112 THE RELIGION OF THE CRESCENT.

the marrow in whose legs behind the flesh he shall see by reason of their beauty. And verily every man among the people of Paradise shall surely wed 500 Houries and 4,000 virgins and 8,000 divorced1 women . . .2 And verily there is in Paradise a market in which nought is bought or sold except the forms of men and women; then should any man wish for any form he enters into it. And verily there is no person3 who shall enter Paradise at whose head and feet there shall not sit two of the large-eyed

Horses, 
Camels:
Children.

Houries, who shall sing to him with most charming voices,—men and genii shall hear it. And verily there are in Paradise steeds which fly with their rider wherever he wishes. And verily the inhabitants of Paradise have horses and camels nimble of pace, and their bridles and saddles shall be of rubies. And verily, as for any man among the inhabitants of Paradise, truly children shall be born to him just as he may desire: their conception and weaning and prime shall take place in one single hour. And verily the people of Paradise are smooth and beardless, white and curly-haired, with eyes as if tinged with collyrium. They shall be thirty-three years of age, as was Adam at his creation: their height shall be sixty

1 Vocabulum ثَيِّبٌ mulierem denotat, quae primum post coitum a marito divortium acceperit.
2 Hoc loco aliam omisi sententiam: "e quibus quamque amplexabitur quot annos in hoc mundo vixerit."
3 Lit., "no slave" (of GOD).
THE WEAKNESS OF ISLAM. 113

cubits, with a breadth of seven cubits. And verily if a woman from among the women of Paradise were to come down to the earth, she would indeed illuminate and fill all the

A Woman
of Paradise.

space between heaven and earth with perfume, and indeed her head-band upon her head is better than this world and all that is in it. And verily her face in her veil is clearer than a mirror, and verily the least precious jewel upon her would indeed illumine all between east and west. And verily she has upon her seventy garments. And verily thou shalt indeed look upon the birds in Paradise and shalt desire to eat one of them: accordingly it shall fall down before thee roasted. And verily the people of Paradise shall be waited upon with seventy dishes of gold, each dish among them shall have a colour which no other has. And they shall have in addition the liver of the Fish,1 and for them shall be slaughtered the Ox2 of Paradise which was wont to feed in its borders. And verily one of them shall be given the ability of one hundred men in eating and drinking. . ."3 Besides all this the " "Prophet"

1 The name of this fish is said to be Nun (= "fish").
2 Its name is Balam. Sale ("Prelim. Disc.") well points out that this tradition, as well as the other, according to which the highest felicity is that of those who behold God's face, is borrowed from the Jews. Vide Gemara, Tanith, p. 25; Berakoth, p. 34; and Midrash Shabboth, p. 37: also A. Geiger, "Was hat Muhammad aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen."
3 Post haec adiectum est: "et in coitu."