1. The summit of the Mount of Purgatory is a broad table-land, which Dante describes as a garden of great beauty. This is the earthly paradise, or Garden of Eden, in which our first ancestors dwelt while yet in a state of innocence. As he treads the ground, which is fragrant with flowers, a gentle breeze, laden with the perfumes of paradise, fans his tear-stained cheeks. In the shade of verdant trees, the rustling of whose leaves murmurs a soft accompaniment to the song of a thousand birds, he comes to a limpid stream, whose course he follows; here he walks, accompanied by a fair maiden, Matilda, who, gathering flowers as she trips along the further bank, explains to him the nature of the garden. Virgil’s mission is now ended, and he is soon to leave Dante; for, of a sudden, they behold advancing from beyond the stream a marvellous procession of maidens and elders, who, richly attired, lead in triumph a car in which, surrounded by angelic spirits and greeted with songs of welcome, appears Beatrice, the poet’s beloved. Calling him by name, she sternly rebukes Dante for his disregard of the holy counsel she gave him in his dreams, for his faithlessness in following other less worthy loves, and for his sins. Dante, confused and repentant, confesses his unworthiness. He is then immersed by Matilda and the maidens that serve Beatrice in the stream of Lethe, on whose banks they are gathered, and upon drinking of its waters loses all memory of sin. Thereafter he succumbs to sleep in the shade of the tree of paradise, and finally, is bathed in the waters of Eunoe, from which he emerges “born again, even as trees renewed with fresh foliage, pure and ready to mount to the stars.”⁠[281]

Graf, after minute study of the mediæval legends bearing on the earthly paradise, has shown that there existed precedents for the site chosen by Dante, inasmuch as others before him had laid this garden in the southern hemisphere and on the peak of a high mountain.⁠[282] But he asserts that no one before Dante had thought of placing it precisely on the summit of purgatory. An examination of Islamic literature will therefore be of interest, as it may furnish the key to this riddle of topography by revealing analogies both in outline and in detail with this closing scene of the Purgatorio.

2. From the earliest centuries in Islam the question of the site of the garden in which God had placed Adam and Eve had given rise to animated controversy. The passages in which the Koran tells the Biblical story in a slightly altered form, led to a confusion between this paradise and the abode of glory, thus causing it to be laid in heaven.⁠[283] According to another interpretation, however, it was supposed to be situated on earth, more precisely, in the East and on the highest of all mountains. This explanation, whilst more in keeping with the Biblical narrative, had the advantage of being reconcilable with the words used in the Koran; for the expulsion of Adam and Eve to the earth would merely mean that God drove them from the summit to the foot of the mountain⁠[284]; it would also account for the delights of the Garden of Eden and its difference from other places on the surface of the earth. This view, though indeed held from early times, was mainly propounded by the Mutazili heretics, the philosophers and the mystics. A Spanish Mutazili ascetic of the ninth century, Mondir ibn Said al-Belloti, who was chief cadi of Cordova, was its most ardent champion; and in the tenth century it became popular throughout Islam through the Rasail or encyclopædia compiled by the Ikhwan as-safa, or Brethren of Purity, a heretical sect established in Basra.

“Lying on the summit of the Mountain of the Hyacinth, which no human being may ascend, paradise was a garden of the East; a soft breeze blew day and night, winter and summer, over its perfumed ground. The garden was well watered by streams and shaded by lofty trees; it was full of luscious fruit, of sweet-smelling plants, of flowers of different kinds; harmless animals lived there and birds of song....”⁠[285]

The earthly paradise that is here depicted in terms similar to those used by Dante was situated, therefore, on the summit of the highest mountain of the earth. Exactly which mountain was referred to is not easy to determine, for on this point opinion differed. Some authors placed it in Syria or in Persia; others in Chaldea or in India.⁠[286] Eventually the belief that it lay in the last-named country was the most generally accepted.⁠[287] The Brethren of Purity refer to the mountain as the “Mount of the Hyacinth,” which, according to Arab geographers, is the mountain rising in Ceylon, now known as “Adam’s Peak.”⁠[288] Rising out of the Indian Ocean to a height of seven thousand feet, it is visible from afar at sea, and this fact would no doubt account for the exaggerated height attributed to it, for its summit was supposed to reach to the sky.

