Page:Thomas Patrick Hughes - Notes on Muhammadanism - 2ed. (1877).djvu/89

68 sian and Hindustani by the word Khudá, derived from the Persian Khud (self); the self-existing one.

The Muhammadan belief in the existence of God is expressed in the first part of the well known confession of faith, La-iláha Il-lal-láho, "There is no deity but God," the interpretation of which occupies so prominent a place in all treatises of divinity.

The following is an interpretation of the Muslim belief in the existence and nature of God, by the famous scholastic divine, Imám Ghazál, in his book entitled Al Maqsud-ul-asná, an extract from which Ockley has translated from Pocock's Specimen Historiæ Arabum:—

"Praise be to God the Creator and Restorer of all things; who does whatsoever he pleases, who is Master of the glorious throne and mighty force, and directs his sincere servants into the right way and the straight path; who favoureth them, who have once borne testimony to the unity, by preserving their confessions from the darkness of doubt and hesitation; who directs them to follow his chosen apostle, upon whom be the blessing