crow also and whilst Muhamed stood wondring at it this great Cock began to crow and all the Cocks in heaven crowed with him and presently afterwards all the Cocks on earth crowed also The said book sayes That from this place they ascended to the second heaven which was made of beaten gold and knockt at the gate and the Porter asking who was there the Angell Gabriel answered it is I and Muhamed the friend of God is here with me and as soon as he had named Muhamed presently the gates of that heaven opened of themselves and they went in and saw upon all the gates of that heaven the name of God written together with the name of Muhamed which is in Arabick thus Ole ilehe ille allah Muhemed razolo allah i. e. This God is the onely God and Muhamed is the Messenger of God It sayes that entring in at the gate of this second heaven they found Noah a very old gray-headed man Muhamed embraced him and Noah was very glad to see Muhamed and to speak with him and Noah made application to him and entreated him to remember him when he came to God Hee sayes that in this second heaven they found a great multitude of Angels half as many more as were in the first heaven and of very wonderfull and great shapes amongst which was one Angell who stood on the second heaven and his head reached to the third and one of his hands to the East and the other unto the West end of heaven and many other wonderfull things they saw here And from this heaven they ascended to the third heaven which was made of a pretious Stone and there they met with Abraham being an old hoary man and the Angels in this heaven were far more in number than those of the two other heavens and much greater and amongst them they saw an Angell who from one eye to the other had the distance of 70000. dayes-journey Which Angell held a book in his hand and never did any thing else but look on the said book and expunge what was therein written and write anew therein Muhamed asked the Angell Gabriel who this Angell was and what it was he read in that book and what he wrote and expunged The Angell answered and told him that this Angell was called in Arabick Malach almenti i. e. The Angell of the dead And the book which he had in his hand was the book called in Arabick Alhaunhe ahnafod i. e. the preserved book wherein are the names of all men that are born and the Angell noteth and calculateth the years and dayes that every one must live and when any mans dayes are expired hee expunges such a mans name and presently the man dies on earth Likewise he writes down the names of all men that are born and the dayes of their life and how long they shall live so that this Angell hath no other office but to put in and expunge out of this book He sayes that from thence they went to the fourth heaven which was made of a very pure Emerauld in which heaven they found Joseph the son of Jacob who greeted Muhamed and made great application to him and there they saw many more Angels than were in the other heavens and of far greater bodyes amongst which there was one great Angell which made great lamentation Muhamed asked the Angell Gabriel wherefore this Angell lamented so and Gabriel answered him that that angell lamented the sins of men and those which went to hell From thence they went to the fifth heaven which was made of a Diamond where Moses was who made application to Muhamed and in this heaven were as many Angels as in the other but farre greater And so they ascended to the sixth heaven where was John Baptist who saluted Muhamed and in this heaven they saw a multitude of Angells far greater than any of the former and this heaven was made of a Carbuncle In the seventh heaven they met with Jesus Christ unto whom Muhamed made application and this heaven was made of the Light of God and here they saw many more Angels than in the other six heavens and far greater amongst which was one that had seventie thousand heads and every head had seven hundred thousand tongues and each of these tongues had seven hundred thousand voyces with all which voyces or languages they praised God day and night Likewise amongst these Angels were divers which alwayes watched without ever shutting their eies others alwayes bowed their heads without ever erecting themselves others lay alwayes prostrate and never arose and others praised God with such loud voyces that they put their fingers into their ears lest they should become deaf with the noise of their voyces In this seventh heaven the Angell Gabriel took his leave of Muhamed and told him that he might not goe further and that now God would guide him himself Muhamed saies that he began to ascend certain sublimities and hights and through so much rain and snow that hee became so wearied and tyred that hee could goe no farther and at that instant Muhamed heard a voyce saying in Arabick thus Oya Muhamed anden gualirabach cellem i. e. O Muhamed approach and salute thy Creator Whereupon