Nay

truly man walks in delusion, when he deems he suffices for himself: to thy Lord they all must return.” There was nothing new in Muhammad’s belief beyond its negations. He believed in heaven and hell, in God as the source of all, and in angels and devils. Islam is thus the simplest of creeds, as taught by him; and though the Futhah, or “ opening” chapter of the Koran, is not the earliest of his poetic outbursts, yet it is rightly placed first, as summing up his teaching. “In the name of God, merciful and pitying, Praise be to God the Lord of worlds: The King of doomsday, merciful and pitying, Thee we serve, and Thee we ask for help.