[115] _Aâráf_, the plural of _ârf_, from the verb _arafa_, “to distinguish between two things, or part of them:” some interpret it as above, “a wall; any thing that is high raised, as a wall of separation may be supposed to be.” In the Koran, chap. VII. entitled _Al Aâráf_, v. 44, it is called “a veil,” to wit: “Between the blessed and the damned there shall be a veil, and men shall stand on _Al Araf_, who shall know every one of them by their mark, and shall call unto the inhabitants of Paradise, saying: ‘Peace be upon you:’ yet they shall not enter therein, although they earnestly desire it.” It appears a sort of purgatory for those who deserve neither hell nor heaven. In this sense it is taken above. Others imagine it to be a state of limbo for the patriarchs and prophets, or for the martyrs and saints, among whom there will also be angels in the form of men. But, on the day of universal judgment, all those who are confined in this place shall prostrate themselves in adoration before the Lord, and hear these words: “Enter ye into paradise; there shall come no fear upon you, neither shall ye be grieved.”――_Ibid._, v. 47. [116] Koran, chap. VI. v. 38. [117] Koran, chap. CI. v. 4. [118] _Túba_, says Herbelot, according to the Commentators of the Koran, is a word derived from the Ethiopian language, and means properly “eternal beatitude.” The Tuba, as the heavenly lotos tree, or tree of life, occurs in all mythologies, in the Chinese, Indian, Persian, Egyptian, and Scandinavian. This tree is represented upon the coffin of a mummy which exists in the imperial cabinet of Vienna; a deity pours out from its branches the paradisiacal fountain, which, according to the Muhammedans, issues from the roots of the tree of life.――(See _The Mines of Orient_, vol. V.) [119] This tree is imagined to spring from the bottom of hell. There is a thorny tree, called _zakúm_, which grows in Tahâma, and bears fruit like an almond, but extremely bitter; and therefore the same name is given to this infernal tree.――(See Sale’s _Koran_, pp. 104, 310.)