Muhamed drew neer to the voyce and saw so great a light that it troubled his sight He sayes that God had on his glorious face seventy thousand vayles of Devine light and the Text of the Alcoran in the third book sayes that Muhamed approached God within two bowe-shots or little lesse In Arabick it is thus O zumen c. i. e. That Muhamed approached God within little less than two shots of a Cross-bow Muhamed sayes further that so great a light proceeded from the vayles which God had on his face that hee could not behold the visage of God Nevertheless Muhamed sayes that God interpos'd his hand for a shadow unto Muhamed but he could not endure it by reason of the great cold which proceeded from it He saies that in this place God spake to him and gave him divers Commandements of the Law and told him many secrets and yee must know that if I should write all the things which Muhamed sayes hee saw that night a ream of paper would not contain them Muhamed sayd as the book Azar reporteth that this night God granted five things unto him which were never given to any Man before nor since The first was that he should be the chiefest and most elect creature that God ever created either in heaven or on earth which the Arabick calls Hayriall quilleh The second was That he should be the most excellent and most Honourable Lord of all the sons of Adam at the day of judgement the Arabick says thus leydo qualidiademe y aume alquima The third was That he should be the generall Redeemer which in Arabick is said Safey Mustafa and for this cause Muhamed is by another name called Almebi i. e. he that takes away sins The fourth was
aske thee O Moore who art a Philosopher and an Astrologer where doth it appear to be true that the first Heaven is of Silver the second of Gold the third of a Pearl or a precious stone the fourth of an Emerauld the fifth of a Diamond the sixth of a Carbuncle though he saies the the seventh is of Light knowest thou not O Moore that Gold Silver Pearl and the other following stones are obscure bodies which our sight cannot penetrate because they are opacous and not transparent and knowest thou not that we see the Planet Mercury which is Lodged in the second Heaven and doe likewise see the Planet Venus which is in the third Heaven and we see the Sun which gives light to all the world and is in the fourth Heaven wee see Mars in the fifth Jupiter in the sixth and Saturn in the seaventh Heaven in brief we also see the Stars which are in the eighth Heaven which Planets wee often cannot see because of some little cloud which interposeth between them and our sight and the Moon often Eclipseth and covereth the Suné It is manifest that in the course of the Moon at certain times in the year she interposeth Eclipseth and hides the Sun from our eys because the Moon is an obscure body although the Sun and the Stars be light bodies so that if the first Heaven the second the third and the rest were metalline as Muhamed sayes how could we see the said Planets and Stars and now O Moore what answer hast thou but silence And concerning the third I intend it for the five things which Muhamed sayes God gave him that night which he never gave before to any Prophet Consider O Moore if they are not things which cannot be proved either by human understanding or Logicall reason for human and Logicall reason commandeth and teacheth that a man should say nothing but what can be proved Now tell me O Moore how can it be proved that Muhamed was the most excellent creature that God ever created in Heaven or on Earth Likewise how can it be proved that he shall be Lord over all men at the day of judgement or that he shall be the generall Redeemer at the day of judgement which things are hidden and unknown to all the world neither doth his own word give any proof And therefore I say That what cannot be proved by it self nor by reason should not be spoken nor ought to be regarded Muhamed should at least that night have desired of God some speciall sign as he gave to Moses to David to Salomon to Jesus Christ and to the Apostles after them which signs and miracles they wrought in the presence of the people But Muhamed was very crafty subtile to speak of things which the people neither saw nor could see and thus he sets down all the miracles which the Moores read of him none of them were done in the presence of any Moore but himself saies that he did such and such a thing and that such a thing befell such a one and such a miracle was already done but never mentions in whose presence he wrought them And so also he reported and composed this mystery of the Vision but he doth not bring in the testimony of any that saw him when he went up the Ladder nor when he got upon Alborac nor when he made the Zala or praier on behalf of the Prophets who were already all Moores it had at least been reasonable that some man then living had been in the Temple at the Zala for to have