A L C 
fucceeding ages, the additional fanction of antiquity, or 
prefcription, was given to tliefe compofitions which their 
fathers had admired : and, while the belief of its divine 
original continues, that admiration, which lias thus be¬ 
come the teftand the duty of the faithful, can neither be 
altered nor dimimfhcd. 
“ When therefore we confider tliefe peculiar advanta¬ 
ges of the Koran, we have no reafon to be lurprifed at the 
admiration in which it is held. But if, defcending to a 
more minute inveftigation of it, we conlider its perpetual 
inconfiltence and abfurdity, we fliall indeed have caufe for 
allonifliment at that weaknefs of humanity which could 
ever have received fuch compofitions as the work ot the 
Deity. 
“ The fird: praife of all the productions of genius is in¬ 
vention ; that quality of the mind, which, by the extent 
and quicknefs of its views, is capable of the larged con¬ 
ceptions, and of forming new combinations of objects the 
mod dillant and unnfual. But the Koran bears little im- 
p re Hi on of this tranfcendent charaifler. Its materials are 
wholly borrowed from the Jewifh and Chridian fcriptures, 
from the Talmudical legends and apocryphal gofpels then 
current in the ead, and from the traditions and fables 
which abounded in Arabia. The materials collected 
from thefe feveral fources are here heaped together, with 
perpetual and needlefs repetitions, without any fettled 
principle or vilible connexion. 
“ When a great part of the life of Mahomet had been 
fpent in preparatory meditation on the fydem he was about 
to edablidi, its chapters were dealt out llowly and fepa- 
rately during the long period of twenty-three years. Yet 
thus defective in its ftxucture, and no lefs exceptionable 
in its doffrines, was the work which Mahomet delivered 
to his followers as the oracles of God. 
“ The mod prominent feature of the Koran, that point 
of excellence in which the partiality of its admirers has 
ever delighted to view it, is the fublime notion it general¬ 
ly imprefles of the nature and attributes of God. If its 
author had really derived thefe juft conceptions from the 
infpiration of that Being whom they attempt to deferibe, 
they would not have been furrounded, as they now are on 
every fide, with error and abfurdity. But it might eafily 
be proved, that whatever it judly defines of the divine at¬ 
tributes was borrowed from our holy feripture ; which 
even from itsfird promulgation, but efpecially from the 
completion of the New' Tedament, has extended the views 
and enlightened the underdandings of mankind ; and thus 
furniflied them with arms, which have too often been in- 
effedtually turned againd itfelf by its ungenerous enemies. 
“In this indance particularly, the copy is far below the 
great original, both in the propriety of its images and the 
force of its deferiptions. Our holy fcriptures are the on¬ 
ly compofitions that can enable the dim fight of mortality 
to penetrate into the invifible word, and to behold a 
glimpfe of the Divine perfeftions. Accordingly, when 
they would reprefent to us the happinefs oi Heaven, they 
deferibe it, not by any thing minute and particular, but 
by fomething general and great ; fomething, that, with¬ 
out defcending to. any determinate objedt, may at once by 
its beauty and immenfity excite our wifhes and elevate our 
affedtions. Though in the prophetical and evangelical 
writings the joys that fliall attend us in a future date are 
often mentioned with ardent admiration, they are expref- 
fed rather by allufion than fimilitude, rather by indefinite 
and figurative terms than by any thing fixed and deter¬ 
minate. ‘ Eye hath not feen, nor ear heard, neither hath 
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath 
prepared for them that love him.’ i Cor. ii. 9. What a 
reverence and afionifliment does this pafl’age excite in eve¬ 
ry hearer of tade and piety ? What energy, and at the,fame 
time what fimplicitv, in the expreflion ? How fublime, 
and at the fame time how obfeure, is the imagery ? 
“ Different was the conduct of Mahomet in his deferip¬ 
tions of heaven and of paradife. Unaflided by the necef- 
fary influence of virtuous intentions and divine infpiration, 
Vol. I. No. 16. 
