissolved, the Mahometans hold, that those who are to be admitted into paradise will take the right hand way, and those who are destined to hell fire will take the left: but both of them must first pass the bridge called in Arabic Al Sirat, which, they say, is laid over the midst of hell, and describe to be finer than a hair, and sharper than the edge of a sword; so that it seems very difficult to conceive how any one shall be able to stand upon it; for which reason

angels, nineteen in number; to whom the damned will confess the just judgment of God, and beg them to intercede with him for some alleviation of their pain, or that they may be delivered by being annihilated.

most of the sect of the Motaza- the sixth, named al Fahim, to the lites reject it as a fable; though idolaters; and the seventh, which the orthodox think it a sufficient is the lowest and worst of all, and proof of the truth of this article, is called al Haryat, to the hypothat it was seriously affirmed by crites, or those who outwardly him who never asserted a false-professed some religion, but in hood, meaning their prophet; their hearts were of none. Over who, to add to the difficulty of each of these apartments they bethe has likewise declar-lieve there will be set a guard of passage, ed, that this bridge is beset on each side with briars and hooked thorns, which will, however, be no impediment to the good; for they shall pass with wonderful ease and swiftness, like lightning, or the wind, Mahomet and his Moslems leading the way, where- Mahomet has, in his Koran as the wicked, what with the and traditions, been very exact slipperiness and extreme narrow-in describing the various torness of the path, the entangling ments of hell, which, according of the thorns, and the extinction to him, the wicked will suffer of the light which directed the both from intense heat and exformer to paradise, will soon miss cessive cold. We shall, howtheir footing, and fall down head-ever, enter into no detail of them long into hell, which is gaping here; but only observe, that the beneath them. degrees of these pains will also As to the punishment of the vary in proportion to the crimes wicked, the Mahometans are of the sufferer, and the aparttaught, that hell is divided into ment he is condemned to; and seven stories or apartments, one that he who is punished the most below another, designed for the lightly of all will be shod with reception of as many distinct shoes of fire, the fervour of which classes of the damned. will cause his skull to boil like a The first, which they call Fe-chaldron. The condition of these hennan, they say, will be the re-unhappy wretches, as the same ceptacle of those who acknow- prophet teaches, cannot be proledged one God, that is, the wick-perly called either life or death; ed Mahometans; who, after hav-and their misery will be greatly ing been punished according to increased by their despair of betheir demerits, will at length being ever delivered from that released; the second, named Lad-place, since, according to that ha, they assign to the Jews; the third, named al Hotama, to the Christians; the fourth, named al Sair, to the Sabians; the fifth, named Sakar, to the Magians;

frequent expression in the Koran, they must remain therein for ever. It must be remarked, however, that the infidels alone will be liable to eternity of damnation;

Though paradise be so very frequently mentioned in the Koran, yet it is a dispute among the Mahometans, whether it be already created, or to be created hereafter; the Motazalites and some other sectaries asserting, that there is not at present any such place in nature, and that the paradise which the righteous will inhabit in the next life will be different from that from which Adam was expelled. However, the orthodox profess the contrary, maintaining that it was created even before the world, and describe it, from their prophet's traditions, in the following manner:

for the Moslems, or those who radise, being whiter than milk or have embraced the true religion, silver, and more odoriferous than and have been guilty of hei-musk, with as many cups set nous sins, will be delivered around it as there are stars in the thence after they shall have expi- firmament; of which water whoated their crimes by their suffer-ever drinks will thirst no more ings. The time which these for ever. This is the first taste believers shall be detained there, which the blessed will have of according to a tradition hand-their future and now near aped down from their prophet, proaching felicity. will not be less than nine hundred years, nor more than seven thousand. And, as to the manner of their delivery, they say that they shall be distinguished by the marks of prostration on those parts of their bodies with which they used to touch the ground in prayer, and over which the fire will therefore have no power; and that, being known by this characteristic, they will be released by the mercy of God, at the intercession of Mahomet and the blessed: whereupon those who shall have been dead will be restored to life, as has been said; and those whose bodies shall have contracted any sootiness or filth from the flames and smoke They say it is situated above of hell, will be immersed in the seven heavens (or in the seone of the rivers of paradise, venth heaven), and next under called the river of life, which the throne of God; and, to exwill wash them whiter than pearls. press the amenity of the place, The righteous, as the Maho- tell us, that the earth of it is of metans are taught to believe, hav-the finest wheat flour, or of the ing surmounted the difficulties, purest musk, or, as others will and passed the sharp bridge have it, of saffron; that its stones above-mentioned,before they en-are pearls and jacinths, the walls ter poradise, will be refreshed by of its buildings enriched with drinking at the pond of their pro-gold and silver, and that the phet, who describes it to be an trunks of all its trees are of gold; exact square, of a month's jour- among which the most remarkable is the tree called tuba, or the tree of happiness. Concerning this tree, they fable, that it stands

ney

in compass; its water, which is supplied by two pipes from al Cawthar, one of the rivers of pa

mortal women are, but of pure musk; being, as their prophet often affirms in his Koran, free from all natural impurities, defects and inconveniences incident to the sex; of the strictest modesty, and secluded from public view in pavillions of hollow pearls so large, that, as some traditions have it, one of them will be no less than four parasangs (or, as others say, sixty miles) long and as many broad.

'The name which the Mahometans usually give to this happy mansion is al Jannat, or, "the garden;" and sometimes they call it, with an addition, Jannat al

in the palace of Mahomet, though a branch of it will reach to the house of every true believer; that it will be laden with pomegranates, grapes, dates, and other fruits, of surprising bigness, and of tastes unknown to mortals. So that, if a man desire to eat of any particular kind of fruit, it will immediately be presented him; or, if he choose flesh, birds ready dressed will be set before him, according to his wish. They add, that the boughs of this tree will spontaneously bend down to the hand of the person who would gather of its fruits, and that it will supply the blessed not only with food, but also with silken gar-Ferdaws," the garden of paraments,and beasts to ride on ready dise;" Jannat Aden, "the garden saddled and bridled, and adorned of Eden," (though they generally with rich trappings, which will interpret the word Eden not acburst forth from its fruits; and cording to its acceptation in Hethat this tree is so large, that a brew, but according to its meanperson, mounted on the fleetesting in their own tongue, wherein horse, would not be able to gal-it signifies "a settled or perpelop from one end of its shade to the other in one hundred years. As plenty of water is one of the greatest additions to the pleasantness of any place, the Koran often speaks of the rivers of paradise as a principal ornament thereof some of these rivers, they say, flow with water, some with milk, some with wine, and others with honey; all taking their rise from the root of the tree tuba. But all these glories will be eclipsed by the resplendent and ravishing girls of paradise, called, from their large black eyes, Hur al oyun, the enjoyment of whose company will be a principal felicity of the faithful. These, they say, are created not of clay, as

tual habitation ;") Jannat al Mawa, "the garden of abode ;" Jannat al Naim, "the garden of pleasure;" and the like: by which several appellations some understand so many different gardens, or at least places of different degrees of felicity (for they reckon no less than one hundred such in all), the very meanest whereof will afford its inhabitants so many pleasures and delights, that one would conclude they must even sink under them, had not Mahomet declared that, in order to qualify the blessed for a full enjoyment of them, God will give to every one the abilities of one hundred men.

6. God's absolute decree and