The very name the mountain still bears is a perpetuation of the Islamic legend. Ibn Batutah, of Tangier, the famous fourteenth century traveller, who journeyed to the ends of the world, as it was then known, has left us a picturesque description of its difficult ascent, which Moslem pilgrims were wont to undertake in the belief that a rock on the summit bore the footprint of our father Adam.⁠[289]

A high mount, rising in the middle of an island in the ocean covering the southern hemisphere is, in Dante’s conception, the site of the earthly paradise. According to Islam, it is a high mountain rising in the middle of an island in the Indian Ocean.⁠[290] Dante’s, it is true, is but a small isle lying in the antipodes of Jerusalem, whereas the island of Ceylon is larger and is situated on the equator; but the difference in topography is slight.⁠[291]

3. As Graf has pointed out, however, Dante’s conception of the site of the earthly paradise was no novelty in mediæval Christian literature, so that coincidence with Islam on this point alone would not suffice as proof of Moslem influence. But, as mentioned above, there is an element in Dante’s topography that Graf does not hesitate to ascribe to the poet’s inventive genius, to wit, the position of the earthly paradise on the summit of the mount of expiation, and its conception as the goal of the sinner in his arduous ascent and the last stage of purgation, in which the soul is cleansed of sin and made fit to cross the threshold of eternal bliss.⁠[292]

Among the many Moslem legends dealing with the entry of the souls into the theological heaven there is a whole cycle describing their adventures from the time they finally emerge from the sirat or path of purgatory. Close to the sirat, and forming as it were the last stage of purgatory, lies the marvellous garden of paradise, which, although not indeed stated to be the earthly paradise, is depicted with all the features proper to it. Its pleasant pastures, gay with flowers, are watered by two rivers, and two only, in which the souls are immersed and cleansed from sin, and of whose waters they drink; upon emerging, the souls rest, as does Dante, in the shade of trees and are then led by a choir of angels to the abode of glory. But a still more remarkable coincidence is, that on the threshold of the celestial mansion the soul is welcomed by a maiden of surpassing beauty, his promised bride, who for long has awaited his coming, yearning to be united with him in a love at once spiritual and chaste.

4. The resemblance to Dante’s picture borne by this brief sketch is such as to call for a more detailed examination of these legends and a comparison of this episode with Dante’s story. Originating in the form of gloss on a verselet of the Koran, the myth in its earliest and crudest version reads as follows:⁠[293]

“The souls that are about to enter paradise first come to two springs; they drink of the waters of the one, and God blots all rancour and hatred from their hearts; they bathe in the waters of the other, and their complexions become brilliant, and the purity and splendour of bliss is seen shining on their faces.”⁠[294]

These bare outlines were soon filled in by the traditionists, who in the course of time built up the story that has been handed down to us in its most complete and classical form by Shakir ibn Muslim, of Orihuela. Composed in rhymed verse, it is of such extraordinary length that only the most interesting passages can be given here.⁠[295]

“When the souls have left hell behind them and have traversed the sirat, or path of purgatory, they issue upon the plain that leads to paradise.⁠[296] Accompanying them are the angels of Divine mercy, who cheer and guide them on their way to glory and wish them joy of their victory and salvation.⁠[297] As they approach the entrance to paradise a gentle breeze, laden with perfume, brings balm to their souls and wipes away the memory of the suffering they endured in the course of their judgment and in the various mansions.... At the gate of paradise stand two mighty trees, lovelier than any ever seen on earth. Their fragrance, the richness of their foliage, the beauty of their blossom, the perfume of their fruit, the lustre of their leaves—nothing could ever surpass. The birds on their branches sing in sweet harmony with the rustling of the leaves....⁠[298] At the foot of either tree there springs a fountain of the purest water, clearer than beryl, cooler and whiter than freshly melted snow; these springs are the source of two limpid streams, whose beds are seen to be of pearls and rubies....⁠[299] Along their banks spread gardens and groves of trees in blossom, laden with fruit and harbouring birds of sweet song.... The souls bathe in the two rivers; from the one they emerge whole in body and cleansed from the marks of fire, with the lustre of health and joy upon their faces; they drink of the waters of the river and, as all memory of past affliction leaves them, so is all trace of envy, rancour and hatred blotted from their hearts; they then bathe in the other stream, and later find peaceful repose in the shade of the two trees....⁠[300] And, even as they rest, the angels of the Lord call upon them, saying, ‘Oh, beloved of God, these trees are not your dwelling; nigh unto God is your appointed place. Rise, therefore, and march onward, till ye reach the mansion of rest and everlasting bliss.’⁠[301] And they rise and proceed through the paths of paradise, following the voice of the angel herald, who leads them on from garden to garden until they meet with a brilliant procession of youths and maidens, dressed in rich attire and mounted on coursers ... who greet each one with shouts of joy and congratulation upon his triumph.... ‘Be thou welcome, beloved son of God! Enter thy mansion, covered with glory and honour.’ As he enters, behold! a damsel of surpassing beauty, arrayed in robes of brilliant hue, awaits him seated in a tabernacle ... the splendour of her countenance dazzles him and his heart is enraptured with the perfection, grace, and brilliant beauty with which God has endowed her. Indeed, were it not that God had granted him extraordinary powers of vision, he would be bereft of both sight and sense by the intensity of the light shining in her and the splendour radiating from her presence.⁠[302] The voice of an angel announces to him, ‘Oh, beloved one of God! This is thy precious bride, thy dearly beloved partner in the life of heaven; this is the mistress of the damsels, the coy maiden hidden from the gaze of man.’ But hardly has she caught sight of him when, unable to restrain the impulse of her love, she hastens towards him with fond words of welcome, ‘Oh, beloved of God! How I have yearned to see thee!’”

