conftant doftrine of the Koran, that the felicity of each perfon wilt
be proportioned to his deferts, and that there will be abodes of different
degrees of happinefs; the moft eminent degree being referved for the
prophets, the fecond for the dodtors and' teachers of G o d’s worfhip,
the next for the martyrs, and the lower for the reft of the righteous,
according to their feveral merits. There will alfo feme, diftindtion be
made in refpeft to the time of their admiffion; Mohammed, (to whom,
i f you will believe him, the gates will firft be opened),’ having affirmed,
that’the poor will enter paradife five hundred years before the rich: nor is
this the only privilege which they will enjoy in the next life; fince
the fame prophet has alfo declared,, that when he took a view of
paradife, he faw the majority of its inhabitants to be the poor, and
when he looked'down into hell, he faw the greater part of the
wretches confined there, to be women.
For the firft entertainment of the blefled on their admiffion, they
fable, that the whole earth will then be as one loaf of bread, which
G od will reach to them with his hand, holding it like a cake; and
that for meat they will have the ox Balam, and the fifh Nun, the
lobes of whofe livers- will fuffice feventy thoufand men, being, as fome
imagine, to be fet before the principal guefts, v iz. thofe who,, to that
number, will be admitted into paradife without examination 1; tho’
others fuppofe that a definite number is here put for an indefinite,
and that nothing more is meant thereby, than to exprefs a great multitude
of people.
From this feaft every one will be difmiffed to the manfion defigned
for him, where (as has been faid) he will enjoy fuch a fhare of felicity
as will -be proportioned to his merits, but vaftly exceed compre-
henfion or expectation; fince the very meaneft in paradife, (as he who,
it is pretended, muftknowbeft, has declared) will have eighty thoufand
fervants, feventy two wives of the girls o f paradife, befides the wives he
had in this world, and a tent ereCted for him of pearls,, jacinths, and
emeralds^ of a very large extent; and, according to another tradition,
will be waited on by three hundred attendants while he eats, will beferved
in difhes of gold, whereof three hundred fhallbefet before him at once,
containing each a different kind of food,' thelaft morfelof which will
be as grateful as the firft ; and will alfo be fupplied with as many
forts df liquors in veffels of the lame metal: and, to* complete the entertainment,,
there will be no want of wine, which tho’ forbidden in
this life,„will yet be.freely .allowed to be drank iin.the next, and without
danger, fince the wine of paradife will not inebriate, as that we
drink here. The flavour o f this wine we may conceive tb be delicious
without a defeription, fince the water o f T'anjim and the other
fountains which will be ufed to dilute it, is faid to be wonderfully
fweet and fragrant. I f any objeCt to thefe pleafures, as an impudent
Jeiv did to Mohammed, that fb much eating and drinking muft necef-
farily require proper evacuations, we anfwer, as the prophet did, that
the inhabitants o f paradife will not need to eafe t-hemfelves, nor even
to blow their nofe, for that all fuperfluities will be difc-harged and
carried off by perfpiration, or a fweat as odoriferous as muflt, after
which their appetite ihall return afrefh.
The magnificence of the garments and furniture promifed by the
Koran to the godly in the next life, js anfwerable to the delicacy of
their diet. For they are to be cloathed in the richeft filks and brocades,
chiefly of green, which will burft forth from the fruits of paradife,
and will be alfo fupplied by the leaves o f the tree Kuba 5 they will
be adorned with bracelets of gold and filver, and crowns let with
pearls of incomparable luftre; and will make ufe o f filken carpets,
litters of a prodigious fize, couches, pillows, and other rich furniture
embroidered with gold and precious ftones.
That we may the more readily believe what has been mentioned of
the extraordinary abilities of the inhabitants of paradife to tafte thefe
pleafures in their height, it is faid they will enjoy a perpetual youth;
that in whatever age they happen to die, they will be raifed in their
prime and vigour, that is, o f about thirty years o f age, which age they
will never exceed, (and the fame they fay of the damned) and that
when they enter paradife they will be of the fame ftature with Adam,
who, as they fable, was no lefs than fixty cubits high. And to this
age and ftature their children, if they fhall defire any, (for otherwife
their wives will not conceive) fhall immediately attain; according to
that faying of their prophet, I f any o f the faithful in paradife be de-
firous o f ijfue, it fhall be conceived, born, and grown up within the fpace
of an hour. And in the fame manner, if any one fhall have a fancy
to employ himfelf in agriculture, (which ruftic pleafure may fuit the
wanton fancy of fome) what he fhall fow will fpring up and come to
maturity in a moment.
Left any of the fenfes fhould want their proper delight, we are
told the ear will there be entertained, not only with the ravifhing
fongs of the angel Ifrafil, who has the moft melodious voice of all
G o d’s creatures, and of the daughters of paradife; but even the
trees themfelves will celebrate the divine praifes with a harmony ex