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than amortg the heathens. But it matters not fo much who had it firft, as who obferves it heft. The caliph Haffan, fon of Hali, being at table, a flave unfortunately let fall a difli of meat reeking hot, which fcalded him feverely ; the flave pre- fently fell on his knees, rehearfing thefe words of the Alcoran, « Paradife is for thofe who reftrain their anger." I am not angry with thee, anfwered the caliph. " And for thofe who " forgive offences againft them," continues the flave. I for- give thee thine, replies the caliph. " But above all, for « thofe who return good for evil," adds the flave. I fet thee at liberty, rejo'in'd the caliph, and I give thee ten dinars. Saadi, ap. Mem. de Trev. 1705. p. 1137- There are alfo a great number of occafional paflages in the Alcoran, relating only to particular emergencies. For this advantage Mahomet had in the piece-meal method of receiv- ing his revelation, that whenever he happened to be per- plexed and gravelled with any thing, he had a certain re- fource in fome new morfel of revelation. It was an admi- rable contrivance of his, to bring down the whole Alcoran at once, only to the lowcft heaven, not to earth ; fince, had the whole been publifhed at once, innumerable objections would have been made, which it would have been impofiible for him to folvc ; but as he received it by parcels, as God faw fit they Ihould be publifhed for the conversion and inftruction of the people, he had wherewithal in petto, to anfwer all emergencies, and extricate himfelf from all difficulties. Sale, lib. cit. p. 63. feq.
To give an inftance, Naffer Ben Hareth pretended to quef- tion the authority of the Alcoran j Mahomet declined to en- ter into a difpute on the head, but appealed to God for the truth of his doctrine ; the former joined with him in this ap- peal, pronouncing the following words. ** Lord, if what "Mahomet fays come from thee, rain fhowers of flones " upon us, and over-whelm us, as thou formerly didft to " Abraham the AbyfHnian ; and punifh us feverely in the
- c next world." This was a fair trial of the Alcoran ; and
there fcemed fome necefuty for a miracle to maintain its di- vinity. But an eafier expedient ferved : the angel Gabriel came down in the nick of time, and brought a new verfe to the following effect. €t God does not care, O Mahomet, to " punifh them, while thou art among them." On which paflagc the commentators take notice, that it has not been ufual for God to punifh a people by extermination, while one of his prophets, or envoys was among them. This Nailer, who pufhed Mahomet fo vigoroufly, is never men- tioned by MufTulmen without execrations. D' Herbel. p. 86. The MufTulmen dare not fo much as touch the Alcoran, with- out being firft wafhed, or legally purified ; to prevent which, an infcription is put on the cover or label ; Let none touch but tbey who are clean. It is read with great care and refpect ; being never held below the girdle. They fwear by it, take omens from it on all weighty occafions ; carry it with them to war, write fentences of it in their banners, adorn it with gold and precious ftones, and knowingly fuffer it not to be in the pof- ieffion of any of a different religion. Some fay that it is pu- nifhable even with death, in a Chriftian to touch it ; others that the veneration of the MufTulmen, leads them to con- demn the tranflating it into any other language as a propha- nation ; but thefe feem to be aggravations. The Mahome- tans have taken care to have their fcripture tranflated into the Perfian, the Javan, the Malayan, and other languages, tho' out of refpect to the original, thefe verfions are generally if not always interlineated. Reland, de Relig. Mahom. p. 265. Sale, lib. cit. p. 69.
It is not enough with the MufTulmen, that the Alcoran be the object of the ftudy of men, but it muft be that of their favourite brutes, as cats, horfes, and camels n . Its reception has been very different in different countries. In Turky it makes their ecclefiaftical law, in Perfia their civil law °, in Spain it has been burnt p, in Italy prohibited q , in Tartary thrown to horfes r . — [ n Jour, des Scav. T. 62. p. 272. ° Act. Erud. Lipf. 1695. p. 278. p Gomez. Vit. Ximen.Amzen. Liter. T. 1, p. 357. Gedd, Mifc. Tract. T. 1. p. 11. Jour, des Scav. T. 2r. p. 424. q Act. Erud. Lipf. 1699. p. 249. ' Gw. Hift. Tart. T. i.p. no.]
The paffages in the Alcoran, which are contradictory to each other, are folved by the Mahometan doctors from the doc- trine of abrogation. They pretend that God commanded many things in the Alcoran, which for good reafons he after- wards revoked.
In one fenfe the Alcoran cannot be faid to be a bad book, fince it is founded on the bible. A learned Jefuit finds it lo far from being hurtful to chriftianity, that he has even lifted it into the chriftian caufe, and drawn proofs from it for the truths of the gofpel. P. de Colo- nia in Mem. de Trev. 1719. p. 613. See further con- cerning the Hiftory of the Alcoran, Boulainviliers, Vie de Mahom. p. 258. Act. Erudit. Lipf. 1694. p. 382. It. 2692. p. 331. feq. Its excellency and ufe, Boulainvil. lib. cit. p. 348. Reland, Relig. Mahom. in Rref. Jour. Liter. T. 10. p. 49. Its Characters and Confufion, Ouvr. des Scav. Sept. 1704. p, 419. Jour, des Scav. T. 37. p. 39. It. T. 48. p. 87. feq. Its Obfcurityand Difficulties, Mem. de Trev. 1724.P. 1147. Its Dafoine of Chrift, Phil. Tranf. N°. 154.
p. 433. See alfo Pojl-ellus on its conformity with the Gofpel. Contradictions in it, how folved. D' Herbel. p. 87.
