bammed has affirmed that no lefs than 70,000 o f his followers fhould
be permitted to enter paradife without any previous examination;
-which feems to be contradictory to what is faid above. \ To the quef-
tions we have mentioned each perfon (hall anfwer, and make his defence
in the belt manner he can, endeavouring to excufe himfelf by
calling the blame of his evil deeds on others j fo that a difpute ffiall
arile even between the foul and the body, to which of them their
guilt ought to be imputed: the foul faying, 0 Lord, my body 1 received
from thee; fo r thou createdf me without a hand to lay hold with,
a foot to walk with, an eye to fee with, or an underfunding to apprehend
with, till I came and entred into this body; therefore punifi it eternally,
but deliver me. The body on the other fide will make this apology,
D Lord, then createdf me like a fo ck o f wood, having neither hand that
I could lay hold with, nor foot that I could walk with, till this foul, like
a ray o f light, entered into me, and my tongue began to fpeak, my eye to
fee, and my foot to walk; therefore punijh it eternally, but deliver me.
But G od will propound to them the following parable of the blind
man and the lame man, which, as well as the preceding difpute,
was borrowed by the Mohammedans from the Jews1.- A certain king
having a pleafant garden, in which were ripe fruits, fet two perfons
to keep it, one of whom was blind, and the other lame, the former
not being able to fee the fruit, nor the latter to gather it; the lame
man however, feeing the fruit, perfuaded the blind man to take him
upon his Ihoulders; and by that means he eafily gathered the fruit,
which they divided between them. The lord of the garden coming
fome time after, and inquiring after his fruit, each began to excufe
himfelf; the blind man faid he had no eyes to fee with; and the lame
man that he had no feet to approach the trees. But the king ordering
the lame man to be fet on the blind, pafied fentence on and punifhed
them both. And in the fame manner will G od deal with the body
and the foul. As thefe apologies will not avail on that day, fo will it
alfo be in vain for any one to deny his evil adtions, fince men and
angels and his own members, nay the very earth itfelf will be ready
.to bear witnefs againil him.
Though the Mohammedans affign fo long a fpace for the attendance
of the refufeitated before their trial, yet they tell us the trial
itfelf will be over in much lefs time, and, according to an expreffion
o f Mohammed, familiar enough to the Arabs, will laft no longer than
' Gemara, Sanhedr. c.j i . R. Jos. Albo, Serm. IV. c. 33. See alfo Epiphan..in Ancorat. Seft.
*89.
while one may milk an ewe, or than the fpace between the two milkings
of a flte camel *. Some, explaining thofe words fo frequently
ufed in the Koran, G o d will be jwift in taking an account, fay that
he will judge all creatures in the fpace of half a day, and others that
it will be done in lefs time than the twinkling of an eye *,
At this examination they alfo believe that each perfon will have the
book wherein all the adtions of his life are written, delivered to him;
which books the righteous will receive in their right hand, and read with
great pleafure and fatisfadlion; but the ungodly will be obliged to
take them againft their wills in their le ft3, which will be bound behind
their backs, their right hand being tied up to their necks ♦ .
To fhew the exadt juftice which will be obferved on this great day of theba-
of trial, the next thing they deferibe is the balance, wherein all things la?ce'.'n
fhair be weighed. They fay it will be held by Gabriel, and that it is their
of fo vaft a fize, that its two feales, one of which hangs over para- worlta™jjJ
dife, and the other over hell, are capacious enough to contain both ^ we’8
heaven and earth. Tho’ fome are willing to underftand what is faid
in the Koran concerning this balance, allegorically, and only as a figurative
reprefentation of G o d ’s equity, yet the more ancient and orthodox
opinion is that they are to be taken literally; and fince words
and adtions, being mere accidents, are not capable of being themfelves
weighed, they fay that the books wherein they are written will be
thrown into the feales, and according as thofe wherein the good or
the evil adtions are recorded, lhall preponderate, fentence will be given;
thofe whofe balances laden with their good works lhall be heavy, will
be faved, but thofe whofe balances are light, will be condemned K Nor
will any one have caufe to complain that G o d fuffers any good action
to pafs unrewarded, becaufe the wicked for the good they do
have their reward in this life, and therefore can expedt no favour in
the next.
The old JewiJh writers make mention as well of the books to be produced
at the laft day, wherein mens adtions are regiftred 6, as' of the
balance wherein they lhall be weighed 7; and the feripture itfelf feems
to have given the firft notion of both 8. But- what the P e rf an Magi
believe o f the balance comes neareft to the Mohammedan opinion.
1 The Arabs ufe, after they have drawn fome milk from the camel, to wait a while, and let her
young one fuck a little, that fhe may give down her milk more plentifully at the fecond milking.
a Pocock, Not.'in Port. Mofis, p. 278— 282« See alfo Kor. c. 2. p. 23.' 3 Kor. c. 17, ‘18, 69,
and 84. 4 Jallalo’ddin. 1 Kor. c. 23, 7, &c. 6 Midrafh, Yalkut Shemuni, f. 153. c. 3.
7 Gemar. Sanhedr. f. 91, &c. s Exod. xxxii. 32, 33. Dan. vii. jo. Revel, x x. 12, See. and
Dan.v. 27. j