Chapter XII.
OF THE CUSTOMS OF THE SARACENS, AND OF THE LAW; AND HOW THE SULTAN DISCOURSED TO ME, THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK; AND OF MOHAMMED.
Now since I have spoken of Saracens and of their country, if you will know a part of their law and belief, I will tell you, according to their book, which is called Alkoran. And some call that book Meshaf; and some call it Harm, according to the different languages of the country. This book Mohammed gave them. In it, among other things, is written, as I have often seen and read, that the good shall go to Paradise, and the evil to hell; and that all Saracens believe. And if a man ask them what paradise they mean, they say it is a place of delight, where men shall find all kinds of fruit, in all seasons, and rivers running with milk and honey, and wine and sweet water; and they shall have fair houses and noble, every man after his desert, made of precious stones, and of gold and silver; and every man shall have eighty wives, all maidens; and he shall have intercourse every day with them, and still he shall find them always maidens. Also they believe in and speak gladly of the Virgin Mary and of the Incarnation. And they say that Mary was taught of the angel; and that Gabriel said to her that she was chosen from the beginning of the world; and that he showed to her the incarnation of Jesus Christ; that she conceived, and bare a child, remaining a maid; and that witnesseth their book. And they say also that Jesus Christ spake as soon as he was born; and that he was a true and holy prophet in word and deed, and meek, and pious, and righteous, and without any vice. And they say also that when the angel showed the incarnation of Christ unto Mary, she was young, and had great fear. For there was then an enchanter in the country that dealt with witchcraft, called Taknia, who by his enchantments could take the likeness of an angel, and went often and lay with maidens; and therefore Mary feared lest it had been Taknia, who came to deceive the maidens. And therefore she conjured the angel that he should tell her if it were he or no. And the angel answered and said that she should have no dread of him; for he was a true messenger of Jesus Christ. Also their book says that when she had been delivered, under a palm tree, she had great shame to have a child; and she moaned and said that she would that she had been dead. And anon the child spake to her and comforted her, and said, "Mother, have no fear, for God hath hid in thee his secrets, for the salvation of the world." And that book saith also that Jesus was sent from God Almighty to be a mirror and example to all men. And the Alkoran saith also, of the day of doom, how God shall come to judge all people; and the good he shall draw on his side, and put them into bliss; and the wicked he shall condemn to the pains of hell. And they say that among all prophets Jesus was the most excellent and the most worthy, and that he made the Gospels, in which is good and healthful doctrine, full of charity and stedfastness, and true preaching to them that believe in God; and that he was a true prophet, and more than a prophet; and lived without sin, and gave sight to the blind, and healed the lepers, and raised dead men, and ascended to heaven. They fast a whole month in the year, eating only by night; and they keep from their wives all that month; but the sick are not bound to that fast. Also this book speaks of the Jews, and says they are cursed, because they would not believe that Jesus Christ was come of God; and that they lied falsely on Mary and her son Jesus Christ, saying that they had crucified Jesus the son of Mary; for he was never crucified, as they say, but God made him ascend to him without death; but he transfigured his likeness into Judas Iscariot, and him the Jews crucified, believing that it had been Jesus; and therefore they say that the Christian men err, and have no good knowledge of this, and that they believe falsely that Jesus Christ was crucified. And they say also, that if he had been crucified, God had acted contrary to his righteousness, to suffer Jesus Christ, who was innocent, to be put upon the cross without guilt. And they say that we err in this article, and that the great righteousness of God might not suffer so great a wrong. They acknowledge that the works of Christ are good, and his words and his deeds and his doctrine by his gospels true, and his miracles also true; and the blessed Virgin Mary was a good and holy maiden before and after the birth of Jesus Christ; and that all those that believe perfectly in God shall be saved. And because they go so nigh our faith, they are easily converted to Christian law, when men preach to them and show them distinctly the law of Jesus Christ, and tell them of the prophecies. And also they say that they know well by the prophecies that the law of Mohammed shall fail as the law of the Jews did; and that the law of Christian people shall last to the day of doom. And if any man ask them what is their belief, they answer thus: "We believe in God, creator of heaven and earth, and all other things that he made. And without him is nothing made. And we believe in the day of doom, and that every man shall have his merit according to his desert. And we hold for true all that God hath said by the mouths of his prophets." Also Mohammed commanded, in his Alkoran, that every man should have two wives, or three or four; but now they take as many as nine, and of lemans as many as a man may support. And if any one of their wives misbehave against her husband, he may cast her out of his house, and part from her and take another; but he shall share with her his goods. Also when men speak to them of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, they say that they be three persons, but not one God. For their Alkoran speaketh not of the Trinity. But they say well that God hath speech, and they know well God hath a spirit; for else, they say, he could not be alive. And when men speak to them of the incarnation, how by the word of the angel God sent his wisdom into earth, and shadowed him in the Virgin Mary; and by the word of God shall the dead be raised at the day of doom; they say that it is true, and that the word of God hath great power. And they say that whoso knew not the word of God, he should not know God. And they say also, that Jesus Christ is the word of God, and so saith their Alkoran, where it saith that the angel spake to Mary and said, "Mary, God shall preach the gospel by the word of his mouth, and his name shall be called Jesus Christ." And they say also that Abraham was friend to God, and that Moses spoke familiar with God; and Jesus Christ was the word and the spirit of God; and that Mohammed was the messenger of God. And they say that of these four Jesus was the most worthy, and the most excellent and the greatest: so that they have many good articles of our faith, although they have no perfect law and faith as Christian men have, and therefore they are easily converted, especially those that understand the scriptures and the prophecies. For they have the gospels, and the prophecies, and the bible written in their language. Wherefore they know much of Holy Writ, but they understand it not but after the letter; and so do the Jews, for they understand not the letter spiritually, but carnally, and therefore be they reproved by the wise, who understand it spiritually.
