[440]. Aaron’s Rod becomes amongst Moslems (Koran vii. 110) Moses’ Staff; the size being that of a top-mast (Pilgrimage i. 300, 301). In Koran xx. 18, 19, we find a notice of its uses; and during the Middle Ages it reappeared in the Staff of Wamba the Goth (A.D. 672–680): the witch’s broomstick was its latest development.
[441]. Christ, say the Eutychians, had only one nature the divine; so he was crucified in effigy.
[442]. Jesus is compared with Adam in the Koran (chapt. iii.): his titles are Kalámu ‘llah (word of God) because engendered without a father, and Rúhu ‘llah (breath of God) because conceived by Gabriel in the shape of a beautiful youth breathing into the Virgin’s vulva. Hence Moslems believe in a “miraculous conception” and consequently determine that one so conceived was, like Elias and Khizr, not subject to death; they also hold him born free from “original sin” (a most sinful superstition), a veil being placed before the Virgin and Child against the Evil One who could not touch them. He spoke when a babe in cradle; he performed miracles of physic; he was taken up to Heaven; he will appear as the forerunner of Mohammed on the White Tower of Damascus, and finally he will be buried at Al-Medinah. The Jews on the other hand speak of him as “that man:” they hold that he was begotten by Joseph during the menstrual period and therefore a born magician. Moreover he learned the Sham ha-maphrash or Nomen tetragrammaton, wrote it on parchment and placed it in an incision in his thigh, which closed up on the Name being mentioned (Buxtorf, Lex Talmud 25–41). Other details are given in the Toldoth Jesu (Historia Joshuæ Nazareni). This note should be read by the eminent English littérateur who discovered a fact, well known to Locke and Carlyle, that “Mohammedans are Christians.” So they are and something more.
[443]. In the Kalamdán, or pen-case, is a little inkstand of metal occupying the top of the long, narrow box.
[444]. A fair specimen of the riddle known as the “surprise.”
[445]. Koran xli. 10.
[446]. Koran xxxvi. 82.
[447]. Here we enter upon a series of disputed points. The Wahhábis deny the intercession of the Apostle (Pilgrimage ii. 76–77). The Shi ahs place Ali next in dignity to Mohammed and there is a sect (Ali-Iláhi) which believes him to be an Avatar or incarnation of the Deity. For the latter the curious reader will consult the “Dabistan,” ii. 451. The Koran by its many contradictions seems to show that Mohammed never could make up his own mind on the subject, thinking himself at times an intercessor and then sharply denying all intercession.
[448]. Arab. “Kanjifah” = a pack of cards; corrupted from the Persian “Ganjífah.” We know little concerning the date or origin of this game in the East, where the packs are quite unlike ours.
[449]. It is interesting to compare this account with the pseudo Ovid and with Tale clxvi. in Gesta “Of the game of Schaci.” Its Schacarium is the chess-board. Rochus (roccus, etc.) is not from the Germ. Rock (a coat) but from Rukh (Pers. a hero, a knight-errant); Alphinus (Ital. Alfino) is Al-Firzán (Pers. science, wise).