[115] The mystics of Islām call God and the spirit _the sense_, of which material existences are the outward expression; as we say: ”_The letter and the spirit_.“ The constant play of the original on these words is lost in the version. [116] An allusion to Qur’ān xviii. 12; not a verbal quotation. [117] A grammatical variant of Qur’ān xxi. 107. Muhammed is meant. [118] An allusion to Qur’ān xlix. 3; not a quotation. [119] In Qur’ān lxi. 6, is the assertion that Jesus, in the Gospel, foretold the advent of Muhammed by the name of Ahmed. This is generally explained as a translation of περικλιτός, misread for παράκλητος in John xiv. 26. The two words have very much the same meaning: _much-praised_, _most laudable_, _laudatissimus_. Muhammed is mentioned by many names, forty, fifty, sixty; some say a thousand. [120] Muhammed gained the name of Trusty, El-Emīn (Al-Amīn), long before he declared himself commissioned to call his countrymen to acknowledge the unity of God, the resurrection, judgment, and future life. [121] Qur’ān, chap. lxxxv., the name of which literally means ”_the Towers_,” but is also applied to the _Signs of the Zodiac_. These Christians were the people of Nejrān in south-western Arabia; their persecutor Dhū-Nuwās, a Jew, king of Yaman, some time before Muhammed. [122] “Gardens beneath which rivers flow” is a frequently recurring expression in the Qur’ān. Some have special names. [123] See Qur’ān xxxv. 29: “Then we caused” thee “to inherit the Scripture.“ [124] In Qur’ān ii. 132, Islām is termed ”_God’s Baptism_.“In ii. 156, and again in vii. 42, and xi. 21, “God’s curse” is invoked on sinners. [125] This is the story alluded to in Qur’ān lxxxv., quoted above. In traditions, Dhū-Nuwās was the name of the Jewish king of Yaman, who burnt the Christians of Nejrān in a fiery trench on their refusing to forsake their faith. The idol is imaginary; from Nebuchadnezzar. [126] Qur’ān xvi. 41; xxxvii. 72; xl. 76; speaks of the “Gates of Hell;” and a commentary to the last says they are held to be seven. [127] Abū-Jahl was a surname given by Muhammed to one of his most inveterate enemies of the Quraysh, killed at Badr. The word means: “_Father of Ignorance_,” and here indicates _fleshly pride_. He had formerly borne the surname of Abū-’l-Hakem, which means: _Father of the Arbitrator_. [128] In Qur’ān xxi. 69, is related the miracle by which Abraham was saved from the fire into which he was cast by Nimrod for his refusal to worship an image. [129] The word “_Muslim_,” whence the corruption _Moslem_, means, in Arabic, “_one who acquiesces in the truth and will of God_.” As such, Muslims have existed under every dispensation. [130] The creaking, leaky water-wheel, the Persian wheel, is well known in the East. [131] “_Eye-binding_” is a name for sorcery. The spectator is supposed to have his sight _spell-bound_, so as not to see what is really done.