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fatigues endured on the journey, or are caused by the light covering of the ihram, the unhealthy lodgings at Mekka, the bad fare, and sometimes absolute want, fill the mosque with dead bodies carried thither to receive the Imam's prayer, or with sick persons, many of whom when their dissolution approaches, are brought to the colonnades, that they may either be cured by the sight of the Kaaba, or at least to have the satisfaction of expiring within the sacred enclosure. Poor hadjis, worn out with disease and hunger, are seen dragging their emaciated bodies along the columns; and when no longer able to stretch forth their hand to ask the passenger for charity, they place a bowl to receive alms near the mat on which they lay themselves. When they feel their last moments approaching, they cover themselves with their tattered garments; and often a whole day passes before it is discovered that they are dead. For a month subsequent to the conclusion of the hadj, I found, almost every morning, corpses of pilgrims lying in the mosque; myself and a Greek hadji, whom accident had brought to the spot, once closed the eyes of a poor Moggrebyn pilgrim, who had crawled into the neighbourhood of the Kaaba to breathe his last, as the Moslems say, 'in the arms of the prophet and of the guardian angels.' He intimated by signs his wish that we should sprinkle Zemzem water over him; and while we were doing so he expired: half an hour afterward he was buried.

"The situation of Mekka is singularly unhappy, and ill adapted for the accommodation of the numerous votaries of Islam that flock thither to perform the rites of the pilgrimage. The town is built in a narrow valley, hemmed in by barren mountains; the water of the wells is bitter or brackish; no pastures for cattle are near it; no land fit for agriculture; and the only resource from which its inhabitants de rive their subsistence is a little traffic, and the visits of the hadjis. Mr. Burckhardt estimates

the population of the town and suburbs at twentyfive to thirty thousand stationary inhabitants, to which he adds three or four thousand Abyssinian and black slaves.

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"On the whole, notwithstanding all that Burckhardt records as to certain symptoms of enthusiasm in the course of his hadj, it is sufficiently plain, that even in the original seat of Mahommedanism, the religious feelings of the people have cooled down considerably. The educated Moslems every where are mostly of the sect of Mahomet Ali of Egypt, nor can we have any doubt that all things are thus working together for the re-establishment of the true religion in the regions where man was first civilized, and where the oracles of God were uttered. In the mean time, the decline of the arch-heresy of the East will be regretted by no one who judges of the tree by the fruit. A long residence," says Burckhardt, ‘among Turks, Syrians, and Egyptians' (and no man knew them better) 'justifies me in declaring that they are wholly deficient in virtue, honour, and justice; that they have little true piety, and still less charity or forbearance; and that honesty is only to be found in their paupers or idiots.'

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THE Word KORAN, derived from the verb KARA, to read, properly signifies the reading, legend, or that which ought to be read; by which name the Mohammedans denote not only the entire book or volume of the Koran, but also any particular chapter or section of it, just as the Jews, in their language, call the whole Scripture, or any part of it; by the name of Karah, or Mikra, words of precisely the same origin and import as Koran. This book must be regarded as the code of laws, religion, and morality, which Mohammed, in his character of legislator and prophet, promulgated to the people of Arabia. As it is therefore the only book of law among the Mussulmans, and comprehends also the religious doctrines which they are taught to believe, it follows, that with them a doctor in the law is also a doctor in theology, which two professions are wholly inseparable. This law, upon which is founded all their theology and jurisprudence, is comprised in the Koran, in the same manner as the civil code of the Jews is comprised in the five books of Moses..

The collection of moral traditions, composed of the sayings and actions of the prophet, and forming a kind of supplement to the Koran, the Moslems call the Sonnah; just as the Jews have denominated the book containing their oral traditions, the Mishna.

The entire Koran is divided into one hundred and fourteen portions, which are denominated Suras, or chapters; and these again into smaller divisions, called Ayat, answering nearly, though not exactly, to our verses.

There appears to be an entire absence of any thing like design or method in either the larger or the

smaller divisions. Neither the time at which they were delivered, nor the matter they contain, was the rule by which they were arranged. They were, in fact, apparently thrown together without order or meaning. One verse has seldom any connexion with the preceding; and the same subject, unless it be some narrative, such as that of Abraham, Joseph, or Pharaoh, distorted from the Sacred Scriptures, is in no case continued for a dozen verses in succession; each one appears an isolated precept or exclamation, the tendency and pertinence of which it is often difficult and frequently impossible to discover. The first nine titles will convey to the reader a fair conception of the arrangement, and something of the nature, of the subjects enbraced in the whole. 1. The Preface. 2. The Cow. 3. The Family of Iram. 4. Women. 5. Table. 6. Cattle. 7. Al Araf. 8. The Spoils. 9. The Declaration of Immunity.

As to the plan or structure of this pseudo-revelation, it is remarkable that Mohammed makes God the speaker throughout. This should be borne in mind by the reader in perusing the extracts given in the preceding work. The addresses are for the most part made directly to the prophet, informing him what he is to communicate to his countrymen and the world; in other cases, the precepts, promises, or threatenings are addressed immediately to the unbelievers, or the faithful, according as the burden of them applies to the one or the other. The following citations may serve as a specimen of the whole book. "Now we know that what they speak grieveth thee: yet, they do not accuse thee of falsehood; but the ungodly contradict the signs of God. And apostles before thee have been accounted liars: but they patiently bore their being accounted liars, and their being vexed, until our help came unto them." 66 Say, Verily I am forbidden to worship the false deities which ye invoke besides God. Say, I

will not follow your desires; for then should I err, neither should I be one of those who are rightly directed. Say, I believe according to the plain declaration which I have received from my Lord; but ye have forged lies concerning him." The word "Say," which is almost of perpetual occurrence in the Koran, is generally prefixed to the sentences or paragraphs containing a message to the people; and the word "Answer" is employed wherever any hypothetical or foreseen objections are to be obviated, or any doubtful questions to be resolved. "They will ask thee also what they shall bestow in alms answer, What ye have to spare. They will also ask thee concerning orphans: answer, To deal righteously with them is best; and if ye intermeddle with the management of what belongs to them, do them no wrong; they are your brethen: God knoweth the corrupt dealer from the righteous; and if God please he will surely distress you, for God is mighty and wise." To others the Divine mandates are usually couched in the following style: "O men, now is the apostle come unto you with truth from the Lord; believe, therefore; it will be better for you." "We have formerly destroyed the generations who were before you, O men of Mecca, when they had acted unjustly, and our apostles had come unto them with evident miracles, and they would not believe. Thus do we reward the wicked people." "O true believers, wage war against such of the infidels as are near you; and let them find severity in you: and know that God is with those that fear him." "O true believers, raise not your voices above the voice of the prophet; neither speak loud unto him in discourse, as ye speak loud unto one another, lest your works become vain, and ye perceive it not."

Immediately after the title, at the head of every chapter, with the single exception of the ninth, is prefixed the solemn form, "IN THE NAME OF THE U

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