went forth unto his people, from the chamber, and he made figns unto
them’ , as i f he Jhould fay% Praife ye God in the morning and in the even-
ing. Anil we faid unto his Jhn, O J o h n , receive the.book of the law, with
a refolution to Jludy and obferve it. And we bellowed on him wildom, when
he was yet a child, and mercy from us, and purity of life *;. and he was a
devout perfpn, and dutiful towards his parents, and was not proud or rebel-
lious. Peace be on him the day whereon he was born, and the day whereon
he fhall die, and .the day whereon he fhall'be raifed to life. And remember
in the book o f the K orun'the Jlory o f M a r y ; when" fhe retired from her
family to a place towards the eaft c, and took a veil to conceal herfelf from
them s' and we lent our fpirit GnBRmi unto her, andhe appeared unto her
in the fhape of a perfeft man4. She faid, I fly for refuge unto the merciful
God, that he may defend me from thee : if thou feareft him, thou wilt
not approach me. He anfwered, Verily I am the meflinger of thy L o rd, and
am fent to give thee a holy fon. She faid', HoW fhall I have a fon,'feeing
a man hath not touched me, and I am no harlot? Gabriel replied, So fhall
t t b e : thy L o r d faith, This is eafy with me; and We at/i(l. perform it,
that we may ordain him for a fign unto men, and a mercy from us : for it
is a thing which is decreed. Wherefore fhe conceived him': and fhe retired
alide with him in her womb to a diftant place1 ; and the pains of childbirth
came upon her near the trunk of a palm-tree E. She faid, Would to
, God
fliynefa, adds, that perhaps ft might be to raife
an emotion in her, and affift her conception.
e She conceived;J For Gabriel blew into the
bofbm of her fhift, which he opened with his
lingers 3, and his breath reaching her womb,
caufed the conception 4. The age of the virgin
Mary at the time of her conception was'thirteen,
or, as others fay, ten ; and Ihe Went fix, feven,
eight, or nine months with him, according to
different traditions; tho’ fome lay the child was
conceived at its full growth of nine months, jind
that Ihe was delivered of him within an hour
after *.
f To a diftant place;J To conceal her delivery,
fhe went out of the city by night, to a certain
mountain.
g Her pains cam upon her near the trunk of a
p a lm - tr e eThe palm to which Ihe fled, that
fhe might lean on it in her travail, was a withered
trunk, without any head or verdure, and this
happened in the winter feafon j notwithftanding
which it miraculoufly fupplied her with fruits
for her refrefliment6 j as is mentioned immediately;
It has been obferved, that the Mohammedan
account of the delivery of the vhgm Mary, ve-
* He made figns unto t h e m Some fay he
wrote the following words on the ground.
b And purity of l i f e Or, as the word alfo
fignifies, The love of alms-deeds.
c To a place towards the eaft;] viz. T o the
eaftern part of the temple; or to a private chamber
in the houfe, which opened to the eaft:
whence, fays al Beidawi, the Chriftians pray
towards that quarter.
There is a tradition, that When the virgin was
grown to years of puberty, Ihe ufed to leave
her apartment in the temple, and retire to Za-
cbarias's houfe to her aunt, when her courfes
came upon her j and fo foon as fhe was clean,
fhe returned again to the. temple: and that at the
time of the angel’s vrfitirtg her, fhe was at her
aunt’s on the like occafion, and was fitting to
wafh herfelf, in an open place, behind a veil to
prevent her being :feen 1. But others more prudently
fuppofe the defign of her retirement was
to pray 2.
4 In the fbape of a man;} Like a full-grown
but beardlefs youth. Al Beidawi, not contented
with having given one good reafon why he appeared
in that form, viz. to moderate her fur-
prize, that fhe might hear his meffage with lefs
1 Y a h y a , B e i d a w i . 2 A l Z a m a k h . 3 Y a h y a . 4 J a l l a l o ’ d d in » A l
B e i d a w i , * A l B e i d a w i » Y a h y a . 6 lidem, Al Z a m a k h .
God I bad died before this, and had become a thing forgotten, and loft in
oblivion! And he who was beneath her called to her % faying, Be not grieved :
now hath G od provided a rivulet under thee; and do thou lhake the body of
the palm-tree, and it lball let fall ripe dates upon thee, ready gathered b.
