This is the Mussulman story of his death. The Angel of Death, when bidden to take the soul of the prophet, hesitated about doing so without his consent. So he took upon him the form of a very old man, and came to Abraham’s door. The patriarch invited him in and gave him to eat, but he noted with surprise the great infirmity of the old man, how his limbs tottered, how dull was his sight, and how incapable he was of feeding himself, for his hands shook, and how little he could eat, for his teeth were gone. And he asked him how old he was. Then the angel answered, “I am aged 202.” Now Abraham was then 200 years old. So he said, “What! in two years shall I be as feeble and helpless as this? O Lord, suffer me to depart; now send the Angel of Death to me, to remove my soul.” Then the angel took him,[344] having first watched till he was on his knees in prayer.[345] Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the double cave by the side of Sarah; and he was followed to his grave by all the inhabitants of Canaan, and Shem and Eber went before the bier. And all the people wailed and said, “Woe to the vessel when the pilot is gone! woe to the pilgrims when their guide is lost!” A whole year was Abraham lamented by the inhabitants of the land; men, and women, and young children joined in bewailing him. Never was there a man like Abraham in perfect righteousness, serving God, and walking in His way from the earliest youth to the day of his death. Abraham was the first, say the Mussulmans, whose beard became white. He asked God when it became so, “What is this?” The Lord replied, “It is a token of gentleness, my son.” Footnote 296: For the Rabbinic traditions relating to Abraham I am indebted to the exhaustive monograph of Dr. B. Beer, “Leben Abraham’s nach Auffassung der jüdischen Sage,” Leipzig, 1859, to which I must refer my readers for references to Jewish books, which are given with an exactitude which leaves nothing to be desired. Footnote 297: Weil, p. 69. Footnote 298: The Mussulman history of the patriarch relates that Azar brought Abraham before Nimrod and said, “This is thy God who made all things.” “Then why did he not make himself less ugly?” asked Abraham,—for Nimrod had bad features. Footnote 299: The Mussulman story, which is precisely the same as the Jewish, adds that the camels refused to bear wood to form the pyre, but cast it on the ground; therefore Abraham blessed the camels. But the mules had no compunction, therefore he cursed them that they should be sterile. The birds who flew over the fire were killed, the city was enveloped in its smoke, and the crackling of its flames could be heard a day’s journey off. Footnote 300: Weil, p. 73. Footnote 301: Both the Rabbinic commentators and the Mussulman historians tell a long story about the discussion carried on between Gabriel and Abraham in the air, as he was being shot into the flames. It is hardly worth repeating. Footnote 302: