A I. C 



flt.'.y Slid an-.hition it was to excil in elegance of ftyle 

 and compolilion, to produce even a fmglc cliaptcr that 

 iniglit be compared with it. Hnwivci, there have not 

 Lctii wanting, even among the Mahometans theinlelves, 

 thole who Iiavc alFcrted that there is nothing miracnloiis 

 in this hook witli lefpect to llylc or eompolition, exeept- 

 irg only the prophetical relations of things nail, and pr.-- 

 d ctions of thirgi to come ; and that if God lir.d left men 

 to their natural liherty, and not retrained them in that 

 particular, the Arabians could have compoled fomethmg 

 not oidy etpial, but fnperior to the Koran in eloquence, 

 n..l!iod," and purity of language. Tliis was the opinion 

 of the Motazalites, and in particular of Al Mozdar and 

 Al Nodham. 



The llyle of the Koran is generally beautiful and fluent, 

 (fpeciiJIy where it imitates the prophaie manner and fcrip- 

 tiire-phnifeology. It is concife and often oblcure, adorned 

 with bold figures after the eailcni taile, enlivened with 

 florid and fententious exprelTions, and in many places, efpe- 

 cially wliere the majelly and attributes of God are de- 

 ftrilied, fublime and magnificent. Ahhough it be written 

 in profe, vet the ftnteiices generally conclude in a long 

 continued'rhyme, for the lake of which the fenfe is often 

 intemiptcd, and unnecefiiuy repetitions are too frequently 

 made. But this kind of jingling delights the Arabians ; 

 and thcv are fond of employing it in their moft elaborate 

 compofit'iouf ; which they embcllilh with frequent citations 

 from the Koran, and allulions to it. To this pomp i.nd 

 hai-mony of expreflicn, fome have afeiibed the whole force 

 and effe'cl of the Koran, whilll others fuppofe, that the 

 fcnfual pleafures of paradile, which are fo often difplayed 

 to the imagination of the reader, are the chief allurements 

 to which it owes its ef&cacy. 



" By the advocates of Mahomet;' nifm," fays a learned 

 and ingenious writer, " the Koran Jias been always held 

 forth as the greateft of miracles, and equally ilupendous 

 with the act of railing the dead. The miracles of Mofes 

 and Jefus, they fay, were tranfient and temporary; but 

 that of the Koran is permanent and pei-petual ; and there- 

 fore far furpafTes all the miraculous events of preceding 

 ages. We will not detraft from the real merit of the Ko- 

 ran ; we allow it to be generally elegant, and often fub- 

 Eme ; but at the lame time, we reject with difdain its ar- 

 rogant pretence to any thing fupernatural." " The real 

 excellence of the work is to be referred to natnral and 

 vilible caufes." Befides the general irrprefiions of ad- 

 rn'rntion and ailonirftment, which the pretended prophet 

 \Lzi produced on the minds of his followei-s, by the ex- 

 terior fandlity of his demeanour, and his long and fplendid 

 feries of victories, Mahomet found, in the language of 

 Arabia, a language extremely loved and diligently culti- 

 vated, by the people to whom it was vernacular, " advantages 

 which were never enjo) ed by any former or fucceeding im- 

 poftor. It requires not the eye of a philofopher, to dif- 

 covLT in every foil and countr)- a principle of national 

 pride ; and if we look back for many ages in the hiitory 

 of the Arabians, we {hall eafily perceive that pride among 

 them invariably to. have confided in tlie knowledge and 

 improvement of their native language. The Arabic, which 

 has been jultly elVcemed the moll copious of the eaftem 

 tongues ; which had exiftcd from the remoteit antiquity ; 

 which had been embeUifhed by namberlcfs poets, and re- 

 fined by the conilant exercife of the natives, was the 

 moft fuccefsful inflvum.cnt which Mahomet employed in 



flanting his new religion amiong them. Achnirably adapted 

 y its ur.nvalled harmony, and by it» endlcfs variety to 



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add naiiiting to cxprefHon, av.d to purfue the imagination 

 in its unboumltd flight, it became in the hands of Ma- 

 hoinet an irrefilliblc charm, to blind the judgment, and to 

 captivate tiie fancy of his followers. 



" Of that defciiption of men, who firll compofcd the 

 adherents of Mahomtt, and to whom the Koran was ad- 

 di-efied, few, probably, were al)le to pafs a veiy accurate 

 judgment on tiie propriety of the fentiments, or on the 

 beauties of the diction : but all could judge of the military 

 abilities of tlielr hader ; and in the midll of their admira- 

 tion, it is not difficult to conceive, that they would afcribe 

 to his compolitions eveiy imaginary beauty of iufpircj 

 lant^uage. The fhepherd and the foldier, though awake 

 to the charms of thefe wild but beautiful compofitions, in- 

 which were celebrated their favourite occupations of love 

 or v.ar, were yet little able to criticife any other works 

 than thofe wiiich were addrciTed to the imagination or the 

 heart ; to abllracl reafonings on the attributes and difpen- 

 fations of the Deity, to the comparative excellencies of 

 rival religions, to the confiftency of any one rcligious- 

 fyllem in all its parts, and to the force of its various proofs, 

 they were quite inattentive. In firch a iituation, the ap- 

 pearance of a work, which polfeiTed fomething like wifdom 

 and conliHence ; Avhich prefcribed the rules, and illuftrated 

 the duties of life ; and which contained the principles of 

 a new and comparatively fublime theology, independently of 

 its real and permanent merit, was likely to excite their afto- 

 nifhment, and to become the ftandard of future compofitioni 



" In the iirft periods of the literature of every country-, 

 fomething of this kind has happened. The father of 

 Grecian poetry very obvioufly influenced the tafte and 

 imitation of his countrymen. Tlie modem nations of 

 Europe all poffefs fome original author, who, rifing front 

 the darknefs of former ages, has begun the career of com". 

 pofition, and tinttured with the character of his own ima- 

 gination the llream which has flowed through his pofterity. 

 But the prophet of Arabia had, in this refpeft, advan- 

 tages peculiar to himfelf. His compofitions were not to his 

 followers the works of man, but the genuine language of 

 heaven wlilch had fent him. They were not confined, 

 therefore, to that admiration, which is fo liberally bellowed 

 on the earlieit productions of genius ; or to that fond at- 

 tachment with which men every where regard the original 

 compofitions of their country ; but with their admiratioi> 

 they blended their piety. To know and to feel the beau- 

 ties of the Koran, was in fome refpeft to lliare in the tem- 

 per of heaven ; and he who was moll affedled with admira- 

 tion in the perufal of its beauties, feemed moil fitly the ob- 

 jerl of that mercv, which had given it to ignorant men. 

 The Koran, therefore, became naturally and neceflarily the 

 ftandard of taile. With a language thus hallowed in their 

 imaginations, they were too weU fatisfied, either to difpute 

 its elegance, or improve its llruclure. In fucceeding ages 

 the additional fantiion of antiquity or preicription, was 

 given to thole compofitions which their fathers had admired j 

 and white the belief of its divine original continues, that ad- 

 miration wliich has thus become, the teft and the duty of 

 the faithtul, can neither b- altered nor dlminifiied. 



" When, theretore, we conlider thefe peculiar advan- 

 tages of the Koran, we have no reafon to be furprifed at 

 the admiration in which it is held. But, if defcending to 

 a more minute invelligation of it, we confider its perpetual 

 inconfiftency and abfurdity, we lliall indeed have cauie for 

 aftonilhmeut at that weaknefs of humanity, which could 

 ever have received fuch impofitions as the work of the 

 Deitv. 



" The 