been witness of such things So that O Moore I tell thee that upon consideration of all these things thou mayest of thy self know that it is all false and nothing of it true and because I will not be too tedious I will not lay down the Arguments which might be made upon every thing which Muhamed mentions in this vision but I will conclude as concerning the sayd Vision CHAP. IX The ninth Chapter treateth of the Paradise and glory which Muhamed and the Alcoran promise unto the Moores in the world to come and how many Paradises there are and how they are called and how many kinds of glory the Moores shall have in Paradise THe Alcoran the Suné in describing the Paradise of the Moores and the glory thereof lay down five things First the Paradise it self and the mansions thereof Secondly the riches and ornaments of Paradise Thirdly the food and provisions the servants vessels of Gold and Silver and the eating and drinking in Paradise Fourthly the apparell garments and Jewels which the Moores say are prepared in Paradise And fiftly and lastly the Virgins their beauty their names and whence they are begotten and wherewith they are clothed Now this Paradise is such according as the second chapter of the first book of the Alcoran expresseth in Arabick Cerihoile c. i. e. That the Paradise promised unto the Moores is as big as heaven and earth which is all the world But tell mee O Moore where is this Paradise as big as all the world or els we must say that God hath Created another world besides this wherein this Paradise is which were very confused to say therefore O Moore I tell thee thou must still be silent The Alcoran sayes that God created seven Paradises or seven Habitations each of which is called a Paradise the first is called Genete alhodi the second Genete alfirdeuci the third Genete anahim the fourth Genete reduan the fifth Genete azelen the sixth Genete alcoduz the seventh Genete Almega Which Paradises are wrought with gold and silver Pearls and Pretious stones and have divers palaces halls chambers and Gardens and divers fruit-Trees two sorts or kinds of each under which palaces run Fountains and Rivers of waters and fountains of Milk Honey and most sweet Wine In the midst of Paradise as the Alcoran sayes and the Suné describes is a Tree as big as all Paradise whereof some leaves are of gold others of silver and the branches of this Tree cover the walls of Paradise and this tree is called Tuba The books of the Suné say that in every leaf of it the name of Muhamed is written joyntly with the name of God running thus Le ilehe ille allah Muhamed razollola i. e. There is no other God but the Lord and Muhamed is his Messenger The Alcoran in the nineteenth Chapter of the third Book and in the Chapter of Sacrifices in the chapter of Mount Sinay in the chapter of the Glorious in the Chapter of the Falls and in the Chapter of Man in the fourth Book shewes and describes how these Paradises are furnished and adorned with divers Tapestries and Beds with Curtains and Vallens of cloth of gold of purple of silk and with divers garnishings quilts chayrs of gold and Pretious stones and after what manner the Moores shall sit and lye on these beds couches and tapestries that they shall laugh and take delight without care or grief
night in the house of one of the most eminent amongst them and held counsell about Muhamed and they all concluded to kill him emprison him or at least to banish him and that this was so consulted of wee may read in the second Chapter of the second book which in Arabick sayes thus Ognaid pamcoro c. i. e. That they of Mecca took Counsell to kill him or to send him into banishment or to imprison him And being so in consultation certain men who were secretly become Moores did the same night give Muhamed notice of it and he presently fled and all the Moores with him and went to Medina a City ten dayes journey from Mecca He had also notice of the preparations of the Citizens of Mecca who had set guards in the wayes perceiving that he and his Moores would flee away that night whereupon Muhamed bid all the Moores that every one should lay a handfull of embers on the heads of his horse and cast another handful into the ayr and tye the raynes of their horses reading a verse which is in the 18th Chapter of the third book of the Alcoran and is thus Oguaihalme minbeym c. i. e. That they tooke a vayl or skreen in their hands and about them so that they blinded them and they saw nothing And the book Azar sayes that by the Embers which were laid over the horses heads and by repeating the said verse the Moores and he passed through their enemies and were not perceived and so they went to Medina otherwise called Tribik where he was received for a Prophet and there dwelt thirteen years there finished his sect or religion and dyed there At Medina he found five families of Jews dwelling there and in the parts adjacent who began to dispute and