Forster, "is undisputed. The permanent character of its rites is certified by our knowledge of the adherence of the Arabs, in every age, to their ancient customs. But, from the uniform consent of Mahometan writers, it farther appears that the statues of Abraham and Ishmael, which from remote antiquity had held a conspicuous place in the Kaaba, and constituted the principal object of its idol worship, remained to the time of Mahomet, and were there found by the Mussulmans after the capture of Mecca. Mahomet, Abulfeda tells us, when he took Mecca in the eighth year of the Hejira, found and destroyed in the Kaaba, on his entering the temple, the image of Abraham holding in his hand seven arrows without heads or feathers, such as the Arabs use in divination, and surrounded with a great number of angels and prophets, as inferior deities, among whom, as Al Janabi and other writers add, was Ishmael with divining arrows also in his hand. Various external signs, betokening its patriarchal origin, may be traced in the Anti-Mahometan worship of the Kaaba. Among these, one custom is sufficiently remarkable to claim distinct notice in this place, inasmuch as it has been alluded to and censured in the Koran.t The pagan Arabs were used to compass the Kaaba naked, because clothes, they said, were the signs of their disobedience to God. The celebrated black stone of the Kaaba also, the primitive source and object of Arabian idolatry, strongly indicates the origin to which it has been uniformly referred. The Arabs attribute its introduction into the tem * Mahom. Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 404. ple of Mecca to the immediate posterity of Ishmael. The peculiar kind of superstition is just what might be expected to arise from the abuse of an early patriarchal custom-that of setting up stones on particular spots in honour of the true God.* It is said that at the solemn assemblies at this temple Ishmael continued to preach and offer instructions for half a century to incredulous Arabs; and that he died at the age of one hundred and thirty-seven, just forty-eight years after the death of Abraham. Twenty-seven centuries afterwards, they say, Mahomet was born; or as near as can be ascertained, in the 570th year of the Christian era. His place of birth was Mecca, and his pedigree is traced to the second son of Ishmael, who, by some means had obtained the honour which more properly belonged to his elder brother. The Jorhamites seized and enjoyed, for three centuries, the sovereignty in the sacred city and temple; but having greatly corrupted the true worship, they were at length assailed by the scimitars of the legitimate successors of Ishmael, and by the judgments of heaven, so as to have been finally destroyed; but not before they had committed great indignities against the hallowed spot. The well Zemzem they filled up by throwing into it the treasures and sacred utensils of the temple; the black stone encased in the walls of the building on which Abraham had stood to offer his supplications; the image of the ram, substituted according to sacred story, for Isaac, on Mount Moriah; and various other articles, at once the pro *See a description of the pilgrimage to Mecca, at the end of this chapter. ductions and the objects of superstitious devotion. The descendants of Ishmael for many centuries retained the power they had regained; but who they were, and what the circumstances of their reigns respectively, cannot be recovered. The tenth of Adnan's successors, who, allowing three and thirty years to each, as the average duration of their supremacy, may be supposed to have swayed the sceptre about A.D. 208, was surnamed Koreish the Courageous, on account of his boldness in defending the temple from the daring insults of infidel tribes. In its services, probably some traces of patriarchal worship remained, and hence the epithet Koreish came to distinguish a tribe especially zealous for the purity of the Arab faith, and the honour of the sacred edifice. It was used as a proud distinction of all who thenceforward occupied the seat of supreme dignity in the city of Mecca. Of these there were ten, the last being the father of Mahomet. Their names were Galeb, Lowa, Caab, Morra, Kelab, Kosa, Abdolmenaf, Hashem, Abdol Motalleb, and Abdallah. Hashem is said to have surpassed all his predecessors in grandeur and magnificence. He was of unbounded wealth, and equal generosity, keeping a well-stored table, to which, whether in times of plenty or scarcity, all were equally welcome. His caravans were sent annually to Syria and Yemen to procure provisions, which were distributed with so lavish a bounty as to place the poor on an equal footing with their richer neighbours. The emperor of Rome is said to have sought alliance with him by offering him his daughter in marriage; which, however, the haughty Arab refused, alleging that the pure blood of the Koreish, the servants and apostles of God, ought not to be mingled with that of the heathen. His son, Abdol Motalleb was equally generous, carrying his profuse bounty to the extravagant pitch of spreading on the tops of the mountains food for beasts and birds. Hospitality, it must be remembered, always ranked in the estimation of Arabs, among the greatest virtues. He is said to have found and restored the lost treasures and sacred utensils of the Kaaba, the gold of which, however, he melted down to gild the walls of the sacred edifice. Abdallah, the father of Mahomet, was a younger son of Abdol Motalleb, from whom, on that account, the prophet would probably have inherited no particular dignity, neither Abdallah nor Mahomet seems to have affected civil rule, this belonged to an elder son of Abdol Motalleb. From Hashem, already mentioned, the appellation of Hashemites is bestowed upon the kindred of the prophet; and even to this day, the chief magistrate, both at Mecca and Medina, who must always be of the race of Mahomet, is invariably styled "the Prince of the Hashemites." The name of Mahomet's mother was Amina, whose parentage was traceable also to a distinguished family of the same tribe. Her lot was envied in gaining the hand of the son of Abdol Motalleb, as the surpassing beauty of his person is said to have ravished the hearts of a hundred maidens of Arabia, who were left, by his choice of Amina, to sigh over the wreck of their fondest hopes. Abdallah, though the son of a rich and princely father, was possessed of but little wealth; and as he died while his son was an infant, or, as some say, before he was born, it is probable that that little was seized with the characteristic rapacity of the Arabs, and shared among his twelve surviving brothers, the powerful uncles of Mahomet. According to a tradition universally received among Mahometans, all the lineal ancestors of their prophet were distinguished from collateral tribes by an extraordinary prophetic light resting upon them. This miraculous lustre, they say, was first placed upon Adam, after his repentance, and from him it descended to Seth, Noah, Shem, &c. distinguishing every true prophet. The hallowed radiance at length rested upon the head of Abraham, from whom it was divided into a two-fold emanation, the greater or clearer descending upon Isaac and his seed, the less or obscurer to Ishmael and his posterity. The light in the family of Isaac is represented as having been perpetuated in a constant glow through a long line of inspired messengers and prophets, among the children of Israel. All the progenitors of Mahomet bore this celestial imprint, faint or splendid, according to their respective faith and virtues. It did not, however, always follow the rule of primogeniture; and, as it distinguished all the progenitors of the prophet, it is pretty evident that it was no very trusty index of personal excellence. Many of them, according to whatever rule they are estimated, were individuals of exceedingly questionable character. To render Mahomet equally marvellous with Moses, the prophet of the Jewish faith, or with Christ, the founder of the Christian, Arabian writers have reported a tissue of astonishing prodigies, said to have occurred in connexion with |