A literary history of Persia

162 THE SASANIAN PERIODindicated by Spiegel in his Eranhche Alterihumskunde, vol. ii,pp. 195-232), were inevitably hostile and radically opposed.In the case of Judaism, orthodox Christianity and Islam, theantagonism was equally great, and if the Manichaeans sufferedless at the hands of the Jews than of the other three religions,it was the power rather than the will which these lacked,since, as we have seen, Judaism was held by Manes inparticular abhorrence.Into the details of the Manichaean doctrine the causeswhich led to the admixture of the Darkness and the Light ;their theories concerning the "King of the Paradises of Light,"the Primal Man, the Devil, and the mechanism of the materialuniverse as a means for liberating the Light from its captivity ;and their grotesque beliefs concerning Adam and Eve, Cainand Abel, Hakimatud-Dahr (" the World-wise ") and Ibnatu'l-Hlrs ("the Daughter of Desire"), Rawfaryad, Barfaryad, andShathil (Seth), and the like, it is not possible to enter in thisplace. As a set-off against their rejection of the Hebrewprophets the Manichaeans recognised not only Zoroaster andBuddha as divine messengers, but also Christ, though here theydistinguished between the True Christ, who was, in their view,an Apparition from the World of Light clad in a merely phantasmalbody, and His counterpart and " antagonist, the Son ofthe Widow " who was crucified. It is a curious thing thatthis belief of the Manichaeans was adopted by Muhammad :in the Qur'an (sura iv, v. 156)it is written :'"And for their saying, Verily we slew the Messiah, Jesus the Son ojbut they did not slay Him or crucify Him,Mary, the 'Apostle of God ;but the matter was made doubtful to them [or, a similitude was madefor them]. And verily those who differ about Him are in doubt concerningHim; they have no knowledge concerning Him, but only followan opinion. They did not kill Him, for sure ! but God raised Him upunto Himself; for God is mighty and wise 1 "As regardsthe history of the Manichaeans in the East, wehave already mentioned that during the Caliphate of al-Mahdi