64

the merit of their adversary. His descent from Ismael was a national privilege or fable; but if the first steps of the pedi gree are dark and doubtful, he could produce many gener ations of pure and genuine nobility: he sprung from the tribe of Koreish and the family of Hashem, the most illustrious of the Arabs, the princes of Mecca, and the hereditary guardians of the Caaba. The grandfather of Mahomet was Abdol Motalleb, the son of Hashem, a wealthy and generous citizen, who relieved the distress of famine with the supplies of commerce. Mecca, which had been fed by the liberality of the father, was saved by the courage of the son. The kingdom of Yemen was subject to the Christian princes of Abyssinia; their vassal Abrahah was provoked by an insult to avenge the honor of the cross; and the holy city was invested by a train of elephants and an army of Africans. A treaty was proposed; and, in the first audience, the grandfather of Mahomet demanded the restitution of his cattle. "And why," said Abrahah, "do you not rather implore my clemency in favor of your temple, which I have threatened to destroy?" cause," replied the intrepid chief, "the cattle is my own; the Caaba belongs to the gods, and they will defend their house from injury and sacrilege." The want of provisions, or the valor of the Koreish, compelled the Abyssinians to a disgraceful retreat their discomfiture has been adorned with a miraculous flight of birds, who showered down stones on the heads of the infidels; and the deliverance was long commemorated by the æra of the elephant." The glory of Abdol

"Be

(Hottinger, Hist. Orient. p. 136.) Yet Theophanes, the most ancient of the Greeks, and the father of many a lie, confesses that Mahomet was of the race of Ismael, ἐκ μιᾶς γενικωτάτης φυλής, (Chronograph. p. 277.)

64 Abulfeda (in Vit. Mohammed. c. 1, 2) and Gagnier (Vie de Mahomet, p. 25-97) describe the popular and approved genealogy of the prophet. At Mecca, I would not dispute its authenticity: at Lausanne, I will venture to observe, 1. That from Ismael to Mahomet, a period of 2500 years, they reckon thirty, instead of seventy five, generations: 2. That the modern Bedoweens are ignorant of their history, and careless of their pedigree, (Voyage de D'Arvieux p. 100, 103.)*

The seed of this history, or fable, is contained in the cvth chap ter of the Koran; and Gagnier (in Præfat. ad Vit. Moham. p. 18

The most orthodox Mahometans only reckon back the ancestry of the prophet for twenty generations, to Adnan. Weil, Mohammed der Prophes 1.-M. 1845.

His

Motalleb was crowned with domestic happiness; his life was prolonged to the age of one hundred and ten years; and he became the father of six daughters and thirteen sons. best beloved Abdallah was the most beautiful and modest of the Arabian youth; and in the first night, when he consum nated his marriage with Amina,t of the noble race of the Zahrites, two hundred virgins are said to have expired of jealousy and despair. Mahomet, or more properly Moham med, the only son of Abdallah and Amina, was born at Mecca, four years after the death of Justinian, and two months after the defeat of the Abyssinians," whose victory would have introduced into the Caaba the religion of the Christians. In his early infancy, he was deprived of his father, his mother,

&c.) has translated the historical narrative of Abulfeda, which may be illustrated from D'Herbelot (Bibliot. Orientale, p. 12) and Pocock, (Specimen, p. 64.) Prideaux (Life of Mahomet, p. 48) calls it a lie of the coinage of Mahomet; but Sale, (Koran, p. 501-503,) who is half a Mussulman, attacks the inconsistent faith of the Doctor for believing the miracles of the Delphic Apollo. Maracci (Alcoran, tom. i. part ii. p. 14, tom. ii. p. 823) ascribes the miracle to the devil, and extorts from the Mahometans the confession, that God would not have defended against the Christians the idols of the Caaba.*

66 The safest æras of Abulfeda, (in Vit. c. i. p. 2,) of Alexander, or the Greeks, 882, of Bocht Naser, or Nabonassar, 1316, equally lead us to the year 569. The old Arabian calendar is too dark and uncertain to support the Benedictines, (Art. de Verifer les Dates, p. 15,) who, from the day of the month and week, deduce a new mode of calculation, and remove the birth of Mahomet to the year of Christ 570, the 10th of November. Yet this date would agree with the year 882 of the Greeks, which is assigned by Elmacin (Hist. Saracen. p. 5) and Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 101, and Errata, Pocock's version.) While we refine our chronology, it is possible that the illiterate prophet was ignorant of his own age.

