XXIV.ABRAHAM.[296]

Abraham or Abram, as he was first called, was the son of Terah, general of Nimrod’s army, and Amtelai, daughter of Carnebo. He was born at Ur of the Chaldees, in the year 1948 after the Creation.

On the night on which Abraham was born, Terah’s friends, amongst whom were many councillors and soothsayers of Nimrod, were feasting in the house. On leaving, late at night, they observed an unusual star in the east; it seemed to run from one quarter of the heavens to another, and to devour four stars which were there. All gazed in astonishment on this wondrous sight. “Truly,” said they, “this can signify nothing else but that Terah’s new-born son will become great and powerful, will conquer the whole realm, and dethrone great princes, and seize on their possessions.”

Next morning they hastened to the king, to announce to him what they had seen, and what was their interpretation of the vision, and to advise the slaughter of the young child, and that Terah should be compensated with a liberal sum of money.

Nimrod accordingly sent gold and silver to Terah, and asked his son in exchange, but Terah refused. Then the king sent and threatened to burn down and utterly destroy the whole house of Terah, unless the child were surrendered. In the meantime one of the female slaves had born a son; this Terah gave to the royal officers, who, supposing it to be the son of the householder, brought it before Nimrod and slew it.

Then, to secure Abraham, Terah concealed him and his mother and nurse in a cave.

But there is another version of the story, and it is as follows:—

Nimrod had long read in the stars that a child would be born who would oppose his power and his religion, and would finally overcome both.

Acting on the advice of his wise men, he built a house, sixty ells high and eighty ells broad, into which all pregnant women were brought to be delivered, and the nurses were instructed to put to death all the boys that were born, but to make handsome presents to the mothers who were brought to bed of daughters.

After seventy thousand male children had thus perished, the angels of heaven turned to the All Mighty, and besought Him with tears to stay this cruel murder of innocents.

“I slumber not, I sleep not,” God answered. “Ye shall see that this atrocity shall not pass unpunished.”

Shortly after, Terah’s wife was pregnant; she concealed her situation as long as was possible, pretending that she was ill; but when she could conceal it no more, the infant crept behind her breasts, so that she appeared to every eye as if nothing were about to take place.

When the time came for her delivery, she went in fear out of the city, and wandered in the desert till she lighted on a cave, into which she entered. Next morning she was delivered of a son, Abraham, whose face shone, so that the grotto was as light as though the sun were casting a golden beam into it. She wrapped the child in a mantle, and left it there to the custody of God and His angels, and returned home. God heard the cry of the weeping infant, and He sent His angel Gabriel to the cave, who let the child suck milk out of his fore-finger. But according to another account he opened two holes in the cave, from which dropped oil and flour to nourish Abraham. Others, however, say that Terah visited the cave every day, and nursed and fed the child.

According to the Arab tradition, which follows the Jewish in most particulars, the mother, on visiting the cave, found the infant sucking its two thumbs. Now out of one of its thumbs flowed milk, and out of the other, honey, and thus the babe nourished itself: or, say others, from one finger flowed water when he sucked it; from a second, milk; from a third, honey; from a fourth, the juice of dates; and from the little finger, butter.[297]

When Abraham had been in the cave, according to some,three years, according to others ten, and according to others thirteen, he left the cavern and stood on the face of the desert. And when he saw the sun shining in all its glory, he was filled with wonder, and he thought, “Surely the sun is God the Creator!” and he knelt down and worshipped the sun. But when evening came, the sun went down in the west, and Abraham said, “No! the Author of creation cannot set.” Now the moon arose in the east, and the stars looked out of the firmament. Then said Abraham, “This moon must indeed be God, and all the stars are His host!” And kneeling down he adored the moon.

But after some hours of darkness the moon set, and from the east appeared once more the bright face of the sun. Then said Abraham, “Verily these heavenly bodies are no gods, for they obey law: I will worship Him who imposed the law upon them.”

The Arab story is this. When Abraham came out of the cave, he saw a number of flocks and herds, and he said to his mother, “Who is lord of these?” She answered, “Your father Azar (Terah).” “And who is the lord of Azar?” he further asked. She replied, “Nimrod.” “And who is the lord of Nimrod?” “Oh, hush, my son,” said she, striking him on the mouth; “you must not push your questions so far.” But it was by following this train of thought that Abraham arrived at the knowledge of the one true God.

Another Rabbinical story is, that Abraham was only ten days in the cave after his birth, and then he was able to walk, and he left it. But his mother, who visited the grotto, finding him gone, was a prey to anguish and fear.

Wandering along the bank of the river, searching for her child, she met Abraham, but did not recognize him, as he had grown tall; and she asked him if he had seen a little baby anywhere.

“I am he whom you seek,” answered Abraham.

“Is this possible!” exclaimed the mother. “Could you grow to such a height, and be able to walk and talk, in ten days?”

“Yes, mother,” answered the youthful prodigy; “all this has taken place that you might know that there is but one living and true God who made heaven and earth, who dwells in heaven and fills the earth with His goodness.”

“What!” asked Amtelai, “is there another god besides Nimrod?”

“By all means,” replied the infant son; “there is a God in heaven, who is also the God who made Nimrod. Now go to Nimrod and announce this to him.”

Abraham’s mother related all this to her husband, who bore the message to the king. Nimrod, greatly alarmed, consulted his council what was to be done with the boy.[298]

The council replied that he had nothing to fear from an infant of ten days,—he, the king and god of the world! But Nimrod was not satisfied. Then Satan, putting on a black robe, mingled with the advisers of the monarch and said, “Let the king open his arsenal, arm all his troops, and march against this precocious infant.” This advice fell in completely with Nimrod’s own personal fears, and his army was marched against the baby. But when Abraham saw the host drawn up in battle array, he cried to heaven with many tears, and Gabriel came to his succour, enveloped the infant in clouds, and snatched him from the sight of those who came against him; and they, frightened at the cloud and darkness, fled precipitately to Babylon.

