give him nothing at all. Whosoever effects it, I promise to inflict upon him but one single punishment for that one single ill deed. After this, I came down again to Moses, who desired me to return again but I said, I have gone back unto my Lord until I am quite ashamed.

Again, a tradition says, Whosoever shall designedly come unto this chapel, and be enduring any want or deficiency, either relating to this world, and shall therein pray three or four Rakás to him, is assured a speedy performance of his request; and he shall know the blessedness of that spot wherein the Prophet prayed. This chapel is called the Chapel of the Prophet; viz. the chapel east of the Rock. At this time the Chapel of the Chain is neglected the chapel built by Abdul-Malik-Ibn-Marwán. There is an old tradition about this last chapel, That herein the Prophet met with the bright black-eyed ones, on the night of his ascent to heaven. The tradition is derived from Abdurrahmán-Ibn-Yazid, and is as follows: Muhammad never saw the bright black-eyed ones until the night of his journey to Jerusalem. Then, whilst he was walking about the underground vaults of the Mosque, Gabriel met him, and said unto him, Would you like to see the bright black-eyed? Upon his saying, Certainly; Gabriel said, Then enter the Rock.

Muhammad, upon this, advanced towards the chapel, and came upon them; for, behold! certain women sitting. He saluted them. Upon which they said, We salute thee also. The peace and compassion and blessing of God be with thee! He then said, Who are ye? God's mercy be with ye! They replied, We are the good and beautiful wives of the people who follow piety. They shall be strong, and never weak; they shall be youthful, and never old; they shall endure, and never depart. Then another tradition asserts, that Gabriel said to Muhammad, Enter this gate, and look towards the right, and thou shalt see their curtain which he did, and saw the women sitting; who replied to his interrogatories, We are the good and beautiful wives of good and pious men, who shall behold our bright and merry eyes.

This, then, is the great privilege of which this glorious Mosque can boast. It can boast of the numerous assemblage, the unanimous confluence of every one of the prophets and apostles and angels; and also it can boast of the especial virtues of prayer. offered therein by those who believe in, and are bound by covenant to, the Elect One, to Adam, and to all the prophets from Adam downwards. Nevertheless, all the world do not agree; and learned men have some difference of opinion about the prayer offered up by Muhammad among

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the prophets that night. One of these says, prayer was the commonly used prayer, totidem verbis; viz., the Supplication, and the commemorative Expressions of God's name: for he says, These are the most eminent and noble prayers; these the soundest and safest words. Especially, new forms of expression impose a burden upon divinely-sanctioned duty. There is another tradition, that when Muhammad rode upon the black one to Heaven, he prayed among the prophets the noontide prayer, the afternoon prayer, the twilight prayer, and the night-shadowing prayer, before he went up to Heaven. In another tradition it is said, that several learned men, and those orthodox, assert that Muhammad prayed merely the essential part of the prayer, as of necessity prescribed in the divine law, without pronouncing the summons aloud, and without any standing upright.

We are told also that the Prophet stood and prayed in the night; and having prayed two Rakás before dawn, he said, O God! I beseech thee for thy mercy, whereby my heart may be led in the right way, and all that is scattered abroad may be brought together, and all dispersed bands may be assembled in one, and whereby agreement with me may return again, and my grand points of doctrine be committed to memory, and my testimony be openly proclaimed, and my deeds be remem

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bered, and my face be made white, and my right and true way be breathed in upon men, and I myself preserved from every ill. O God!, grant that I may follow the true faith, the true opinion; nor be of the number of the infidels. Oh! of thy mercy, grant to thy people an exaltation in this world conjointly with glory in the next. O God! grant me salvation in thy judgments; and grant me the reposing-place of martyrs, a blessed existence, and the companionship of prophets, and victory over my enemies. Aid me, O God! in my need, when my design cannot be effected, or my work is weakened (whenever I am frustrated in my plans, or weak in effecting them): for I deliver myself as a poor pensioner upon thy bounty. Thus, then, I beseech thee, O efficient Orderer of events! O thou that healest heart-cares, as thou knockest down and prostratest the deeps! save and deliver me from the wrath that inflames, from wishes that destroy, from the temptations that bury us. O God! let not thy design be frustrated, or thy work be weakened; and let not any one of those who believe thee entertain at the last any doubt respecting thee, the sole Saviour and giver of all good things that render life happy; or doubt respecting the emolument (among the saints) of one of thy servants, or of his happy condition; for thou givest to all thy creatures. Thee, therefore, I

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herein supplicate; and this do I beseech of thee, O Lord of the universe. O God! lead us in the right way, with those who pursue the true road; not with those who stay therefrom, and hold back, evading war with thy enemies. Peace to those men whom we may love with thy love; but foes will we be unto thy foes-those of thy creatures who rebel. O God! this is my supplication: with thee is favour and consent. This is our earnest endeavour; but we commit ourselves to thy supreme efficiency. There is neither device nor power but in God. O God! thou originator of irresistible cause and righteous effect! I beseech of thee to grant me peace on the day of thy threatenings, and Paradise on the day of eternity, among those martyrs who approach thee nearly; there to bow the head and adore with those who fulfil to the utmost thy covenant. Thou art the compassionate, the tender-loving; thou hast done what thou wilt. Praise be unto him who putteth on might as a cloak! Praise be unto him who is clothed with the robe of majesty and glory! Praise be unto him unto whom alone praise is due! Praise to the still-surpassing one! the ever-propitious one! Praise to the mighty and bounteous one! Praise to him whose force of intellect in his

works exceedeth every thing. O God! grant unto me light in my heart, and light in my ears,