[FN#441] Christ, say the Eutychians, had only one nature, the divine; so he was crucified in effigy.
[FN#442] Jesus is compared with Adam in the Koran (chapt. iii.): his titles are Kalαmu 'llah (word of God) because engendered without a father, and Rϊhu 'llah (breath of God) because conceived by Gabriel in the shape of a beautifui 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 Joshuζ Nazareni). This note should be read by the eminent English littιrateur who discovered a fact, well known to Locke and Carlyle, that "Mohammedans are Christians." So they are and something more.
[FN#443] In the Kalamdαn, or pen-case, is a little inkstand of metal occupying the top of the long, narrow box.
[FN#444] A fair specimen of the riddle known as the "surprise."
[FN#445] Koran xli. 10.
[FN#446] Koran xxxvi. 82.
[FN#447] Here we enter upon a series of disputed points. The Wahhαbis 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-Ilαhi) 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.
[FN#448] Arab. "Kanjifah"=a pack of cards; corrupted from the Persian "Ganjνfah." We know little concerning the date or origin of this game in the East, where the packs are quite unlike ours.
[FN#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-Firzαn (Pers. science, wise).
[FN#450] Arab, "Baydak" or "Bayzak"; a corruption of the Persian "Piyαdah"=a footman, peon, pawn; and proving whence the Arabs derived the game. The Persians are the readiest backgammon-players known to me, better even than the Greeks; they throw the dice from the hand and continue foully abusing the fathers and mothers of the "bones" whilst the game lasts. It is often played in the intervals of dinner by the higher classes in Persia.