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5 Abulfed. ubi sup. 6 Idem, et Elmac. ubi sup. 7
Idem, al Jannâbi, ubi sup. 8 Idem, ibid. 1 Ebn Shohnah and
Elmacinus call her the daughter of al Hareth. 2 Elmac, p. 16, al
Beidâwi, in Kor. c. 5. 3 Ebn Shohnah. Vide Elmac. p. 16.

I shall give a brief account of the most remarkable of them, in order of time.
In the reign of al Mohdi, the third Khalîf of the race of al Abbâs, one
Hakem Ebn Hâshem4, originally of Merû, in Khorasân, who had been an under-
secretary to Abu Moslem, the governor of that province, and afterwards turned
soldier, passed thence into Mawarâlnahr, where he gave himself out for a
prophet. He is generally named by the Arab writers al Mokanna, and sometimes
al Borkaí, that is, "the veiled," because he used to cover his face with a
veil, or a gilded mask, to conceal his deformity, having lost an eye in the
ward, and being otherwise of a despicable appearance; though his followers
pretended he did it for the same reasons as Moses did, viz., lest the
splendour of his countenance should dazzle the eyes of the beholders. He made
a great many proselytes at Nakhshab and Kash, deluding the people with several
juggling performances, which they swallowed for miracles, and particularly by
causing the appearance of a moon to rise out of a well, for many nights
together; whence he was also called, in the Persian tongue, Sâzendeh mah, or
the moonmaker. This impious impostor, not content with being reputed a
prophet, arrogated divine honours to himself, pretending that the deity
resided in his person: and the doctrine whereon he built this was the same
with that of the Gholâïtes above mentioned, who affirmed a transmigration or
successive manifestation of the divinity through and in certain prophets and
holy men, from Adam to these latter days (of which opinion was also Abu Moslem
himself);1 but the particular doctrine of al Mokanna was, that the person in
whom the deity had last resided was the aforesaid Abu Moslem, and that the
same had, since his death, passed into himself. The faction of al Mokanna,
who had made himself master of several fortified places in the neighbourhood
of the cities above mentioned, growing daily more and more powerful, the
Khalîf was at length obliged to send an army to reduce him; at the approach
whereof al Mokanna retired into one of his strongest fortresses, which he had
well provided for a siege, and sent his emissaries abroad to pursuade people
that he raised the dead to life, and knew future events. But, being straitly
besieged by the Khalîf's forces, when he found there was no possibility for
him to escape, he gave poison, in wine, to his whole family, and all that were
with him in the castle; and when they were dead he burnt their bodies,
together with their clothes, and all the provisions and cattle; and then, to
prevent his own body's being found, he threw himself into the flames, or, as
others say, into a tub of aqua fortis, or some other preparation, which
consumed every part of him, except only his hair: so that when the besiegers
entered the place, they found no creature in it, save one of al Mokanna's
concubines, who, suspecting his design, had hid herself, and discovered the
whole matter. This contrivance, however, failed not to produce the effect
which the impostor designed among the remaining part of his followers; for he
had promised them that his soul should transmigrate into the form of a grey-
headed man riding on a greyish beast, and that after so many years he would
return

4 Or Ebn Atâ, according to Ebn Shohnan. 1 This explain a doubt
of Mr. Bayle concerning a passage of Elmacinus, as translated by Erpenius, and
corrected by Bespier. Vide Bayle, Dic. Hist. Art. Abumuslimus, vers la fin,
et Rem. B.

