d is sometimes lost in the clouds.
The divine attributes exalt the fancy of the Arabian missionary; but
his loftiest strains must yield to the sublime simplicity of the book
of Job, composed in a remote age, in the same country, and in the same
language. If the composition of the Koran exceed the faculties of a man
to what superior intelligence should we ascribe the Iliad of Homer, or
the Philippics of Demosthenes? In all religions, the life of the founder
supplies the silence of his written revelation: the sayings of Mahomet
were so many lessons of truth; his actions so many examples of virtue;
and the public and private memorials were preserved by his wives and
companions. At the end of two hundred years, the Sonna, or oral law,
was fixed and consecrated by the labors of Al Bochari, who discriminated
seven thousand two hundred and seventy-five genuine traditions, from a
mass of three hundred thousand reports, of a more doubtful or spurious
character. Each day the pious author prayed in the temple of Mecca,
and performed his ablutions with the water of Zemzem: the pages were
successively deposited on the pulpit and the sepulchre of the apostle;
and the work has been approved by the four orthodox sects of the
Sonnites.

The mission of the ancient prophets, of Moses and of Jesus had been
confirmed by many splendid prodigies; and Mahomet was repeatedly urged,
by the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina, to produce a similar evidence of
his divine legation; to call down from heaven the angel or the volume
of his revelation, to create a garden in the desert, or to kindle a
conflagration in the unbelieving city. As often as he is pressed by
the demands of the Koreish, he involves himself in the obscure boast of
vision and prophecy, appeals to the internal proofs of his doctrine, and
shields himself behind the providence of God, who refuses those signs
and wonders that would depreciate the merit of faith, and aggravate
the guilt of infidelity But the modest or angry tone of his apologies
betrays his weakness and vexation; and these passages of scandal
established, beyond suspicion, the integrity of the Koran. The votaries
of Mahomet are more assured than himself of his miraculous gifts; and
their confidence and credulity increase as they are farther removed from
the time and place of his spiritual exploits. They believe or affirm
that trees went forth to meet him; that he was saluted by stones; that
water gushed from his fingers;