96 PPJMITIVE INIIADITANTS OF ARABIA. 



One peculiarity by which the Arabs could distin- 

 guish the lineal ancestors of their apostle from all 

 their collateral tribes was the extraordniary pro- 

 phetic hght that was said to illuminate their faces, 

 —a symbol which had been inherited from father to 

 son since the days of Adam. To him they allege it 

 was communicated after his repentance, and im- 

 parted to none but the prophets ; descending m the 

 line of Seth. Noah, Shem, &c. After Abraham, it 

 was separated into two parts, one remaining with 

 the Jews, and the other Avilh the Ishmaehtes. All 

 the progenitors of Mohammed bore this celestial 

 imprint t faint or splendid, according to the faith 

 and virtues of the individual. In some it was very 

 largely develooed. It did not, however, always 

 follow the rule'of primogeniture ; and there is tole- 

 rable evidence that it enlightened some of very 

 unsanctified habits. That the immediate prede- 

 cessors of the Impostor were rich and powerful 

 is unquestionable. By the establishment of cara- 

 vans they had opened up new sources of wealth, 

 and given trade a direction highly faA-ourable to 

 their own aggrandizement. We must, neverthe- 

 less, regard with caution many of the traditionary 

 attributes ascribed to them, as they all bear the 

 colourinp- of extreme partiality, and have tinged 

 with romance the details of their private history.* 



but from the heads of tribes ; so that they preserved the purity 

 of their descent without loading- the memory with a catalope 

 of names. That the modem Bedouins are ignorant of their his- 

 toiT is true; but they are not careless of their pedigree. -- 

 Bvrchhardfs Kotes on the Bedouins. Forster has treated and 

 established this point with great: leaxwig.—Mahometamsm Un- 

 rfiZerf, vol. ii. App. No. I. „ ■ tt- j ,t , 



* Pococke, Specim. Arab. Hist. p. 54. Gagmer, V le de Mah. 

 tom i Introd. Rabadan, an ArragonianMoor, expatiates most 

 extravagantly on the prophetic hght, and traces the pedigree 

 of Mohammed from the fall oi \&z.va..—Mahomctarasm Explained, 

 vol. i. 



