32(5 



KORAN KOSC1USKU. 



considered this exercise of the greatest importance. 

 When the Tayesites sent an embassy to the prophet 

 to request him to absolve them from the troublesome 

 observance of this exercise, his answer was, " Reli- 

 gion is nothing without prayer." In another passage 

 Be calls prayer the " key to paradise." He surpassed 

 the severity of the rabbis, and prescribed prayer five 

 times a day, with the face turned towards Mecca. 

 Turning the face, during prayer, toward a certain 

 point, is a common custom with the Orientals. It 

 was particularly so with the Jews, Satxeans, and 

 Magians, who call the point to which they turn kebla. 

 In the beginning, Mohammed adopted the same kebla 

 with the Jews, i. e. the city of Jerusalem. In the 

 second year, he changed the kebla to Mecca. The 

 way which he prescribed for calling the people to 

 prayer was at first that of the Jews and Christians, 

 but he afterwards adopted another. To give alms, 

 was always a particular trait of the Arabians, but 

 Mohammed made it obligatory. The pilgrimage, or 

 something similar, had existed with most sects before 

 him. In respect to the civil laws, relating to poly- 

 gamy, divorce, inheritance, &c., Mohammed followed 

 step for step, the laws of Moses and the decisions of 

 the rabbis, only adapting them to the customs and 

 prejudices of his countrymen. As for the propa- 

 gation of his religion, Mohammed only requires 

 from converts the pronunciation of the words of 

 his fundamental doctrine ; he enjoins no abjura- 

 tion, no violent separation from a former faith. To 

 the Jews he says, that he only comes to restore the 

 faith of their fathers in its purity ; to the Christians, 

 that Jesus is the best of prophets, and sometimes he 

 wishes to pass with them as the Paraclete. Except- 

 ing the worship of idols, which was positively against 

 his fundamental doctrines, he attacks few old customs; 



would only become hypocrites" a sentiment probably 

 caused by the state of the Christian and Jewish sects, 

 with which he was acquainted. The description of his 

 paradise is voluptuous and glowing. The language 

 of the Koran is considered the purest Arabic, and 

 contains such charms of style and poetic beauties, 

 that it remains inimitable. Its moral precepts are 

 pure. A man who should observe them strictly, 

 would lead a virtuous life. " From the Atlantic to 

 the Ganges," says Gibbon, " the Koran is acknow- 

 ledged as the fundamental code, not only of theology, 

 but of civil and criminal jurisprudence ; and the 

 laws which regulate the actions and the property of 

 mankind, are guarded by the infallible and immut- 

 able sanction of the will of God." The Koran repeat- 

 edly enjoins belief in one God, and implicit obedience 

 towards him, charity, mildness, abstinence from 

 spirituous liquors, toleration, and ascribes particular 

 merit to death in the cause of religion. It is about 

 equal in size to the New Testament. It differs 

 greatly from the Bible by forming one whole, instead 

 of being a collection of very different books, uncon- 

 nected with each other. The divisions sometimes 

 have strange inscriptions. Many elevated passages 

 adorn the Koran, but it often becomes tedious by its 

 repetitions. The Koran is daily read once through 

 in the mosques of the sultan and the adjoining cha- 

 pels. (See Islam, and Mohammed.) It was first 

 printed by Alex. Paganinus Brixiensis, at Venice, 

 according to some about 1509, according to others 

 in 1518, or as late as 1530. In Thesei Ambr. Albo- 

 ntiuii Introd. in Chaldaic. Linguam (Pavia, 1539), 

 this edition is mentioned, and a passage cited, with 

 reference to the sheet and the page ; it has, there- 

 fore, certainly existed, but no copy is to be found in 

 ny library. The earliest edition, at present known, 



is by Abr. Hinkelmann (Hamb., 1694, 4to) ; another, 

 with a Latin translation (Padua, 1698, fol.) ; still 

 another was published by order of Catharine II., by 

 Mo! lali Usman Ismael (Petersburg, 1787, small 

 folio ; new edition, 1790, and 1793 ; reprinted, 

 Kasan, 1809, fol.; another ed., Kasan, 1803, large 

 I to) ; Latin translations after that of Robert us RetK 

 ncnsis (Ketenensis) ("Bale, 1543, fol. new ed., Zurich, 

 1550, fol.); one also by Reineccius (Leipsic, 1721); 

