Page:Islam, Turkey, and Armenia, and How They Happened.djvu/31

Rh pieces, and lay a part of them on every mountain and then call them together, which he did, and the birds being restored to life came swiftly unto him.

The Story of Jesus Christ. Mohametans regard "Isa el Mesih," Jesus, the Christ, with high reverence, and attribute his miraculous birth to the power of God, but condemn the Christians with utmost severity for calling him "God," or "the Son of God." Among the thousand and one Arabic names of divinity they never accept the title of "Father."

The outline of his life as taken from the Koran is as follows: Mary retired fro her family to a place towards the east, and took a veil to conceal herself from men. One day the angel Gabriel appeared unto her and said, "Verily I am the messenger of thy Lord, and sent to give thee a holy son for a sign unto men." Wherefore she conceived and retired aside to a more distant place. And when the pains of childbirth came upon her she reclined upon the trunk of a palm tree and cried, saying, "Would to God I had died before this and lost in oblivion!" When the child came she took him in her arms and brought to her people, who being unaware of all these things, with great contempt said unto her, "O Mary, sister of Aaron, now thou hast done a strange thing; thy father was not a bad man, neither was thy mother a harlot!" But she made signs unto the new-born child to answer them and tell the truth all about himself, whereupon he said "Verily I am the servant of God, he hath given me the book of the gospel and hath appointed me a