question those things which he had then inserted in the Alcoran and required him to doe some miracles as Moses and the Prophets deceased had done to whom he answered That God was his witnes and that his testimony ought to suffice and that he came not to work miracles but to reduce those which wandered and went astray unto the Law of God and of Abraham of which questions and answers the Chapters of the Alcoran are full and in many Chapters he excuseth himself of doing miracles alleging unto the Jewes that divers messengers and Prophets wrought miracles and yet were not beleeved yea that those Prophets suffered persecution and with this excuse he quotes in the Alcoran the names of divers men which were never heard of nor are named any where els There he relates the history of a Prophet called Hadin alias Had and of another called Zamud alias Hud and of a third called Zaleh and of their nation called the people of Hud and of a camell who with her foale was a League in length which two beasts one day drank up the water of the City where that people dwelt and the next day swallowed up men whereupon one day they of the City slew them and because of the sin in killing them there fell a great tempest upon that people Thus Muhamed had great disputing and debating with the Jewes and himself extolled their Law that so they might be silent nevertheless they still disputed against him and laughed at the Moores and Mussellmen and set strife betwixt him and his Moores as shall appeare in due place which jarring continued untill he got power and then he began to suppress the Jews and fought eleven battailes with them overcame them and slew most part of them and the survivors had their lives given them by the Moores and became their subjects and tributaries and from thence forward he began to combate against the people of Mecca and they of Mecca opposed him as shall be shewen hereafter But that I may not be tedious I will conclude this Chapter and running through the eleven following Chapters I shall finish this treatise and the life of Muhamed and of all that he did whilst he was at Almedina CHAP II. The second chapter treateth of the Alcoran what it signifies of the matters therein contained and of how many songs it is composed who collected it and reduced it into four books in the order it is now in and how many years Muhamed was making it how it begins and ends and which are the first and last chapters ALcoran signifies a lesson or Collection of Chapters or songs though it be also called by another name Alforzan i. e. scattered verses and Chapters because he was so long in making it and the Chapters thereof are called suar and one alone is called in Arabick Surah The Alcoran treateth of divers things and especially of the Sect or Law of Muhamed and of what the Moores should beleeve and doe of the hope of reward in the world to come for the Good and of torment for the Wicked It also treateth of things permitted and forbidden to the Moores aswell of food and drink as of women with whom they may or may not marry also it speaks of the Creation of the world how God Created Adam and Eve how they sinned and were cast out of Paradise and came to the earth how the evill Angells sinned and what was the cause of their sin and how they lost the Caelestiall glory It also speaks how God sent Moses to bring the people of Israel out of the Captivity and power of Pharaoh how the Jewes received the Law what befell them at their going out of Egypt how they had Manna sinned and worshiped the calf and how they passed the red sea wherein Pharaoh was drowned It also treateth of divers other histories although he hath put them confusedly and out of order as the Cutler 's related them It also speaks of the prophets of the old Testament although he mentions divers which are not named in any author It likewise containeth the admonitions which Muhamed used to the people of Mecca and his threats to induce them to beleeve his Sect. It also speaks of glory and discourseth of the glory which the Moores shall have in Paradise as also of Hell and of the paines and torments which are there It speaks of the wonders which God dayly doth and of the mysteries and divine works which we dayly see in the heaven earth and sea It also speaks of the Virgin Mary of Jesus Christ our Lord of the mysteries of his nativity and life and of the miracles that he wrought and of the Euangelists and of the true Law which Jesus Christ hath given us as it shall fully appeare in the eleventh Chapter of this Treatise Furthermore the Alcoran mentions divers frauds and much filthiness used by Muhamed and divers contrarieties and repugnancies which have no reason in them and divers excuses which God accepted from Muhamed and made for him upon severall dishonest and immodest cases which Muhamed committed in his life as wee shall shew in the Chapter of Offences and Wives Finally in the Alcoran are many examples of Iudgements wherewith
