116 THE ORIGIN OF ISLAM LECT.

priests or monks. Till near the end of his career Muhammad had a particularly friendly feeling for them.1

Muhammad's way of referring to the God whom he worshipped also shows some development. It was probably under the influence of the information he was now acquiring as to monotheistic religion as it prevailed among non-Arabs, that he introduced the word ar-Rahman, which he used for a time almost as a proper name for God. The word does not seem, however, to be directly derived from Aramaic. It is found in South Arabian inscriptions, and may have come through that channel. Or it may be a native Arabic formation from the root rhm. In any case, like the kindred word rahma in the sense of "mercy", it comes ultimately from Hebrew and Aramaic, and the prominence which this idea begins to assume is due to outside influence. He discovers, too, that there are many epithets for God. He is the possessor of "beautiful names" (al-asma' al-husna). Ar-Rahman is no doubt one of them. The use of this word as a proper name seems, however,
1 As illustrating the kind of thing which lies behind this simile it may be interesting to cite what Sir John Maundeville relates about the oil of the Church of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai. "There is the Chirche of Seynte Kateryne, in the whiche ben many lampes brennynge. For thei ban of Oyle of Olyves y now, bothe for to brenne in here Lampes and to ete also. And that plentee have thei be Myracle of God. For the Ravenes and the Crowes and the Choughes and other Fowles of the Contree assemblen hem there every year ones, and fleen thider as in pilgrimage, and everyche of hem bringeth a Braunche of the Bayes or of Olyve, in here Bekes, instede of Offryng, and leven hem there; of the whiche the Monkes maken gret plentee of Oyle: and this is a gret Marvaylle. . . And when they chesen another Prelate, gif he be a gode man and worthi to be Prelate his Lampe schal lighte, with the Grace of God, withoute touchynge of ony Man."
IV MOULDING OF THE PROPHET 117

to have led to difficulty, and as such it is soon dropped.

Muhammad had, in fact, to meet the difficulty which we, to whom the idea of God is familiar, hardly realise, but which confronts all those who seek to introduce a high religion amongst a people of primitive ideas, whose language has no term for God quite free from polytheistic associations. He begins by using rabb, "Lord", generally in some combination, such as "my Lord", "thy Lord," or, as we have seen, "Lord of this house ". Then he uses Allah, but rather hesitatingly, either because it was not proper Arabic or because it was already combined with belief in subordinate deities. Then ar-Rahman appears alongside it. The use of too many names, however, had its disadvantages. It might lend colour to polytheistic ideas again. He seems to have solved the difficulty finally by adopting Allah as the name for the Deity, retaining rabb in the sense of Lord, and associating with both words, descriptive epithets, and phrases, which he repeats almost to weariness. These set phrases were convenient as rhyming conclusions to verses. But they also had their use in dinning into the minds of his community his conception of God as all-powerful, all-knowing, as Judge and Ruler, as glorious, merciful, and compassionate.

Not only in the names of God but in the teachings of the Qur'an greater stress is now laid upon the Mercy of God. Towards unbelievers there is still the same implacable threat of punishment. But God is merciful towards those who believe. Part of their blessedness in the world