Page:Judaism and Islam, a prize essay - Geiger - 1898.pdf/169

 HOLY MEN ACTER THE TIME OP SOLOMON. 151

SECOND CHAPTEE.

Fourth Part. Holy Men after the time of Solomon.

Many important men might "be mentioned here, but Muhammad knew but few of them, and about those whom he does name he gives for the most part nothing special, but mentions them only with other pious persons. Some only are treated with a little more detail, and we will mention them here first, so as then to put the others together briefly. Of Elijah * his dispute with the people about the worship of Baal is related briefly. In the legends of Islam as well as in those of later Judaism Elijah plays a very important part. He is that mystical 2 person known under the name of Khizr. He is therefore the same as Phinehas, 3 erroneously called by some the nephew of Aaron 4 instead of his grandson, and, like Elijah the prophet 5 in later Jewish traditions, he is the mediator between heaven and earth. It is he who appears

\ Suras VI. 85, XXXVII. 123. In one place he is called a

(Sura XXXVII. 30) on account of the rhyme. We find among other opinions in'Elpherar the following :

" It is said that Ilyasin is a dialectic change for Elyas, as Ism'ail for Ism'am and Mikhayil for Mikhayin." These examples are certainly unsuitable, for in them the change is only from J to y } while here the

.

complete addition of the syllable 0.> takea place. This the Arabs, in spite of the similar (.j^Ui mentioned before, seem to shrink from explaining as a change deliberately made on account of the rhyme.