4° A l K O R A N . - C hap. 3.
fure *. There Z a c h a r i a s called on his L o r d , and faid, L o r d , give me from
thee -a good offspring, for thou art the hearer of prayer. And the angels 1
called to him, while he flood praying in the chamber, faying, Verily G o d
-promifeth thee a [on named J o h n , who lhall bear witnefs to the Word'
.which cometh from G o d ; an honourable perfon, chaftd, and one of the righteous
prophets. He anfwered, L o r d , how lhall I have a fon, when old age
hath overtaken me % and my wife is barren ? T‘he angel faid, So G o d doth
that which he pleafeth. Zach^ki^s anfwered, L o r d , give me a lign. The
•angel faid, Thy fign (hall be, that thou lhalt fpeak unto no man f for three
days, otherwife than by gefture: remember thy L o r d often, and praife him
evening and morning. And when the angels faid, O M a r y , verily G o d hath
chofen thee, and hath purified thee, and hath chofen thee above a ll the women
of the world : O M a r y , be devout towards thy L o r d , and worfhip,
' and bow down with thofe who bow down. This is a fecret hiftory : we reveal
jt unto thee, although thou waft not prefent with them when they threw in
their rods to caft lots which of them fhould have the education of M a r y «;
■ neither waft thou with them, when they ftrove among themfelves. When the
angels faid ; O M a r y , verily G o d fendeth thee good tidings, that thou Jhalt
hear the Word, proceeding from himfelf; his name fhall be C h r i s t J e s u s
the fon of M a r y , honourable in this world and in the world to come, a n d
one of thofe who approach near to the prefence o f G od ; and he fhall'fpeak
■ unto
* There is a ftory of Fatema, Mohammed's
-daughter, that fhe once brought two loaves and
a piece of flefh to her father, who returned them
.to her, and having called for her again, when
fhe uncovered the difh, it was full of bread and
aneat; and on Mohammed's asking her whence fhe
.had it i fhe anfwered in the words of this paffage,
■ This is from God; for G od provideth for whom
be pleafeth without meafure. Whereupon he blefT-
.ed God, who thus favoured her, as he had. the
jnofl excellent of the daughters o f Ifrael1.
b The Angels;] Tho’ the word be in the plural,
yet the commentators fay, it was the angel
Gabriel only. The fame is to be underftood
where it occurs in the following paflages.
e Fhe Word;] That is Jesus; who, al Beida-
cui fays, is fo called^ becaufe he was conceived
h.y the word or command of God, without a
.father.
d Chafl] The original word fignifies one
who refrains not only from women, but from all
other worldly delights and defires. A l Beidawi
mentions a tradition, that during his childhood
fome boys invited him to play, but he refufed,
Jay.ing that he was not created to play.
e When old age hath overtaken me, &c.] Zacharias
was then ninety nine years old, and his
wife eighty nine 2.
f Ihou Jbalt fpeak to no man for three dap;]
Though he could not fpeak to any body elfe,
yet his tongue was at liberty to praife God ; as
he is diretted to do by the following words.
g When they threw in their rods, &c.J When
Mary was firft brought to the temple, the priefts,
becaufe fhe was the daughter of one of their
chiefs, difputed among themfelves, who fhould
have the education of her. Zacharias infilled
_.that -he ought to be preferred, becaufe he had
married her aunt; but the others not confenting
that it fhould be fo, they agreed to decide the
matter by -calling of lots : whereupon twenty
feven of them .went to the river Jordan, and
threw in their rods (or arrows without heads or
feathers, fuch as the Arabs ufed for the fame
purpofe) on which they had written fome paffages
of the law, but they all funk, except that
of Zacharias, which floated on the water; and
he had thereupon the care of the child committed
to him 3.
