Mahomet had said, Appropinquavit hora, et scissa est luna,
(Koran, c. 54, v. 1; in Maracci, tom. ii. p. 688.) This figure of
rhetoric has been converted into a fact, which is said to be attested
by the most respectable eye-witnesses, (Maracci, tom. ii. p. 690.) The
festival is still celebrated by the Persians, (Chardin, tom. iv. p.
201;) and the legend is tediously spun out by Gagnier, (Vie de Mahomet,
tom. i. p. 183-234,) on the faith, as it should seem, of the credulous
Al Jannabi. Yet a Mahometan doctor has arraigned the credit of
the principal witness, (apud Pocock, Specimen, p. 187;) the best
interpreters are content with the simple sense of the Koran. (Al
Beidawi, apud Hottinger, Hist. Orient. l. ii. p. 302;) and the silence
of Abulfeda is worthy of a prince and a philosopher. * Note: Compare
Hamaker Notes to Inc. Auct. Lib. de Exped. Memphides, p. 62--M.]

[Footnote 100: Abulpharagius, in Specimen Hist. Arab. p. 17; and his
scepticism is justified in the notes of Pocock, p. 190-194, from the
purest authorities.]

The polytheist is oppressed and distracted by the variety of
superstition: a thousand rites of Egyptian origin were interwoven
with the essence of the Mosaic law; and the spirit of the gospel had
evaporated in the pageantry of the church. The prophet of Mecca was
tempted by prejudice, or policy, or patriotism, to sanctify the rites
of the Arabians, and the custom of visiting the holy stone of the
Caaba. But the precepts of Mahomet himself inculcates a more simple and
rational piety: prayer, fasting, and alms, are the religious duties of a
Mussulman; and he is encouraged to hope, that prayer will carry him half
way to God, fasting will bring him to the door of his palace, and alms
will gain him admittance. [101] I. According to the tradition of the
nocturnal journey, the apostle, in his personal conference with the
Deity, was commanded to impose on his disciples the daily obligation of
fifty prayers. By the advice of Moses, he applied for an alleviation
of this intolerable burden; the number was gradually reduced to five;
without any dispensation of business or pleasure, or time or place:
the devotion of the faithful is repeated at daybreak, at noon, in the
afternoon, in the evening, and at the first watch of the night; and in
the present decay of religious fervor, our travellers are edified by the
profound humility and attention of the Turks and Persians. Cleanliness
is the key of prayer: the frequent