to them, and give them the earth for their possession: the expectation of
which promise kept the sect in being for several ages after under the name of
Mobeyyidites, or, as the Persians call them, Sefid jâmehghiân, i.e., the
clothed in white, because they wore their garments of that colour, in
opposition, as is supposed, to the Khalîfs of the family of Abbâs, whose
banners and habits were black. The historians place the death of al Mokanna
in the 162nd or 163rd year of the Hejra.2
In the year of the Hejra 201, Bâbec, surnamed al Khorremi, and Khorremdîn,
either because he was of a certain district near Ardebîl in Adherbijân, called
Khorrem, or because he instituted a merry religion, which is the signification
of the word in Persian, began to take on him the title of a prophet. I do not
find what doctrine he taught; but it is said he professed none of the
religions then known in Asia. He gained a great number of devotees in
Adherbijân and the Persian Irâk, and grew powerful enough to wage war with the
Khalîf al Mámún, whose troops he often beat, killing several of his generals,
and one of them with his own hand; and by these victories he became so
formidable that al Mótasem, the successor of al Mámûn, was obliged to employ
the forces of the whole empire against him. The general sent to reduce Bâbec
was Afshîd, who having overthrown him in battle, took his castles one after
another with invincible patience, notwithstanding the rebels gave him great
annoyance, and at last shut up the impostor in his principal fortress; which
being taken, Bâbec found means to escape thence in disguise, with some of his
family and principal followers; but taking refuge in the territories of the
Greeks, was betrayed in the following manner. Sahel, an Armenian officer,
happening to know Bâbec, enticed him, by offers of service and respect, into
his power, and treated him as a mighty prince, till, when he sat down to eat,
Sahel clapped himself down by him; at which Bâbec being surprised, asked him
how he dared to take that liberty unasked? "It is true, great king," replied
Sahel, "I have committed a fault; for who am I, that I should sit at your
majesty's table?" And immediately sending for a smith, he made use of this
bitter sarcasm, "Stretch forth your legs, great king, that this man may put
fetters on them." After this Sahel sent him to Afshîd, though he had offered
a large sum for his liberty, having first served him in his own kind, by
causing his mother, sister, and wife to be ravished before his face; for so
Bâbec used to treat his prisoners. Afshîd, having the arch-rebel in his
power, conducted him to al Mótasem, by whose order he was put to an
ignominious and cruel death. This man had maintained his ground against the
power of the Khalîfs for twenty years, and had cruelly put to death above two
hundred and fifty thousand people; it being his custom never to spare man,
woman, or child, either of the Mohammedans or their allies.3 The sectaries of
Bâbec which remained after his death seem to have been entirely dispersed,
there being little or no mention made of them by historians.

1 They were a sect in the days of Abulfaragius, who lived about five
hundred years after this extraordinary event; and may, for aught I know, be so
still. 2 Ex Abulfarag, Hist. Dyn. p. 226. Lobb al Tawârikh, Ebn
Shohnah, al Tabari, and Khondamir. Vide D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Art. Hakem
Ben Haschem. 3 Ex Abulfarag, p. 252, &c. Elmacin. p. 141,
&c., and Khondamir. Vide D'Herbel. Art Bâbec.

About the year 235, one Mahmûd Ebn Faraj pretended to be Moses
resuscitated, and played his part so well that several people believed on him,
and attended him when he was brought before the Khalîf al Motawakkel. That
prince, having been an ear-witness of his extravagant discourses, condemned
him to receive ten buffets from every one of his followers, and then to be
drubbed to death; which was accordingly executed; and his disciples were
imprisoned till they came to their right minds.4
The Karmatians, a sect which bore an inveterate malice against the
Mohammedans, began first to raise disturbances in the year of the Hejra 278,
and the latter end of the reign of al Mótamed. Their origin is not well
known; but the common tradition is, that poor fellow, whom some call Karmata,
came from Khûzistân to the villages near Cûfa, and there feigned great
sanctity and strictness of life, and that GOD had enjoined him to pray fifty
times a day, pretending also to invite people to the obedience of a certain
Imâm of the family of Mohammed: and this way of life he continued till he had
made a very great party, out of whom he chose twelve, as his apostles, to
govern the rest, and to propagate his doctrines. But the governor of the
province, finding men neglected their work, and their husbandry in particular,
to say those fifty prayers a day, seized the fellow, and having put him into
prison, swore that he should die; which being overheard by a girl belonging to
the governor, she, pitying the man, at night took the key of the dungeon from
under her master's head as he slept, and having let the prisoner out, returned
the key to the place whence she had it. The next morning the governor found
the bird flown; and the accident being publicly known, raised great
admiration, his adherents giving it out that GOD had taken him into heaven.
Afterwards he appeared in another province, and declared to a great number of
people he had got about him that it was not in the power of any to do him
hurt; notwithstanding which, his courage failing him, he retired into Syria,
and was not heard of any more. His sect, however, continued and increased,
pretending that their master had manifested himself to be a true prophet, and
had left them a new law, wherein he had change the ceremonies and form of
prayer used by the Moslems, and introduced a new kind of fast; and that he had
also allowed them to drink wine, and dispensed with several things commanded
in the Korân. They also turned the precepts of that book into allegory;
teaching that prayer was the symbol of obedience to their Imâm, and fasting
that of silence, or concealing their dogmas from strangers: they also believed
fornication to be the sin of infidelity; and the guilt thereof to be incurred
by those who revealed the mysteries of their religion, or paid not a blind
obedience to their chief. They are said to have produced a book, wherein was
written (among other things), "In the name of the most merciful GOD. Al Faraj
Ebn Othmân of the town of Nasrâna, saith that Christ appeared unto him in a
human form, and said, 'Thou art the invitation: thou art the demonstration:
thou art the camel: thou art the beast: thou art John the son of Zacharias:
thou art the Holy Ghost.'"1 From the year above mentioned the

