Against the law of the Saracens

By Fr. Riccoldo da monte di Croce, O.P.
Florence; c. 1243-1320

Chapter 4

Which has no style or manner consonant with the others,
chapter four

 Fourthly, it should be known that the Quran is not the law of God because it does not have a style or a mode consonant with the law of God. For it is metrical or rhythmic in style, flattering in words, and fabulous in sentences [1] .

(6) But that there is rhythm in the style is evident throughout the whole book to those who read it. Yet I cannot give a suitable example of this, because there would be no rhythm and verse in Arabic if it were translated faithfully into Latin. Yet the Saracens and Arabs boast most of all in this that the language of their law and style are rhythmic. And they say that in this it is evident that God made that book and revealed it to Muhammad word for word [2] , because Muhammad, who was an ignorant man [3] , would not have known how to invent such a style and such sentences.

(13) But the contrary is clearly apparent. For we see it in the Holy Scriptures. For it is clear that God spoke to Moses and Job and other holy prophets, and never spoke to them in rhymes or verses. The law of Moses and the gospel, too, says Mohammed, which is from God and that God gave the book to Moses and Christ, and yet it is not rhythmic or metrical. And other prophets who heard the voice of God, none of them said that God spoke metrically [4] ; which even wise and philosophical men disdain [5] . Hence Mohammed was reproached, as is contained in the chapter Elenbia , which is interpreted "prophet", who said to him: "Indeed, poetry, indeed dreams, indeed trepidas"; and other such reproaches they reproached him, seeing not only that it was not the style of God but also | 191r | prophetic [6] .

(25) There is also a further law of flattery in words beyond what could be said or believed. For sometimes a whole chapter of the text, in which it says nothing at all noteworthy except that God is great and lofty and wise [7] and beautiful, and that all things in heaven and on earth and in between are His, and that He will judge justly. And after every word He repeats “Praise be to Him” [8] , and this He repeats a hundred times and more without any reason. And after this He says : “There is no God but God, and believe in God and in His messenger” [9] , calling Himself the messenger of God anthonomasically.
And they say that all these things are directly from the mouth of God, and that Muhammad would not have known how to say these things. But is it the custom of God that He Himself, as if speaking of another, should tell men that God is great and lofty, and other things of this kind which it is tedious to repeat? [10]

(37) But whatever may be the case with the style and words, it is certain and evident to all readers that that law is fabulous in its sentences. And although it can truly be said that for a great part of it that law is fabulous, yet I will relate a few of the more notable ones.

(41) For it is said in the chapter delnemele , which is interpreted "ant", that Solomon gathered a great army of angels and men and animals; and when they were going they found as it were a river of ants, and then the ant said: "O ye ants, enter into your habitations lest Solomon and his soldiers destroy you", and the ant smiled. And after a while: when all the birds in the army were being reassigned, it was found that the hoopoe was missing. And Solomon said: "Why is it that I do not see the hoopoe? I will punish it and cut off its head, or it will assign a reason why it was missing". And the hoopoe stood not far away and said: "I have learned that you do not know, and I have come to you from Saba with true rumors. I have indeed found a woman ruling among them, and I have found her and her people worshipping the sun without God" etc. [11] .

(53) Likewise in the chapter delkamar , which is interpreted " moon ", it is said "The hour drew near and the moon was broken!". Their teachers, explaining this, say that Muhammad was standing with his companions, and when he saw the moon approaching its conjunction they said to him: "Show us some wonder". And then he pointed to the moon with two fingers, that is, the index | 191v | and the middle, and then the moon was broken [12] in two parts; and one half fell on Mount Elhikays, which overlooks the city of Mesque on one side, and the other half on another, which is called "The Red Mountain", located on the other side of the city. And when the moon was thus broken, it came and entered the sleeve of the shirt of Muhammad and he himself made it whole.

(63) Likewise, in the chapter of Seba it is said that worms indicated the death of Solomon to the demons. Where the gloss says that Solomon, while he stood leaning on his staff, suddenly was seized with such great pain that he expired and yet did not fall by a divine miracle. But the demons who served him, seeing him standing, believed him to be alive. And a certain worm was born from the earth and gnawed the staff on which he was leaning, and then Solomon fell, breaking his staff, and then the demons ran and knew that he was dead. And from then on they began to harm men as much as they could.

