GEOGRAPHY OF THE GENEKA. 91 



work, is entitled 'The Bee,' and in which Mahomet 

 says : — " The Lord spake by inspiration unto the Bee, 

 saying, ' Provide thee houses in the mountains and in 

 the trees [clearly signifying the cavities in rocks and 

 hollows of trees, wherein the bees construct their combs] , 

 and of those materials wherewith men build hives for 

 thee ; then eat of every kind of fruit, and walk in the 

 beaten paths of thy Lord.' There proceedeth from their 

 bellies a liquor of various colours, wherein is a medicine 

 for men. Verily herein is a sign unto people who con- 

 sider." 



It is remarkable that the bee is the only creature that 

 Mahomet assumes the Almighty to have directly ad- 

 dressed. Al-Beidawi, the Arabic commentator upon the 

 Koran, whose authority ranks very high, in notes upon 

 passages of the preceding extract, says, " The houses 

 alluded to are the combs, whose beautiful workmanship 

 and admirable contrivance no geometrician can excel." 

 The " beaten paths of thy Lord," he says, " are the ways 

 through which, by God's power, the bitter flowers, 

 passing the bee's stomach, become honey; or, the 

 methods of making honey he has taught her by instinct ; 

 or else the ready way home from the distant places to 

 which that insect flies." The liquor proceeding from 

 their bellies, Al-Beidawi says, " is the honey, the colour 

 of which is very different, occasioned by the difierent 

 plants on which the bees feed ; some being white, some 

 yellow, some red, and some black." He appends a 

 note to where Mahomet says, "therein is a medicine 

 for man," which contains a curious anecdote. The note 

 says, " The same being not only good food, but a useful 

 remedy in several distempers. There is a story that a 

 man once came to Mahomet, and told him his brother 



