the village of Náseret, from which afterwards the Christians were called Nesára [Nazarenes]. The intelligence of Jesus was so great that he acquired in one hour the knowledge which ordinary men took a month to obtain, and he learnt in one month what others attained in one year.

When Jesus was thirty years old, his mission as a prophet began. The Most High ordered him first of all to proclaim the unity of God and the advent of the prophet Muhammad. "And when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, O children of Israel, verily, I am an apostle of God unto you, verifying the Pentateuch which was delivered before me, and bringing good tidings of an apostle who shall come after me, and whose name will be Ahmed [one of the names of Muhammad]" (LXI. 6).

God commanded Jesus to go forth, to preach to men, to narrate parables, to heal the sick, the paralytic, the blind, the lunatic, and to exorcise demons. He did so, gathered many followers and was beloved; persons afflicted with diseases visited him in such numbers that sometimes fifty thousand of them were assembled around him, and those who could not walk were visited by him. He cured them by a prayer, and on condition that they would believe. The prayer by which he healed the sick and resuscitated the dead was as follows:-"O God, thou art the God of those who are in heaven and of those who are on earth; there is no other God in them besides Thee. Thou art mighty over all in heaven and over all on earth; there is no mighty one in them except Thee. Thou art the Sovereign of those who are in heaven and of those who are on earth; there is no Sovereign in them except Thee. Thou art the absolute Judge over those who are in heaven and over those who are on earth; there is no absolute judge in them except Thee. Thy omnipotence is on earth, as Thy omnipotence is in heaven, and Thy government prevails over the earth, as Thy government prevails in heaven. I adjure Thee by Thy honoured names, for Thou art all-powerful."

When Jesus perceived the unbelief of the Jews, he said :"Who will be my helpers towards God? The apostles answered, we will be the helpers of God, we The apostles of Jesus. believe in God, and so thou bear witness that we are true believers [Musalmún]." (III. 42.). The apostles were the intimate friends, followers and assistants of Jesus. They were twelve in number, and their names are, Simon called Peter, Andrew his brother, Jacob the son of Zebedee, John his brother, Phillip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, Jacob, the son of Halfá, Lebba, who is called Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite and

Judas Iscariot. Learned men,,however, differ about them and about their vocation. Ebn A'bbus asserts that they were fishermen. Jesus passed near them and asked :"What are you doing?" They replied:-" We catch fish." "Will you come with me that we may catch men ?" "How will that be ?" "We shall pray and win them for the cause of God?" "Who art thou?" "I am Jesus, the son of Mary, the servant and the apostle of God." "Will any prophet be above thee?" "Yes, the Arab prophet*." They accordingly believed in him and followed him. According to others, the apostles were sailors, whilst some assert that the apostles [Howaryún] were fullers by trade because they bleached [Yahúrún v,] clothes.

According to Fanjuyah, who quotes Musa'b, the apostles were twelve in number and followed Jesus. Whenever they required food, they said :-"O Spirit of God, we are hungry whereon Jesus would stamp with his foot against the earth and two loaves issued therefrom for every man, which they consumed. When they wished to drink, they said :-"Oh Spirit of God, we are thirsty, and he struck the earth, from which a spring then gushed forth and they quenched their thirst. They said: -"Oh Spirit of of God, who is more excellent than ourselves? When we desire it Thou givest us food, and when we desire it Thou givest us drink. We believe in Thee and we follow Thee." He replied "The most excellent among you is he who works with his hands, and eats what he has gained by his labour." Accordingly they prepared clothes for hire.

Ebn A'wn narrates that a king gave a banquet to which he invited many persons; on that occasion a dish which was before Jesus always remained unexhausted; whereon the king asked :— "Who art thou ?" I am Jesus, the son of Mary.' "Then I shall abandon my kingdom and follow thee." Accordingly, he accompanied Jesus with those who adhered to him, namely, the apostles. Zoháq states that the apostles were called Howáryún on account of the purity of their hearts, whilst A'bdullah B. Almubarak asserts that they bore this name because they were illuminati upon whom the light and the effects of devotion were visible as well as its whiteness, which is the meaning of the word Húr.

*This prophet is of course no other than Muhammad, and is believed to be meant in the Song of Solomon, V. 16, by D Makhamadim; in King James's Bible it is rendered by "lovely, " in Luther's by "lieblich," in the Vulgate by "Desiderabilis," which is also nearly the meaning

given both in the Roman Catholic and the Protestant and Arabic Bible namely, and go. In fact,uo person, able to understand the context in Hebrew, would consider this to be the proper name Muhammad aud merely transliterate it.

The miracles of Jesus.

That Jesus worked miracles and was strengthened by the Holy Spirit, is plainly mentioned in the Qorán :-"We formerly delivered the book of the law unto Moses, and caused apostles to succeed him, and gave evident miracles to Jesus, the son of Mary, and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit" (II. 81; see also V. 109), and again God says to him :-"I taught thee the scripture, and wisdom, and the law, and the gospel; and when thou didst create of clay as it were the figure of a bird, by my permission, and didst breathe thereon, and it became a bird, by my permission," &c. (V. 110). The bird here alluded to was a bat, as it is supposed to be the most perfect of all. It flew about as long as the people were looking at it, but when it was out of their sight, it fell down dead, to bear witness to the difference between the works of men and the works of God, that His perfection may be known.

Again it is said :-"Thou didst heal one blind from his birth, and the leper by my permission; and when thou didst bring forth the dead from their graves by my permission" (ibidem). Lazarus, a friend of Jesus, had died, and the sister of the man was sent with the information a distance of a three days' journey, whereon Jesus accompanied her with his companions. When he had arrived at the tomb which was in a rock, he said:-" O God, Lord of the seven heavens and of the seven earths, Thou hast sent me to the children of Israel to invite them to accept thy religion. I have informed them that I could resuscitate the dead by Thy permission; bring therefore Lazarus to life again." Thereon Lazarus rose from the tomb, came out, and lived, and begat children.

