offspring passed into hell, and from which a bad smell issued, so that he became sad, whenever he looked to that side.

'In the second heaven I saw the two youths John and Jesus, who were cousins, and they saluted me thus, Welcome, thou righteous prophet and righteous brother! In the third heaven I saw Joseph, who saluted me with the same words. His beauty was such as to excel the beauty of all other creatures, in the same degree, in which the light of the full moon surpasses the light of all other stars; or, according to another account, he represented half the beauty in existence, whilst the other half is distributed amongst the rest of creation. Then Gabriel took me to the fourth heaven, where I saw Enoch, who also saluted me by saying, Welcome, thou righteous prophet and righteous brother! Then he took me to the fifth heaven, where I saw Aaron, who welcomed me in the same words; and afterwards to the sixth, where I saw Moses, who did the same. When I had passed by him, he wept; and on being asked why he wept, he answered, Because a young man has been sent as an apostle after me, whose people will be more virtuous than my own, and of whom more will enter Paradise than of my people. After this he brought me to the seventh heaven, where I saw Abraham, my Father, who saluted me, saying, Welcome, thou righteous prophet and son of a righteous one!

'Thence they took me to the remotest Tree, and I saw that its fruit was like the Medina-pitchers, and its leaves resembled an elephant's ear, and the light of God overspread the whole Tree, and angels flew round it like golden moths, in such numbers that none could count them except God. This Tree is Gabriel's abode. Under the Tree I saw four rivers, two of which flowed within, and two without. Gabriel informed me that the former watered Paradise, and the latter were the rivers Euphrates and Nile.

'Another account is to this effect: "In the highest parts of the seventh heaven he took me to a river, called the River of Abundance, on whose banks tents of emerald, pearls, and smaragd were erected, and where I saw green birds. Gabriel said, This river God has given to thee. It flows over pebbles of emerald and smaragd, and its water is whiter than milk. Filling one of the golden cups standing there, and drinking

a little, I found the water sweeter than honey and more fragrant than musk. After this they showed me the Visited House which, situated in the seventh heaven, so closely corresponds with the Kaaba, that, if e.g. a stone were to fall from it, it would exactly hit the roof of the Kaaba. This house is daily visited by 70,000 angels, and always by fresh ones, so that those who visit it one day do not come again on another day. I was also offered three covered cups: the first I took contained honey, so I drank a very little of it; the second was milk, of which I drank till I had enough. Gabriel said, Wilt thou not also drink of the third? but I answered, I have enough. Upon this Gabriel said, The Lord be praised, who has guided thee aright; hadst thou taken the cup of wine, thy people would have gone astray.

'When we left the Tree, Gabriel said to me, Do thou pass before, for thou art more highly esteemed of God than I. Then I went on first, and Gabriel followed me, till we reached a curtain of gold cloth. On Gabriel announcing who it was that had come, an angel called out from behind the curtain, There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is the apostle of Allah; and stretched forth his hand to take me in. I said to Gabriel, Why dost thou remain behind in such a place? He answered, O Mohammed, every one of us has his place assigned him, beyond which he cannot pass. If I advance only a finger's breadth further, I shall be burnt up; and it is only in honour of thee that I have come thus far to-night, otherwise my appointed place is the Tree. Then I myself moved on alone, and, one after another, passed through 70 curtains of light and darkness, each of which was 500 ¹ years' march in width, and separated from the other by a space of again a 500 years' march. Then Borak ceased walking, and there appeared a green carpet, brighter than the sun. I was set upon it, and moved on till I reached the foot of God's Throne of Glory, and then was moved forward still further to the place of 'Honour.'" — Another account states that God said to Mohammed a thousand times, Come nearer