J. F. Campbell Collection > Koran: or, Alcoran of Mohammed

CHAi: 111. AL KORAN. 41
tidings, that thou shnlt bear the Word proceeding from himself; his name
shall be Christ Jesus the son of Mary, honourable in tliis world and
in the world to come, and one of tliose who approach near to the
preseiice «f God ; and he shall speak unto men in the cradle,' and when
he is gi'own up ; °^ and he shall be one of the righteous : she answered,
Lord, how shall I have a son, since a man hath not touched me ? the angel
said, So God ci-eateth that wliich he pleaseth ; when he decreeth a thing,
he only saith unto it, Be, and it is : God shall teach him the scripture, and
wisdom, and the law, and the gospel ; and shidl appoint him his apostle to
the children of Israel ; and he shall say, Verily I come unto you with a sign
from your Lord ; for I -will make before you, of clay, as it were the figure
of a bird ;° then I will breathe thereon, and it shall become a bu'd, by the
permission of God ;" and I will heal him that hath been blind from his
birth; and the leper : and I will raise the dead^ by the permission of God :
and I will prophesy unto you what ye eat, and what ye lay up for store
in your houses. Verily herein will be a sign unto you, if ye believe. And
/ come to confirm the law which was revealed before me, and to allow unto
' Besides an instance of this given in the Koran itself,* which I shall not here
anticipate, a Mohammedan writer (of no very great credit indeed) tells two stories,
one of Jesus's speaking while in his mother's womb, to reprove her cousin Joseph
for his unjust susi)icions of her;* and another of his giving an answer to the same
person soon after he was born. For Joseph being sent by Zacharias to seek Mary
(who hwd gone out of the city by night to conceal her delivery), and having found
her, began to expostulate with her, but she made no reply; whereupon the child
spoke these words : Rejoice, Joseph, and be of good cheer; for God hath brought me
forth from the darkness of the womb, to the light of the world; and I shall go to the
children of Israel, and invite them to the obedience of God.^
These seem all to have been taken from some fabulous traditions of the eastern
Christians, one of which is preserved to us in the spurious gospel of the Infancy of
Chris/ ; where we read that Jesus spoke while yet in the cradle, and said to his
mother, Verily I am Jesus the Son of God, the word which thou hast brought forth, as
the angel Gabriel did declare unto thee ; and my Father hath sent me to sane the world.^
™ The Arabic word properly signifies a man of full age, that is, between thirty
or thirty-four and fifty-one; and the passage may relate to Christ's preaching here
on earth. But as he had scarce attained this age when he was taken up into heaven,
the commentators choose to understand it of his second coming.'^
° Some say it was a bat,^ though others suppose Jesus made several birds oi
different sorts.'
This circumstance is also taken from the following fabulous tradition, which
may be found in the spurious gospel above mentioned. Jesus being seven years
old, and at play with several children of his age, ttiey made several figures of
birds and beasts, for their diversion, of clay; and each prefeiring his own work-
manship, Jesus told them that he would make his walk and leap ; which accordingly,
at his command, they did. He made also several figures of sparrows and other
birds, which flew about or stood on his hands as he ordered them, and also ate and
drank when he offered them meat and drink. The children telling this to their
parents, were forbidden to play any more with Jesus, whom they held to be a
sorcerer.!
° The commentators observe that these words are added here, and in the next sen-
tence, lest it should be thought Jesus did these miracles by his own power, or was God.*
P Jallalo"ddin mentions three persons whom Christ restored to life, and who lived
several years after and had children ; viz. Lazarus, the widow's son, and the pub-
lican's (I suppose he means the ruler of the synagogue's) daughter. He adds, that
he also raised Shem the son of Noah, who, as another -ivrites,^ thinking he had been
called to judgment, came out of his grave with his head half grey, whereas men did
not grow grey in his days; after which he immediately died again.
3 Chap. 19. * Vide Sikii notas in Evang. Infant, p. 5. * Al Kessai, apud
eundem. 6 Evung. infant, p. 5. ^ Jallalo'ddin. Al Beidawi. * Jallalo'ddin.
» Al Thalabi. ' Evang. Infant, p. Ill, &c. » Al Beidawi, && » Al Thalabi