* Dr. Weil says that the small-pox broke out in the army of Abrahah but he does not give his authority, p. 10.-M. 1845.

† Amina, or Emina, was of Jewish birth. V. Hammer, Geschichte der Assass. p. 10.-M.

The date of the birth of Mahomet is not yet fixed with precision. i is only known from Oriental authors that he was born on a Monday, the 10th Reby 1st. the third month of the Mahometan year; the year 40 or 4% of Chosroes Nushirvan, king of Persia; the year 881 of the Seleucidan era; the year 1316 of the era of Nabonassar. This leaves the point undecided between the years 569, 570, 571, of J. C. See the Memoir of M. Silv. de Sacy, on divers events in the history of the Arabs before Mahomet, Mem. Acad. des Lascript. vol. xlvii. p. 527, 531. St. Martin, vol. xi. p. 59.-M.

Dr. Weil decides on A. D 571. Mahomet died in 632, aged 63; but the Arabs reckoned his life by 'unar years, which reduces his life nearly ta 61 (p. 21.)--M. 1845

and his grandfather; his uncles were strong and numerous; and, in the division of the inheritance, the orphan's share was reduced to five camels and an Ethiopian maid-servant. At home and abroad, in peace and war, Abu Taleb, the nost respectable of his uncles, was the guide and guardian of his youth; in his twenty-fifth year, he entered into the service of Cadijah, a rich and noble widow of Mecca, who soon rewarded his fidelity with the gift of her hand and fortune. The marriage contract, in the simple style of antiquity, recites the mutual love of Mahomet and Cadijah; describes him as the most accomplished of the tribe of Koreish; and stipulates a dowry of twelve ounces of gold and twenty camels, which was supplied by the liberality of his uncle." By this alliance, the son of Abdallah was restored to the station of his ancestors; and the judicious matron was content with his domestic virtues, till, in the fortieth year of his age," he assumed the title of a prophet, and proclaimed the religion of the Koran.

According to the tradition of his companions, Mahomet" was distinguished by the beauty of his person, an outward gift which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has

67 I copy the honorable testimony of Abu Taleb to his family and nephew. Laus Dei, qui nos a stirpe Abrahami et semine Ismaelis constituit, et nobis regionem sacram dedit, et nos judices hominibus statuit. Porro Mohammed filius Abdollahi nepotis mei (nepos meus) quo cum ex æquo librabitur e Koraishidis quispiam cui non præponderaturus est, bonitate et excellentiâ, et intellectu et gloriâ, et acumine etsi opum inops fuerit, (et certe opes umbra transiens sunt et deposi tum quod reddi debet,) desiderio Chadija filiæ Chowailedi tenetur, et illa vicissim ipsius, quicquid autem dotis vice petieritis, ego in me suscipiam, (Pocock, Specimen, e septimâ parte libri Ebn Hamduni.)

68 The private life of Mahomet, from his birth to his mission, ie preserved by Abulfeda, (in Vit. c. 3-7,) and the Arabian writers of genuine or apocryphal note, who are alleged by Hottinger, (Hist. Orient. p. 204-211,) Maracci, (tom. i. p. 10—14,) and Gagnier, (Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 97-134.)

85 Abulfeda, in Vit. c. lxv. lxvi. Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 272-289. The best traditions of the person and conversation of the prophet are derived from Ayesha, Ali, and Abu Horaira, (Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 267. Ockley's Hist. of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. 149,) surnamed the Father of a Cat, who died in the year 59 of the Hegira."

* Compare, likewise, the new Life of Mahomet (Mohammed der prophet) by Dr. Weil, (Stuttgart, 1843.) Dr. Weil has a new tradition, that Mahomet was at one time a shepherd. This assimilation to the life of Moses, instead of giving probability to the story, as Dr. Weil suggests, makes it more spicious. Note, p. 34.-M. 1845.