The Saracens say that the Jews are cursed, because they have defiled the law that God sent them by Moses. And the Christians are cursed also, as they say, for they keep not the commandments and the precepts of the Gospel, which Jesus Christ gave them. And, therefore, I shall tell you what the sultan said to me one day, in his chamber. He sent out of his chamber all men, lords and others, because he would speak with me in counsel. And there he asked me how the Christian men governed themselves in our country? And I answered, "Right well; thanked be God." And he said to me, "Truly, nay; for you Christians care not how untruly you serve God. You should set an example to the common people to do well, and you set them an example of doing evil. For the commons, upon festival days, when they should go to church to serve God, go to taverns, and are there in gluttony all day and night, and eat and drink as beasts that have no reason, and know not when they have enough. And also, the Christians encourage one another, in all ways that they may, to fight, and to deceive one another. And they are so proud that they know not how to be clothed; now long, now short, now straight, now large, now with sword, now with dagger, and in all manner of guises. They should be simple, meek, and true, and full of alms-deeds, as Jesus was, in whom they believe; but they are all the contrary, and ever inclined to evil, and to do evil. And they are so covetous, that for a little silver they sell their daughters, their sisters, and their own wives, to put them to lechery. And one seduces the wife of another, and none of them holdeth faith to another; but they break their law, that Jesus Christ gave them to keep for their salvation. And thus, for their sins, have they lost all this land which we hold. Because, for their sins here, God hath given them into our hands; not only by our power, but for their sins. For we know well in very truth, that when you serve God, God will help you; and when he is with you, no man may be against you. And that know we well by our prophecies, that the Christians shall win again this land out of our hands when they serve God more devoutly. But as long as they are of foul and unclean living (as they are now), we have no dread of them, for their God will not help them."[356] And then I asked him how he knew the state of the Christians? And he answered me, that he knew all the state of the commons also, by his messengers, whom he sent to all lands, in guise of merchants of precious stones, cloths of gold, and other things, to know the manners of every country amongst Christians. And then he called in all the lords that he had sent out of his chamber, and he showed me four who were great lords, who told me of my country, and of many other Christian countries, as well as if they had been of the same country; and they spoke French perfectly well, and the sultan also, whereof I had great marvel. Alas! it is great slander to our faith and to our law, when people that are without law shall reprove us of our sins. And they that should be converted to Christ and to the law of Jesus by our good examples and by our acceptable life to God, and so converted to the law of Jesus Christ, are through our wickedness and evil living, far from us, and strangers from the holy and true belief shall thus accuse us and hold us for wicked livers and accursed. And indeed they say truth. For the Saracens are good and faithful, and keep entirely the commandment of the holy book Alkoran, which God sent them by his messenger Mohammed; to whom, as they say, St. Gabriel the angel often told the will of God.
And you shall understand that Mohammed was born in Arabia, and was first a poor boy that kept camels which went with merchants for merchandise; and so it happened that he went with the merchants into Egypt. And in the deserts of Arabia he went into a chapel where a hermit dwelt; and when he entered into the chapel, which was but little and low, and had a small low door, then the entrance became so great, and so large, and so high, as though it had been of a great minster, or the gate of a palace. And this was the first miracle, the Saracens say, that Mohammed did in his youth. Then he began to wax wise and rich; and he was a great astronomer; and afterwards he was governor and prince of the land of Cozrodane, which he governed full wisely; in such manner that, when the prince was dead, he took his lady, named Gadrige, to wife. And Mohammed fell often in the great sickness called the falling evil, wherefore the lady was sorry that ever she took him to husband. But Mohammed made her believe that when he fell so Gabriel the angel came to speak with him, and for the great brightness of the angel he might not help falling. And therefore the Saracens say that Gabriel came often to speak with him. This Mohammed reigned in Arabia in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 610; and was of the generation of Ishmael, who was Abraham's son, by Agar, his chambermaid. And, therefore, there are Saracens that are called Ishmaelites; and some are called Agarenes, of Agar; and others are called Saracens, of Sarah; and some are called Moabites, and some Ammonites, from the two sons of Lot, Moab and Ammon, whom he begat on his daughters, and who were afterwards great earthly princes. And also Mohammed loved well a good hermit, who dwelt in the desert a mile from Mount Sinai, in the way from Arabia towards Chaldea and towards India, one day's journey from the sea, where the merchants of Venice come often for merchandise. And so often went Mohammed to this hermit that all his men were angry; for he would gladly hear this hermit preach, and make his men wait all night, and therefore his men thought to put the hermit to death: and so it befel upon a night that Mohammed was drunk with good wine, and he fell asleep; and his men took Mohammed's sword out of his sheath, while he slept, and therewith they slew the hermit, and put his sword, all bloody, in his sheath again. And on the morrow, when he found the hermit dead, he was very wroth, and would have put his men to death; but they all with one accord said that he himself had slain him when he was drunk, and showed him his sword all bloody; and he believed that they said truth. And then he cursed the wine and all those that drink it. And therefore Saracens that be devout never drink wine; but some drink it privately; for if they drank it openly they would be reproved. But they drink good beverage, and sweet and nourishing, which is made of galamelle; and that is what men make sugar of, which is of right good savour, and it is good for the breast. Also it happens sometimes that Christians become Saracens, either from poverty or from ignorance, or else from their own wickedness. And therefore the archiflamen, or the flamen, as our archbishop or bishop, when he receives them, says, La ellec sila, Machomete rores alla; that is to say, There is no God but one, and Mohammed his messenger[357].