that one day a fair Lady came to them and complained of her husband and was so acceptable unto them that they solicited her chastity she told them that she was content to grant their desires upon condition that they would teach her their Praier whereby they ascended into heaven They through the great desire they had to enjoy her company taught her the Praier and when she had it perfect she presently repeated it and ascended to heaven and the Gloss sayes that when the Angels would have ascended again to heaven they could not and by reason of the sin which they had committed they lost the grace of Praier and remained on earth then God denounced against them that they should choose their punishment whether they would suffer it in this world or in the next and they chose it in this world and so for that sin they remain hanging by the eye-lids untill the day of Judgement The text of the Alcoran sayes that those two Angels taught the men of that place the art of Negromancy and divers of the Moores say that this woman was translated into the Star or light of the morning although it be not received for authentick and approved of amongst the Moores All this aforesaid I prove by the Alcoran by the gloss or CoÌ„ment on the Alcoran and by the Suné Now behold O Moore who art an Astrologer and a Philosopher and consider this History in thy Alcoran and thou wilt see whether there be any reason in it Likewise behold thou Moore who art a Divine according to the Moorish Divinitie which is called in Arabick Tenbid and thou wilt see whether it can be conceived by a Moorish Divine that the Angels were ever Judges on earth and whether they have ever known or can know women But thou maist say that they had ground to search this woman O Moorish Divine dost thou not conceive that such a thing doth not savour of Divinitie nor can a wise man believe it especially a Divine Likewise tell me O Moore who daily readest the Alcoran how can it consist with the Alcoran Which sayd that Angels are Spirits which is in Arabick Roch for if the Angels are Roch and Spirits as the Alcoran makes 'em then they are not Corporeall as he sayes here and in divers other places and as shall hereafter further appear The sixth Argument is upon what is said in the ninth Chapter of the second book and the nineteenth Chapter of the third book and niâ—the Chapter of Dominion or Empire in the fourth book where he sayes that the Stars lye in the first Heaven that God set them there for the beauty and Ornament of the World and to the end that they should stone the devils and that the said Stars are the keepers of Heaven that the devils may not goe into it and that God set them there for this purpose for ye must know that when the devils ascend towards Heaven immediatly the Stars goe and encounter them with fiery Darts as it is in the nineteenth Chapter of the third book the very words wherof are in Arabick thus O gualacad zeynne c. i. e. That God set the Stars in the Heaven for the beautifying of the world and as a guard against all the cursed devils and that a Star with a brand or flame of fire doth interpose against the devill that would hear the secrets and all this or little lesse all the Chapters above quoted doe alleage And hereupon the Suné says that the Stars are set in the first Heaven bound with chains of gold and that the greatest of them is as big as a great mountain And the Suné says that the devils climb up to Heaven and hear divine secrets and then come down hither and tell those secrets to divers men their familiars This Muhamed sayes in the book of Flowers and that the Stars which guard Heaven doe presently interpose and confront the devils with firebrands when they come and the devils flee from them and goe away with what secrets they have heard and reveale them to divine men Now speak O Moore who art a wise Astrologer Divine and Philosopher whether this can enter into the brains of a man of any of these professions tell me where is that Astrologer who grants that the Stars are fixed and bound to the first Heaven with golden chains hast thou not read the sayings of Philosophers who affirme that the least Star is greater than all the Earth and for what he says that all the Stars are in the first Heaven knowst thou not that the Planets are in seven Heavens each having his particular orbe and knowest thou not that the Moon is in the first and nearest to us Mercury in the second Venus in the third the Sun in the fourth Mars in the fifth Jupiter in the sixth and Saturne in the seventh highest of all Now speak O Moore what thinkest thou of this thy Scripture which speaks so many absurdities weigh and consider it well and thou wilt find that it was all dictated by the aforesaid Cutlers and not by God nor sent by the Angell of God The names of the Planets in Arabick are these 1. Hilil for the Moon 2. Ymareh Mercury 3. Zahra Venus 4. Samei The