verty and misery."

There are twenty-nine chapters of the "Koran," which begin with certain
letters of the alphabet: some with a single one, others with more. These
letters the Mohammedans believe to be the peculiar marks of the "Koran,"
and to conceal several profound mysteries, the certain understanding of
which, the more intelligent confess, has not been communicated to any
mortal, their prophet only excepted. Notwithstanding which, some will
take the liberty of guessing at their meaning by that species of Cabbala
called by the Jews, Notarikon, and suppose the letters to stand for as
many words expressing the names and attributes of God, his works,
ordinances, and decrees; and therefore these mysterious letters, as well
as the verses themselves, seem in the "Koran" to be called signs. Others
explain the intent of these letters from their nature or organ, or else
from their value in numbers, according to another species of the Jewish
Cabbala called Gematria; the uncertainty of these conjectures
sufficiently appears from their disagreement. Thus, for example, five
chapters, one of which is the second, begin with the letters A.L.M.,
which some imagine to stand for _Allah latif magid_--"God is gracious
and to be glorified"--or, _Ana li minni_--"to me and from me"--belongs
all perfection, and proceeds all good; or else for _Ana Allah alam_--"I
am the most wise God"--taking the first letter to mark the beginning of
the first word, the second the middle of the second word, and the third
the last of the third word: or for "Allah, Gabriel, Mohammed," the
author, revealer, and preacher of the "Koran." Others say that as the
letter A belongs to the lower part of the throat, the first of the
organs of speech; L to the palate, the middle organ: and M to the lips,
which are the last organs; so these letters signify that God is the
beginning, middle, and end, or ought to be praised in the beginning,
middle, and end of all our words and actions; or, as the total value of
those three letters in numbers is seventy-one, they signify that in the
space of so many years, the religion preached in the "Koran" should be
fully established. The conjecture of a learned Christian is, at least,
as certain as any of the former, who supposes those letters were set
there by the amanuensis, for _Amar li Mohammed_--"at the command of
Mohammed"--as the five letters prefixed to the nineteenth chapter seem
to be there written by a Jewish scribe, for _Cob