In the tenth year A li was fent into Taman to propagate the Mohammedan
faith there, and as it is faid, converted the whole tribe of
Hamdan in one day. Their example was quickly followed by all the
inhabitants of that province; except only thofe of Najrdn, who, being
Chrifiians, chofe rather to pay tribute
Thus was Mohammedifin eftablifhed, and idolatry rooted out, even
in Mohammed’s life time (for he died the next year) throughout all
Arabia, except only Tamama; where Mofeilama, who fet up alfo for
a prophet as Mohammed's competitor, had a great party, and was not
.reduced till die Khalifat of Abu Beer. And the Arabs being then
united in one faith and under one prince, found themfelves in a condition
o f making thofe conquefts, which extended the Mohammedan
faith over fo great a part of the world.
1 Abulfeda, ib. p. 129.
Section III.
O f the Koran itfelf, the Peculiarities o f that Book; the
Manner of its being 'written and publijhed, and the general
Dejign of it. _
Tte feve- f I ^ jq E word Koran, derived from the verb karaa, to read, fig-
th= J&- ’ 1 nifies properly in Arabic, the reading, or rather, that which
e . J L ought to be read-, by which name the Mohammedans denote
not only the entire book or volume of the Koran, but alfo any particular
chapter or fedtion of it; juft as the Jews call either the whole
feripture, or any paar of it, by the name of Karah, or Jvltkra l, words
of the fame origin and import. Which obfervation feems to overthrow
the opinion of fome learned Arabians, who would have the
Koran fo named, becaufe it is a collection of the loofe chapters or
fheets which compofe i t ; the verb karaa fignifying alfo to gather or
collett 1 : and may alfo, by the way, ferve as an anfwer to thofe who
objeft ? that the Koran muft be a book forged at once, and could not
poffibly be revealed by parcels, at different times, during the courfe
o f feveral Years, as the Mohammedans affirm; becaufe the Koran is
often mentioned, and called by that name, in the very book it felf.
1 This name was
arieuxTeft. 1. 1. _c. 9*
at firft given to the Pentateuch only, Nehem. viii. V. Simon. Hift. Crit, du
V. Erpen. Not. ad Hift. Jofeph. p. 3. r| Marracc. dc Alcor. p. 41-
Jt
It may not be amifs to obferve, that the fyllable A l in the word Al-
koran is only the Arabic article, fignifying the-, and therefore ought
to be omitted when the Engli/h article is prefixed.
Befide this peculiar name, the Koran is alfo honoured with feveral
appellations, common to other books of feripture: as, al Forkan,
from the verb faraka, to divide or dijlinguijh; not, as the Mohamme-
dan .dodtors fay, becaufe thofe books are divided into chapters or fec-
dons, or diftinguilh between good and evil; but in the fame notion
that the Jews ufe the word Perek, or Pirka, from the fame root, to
denote a fedtion or portion of feripture '. It is alfo called al Moshaf
the volume, and al Kitab, the book, by way of eminence, which an-
fwers to the Biblia of the Greeks-, and al Dhikr, the admonition, which
name is alfo given to the Pentateuch, and Gofpel.
The Karan is divided into 1 14 larger portions of very unequal Divifion.
length, which we call chapters, but the Arabians Sowar, in the Angular
Sura, a word rarely ufed on any other occafion, and properly fignifying
a row, order, or regular feries; as a courfe of bricks in building,
or a rank of foldiers in an army; and is the fame in ufe and
import with the Sura, or Fora of the Jews, who alfo call the fifty
three fedtions of the Pentateuch Sedarim, a word of the fame fignifi-
cation *.
Thefe chapters are not in the manufeript copies diftinguiflied by
their numerical order, tho’ for the reader’s eafe they are numbred in
this edition, but by particular titles, which (except that of the firft,
which is the initial chapter, or introdudtion to the reft, and by the'
old Latin tranflator not numbred among the chapters,) are taken
fometimes from a particular matter treated of, or perfon mentioned
therein; but ufually from the firft word o f note, exadlly in the fame
manner as the Jews have named their Sedarim: tho’ the word from
which fome chapters are denominated, be very far diftant, towards
the middle,'or perhaps the end of the chapter; which feems ridiculous.
But the occafion of this feems to have been, that the verfe or
paffage wherein fuch word occurs, was, in point of time, revealed
and committed to writing before the other verfes of the fame chapter
which precede it in, order: and the title being given to the chapter
before it was compleated, or the paflages reduced to their prefent
■ order, the verfe from whence fuch title was taken, did- not always
1X- G°l- in append, ad Gram. Arab: Erpen. 175. A chapter or fub-diviiion of the Majjieioth of
the Mijbna is alfo called Perek. Maimon. praef. in Seder Zcraim, p. 57. » V. Gol. ubi fup. 177.
iEacn of the fix grand dirifions of the Mijhna is alfo called Seder. Maimon. ubi fup. p. 55.
i hap