Sun 5. Musteri Mars 6. Hotared Jupiter 7. Zohal Saturne And all the Stars are in the eighth Heaven in which are the twelve Signs the first of which is called in Arabick 1. Quabsi for Aries 2. Zanre Taurus 3. Toguemen Gemini 4. Zaraton Cancer 5. Aced Leo. 6. Alhadra Virgo 7. Arinzen Libra 8. Alauce Sagitarius 9. Algidi Capricornus 10. Alhamle Scorpio 11. Adalu Aquarius 12. Alhot Pisces I have wrote all this because that thou O Moore who art a good Astrologer shouldst peruse thy books of Astrology and what the Moores Astrologers have written and see whether thou canst find what the Alcoran sayes to correspond with their writings and meanings and so thou shalt see that it is clean contrary and not Consonant to what they say and write of this matter The seventh Argument is upon what he sayes in the eighth Chapter of the fourth book and in the Chapter of Devils where he sayes that a Company of Devils came one night to hear Muhamed and the Moores read the Alcoran and in these two Chapters hee sayes that the Devils took such delight in the Alcoran that they presently beleived in Muhamed and became Moores And the words of the Alcoran in the Chapter of Devils are thus O coluhia c. i. e. O Muhamed tell the Moores that a Company of Devils heard the Alcoran and said one to another that they had heard the wonderfull Alcoran read and that they beleived it and were not miscriants against their Creatour And the words of the eighth Chapter run thus in Arabick O guaid Zarafna c. i. e. And when God sent thee a Company of Devils that they might hear the Alcoran when they heard it read they bad each other be silent
that at the day of judgement every body shall receive its soul and men shall rise with soul and body for to give account to God at the last judgement and every one with his body shall receive glory or punishment Now then if this be true how is it that the Suné says that men receive glory or punishment in the grave and how can it enter into the brains of a Divine or of any man of knowledge that the body should put on the soul like a shirt And suppose it were true and that the soul did cloath the body like a shirt nevertheless this body is not a man that can be examined or tormented neither is the soul of it self Man for Man cannot be so called but when he is living and composed of soul and body together How then can the body answer without a soul or the soul without a body and how can the body when it is a Carkasse and lump of earth feel the Bastinado's or blows of a Mace So that O Moore and Wiseman as thou thinkest thy self to be thou hast no answer but silence and to acknowledge that all this is vanity and the words of men ignorant and of small understanding I would also O Moore that thou shouldst tell me how will the two white Angels accompany this dead body when it is full of worms and when it is corrupted and stinketh horribly and what blows can the black Angels give if the body be all filth Worms and Earth and yet the Suné sayes that they shall beat it thus untill the day of judgement So that O Moore thou must believe that the words of the Suné carry no good reason with them as neither doe the words of thy prophet Muhamed And here I will conclude this fifth Chapter CHAP. VI. The sixth Chapter treateth of divers offences which the Moores took whilst Muhamed was instituting his Law and Sect by reason of which offences divers Moores became more cautious and wise rebelled against Muhamed and returned to their former Sects and wayes of Worship THe first offence was upon the translation and vision which Muhamed had one night and his ascension to heaven by a Ladder and his riding upon Alborack and for the things which he said he saw that night in heaven as shall more at large appear in our eighth Chapter for which the Moores took offence and rebelled against him The second offence was upon the altering of the Alkibla viz. when Muhamed dwelt at Mecca and began his Sect he commanded them to make their praiers and Zala towards the holy temple of Jerusalem i. e. that when they praied they should turn their faces towards the temple of Jerusalem which command and practice continued among the Moores 12 years ten years at Mecca and 2 years at Medina which were two years after the banishment which Banishment of Muhamed is called in Arabick Alhigera Now when Muhamed and the other Moores were in Medina there were also divers Jewes who told the Moores that Muhamed commanded his followers to make their praiers towards the holy temple of Jerusalem towards which place the Jewes also made their praiers Likewise the Jewes told them that Muhamed commanded the Moores to fast the same Fast as the Jewes did and so the Jewes told them that they Moores followed the custome of the Jewes in their manner of fasting and of making their praiers towards the holy Temple of Jerusalem which two commandements of fasting and praier are written in the first Chapter of the