1. D’Ancona paid due heed to the materialism shown in the conceptions of paradise in almost all the Christian legends precursory of the Divine Comedy, and concluded that Dante, in tracing his spiritual and ethereal picture of paradise, was uninfluenced by those legends. The contrast between Dante and his Christian predecessors was referred to in the discussion of the Paradiso,⁠[495] when it was suggested that the materialistic pictures of heaven appearing in the mediæval Christian legends were themselves based on Moslem models. Now is the occasion to prove that assertion.

To begin with, these Christian legends bear a general resemblance to the Moslem tales in that they often make no distinction between the earthly and the heavenly paradise.⁠[496] This confusion, it will be remembered, is characteristic of Islamic stories, and particularly of some versions of the ascension of Mahomet. In these, a garden of bliss, watered by clear streams, is the scene of the theological paradise, which, although not specifically laid on earth, is not supposed to be in the firmament of the heavens.⁠[497]

This Moslem conception of paradise as a garden reappears in some poetical legends of thirteenth-century Christian Europe. For instance, in the poem “Le vergier du paradis,” published by Jubinal,⁠[498] paradise is represented as a garden watered by limpid streams and shaded by trees; the air is scented with rare perfumes and the sweet music of instruments and the song of birds enchant the ear; within the bowers of this garden are castles of marvellous beauty, built of gold and precious stones. Were it not for some exclusively Islamic features, the picture might indeed have been evolved from the Celestial Jerusalem of Revelations.⁠[499] Some of these features are of interest.

2. The protagonist of the legend of Turcill, in passing through the garden of paradise, sees Adam seated at the foot of a miraculous tree, close to the source of the four Biblical rivers.⁠[500] He observes that “Adam appeared to be smiling with one eye, and weeping with the other; smiling at the thought of those of his descendants who would find eternal life, and weeping at the thought of those destined to eternal damnation.”

This episode, for which Graf quotes no precedent, is undeniably based upon a scene in the ascension of Mahomet⁠[501]; and the fact that the version in question is included in the collection of Bukhari and Muslim is proof that it was current in Islam before the ninth century.

3. But, apart from mere episode, in many Christian legends of paradise the general outline of the conception is of Moslem origin. This conception is mostly modelled upon one type; paradise is conceived as the court of a feudal lord who receives his retainers at a brilliant gathering enlivened by music and dancing. The Cour du paradis, the work of an anonymous Provençal troubadour of the thirteenth century, describes the reception as follows⁠[502]:

On All Saints Day the Lord holds a festive meeting at His court. St. Simon and St. Jude are sent to each dwelling in paradise to invite the blessed to the party; they call in turn at the mansions of the angels, the patriarchs, the apostles, the martyrs, the confessors, the innocent children, the virgins and the widows. In these groups the blessed flock to the reception, where they sing songs of heavenly love and tread the same measures as are danced on earth; Mary and Mary Magdalene lead the singing and dancing.

The Visione dei gaudii de’ santi,⁠[503] a legend of Dante’s time, depicts the blessed as barons and paradise as a feudal castle with battlements and towers of crystal and precious stones. This picture is reproduced in the poem of the minstrel Giacomino of Verona, in which the saints are represented as knights militant under the banner of the Virgin, who in reward crowns them with wreaths of flowers of a perfume sweeter than musk or amber, and bestows upon them precious gifts of harness set with gold and emeralds and of chargers swifter than the hart or the wind chasing over the sea.⁠[504]

In other legends, the festival in paradise is conceived on less worldly lines, more as a religious ceremony; in place of the cavalcade of knights is a holy procession led by the Lord, and then follows a meeting, at which St. Stephen recites the Epistle, and St. John the Gospel.⁠[505]

It is significant that long before the tenth century there existed in Islam a whole cycle of hadiths the very title of which—“The Court of Holiness”—suggests a resemblance to the Christian legends. As a matter of fact, the same general ideas underlie both. Paradise is conceived either as a courtly gathering where there is music and dancing, or, again, as a religious festival. The likeness extends down to actual detail, which would seem to be undeniable evidence of imitation.

This cycle of hadiths comprises, not only those legends upon which the Beatific Vision of the mystics was founded, but others created by the traditionists to satisfy the ruder tastes of the early Moslems, whose only interests ever lay in the direction of the miraculous.⁠[506]

The hadiths of the “Court of Holiness” begin, like the Christian legends, with the invitation of the blessed to the reception at the heavenly court. The invitation is for Friday, the festive day of Islam, on which the elect, in addition to their continual bliss, are granted the special favour of gazing upon the face of the Almighty. Thus the enjoyment of the Beatific Vision is not constant, but weekly; and in the “Cour du Paradis” the blessed only behold the Almighty once a year. The point is important in that it is quite unauthorised by Christian doctrine.

Early on Friday morn angel messengers call upon the blessed in their mansions and deliver a sealed invitation to each together with rich gifts of jewelry for his adornment. The reception is held in two castles, built of pearls, that stand in the gardens of paradise—the one destined for the men, under Mahomet, and the other for the women, under Fatima. Reclining on soft cushions, the guests listen to houris chanting hymns of praise to the Lord to the accompaniment of countless flutes that hang from the trees and are sounded by the softest of breezes. Enraptured by the music, the blessed feel an impulse to dance; so, in order that they may be spared the physical exertion, they are provided with instruments fitted with wings, on which they sway hither and thither to the rhythm of the music. After the dancing follows the reception by God, Who speaks to each guest in turn, whereupon they retire each to his dwelling.

The analogy of this version to the “Cour du Paradis” is obvious. In other versions, the reception is followed by a religious ceremony.

The blessed beg to be allowed the pleasure of holy prayer, which was their delight on earth. God bids David ascend the pulpit, and in an inspired voice he chants one of his Psalms. Thereupon Mahomet in even more impressive tones recites a chapter from the Koran. Finally God shows Himself to each of the guests, who then retire to their mansions.

A third version of the hadith appears to be the prototype of the Christian legends that represent the heavenly festivity as a brilliant cavalcade. After the prologue of the invitation common to all the readings, the story proceeds as follows:

After all the guests have mounted, the men on horses of the purest breed and the women on she-camels, they are led by Mahomet and Fatima to the court. Mahomet, mounted on Boraq, hoists the Green Standard of the Glory of God, which is borne by angels on a staff of light above his head. The prophets Adam, Moses, and Jesus join the procession, as it passes their castles. In other versions, Mahomet is surrounded by Abu Bakr, Adam, and Omar and preceded by the first muezzin Bilal, who rides at the head of the heavenly muezzins. The cavalcade follows the flowery banks of the river Kauthar till it reaches the golden walls of the castle of the King of Heaven. Gabriel climbs to the battlements and summons all the blessed to join in the festivity. They arrive in groups led by their respective prophets and take up their place behind Mahomet and his flock. Inside the castle walls the sward is perfumed and shaded by trees, whose branches are laden with fruit and peopled with countless birds of song. Here the reception is held in a manner similar to that already described.

The resemblance between this version and the Christian legends of the cavalcade of knights extends even to descriptive detail. Mary presents her knights with coursers such as never were seen on earth, red in colour, and swifter than the hart or the wind sweeping over the sea; their trappings are of gold resplendent with emeralds. The terms of the Moslem legend are almost identical:

God saith to His angels, “Give My elect steeds of the purest breed, yet such as they have never ridden.” And the angels proffered them coursers of a ruby red, the trappings of which are set with emeralds; with their wings of gold and hoofs of silver, they can outrun the swiftest race-horse and fly faster than lightning....⁠[507]