best; we used to say, a great man was born to-
night, and a great man died."[12] Then His Majesty said, "You
mistook, because the shootings of these stars are neither for the
life nor death of any person; but when our cherisher orders a work,
the bearers of the imperial throne sing hallelujahs; and the
inhabitants of the regions who are near the bearers repeat it, till
it reaches the lowest regions. After the angels which are near the
bearers of the imperial throne say, "What did your cherisher order?"
Then they are informed; and so it is handed from one region to
another, till the information reaches the people of the lowest
region. Then the devils steal it, and carry it to their friends,
(that is) magicians; and these stars are thrown at these devils; not
for the birth or death of any person. Then the things which the
magicians tell, having heard from the devils, are true, but these
magicians tell lies, and exaggerate in what they hear".'

Kutadah said, 'God has created stars for three uses; one of them, as
a cause of ornament of the regions; the second, to stone the devil
with; the third, to direct people going through forests and on the
sea. Therefore, whoever shall explain them otherwise, does wrong, and
loses his time, and speaks from his own invention and
embellishes'.[13]

Ibn Abbas. ['The prophet said,] "Whoever attains to the knowledge of
astrology for any other explanation than the three aforementioned,
then verily he has attained to a branch of magic. An astrologer is a
magician, and a magician is a necromancer, and a necromancer is an
infidel."'[14]

This work contains the precepts and sayings of Muhammad, as declared
by his companions, who themselves heard them, or by those who heard
them immediately from those companions; and they are considered to be
binding upon the faith and conduct of Musalmans, though not all
delivered from inspiration.

Everything that is written in the Koran itself is supposed to have
been brought direct from God by the angel Gabriel.[15]

Notes:

1. In planting mango groves, it is a rule that they shall be as far
from each other as not to admit of their branches ever meeting.
'Plant trees, but let them not touch' ('_Am lagao, nis lagen nahin_')
is the maxim. [W. H. S.]

2. _Pakka_; the word here means 'cemented with lime mortar', and not
only with mud (_kachcha_).

3. The _chambeli_ is known in science as the _Jasminum grandiflorum_,
and the mango-tree as _Mangifera