Abraham followed them on the shoulders of Gabriel, and reaching the gates of the city in an instant of time, he cried, “The Eternal One is the true and only God, and none other is like Him! He is the God of heaven, God of gods and Lord of Nimrod! Be convinced of this, all ye men, women and children who dwell here, even as I am Abraham, his servant.” Then he sought his parents, and bade Terah go and fulfil his command to Nimrod.

Terah went accordingly, and announced to the king that his son, whom the army had been unable to capture, had, in a brief space of time, traversed a country across which was forty days’ journey.

Nimrod quaked, and consulted his princes, who advised him to institute a festival of seven days, during which every subject and dweller on the face of the earth was to make a pilgrimage to his palace, and there to worship and adore him.

In the meantime Nimrod, being very curious to see Abraham, ordered Terah to bring him into his royal presence. The child entered the throne-room boldly, and going to the foot of thesteps which led to the throne, he exclaimed: “Woe to thee, accursed Nimrod, blasphemer of God! Acknowledge, O Nimrod, that the true God is without body, everlasting, never slumbering nor sleeping; acknowledge that He created the world, that all men may believe in Him likewise!”

At the same moment all the idols in the palace fell, and the king rolled from his throne in convulsions, and remained in a fit for two hours.

When he came to himself again, he said to Abraham, “Was that thy voice, or was it the voice of God?”

Abraham answered, “It was the voice of the meanest of His creatures.”

“Then your God must be great and mighty, and a King of kings.”

Nimrod now suffered Abraham to depart, and as his anger was abated, the child remained in his father’s house, and no attempts were made against his life.

Here must be inserted a legend of the childhood of Abraham, which I have ventured to render into verse.

THE GIFT OF THE KING.

Nimrod the Cushite sat upon a throneOf gold, encrusted with the sapphire stone,And round the monarch stood, in triple rank,Three hundred ruddy pages, like a bankOf roses all a-blow.Two gentle boys, with blue eyes clear as glass,And locks as light as tufted cotton grass,And faces as the snowThat lies on Ararat, and flushes pinkOn summer evenings, as the sun doth sink,Were stationed by the royal golden chairWith fillets of carnation in their hair,And clothed in silken vesture, candid, clean,To flutter fans of burnished blue and green,Fashioned of peacock’s plume.A little lower, on a second stageOn either side, was placed a graceful page,To raise a fragrant fume—With costly woods and gums on burning coalsThat glowed on tripods, in bright silver bowls;And at the basement of the marble stair,Sweet singing choirs and harping minstrels were,In amber kirtles purple gilt and sashed.The throbbing strings in silver ripples flashed,Where slaves the choral songAccompanied with psaltery and lyre,In red and saffron, like to men of fire,Whilst hoarsely boomed the gong:Or silver cymbals clashed, or, waxing shrill,Danced up the scale a flute’s melodious thrill.Now at the monarch’s signal, pages twain,With sunny hair as ripened autumn grain,And robed in lustrous silver tissue, shotWith changing hues of blue forget-me-not,Start nimbly forth, and bendBefore the monarch, at his gilded stool,And crystal goblets brimming, sweet and cool,Obsequiously extend;But Nimrod, slightly stirring, stately, calm,Towards the right-hand beaker thrusts his arm,And, languid, raises it towards his lips;Yet ere he of the ruby liquor sips,He notices upon the surface lie—Fallen in and fluttering—a feeble fly,With draggled wings outspread.Then shot from Nimrod’s eyes an angry flare,And passionately down the marble stairThe costly draught he shed.He spoke no word, but with a finger wave,Made signal to a scarlet-vested slave;And as the lad before him, quaking, kneels,Above him swift the gleaming falchion wheels,Then flashes down, and, with one leap, his headBounds from his shoulders, and bespirts with redThe alabaster floor.And, mingled with the outpoured Persian wine,Descends the steps a sliding purple lineOf smoking, dribbled gore;And floats the little midge upon a floodOf fragrant grape-juice, and of roseate blood.Then Nimrod said: “I would yon ugly stainWere wiped away; and thou, my chamberlain,Obtain for me a stripling, to replaceThis petty fool. Let him have comely face,And be of slender mould:Be lithely built, of noble birth; a youth,The choicest thou canst find. His cost, in sooth!I heed not. Stint no gold,But buy a goodly slave: for I, a king,Will have the best, the best of everything—Of gems, of slaves, of fabrics, meats, or wine;The best, the very best on earth be mine.”Then, prostrate flung before his master’s throne,The servant said, “Sire! Terah hath a sonWhose equal in the whole round world is none,Belovèd as himself.But, Sire! I fear the father will not deignTo yield his son as slave through love of gain,For great is he in wealth.”“Go!” said the monarch, “I must have the child:Be sure the father can be reconciled,If you expend of gold a goodly store,And, if he haggles at your price, bid more;I will it, chamberlain!I care not what the cost. I’ll have the lad!”And then, he leaned him idly back, and badeThe slaves to fan again.Now on the morrow, to the royal court,Terah Ben-Nahor from old Ur was brought—Protesting loud he would not yield his sonAs slave, at any price, to any one.“My flesh and blood be sold!Fie on you! Do you reckon that I prizeMy first-begotten as mere merchandise,To barter him for gold!A curse on him who would the old man’s stay,That bears him up, with money buy away!Require me not to offer child of mineTo serve and brim a tyrant’s cup with wine;To waste a life from morning to its grave,Branded in mind and soul and body ‘Slave!’How could I be repaid?His artless fondlings, all his childish ways:The reminiscences of olden days,That sudden flash and fade,Of her who bore him—her, my boyhood’s choice—Resemblances in feature, figure, voice,In gesture, manner, ay! in very toneOf pealing laugh, of that dear partner gone?Thou, Nimrod, to an old man condescendTo hear his story; your attention lend,And judge if acted well.Last year to me thou gav’st a goodly steed,From thine own stud, of purest Yemen breed:And thus it me befel.A stranger offered me a price so fairThat I accepted it, and sold the mare.”“My gift disposed of!” with an angry start,King Nimrod thundered: “Thou, old man, shalt smartFor this thy avarice. A royal gift,Thou knowest well, must never owners shift,As thing of little worth.”Then Terah raised his trembling hands, and said,“From thine own mouth, O King, has judgment sped.The Lord of Heaven and Earth,The King of Kings to me my offspring gave,And shall I sell His gift to be a slave?Nimrod! that child, which is His royal gift,—Thy mouth hath said it,—may not owners shift.”