Of the many points of resemblance shown by this legend to Dante’s story of the earthly paradise, some are so evident as to be hardly worthy of mention. The scenic features, for example, are clearly identical, recourse being had to the same rhetorical figures to depict the beauty of the gardens—such as the wealth of flowers, the perfumed air, the soft climate, and the gentle breeze on which is wafted the sweet song of birds. The rivers in which the souls are washed are two in number in Dante’s poem and in the Moslem story, as against four in the Biblical paradise. Lastly, both gardens adjoin the path of purgatory, of which in fact they constitute the last division, for in them the soul undergoes final purification from the stain of sin and is prepared for entry into the realm of glory. The resemblance even extends to the manner of purification: the soul is bathed in both rivers and, in addition, drinks of their waters. The effects of the double ablution are also similar; all physical and moral trace of sin is blotted out and new life imparted to the soul. After ablution, the pilgrim seeks rest in the shade of a tree. Finally comes the procession of youths and maidens leading in the heavenly bride; the meeting of bride and bridegroom and their mutual recognition.

5. In spite of long and minute research, no literary precedent has so far been found for this latter scene.⁠[303] Yet, as the Dantists justly claim, it is of supreme moment for the whole of Dante’s poem, for it not only sheds light on the riddles that precede it, but also foreshadows the significance of what is to come; and, indeed, but for this scene of the meeting of Dante and Beatrice, neither the descent to hell nor the ascension to paradise would be susceptible of a satisfactory interpretation. At the same time, it must be admitted that the scene bears but little trace of the Christian spirit and is in strange contrast to the asceticism and the horror of sexual love that are characteristic of ecclesiastic literature in general, and that of the Middle Ages in particular.⁠[304] To arrange, as the climax of a journey to the regions beyond the grave, the meeting of the pilgrim with his lost Beloved is a poetic conceit that will in vain be sought for in any of the Christian precursors of the Divine Comedy. Dante was well aware of how singular the note he struck was. So novel did the glorification of Beatrice, which is the avowed object of his poem, appear to him, that many years before, when the plan of the Divine Comedy was shaping in his mind, he remarked about his future poem, “Spero di dire di lei quello que mai non fu detto d’alcuna.”⁠[305] No doubt this glorification of Beatrice has its immediate roots in the spirit of chivalry that inspired the troubadours of Provence and the Italian poets of the “dolce stil nuovo”; in the spiritual and romantic love of woman underlying that literary movement; and in the mixture of mysticism and sensuality revealed in the temperament of Dante, the man and poet. These explanations may, indeed, lay bare the inner workings of the poet’s mind, but they leave unsolved the riddle of the outer literary form in which his mentality manifested itself in this episode of the earthly paradise. In a later chapter of this work it will be shown that the origin of the “dolce stil nuovo” movement itself is most probably to be sought outside Christianity and that long before the appearance of the troubadours in Europe romantic love had inspired the poets of Arabia, and provided food for the speculative minds of Moslem mystics.⁠[306] Here it will suffice to point to the outstanding fact that an episode so typical of the Divine Comedy as the meeting of Beatrice and Dante, and, being foreign to the very spirit of Christianity, unprecedented in Christian legend, has a striking parallel in Moslem tradition. Nor is the tale translated above unique; rather is it the final stage in the evolution of a series of legends that tell the fantastic story of the entry of the blessed soul into paradise. The Moslem heaven, as will be seen later on, is not exclusively the paradise of coarse delight, as depicted in the Koran and many of the traditions, that has become stamped on the mind of educated Europe. By the side of that picture there is another, painted by the ascetics and mystics, that reveals a heaven of purer love, in which, in addition to the large-eyed houris and the wives the blessed knew on earth, a spiritual bride also awaits him. This is his Heavenly Betrothed, who from on high has been waiting and watching for the advent of her lover, guiding him on the path of virtue, inspiring him with lofty aims and ever encouraging him to persevere to the triumphant end, when they will be united in eternal bliss. When death at last leads the blessed soul to paradise, it is she who sallies forth to welcome him, radiant indeed with beauty, yet not as an instrument of carnal delight, but rather as a spiritual companion and moral redemptress who wishes the soul joy of his victory and reproves him for having on occasions forsaken her for other, earthly loves. The picture of this Heavenly Bride is so strikingly like that of Beatrice that it will not be amiss to quote some of the legends on this subject.

