Note Note XXXIX — NOTES TO CHAPTER III.

The Mohammedan traditions concerning this rock are numerous; I quote a few of them. It has been the scene of the prayers of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, Mohammed, and many other prophets, and here they have received their inspiration from heaven. The rock retains the imprint of the foot of the patriarch Enoch, who was the handsomest, and the wisest man that lived upon the earth. He was learned in astronomy, in which he made great discoveries, and, to publish them, invented printing. God loved him so that he would not let him die, but translated him to heaven. The patriarch had such an attachment to Jerusalem, that he wished to leave some memorial of his having lived there, which accounts for his foot-print being there.