Nimrod the Cushite sat upon a throne

Of gold, encrusted with the sapphire stone,

And round the monarch stood, in triple rank,

Three hundred ruddy pages, like a bank

Of roses all a-blow.

Two gentle boys, with blue eyes clear as glass,

And locks as light as tufted cotton grass,

And faces as the snow

That lies on Ararat, and flushes pink

On summer evenings, as the sun doth sink,

Were stationed by the royal golden chair

With fillets of carnation in their hair,

And clothed in silken vesture, candid, clean,

To flutter fans of burnished blue and green,

Fashioned of peacock’s plume.

A little lower, on a second stage

On either side, was placed a graceful page,

To raise a fragrant fume—

With costly woods and gums on burning coals

That glowed on tripods, in bright silver bowls;

And at the basement of the marble stair,

Sweet singing choirs and harping minstrels were,

In amber kirtles purple gilt and sashed.

The throbbing strings in silver ripples flashed,

Where slaves the choral song

Accompanied with psaltery and lyre,

In red and saffron, like to men of fire,

Whilst hoarsely boomed the gong:

Or silver cymbals clashed, or, waxing shrill,

Danced up the scale a flute’s melodious thrill.

Now at the monarch’s signal, pages twain,With sunny hair as ripened autumn grain,And robed in lustrous silver tissue, shotWith changing hues of blue forget-me-not,Start nimbly forth, and bendBefore the monarch, at his gilded stool,And crystal goblets brimming, sweet and cool,Obsequiously extend;But Nimrod, slightly stirring, stately, calm,Towards the right-hand beaker thrusts his arm,And, languid, raises it towards his lips;Yet ere he of the ruby liquor sips,He notices upon the surface lie—Fallen in and fluttering—a feeble fly,With draggled wings outspread.Then shot from Nimrod’s eyes an angry flare,And passionately down the marble stairThe costly draught he shed.He spoke no word, but with a finger wave,Made signal to a scarlet-vested slave;And as the lad before him, quaking, kneels,Above him swift the gleaming falchion wheels,Then flashes down, and, with one leap, his headBounds from his shoulders, and bespirts with redThe alabaster floor.And, mingled with the outpoured Persian wine,Descends the steps a sliding purple lineOf smoking, dribbled gore;And floats the little midge upon a floodOf fragrant grape-juice, and of roseate blood.

Now at the monarch’s signal, pages twain,

With sunny hair as ripened autumn grain,

And robed in lustrous silver tissue, shot

With changing hues of blue forget-me-not,

Start nimbly forth, and bend

Before the monarch, at his gilded stool,

And crystal goblets brimming, sweet and cool,

Obsequiously extend;

But Nimrod, slightly stirring, stately, calm,

Towards the right-hand beaker thrusts his arm,

And, languid, raises it towards his lips;

Yet ere he of the ruby liquor sips,

He notices upon the surface lie—

Fallen in and fluttering—a feeble fly,

With draggled wings outspread.

Then shot from Nimrod’s eyes an angry flare,

And passionately down the marble stair

The costly draught he shed.

He spoke no word, but with a finger wave,

Made signal to a scarlet-vested slave;

And as the lad before him, quaking, kneels,

Above him swift the gleaming falchion wheels,

Then flashes down, and, with one leap, his head

Bounds from his shoulders, and bespirts with red

The alabaster floor.

And, mingled with the outpoured Persian wine,

Descends the steps a sliding purple line

Of smoking, dribbled gore;

And floats the little midge upon a flood

Of fragrant grape-juice, and of roseate blood.

Then Nimrod said: “I would yon ugly stainWere wiped away; and thou, my chamberlain,Obtain for me a stripling, to replaceThis petty fool. Let him have comely face,And be of slender mould:Be lithely built, of noble birth; a youth,The choicest thou canst find. His cost, in sooth!I heed not. Stint no gold,But buy a goodly slave: for I, a king,Will have the best, the best of everything—Of gems, of slaves, of fabrics, meats, or wine;The best, the very best on earth be mine.”Then, prostrate flung before his master’s throne,The servant said, “Sire! Terah hath a sonWhose equal in the whole round world is none,Belovèd as himself.But, Sire! I fear the father will not deignTo yield his son as slave through love of gain,For great is he in wealth.”“Go!” said the monarch, “I must have the child:Be sure the father can be reconciled,If you expend of gold a goodly store,And, if he haggles at your price, bid more;I will it, chamberlain!I care not what the cost. I’ll have the lad!”And then, he leaned him idly back, and badeThe slaves to fan again.

Then Nimrod said: “I would yon ugly stain

Were wiped away; and thou, my chamberlain,

Obtain for me a stripling, to replace

This petty fool. Let him have comely face,

And be of slender mould:

Be lithely built, of noble birth; a youth,

The choicest thou canst find. His cost, in sooth!

I heed not. Stint no gold,

But buy a goodly slave: for I, a king,

Will have the best, the best of everything—

Of gems, of slaves, of fabrics, meats, or wine;

The best, the very best on earth be mine.”

Then, prostrate flung before his master’s throne,

The servant said, “Sire! Terah hath a son

Whose equal in the whole round world is none,

Belovèd as himself.

But, Sire! I fear the father will not deign

To yield his son as slave through love of gain,

For great is he in wealth.”

“Go!” said the monarch, “I must have the child:

Be sure the father can be reconciled,

If you expend of gold a goodly store,

And, if he haggles at your price, bid more;

I will it, chamberlain!

I care not what the cost. I’ll have the lad!”

And then, he leaned him idly back, and bade

The slaves to fan again.

