from the signs and tokens he had read in their own books. On their asking Mohammed who he was, he replied, 'I am Mohammed Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abdu-l-Mottaleb.' Then that Christian made a sign towards heaven, towards the earth, and towards the mountains, and asked again, 'Who is thy nourisher?' Upon this Mohammed answered, 'God, who is without a partner and without an opponent.' Hearing this, the Christian exclaimed, 'O ye people of Syria, know ye that this is the prophet of the latter day.'

The prophecies of the Soothsayers and Diviners concerning the coming of that prince are also so many that we only give one as a specimen: — Nazr Ibn Babia, one of the kings , of Yemen, who is said to have been the builder of Samarkand and Herat, had a dream which frightened him. He gathered his soothsayers and astrologers to tell him the dream, as a guarantee for the correctness of their interpretation. They confessed that they themselves were not able to do so, but recommended Satih and Sak to be sent for, which was accordingly done. Satih stated that Nazr had seen in a dream a black-burnt substance, proceeding out of darkness, or out of a black cloud, and falling upon the land of Yemen, burning up everything in it. When Nazr had declared that such had really been his dream, Satih interpreted it thus 'Sixty or seventy years after Nazr's death, the Abyssinians will conquer Yemen. Then Seif Ibn Yazan will rise up and retake it from them. Then a pure prophet who receives revelations from the Lord of both worlds, will conquer it from the Yazanites; and in the hands of his people Yemen will remain till the day of the resurrection.'

The spirits (jins) also gave many prophecies of that prince's appearance. Abu Amir narrates that he went to Syria to inquire of diviners about the future, and says in his account, 'One moonlight night I fell asleep on my camel, which then went astray; and on awaking I found myself in an unknown wilderness, so that I was in great fear. Seeing several fires before me, I went towards them, when I perceived people around them who did not the least resemble men. They were warming themselves, and talking with each other in a loud voice, so that the hairs of my body stood up, and the camel on which I rode, stopped and began to tremble.

When I dismounted, those people disappeared from my sight. I called out aloud after them, "I put my trust in the chief of this people." Thereupon four of them became visible to me, saluting me, and sitting down opposite me. Their form was exceedingly ugly and awful. One of them asked me, "Whence art thou?" and I answered, "I am from Ghazan, and am going to Syria, there to inquire concerning the future of the Diviners; and my name is Abu Amir." Then they made a sign to one of their number, saying, "Now is the opportunity." I turned towards him, and laid my request before him, remembering that the Diviners receive their information from the spirits (jins). That spirit said to me, "I swear by the rain that pours down from the clouds, and by those who people the waterless deserts, that thin-bodied, quickly-marching camels shall be brought to one who is the best of heroes, of covenant-keepers, of exhorters and commanders, and to whom word also shall be brought down from heaven. Surely the time is near, that one shall be called and raised up who will be a subduer of Cæsars and Chosroeses." Then he described the form and beauty of that Excellency, and the seal of his prophetship, adding, "He shall be unlettered, and whosoever follows him shall find happiness. O Abu Amir, these things I have heard from the good angels with my own ears."'

Of the true dreams, pointing to the coming of that prince, we will only mention one of Abdu-l-Mottaleb's, thus related by himself: 'I once slept in the Kaaba, and saw in my dream a tree growing forth from my loins, whose top reached up to heaven, and its boughs and branches took in the east and the west. There was light in it equalling that of seventy suns, to which both the Arabs and the Persians bowed down in worship, and that light was still increasing from moment to moment. And I saw a number of the Koreish clinging to the boughs and branches of that tree, and another number ready to cut it down. But when they approached the tree, I saw a youth of matchless beauty keep them back and pluck out their eyes. I myself stretched out my hand to seize one ray of that light, when the same youth said to me, "Those may seize it who cling to the boughs and branches of the tree." Then I was frightened and awoke. When I told this,