Historical Statements of the Koran [pp. 195-230]

Historical Statements of the Koran.
our family, and we are come with a small sum of money:
yet give unto usfitll measure, and bestow corn upon us as
alms; for God rewardeth the alms-givers. Joseph said unto
them, do ye know what ye did unto Joseph and his brother,
when ye were ignorant of the consequences thereof? They
answered, art thou Joseph? He replied, I am Joseph and
this is my brother. Now hath God been gracious unto us.
They said, now hath God chosen thee above us; and we
have surely been sinners. Joseph said, let there be no reproach cast on you this day. God forgiveth you; for he is
the most merciffl of those who show mercy." (Kor. xii.
Sale, vol. ii. p. 50. Lond(l. 1801.)
The twenty-eighth chapter of the Koran, called The
Story, opens with these words: c"In the name of God
most merciful, T. S. M. These are the signs of the Perspicuous Book. We dictate unto thee some of the history of Moses* and Pharaoht with truth for those who believe." And accordingly we have a very copious account of
the great lawgiver, both in this same chapter and in several
others. In reading it over we are struck with the illustration
which it yields of the way in which these shreds of sacred
history were gathered by the pseudoapostle. We can perceive throughout an effort to retain as much as possible of
what he had been told, without regard to the causes and connexions of events. Facts, which are stated in the Scriptures
as the natural results of antecedent facts, stand here detached
and unaccounted for. This would indeed be in Mohammed's
favour, if he were alluding to events already known, as such
-just as the allusions in the Psalms and Prophets prove that
the Jews were acquainted with the Pentateuch. But such is
not the case. Here, as elsewhere, he professes to reveal
what was before unknown, and by so doing proves himself a
liar. Our object is, to show how much of the Scripture history is borrowed, and how much new matter is interpolated.
He mentions Pharaoh's tyranny, and speaks of it as general, though most excessive towards the Hebrews. He mentions the sanguinary edict with respect to Jewish children,
and the signal deliverance of Moses from the water, his
adoption by Pharaoh's wife (not daughter,) and his
strange restoration to his mother as a nurse; his killing
the Egyptian, and his flight to Midian,t his behaviour
* Musa. t Firain.
VOL. iv. No. II. -2 D
t Madian.
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