the deliverance for which all men long. The fol!owers of the "Prophet" hope to find a way in which they may be enabled to escape the tortures of hell and gain

Salvation from  punishment sought.

admission into the gardens of Paradise. But we have already seen that they desire no change in their nature, no purification of heart, but rather the bestowal of greater power to enjoy the sensual pleasures there provided for them. For this among other reasons the Muhammadan creed can satisfy no human soul that is really athirst for the Living GOD and that, conscious of its own pollution and the thraldom of sin, longs for purity and hungers for true righteousness and peace with GOD.

§ 8. The descriptions which Muhammad gave to his followers of the reward of the righteous in the life after death were admirably calculated to allure the Arab

The Muslim Paradise.

temperament, and to incite his fellow-countrymen¹ to strive manfully to attain the happiness which he promised them, if they would "fight in the way² of GOD." Yet, however well suited for their immediate purpose, these descriptions are of such a nature that, in the minds of all sober and thoughtful men, and still more in those

of all really earnest seekers for the truth, they do more than almost anything else to show that Islam is not from GOD. This will be seen if we read a few verses from one or two of the passages in the Qur'an, in which Muhammad professes by Divine authority and inspiration to depict the lot of the justified in Paradise. For instance, in Surah lv., vv. 46 sqq., both men and genii are given an account of the pleasures of Paradise and the torments of hell, and after every detail comes in the refrain, "Which then of your Lord's benefits do ye both falsely deny?" Omitting the repetition of this frequently recurring strain, the passage runs thus:—

"And for him who feareth the tribunal of his Lord are two gardens, dowered with branches. In each of them two fountains flow. In each of them there are of every fruit two kinds.

Gardens, fountains, maidens.

(The Just) recline upon couches of which the inner lining is of brocade; and the fruit of the two gardens hangs low. In them are (maidens¹) restraining their glances, whom neither man nor demon hath approached² before them. They are as it were rubies and pearls. Is the recompense for kindness other than kindness? And besides these two there are two (other) gardens—dark green. In each of them are two fountains streaming