When Jesus was travelling about the country with his disciples, they happened to arrive near a certain town, when he said:"In this town there is a Treasure, who will go in and bring it out to us?" They replied:"O Spirit of God, no stranger can enter this city, but the people kill him." Jesus said:- "Remain where you are till I again return to you." Then he departed and, entering the city, halted at the door of a house and said :-" Peace be unto you, O denizens of the house! A stranger has arrived; feed him!" Hereon a hag, replied:-" Would not you like to be taken to the king and to repeat the same demand?" Meanwhile, the son of the hag made his appearance, to whom Jesus said:" Make me your guest this night," but the young man repeated the same auswer his mother had given. Then Jesus said :- -"If you take me to the king, I shall cause you to marry his daughter." The young man rejoined :-"You must be either a madman, or Jesus the son of Mary." He replied "I am Jesus" and spent the night in the house, When it was morning, Jesus said to the

youth:-"Go to the king and say:- I have come to sue for the hand of your daughter, whereon he will order you to be beaten and driven away." This actually took place; and when the youth returned to Jesus, he told him to present himself again before the king with the same demand. After the youth had again been driven away, Jesus told him to repeat his attempt, and the king would propose to him a certain condition to which he must agree. Accordingly, the youth went the third time to the king, who said that he would give him his daughter in marriage, if he could produce a castle of gold and silver, furnished with those precious metals and costly gems. The youth having agreed to this condition, the king despatched men with him and actually took possession of all these things, whereon the king was ready to give him his daughter. The youth was amazed and said :--" O spirit of God, how is it that you who can accomplish such things are in this state?" and Jesus replied :"I have preferred what is imperishable to what is perishable." Then the youth said :-" I shall do so likewise." He renounced the world and followed Jesus who took him by the hand, presented him to his disciples and said :-"This is the treasure which I mentioned."

When Jesus was describing the ark of Noah to his disciples, they said "If you were to resuscitate a man who had seen the ship he could bear witness." Accordingly, he took them to a hill, snatched up a handful of earth and said :-" This is the grave of Shem, the son of Noah, and, striking it with his staff, he uttered the ineffable name of God, and said :-" Arise, by the permission of God !" Thereon Shem rose and asked whether the last judgment had arrived; Jesus replied in the negative and asked him to give an account of the ark, which he did. Then Jesus said:" Die ;" but he made a condition that he should be spared the agonies of death; which being agreed to, he expired. In one of his journeys, Jesus had with him a disciple of very short stature, who was very much attached to him. When they had arrived on the shores of a lake, Jesus said :- "In the name of God, by truth and certainty," and walked upon the surface of the water. The short man, seeing this, imagined he could do the same, but would have been drowned, if Jesus had not rescued him. Then Jesus told him that he assumed a state in which God had not placed him, and exhorted him to repent of his presumption, which he did. The Emám Abu Mansur Alkhumshády narrates after Mo'ád B. Jabal that Muhammad the prophet said :— "If you knew God with true knowledge, you would acquire a science after which there is no ignorance, and which no one has ever attained." They asked:" Neither you, O apostle

He said: "Neither I." They said :-'

"We are

of God?" informed that Jesus the son of Mary walked upon water." He said:"Yes! Had his awe and his certainty been larger, he would have walked upon the air!" They said:"O apostle of God, we did not think that prophets were defective in any thing." He rejoined :-" God is more perfect than that any one could reach his perfection."

The Jew and the loaves of bread.

Once Jesus was on a journey, accompanied by a Jew who had two loaves of bread, and Jesus but one. Jesus said :-“ Will you be my partner in our food?" The Jew agreed, but when he perceived that Jesus had only one loaf, he repented. When Jesus was at prayers, his companion ate one loaf; when he had terminated his prayers, both produced their food, and when Jesus asked for the other loaf, the Jew replied that there had been none; accordingly Jesus consumed one loaf and the Jew one. Then they continued their journey, and when they had reached a tree, Jesus said to his companion :-" If we were to spend the night here?" Accordingly they slept under the tree, and in the morning, a short time after they had left it, they met a blind man, and Jesus said to him :-" If I were to restore thy sight, wouldst thou give thanks to God?" He replied: Yes." Then Jesus prayed to God, passed his hands over the man's eyes, and he recovered his sight. Then Jesus said to the Jew :-"I adjure thee by Him who caused thee to behold the blind man with his sight restored, how many loaves hadst thou ?" The Jew replied:" By Allah! I had only one loaf ?”

Jesus said nothing, and they continued their journey till they met a cripple who could not walk, and Jesus said to him :-" If I were to cure thee, wouldst thou thank God?" He said :-" Yes." Accordingly, Jesus prayed, and lo, the man stood up on his feet healed! The companion of Jesus said:" I have never seen anything like this." Then Jesus said:"I adjure thee by Him who has caused thee to witness a blind man recover his sight, and a cripple the use of his legs, to tell me who was the owner of the third loaf ?" The Jew again swore that he had possessed only one loaf. Jesus again replied nothing, and after a while they reached a stream of water; then he said:" I see neither bridge nor boat; take hold, therefore, of my skirts, follow me and place your feet where I have stepped." The Jew obeyed, and, when they had safely crossed the river, Jesus said :-" I adjure thee by Him who showed thee a blind man seeing, a cripple walking, and made the water carry thee; who is the owner of the third loaf ?” The Jew replied :-" By Allah, there was but one loaf." Jesus remained silent, and they continued their journey till they saw a