(71) Likewise, Mohammed himself in his book of narrations gives the reason why wine is unlawful [13] . For he says that God sent two angels to earth to govern well and judge justly, and these angels were Aroth and Maroth. And when they had come, the woman who had the case invited them to dinner and gave them the wine that God had commanded them not to drink; and being intoxicated they sought her out of lust, and she consented to this price that one taught her to ascend to heaven and the other to descend. And she ascended to heaven. But when God saw her, having heard the reason and the manner, he made her a lucifer so that she would be as beautiful in heaven among the stars as she was on earth among women. And having given the angels who had sinned the option of where they would like to be punished, here or in the future, when they chose to be punished in the present, he hung them by the feet in a well in Babylon with an iron chain until the day of judgment [14] .

(83) These and many similar things are contained in the aforesaid law, by which any wise man can perceive that it is a fiction and that it is in no way the law of God. For it is not God's custom to speak to men through such fables.

 

[1] On style as a criterion of authenticity for the Scriptures, cf. EUSEBE OF CESAREA, Hist. Eccles ., III, 25 (PG 20, col. 270-271), trans. Rufinus, op. cit., p. 253, 7: «In which [the books of the heretics] and the style itself are found to be very different from ecclesiastical custom».

Pour saint Jérôme, les Prophetes ne s'expressiment pas en vers; cf. Jerome's prologue in Isaiah the prophet , Biblia sacra zingara , II, Stuttgart 1983, p. 1096

[2] Dicté mot à mot par Dieu, le Coran est pour les Musulmans le mirarle par excellence; cf. Encycl. de l'Islam , 2 a ed.,"l'djâz"; L. GARDET, Dieu et la destinée de l'homme , Paris 1967, pp. 218-221.

[3] C f. Heart ​7,157-158. Le mot ummi [= idiota-illetterato di Riccoldo] dont est qualifié ici Mahomet rappelle qu'il fu prophète des Gentils, ie de ceux qui ne sont pas le Gens du Livre; cf. Encycl. de l'Islam , 2 a ed.,"l'djâz". L'apologétique musulmane a souvent vu dans le fait que Mahomet était illettré une preuve du caractère miraculeux du Coran.

[4] Les passages bibliques de style poétique et rythmé sont au contraire fort nombreux; cf. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezécbiel, Amos 1-2, Hosea , 6,1-2, Joel 3, 1-4, Job 38-41. En Prov . 62,12-13, on trouve un procédé de type numérique. Le Nouveau Testament is riche en textes poétiques.

■ Aggiungiamo un punto di methodo: Riccoldo dimustra buona conoscenza dell'arabo, ma non ha alcuna conoscenza dell'ebraico e del greco; cosicché legge i libri biblici soltanto nella traduzione latina della Vulgata; from his thinking based on his arguments in the matter!

[5] Au Moyen Age latin on constate une certaine insensibilité des theologiens envers la poésie dans le domaine religieux; elle semble s'opposer à la prédication selon I Cor . 2,1-5. Platon avait exclu les poètes de sa République .

■ Uguccione [† 1210], Derivationes II, 948 § P 100: « Poyo -is..., idest fingo -is grece, unde hic poeta -e, idest fictor,... unde hec poetissa -e, uxor poete vel que fingit » . Summa Britonis sive Guillelmi Britonis Expositiones vocabulorum biblie [1250-70], ed. LW Daly and BA Daly, Padova 1975, II, 573: « Poeta dicitur fictor, inventor et proprie carminis. Et dicitur a poio, pois, quod est fingo, -gis » .

[6] Cf. Heart ​69,41-42; 44,13-14. Let us note that an identical fate was reserved for Hosea ( Hosea 9,7), for Ezechiel ( Ez . 33,32) and even for Jesus ( John 10,20).

[7] Cf. Heart ​31,30; 34,23; 76,30; 51,30; 15,25; 43,84.

[8] Cf.Heart​34,1; 64.1; 231.70; 30,18 (Lahu al-hamd), and Cor. 39, 29, 74; 1,2; 18,1; 14,39; etc.; 39,75 (Al hamdu lillâh). Encycl. de l'Islam, 2aed.,"hamdala".

[9] Encycl. de l'Islam , 1 a ed., "shahâda", "tashahhud". Heart ​3,144; 4.59 80; 5.99GARDET, L'Islam, Religion... , Paris 1967,pp. 34, 69

[10] “ Note therefore that the law itself uses a very vulgar and carnal word: futuo ” add. R marg. d. (Cf. CLS 8, 22).