 an Italian translation, made after the Latin (Venice, 

 1547, 4to) ; French translations by And. du Ryer 

 (Paris, 1649 ; Leyden, 1672, 12mo, and the Hague, 

 1683 or 1684, 12mo), with the introduction by Sales, 

 (2 vols., Amsterdam, 1770 or 1775, 12mo) ; by 

 Savary, (Paris, 1782, 2 vols.; new ed., Amst, 1786, 

 2 vols.; and Paris, 1798 (an VII.); English versions, 

 by Sale (London, 1734, 4to, 1764, 1801, and 1812.) 

 The edition of London (1649, 4to ; new edition, 

 1 688) is merely translated from the French transla- 

 tion of Du Ryer; German translation by Schweigger 

 (Nuremberg, 1616; 2d edit., 1623). The Italian 

 translation has been followed in that of Megerlin 

 (Frankfort on the Maine, 1772), that of Boysen 

 (Halle, 1775), and that of Augusti (Weissenfels and 

 Leipsic, 1798). A Dutch translation of the Koran 

 appeared at Hamburg (1641), (after Schweigger's 

 German Koran), and another by Glazemaker (Rotter- 

 dam, 1698). A vocabularium of the Koran was 

 published by Willimet and Nodockum ool Foorkan 

 (Calcutta, 1811, 4to). 



KORNACH, in the East Indies; an elephant 

 driver and keeper. 



KORNER, THEODORE ; a German poet, particu- 

 larly celebrated for the spirited poems which he 

 composed in the campaign against Napoleon (1813), 

 in which he fell. He was born in 1791. His father 

 often received Schiller and Goethe in his house at 

 Dresden. Korner first studied mining at Freyburg. 

 In 1810, he went to the university of Leipsic, where 

 his ardent temperament led him into acts of impru- 

 dence, which obliged him to leave Leipsic. He 

 went to Vienna, where he wrote several dramas. In 

 1813, when all Germany took up arms against Na- 

 poleon, Korner served in the corps of Lutzow, a 

 Prussian officer. In the battle of Kitzen, he was 

 severely wounded in the head, but recovered during 

 the armistice, and, Aug. 26, 1813, fell on the field 

 of battle, pierced by a ball. An hour before, he had 

 finished his famous song, the Address to his Sword, 

 and read it to his comrades. An iron monument 

 shows the place where he rests under an oak tree, 

 near the village of Wobbelin, in Mecklenburg. His 

 father has published thirty-two of his war-songs, 

 under the title Leier und Schwert Lyre and Sword 

 (Berlin, sixth edition, 1824). Many of these poems 

 have been set to music by Weber, and, taken as a 

 whole, are unique. They have all become national 

 in Germany. Korner's father also published his 

 other works. 



KOSCIUSKO, THADDEDS, the last generalissimo 

 of the republic of Poland, one of the noblest charac- 

 ters of his age, was descended from an ancient and 

 noble, though not rich family, in Lithuania, and was 

 born in 1756. He was educated in the military 

 school at Warsaw. The prince Adam Czartoriski, 

 perceiving his talents and industry, made him second 

 lieutenant in the corps of cadets, and sent him, at 

 his own expense, to France, where he studied draw- 

 ing and the military art. After his return, he was 

 made captain. But the consequences of an unhappy 

 passion for the daughter of Sosnowski, marshal of 

 Lithuania (who was afterwards married to the prince 

 Jos. Lubomirski), obliged him to leave Poland. Soli- 

 tary studies, particularly in history and mathematics, 

 and an elevated character, prepared him for the 



