so that they shall cry out, on hearing this sentence passed on the brutes, Would to GOD that we were dust also. As to the genii, many Mohammedans are of opinion that such of them, as are true believers, will undergo the same fate as the irrational animals, and have no other reward than the favour of being converted into dust; and for this they quote the authority of the prophet. But this however is judged not so very reasonable, since the genii, being capable of putting themselves in the state of believers as well as men, must consequently deserve, as it seems, to be rewarded for their faith, as well as to be punished for their infidelity. Wherefore some entertain a more favourable opinion, and assign the believing genii a place near the confines of paradise, where they will enjoy sufficient felicity, though they be not admitted into that delightful mansion. But the unbelieving genii, it is universally agreed, will be punished eternally, and be thrown into hell with the infidels of mortal race. It may not be improper to observe, that under the denomination of unbelieving genii, the Mohammedans comprehend also the devil and his companions®.

The trials being over, and the assembly dissolved, the Mohammedans hold, that those who are to be admitted into paradise will take the right-hand way, and those who are destined to hell-fire will take the left; but both of them must first pass the bridge, called, in Arabic, al Sirât, which they say is laid over the midst of hell, and describe to be finer than a hair, and sharper than the edge of a sword; so that it seems very difficult to conceive how any one shall be able to stand upon it: for which reason most of the sect of the Motázalites reject it as a fable; though the orthodox think it a sufficient proof of the truth of this article, that it was seriously affirmed by him who never asserted a falsehood, meaning their prophet; who, to add to the difficulty of the passage, has likewise declared that

e V. Korân, c. 18.

this bridge is beset on each side with briars and hooked thorns; which will however be no impediment to the good, for they shall pass with wonderful ease and swiftness, like lightning, or the wind, Mohammed and his Moslems leading the way; whereas the wicked, what with the slipperiness and extreme narrowness of the path, the entangling of the thorns, and the extinction of the light which directed the former to paradise, will soon miss their footing, and fall down headlong into hell, which is gaping beneath them'.

This circunstance Mohammed seems also to have borrowed from the Magians, who teach that on the last day, all mankind will be obliged to pass a bridge which they call Pûl Chînavad, or Chînavar; that is, the strait bridge, leading directly into the other world; on the midst of which they suppose the angels appointed by GOD to perform that office, will stand, who will require of every one a strict account of his actions, and weigh them in the manner we have already mentioned. It is true the Jews speak likewise of the bridge of hell, which they say is no broader than a thread; but then they do not tell us that any shall be obliged to pass it, except the idolaters, who will fall thence into perdition".

As to the punishment of the wicked, the Mohammedans are taught that hell is divided into seven stories, or apartments, one below another, designed for the reception of as many distinct classes of the damned. The first, which they call Jehennam, they say, will be the receptacle of those who acknowledged one GOD, that is, the wicked Mohammedans, who, after having there been punished according to their demerits, will at length be released. The second, named Ladhâ, they assign to the Jews; the third, named al Hotama, to the Christians; the fourth, named al Säîr, to the Sabians; the fifth, named Sakar, to the Ma

&c.

'Pocock, ubi sup. p. 282–289.

Hyde, de rel. vet. Pers. p. 245, 402, i Kor. c. 15.

b Midrash, Yalkut Reubeni, § Gehinnom.

gians; the sixth, named al Jahîm, to the idolaters; and the seventh, which is the lowest and worst of all, and is called al Hâwiyat, to the hypocrites, or those who outwardly professed some religion, but in their hearts were of none. Over each of these apartments they believe there will be set a guard of angels', nineteen in number; to whom the damned will confess the just judgment of GOD, and beg them to intercede with him for some alleviation of their pain, or that they may be delivered by being annihilated".

Mohammed has, in his Korân and traditions, been very exact in describing the various torments of hell, which, according to him, the wicked will suffer both from intense heat and excessive cold. We shall however enter into no detail of them here, but only observe, that the degrees of these pains will also vary in proportion to the crimes of the sufferer, and the apartment he is condemned to; and that he who is punished the most lightly of all will be shod with shoes of fire, the fervour of which will cause his scull to boil like a cauldron. The condition of these unhappy wretches, as the same prophet teaches, cannot be properly called either life or death; and their misery will be greatly increased by their despair of being ever delivered from that place, since, according to that frequent expression in the Korân, they must remain therein for ever. It must be remarked, however, that the infidels alone will be liable to eternity of damnation; for the Moslems, or those who have embraced the true religion, and have been guilty of heinous sins, will be delivered thence, after