A L C z 5 3 
he was neither defirous, nor indeed able, to exalt the 
minds of men to fublime conceptions, or to rational ex¬ 
pectations. By attempting to explain what is inconceiva¬ 
ble, to deferibe what is ineffable, and to materialize what 
in itfelf is fpiritual, he abfurdlv and impioufly aimed to 
fenfualize the purity of the Divine effence. Thus he fa¬ 
bricated a fyftem of incoherence, a religion of depravity, 
totally repugnant indeed to the nature of that Being, who, 
as he pretended, was its object; but therefore more like¬ 
ly to accord with the appetites and conceptions of a cor¬ 
rupt and fenfual age. 
“That we may not appear to exalt our Scriptures thus 
far above the Koran by an unreafonable preference, we 
fliall produce a part of the fecond chapter of the latter, 
which is defervedly admired by the Mahometans, who 
wear it engraved on their ornaments, and recite it in their 
prayers. ‘God! there is no God but he; the living, the 
felf-fubfifting: neither flumber nor deep feizeth him : to 
him belongeth whatfoever is in heaven, and on earth. 
Who is he that can intercede with him but through his 
good pleafure ! He knoweth that which is pad, and that 
which is to come. His throne is extended over heaven 
and earth, and the prefervation of both is to him no bur¬ 
den. He is the high, the mighty.’ Sale's Kor. ii. p. 30. 
4to edit. 
“ To this defeription who can refufe the praife of mag¬ 
nificence ^ Fart of that magnificence, however, is to be 
referred to that verle of the Pfalmift whence it was bor¬ 
rowed : * He that keepeth Ifrael, fliall neither (lumber nor 
fleep.’ Pfalm exxi. 4. But, if we compare it with that 
other pailage of the fame infpired Pfalmift, all its boafted 
grandeur is at once obfeured, and loft in the blaze of a 
greater light. ‘ O my God, take me not away in the midft 
of my days; thy years are throughout all generations. Of 
old haft thou laid the foundations of the earth ; and the 
heavens arc the work of thy hands. They fliall perifti, 
but thou (halt endure; yea, all of them fliall wax old, as 
doth a garment; as a vefture (halt thou change them, and 
they fliall be changed; but thou art the fame, and thy 
years fliall not fail.’ The Koran, therefore, upon a re^ 
trofpedlive view of thefe feveral circumftances, far from 
fupporting its claim to a lupernatural work, finks below 
the level of many compofitions confeffedly of human origi¬ 
nal ; and (lill lower does it fall in our eftimation, when 
compared with that pure and perfect pattern which we 
juftly admire in the fcriptures of truth. It is therefore 
abundantly apparent, that no miracle either was exter¬ 
nally performed for the fupport, or is internally involved 
in the compolition, of the Mahometan revelation.” 
Alcoran is alfo figuratively applied to certain other 
books full of impieties and impoftures, particularly the 
Alcoran of the Cordeliers, which placed St. Francis on a 
level with Jefus Chrift. Erafmus Albertus expofed the 
folly and abfurdity of it, in a publication, entitled, The 
Alcoran of the Francifcans, with a preface by Martin 
Luther. 
ALCORANISTS, among Mahometans, thofe who ad¬ 
here ftridtly to the letter or text of the alcoran, from an 
opinion of its ultimate fufficiency and perfedtion. The 
Perfians are generally Alcoranifts, as admitting the Alco¬ 
ran alone for their rule of faith. The Turks, Tartars, 
Arabs, &c. beiides the Alcoran, admit a multitude of tra¬ 
ditions. The Alcoranifts, among Mahometans, amount 
to much the fame with the textuaries among the Jews. 
The Alcoranifts Can find nothing excellent out of the Al¬ 
coran ; are enemies of philofophers, metaphyficians, and 
l'choiaftic writers. With them the Alcoran is every thing. 
ALCOVE, f. [ alcoba , Span.] A recefs, or part of a 
chamber, feparated by an eftrade, or partition, and other 
correfpondent ornaments; in which is placed a bed of 
date, and fometimes feats to entertain company,: 
Deep in a rich alcove the prince was laid, 
And fiept beneath the pompous colonnade. Pope. 
ALCUDIA, a town in Majorca, of about 1000 houfes, 
3 T fituated 
