Qaf, and it girds it all" (the whole earth), "and it is that by which God swears, for He said, ‘Qaf ¹. By the Glorious Qur'an.’" In the Qisasu'l Anbiya it is narrated that one day 'Abdu'llah ibn Salam inquired of Muhammad which was the highest mountain-peak on the earth. Muhammad said, "Mount Qaf." In answer to the further inquiry of what this mountain is composed, Muhammad replied, "Of green emerald, and the greenness of the sky is on account of that." The inquirer, having expressed his belief that the "Prophet of God" in this matter spoke truly, then said, "What is the height of Mount Qaf?" Muhammad replied, "It is 500 years' journey in height." 'Abdu'llah asked, "How far is it around it?" "It is 2,000 years' journey." We need not enter into all the other circumstances told us in connexion with this wonderful range of mountains of which Muslim legends are so full.

If we inquire as to the origin of the myth of the existence of such a range of mountains, the answer is supplied by a reference to Hagigah xi. § 1. There, in explanation of the somewhat rare Hebrew word "Tohu" in Gen. i. 2, it is thus written: "Tohu is the green line which surrounds the whole, entire world, and from which darkness proceeds." The Hebrew word which we here render line is Qav. Muhammad and his disciples, hearing this Hebrew word Qav and not knowing that it meant

"line," thought that without doubt that which was thus said to surround the whole world, and from which darkness came forth, must be a great chain of mountains named Qav or Qaf It is hardly necessary to say that geographers have explored the whole world without — as yet — discovering the range of mountains ¹ described in Muhammadan tradition!

We must indicate a few of the many other ideas which are also clearly of Jewish origin that have found an entrance into the Qur'an and the Traditions.

In Surah XVII., Al Asra', 46 ², mention is made of seven heavens, and in Surah XV., Al Hajr, 44, the seven doors of hell are spoken of. Both these statements are derived from Jewish tradition. The former is found in the Hagigah, cap. ix. § 2, the latter in Zohar, cap. ii. p. 150. It is remarkable that the Hindus hold that beneath the surface of the earth there are seven lower stages, so to speak, and above it seven higher storys, all of which rest upon one of the heads of an enormous serpent named Sesha, who possesses a thousand heads. The seven heavens doubtless are, or at least were, identical with the orbits of the sun, moon, and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, which in Muhammad's time were supposed to