The Dabistan

/•J HJ

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The unbelievers, who are in opposition to the
prophet assert, that he has adopted the morals of
Amral Kais1 and mixed them with the Koran, that
likewise he has frequently made use therein of the
ideas of other poets, and even frequently gave place
in it to the usages of paganism, with which he
had been pleased. There are other controversies
current. It will be best to attend to the following
observation: What avail the doubts of the Shiahs?
They attack in their speeches the Vicars of the
prophet; when the first party (the Sonnites) repress
the answer to it upon their tongues, let the other
party too refrain from dispute.

The arguments being carried to this point, the
khaiif of God dismissed the parties.

One day a Nazarene came to pay his submissive
respects to the khaiif of God, and challenged any of

1 Arnral Kais, son of Hajr, king of the Arabs of the tribe of Kendah,
according to Herbelot, of Asad, was, according to Sale, one of the great-
est poets before Muhammedisra, and one of the seven, whose compositions
were suspended upon silken stuff in golden letters in the temple of
Mecca, and therefore called moallakat, «* suspended." His poems,
translated by Sir W. Jones (vol. X. of his Works), are amatory, and have
nothing of religion which Muhammed could borrow. Amralkais was one
of the adversaries of the prophet, and wrote satires and invectives against
him, which were answered by Labid, another of the seven poets, but
who ranged himself on the side of Muhammed. The Arabian prophet
certainly took many tenets and customs from former times and religions:
thus he confirmed the holiness of the temple of Mecca and its environs,
which were held in veneration long before him ; thus he adopted from
Judaism several laws relating to marriages, divorces, etc., etc.