Alcoran and upon occasion of the Jews talking in this manner and their disputing with Muhamed and the Moores about their fasting and praier Muhamed commanded the Moores that they should never observe the Jewish Fast more but should fast in the month of Ramadan The observation of which month of Ramadan was commanded in the second year of Muhamed's being at Medina twelve years after he began his Law and if the Moores are jgnorant that they fasted the Jewish Fast I prove it by the first Chapter of the first book of the Alcoran which in Arabick sayes thus Oya aynhe c. i. e. O yee Moores fasting is commanded unto you as it was commanded to the former And the comment sayes that those former were the Jews and by vertue of this command the Moores observed the Jewish fast 12 years and untill Muhamed commanded them not to observe it longer but to fast in the month Ramadan and this other command is in the same book and Chapter and is in Arabick thus Osabro ramadan alledi onzele fihi Alcoran i. e. That thence forward they should fast in the month Ramadan in which month the Alcoran was inspired And moreover the same year he commanded them to chang the Alkibla upon the same Reason of the Jewes disputing and that they should not pray any more towards the holy Temple of Jerusalem but onely towards the Minster or temple of Mecca in Arabâ—a It sayes in Arabick thus Ofaqueli gâ—â—ageheque c. which signifies O Muhamed when thou praiest turn thy face towards the temple of Mecca and ye Moores turn your faces directly towards that temple wheresoever ye be ye must turn your faces towards the said temple of Mecca so the Moores upon these commands left off the Jewish fast and began to fast in the month of Ramadan and left the temple of Jerusalem and turned towards the Temple of Mecca And forasmuch as the aforesaid Idol was in the said Temple of Mecca the Jewes again opposed the Moores telling and shewing them how Muhamed made them return to Idolatry again by commanding them to pray towards the place where the Idoll was Whereupon the Moores were offended at him and acknowledged that it was a greater error to leave the holy Temple of Jerusalem and the holy house of Salomon and to turn their faces and pray towards Mecca where the Idol was towards which place all the Idolaters of the Countreys about Mecca turned their faces in honour to the said Idoll And thus the Moores began to murmur against Muhamed and sayd that it was not good to pray to the Idoll and thereupon divers Moores became wary and circumspect and turned to their former Sects and waies of worship And when Muhamed saw the great offence they took he made the Verses aforesaid and thereupon the Moores were silent and were induced to make prayers towards the Temple of Mecca saying that God was pleased with it and had commanded it by the Alcoran And this was the Moores second offence And Muhamed and the Moores continued thus five years making their prayers towards Mecca whilst the aforesaid Idoll was in the temple of Mecca untill Muhamed conquered Mecca and destroyed the Idoll and most part of the people of Mecca were slain by the sword because they would not become Moores Now tell me O Moore what thinkest thou of these five years during which Muhamed and the Moores made their praiers towards the place where the Idoll was Truly to
they of Mecca and the Jewes of Medina said that this Alcoran was nothing but old stories put in Ryme by Muhamed who was a Poet and this saying is in many places of the Alcoran I think above a hundred calling him in Arabick Sair which we call a Poet and thus O Moore I tell thee that thou hast no other answer but silence And thus thou mayest come to know the Truth and how unprofitable it is to set down the same history so often and to make many verses of one thing thereby to make the writing larger Futhermore thou oughtest O Moore to consider and observe the order which is in the Holy Evangelists of Mathew Mark Luke and John and how they succeed each other in order with their Chapters Acts Mysteries and Miracles and how every one is inserted according to its order and reason and how all the Acts and Miracles are done and set down in their places which is a most necessary thing and not superfluous and shewes that the Evangelists are of God and the work of the Holy Ghost not forged by Cutlers whom Muhamed thought were learned men and of whom he learnt and daily wrote down what they dictated and taught him whereby they ruined Muhamed and made him insert so many vanities in his Alcoran Likewise O Moore thou shouldest consider and observe the Miracles which are set down in the five Books of Moses which Moses did and which thy Alcoran mentions and likewise consider the Miracles which Jesus Christ wrought which are related in the Evangelists and which the Alcoran also mentions and thou wilt see O Moore what difference there is between those Miracles and the Miracles which Muhamed