8. Lamartine’s Homage to the Prophet
AneighteenthcenturyFrenchhistorian,Lamartine,writesthefollowing
in hisHistoire de la Turquie(1854) about the Prophet of Islam:
“Never hasmanset forhimself, voluntarily orinvoluntarily, amore
sublime aim, since this aim was superhuman:to subvertsuperstitions
whichhadbeeninterposedbetweenmanandhisCreator,torenderGod
untomanandmanuntoGod;torestoretherationalandsacredideaof
divinityamidstthechaosofthematerialanddisfiguredgodsofidolatry,
then existing...
“Ifgreatness ofpurpose,smallness ofmeans,andastoundingresults
are thetrue criteriaof human genius,who coulddareto compareany
great man in modern history with Muhammad?...
“Philosopher, orator, apostle,legislator, warrior, conquerorof ideas,
restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder of
twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is
Muhammad.Asregards allstandards bywhich humangreatness may
be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?”
* * *ThislessonhasbeencompiledandeditedbyS.M.Rizvifromthedif-
ferencesourcesincludingthefollowing:TheShi’iteIslambyTabataba’i.A
Brief History of the Fourteen Infallibles, published by WOFIS, Tehran.A
GlanceattheLifeoftheProphetofIslambyDarRah-eHaq.TheEarly His-
tory of Islamby S. Safdar Husayn.