And eat, anddrink, and calm thy mind e. Moreover i f thou fee any man,
andhe quejtion thee, fay, Verily I have vowed a faft unto the Merciful; wherefore
I will by no means fpeak to a man this day4. So Ihe brought the child
to her people, carrying him in her'arms. And they faid unto her, O M a r y ,
now haft thou done a ftrange thing : O After of A a r o n % thy father was not
a bad man, neither was thy mother a harlot. But foe made flgns unto the
child to anfwerthem-, and they faid, How lball we fpeak to him, who is an
infant in the cradle ? Whereupon the child faid, Verily I am the fervant of
God f ; he hath given me the book o f the gofpel, and hath appointed me a
prophet. And he hath made me blefled, wherefoever I fhall be ; and hath
commanded me to obferve prayer, and to give alms, fo long as I fhall live ;
and he hath made me dutiful towards my mother, and hath not made me proud,
or unhappy. And peace be on me the day whereon I was born, and the day
whereon I fhall die, and the day whereon I fhall be raifed to life. This was
J esus die fon of M a r y ; the Word of truth8, concerning whom they doubt.
It is not meet for God, that he fhould have any fon : God forbid! When he
K k 2 decreeth
ry much refeitibles that of Latona, as deferibed
by the poets1, not only in this circumftance of
their laying hold on, a palm-tree'2, (tho’ fome
fey Latona embraced an olive-tree,'or an olive
and a palm, or elfe two laurels,) but alfo in that
of their infants fpeahing; which Apollo is fabled:
to have done in the womb 3.
a He who was beneath her;] This fome imagine
to have been the child himfelf; but others
fuppofe it was Gabriel, who ftood fomewhat lower
than Ihe did 4. According to a different reading
this pafiage may be rendered, And he called to
her from beneath her, &c. And fome refer the
pronoun, tranflatedfor, to the palm-tree j and then
it fhould be beneath it, &c.
b Shake the palm-tree and it fhall let fa ll ripe
dates, &c.J And accordingly Ihe had no fooner
fpoken it than the dry trunk revived, and ihot
forth green leaves, and a head loaden with ripe
fruit.
c Calm thy mind;] Literally, thine eye.
" 1 have vowed a faft, &c.] During which ihe
was not to fpeak to any body, unlefs to acquaint
them with the reafon of her iilence : and fome
fuppofe Ihe did that by figns.
* O fifter of Aaron j] Several Chriftian writers
think the Koran ftands convi&ed of a manifeft
fallhood in -.this particular, but I am afraid the
Mohammedans may ayoid the charge 5 as they do
-by feveral anfwers. Some^fay ,the virgin Mary
had really a brother’named ^ r ^ , who had the
fame father, but a different mother; -others fup-
pofe Aaron the brother pf Mpfes Js here meant,
but fey Mary is called his fifter, ^either becaufe
fhe was of the Levitical race, (as by her being
related to Elizabeth, it fhould feem fhe was,) or
by way of cemparifon; others fay that it was a
different perfon of that name who was contemporary
with her, and confpicuous for his good
or bad qualities, and that they likened her to
him either by way of commendation, or of reproach
6, &c.
f Whereupon the child faid, I am the fervant
of G od ;] Thefe were the fir ft words which
were put into the mouth of Jesus, to obviate
the imagination of his partaking of the divine
nature, or having a right to the worfhip of mankind,
on account of his miraculous fpeaking fo
fbon after his birth 7.
g The word of truth;] This expreflion may
either be refered to Jesus, as the Word^ G od;
or to the account juft given of Kim.
1 V. Sikh not.
Hymn, in Delum.
lalo’ddin.
Yahya, ÖV.
in Evang. Infant, p. 9, 21, lAc. 2 H oi^eR. in Apoll. C allimach.
3 C allimach. ibid. See Kor. chap. 3/ p. 41. 4 A l Beidawi, ‘JAl -
* See chap. 3. p. 38. . 6 ^ / Z amakh. ^/Beida^ i, Jallalo’ddin,
7 A l Beidawi, isle.