[Sidenote: The Muḥammadan Paradise.] 4. There is nothing spiritual in Muḥammad's pictures of Heaven and Hell. His Paradise is simply a glorified pleasure-garden, where the pious repose in cool shades, quaffing spicy wine and diverting themselves with the Houris (_Ḥúr_), lovely dark-eyed damsels like pearls hidden in their shells.[329] This was admirably calculated to allure his hearers by reminding them of one of their chief enjoyments--the gay drinking parties which occasionally broke the monotony of Arabian life, and which are often described in Pre-islamic poetry; indeed, it is highly probable that Muḥammad drew a good deal of his Paradise from this source. The gross and sensual character of the Muḥammadan Afterworld is commonly thought to betray a particular weakness of the Prophet or is charged to the Arabs in general, but as Professor Bevan has pointed out, "the real explanation seems to be that at first the idea of a future retribution was absolutely new both to Muḥammad himself and to the public which he addressed. Paradise and Hell had no traditional associations, and the Arabic language furnished no religious terminology for the expression of such ideas; if they were to be made comprehensible at all, it could only be done by means of precise descriptions, of imagery borrowed from earthly affairs."[330] [Sidenote: Prayer.] Muḥammad was no mere visionary. Ritual observances, vigils, and other austerities entered largely into his religion, endowing it with the formal and ascetic character which it retains to the present day. Prayer was introduced soon after the first Revelations: in one of the oldest (Súra lxxxvii, 14-15) we read, "_Prosperous is he who purifies himself (or gives alms) and repeats the name of his Lord and prays._" Although the five daily prayers obligatory upon every true believer are nowhere mentioned in the Koran, the opening chapter (_Súratu ’l-Fátiḥa_), which answers to our Lord's Prayer, is constantly recited on these occasions, and is seldom omitted from any act of public or private devotion. Since the _Fátiḥa_ probably belongs to the latest Meccan period, it may find a place here. THE OPENING SÚRA (I). (1) In the name of God, the Merciful, who forgiveth aye! (2) Praise to God, the Lord of all that be, (3) The Merciful, who forgiveth aye, (4) The King of Judgment Day! (5) Thee we worship and for Thine aid we pray. (6) Lead us in the right way, (7) The way of those to whom thou hast been gracious, against whom thou hast not waxed wroth, and who go not astray! [Sidenote: The Night journey and Ascension of Muḥammad.]