Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 6.djvu/74

ⅼⅹⅷ  al-Mubdî, the Beginner. al-Muʼhîd, the Restorer. al-Moʿhyî, the Quickener. al-Mumît, the Killer. al-ʿHâiy, the Living. al-Qâiyûm, the Subsisting. al-Wâgid, the Existing. al-Magîd, the Glorious. al-Wâhid, the One. az-Zamad, the Eternal. al-Qâdir, the Powerful. al-Muqtadir, the Prevailing. al-Muwaʿhʿhir, the Deferrer. al-Muqaddim, the Bringer-forward. <li>al-Awwal, the First. <li>al-Âʿhir, the Last. <li>ath-Thâhir, the Apparent. <li>al-Bâtin, the Innermost. <li>al-Wâlî, the Governor. <li>al-Mutaʼhâl, the Exalted. <li>al-Barr, Righteousness. <li>at-Tawwâb, the Relenting. <li>al-Muntaqim, the Avenger. <li>al-ʼHafû, the Pardoner. <li>ar-Raʼûf, the Kind. <li>Mâlik al Mulk, the Ruler of the Kingdom. <li>uʼlgalâl waʼl ikrâm, Lord of Majesty and Liberality. <li>al-Muqsit, the Equitable. <li>al-Gâmiʼh, the Collector. <li>al-Ghanî, the Independent. <li>al-Mughnî, the Enricher. <li>al-Muʼhtî, the Giver. <li>al-Mâniʼh, the Withholder. <li>az-Zârr, the Distresser. <li>an-Nâfiʼh, the Profiter. <li>an-Nûr, Light. <li>al-Hâdî, the Guide. <li>al-Badîʼh, the Incomparable. <li>al-Bâqî, the Enduring. <li>al-Wâri, the Inheritor. <li>ar-Râsîd, the Rightly-directing. <li>az-Zabur, the Patient. </ol> These names are used by Muslims in their devotions, the rosary ( masbaʿhah ) being employed to check their repetition. Such an exercise is called a ikr or 'remembrance,' a word that is also applied to a recitation of the whole or portions of the Qurʼân and to the devotional exercises of the dervishes.

The formula 'In the name of the merciful and compassionate God,' with which every chapter but one of the Qurʼân begins, appears to have been adopted from the Persian Zoroastrian phrase, Benâm i Yezdân i baʿhsâyisgar dâdâr, 'In the name of God the merciful, the just;' the later Parsee form Benâm iʿhudawandi baʿhsâyenda baʿhsâyisgar is the exact equivalent of the Mohammedan phrase.

Besides a belief in God, the Qurʼân requires belief in the existence of angels; they are pure, without distinction of sex, created of fire, and neither eat nor drink nor propagate their species.