on Friday, that on this day the Mufti expounds some chapters from the Koran, and the "Imaum" (preacher,) delivers a "Khotbeh" (sermon).
We enter through one of the nineteen lofty and massive bronze gates, and the beauties we now behold baffle description.
The "Kiblah" is reached by nineteen aisles, marked by columns of jasper, beryl, verd-antique, porphyry, finely carved, supporting in two directions double horseshoe arches, one above the other. These are crossed by thirty-eight aisles, also composed of columns of different marbles, making thus literally a forest of columns. The ceiling is filled with ovals inscribed with appropriate inscriptions from the Koran, to call the mind of the faithful to contemplation and devotion. From it are suspended 280 chandeliers, which light the vast space with upwards of 10,000 lights.
The "Al Mihrab" at the "Kiblah" end of the mosque is an octagonal niche, the ceiling of which is formed like a shell out of a single block of white marble. Within it is the Shrine of Shrines, containing one of the original copies of the Koran, the one which lay upon the lap of Othman, the third Caliph, our guide tells us, when he was assassinated; it is stained with his life blood. It lies upon a lecturn of aloe wood, put together with golden nails. The doors of the shrine are pure gold, the floor solid silver, inlaid with gold and lapis lazuli. In front of it is the pulpit made of costly woods, inlaid with ivory and enriched with jewels; the nails joining its parts are also of gold and silver. It is the gilt of the Caliph, and the cost exceeds $1,000,000. The Caliph himself drew the plan of the entire edifice, and assisted daily with his own hands in its erection.
Within the mosque there is a court 220 feet long, containing promenades which invite to devout meditations, and reservoirs and fountains for their ablution, for, as our guide informs us, ablution is enjoined by the Koran, with great precision as preparative to prayer; purity of body being considered emblematical of purity of soul.
There is not a seat in the entire edifice; the worshipers are either prostrated upon the floor, which is artistically paved with marble mosaics, or they stand profoundly bent in reverence.[4]
As the Mufti, his careful ablutions being completed, approaches the "Al Mihrab," to take from its sacred Shrine the copy of the Koran, all prostrate themselves on the ground. He opens the book, and with a loud voice he reads the first "sura," chapter:
"Bismillah"—in the name of the most merciful God. Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures, the Most Merciful, the King of the Day of Judgment. Thee do we worship, and of Thee do we beg assistance. Direct us in the right way, in the way of those to whom Thou hast been gracious; not of those against whom thou art incensed, not of those who go astray.
To which the whole congregation responds:
"God, there is no God but He, the Living, the Ever Living; He sleepeth not, neither doth He slumber. To Him belongeth the Heavens and the earth, and all that they contain. He knoweth the Past and the Future, but no one can comprehend anything of this knowledge but that which He revealeth. His sway extendeth over the Heavens and the Earth, and to sustain them both is no burden to Him. He is the high, the mighty. There is no God besides Him, and "Mohammed Resul Allah" Mohammed is the prophet of God."[5] The Mufti now expounds a chapter from the Koran, and at the end of each of its lessons the whole congregation responds, "Amin!" "So be it."
The "Imaum" ascends the pulpit to preach his sermon. He bases his theme upon the chapter just expounded. He speaks of faith and practice, of faith in God, in his angels, in his Koran, in his prophets, in the resurrection and final judgement, in predestination. "Angels," he says, keep continual watch upon each mortal, one on the right hand, the other on the left, taking note of every word or action. At the close of each day they fly up to heaven to write up their report. Every good action is recorded ten times by the good angel on the right, and if the mortal commit a sin the same benevolent spirit says to the angel on the left: "Forbear for seven hours to record it; peradventure he may repent and pray and obtain forgiveness."
He enjoins a reverence for the Al Koran, and a scrupulous obedience to its precepts. In it are written all the decrees of God, and all events past, present or to come. It had existed from all eternity and was treasured up in the seventh heaven, and its contents were finally revealed to Mohammed by the Angel Gabriel.
He speaks of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, as prophets subordinate to Mohammed, whose life and preceipts are worthy of following.
He speaks of predestination, and says that every event is predetermined by God, that the destiny of every individual and the hour of his death are irrevocably fixed, and can neither be varied nor evaded, by any effort of human sagacity or foresight.
He reconciles fate and free-will by saying: "The outline is given us we color the picture of life as we will."
He speakes of Charity, and says that every one must dispense, in one way or the other, a tenth of his revenue in the relief of the indigent or distressed. He speakes of the great virtue of fasting and says: "Prayer leads us half way to God, fastening conveys us to His threshold and alms conducts us into His presence." He enjoins the doing of good and the shunning of evil, and above all an observance of the golden rule.
"If these precepts ye obey," he concludes, "the pleasures of Paradise will be your reward. There you will be clothed in raiments sparkling with jewels. You will wear crowns of gold enriched with pearls and diamonds, and dwell in sumptuous palaces or silken pavilions, reclining in voluptuous couches. Hundreds of attendants, bearing dishes and goblets of gold, will serve you with every variety of exquisite viands and beverage, whenever and in whatever quantity you shall want them. There the air, fragrant with the sweetest perfume, resounds with the melodious voices of the Daughters of Paradise. There, besides your wives you had on earth, who will rejoin you in all their pristine charms, black-eyed Hooreeyahs (Houris) having complexions like rubies and pearls, resplendent beings, free from every human defect or frailty, perpetually retaining their youth and beauty, will constantly attend you, and cheerfully obey your wishes."
"But woe unto you if ye harken not to the words of Allah and Mohammed his prophet! When ye shall pass the bridge, Al Sirat, which is finer than a hair and sharper than a sword, it will break beneath the burden of your sins, and precipitate you into the shadow and smoke and fire of hell."
With a prayer for the welfare of the Caliph and the entire government, the "khotbeh" is ended and the congregation dismissed.
We know that the Moors and Jews are Oriental people, and, therefore, not indigenous to the Occidental soil they now inhabit. Whence came they? Why came they? We are eager for a correct answer to these questions, and knowing none of Cordova's learned men, we think of our distinguished co-religionist. Abu Jussuf Chasdai ben Isaac Ibn Shaprut, the Jewish Physician, Philologist, Minister of Foreign Affairs, of Commerce and Finance to the learned Abder Rahman, and Nasi, or secular chief, of all European Jews. We take the heart to visit him, and with the aid of our guide, we soon are admitted into the house. There we learn that Chasdai Ibn Shaprut had just been summoned to a secret consultation with the Caliph concerning an important embassy that had come from Otto I, Emperor of Germany. We are asked to await his return in his library. There, we are introduced to Moses ben Chanoch, the distinguished Talmudist, to his pupil, Joseph ben Abitur, the translator of the Mishnah into Arabic for the Caliph's library, to Menachem ben Saruk, the grammarian and compiler of the first Hebrew lexicon, and to Dunash ben Labrat, the distinguished poet, who were pursuing their respective studies in the magnificent library of Chasdai, the Jewish favorite Minister to the Caliph.
We state our wish, and Dunash ben Labrat thus replies:
"We know not when our distinguished Nasi will return.
