some one called after me from my right, wishing to ask me something, but I did not heed him. Some one likewise called to me from the left, desiring to put a question to me, neither did I heed him. After that I saw a woman who had adorned herself and was standing on my way; and when she also called me to stop, that she might ask a question of me, I again passed onward, without heeding her in the least. Then I asked Gabriel who those had been, and he answered, The first was a Jew, and if thou hadst attended to him, all thy people would after thy time have turned Jews; the second was a Christian, and if thou hadst attended to him, all thy people would after thy time have turned Christians; and the third was the world, if thou hadst attended to her, all thy people would after thee have become worldlings, choosing this world rather than the next.

'Then, pursuing our journey, we arrived at the temple of Aksa, where I found a congregation of holy angels who had come from heaven to meet me. They gave me honour and good news from the Lord of Glory, and saluted me in these words, Peace be with thee, O thou who art the first and the last and the ingatherer (viz. of men, for the day of judgment). Upon this, Gabriel took me down from Borak, and tied him to the same ring of the temple to which previous prophets had tied the animals on which they rode. Then I entered the Aksa and there saw an assembly of the prophets, or, by another account, of the spirits of the prophets. They saluted and felicitated me; and on my asking Gabriel who they were, he replied, They are thy brethren, the prophets of God. I desired that we should offer up prayers, whereupon the prophets and angels formed lines, and Gabriel said to me, Be thou the Imam. Then I stepped forward and acted as Imam, the prophets and angels following me. When I had finished the prayers, several of the most distinguished prophets gave praise to God for the special virtues and favours with which He had endowed them. The first was Abraham, the second Moses, the third David, the fourth Solomon, and the fifth Jesus. The latter said, Praise and honour be to that God who is the Nourisher of all the dwellers on the earth. He has made me His Word, and has formed me like Adam, whom He made of earth, and then said to him, 'Be!'

and he was. He has taught me the book of the Gospel, endowed me with wisdom, and enabled me to make a bird of clay, which, when I blew upon it, by His permission, became a living bird. He also has enabled me to heal the deaf and cleanse the lepers; He has taken me up to heaven and purified me, and has so protected me and my mother from the wickedness of Satan that he never gained any power over us.

'As soon as these prophets had finished their praises of God, I also began mine, saying, Praise and honour be to that God who has made me (a means of) mercy for the dwellers on the earth, and has sent me with an apostolic mission to all men, making me their evangelist and their warner. He has sent the Furkan ¹ down to me, which contains the clear proofs of all things. He has made my people to be the first of all others, and given them a name for fair dealing and equity. He has made me the first and the last, has cleft open my breast and removed from it the weight (viz. of sin and guilt, or perhaps even of peccability). He has made my name exalted, and called me the Beginner and the Finisher.

'After this Gabriel took me by the hand and led me up upon the Rock.² There appeared a ladder, reaching from the Rock up to heaven, of such beauty, as I had never before seen. Angels were ascending by it into heaven. By this ladder the angel of death also descends, when he is going to take away men's spirits. The apostle,³ mounting Borak, likewise ascended by this ladder. But, according to another account, Gabriel took him with both his wings and carried him up to the first heaven. The angelic door-keeper, Ishmael, having opened, they entered, and Adam met Mohammed with the salutation, Welcome, thou righteous prophet and son of a righteous one! On Adam's right hand there was a door by which the righteous of his children passed into Paradise, and which yielded a sweet fragrance, so that he was delighted, as often as he looked that way; but on his left hand there was a door by which the wicked of his