272 MOHAMMED A PARODY OF CHRIST. [BK. II.

went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God 1 descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. iii. 13-17).

b. Ibn Ishak narrates: 'The Prophet used annually to spend a month on Mount Hira, for it was a custom amongst the Koreishites in their heathen state to look upon this as Tahannuth, i.e. 'penance.' During that time he fed the poor who visited him, and, when the month was over, he first went seven times round the Kaaba and then returned to his own house. In the year of his public mission he went there, as usual, in the month of Rhamadan, and, whilst there, Gabriel brought to him God's behest, in the night, in which God, from compassion to His servants, honoured him with his mission,' etc. (see pp. 58, 59).

The Rawzat refers to the same event in these words 'When that Excellency was sitting in the cave of Hira, bending forward, Gabriel came behind him, and once more roused that Excellency's attention, saying, "Rise, O Mohammed: I am Gabriel." Rising up, that Excellency saw some one walking before him and the Lord of the world followed him. When that person went between the mountains of Safa and Merva, his feet were on the earth and his head was in the sky, and when he opened his wings, he took in the space between the east and the west. His feet were yellow, his wings green. He wore two necklaces of red ruby. His forehead was radiant and bright, his cheeks light-like, his teeth white, his hair had the colour of red coral, and between his two eyes were the words written, "There is no God but Allah: Mohammed is the apostle of Allah." When the Prophet saw that form and figure, he, afraid of his greatness and rank, said, "Who art thou? God have mercy on thee: verily I have never seen any one greater and more beautiful than thee." Gabriel replied, "I am the

1 It is worthy of special notice that, according to Mohammedan theology, the word 'Holy Spirit,' which also occurs in the Koran, e.g. Sura ii. 81 (87), is only another name for 'the angel Gabriel.' According to Ibn Ishak, Mohammed himself answered the question put to him by the Jews, 'Who is the Spirit?' by saying, 'It is Gabriel who visits me.' This makes the imitation still more striking.
CH. I. 14, 15.] GABRIEL TEACHES. HIM TO READ. 273

faithful Spirit 1 to all the prophets and sent ones: Read, O Mohammed." That prince answered, "What can I read who have never read?"2 Then Gabriel took from under his wings a book, made of the silk of paradise, and embossed with pearls and rubies, held it to that prince's face, and said, "Read! " Mohammed replied, and was treated as before. Then Gabriel stamped with his foot on the earth, so that water gushed forth from it, in which he made an ablution, by rinsing his mouth, snuffing up water with his nostrils, and washing his face and feet. Having done this three times, and once rubbed his head, he also commanded that prince to make the ablution exactly in the same manner. When he had finished, Gabriel took a handful of water, and splashed it in that Excellency's face, and then placing himself before him, performed two prostrations of prayer, that Excellency following him. After this, Gabriel said to him, "O Mohammed, behold, thus are the prayers performed." Then Gabriel disappeared, and that Excellency returned home, trembling in mind, and calling out, "Cover me! cover me!" And they covered him, till his fear and terror had passed off.'

(15.) Witness is borne to them, and their Divine Mission is made known to men, by another distinguished Servant of the true God, who soon afterwards is removed from this world. 3

a. ' John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the

1 See the previous foot-note.
2 One is here reminded of the word, 'How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?' (John vii. 15.)
3 This parallelism between the two precursors, John the Baptist and Waraka, is further sustained by the circumstance of kinship, for, as the mothers of John and Jesus were 'cousins' (Luke i. 36), so also Waraka was the 'cousin' of Mohammed's wife Khadija, and by the fact that as John's disciples, through their master's testimony, became the first believers in Jesus (John i. 35-42), so also Waraka's testimony convinced Khadija, who, as Ibn Hisham tells us, was 'the first who believed in God, and His apostle, and His revelation.'