k Others fill these apartments with different company. Some place, in the second, the idolaters; in the third, Gog and Magog, &c.; in the fourth, the devils; in the fifth, those who neglect alms and prayers; and crowd the Jews, Christians, and Magians, together in the sixth. Some again will have the first to be prepared for the Dahrians, or those who deny the creation, and believe the eternity of the world; the second, for the Dualists, or Manichees, and the idolatrous Arabs; the third, for the Bramins of the Indies; the fourth, for the Jews; the fifth, for the Christians; and the sixth, for the Magians. But all agree in assigning the seventh to the hypocrites. V. Millium, de Mohammedismo ante Moham. p. 412. D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient. p. 368, &c. 1 Kor. chap. 40, 43, 74, &c. m Ib. c. 74,

Ib. c. 40, 43.

they shall have expiated their crimes by their sufferings. The contrary of either of these opinions is reckoned heretical; for it is the constant orthodox doctrine of the Mohammedans, that no unbeliever or idolater will ever be released, nor any person who in his life-time professed and believed the unity of GOD, be condemned to eternal punishment. As to the time and manner of the deliverance of those believers whose evil actions shall outweigh their good, there is a tradition of Mohammed, that they shall be released after they shall have been scorched, and their skins burnt black, and shall afterwards be admitted into paradise; and, when the inhabitants of that place shall, in contempt, call them infernals, GOD will, on their prayers, take from them that opprobrious appellation. Others say he taught that, while they continue in hell, they shall be deprived of life, or (as his words are otherwise interpreted) be cast into a most profound sleep, that they may be the less sensible of their torments; and that they shall afterwards be received into paradise, and there revive on their being washed with the water of life; though some suppose they will be restored to life before they come forth from their place of punishment, that, at their bidding farewell to their pains, they may have some little taste of them. The time which these believers shall be detained there, according to a tradition handed down from their prophet, will not be less than 900 years, nor more than 7000. And, as to the manner of their delivery, they say, that they shall be distinguished by the marks of prostration on those parts of their bodies with which they used to touch the ground in prayer, and over which the fire will therefore have no power; and that, being known by this characteristic, they will be released by the mercy of GOD, at the intercession of Mohammed and the blessed; whereupon those who shall have been dead, will be restored to life, as has been said; and those whose bodies shall have contracted any sootiness or filth from the flames

and smoke of hell, will be immersed in one of the rivers of paradise, called the river of life, which will wash them whiter than pearls.

For most of these circumstances relating to hell and the state of the damned, Mohammed was likewise in all probability indebted to the Jews, and in part to the Magians; both of whom agree in making seven distinct apartments in hell", though they vary in other particulars. The former place an angel as a guard over each of these infernal apartments, and suppose he will intercede for the miserable wretches there imprisoned, who will openly acknowledge the justice of GOD in their condemnation. They also teach that the wicked will suffer a diversity of punishments, and that by intolerable cold' as well as heat, and that their faces shall become black'; and believe those of their own religion shall also be punished in hell hereafter, according to their crimes, (for they hold that few or none will be found so exactly righteous as to deserve no punishment at all,) but will soon be delivered thence, when they shall be sufficiently purged from their sins by their father Abraham, or at the intercession of him or some other of the prophets'. The Magians allow but one angel to preside over all the seven hells, who is named by them Vanánd Yezád, and, as they teach, assigns punishments proportionate to each person's crimes, restraining also the tyranny and excessive cruelty of the devil, who would, if left to himself, torment the damned beyond their sentence". Those of this religion do also mention and describe various kinds of torments, wherein the wicked will be punished in the next life; among which, though they reckon extreme cold to be one, yet they do not admit fire, out of respect, as it seems, to that element,

Poc. Not. in Port. Mosis, p. 289–291. P.Nishmat hayim, f. 32.. Gemar, in Arubin, f. 19. Zohar, ad Exod. xxvi. 2, &c. et Hyde de rel. vet. Pers. p. 245. 9 Midrash, Yalkut Shemuni, part 11. f. 116. Zohar, ad Exod. xix. $ Yalkut Shemuni, ubi sup. f. 86. t Nishmat hayim, f. 82. Gemar. Arubin, f. 19. V. Kor. c. 2, p. 11. and 3. p. 37. and notes there. "Hyde, de rel. vet. Pers. p. 182.