not see a trace left of the Light of Mohammed, my strength left me, and I said, "O Amina, what has become of that Light?" She answered, "I have given birth to a son."'

'Sheikh Zarandi says, in his Book of Signs, that in the night of Mohammed's birth the courts of Chosroes parted asunder, and remained so till now, i.e. till A.H. 746 (= A.D. 1368). Their remaining so is one of the greatest facts; and the great and adorable God alone knows how long they will still be left.'

'It is reported that, in the night of the birth of that prince, the sea of Sawa overflowed the land; and that the Wady of Samawa, whose water had been stopped for a thousand years, began to be flooded with the waters of a great river, and the courts of Chosroes became shaking and trembling, and their fourteen towers fell to the earth. Chosroes seeing this, lamented and feared exceedingly; for he knew that these occurrences portended a national calamity. But, assuming an air of fortitude and courage, he kept his distress and trouble of mind concealed, for a while, from his people; and then made up his mind not to hide those occurrences any longer from his ministers of state and intimate friends. So he put on his crown, sat upon his throne, called a council, and when the elite of the people and his friends were assembled, there arrived a letter from his Persian empire. In this letter it was stated that the fires of the fire-temples of Persia, which for a thousand years had not been extinguished, but were continually burning, had gone out in a certain night, namely, in that in which also the towers of Chosroes' palaces had fallen down. This circumstance, therefore, still further increased Chosroes' grief and sorrow. A wise philosopher, also, the chief judge, called the chief Fire-priest, said, "O Shah, I also have seen in a dream, on that night, that swift and indomitable camels were drawing Arab horses from the Tigris and were spreading over town and country." On hearing this from his chief Fire-priest, Chosroes said to him, "O chief Fire-priest, what is the interpretation of this dream? and what is to happen in the world?" The chief Fire-priest answered, 'A great event is to happen in the direction of Arabia."'

Ibn Ishak reports, 'Hassan Ibn Thabit said, "I was a

lad of seven or eight years, understanding quite well what I heard, when a Jew, on one of the buildings of Yathreb, called together an assembly of his fellow-Jews and said to them, To-night the star has arisen under which Mohammed is to be born. I asked Said, Hassan's grandson, how old his grandfather was when Mohammed came to Medina, and he answered, Sixty years. Now, as Mohammed was then fifty-three years of age, Hassan must have been seven years old when he heard those words."' (I. I. and I. H.)

Othman Ibn Abu-l-As narrates that Fatima, Abd Allah's daughter, said, 'I was with Amina, when the symptoms of her approaching confinement set in; and, on looking up to heaven, I saw the stars to such an extent incline towards the earth, that I thought they must fall down; or, according to another account, the stars were so near the earth that I thought they would fall upon my head.' (Rawzat.)

(6.) Though both were subjected to the rite of circumcision, yet there was a difference in favour of Mohammed.

a. 'When eight days were accomplished. for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus' (Luke ii. 21).

b. 'The majority of the biographers and historians agree in this, that Mohammed was born circumcised and with his navel-string cut. The Ulemas say that the reason why he was born in this state is, that no creature should have anything to do with his perfect natural frame, by depriving his foreskin and navel of strength. Another reason is this; that he might not remain dishonoured, by uncircumcision, till he could be circumcised; and still another reason is, that not any man might see his natural parts. It is recorded, on the authority of Uns Ibn Malik, that the Prophet said, "I was born circumcised, and none has seen my nakedness." But some of the later historians have objected, to this tradition, and declared that any traditionist who mentions it, without also making known its weakness, will have to answer for it on the day of the Resurrection. And some of the later biographers have affirmed that Gabriel circumcised him, at the same time when he purified his blessed heart in his childhood; and yet another saying is, that Abdu-l-Mottaleb circumcised him on the seventh day after his birth.' (Rawzat)