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A grand and royal Halo long attached itself to Jamsh�d, Lord of the good
flock, while he ruled over the Seven climes —
Demons, men, fairies, wizards, sorcerers, and evil-doers... Then when he
approved of that false and baseless word, the visible halo departed from him in
the form of a flying bird ....When Jamsh�d, Lord of the good flock, no longer
saw that halo, he became devoid of joy, and in distress gave himself up to
making enmity upon earth. The first time that halo was removed from Jamsh�d, it
departed from Jam son of V�vagh�n (the Sun) in the form of a Var�gh bird, and
Mithra seized the halo When a second time the halo was removed from Jamsh�d, it
departed as before in the form of a bird; then Farid�n the brave took that halo
....When that halo departed the third time from Jamsh�d, it was taken by
Keres�spa (Garsh�sp), that great and powerful man.1
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Now if we bring these two accounts together, and remember that according to
the Avesta, Jamsh�d was the first man created by God upon earth, and therefore
the same as Adam the father of mankind, we see at once that the light from
Jamsh�d descended on the best of his posterity agrees with what Tradition
speaks of as the Light of Muhammad,— which Muslims appear thus to have borrowed
from the Zoroastrians. We also gather that what appears in the Zoroastrian book
about Jamsh�d ruling over men, genii, giants, etc., is very similar to what the
Jews write of Solomon, evidently from the same Source, and taken from them by
the Muslims, as indeed has been seen in our Third Chapter. Also what the Muslims
write about the division of the Prophet's light, coincides closely with what
appears in a Zoroastrian book,2 and was evidently taken from that Source.
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V. The Bridge Sir�t.— Muslims tell us the Prophet held that at the last day
after the Judgment, all mankind will pass over this bridge, which is finer than
a hair, and sharper than a sword; and that the wicked will fall from it into
hell. Now what is the origin of the name Sirat? Though adopted into Arabic, it
is of Persian origin, and called by the ancient Zoroastrians Ch�navad, and its
history is also derived from them, as will be seen from the following account
taken from one of their ancient writings:—
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I flee from much sin and I keep my conduct pure. The keeping pure of the six
vital powers, — conduct, speech, thought, intellect, reason, wisdom, — according
to thy will, O Author of the power to do good works, with justice do I perform
it, that service of thine, in thought, speech, and deed. It is good for me to
abide in the Bright way, lest I arrive at the severe punishment of Hell, that I
may cross over Ch�navad and may reach that blest abode, full of odour, entirely
delightful, always bright.2
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The meaning of the Persian name is "the connecting link," the
Bridge being that which joins earth with Paradise.
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VI. The Muslims say that each Prophet before his death gives notice of the
next to follow, as Abraham did of Moses, Moses of David, and so on. Nothing of
this sort, however, is in the Bible; on the contrary, the Prophets from first to
last gave notice of the coming of the Messiah, and nothing more. As they could
not therefore have got this notion from the Scriptures,
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