48 EEV. W. ST. CLAIR TISDALL, M.A., D.I)., ON THE INFLUENCE 



the resembiance is great, especially in sentences niodeiled on 

 those in the Sermon on the Mount. In other passages there is 

 much less verbal likeness, but the spirit is largely that of the 

 New Testament, with which, unlike Muhammad, Jalalu'ddin 

 was well acquainted. 



'Not a few other Persian writers shew some knowledge of the 

 New Testament. It will be enough, however, to refer very 

 briefly to the poet Sa*di. At the beginning of the Buddn he 

 thus writes : — 



J \ 



" The surface of the earth is His universal table (cloth), 

 Whether foe or friend come to that princely banquet." 

 ((7/ Matthew v, 45.) 



In the same book Sa'di tells in strange form the Parable of the 

 Prodigal Son. The following sentence reminds us of James i, 27 : 



" The Eeligious Life is nought but the service of mankind : 

 It consists not in the rosary and the prayer-carpet and 

 beggar's bowl." 



In the Qur an itself the Bible is spoken of under the title of 

 the Taurat (Law, Pentateuch), the Zabur (Psalms), and the 

 Injil (Gospel). A passage from each of the three is quoted, viz., 

 Exodus xxi, 23-25, in Surah v, 49 ; Psalms xxxvii, 29 ; in Surah 

 xxi, 105 ; and Matthew xix, 24 ; in Surah vii, 38. Moreover, 

 Tradition represents Muhammad* as quoting I Corinthians ii, 9, 

 in the following form : " God Most High said : ' I have prepared 

 for My servants the righteous what eye hath not seen, nor ear 

 heard, neither hath it occurred to the heart of mankind.' " Al 

 Ghazali refers to this passage as being found in the Qur'an, but 

 it is not. 



The doctrine of the Light of Muhammad, and of its existence 

 before the world was,-|- and that all things were created from 

 portions of that light, is no doubt borrowed from the Gospel 

 references to Christ as the Light of the World, and to the light 



Mishkdt, p. 487. 

 t Qisasu'l Anhiydj pp. 2 and 282. 



