and in the hour of death he has no comfort except such as the thoughts of his own fancied merits can give him. It is true that self-righteousness does in many cases give the Muslim courage¹ to face death with composure, but how miserable such self-confidence is, and how terrible the awakening when Eternity receives the disembodied spirit, clothed in its own vileness, and unwashed in the blood of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world!

The belief in the need of an Atonement has asserted itself, in spite of the Qur'an, among many of

Felt need of an Atonement.

the professed followers of the "Prophet." Just as in ancient Greece—and perhaps in those regions of Asia² in which the myth of Prometheus in its original form arose—it was felt that Man could not escape the eternal ruin which he by his sins had incurred, unless some one more³ than human were

willing to bear great suffering in his stead; so among Muslims various supposed atonements have been eagerly accepted by many a perishing soul, conscious of guilt and longing for deliverance from the terrors which his own conscience as well as his religion told him await the unforgiven sinner.

Hasan and Husain.

Hence some have held that Muhammad's own death, which a Tradition tells us was one of intense agony¹ was in some manner an atonement for the sins of his followers. The Shi'ahs generally believe that the deaths of Hasan and Husain² were propitiatory, and some at least among the Sunnis³ agree with them in asserting that the martyred Husain died at Karbala as their Redeemer. Others, unable to accept these theories, believe that asceticism will purify them from earthly desires and sinfulness. This idea has given rise to many orders of religious mendicants, Darvishes and