1 ^ /B eidawi. Idem. 3 Idem> Ja lla lo’ddin, Md
C h a p . 3 *
unto men in the cradle1, and when' he is grown up b; and he fliall be one
©f the righteous: fhe anfwered, L o r d , how fhall I have a fon, fiflce a man hath
not touched me ? the angel faid, So G o d createth that which he pleafeth : when
he decreeth a thing, he only faith unto it, Be, and it is: G od fhall teach him
the fcripture, and wifdom, and the law, and the gofpel •, and Jhall appoint him
his apoftle to the children of I s r a e l \.and heJhall fa y , Verily I come unro you
with a fign from your L o r d - , for I will ma-ke before you, of clay, as it were
the figure of a birdc •, then I will breathe thereon, and it fhall become a
bird, by the permifiion of G o d d: and I will heal him that hath been blind
from his birth; and the leper : and I will raife the dead e by the permifiTion
of G o d : and I willprophefy unto yon what ye eat, and what ye lay up for
ftore in your houfes. Verily herein will be a fign unto you, if ye believe. And
* He Jhall fpeak unto men in the cradle.] Be-
fides an inilance of this given in the Koran it
felf1, which I fhall not here anticipate, & Mohammedan
writer (of no very great credit indeed)
tells two ftories, one of J e s u s ’s fpeaking while
in his mother’s womb, to reprove her coulin Jofeph
for his unjuft fufpicions of her 2 ; and another
of his giving an anfwer to the fame ,perfon
foon after he was born. For Jofeph being fent
by Zacharias to feek Mary (who had gone out of
the city, by night to conceal her delivery) and
having found her, began to expoftulate with her,
but fhe made no reply ; whereupon the child
fpoke.thefe words; Rejoice, O Jofeph, and be of
goodchear; for G od hath brought me forth from
the darknefs of the womb, to the light of the world;
and I Jhall go to the children of Ifrael, and invite
them to the obedience of G od 3.
Thefe feem all to have been taken from fome
fabulous traditions of the eaftern Chrijiians, one
>of which is preferved to us in the fpurious gof-
pelof thtlnfancy of Christ ; where we read
that Jesus fpoke while yet in the cradle, and
faid to his mother, Verily I am Jesus the fon of
-God, the word which thou haft brought forth, as
the angel Gabriel did declare unto thee ; and my
father hath fent me to fave the world 4.
k And when he is grown up.] The Arabic
word properly fignifies a man in full age, that
is between thirty or thirty four, and fifty one j
and the paflage may relate to-Christ’s preaching
here on earth. But as he had fcarce attained
this age when he was taken up into heaven^ the
commentators chufe to underftand it of his fe-
eond coming
e I will make the figure of a bird, &c.] Some,
fay it was a bat6, .tho’ others fuppofe Je s u j
made feveral birds .of different forts 7.
This cirdumftance is alfo taken from the following
fabulous tradition, which may be found
in the fpurious golpel abovementioned. Jesu-s
being feven years old, and ât play with feveral
children of his age, .they made feveral figures of
birds and beafts, for their diverfion, of clay ;
and each preferring his own workmanfhip, Jesus
told them, that he would make his walk
and leap 4- which accordingly, at his command,
they did. .-He made alfo feveral figures of fpar-
rows and other birds, which flew about or flood
on his hands as Jie ordered them, and alfo eat
and drank when he offered them meat and drink.
The children^telling this to their parents, were
forbidden to play any more with Jesus, whom
■ they held to be a forcerer s .
d By the permijfion of G od.] The commentators
obferve that thefe words are added here,
and in the next fentence, left it fhould be thought
Jesus did thefe miracles by his own power, or
was G od 9 .
c I will raife the dead, &c.] J allaid ddin mentions
three perfons whom Christ reftored to
life, and who lived feveral years after, and had
children; viz. Lazarus, the widow’s fon, and the
publican’s (I fuppofe he means the ruler of the fy-
nagogue’s) daughter. He adds that he alfo raifed
Shem the fon of Noah, who, as another writes10,
thinking he had been called to judgment, came
out of his grave with his head half .grey, whereas
men did not grow grey in his days;; after
which he Immediately died again.
1 Chap. 19. 2 V. Sikh notas in Evang. Infant, p. 5. 3 A lKessai, apud eundern*
Evang. Infant, p. $. 5 Jallalo’ddin, A l Beidawi. 6 Jaljtalo’ddih. 7 Al
Xhalabi. -3 Evang. Infant, p. m i , -&c. 9 A l Beidawi, 10 Al T ralab-.!.