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THE MIRÂJ OR HEAVENLY ASCENT |
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beautiful fruits and leaves like the ears of an elephant. This, said Gabriel, is
the last heaven; and lo! four rivers, two within, and two without. What are
these, O Gabriel, I asked? — Those within, he said, are the rivers of Paradise;
and those seen without, are the Nile and the Euphrates. Then a dwelling-place
was prepared for me; and then they brought me vessels of wine and milk and
honey. So I took the milk, and he said, This is food for thee and thy people.1
Much more of the same kind of Muslim stories, as of Adam wailing, etc., might be
given; but enough and to spare has been quoted for comparison with the Sources
which follow, from which it has all been derived.
I. And First as to Muhammad's Mirâj or Ascent to heaven. We begin with a Pehlavi
book called Artâ Vîrâf nâmak, written in the days of Ardashîr, some four
hundred years before the Hegira. We are there told that, the Zoroastrian faith
fading away, the Magi of Persia sought to revive it in the people's hears, by
sending a Zoroastrian of the above name up to heaven, with the view of bringing
down tidings of what was going on there. This messenger ascended from one heaven
to another, and having seen it all, was commanded by Ormazd to return to the
earth, and tell it to his people. The result is contained in the above named
book, of which we shall briefly quote a few passages, freely translated, to shew
how far the Muslim account corresponds with the imaginary details below: —
Our first advance upwards was to the Lower heaven; ..... and there we saw the
Angel of those Holy ones, giving
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forth a flaming light, brilliant and lofty. And I asked Sarosh the holy and Âzar
the angel:— "What is this place; and these, who are they?" We are then told that
Artâ ascended similarly to the Second and Third heavens, and to many others
beyond.1
Rising from a gold-covered throne, Bahman the Archangel led me on, till he and I
met Ormazd with a company of angels and heavenly leaders, all adorned so
brightly that I had never seen the like before. My leader said: This is Ormazd.
I sought to salaam to him, and he said he was glad to welcome me from the
passing world to that bright and undefiled place. Then he bade Sarosh and the
Fire-angel to shew me the blessed place prepared for the holy, and that also for
the punishment of the wicked. After which they carried me along till I beheld
the Archangels and the other Angels.
At the last, says Artâ, my Guide and the Fire-angel having shewed me Paradise,
took me down to Hell; and from that dark and dreadful place, carried me upward
to a beautiful spot where were Ormazd and his company of angels. I desired to
salute him, on which he graciously said:— "Artâ Vîrâf, go thou to the material
world; thou hast seen and now knowest Ormazd, for I am he; whosoever is true and
righteous, him I know." When Ormazd began thus to speak, I became confused in
mind, because I saw a brilliant light but no appearance of a body, and forthwith
I perceived the unseen must be Ormazd himself.
There is no doubt a singular resemblance between the ascent of this Magian
messenger, and that also told of Muhammad, to the heaven above. In the fabulous
Zerdashtnama there is also an account of Zoroaster having ages before ascended
to the heavens, after having received permission to visit hell, where he found
Ahriman (the devil). It is remarkable that similar tales are not confined to
Persia, but extend to India, where they are recorded in the Sanskrit poems.
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