6. A very interesting description of the entry of the blessed soul into paradise is contained in the tenth century work Corrat Aloyun.⁠[307]

The angel Ridwan leads him to the tabernacle where his bride awaits him. She greets him with the words, “Oh, friend of God, how I have longed to meet thee! Blessed be the Lord, who has united us! God created me for thee and engraved thy name upon my heart. While thou on earth wast serving God in prayer and fasting, day and night, God bade his angel Ridwan carry me on his wings so that I might behold thy good deeds from heaven. The love I felt for thee caused me to watch over thy progress unbeknown to thee. When in the dark of night thy prayer went up, my heart was glad within me, and I said to thee, ‘Serve and thou shalt be served, sow and thou shalt reap! God has advanced thee in glory, for thy virtues have found favour in His sight, and He will bring us together in heaven.... But, when I found thee neglectful and half-hearted, I felt sad.’”

Another legend of the same cycle, attributed to the eighth century traditionist Ibn Wahab, introduces the reproaches of the bride for her bridegroom’s earthly loves.⁠[308]

“They will say to a woman in paradise, ‘Would’st thou see thy spouse who is yet on earth?’ and, as she assents, they will draw aside the veils that separate her from him, so that she may look upon his face and long for the moment of his coming, even as on earth a woman longs for her absent man. It may be that between him and his spouse on earth there have been grounds for resentment such as are common among wives and husbands, and she will reproach him saying, ‘Oh, wretched man! Why dost thou not forswear (such loves) that, compared with mine, shall last thee but a night or two?’”⁠[309]

The similarity between these two descriptions and the two scenes in which Beatrice comes to the moral aid of Dante is surely evident. Beatrice, when from on high she sees that her beloved poet is in danger of forfeiting salvation and, therewith, her companionship in paradise, descends from heaven to implore Virgil’s assistance in setting the pilgrim on the right path. The scene forms, as it were, the prologue to the poem.⁠[310] When Dante reaches the earthly paradise, she again descends and to her greeting adds reproof for his backsliding, his indulgence in earthly loves, and his neglect of the holy counsel she gave him in his dreams.⁠[311]

Tales of visions, based on the legends of the same cycle, are common in Islamic literature. They all tell of a beautiful and angelic maiden who appears to the devout in their dreams, to inspire them with holy thoughts and urge them to serve God with the promise that she will be theirs in the life to come.

A tale attributed to Ali al-Talhi, who lived prior to the tenth century, reads as follows⁠[312]:—

“In a dream I beheld a woman fairer than any of this world. ‘Who art thou?’ I asked, and she replied, ‘I am a houri.’ I said to her, ‘Pray let me be thy husband,’ to which she replied, ‘Ask me in marriage of my Lord and name my dowry.’ I asked, ‘What is thy dowry?’ and she answered, ‘That thou shouldst keep thy soul unspotted from the world.’”

Another story, attributed to the ninth century ascetic Ahmed ibn Abu-l-Hawari, runs:—

“In a dream I saw a maiden of the most perfect beauty, whose countenance shone with celestial splendour. To my asking, ‘Whence comes that brilliance on thy face?’ she replied, ‘Dost thou remember that night spent by thee in weeping (and devotion)?’ ‘I remember,’ I answered, and she said, ‘I took those tears of thine and with them anointed my face, since when it has shone in brilliance.’”

A tale, attributed to Utba al-Ghulam, certainly dates before the eleventh century:—

“In a dream I saw a houri of beautiful features, who said to me, ‘I love thee passionately and trust thou wilt do no deed that might keep us apart.’ I replied, ‘Thrice have I abandoned the things of this world and hope never to regain them, so that I may be able to meet thee (in heaven).’”

Sulayman ad-Darani, a great ascetic of the ninth century of our era, is the protagonist of a similar tale⁠[313]:—

“I saw in a dream a maiden of a beauty ‘as splendid as the moon,’ clad in a mantle that ‘seemed as if made of light.’⁠[314] Said the maiden to me, ‘Thou sleepest, oh! delight of my soul. Perchance thou knowest not that I am thy bride? Rise, for thy prayer is light and thy Lord deserveth thy thanks...!’ and, with a cry, she flew off through the air.”

