70 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [February. 1914. 



was these twelve persons, who were weak and without power, 

 but who cast out idolatry from the Earth. The reason of this 

 was that, solely by the power of God, and without the help of 

 man, that stone came rolling down. Nor was it without signi- 

 ficance that Hazrat Jesus called Simon, who was the head of 

 the twelve, Peden (Peter), that is, <c stone." James and John 

 were brothers, and they were called " Boanerges/ ' that is, sons of 

 thunder; that is, they were like lightning, and stones that fell 

 from Heaven, and they broke stones and cast down lofty edifices. 

 Thus did St. Peter and other vice-gerents (Naiban) throw down 

 in the city of Rome, which was the seat of the Caesars, idol- 

 worship, and the idols which had such power and such vogue. 

 They also drove away the Caesars from there, and made the 

 city their own seat, so that the true Faith prevailed there, and 

 the Gospel was established. These things were the result of 

 Hazrat Jesus' power. This, then, is the miracle which is 

 greater than all the other miracles which have astonished the 

 wise. In truth it is very wonderful to think by what weapons 

 these twelve men did these things. The power, it is clear, was 

 the armour with which Hazrat Jesus bade them be clothed, 

 viz., poverty, patience, meekness, love, and devotion. 1 So 

 also w r hen Saul the king sent Hazrat David to fight with 

 Goliath, whom they call Jalbut, 2 of whom the children of 

 Israel were sore afraid, David would not accept the royal 

 armour. On the contrary, he relied solely on the protection of 

 God, and was contented with a sling and five stones. With 

 these he put an end to the enemy, to the astonishment of 

 thousands who were present. So also Hazrat Jesus our Lord 

 did not wish that they should have any other armour except 

 that of poverty, meekness, humility, patience and love. He 

 said, "Go ye into the parts of the Earth." "I am sending 

 you. Take no money with you, and but one garment, for 

 that is necessary (?). And take a staff (?), and be hopeful, for 

 I am He Who shall defeat the enemies (?)." Provided with 

 this armour, they went out into the world, and conquered, and 

 made current the new Faith. The learned and far-seeing say 

 that the hardest of all things is to win hearts, and these men 

 so turned away mankind from their old ways and so enticed 

 them, that they came to recognize that the idols which they 

 worshipped as gods were devils, and that their belief in them 

 was vain, and that what they had considered the path to Para- 

 dise was really the path to Hell. They also embraced with 

 heart and soul the Way of the Cross, and the teaching of the 

 crucified Messiah, whom at first they had considered as a mad- 



1 T'aasab, which, however, is generally used in the bad sense ot 

 bigotry. 



2 Johnson's ed. of Richardson gives Jaliit t«*yJU» as the Arabic 

 name of Goliath, 