been refused. Before he spoke, the orator engaged on his side the affections of a public or private audience. They applauded his commanding presence, his majestic aspect, his piercing eye, his gracious smile, his flowing beard, his counte nance that painted every sensation of the soul, and his ges tures that enforced each expression of the tongue. In the familiar offices of life he scrupulously adhered to the grave and ceremonious politeness of his country: his respectful attention to the rich and powerful was dignified by his conde scension and affability to the poorest citizens of Mecca: the frankness of his manner concealed the artifice of his views; and the habits of courtesy were imputed to personal friendship or universal benevolence. His memory was capacious and retentive; his wit easy and social; his imagination sublime; his judgment clear, rapid, and decisive. He possessed the courage both of thought and action, and, although his designs might gradually expand with his success, the first idea which he entertained of his divine mission bears the stamp of an original and superior genius. The son of Abdallah was educated in the bosom of the noblest race, in the use of the purest dialect of Arabia; and the fluency of his speech was corrected and enhanced by the practice of discreet and seasonable silence. With these powers of eloquence, Mahomet was an illiterate Barbarian: his youth had never been intructed in the arts of reading and writing. he common

70 Those who believe that Mahomet could read or write are incapa ble of reading what is written with another pen, in the Suras, or apters of the Koran, vii. xxix. xcvi. These texts, and the tradition the Sonna, are a1mitted, without doubt, by Abulfeda, (in Vit. vii.,) Gagnier, (Not ad Abulfed. p. 15,) Pocock, (Specimen, p. 151,) Reland, (de Religion Mohammedicâ, p. 236,) and Sale, (Preliminary Discourse, p. 42.) Mr. White, almost alone, denies the ignorance, to accuse the imposture. of the prophet. His arguments are far from satisfactory. Two short trading journeys to the fairs of Syria were Burely not sufficient to infuse a science so rare among the citizens of Mecca: it was not in the cool, deliberate act of treaty, that Mahomet would have dropped the mask; nor can any conclusion be drawn from the words of disease and delirium. The lettered youth, before he aspired to the prophetic character, must have often exercised, in private life, the arts of reading and writing; and his first converts, of his own family, would have heen the first to detect and upbraid his scandalous hypocrisy, (White's Sermons, p. 203, 204, Notes, p. xxxvi.--xxxviii.) *

* Biltar a: ?> Tv (Académ. des Inscript. I. p. 295) has observed that vith Sura implies that Mahomet could read, the tradi

the tex

gnorance exempted him from shame or reproach, but he was reduced to a narrow circle of existence, and deprived of those faithful mirrors, which reflect to our mind the minds of sages and heroes. Yet the book of nature and of man was open to his view; and some fancy has been indulged in the political and philosophical observations which are ascribed to the Arabian traveller." He compares the nations and the e'igions of the earth; discovers the weakness of the Persian and Roman monarchies; beholds, with pity and indignation, the degeneracy of the times; and resolves to unite under ne God and one king the invincible spirit and primitive virtues of the Arabs. Our more accurate inquiry will suggest, that, instead of visiting the courts, the camps, the temples, of the East, the two journeys of Mahomet into Syria were confined to the fairs of Bostra and Damascus; that he was only thirteen years of age when he accompanied the caravan of his uncle; and that his duty compelled him to return as soon as he had disposed of the merchandise of Cadijah. In these hasty and superficial excursions, the eye of genius might discern some objects invisible to his grosser companions; some seeds of knowledge might be cast upon a fruitful soil; but his ignorance of the Syriac language must have checked his curiosity; and I cannot perceive, in the life or writings of Mahomet, that his prospect was far extended beyond the limits of the Arabian world. From every region of that solitary world, the pilgrims of Mecca were annually assembled, by the calls of devotion and commerce: in the free concourse of multitudes, a simple citizen, in his native tongue, might study the political state and character of the tribes, the theory and practice of the Jews and Christians. Some useful strangers might be tempted, or forced, to implore the rights of hospitality; and he enemies of Mahomet have named the Jew, the Persian,

71 The count de Boulainvilliers (Vie de Mahomet, p. 202-228) leads his Arabian pupil, like the Telemachus of Fenelon, or the Cyrus of Ramsay. His journey to the court of Persia is probably a fiction. nor can I trace the origin of his exclamation, "Les Grecs sont pour tart des hommes." The two Syrian journeys are expressed by almost all the Arabian writers, both Mahometans and Christians, (Gagnier al Abulfed. p 10.)

ion alone denies it, and, according to Dr. Weil, (p. 46,) there is anothe reading of the tradition, that "he could not read well." Dr. Weil is na quite so successful in explaining away Sura xxix. It means, he think a that he had not read any books, from which he could have borrowed.-M. 1845.