THE LEGEND OF NIGHT JOURNEY AND ASCENSION OF MUHAMMAD checked against the Divine Comedy
THE GENESIS OF THE LEGEND
1. The Muslim legend night journey and ascension of Muhammad to the mansions of grave, has been the genesis and evolution of almost all religious legends: born of a brief and obscure passage of Revelation, whose exegesis escapes lights theological reason, soon the rich fantasy multitude of the faithful, who are not resigned to agnosticism of the wise, fills and fill the gaps and loopholes that the exegete and theologian left the margin of the text revealed.
One hint, and this extremely brief and fleeting, is what we actually provides the Koran in the first verse of the sura Seventeenth, germ of all the legend (1). ".Loado Sea-says that verse-el [Mr.] which made travel, overnight, His servant [Muhammad] from the sacred temple [Makkah] to the distant temple [Jerusalem] whose premises have blessed, to show him our wonders. "
2. The vague and mysterious allusion should excite, very early, curiosity of Muslims, spurred by the pious devotion to the memory of the Prophet. A rich bloom more or less fantastic legends arose as if by magic, in which the fertile Eastern imagination lavished his most lavish galas filling the vast horizon, that the course offered him overnight trip,-with very varied and picturesque scenes episodes infinite number caasi. An entire book would not be enough to contain the documented study of the complete development of all branches of the legend, born as a gloss on this insignificant verse of the Koran, in the form of hadiths or traditions of Prophet, in whose mouth a detailed description of all the wonders he saw in his night journey becomes. Without intending, in any way, matter agolar, much less systematically expose, I'll try, however, present here, grouped into three cycles or families, some major newsrooms legend preserved, beginning with its simplest, sober and fragmentary types, ending with those that evolution comes as the height of the complex hyperbolic fertility in action and how wonderful the scenes. (beginning of chapter 1).
BOOK
The Muslim eschatology in the Divine Comedy
Written by Miguel Asin Palacios, Julian Ribera, Royal Spanish Academy
1819 – 403 pages
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