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A grand and royal Halo long attached itself to Jamshîd, Lord of the good flock,
while he ruled over the Seven climes — Demons, men, fairies, wizards, sorcerers,
and evil-doers... Then when he approved of that false and baseless word, the
visible halo departed from him in the form of a flying bird ....When Jamshîd,
Lord of the good flock, no longer saw that halo, he became devoid of joy, and in
distress gave himself up to making enmity upon earth. The first time that halo
was removed from Jamshîd, it departed from Jam son of Vîvaghân (the Sun) in the
form of a Varâgh bird, and Mithra seized the halo When a second time the halo
was removed from Jamshîd, it departed as before in the form of a bird; then
Faridûn the brave took that halo ....When that halo departed the third time from
Jamshîd, it was taken by Keresâspa (Garshâsp), that great and powerful man.1
Now if we bring these two accounts together, and remember that according to the
Avesta, Jamshîd was the first man created by God upon earth, and therefore the
same as Adam the father of mankind, we see at once that the light from Jamshîd
descended on the best of his posterity agrees with what Tradition speaks of as
the Light of Muhammad,— which Muslims appear thus to have borrowed from the
Zoroastrians. We also gather that what appears in the Zoroastrian book about
Jamshîd ruling over men, genii, giants, etc., is very similar to what the Jews
write of Solomon, evidently from the same Source, and taken from them by the
Muslims, as indeed has been seen in our Third Chapter. Also what the Muslims
write about the division of the Prophet's light, coincides closely with what
appears in a Zoroastrian book,2 and was evidently taken from that
Source.
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V. The Bridge Sirât.— Muslims tell us the Prophet held that at the last
day after the Judgment, all mankind will pass over this bridge, which is finer
than a hair, and sharper than a sword; and that the wicked will fall from it
into hell. Now what is the origin of the name Sirat? Though adopted into Arabic,
it is of Persian origin, and called by the ancient Zoroastrians Chînavad,1
and its history is also derived from them, as will be seen from the following
account taken from one of their ancient writings:—
I flee from much sin and I keep my conduct pure. The keeping pure of the six
vital powers, — conduct, speech, thought, intellect, reason, wisdom, — according
to thy will, O Author of the power to do good works, with justice do I perform
it, that service of thine, in thought, speech, and deed. It is good for me to
abide in the Bright way, lest I arrive at the severe punishment of Hell, that I
may cross over Chînavad and may reach that blest abode, full of odour, entirely
delightful, always bright.2
The meaning of the Persian name is "the connecting link," the Bridge being that
which joins earth with Paradise.
VI. The Muslims say that each Prophet before his death gives notice of the next
to follow, as Abraham did of Moses, Moses of David, and so on. Nothing of this
sort, however, is in the Bible; on the contrary, the Prophets from first to last
gave notice of the coming of the Messiah, and nothing more. As they could not
therefore have got this notion from the Scriptures,
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