Now on the morrow, to the royal court,Terah Ben-Nahor from old Ur was brought—Protesting loud he would not yield his sonAs slave, at any price, to any one.“My flesh and blood be sold!Fie on you! Do you reckon that I prizeMy first-begotten as mere merchandise,To barter him for gold!A curse on him who would the old man’s stay,That bears him up, with money buy away!Require me not to offer child of mineTo serve and brim a tyrant’s cup with wine;To waste a life from morning to its grave,Branded in mind and soul and body ‘Slave!’How could I be repaid?His artless fondlings, all his childish ways:The reminiscences of olden days,That sudden flash and fade,Of her who bore him—her, my boyhood’s choice—Resemblances in feature, figure, voice,In gesture, manner, ay! in very toneOf pealing laugh, of that dear partner gone?Thou, Nimrod, to an old man condescendTo hear his story; your attention lend,And judge if acted well.Last year to me thou gav’st a goodly steed,From thine own stud, of purest Yemen breed:And thus it me befel.A stranger offered me a price so fairThat I accepted it, and sold the mare.”“My gift disposed of!” with an angry start,King Nimrod thundered: “Thou, old man, shalt smartFor this thy avarice. A royal gift,Thou knowest well, must never owners shift,As thing of little worth.”Then Terah raised his trembling hands, and said,“From thine own mouth, O King, has judgment sped.The Lord of Heaven and Earth,The King of Kings to me my offspring gave,And shall I sell His gift to be a slave?Nimrod! that child, which is His royal gift,—Thy mouth hath said it,—may not owners shift.”

Now on the morrow, to the royal court,

Terah Ben-Nahor from old Ur was brought—

Protesting loud he would not yield his son

As slave, at any price, to any one.

“My flesh and blood be sold!

Fie on you! Do you reckon that I prize

My first-begotten as mere merchandise,

To barter him for gold!

A curse on him who would the old man’s stay,

That bears him up, with money buy away!

Require me not to offer child of mine

To serve and brim a tyrant’s cup with wine;

To waste a life from morning to its grave,

Branded in mind and soul and body ‘Slave!’

How could I be repaid?

His artless fondlings, all his childish ways:

The reminiscences of olden days,

That sudden flash and fade,

Of her who bore him—her, my boyhood’s choice—

Resemblances in feature, figure, voice,

In gesture, manner, ay! in very tone

Of pealing laugh, of that dear partner gone?

Thou, Nimrod, to an old man condescend

To hear his story; your attention lend,

And judge if acted well.

Last year to me thou gav’st a goodly steed,

From thine own stud, of purest Yemen breed:

And thus it me befel.

A stranger offered me a price so fair

That I accepted it, and sold the mare.”

“My gift disposed of!” with an angry start,

King Nimrod thundered: “Thou, old man, shalt smart

For this thy avarice. A royal gift,

Thou knowest well, must never owners shift,

As thing of little worth.”

Then Terah raised his trembling hands, and said,

“From thine own mouth, O King, has judgment sped.

The Lord of Heaven and Earth,

The King of Kings to me my offspring gave,

And shall I sell His gift to be a slave?

Nimrod! that child, which is His royal gift,—

Thy mouth hath said it,—may not owners shift.”

At this time idolatry was commonly practised by all. Nimrod and his servants, Terah and his whole house, worshipped images of wood and stone. Terah had not only twelve idols of the twelve months which he adored, but he manufactured images and sold them.

One day, when Terah was absent, and Abraham was left to manage the shop, he thought the time had come when he must make his protest against idolatry. This he did as follows. Every purchaser who came, was asked by Abraham his age; if he answered fifty or sixty years old, Abraham exclaimed, “Woe to a man of such an age who adores the work of one day!” and the purchaser withdrew in shame.

Another version of the incident is more full.

A strong lusty fellow came one day to buy an idol, the strongest that there was. As he was going away with it, Abraham called after him, “How old are you?”

“Seventy years,” he answered.

“Oh, you fool!” said Abraham, “to adore a god younger than yourself.”

“What do you mean?” asked the purchaser.

“Why, you were born seventy years ago, and this god was made only yesterday.”

Hearing this, the buyer threw the idol away.

Shortly after, an old woman brought a dish of meal to set before the idols. Abraham took it, and then with a stick smashed all the gods except the biggest, into whose hands he placed the stick.

Terah, who was returning home, heard the noise of blows, and quickened his pace. When he entered, his gods were in pieces.

He accused Abraham angrily; but Abraham said, “My father, a woman brought this dish of meal for the gods: they all wanted to have it, and the strongest knocked the heads off the rest, lest they should eat it all.” And this, say the Mussulmans, was thefirstlie that Abraham told, but it was not a lie, but a justifiable falsehood.

Terah said this could not be true, for the images were of wood and stone.

“Let thine ear hear what thy mouth hath spoken,” said Abraham, and then he exhorted his father against idolatry.

Terah complained to Nimrod, who sent for Abraham, and hesaid to him, “Wilt thou not worship these idols? Well then, adore fire.”

“Why not water which quenches fire?” asked Abraham.

Nimrod.—“Very well; then worship water.”

Abraham.—“Why not the clouds which swallow the water?”

Nimrod.—“So be it; adore the clouds.”

Abraham.—“Rather let me adore wind which blows the clouds about.”

Nimrod.—“So be it; pray to the wind.”

Abraham.—“But man can stand up against the wind, and build it out of his house.”

Then Nimrod in a fury exclaimed, “Fire is my god, and that shall consume you.”

According to another version, a woman came to Abraham to buy a god, because thieves had stolen her former god; this gave the patriarch a text for his homily against idolatry. The woman was convinced.

“Believe in the true God,” said he, “and you will recover the things the thieves stole from your house.”

A few days after, the woman recovered all her lost goods, amongst them her image. Then she took a stone, and smashed its head, saying, “Oh, thou blockhead, not to be able to preserve my property and thyself from thieves!”

