The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-01

iais on them Then you VIII know how
many camels will be accepted by God
as an equivalent for your SON.
This advice was followed by Abd-el-
Motalleb and the lot fell upon Abd-Allah
up to the ninety-ninth camel, but when
the hundredth beast was added the lot
Tell upon it. Then the father knew that
they were accepted in lieu of his son and
ne sacrificed them to the Lord. Up
TO the present day II is the custom among
the Arabs to redeem a man condemned to
die by offering a hundred camels for his
ransom
When the Koraischtes saw the trea-
sures that Abd-el Motalleb had found
in the well they demanded a share Of
| them, but he refused them, saying the
treasures all belonged to the temple that
Abraham and Ishmael had built. To set
| tie the dispute they agreed to refer the
matter to a dervish who passed for a
| prophet and dwelt upon the confines of
| Syria. On the way to the home of the
prophet Abd-el- -Montalleb became ex-
| hausted with thirst and was Obliged to
beg water from the Koraischites. but
! they were compelled to refuse him. fear
| ing their supply would not suffice for
themselves. All at once there gushed
| forth from the ground pressed by the
| foot of Abd-e- Motallebs camel a foun-
| tain of clear water sufficiently abundant
| to quench his thirst as we'll as that of
| those who had refused him drink This
| miracle caused the Koraischites to recog-
nize in Abd-el-Motalleb a prophet sent
| by God and they at once relinquished all
claim to the treasures found in Zemzem
and to the we'll itself
This well was for long time the only
water supply which Mecca possessed but
! the annual increase in the concourse of
| pilgrims to the city became so great that
| finally the caliphs were obliged to con-
struct an aqueduct for the furnishing of
an abundant quantity of water to the
community. Mohammed gave great praise
| to the well of Zemzem whose waters were
| at first as sweet as honey and as nourish-
ing as milk, and the present Arabs be-
| lieve that a draught thereof gives health
while to drink much of the water washes
away sin. Moreover, certain wise Mus
sulman upon being interrogated as to the
source of his wisdom replied Since
have drunk long draughts of the water
of Zernzem, have forgotten nothing
| that l learned
| But that which II most curious and in
teresting concerning the temple built by
Abraham and Ishmael is the strange
legend relative to visit made thereto by
| Alexander the Two-Horned
| He asked Ishmael what he was doing
and when the lad replied, I'VE build
temple to the only God in whom we be-
lieve," the visitor knew that he was
prophet of God and he went on foot seven
! times around the temple But who was
| this Alexander the Two-Horned and why
his strange name? Some declare him to
have been lord of the whole earth while
others assert that he was Greek First
let us look at the legends associated
with him. He was lord of light and dark
ness; when he went forth with his hosts,
he had light before him and behind him
was darkness; thus he could overtake his
enemies, but could not be overtaken by
them.
| Alexander had two banners; one white
| and the other black and when he unfured
the white one, 1T was instantly broad
day, and when he unfured the black one,
it was instantly midnight. Thus he was
| enabled to have day in the darkest night
and night in the brightest day No Won
der he was uncomfortable; for he could
| at will make his armies invisible and
| thus fall upon his enemies and destroy
them without their being able to see who
| We're opposed to them.
| Alexander is said to have gone through
the entire world in quest of the Fountain
| of Immortality of which he had read in
| sacred books a descendant of Shem was
| preordained to drink and become i'm
| mortal.
In this he was disappointed for the
vizir AL Hidhr Gel Khourd) found the
fountain first and drank of it not know
| ing the virtues thereof, thus when Alex
| ander followed him. the waters had sunk
| away. for by ths command of God only
| one man was destined to drink thereof.
1t was said that Alexander was called
| the Two Horned because he went through
| the world from one end to the other
| Then again he is said to have obtained
| this name from his wearing two long
| locks of hair which stood erect like horns.
| Still others declare he was styled be-
cause of two golden horns upon his
crown SymboliZing the dual Kingdoms of
I Greece Persia which hq
| Lastly it is declared that his title is de-
! rived from dream born of Unsuitable
| ambition that he once approached suf-
ficently near to the sun as to catch 1t by
| its two ends
Many learned men think that there
| were two AleXanders. One was descend
| ed frob Shem and accompanied iIl
Khourd to the end of the world in
search of the fountain of Immortality
and was ordered by God to build an in
destructible wall against the incur
sions of the children of Cog and Ma
gog. The other Alexander was the
son of Philip of Macedonia and was de-
scended from Japheth and likewise the
pupil of Aristotle at Athens.
There is very close similarity be-
| tween the legends relative to this Alex
ander the Two Horned and those asso-
c.a,ea W1th the wandering Bacchus
tf~H l"aia and also of the peregrin-
alton of Heracles, or Hercules. The
a. s.o.v is one of intense in
terest upon which l wish space would
permit TO dwell longer
| A peculiar feature of the legend is
the association of Alexander the Two
Horned with his vizer, Ell Khourd, for
this last character can be no one else
| than the legendary wandering Jew.
He was first encountered by Moses
and the story is that one day when
Moses was boasting OF his wisdom be-
Ioie Joshua God said to him. go to the
place where the sea of the Greeks joins
1.-the Persian gulf, and there will you find
one who surpasses you In wisdom"
When Moses asked God how he would
be able to recognize the wise man he
was bidden to take fish in basket
and" said the Almighty, the fish will
lead thee to my faithful servant"
Moses started out with Joshua, carry
ing the fish in basket and In the
evening they reached the seashore,
where they fell asleep When they re-
Isumed their journey next morning
Joshua. unobserved by Moses, forgot to
take the fish along, and they travelled
a long distance before they discovered
their omission. They returned to the
spot where they had slept, but found
the basket empty. In the midst of their
them standing upright, like a man, in
the sea- The creature led them along
the coast and they continued to follow
until their guide suddenly vanished
Supposing that they had reached their
destination, they at once explored the
vicinity. and discovered cave, over the
l - 1.