Islam Rediscovered
24. A Case of Discovery*
~ 422 ~
we have history. We know as much of Muhammad
as we do even of Luther and Milton. The mythical,
the legendary, the supernatural is almost wanting
in the original Arab authorities, or at all events, can
easily be distinguished from what is historical.
Nobody here is the dupe of himself, or of others;
there is the full light of day upon all that light can
ever reach at all...... In the Quran, we have beyond
all reasonable doubt the exact words of Muhammad
without subtraction and without addition. We see
with our own eyes the birth and adolescence of a
religion” (pp. 17, 18, 22). And the last but not the
least, Carlyle in his famous book: “Heroes and Hero
Worship” has stated the following about the Quran:
“When once you get this Quran fairly off, the
essential type of it begins to disclose itself: and in
this there is merit quite other than the literary one.
If a book came from the heart, it will contrive to
reach the hearts: all art and authorcraft are of small
amount to that. One would say, the primary
character of the Quran is that of its genuineness, of
its being a bona-fide book. Sincerity in all senses
seems to me the merit of the Quran.”