The report of what she had said and done reached the king, who ordered her to be executed. But Nimrod was uneasy, and he announced a grand ceremony to last for seven days, during which every one was to produce his gods and carry them about the streets, which were to be hung with gold and silks. His object was to dazzle Abraham’s eyes by the splendour of idol worship. He sent for Terah and Abraham, but the latter refused to attend. The Mussulmans say that Abraham excused himself thus: “I see in the stars that I am going to be very sick to-day.” This was thesecondlie Abraham told, but it was not a lie, it was a justifiable falsehood. Then the king sent his guard, who arrested him and cast him into a dungeon.

He lay in the dungeon ten days. The angel Gabriel brought him food, and a crystal fountain bubbled up through the soil of his cell.

Nimrod called his council together, and it was unanimously decided that Abraham should be burnt alive. The king therefore published a decree ordering every man to bring wood orother fuel for the heating of the kiln.[299]The wood was piled about the furnace to the height of five ells, for a circle of five ells diameter, and for three days and three nights the fire was kept up, and the flames licked the heavens, so that the oven was at a white heat. Then Nimrod ordered his jailer to produce Abraham. The prison-keeper humbly answered, that it was impossible that Abraham could be alive, for he had been given neither meat nor drink. But Nimrod answered, “Produce him alive or dead.”

Then the jailer went to the prison door and cried, “Abraham, livest thou?”

“I live,” answered the prisoner, “and am hearty.”

“How is that possible?” asked the jailer, astonished.

“Because the Almighty has wrought a miracle on my behalf. He is sole God, invisible, the Creator of the world, and the Lord of Nimrod.”

The jailer believed.

The news was conveyed to Nimrod, who ordered the immediate execution of the jailer; but as the executioner was about to smite off his head, he cried, “The Eternal One is alone the true God of the world, and the God of Nimrod who denies him.” And lo! the sword was blunted, and shivered into a thousand fragments.

Here we must add a few particulars from Mussulman sources.

“Who is your God?” asked Nimrod of Abraham, when brought before him.

“He who kills and makes alive again,” said Abraham.

“I can do that,” exclaimed Nimrod, and he ordered two prisoners before him; one he slew, the other he spared.

But Abraham said, “Behold the power of my God!” and he bade a dead man who had been four years in his grave, rise and bring him a white cock, a black raven, a green pigeon, and a gaily-coloured peacock. The dead man rose and obeyed. Then Abraham cut up the birds, but preserved their heads; and lo! from the heads new bodies sprouted.

“Now,” said Abraham, “do the same.”

But Nimrod could not.

“If thou art a God,” said Abraham again, “command the sun to rise to-morrow in the west and set in the east.”

But this he could not do.[300]

Nimrod was highly incensed, and ordered that Abraham should be at once precipitated into the fire. When he was brought before the king, say the Rabbis, the soothsayers recognized him as the boy at whose birth they had warned the king that one was come into the world who would be the father of a great nation which would subdue that of Nimrod, and would possess the whole earth and heaven.

“This is the man against whom we cautioned you,” they said; “his father Terah must have deceived you, O king, and not have given you up the right child.”

Terah, on being questioned, owned the truth.

“Who gave you this advice?” asked the king; “confess it, and your life shall be spared.”

Out of fear Terah told a lie, and said that Haran, his other son, had suggested the deception.

“For having given this advice,” said Nimrod, “Haran shall perish along with Abraham. Cast them both into the flames.” Abraham and Haran were now to be stripped and their hands and feet bound by ropes, and then they were to be thrown into the fire. But the servants of Nimrod who approached the brothers were caught by the flames which, like the tongues of serpents, shot out, curled round them, drew them into the fire, and consumed them.

Then Satan appeared to Nimrod, and instructed him how to make a catapult which would throw stones to a distance, and by means of which Abraham and Haran could be projected into the midst of the fire.

Haran was undecided in his mind whether to worship God or idols; sometimes he sided with Abraham, and sometimes with Terah. Now, the moment Haran was shot into the flames, his heart failed him, and he cried out that he would worship idols if his life were spared. But it was too late, he was burnt to ashes. But Abraham was unharmed. The cords which bound him were consumed, but for three days and nights he walked about in the flames, and felt no inconvenience.[301]

Then the king cried aloud, “Abraham, servant of the God of Heaven, come forth from the furnace to me.”

And Abraham came forth. Then the king said to him, “How is it that thou art not consumed?” And Abraham answered, “The Lord God of Heaven and Earth, whom I serve, hath delivered me.”

Instantly the flames were extinguished, and the wood burst forth into flower and fruit; and the pile was like a grove of flowering shrubs to look upon, and Angels descended and took Abraham and seated him in the midst.

The Arabic version of this part of the story is something different.

Nimrod could not see into the fire, so he ascended a high tower in his palace, and from the top looked down into the furnace, and saw that in the midst was a garden with flowers and a fountain of sparkling water, and Abraham seated on the grass beside the spring, conversing with an angel.[302]

Nimrod now loaded Abraham with presents, amongst which were two slaves named Oni and Eliezer; according to some, the latter was a son of the tyrant. Many followed Abraham home, and brought their children to him and said, “Now we see that the God in whom thou trustest, is the only true God; teach our children the truth, that they may serve Him in righteousness.” Thus three hundred persons accompanied Abraham home, most of whom were servants of the king, and of noble race.

Here follows in the Mussulman account the story of Nimrod’s attempt to reach heaven in a box, to which were attached four vultures. His object was, says Tabari, to kill the God of Abraham. He went up along with his vizir. After a night and day in the air, the king said to his vizir, “Open the window of the box towards the earth and tell me what you see.” He did so, and replied, “I see the earth.” After another day and night, he again looked out and saw the earth still; on the third day, at the king’s command he looked out and saw nothing. Then said Nimrod, “Open the window towards heaven and look out.” He did so and saw nothing. Then Nimrod shot three arrows into the sky, and they fell back with blood on them. So Nimrod said, “I have killed the God of Abraham.” But whence the blood came is unsettled. Some say that thearrows hit a bird which flew higher than the vultures; but others, with more probability, say they struck a fish, which was being carried by the wind, that had caught it up with the rain out of the sea.[303]

Abraham now married the daughter of his brother Haran, named Sarai or Jisha, “the seeress,” because she was endowed with the spirit of prophecy, say some, or, say others, because she was so beautiful that every one wanted to see her. At the time of his marriage, Abraham was aged fifty; others, however, suggest twenty-five.