saies he wrote as you may see by some miracles under-mentioned which Muhamed did which when I have related to thee thou wilt O Moore come to know and observe that the Miracles which were done by Moses and by Jesus Christ were done of Charity and according to the need or want which required them and thou wilt see that they were divine true and supernaturall and done in the presence of thousands of men and women and on the other side thou wilt see that Muhamed's miracles were done needlesly without Charity and not in the presence of multitudes of men no not of a few but only done and testified by himself alone for we doe not read of any miracle of Muhamed done in the presence of other men but only himself saies it as is the miracle of the Dream or Vision and of Alborack and of the Angell when he came to him and severall others which I will relate here amongst which miracles you shal not find one man to witness any one Miracle of all those which he hath written The first Miracle is that which is mentioned above in the first Chapter of Muhamed's life when the Angell Gabriel launched his stomack and pulled out his heart and took out the black coar as we have related above concerning which Miracle we doe not read in all the Law of the Moores that any one saw it done The second Miracle is that which Muhamed reports of the Cloud the book Azar saies that Muhamed travelling with the Camels of his Master Gaddiza's husband in the journey one day it chanced to be very hot through the great Sun-shine and a Cloud setled over Muhameds head and followed him and over-shadowed him all the way Muhamed saies this happened when he was 16. or 17. years old but doth not allege any witness that saw the Cloud follow him and overshadow him The third Miracle was when the aforesaid Angell came to him to the Cave and saluted him and began to give him the Law and the Alcoran as it is said in the first Chapter of Muhamed's Law The fourth Miracle was that where Muhamed saies that the beasts stones trees and birds greeted him and spake to him The book Azar saies that when Muhamed had received the Embassage from the Angell Gabriel in the said Cave as he returned home all the beasts birds trees and stones greeted him and said to him Rejoyce O Muhamed for thou art the Prophet and messenger of God and that Muhamed going alongst the Path there lay the Trunk of a Tree in the way insomuch that Muhamed was about to turn another way but because he should not goe out of his way the tree was cleft asunder in the midst and so Muhamed passed through the middle of the tree and assoon as he was passed the tree grew togither again as it was before all this Muhamed saies hapned to him and yet there was no one saw it neither were these Miracles at all needfull nor done of Charity nor in the presence of others The fift Miracle was when the Trees came to be a shadow unto Muhamed and after they had shadowed him they returned to their own places again at his command In the Suné it is said that Muhamed reported that being one day uncovered in the fields he had occasion to untruss during which the Sun shone so hot on his head that he was all in a sweat Whereupon he looked towards certain Trees which were far from him and called them and bade them come and shadow him and he saies that at the same instant there came two trees tearing the earth with their roots till they came to the place where Muhamed was and there they shadowed him and afterward Muhamed commanded the said Trees to return to their places again the which they did and the earth closed up again as it was at first the words in Arabick say thus O Guafidubaique c. i. e. that Muhamed called the trees to come to him and by the Divine will they came very obediently with their boughs And afterwards hee commanded them to return to their places with their roots The sixth Miracle was when the Moon divided it self into two pieces the Alcoran in the Chapter of the Moon in the fourth book saies that the Moon divivided it self in the midst and the gloss and the book of Azar upon this Text say That Muhamed reported that one night an Uncle of his called Bugellin who was the most potent of his Uncles came and said to him O Muhamed if thou wilt doe a miracle which I shall require I will presently become Moore and Musselman and will believe that thou art a Prophet unto whom Muhamed answered and said that he was content Then his Uncle told him that if hee could make the Moon come to the midst of Heaven and be in the Full whereas she was then as the said books report twenty one dayes old and if the Moon did divide it self in the midst and come out of Heaven to the Earth and those two pieces goe the one through the hole of one of Muhameds sleeves and the other piece through the hole of the other sleeve and both pieces come out of the Coller of Muhameds Coat speaking and saying that Muhamed was the Prophet of God and joyn themselves together again