4 Ebn Shohnah. Vide D'Herbel. p. 537. 1 Apud Abulfar.
p. 275.

Karmatians, under several leaders, gave almost continual disturbance to the
Khalîfs and their Mohammedan subjects for several years; committing great
disorders and outrages in Chaldea, Arabia, Syria, and Mesopotamia, and at
length establishing a considerable principality, the power whereof was in its
meridian in the reign of Abu Dhâher, famous for his taking of Mecca, and the
indignities by him offered to the temple there, but which declined soon after
his time and came to nothing.2
To the Karmatians the Ismaelians of Asia were very near of kin, if they
were not a branch of them. For these, who were also called al Molâhedah, or
the Impious, and by the writers of the history of the holy wars, Assassins,
agreed with the former in many respects; such as their inveterate malice
against those of other religions, and especially the Mohammedan, their
unlimited obedience to their prince, at whose command they were ready for
assassinations, or any other bloody and dangerous enterprise, their pretended
attachment to a certain Imâm of the house of Ali, &c. These Ismaelians in the
year 483 possessed themselves of al Jebâl, in the Persian Irâk, under the
conduct of Hasan Sabah; and that prince and his descendants enjoyed the same
for a hundred and seventy-one years, till the whole race of them was destroyed
by Holagu the Tartar.1
The Bâtenites, which name is also given to the Ismaelians by some authors,
and likewise to the Karmatians,2 were a sect which professed the same
abominable principles, and were dispersed over several parts of the east.3
The word signifies Esoterics, or people of inward or hidden light or
knowledge.
Abu'l Teyyeb Ahmed, surnamed al Motanabbi, of the tribe of Jófa, is too
famous on another account not to claim a place here. He was one of the most
excellent poets among the Arabians, there being none besides Abu Temâm who can
dispute the prize with him. His poetical inspiration was so warm and exalted
that he either mistook it or thought he could persuade others to believe it to
be prophetical, and therefore gave himself out to be a prophet indeed; and
thence acquired his surname, by which he is generally known. His
accomplishments were too great not to have some success; for several tribes of
the Arabs of the deserts, particularly that of Kelâb, acknowledged him to be
what he pretended. But Lûlû, governor in those parts for Akhshîd king of
Egypt and Syria, soon put a stop to the further progress of this new sect by
imprisoning their prophet and obliging him to renounce his chimerical dignity;
which having done, he regained his liberty, and applied himself solely to his
poetry, by means whereof he got very considerable riches, being in high esteem
at the courts of several princes. Al Motanabbi lost his life, together with
his son, on the bank of the Tigris, in defending the money which had been
given him by Adado'ddawla, soltân of Persia, against some Arabian robbers who
demanded it of him, with which money he was returning to Cûfa, his native
city. This accident happened in the year 354.4

2 Ex Abulfar. ibid. Elmacino, p. 174, &c. Ebn Shohnah, Khondamir. Vide
D'Herbel. Art. Carmath. 1 Vide Abulfar. p. 505, &c. D'Herbel. p. 104,
437, 505, 620, and 784. 2 Vide Elmacin. p. 174 and 286. D'Herb. p.
194.
3 Vide Abulfar. p. 361, 374, 380, 483. 4 Præf. in opera Motannabbis
MS. Vide D'Herbel. p. 638, &c.

The last pretender to prophecy I shall now take notice of is one who
appeared in the city of Amasia, in Natolia, in the year 638, and by his
wonderful feats seduced a great multitude of people there. He was by nation a
Turkmân, and called himself Bâba, and had a disciple named Isaac, whom he sent
about to invite those of his own nation to join him. Isaac accordingly,
coming to the territory of Someisat, published his commission, and prevailed
on many to embrace his master's sect, especially among the Turkmâns; so that
at last he had six thousand horse at his heels, besides foot. With these Baba
and his disciple made open war on all who would not cry out with them, "There
is no GOD but GOD; Bâba is the apostle of GOD:" and they put great numbers of
Mohammedans, as well as Christians, to the sword in those parts; till at
length both Mohammedans and Christians, joining together, gave them battle,
and having entirely routed them, put them all to the sword, except their two
chiefs, who being taken alive, had their heads struck off by the executioner.1
I could mention several other impostors of the same kind, which have arisen
among the Mohammedans since their prophet's time, and very near enough to
complete the number foretold by him: but I apprehend the reader is by this
time tired as well as myself, and shall therefore here conclude this
discourse, which may be thought already too long for an introduction.

1 Abulfar. p. 479. Ebn Shohnah, D'Herb. Art. Bâba

AL KORAN.