Two years later, Nimrod was visited with a dream. He saw himself and all his army in a valley, near the furnace into which he had cast Abraham. A man resembling the latter stepped out of the furnace and approached the king, holding a naked sword. When Nimrod recoiled, the man cast an egg at his head; the egg broke and became a mighty river, which swept all his host away, saving only three men; and on looking at them, the king saw that they wore royal robes, and exactly resembled himself. Then the stream retreated into the egg, and when all the water was gathered into it, from the egg hopped out a chicken, which seated itself on Nimrod’s head, and pecked out one of his eyes.

Next morning the king sent for his soothsayers to explain the dream, and this was their interpretation: “Hear, O king! this dream presages to thee great misfortune, which Abraham and his posterity shall bring upon thee. The time will come when he will war with his forces against thee and thy forces, and will overcome them and put them to the sword. Thou alone wilt escape with three of thy confederates; but a messenger of Abraham will cause thy death. Therefore, O king! remember that thy council of wise men foretold this fifty-two years ago, in the stars at Abraham’s birth. As long as Abraham lives thou art in jeopardy. Wherefore should he be suffered to live any longer?”

Nimrod believing what was said, sent a servant to assassinate Abraham. But Eliezer, the slave, whom Nimrod had given to the patriarch, had been with the councillors when this advice was given, and he fled and told Abraham before the emissary of the tyrant arrived; and Abraham left his house and took refuge with Noah and Shem, and remained hidden with them for the space of one month.

Here Terah sought him in secret; and Abraham addressed him a long discourse on the vanity of idol-worship, and the evil of serving the godless tyrant Nimrod. And Noah and Shem supported him.

Then Terah, who grieved over the death of his son Haran, consented to all that Abraham had said, and he went forth with Abraham and his wife Sarah, and Lot his grandson, the son of Haran, and all his household, and they settled at Charan, where the land was fruitful and well watered. The dwellers in Charan associated themselves with Abraham, who instructed them in the knowledge and fear of the Lord.

For three years Abraham dwelt in Charan, till God called him to go further with his wife Sarah, and to take up his abode in Canaan; but Terah and Lot remained at Charan. Abraham reached Canaan and pitched his tent among the inhabitants of that land; and on the spot where God promised that He would give him all that pleasant country for his inheritance, he erected an altar to the Eternal One.

For fifteen years he had dwelt in Canaan, and Abraham was now aged 70, when, on the 15th day of the first month (Nisan), on the self-same day on which, in after years, the children of Israel went out of Egypt, the voice of God came to him saying, “I am the Lord that brought thee out of the furnace of Chaldæa; to thee will I give this land to inherit it.” And he said, “Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? Shall my descendants be faithful and true, and serve Thee the living God, or will they rebel against God, against Thee, as did the men before the Flood, and as did the men of Shinar who builded the tower?”

Then God bade him take an heifer of three years old, or a she-goat of three years old, and a ram, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. And he took all these and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another; but the birds divided he not.[304]And God said to him, “When, in after days, thy descendants shall build me a temple, in it shall these five kinds of victims be offered to me.”

“But,” said Abraham, “should the temple be destroyed, what then shall they do?”

“Then,” answered the Most Holy, “they shall offer to me in spirit, and I will pardon their sins.” The beasts and birds also signified the races over which his seed was to reign; the beasts he divided, and they betokened the Gentile races, from which they were to purge away their idolatry: butthe birds divided he not; for the birds signified the elect nation.

Then came ravens and vultures down upon the carcases, but Abraham drove them away (ver.11); a symbol of the protection which God would accord to the people, for His promise sake, and the sake of their father Abraham, when the powers of evil, or mighty princes, menaced them.

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham (ver.12), and he saw the four realms,—the horror-awakening Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Syro-Grecian, and Roman empires. And God said to Abraham (ver.13), “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.But in the fourth generation thy seed shall come hither again, after I have plagued the nation that has held them in bondage with 250 plagues.”

“Is this decree spoken to punish me for my crimes?” asked Abraham.

“No,” answered the Almighty: “Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age(ver.15); and Terah, who now bewails his former idolatry, has a share in the eternal happiness; also Ishmael, thy son, who shall be born to thee, will, in thy lifetime, repent and return to good, and the profanity of thy grandson Esau shalt thou not see.”’

And when the sun was set, it was dark, and the various periods of futurity passed before the eyes of the seer. He behelda smoking furnace(ver.17); this was the flaming Gehinom, Hell, where sinners shall expiate their iniquities. Then he sawa burning lamp: that was the Law given on Sinai, and itpassed between those pieces; that is, he saw Israel go through the Red Sea.

Then said the voice of God to the patriarch, “I have showed thee the Temple-worship, Law, Bondage, and Hell. I must tell thee that in the times to come, through the sins of thy children, the Temple will be destroyed, and the Law will be disregarded.

“Choose now, whether thou wilt have for their punishment, Bondage or Hell.”

And Abraham after long hesitation answered, “I choose Hell;” for he thought, “It is better to fall into the hands of God, than into the hands of men.”

But the Lord answered and said, “Not so; thou hast chosen wrongly, for from Bondage there will come deliverance, but from Gehinom, never.”

After that, Abraham returned to the land of Charan, and dwelt there many years; and he instructed the men, and Sarah the women, in the true religion. And when his father Terah was dead, God called him again, and bade him go forth to the land which God had promised him; and he went obediently, and Lot his brother’s son accompanied him. And he reached the land of Canaan, and pitched first his wife’s tent, and then his own, on the plain between Gerizim and Ebal; and he erected three altars in thanks to God for His call, for His having brought him into the promised land, and for having cast down his enemies before him. Then he went south, and pitched on the spot where stands Jerusalem.

