Page:Mythology Among the Hebrews.djvu/121

Rh the case is very different among the Semites. Let us first consider from this point of view the territory, richest among all those of the Semites, which yields the most copious evidence of the thoughts and feelings of its in habitants—the Arabic. 'The Divine Glory' (al-sakînat = shekhînâ) it is said, in a speech of Moḥammed's, 'is among the shepherds; vanity and impudence among the agriculturists' (al-faddâdûn). Another traditional sentence, which the propagators of Mohammed's sayings—certainly not Bedâwî themselves—put in the mouth of the Prophet, is that every prophet must have been a shepherd for a long time. How greatly Mohammed approved the proud self-consciousness of the nomad, as opposed to the agricultural character, is evident from the following narrative belonging to the Islamite Tradition. 'The Prophet once told this story to one of his companions in the presence of an Arab of the desert. An inhabitant of Paradise asked Allâh for permission to sow, and Allâh replied, "You have already all that you can want." "Yes," answered the other, "but yet I should like also to scatter some seed." So (when Allâh had given him permission), he scattered seeds; and in the very moment that he was looking at them, he saw them grow up, stand high and become ripe for harvest; and they were like regular hills. Then Allâh said to him "Away from here, son of men; you are an insatiable creature!" When the Prophet had finished this story, the Arab of the desert said, "By Allâh! this man can only have been a Kureyshite or an Anṣârî, for they employ themselves with sowing seed, but we Desert-Arabs are not engaged in sowing." Then the Prophet smiled'—with manifest approbation. The accredited collections of traditions tell also the following of Abû Umâmâ al-Bâhilî: 'Once on seeing a ploughshare and another agricultural implement,