Alcoran is alfo figuratively applied to certain other books full of impieties and impoftures.
In this fenfe we meet with the Alcoran of the Cordeliers, which has made a great noife. Wherein St. Francis is ex- travagantly magnified, and put on a level with Jefus Chrift. The Alcoran of the Cordeliers, is properly an extract of a very fcarce book, entitled the conformity of the life of the feraphic fa- ther St. Francis, with the life of Chrift, publifhed in 15 10. 4*- Since at Bologna in folio*. ErafmusAlbertus, being by the elector of Brandenburg appointed to vifit a monaftery of Francifcans, found this book ; and being ftruck with the extreme folly and abfurdity of it, collected a number of curiofities out of it, and publifhed them under the title of the Alcoran of the Francifcans, with a preface by Martin Luther 1 . This was afterwards tranflated into French u , and Latin x , and pub- lifhed with additional extracts. — [ s Liber Aureus Infcriptus Li- ber Conform! tat urn Vita: beati ac feraphici P. Francifci ad Vitam jefu Chrijli Domini nojlri, denuo editus corretfus y illujlratus a J. Jer. Bacchio XJtinenfi, Sodali Francijcano Doclore Theol. Bonon. 1590. fol. c Altcnb. 1542. 4 . "L* Alcoran des Cordelieres Extrait. motamotdece malheureux Livre des Conformitez de St. Francis, C3*f. Gen. 1560. 2 Vol. 8°. x Alcoranus Francifcanorum, Gen. 1578. 8°. Amsn. Liter. T. 3. p. 161. feq. Lomler, de Biblioth. p. 140. Mem. of Liter. T. 3. p. 33. Not.]
Alcoran is alfo ufed in a more limited fenfe, for a portion or chapter of the Koran. Sale, ubi fupra. p. 56. In which fenfe, the word is fynonymous with Sura.
ALCORANISTS, among Mahometans, thofe who adhere ftrictly to the letter or text of the Alcoran, from an opinion of its ultimate fufficiency and perfection ", ThePerfians are generally Alcsranijls, as admitting the alcoran alone for their rule of faith. The Turks, Tartars, Arabs, &e. befides the alcoran, admit a multitude of traditions b . — [* D' Herbel, Bibl. Orient, p. 87. b Pfaff. Theol. Jud. & Moham. p. 397. Bibl. Univ.T. 7, p. 242.]
The Akoranijls, among Mahometans, amount to much the fame with the Textuaries among the Jews. The Alcoranifls can find nothing excellent out of the alcoran ; are enemies of philofophers, metaphyficians, and fcholaftic writers. With them the alcoran is every thing.
ALCYON, {Cycl.) a name given by the antients to the Ifpida, of king-fifher. See Ispida-
ALCYONIUM, in botany, the name of a genus of plants th« characters of which are thefe. They are of a very irregular ftructure, often very hard, and fometimes foft ; ufually of a cruftaceous or vermiculated appearance, and affording no vifible feeds or flowers.
The fpecies of Alcyonium, enumerated by Mr, Tournefort are thefe:
1. The hard Alcyonium, or firft Alcyonium of Diofcorides.
2. The foft Alcyonium, or fourth Alcyonium of Diofcorides.
3. The ftuppofe Alcyonium. 4. The tuberous Alcyonium. 5. The hard, hat-fafhioned Alcyonium. 6. The great hard arborcfcent-^/^M/wff. 7. The perforated, red ftuppofe Alcy- onium. 8. The purple vermiculated Alcyonium. 9. The white vermiculated Alcyonium. 10. The yellow vermiculated Alcyonium. 11. The capillaceous, curled and vermiculated Alcyonium. 12. The Englifh vermiculated Alcyoninm, called by Mr, Ray, the long cylindric cord-like Fucus. Toumcf, Inft. p. 577..
Alcyonium is alfo a name given by Loyd, to a peculiar kind of foffil coral, of the Aftroites kind, found in Wales. It is very- plentiful in that country, and puts on the appearance of a fort of marble, being bedded in a marbly matter for its matrix. It is never found lodged in the ftrata, but always in loofe no- dules of fix, nine, or twelve inches in diameter, and when polifhed makes a very beautiful appearance. When cut ho- rizontally, and when perpendicularly, it puts on two very dif- ferent appearances. It is the fame ftone that De Boot has defcribed, under the name of the firft aftroites. In its recent ftate, it is a fort of white coral, growing plentifully in the feas about Jamaica ; and it is as frequently found foffil in England, and is often buried in maflcs of a fort of flint, fo hard and beautiful, that it will take a polifh like an agate. There are befides this, many other things which are plentiful in their recent ftate, in the feas about Jamaica ; and are as common foftils with us in England, in the inland countries, and in places near no feas, nor any other place, where they could have grown in their recent ftate, even if they had been in that ftate the produce of this ifland. The univerfal deluge alone can account for thefe changes. Philof. Tranf. N° 252. p. 188.
ALDABARAM, in ofteology, a name given by fome to the fefamoide bones in the great toe. SeeSESAMOiDEA, Cycl.
ALDARU, in botany, a name given by Avifenna, Serapion, and other writers of the Arabian nation, to the len- tifk tree. Avifenna fays, that Aldaru is the name of that kind of the turpentine tree, which produces the largeft fruit- But Serapion, on the other hand, tells us that the turpentine tree is of two kinds, the one cultivated, and the other wild ; and that the wild kind is called lentifk, and has leaves .and
fruit