L'Ancien Testament connaît beaucoup de répétitions; cf. Ps . 136; Dan . 3, 57-58.

[11] Cor. 27,17-19,20-24. Riccoldo se trompe, ce n'est pas la fourmi qui sourit mais Salomon: cf. ARNALDEZ, Le Coran, guide de lecture , Paris 1983, pp. 126-128, Par ailleurs, le mot dûna ne peut se traduire ici par "absque Deo", il faut comprendre: "au lieu de Dieu"; cf. Intr., II, 2a = "Memorie Dominicane" 17 (1986) p. 28:

Translation by Marc de Toledo (BNP, lat. 3394, f. 146v): «And all the groups of demons and men and birds were called to Solomon, and they gathered together; but when they reached the river of ants, the ant said: «O you ants, enter your tents, lest Solomon and his soldiers kill you... And he noticed the birds and said: «What is it that I do not see the hoopoe? Is it absent? I will punish it with great punishment, I will cut it off or it will give me a clear reason for its absence». And he stood not far away and said: «I have learned what you do not know and I come to you from Saba with true rumors. For I have indeed found a woman ruling among them and her necessities have been given to her and she lives on a lofty throne and I have found [in Ms. body ] her and her people to be accustomed to the sun without God... ».

[12] moon add. R interl .

Riccoldo , Book of Pilgrimages , f. 20v a-b.

Contrarietas alpholica IX, Paris BN lat. 3394, f. 251v, 14 - 252r, 4: «Also in the chapter Elkamar, idest lune: "Aproinquauit hour et partita est luna" [54,1], ie est split in parts, as they expound. All agreed in this expositional narration that Mahomet was sitting one night with his friends; and when looking up he saw the moon close to conjunction, they said to his disciples: Show us a portent that seems wonderful to us. He raised his head and pointed to the moon with two fingers, the index and the middle, and said to the moon: Split in half. The moon was split in two parts, and one fell halfway over Mount Ebikais, that is, such as overlooks the city of Mesques on one side, and the other halfway over another, which is called the Red Mountain, situated on the alpha side of the city»; cf. CLS 9, 218-19 . L. GARDET, Dieu et la destiny de l'homme , p. 222; Daniel, pp. 76, 259, 341 note 82, 380 note 12; AL-BUKHARI, Al-Sahîb , 6, surah 54; Le Caire 1958, p. 178.

[13] add. R marg. s. rub .: Note that the Muslims do not drink wine.

liber narrationum = Doctrina Machumet , ed. Th. Bibliander , Machumetis saracenorum principis eiusque successorum vitae ac doctrina ..., Basilea 1543, I, cf. p. 197, 43; cf. CLS 9, 224 . Cf. Cor . 16,69; 2,219; 4,46; 5,92.

[14] Doctrina Machumet , ed. Th. Bibliander , Machumetis saracenorum..., I, p. 197, 47 - p. 198, 17: «There were two angels, Arot and Marot, sent once by God from heaven to earth, to govern and instruct the human race... There came to them one day a woman, more beautiful than all women, having a case against her husband. Who, in order to accommodate her part, invited the judges to a meal. They follow. She, satiated, sets out for the guests between the meals and cups of wine. The waiter stands by, offers frequently, as if they should take. What more? The woman's flattery won. Inebriated with the cups, they warmed up to the beautiful hostess; defeated, they demand a place to lie down. She agrees on that condition: while one teaches the word by which they ascended to heaven; the other by which they descended. The condition is acceptable. Therefore, when she had learned, she was suddenly lifted up and ascended to heaven. Which when God saw, having investigated the cause, he set her as a lucifer, most beautiful among the stars, as she had been among women. But when they were called to judgment, God proposed to them that they should choose between the punishment of this world and the punishment of the next. They chose this. They were therefore hanged in iron chains, with their heads lowered into a pit of drinking water, until the day of judgment. What then, Obadiah? Does not this seem to be a sufficient reason why wine is lawful here and unlawful here? He says: Certainly enough, and deservedly so. Cf. Encycl. de l'Islam , 2nd ed ., «Hârût wa Mârût»; KRITZECK, Peter the Venerable... , Princeton 1964, p. 95. J. DE MENASCE, Une légende indo-iranienne dans l'angélologie judéo-musulmane, à propos de Hârût et Mârût , «Etudes asiatiques» 1 (1947) 10-18.