ALKORAN, or THE KORAN, Pi being the Arabic article,) the name of the Mohammedan scriptures, con taming the doctrines, precepts, and pretended revela tions of Mohammed. Derived from the Arabic verb kaara, to read, it signifies the reading, or rather what ought to be read. The Mohammedans give this name not only to the whole volume, but to any particular chap ter or section of it ; in the same way as the Jews call the Old Testament, or any portion of it, Karate and According to Mohammed's own account, the Koran was revealed to him in different portions, and at different times, during the space of tv‘ enty-three years. These he dictated to an amanuensis, who wrote them on skins and on palm-leaves, and then published them to his fol lowers, some of whom took copies of them for their private use, though the greater number committed them to memory. They were arranged in their present order, by Abu-Bckr, his immediate successor, who col lected the originals from the chest into which they had been promiscuously thrown, compared them with several written and oral copies ; and when the transcript was completed, deposited it aatot Ilassa, the daughter of Omar, one of the prophet's widows. This was intend ed to be consulted us t he original ; and in the 30th year of the Hegira, the Caliph Othman, on account of the vast number of various readings which the copies cir culated thromr,h the empire contained, ordered these to he suppressed, and several copies to be made from this original transcript, which were published as the only authentic Koran. To secure this sacred volume from interpolations, the Mohammedans have, in imitation of the Masorites, computed all the words, and even letters, which it contains, and have also introduced vowel points, to fix both the pronunciation and the meaning of the words.
This pretended revelation is so unsupported by any evidence of inspiration or miracles ; full of such palpa ble inconsistencies and contradictions, disgraced by so many irrational, and even licentious doctrines, and mark ed by such a superstitious and intolerant spirit, that it is impossible to conceive that any but 'Mohammedans can believe its origin to be divine. By those, however, who are reckoned the orthodox disciples of Islamism, it is held to be eternal and untreated, remaining, as some express it, in the very essence of God, written from everlasting, on an immense table, called The Preserved Table, near God's throne, from which a copy, taken on paper in one volume, was sent down to the lowest hea ven by the ministry of the angel Gabriel, in the month of Ramadan, on the night of power, whence it was com municated by the same angel to Mohammed in various parcels, according to the exigency of his circumstances; though once every year, and twice in the last year of his life, he was blessed with a sight of the whole volume, elegantly bound in silk, and adorned with gold and jew els of paradise. Yct though this is the opinion of the
Sonnites or orthodox, it is by no means universally re ceived as accordant with truth : several Mohammedan sects, and particularly the Motazalites, expressly deny ing the Koran to be uncreatcd, and accusing those who maintain the contrary of infidelity, as asserting the ex istence of two eternal beings.
The style of the Koran has been generally allowed to be singularly elegant and pure, being written in the dialect of the tribe of Koreish, by far the most refined of all the Arabians, though occasionally mixed with other dialects. It is still the standard of the Arabic language ; and to its supereminent excellence, as a literary production, Mohammed himself appealed as a sufficient proof of its inspiration, publicly defying the most eloquent of his countrymen to produce even a sin gle chapter that might be compared with it. Some of his followers even venture to affirm, that the composi tion of the Koran is a greater miracle than the raising of the dead, being permanent and perpetual, and thus pos sessing throughout every age, the same force and evi dence, as when originally promulgated. There have not been wanting some, however, who have called in question this opinion, and who do not hesitate to give a decided preference above this vaunted production to the compositions of others of their countrymen, who made no such claims to inspiration. Nor can it be denied, that sublime as several parts of it are, even these are greatly inferior to many parts of the inspired writings of the Christian revelation. The slightest examination of its contents will convince any impartial mind, that it has no pretensions to originality of sentiment, except it be 'hat of iningling falsehood with truth, and meanness with sublimity, in a manner more preposterous than ',vas ever attempted before ; and that its most dignified pas• sages and elegant metaphors are evidently borrowed from the Hebrew Scriptures.