pirit in which the
Coran was composed, as Catholicism is from the spirit of the
Gospel; and modern Islamism is grounded upon tradition. But in
tradition we find nothing but the Ideal, Invention, Fancy,
Historical facts, however they may have been floating among the
people in the days if Ibn 'Abbas, and the other founders of
genealogy, were trodden under feet, because men wished to remove
every barrier which stood in the way of self-glorification. And of
the thousand inventions which every day gave birth to, only those
were recognised as true which most flattered the religious and
national pride ..."

He also goes on to say:

"The time of creative activity, the gestation era of Moslem
knowledge, passed away. Hajjaj choked the young life in its own
blood, and the Abbaside dynasty, with kingly patriotism, sold the
dearly-bought conquests of the nation, first to the Persians, and
then to Turkish slaves, with the view of procuring an imaginary
security for their throne. And thus there arose for the spiritual
life also a new period. Already Wackidi had begun to work up into
shape the mass of his traditionary stores, and busy himself in the
department of scholastic industry. In the schools one could as
little affect now the material tradition, or alter its nature, as
attempt to change the organism of the new-born child. However
arbitrary might be the invention of the 'Miraj' (Mahomed's heavenly
journey), and other fabrications of the first century, they still
formed in this way the positive element and soul of religious,
political and social life. The schools, as always, confined their
exertions to collecting, comparing, abbreviating, systematising,
and commenting. The material was altogether divine; and any
unprejudiced historical inquiry, any simple and natural
interpretation of the Coran, any free judgment on tradition or its
origin, was condemned as apostasy. The only task that remained was
to work up, in scholastic form, the existing material; and in this
way was developed a literature of boundless dimensions, which yet
at bottom possessed nothing real. The whole spiritual activity of
the Mohamedans, from the time of the prophet to the present day, is
a dream; but it is a dream in which a large portion of the human
race have lived; and it has