158 THE REV. W. ST. CLAIR TISDALL, M.A., ON ISLAM: 
Egypt, many marvellous tales connected with our Lord and 
His Apostles and the saints and martyrs of the past. Many 
of these are still extant in the Apocryphal Gospels, several of 
which are of considerable antiquity.* Mixing with men who 
loved to recount such tales, and being ignorant of the 
canonical New Testament, Muhammad adopted many silly 
legends and incorporated them into the Quran. As an 
example we may quote that of “the Seven Sleepers,” whom 
he calls “the Companionsf of the Cave,” and whose absurd 
tale he tells at full length as Divinely revealed to him. 
Regarding the Virgin Mary, Muhammad assures us that her 
mother before her birth dedicatedt her to Gop’s service, that 
she was reared in the Temple under the care of Zacharias,$ 
where Gop sent angels|| to feed her, and that lots were cast 
with rods{ to decide who should take charge of her as she 
grew up to womanhood. Again, on one occasion when she 
was hungry a date palm** lowered its head and offered its fruit 
to her. All these and many other such tales are taken from 
the “ Protevangelium of James,” the “ Pseudo-Matthew,” the 
“Gospel of the Nativity of Mary,” and similar apocryphal 
works.ft So also of our Lord Himself we are told in the 
Qur’dn as well as in the “Gospel of theft Pseudo-Thomas” 
* Vide Giles’ “Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti,” 2 vols.; also 
Cowper's “ Apocryphal Gospels,” Introduction, Section IV ; and Tischen- 
dorf, “On the Origin and Use of the Apocryphal Gospels.” 
+ Sarah XVIII, 8-26. 
+ Stirah IIT, 31; ef “Protevang. Jacobi,” iv: Eire dé "Avva, Z7 Kupwos 
6 O©cds pov, cay yerwnow cire appev elre Andv, mpoodEw ato Ospoy 
Kupia TO Oc pov; cf. also “Evang. de Nat. Mariae,” eap. 1; also 
“ Pseudo-Matthew,” ii. 
§ Sfrah IIT, 32; cf. “ Protevang. Jac.,” cap. vill, sqq. 
|| Sdrah III, 32; cf “Evang. de Nat. Mariae,” cap. vii ; “ Protev. 
Jac.,” cap. viii; “ Hist. Nat. Mariae,” cap. vi. 
7 Strah III, 39; cf, “Protev. Jac.” cap. ix, “Evang. de Nat. 
Mariae,” cap. vii and viii ; ‘‘ Hist. Nat. Mariae,” cap. viii. 
** Sfrah XIX, 23, 25; of. “Hist. Nat. Mariae,” cap. XX (connected, 
however, with the Flight into Egypt—another of Muhammad’s blun- 
ders !). 
tt ‘echendort thinks that the “ Protev. Jac.” belongs to the middle of 
the second century ; Cowper is uncertain whether it existed before the 
fourth century. The “ Pseudo-Matthew” (otherwise called “Hist. Nat. 
Mariae ”) may belong to the fifth century (Cowper). The “ Gospel of the 
Nativity of Mary ” belongs to the fifth or sixth century (Cowper). 
tt An early work, attributed by Cowper to the middle of the second 
century. Much of it is incorporated in the present form of the “ Arabie 
Gospel of the Infancy.” 
