Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/151

 Charles Martel and Pippin 1 1 5 The revelations were strung together without regard to the order in which Mohammed received them and with little or no attention to their contents. The longer surahs or chapters come first and then the short ones, although chronologically the shorter were the earlier. It is therefore not unnatural that the Koran should be confused and often obscure, and in an English version it is hard to perceive much of the marvelous eloquence which recommends it to the Arab mind. It is chiefly made up of repeated assertions of God's unity and greatness and of the futility and wickedness of the worship of idols. There are frequent references to the last judgment, to heaven and its delights, to hell and the fate of those who stubbornly refuse to accept the Koran as the word of God, and Mohammed as his prophet. Many episodes from the Old and New Testaments are given here and there, such as the stories of Abraham, of Joseph, of Moses, of the birth of Jesus. Mohammed could hardly have been acquainted with the Bible at first hand, but must have gathered his knowledge of it from the Jews and Christians settled in Arabia. The Koran also embodies popular sayings and favorite legends current among the desert tribes long before the time of Mohammed. Some important rules of conduct are also laid down. " Mohammed had not lived among the sheepfolds in Lane-Pooie's vain, and spent long solitary nights gazing at the silent Mohammed's heaven and watching the dawn break over the mountains, character. This earliest portion of the Koran is one long blazonry of nature's beauty. How can you believe in aught but the One omnipotent God when you see this glorious world around you and this wondrous tent of heaven above you ?