________

CHAPTER I.

ENTITLED, THE PREFACE, OR INTRODUCTION;a REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD

PRAISE be to GOD, the LORD of all creatures;b
the most merciful,
the king of the day of judgment.
Thee do we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance.
Direct us in the right way,
in the way of those to whom thou hast been gracious; not of those against
whom thou art incensed, nor of those who go astray.c

a In Arabic al Fâtihat. This chapter is a prayer, and held in great
veneration by the Mohammedans, who give it several other honourable titles; as
the chapter of prayer, of praise, of thanksgiving, of treasure, &c. They
esteem it as the quintessence of the whole Korân, and often repeat it in their
devotions both public and private, as the Christians do the Lord's Prayer.1
b The original words are, Rabbi 'lâlamîna, which literally signify Lord
of the worlds; but âlamîna in this and other places of the Korân properly mean
the three species of rational creatures, men, genii, and angels. Father
Marracci has endeavoured to prove from this passage that Mohammed believed a
plurality of worlds, which he calls the error of the Manichees, &c.:2 but this
imputation the learned Reland has shown to be entirely groundless.3
c This last sentence contains a petition, that GOD would lead the
supplicants into the true religion, by which is meant the Mohammedan, in the
Korân often called the right way; in this place more particularly defined to
be, the way of those to whom GOD hath been gracious, that is, of the prophets
and faithful who preceded Mohammed; under which appellations are also
comprehended the Jews and Christians, such as they were in the times of their
primitive purity, before they had deviated from their respective institutions;
not the way of the modern Jews, whose signal calamities are marks of the just
anger of GOD against them for their obstinacy and disobedience: nor of the
Christians of this age, who have departed from the true doctrine of Jesus, and
are bewildered in a labyrinth of error.4
This is the common exposition of the passage; though al Zamakhshari, and
some others, by a different application of the negatives, refer the whole to
the true believers; and then the sense will run thus: The way of those to whom
thou hast been gracious, against whom thou art not incensed, and who have not
erred. Which translation the original will very well bear.

1 Vide Bobovium de Precib. Mohammed. p. 3, et seq. 2 In
Prodromo ad Refut. Alcorani part iv. p. 76, et in notis ad Alc. c. I.
3 De Religion. Mohammed. p. 262 1 Jallalo'ddin. Al Beidawi, &c.

CHAPTER II.

ENTITLED, THE COW;d REVEALED PARTLY AT MECCA, AND PARTLY AT MEDINA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

A. L. M.e There is no doubt in this book; it is a direction to the
pious,
who believe in the mysteriesf of faith, who observe the appointed times
of prayer, and distribute alms out of what we have bestowed on them,
and who believe in that revelation, which hath been sent down unto thee
and that which hath been sent down unto the prophets before thee,g and have
firm assurance of the life to come:h
these are directed by their LORD, and they shall prosper.
As for the unbelievers, it will be equal to them whether thou admonish
them, or do not admonish them; they will not believe.
GOD hath sealed up their hearts and their hearing; a dimness covereth
their sight, and they shall suffer a grievous punishment.
There are some who say, We believe in GOD, and the last day; but are not
really believers:
they seek to deceive GOD, and those who do believe, but they deceive
themselves only, and are not sensible thereof.
There is an infirmity in their hearts, and GOD hath increased that
infirmity;i and they shall suffer a most painful punishment, because they have
disbelieved.
10 When one saith unto them, Act not corruptlyk in the earth; they reply,
Verily we are men of integrity.l
Are not they themselves corrupt doers? but they are not sensible thereof.
And when one saith unto them, Believe ye as othersm believe; they answer,
Shall we believe as fools believe? Are not they themselves fools? but they
know it not.
When they meet those who believe, they say, We do believe: but when they
retire privately to their devils,n they say, We really hold with you, and only
mock at those people:

