The Alla Upanishad. 
173 
1871.] 
the Arabic article al in a Sanskrit composition, or, what is more 
probable, with a view not to hurt the feelings of the faithful too 
offensively, he has made him to appear as “ a prophet’ ’— rasul , and 
not al-rasid “ the prophet.” The same consideration, however, did 
not govern the writer in writing of the Hindu gods, and so he is 
more positive in making the Allah of his patron supersede the Hindu 
trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and S'iva, and assume to himself their 
functions of creation, preservation and destruction. According to 
the Hindu scriptures, the deity, before the creation of the universe, 
floated on the waters of a universal ocean, or was the same as 
water, and the author borrows the idea and calls Allah “ water 
he is the lord of sacrifices ; the receiver of all sacrificial offerings; 
and the source of the heavenly glory of the Hindu sages : unper¬ 
ceived even by Indra, from him proceeded Maya, the heaven, and the 
rest of the universe in succession. Near the conclusion, the Arabic 
phrases Alldhu Ahlar , Allah ilillah have been very adroitly intro¬ 
duced as “ the identity of the uncreate God.” The first phrase has 
also been repeated, as is usually done in the Azan, or Muham¬ 
madan call to prayer. Then follows a formula in which the Tantric 
mystic syllables Urum, hrih , and phat are worked in the form of 
a prayer for the preservation of all animated beings ; and the work 
concludes by reiterating the maxim that the Allah of the prophet 
Muhammad Akbar is the God of all gods, and the creed La ila- 
ha illallah corrupted into illalleti illallah. 
The distinction between Allah, the supreme being, and illah from 
illdt the name of an old Arabian idol, whence idols or gods has 
been generally borne in mind. The former is written with an 
initial ^5T= a, and declined as a word of the masculine gender 
with a short vowel ending, the final h being changed into the San¬ 
skrit aspirate visarga. The latter is written with an initial 5 ; = i, 
and treated as a word of the feminine gender, ending in ==■ a; 
but the distinction not having been always carefully observed, the 
text has, in many places, become quite obscure, and in the first line 
I have been obliged to analyse a word in search of a Sanskrit root 
to deduce a consistent meaning. Sir Kaja Kadliakanta Bahadur, 
accepting the text to be genuine, took the feminine illah to mean the 
energy of the Godhead, i. e., Maya, and his guess has the support 
