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M A H 10 ) M A H
·expreffiog the o.mes aod auributé. of God, his "o~k.,
OTdinancel, and decrees; and therefore thefe rnyllenol1s
]etters, as wdl itS the verfes tbemrelves, fecm in (he
Kono to be eaUed figo. . Others explaio the ioteot of
thefe Jettcrs from their nature or organ, or clCe fram
their valuej.s numbers: anorher (pe~ies of
the Jewifh Cabala ealled Gemama; the uoeenatoty o(
",hich eoojeélures Cuffi eieotly from theirdiCagr~e.
ment. Thus, for example, 6ve chapters, ene ofwhlch
j. the feeood, begio with thefe leuers, A. L . M . whieh
fome imagioe to naod for, Al/ah 'atif rnRgid; G OD is
trociouJ and lo be glorijüd; or, AnQ li minni, fo me
11m' from m~, "iz. belongs all perfeétion, and proceeds
all good; or dCe for Ana A l/ah olam, 1 am Ihe moji 'UJife
GOD , taking Ihe 6rflleuer to mark the begiooing of the
firfl word, the Ceeond the middle of the Ceeood word, aod
the third the lal! of the third word ; or for Al/ah, Gahriel,
Mohammed, the authorI reveale,.,.. and oE (he
Korao. Others fay, tha< as the lener A bjloogs to the
Iower pan of the Ihroa<, the 6rflof the or~aos oflpeeeh;
L tO the palate, the middle orgao ; and M to the lips,
whieh are the lafl orgao ; fo theCe lemrs fignify tha< God
is the beglnning. middle, and cnd, or oughr te be prai
red io the begiooiog. middle, aod end, of all our words aDd
aBions : or, as lhe total value of thoCe: three lc:tters, in
numbers, is fevemy-one, they fignify, lhal, in the fpace
of fo many years, the religion preached in lhe Koran
/hould be fully ,eflablifhed. The eooJeélure of a I,'arned
ChliClian ¡sal ICcln as certain as any of the former, who
fuppofes thoCe leu ers were fel there by the a1llanuenjiJ,
for Ama,. Ji Mohamm~d, i. e. Al Ih~ commamJ of fofo·
ha",med, as the (¡ve letters prefixed to the nineteeoto
chapter Ceem to he there wriuen by a JewiCh fcribe, for
Coh } aaJ, i. e. 7huJ he &o1!l1J/Quded.
The'Koran is uníverrally allowed to be w,itten with
the utmoll d eganee and purity of langua.... io the dialeél
of the " ibe of Koreilh, tbe mofl ouble aDd polile of all
the Arabians, b UI with fome mixture, though very rarely,
of other dialeas. It i, eonfelfedly the Ilandard of the
Arabic tcngue, and, as lhe more orthodox believe, and
are taught by the book itfelf, inimitable by any hum.o
peo, (though fome Ceftaries h."e been of anothe< opioloo)
and thererore infiflcd on as a perm~nent miracle, greater
than that af rdifing the dead, And alane fufficient la can–
,¡,ince the world af its divine origin~1.
And to this mirad. did M ohammed himC, lf ehieRy
2ppeal far the C"onfirmatian af his mifliOn, pu"llicly ch~l
lenging (he man eloquent men in Arabia, whkh was at
that t;me rlock~d with thourands, wlore fole fiudy and
::.mbition it was lO excel in elegance of flyle and campo.
filion, ta, produce even a ~gle chiipter lhat might be
compared with it.
The gen«al dcfign of the Koran reem, to be thi. : to
uoite the praferfors af the three dlfFerent religians then
foil.) ved in Ihe populous country of Arabia, who, for
the moO: pan, II\'~d pramifcutlufiy, and wandered with–
out guides, lhe far greater numb~r bt:ing idolaters, and
the rell J ew8 and Chrirbans mofily of erroneous .nd he.
terodox bl'licf, in lhe koawledge and worlhip of one e.
term:l, inrifibJe God, by who(~ power all things were
lIlade, aod thofe whieb are not may be j the Cupreme
Governor, Judge, and abfolute Lord of the creation ;
eflablifhed uoder the faollion of eertaio laws, and the
outward ligns af certain ceremonie" partly of ancient,
and partly of novel innitution, and inforced by Cetting
befare them rewards and puniChments, both temporal Cind
eternal : aod 10 briog them all to the obedienee of Mo·
hammed, as the prophet and ambafl'ador of God, who,
after the repeated M1onitiorls, promifes and th rean of
former ages, was at Jan tO efiabllfh and propagate God's
religion 00 earth by force of arms, and tO be acknowled–
ged ehief pootifl' io fpirilual mmers, as well as Cupreme
prinee i~ 'temporal.
T he erea< doélrine theo oC the Korao is the uni,y of
God; tOrefiore which poiot Mohammed pretended was
the chicf eod of his mlÍlion ~; il being I ud down by him,
as a fundamental truth, that there never was, nor ever
can oe, more than one true onhodox religion. For,
though the panicular laws or ceremonies are onll' tem–
porary, and fubjeél. to aheration, accordiog to the divine
direélion; yet, the Cubrlance of it, being eteroal truth,
is nOI liable to change, bUI cootinue~mmutably the Carne.
A nd lie taught, th.¡t, wheoever IhlS rellgion bccame ne–
gleáed, or eorrupi1ll io elfentials, ~Qd had the goodnefs
to re·inform and re·admoniCh mankind thereof, by feveral
prophets, of whom M ofes and J eCus w"e the moa dif·
tinguil'hed, tiJI the appearance of Mohamm'ed, who is
their real, no other being tO be expea ed afle r him. And
Ihe more effeélually to engage people to hearkeo to him,
great pan of the Koran is employed in relating examples
of dreadful punifhments formerly infliéled by God 0 0
thofe who rejeéled and abured his melf,ngers; feveral of
which fiories, or fome circumfiances of them, are tóliken
from Ihe Old and New T ellament, but many more from
the apoeryphal booko and " adilioos of the Jews aod
Chrifiians of thoCe ages, fet up in lhe Koran aS trulhs in
opporition to the Ccriplures, which the j ews and ehriai–
aos are charged with having altered; and indeed few or
none of the relatioos or circumfiances in the Koran were
in.ented by M ohamm, d, as is geoerally Cuppofed, it
being eafy te trace the greatef1: part of themmuch higher,
as the ren might be, were more of thoCe books eXlant.
and it was worth while to make the inqutry.
The other pan of the Koran is taken up in giving ne–
ceffary laws and direélionsJ in frequenl adm."nitions tO
moral and divine virtues, and, aboye all, to the worChip.
ping and reverencing of the only true God, aod refigna–
tiODto his will; among which al e many excellenl things
intermixed, 001 unworthy eveo a ChriHiaD's perura!.
But berides thefe, there are a great oumber of pa(fages
which are occaGonal, and relate tOpanicular e01ergenCtes.
F or whenever aoy thing happened whieh perplexed aod
gravellcd M ohammed, and wbieh he eould not otherwife
get ove.. he had conflaot recourfe to a new revd aucn,
as an infallible expedient io aH oiee eafes and he found
the fuccefs of this method anf,ver bis ex-peétatioD. lt
was cert.ünly an admirable and politlc contrivance of his
to bring down the whole Koran al once tO the lowdl:
heaven ooly, and not tO the earth. as a bungling prop"'et
would probably have done; for if the whole h. d been
publifhed et onC&J innumerable objetlions mlght have
been m,de, whicb it would h,ve been very hml ir not
impoOible,