d This title was occasioned by the story of the red heifer, mentioned
p. 9.
e As to the meaning of these letters, see the Preliminary Discourse,
Sect. III.
f The Arabic word is gheib, which properly signifies a thing that is
absent, at a great distance, or invisible, such as the resurrection, paradise,
and hell. And this is agreeable to the language of scripture, which defines
faith to be the evidence of things not seen.1
g The Mohammedans believe that GOD gave written revelations not only to
Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed, but to several other prophets;2 though they
acknowledge none of those which preceded the Korân to be now extant, except
the Pentateuch of Moses, the Psalms of David, and the Gospel of Jesus; which
yet they say were even before Mohammed's time altered and corrupted by the
Jews and Christians; and therefore will not allow our present copies to be
genuine.
h The original word al-âkherhat properly signifies the latter part of
anything, and by way of excellence the next life, the latter or future state
after death; and is opposed to al-donya, this world; and al-oula, the former
or present life. The Hebrew word ahharith, from the same root, is used by
Moses in this sense, and is translated latter end.3
i Mohammed here, and elsewhere frequently, imitates the truly inspired
writers, in making GOD by operation on the minds of reprobates to prevent
their conversion. This fatality or predestination, as believed by the
Mohammedans, hath been sufficiently treated of in the Preliminary Discourse.
k Literally corrupt not in the earth, by which some expositors
understand the sowing of false doctrine, and corrupting people's principles.
l According to the explication in the preceding note, this word must be
translated reformers, who promote true piety by their doctrine and example.
m The first companions and followers of Mohammed.4
n The prophet, making use of the liberty zealots of all religions have,
by prescription, of giving ill language, bestows this name on the Jewish
rabbins and Christian priests; though he seems chiefly to mean the former,
against whom he had by much the greater spleen.

1 Heb. xi. I. See also Rom. xxiv. 25; 2 Cor. iv. 18 and v. 7.
2 Vide Reland. de Relig. Moham. p. 34 and Dissert. de Samaritanis, p.
34, &c. 3 Numb. xxiv. 20; Deut. viii. 16. 4 Jallalo'ddin.

GOD shall mock at them, and continue them in their impiety; they shall
wander in confusion.
There are the the men who have purchased error at the price of true
direction: but their traffic hath not been gainful, neither have they been
rightly directed.
They are like unto one who kindleth a fire,o and when it hath enlightened
all around him,p GOD taketh away their lightq and leaveth them in darkness,
they shall not see;
they are deaf, dumb, and blind, therefore will they not repent.
Or like a stormy cloud from heaven, fraught with darkness, thunder, and
lightning,r they put their fingers in their ears because of the noise of the
thunder, for fear of death; GOD encompasseth the infidels:
the lightning wanteth but little of taking away their sight; so often as
it enlighteneth them, they walk therein, but when darkness cometh on them,
they stand still; and if GOD so pleased, he would certainly deprive them of
their hearing and their sight, for GOD is almighty. O men of Mecca, serve
your LORD who hath created you, and those who have been before you:
peradventure ye will fear him;
20 who hath spread the earth as a bed for you, and the heaven as a
covering, and hath caused water to descend from heaven, and thereby produced
fruits for your sustenance. Set not up therefore any equals unto GOD, against
your own knowledge.
If ye be in doubt concerning that revelation which we have sent down unto
our servant, produce a chapter like unto it, and call upon your witnesses
besides GOD,s if ye say truth.
But if ye do it not, nor shall ever be able to do it; justly fear the
fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the unbelievers.
But bear good tidings unto those who believe, and do good works, that
they shall have gardens watered by rivers; so often as they eat of the fruit
thereof for sustenance, they shall say, this is what we have formerly eaten
of; and they shall be supplied with several sorts of fruit having a mutual
resemblance to one another.t There shall they enjoy wives subject to no
impurity, and there shall they continue forever.

o In this passage, Mohammed compares those who believed not on him, to
a man who wants to kindle a fire, but as soon as it burns up, and the flames
give a light, shuts his eyes, lest he should see. As if he had said, You, O
Arabians, have long desired a prophet of your own nation, and now I am sent
unto you, and have plainly proved my mission by the excellence of my doctrine
and revelation, you resist conviction, and refuse to believe in me; therefore
shall God leave you in your ignorance.
p The sense seems to be here imperfect, and may be completed by adding
the words, He turns from it, shuts his eyes, or the like.
q That is of the unbelievers, to whom the word their being in the
plural, seems to refer; though it is not unusual for Mohammed, in affectation
of the prophetic style, suddenly to change the number against all rules of
grammar.
r Here he compares the unbelieving Arabs to people caught in a violent
storm. To perceive the beauty of this comparison, it must be observed, that
the Mohammedan doctors say, this tempest is a type or image of the Korân
itself: the thunder signifying the threats therein contained; the lightning,
the promises; and the darkness, the mysteries. The terror of the threats
makes them stop their ears, unwilling to hear truths so disagreeable; when the
promises are read to them, they attend with pleasure; but when anything
mysterious or difficult of belief occurs, they stand stock still, and will not
submit to be directed.
s i.e., Your false gods and idols.
t Some commentators1 approve of this sense, supposing the fruits of
paradise, though of various tastes, are alike in colour and outward
appearance: but others2 think the meaning to be, that the inhabitants of that
place will find there fruits of the same or the like kinds as they used to eat
while on earth.