Other legends tell of the visions seen by martyrs of holy warfare, the soldier ascetics of Islam, who later had their counterpart in the knights of the Christian military orders. In those quoted below, the meeting with the heavenly bride, who appears either alone or accompanied by her handmaidens, is described in terms similar to those used by Dante, and the subject of the earthly loves of the protagonist is also alluded to.

A tale told by Abd ar-Rahman ibn Zayd, of the eighth century, runs as follows⁠[315]:—

“A youth, moved to devotion by spiritual reading, distributes all his patrimony among the poor, keeping only enough to buy a mount and arms, with which he sets off to the holy war. Whilst on service, he fasts during the day-time and spends the nights in prayer and vigil as he guards the horses of his sleeping comrades. One day he cries out in a loud voice: ‘Oh, how I long to be with the large-eyed maiden!’ and to his companions he explains how in a dream his soul found itself in a lovely garden watered by a river; on the bank of the river stood a group of fair maidens in rich attire, who welcomed him saying, ‘This is the bridegroom of the large-eyed maiden whom we serve.’ Proceeding on his way, he comes to a second river, where other maidens again welcome him.⁠[316] A few steps further, and he meets the heavenly maiden herself enthroned on a seat of gold within a tabernacle of pearl. When she beholds her betrothed, she wishes him joy of having come to her, but warns him that his present coming is not final. ‘The spirit of life yet breathes within thee, but to-night thou shalt break thy fast in my company.’”⁠[317]

The following legend was told by Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak in the eighth century⁠[318]:—

A soldier in the holy war tells of a vision he had when faint from wounds received on the field of battle. “I seemed to be led to a mansion built of rubies, wherein I saw a woman whose beauty enraptured me. She bade me welcome, saying she was not like my wife on earth, whose behaviour she then related to me. I laughed and would fain have clasped her in my arms, but she held me at a distance saying, ‘To-morrow in the evening thou shalt come to me,’ and I wept because she would not let me draw nigh to her.” The legend ends by saying that on the morrow that same soldier died in battle.

A legend, related by Ismail ibn Hayyan, of the ninth century, also tells of a vision seen by a martyr of holy warfare as he fainted away:—

He finds himself led by a man to the mansion of the heavenly maiden, through palaces of paradise inhabited by youths whose beauty is painted in hyperbolic terms. Finally there comes to greet him the beautiful woman who tells him she is his bride and who reminds him of the women of this world with such detail that she appears to be speaking from a record made in a book.

7. The features of resemblance found in this comparison of Dante’s story of the earthly paradise with Islamic legend may be summarised as follows: On either hand, this paradise is represented as a garden of delight, situated on the summit of a high mountain rising on an island in the ocean; other Islamic legends tell of a garden lying at the gate of paradise and forming both the antechamber to glory and the last stage of purgatory, where the souls undergo final purification by being washed in the waters of two streams; in this garden also the soul is met and welcomed by the heavenly bride, a figure who in appearance and attitude bears a striking resemblance to the Beatrice of Dante.

Versions of the Miraj described a similar garden as being watered by rivers in which the souls are purified before they enter heaven. That garden was called the Garden of Abraham. Thus, in Islam, there was a threefold garden beyond the grave—the Garden of Abraham, or Limbo; the Garden of Eden, or earthly paradise; and the garden of paradise, lying between purgatory and the theological heaven. Features of all three gardens appear blended in the Divine Comedy in a form foreign to Christian legend, as it existed prior to Dante.

The Risala of Abu-l-Ala al-Maarri, the literary imitation of the Miraj that was quoted in a former chapter, depicted a similar scene. In a garden lying at the gate of the celestial paradise the traveller, on the banks of a river, meets a maiden who has been sent by God to welcome and guide him; she leads him to the presence of the beloved of the poet Imru-l-Qays, who appears in the wake of a procession of beautiful maidens.⁠[319]

It would thus seem that there was nothing to prevent the legend of the ascension from being extended to include the legends quoted in this chapter, dealing, as they also do, with the after-life. The idea might indeed prove tempting to so consummate an artist as Dante, who, saturated with classical and Christian learning, might well know how to weave into the outline of the story of Mahomet the scenes provided in these legends and the features available in mythology and ecclesiastical tradition, in order to paint his picture of the earthly paradise, in which elements from the Garden of Eden, the Parnassus of the Ancients, and the Paradise of Islam are blended into one.