And now a famine came upon the land; this was the third famine since the world was formed, and it was sent to prove Abraham. He murmured not, but went down with Sarah his wife, and his servants.

When he reached the River of Egypt (Wadi el Arisch), Abraham rested some days. As Abraham and Sarah walked together by the water-side, Abraham saw for the first time, reflected in the water, the beauty of Sarah; for he was so modest that he had never lifted his eyes to her face, and knew not what she was like, till he saw her in the water. Then, when he saw how beautiful she was, he persuaded her to pass as his sister in Egypt, for he feared lest he should be slain for her sake; but as a further precaution he shut her up in a chest.

On the frontier, the Custom-house officers insisted on his paying the customs due for the box, and required that it should be opened. Abraham offered to pay for the box as if it contained gold dust or gems, if only they would not enforce their right of search.

“Does it contain silk?” asked the officers.

“I will pay the tenth, as of silk,” he answered.

“Does it contain silver?” they further asked.

“I will pay for it as silver.”

“Nay, then it must contain gold.”

“I will pay for it as gold.”

“Maybe it contains the most rare and costly gems.”

“I will pay for it as for gems.”

In the altercation the chest was violently broken open, and lo! in it was seated a beautiful woman, so beautiful that her countenance illumined all Egypt; and the news reached the ears of Pharaoh. All this occurred in the night of the 15th of the month Nisan.

Abraham and Sarah were sorely troubled, and prayed to God to protect them. Then the angel of the Lord was sent to watch over Sarah, and the angel comforted her with these words, “Fear not; God has heard thy petitions!”

Pharaoh asked Sarah who that man was who accompanied her, and when she answered “My brother,” Pharaoh bade him to be brought before him, and he gave him rich gifts.

And Pharaoh asked Abraham, “Who is this woman?” He answered, “She is my sister.” This, say the Mussulmans, is thethirdlie that Abraham told; but it was not a lie, but a justifiable falsehood.

Pharaoh was filled with love for Sarah, and he offered her as his present for her hand, all his possessions of gold and silver and slaves, and the land of Goshen. And when he pressed his suit upon her with great vehemence, she cried to God and told him she was already married; then he was smitten with paralysis, and great plagues afflicted all his servants. But Pharaoh sent for Abraham, and returned him Sarah, his wife, and dismissed him with costly presents, and he gave to Sarah also his daughter, Hagar, to be her servant.

“Truly, my daughter, it is better,” said Pharaoh, “to be servant in a house which God has taken under His protection, than to command elsewhere.”

After a three months’ sojourn in Egypt, Abraham returned to Canaan.

According to Tabari, Hagar loved Sarah greatly. On their way back to Canaan, the provisions failed, and Abraham went out one day to get food, with a sack on his back; but the day was hot, so that he laid down and went to sleep. He did not awake till evening, and then he returned, but was ashamed to appear with the sack empty before his wife, so he filled it withsand. On reaching the tent he put the sack under his head and went to sleep again. Very early in the morning Sarah said to Hagar, “What has Abraham in his sack? open it and look.” So Hagar untied it, put in her hand and drew out flour. She and Sarah baked cakes of the flour, and woke Abraham and bade him eat. Then, full of wonder, he asked where they had obtained meal. They told him, and he understood that God had wrought a miracle.[305]

Now Abraham’s flocks and herds, and those of Lot, pastured together. Abraham’s cattle were muzzled that they should not feed in the lands of the neighbouring people; but Lot’s cattle were not muzzled. And when Abraham’s shepherds complained of this to those of Lot, the latter answered, “Your master is old, and has no children; soon he will die, and then all will belong to our master Lot.”

But Abraham spake to Lot and said, “Thy ways and my ways do not agree: we must part; do thou go to the left, and I will go to the right.” So they separated; and Lot departed from Abraham, and from the way of righteousness, and from the living God; but Abraham camped in Mamre.

After the failure of the Tower of Babel, and the people had been scattered over the whole earth, Chedorlaomer, one of Nimrod’s chief captains, had left his service, and had established a kingdom of his own in Elam. He speedily brought into subjection all the Canaanitish peoples that dwelt in the fertile valley of Jordan,—Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zebojim, and Zoar, and made them tributary to himself. These cities bore his yoke for twelve years, and then they rebelled. Five years after did Nimrod, who is also called Amraphel in the sacred text,[306]march against Chedorlaomer, but Nimrod was defeated, along with his allies, Arioch, king of Ellasar, and Tidal, king of many confederate nations; and obliged to enter into alliance with his former general, Chedorlaomer, and agree to assist him in bringing back the revolted cities—Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zebojim, and Zoar—to their allegiance.

Consequently a huge army of confederates, under Chedorlaomer, Nimrod or Amraphel, Arioch, and Tidal, overran the plain and valley of Jordan, and slew all the giants that were there. The country before them was a garden, and behind them it was a desert.

They resolved also to defeat, and utterly to destroy, Abraham, the servant of the Most High; for Nimrod (Amraphel) remembered the perils to which his soothsayers had assured him he was exposed so long as Abraham lived.

The rulers of the five cities—Bera (Ruffian), king of Sodom; Birsha (Evil-doer), king of Gomorrah; Shirrab (Covetous one), king of Admah; Shemeber (the Strong one), king of Zebojim; and the king (a nameless one) of Bela (the engulfing city)—went forth in battle array, and met the host of Chedorlaomer in the great plain of Siddim, from whose canals and fountains the Salt Sea, or Dead Sea, was afterwards formed; and there they were utterly routed, and fled in precipitate haste to the mountains and to the desert.

The king of Sodom alone escaped unharmed of all the five kings, by a miracle which God wrought, to exhibit His power to the dwellers in the plain, who had begun to doubt the truth of Abraham’s deliverance out of the burning, fiery furnace.

The conquerors took the spoils of Sodom, and carried away Lot, who was like Abraham in face, thinking that they had taken Abraham captive; and they placed him in chains.

