376 MOSLEM SKETCHES OF MOHAMMED. [BK. II.

or end of his ear, and sometimes to his shoulders. At times also his hair was parted into four parts and then left to itself. His blessed forehead was open. His eyebrows appeared to be joined to each other, but were not really so. There were two veins between his eyebrows, which filled and became visible when he was angry. His bright eyes were the essence of lustre and beauty. Their black part was exceedingly black and their white part exceedingly white; and there appeared red veins in the white and in the black of his blessed eyes. He was almond-eyed. His power of sight was such that he could see as well in the dark as in the light. His blessed cheeks were not higher than his cheekbones. His blessed nose was not longer than is usual, and a light encircled it; but if any one looked at it without reflection, he might regard his nasal bone as exceedingly long, though in reality it was not so. His blessed mouth was open, but exceedingly graceful; and his good teeth were white and shining, with thin, sharp ends. The space between his teeth was open, so that when he spoke, it appeared as if light was flowing forth from between them. His blessed face was radiant and round, shining like the moon when it is a fortnight old. His complexion was not excessively white, but inclined a little to redness; but his body was so superlatively white and luminous that it looked as if it had been newly cast of silver. His blessed beard was thick, and his neck high and exceedingly clear, as if it were of silver, or a gazelle's neck. The space between his blessed shoulders was grand; his hateless bosom broad, his abdomen and chest were uniform and even; and from his chest, full of rest, down to his navel there was drawn a thin line of hair, while the other parts of the chest and stomach were hairless, although there was hair on his blessed arms and shoulders and the upper part of his chest. The ends of the bones of his limbs were large. His blessed body was firm, and not flabby. His wrists were long, his hands open and softer than silk. His thighs were not without fineness; and his fingers and toes were long and strong. On his heels there was not much flesh. The sole of his feet was bent up and not equal with the ground. The back of his foot was even and soft. There was on him nothing broken or cleft, so that no water
CH. II. SEC. I. 1, 2.] HIS 'SEAL.' MENTAL QUALITIES. 377

could stand upon him. In short, all the limbs and members of that Excellency were regular and perfect; and those who described that prince said, that they had never seen his equal either before or after him. Ibn Abbas said that the Prophet never sat opposite the sun or a light, without outshining them by his own light. 1

The seal of prophetship was between his two shoulder-blades, or, according to another account, upon the left shoulder-blade. It consisted of a lump of flesh, about one handful in quantity, around which there appeared moles of the size of peas. According to another account, the words 'Mohammed the Apostle of God,' were written upon it. 2 The perspiration from that seal was superlatively fragrant. Uns Ibn Malik narrates that when the Prophet of God had passed through one of the streets of Medina, the people knew it, from the scent of musk he left behind.

(2.) Mohammed's Mental Qualities.

As Mohammed the chosen was commanded in the Koran to follow the other prophets, he united in himself all their several virtues by which they had each been distinguished, 3 namely, the gratitude of Noah, the meekness of Abraham, the sincerity of Moses, the trustworthiness of Ishmael, the patience of Jacob and Job, the penitence of David, the humility of Solomon, and the abstinence of Jesus. When Aisha the faithful was once asked what had been the Prophet's practice, she replied, 'The Koran; that is, he carried out those commands and prohibitions, those good qualities and manners which are known from the Koran.' The good

1 Who is not here reminded of passages like Ps. XI V. 2, and Cant. v. 10?
2 Even admitting the existence of some such physical peculiarity, there plainly was no connection between it and the proofs of his prophetship, except the genuineness of its superscription be granted, which, however, the Moslems themselves allow to rest upon 'weak' tradition. This last-mentioned tradition only proves the activity of the Mohammedan imagination to discover or invent tokens in support of their Prophet's claims.
3 This sentence furnishes a key for the explanation of much of the marvellous which enters into the constitution of the Prophet's mythical character. Once admitting that he was a real prophet, nay, the last and best of the prophets, he had also to resemble or surpass them in word and deed. This necessity must have been felt both by Mohammed himself and his adherents. Thus the door became widely open for the play of fancy and the flow of fiction.