Page:Judaism and Islam, a prize essay - Geiger - 1898.pdf/70

 52 JUDAISM AND ISLAM.

and men shall stand on Al-Araf who shall know them by their marks ; and shall call unto the inhabitants of Paradise saying, Peace be upon yon ; yet they shall not enter therein, though they earnestly desire it. And when they 1 shall turn their eyes towards the companions of hell fire, they rejoice that they are not among them, and shew them the folly of their earthly walk and hopes. "

It is interesting to compare this view of a threefold dealing with the dead with the very similar Platonic idea. 2

The idea of the bliss of eternal life, as well as the metaphor which expresses the difficulty of attaining it, is common to the Quran and Judaism. There is a Eabbinical saying 3 to the effect that "one hour of rapture in that world is better than a whole life-time in this." With this we may compare the Quran : 4 " And what is this life in comparison with the life to come except a passing amuse- ment ? " Then for the difficulty of attaining Paradise we may compare the Rabbinical picture 5 of the elephanjfe entering the needle's eye with the words in Sara VII. 38 6 " Neither shall they enter into paradise until a camel pass through the eye of a needle. " This last metaphor seems to be borrowed from Christianity, (partly because of the similarity of the figure, in that " camel " is the metaphor used in the Grospels, and partly because of the frequent mention of the same by the Evangelists) 7, and is only

8 Phaedon, Chap, 62. 3 Mishna Aboth, IV, 17.
 * " They '' i.e. the men between, not as Wahl and others explain it.

4 S6ras IX. 38, XIII. 26. |Gci S

6 Sfaa VII. 38.

? Matt, xix. 24 ; Mark, x, 25 ; Luke, xviii. 24.