repent and bewail past sins. When a mention of the last Judgment
occurs in the reading of passages from the Bible or Qoran, the
auditors burst into tears. Upon one occasion a man was praying upon
the roof of his house and wept so bitterly over his sins, that the
tears ran down the waterspout and flooded the rooms below. This
hyperbolical statement in a typical life of a saint shows the high
value attributed to tears in the East. It is, however, equally a
Christian characteristic. The gracious gift of tears was regarded by
mediaeval Christianity as the sign of a deeply religious nature.
Gregory VII is said to have wept daily at the sacrifice of the Mass
and similar accounts are given to the credit of other famous
Christians.

While a man should weep for his own sins, he is not to bewail any
misfortune or misery which may befall him. In the latter case it is
his duty to collect his strength, to resign himself and to praise God
even amid his sufferings. Should he lose a dear relative by death, he
is not to break out with cries and lamentations like the heathen.
Lamentation for the dead is most strictly forbidden in Islam. "We are
God's people and to God we return" says the pious Muslim on receiving
the unexpected news of a death. Resignation and patience in these
matters is certainly made the subject of eloquent exhortation in the
Qoran, but the special developments of tradition betray Christian
influence.

Generally speaking, the whole ethical system of the two religions is
based upon the contrast between God and the world, though Muhammedan
philosophy will recognize no principle beside that of God. As a
typical example we may take a sentence from the Spanish bishop Isidor
who died in 636: "Good are the intentions directed towards God and bad