Abraham was, in prophetic spirit, performing all the sacred rites, and preparing the unleavened cakes for the Paschal feast, for it was the Eve of the Passover, when the only giant who escaped the overthrow of the Rephaim by Chedorlaomer and his confederate kings,—Og, who was afterwards king of Basan, and who had been saved alive in the Flood of Noah,—came in haste to announce to the Patriarch the captivity of Lot.

Now Og had long cast his lustful eyes on Sarah, and he thought in his heart, “This Abraham is full of fire and zeal, like a sportsman; that I know well. He will rush into battle to deliver his kinsman Lot, and will perish; and then Sarah, his beautiful wife, will be mine.”

But, according to another version, it was the angel Michael who brought the news to Abraham; and to another, it was Oni, one of the slaves Nimrod had given him, and who had been sent to observe the progress of the war.

No sooner had Abraham heard the tidings than, filled withanxiety on Lot’s behalf, and with sympathy for the Sodomites, his neighbours, he called all his neighbours together, and all those who had followed him, and in earnest words exhorted them to prepare to fight and rescue Lot. But they, knowing the disparity of numbers, would make no promise; then he threatened them, but could not persuade them to join in what they regarded as an infatuated course certain to lead to destruction. Consequently Abraham was obliged to go against the enemy with only his own servants. But as they neared the plain, and saw the devastation wrought by the host of Chedorlaomer, they also slipped away in the night, and Abraham was left alone with Eliezer, his trusty slave, and his three friends Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. And he followed after the foe, as they retired with their spoil, till he reached one of the fountains of Jordan, which is named Paneas, or Dan.

Here his three friends forsook him, along with their wives, who had accompanied them thus far.

It was the night of the 15th Nisan, the self-same night in which in after-years the firstborn of Egypt would be slain; and Abraham’s heart fainted as he overtook the mighty host, and saw that they were countless as the sands of the sea-shore, and as grasshoppers for number.

But lo! God fought for Abraham. The grass-blades changed into swords, and the stubble into spears, and battled all that night; and in the morning, when he looked upon the host, they were all dead corpses. Thus he delivered Lot and all the captives, men, women, and children, and the spoil that had been carried away; and none stayed them, for all their foes lay dead upon the ground.

The King of Sodom came forth to meet Abraham, full of pride of heart because he had been miraculously delivered, and attributing all the glory of the victory to Divine interposition on his own behalf. But all the people knew that Abraham was the favoured of God, and their deliverer, and they built a throne of the trees that covered the plain, and which had been burnt in the war, and set Abraham as their prince and king thereon; therefore is that place called to this day, “The king’s dale.”[307]

But Abraham was little pleased with this exhibition of honour, and he thought upon what he had learnt of old fromthat aged man, Shem, consecrated by God to be His priest, when he fled to him in his cave from the tyranny of Nimrod.

Shem reigned now in the city of Salem, which was in later years called Jerusalem, and from his righteous government he was named Melchizedek (king of righteousness). And Abraham thought, “Will Shem ever forgive me for having drawn the sword against his grandsons, the sons of Elam?”

But Shem was of no less noble and considerate temper than Abraham; and he mused within himself, and said, “What sort of opinion can Abraham have formed of me, that such godless and violent hosts should have sprung from my loins, and have devastated the fair plain of Jordan, and carried away captive even his near kinsman!”

Then Shem, full of noble resolution to reconcile himself with Abraham, rose up and went forth, bearing bread and wine as tokens of friendship.

The words of God flowed from his mouth; he instructed Abraham in all that appertained to the high priest’s office, which was in future times to belong to his family; and before he left, he blessed Abraham with these words, “Blessed be Abraham of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.”[308]

But in so saying, Melchizedek erred grievously, for he blessed Abraham before he blessed God, and the Creator should be blessed first, and the creature blessed afterwards; therefore the high priesthood was taken from him, and was given to Aaron in after-times.

Of all the spoil which Abraham had taken, he separated a tenth part, and he gave it to Melchizedek, as the offering due to the priest, and this was the first tithe paid in the history of the world. All the booty of Sodom Abraham returned to the king thereof, and he took an oath, “I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou should say, I have made Abraham rich, save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”[309]

On account of this unselfishness, the remembrance of which was to be continued through all generations, God gave thedescendants of Abraham maxims to be written on their phylacteries and shoe-latchets; and the promise was made, “Over Edom will I cast out my shoe;”[310]that is, Edom, the most cruel oppressor of the chosen people, should fall under the condemnation of the Most High.

The end of Nimrod and his confederate kings is related with greater fulness by the Mussulman historians.

According to Tabari, God sent an army of flies against the host of Chedorlaomer and Nimrod, and these flies attacked the soldiers in their faces; and the flies were so numerous that the soldiers could not see one another; and the horses stung by them went mad, and leaped, and fell; so that, what with the horses and the flies, the army was entirely dispersed. Nimrod escaped to Babylon, but he was pursued by the meanest of the gnats of that host; it was blind of one eye and lame of one leg. When Nimrod sat down on his throne, the gnat settled upon his knee. Then the tyrant smote at it; and it rose, flew up one of his nostrils and entered his brain, which it began to devour.

Nimrod beat his face and his head, and when he did so the fly ceased gnawing at his brain, but he had no repose from his agonies, save when struck upon the head. Consequently there was, after that, always some one stationed by him to strike his head. The king had a large blacksmith’s hammer brought into his throne-room, and with that his princes and nobles smote him on the head; and the more violent the blow, the greater was the relief afforded. Nimrod reigned a thousand years before he felt the torment of the gnat; up to that moment he had suffered no pains. He lived for five hundred years with the fly eating at his brain; and all that while, night and day, there were relays of men to strike his head with the hammer.[311]

Precisely the same story is told by the Jewish Rabbis of Titus.[312]

There is, however, another version of the tradition; which is, that the gnat fattening on the brain grew in size till it swelled to the dimensions of a pigeon, and then the skull of Nimrod burst, and the gnat flew away; and this was fifteen days after it had entered by his nose.[313]

More shall be told of Melchizedek in a separate article.

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