INASMUCH as I haue told you of the Sarasins and of other landes, if ye will I shall tell you a parte of theyr law, and of theyr beleve, after as theyr boke sayeth, that they call Alkaron,1 and some call that boke Mysap,2 some call it Harme3 in diverse language of countreys, which booke Machomet gave them, in ye which boke he wrote among other things as I have often red and sene, that they that are good shall goe to Paradise, and the evill folkes to hell, and that beleeve all the Sarasyns. And if a man aske of what Paradise they meane, they say it is a place of delytes, where a man shall finde all maner of fruites at all times, and waters, and rivers running with milke & hony, wine and fresh water, and they shall have faire houses & good as they have deserved, and those houses are made of precious stones, gold & sylver & every man shall haue ten4 wives and all maydens. Also they speake often & beleve of the Virgin Mary and tell of the Incarnation, that Mary was learned5 of Aungels and that Gabriel sayd to hir that she was chosen before all other from the beginning of the world, and that wytnesseth well theyr booke, & Gabriel tolde hir of the incarnation of Jesu Christ, and that she shoulde conceive and beare a childe and they saye that Christ was a holy prophet in word & dede, and also meke & rightwise to all men, and without any blame worthy. And they saye that when the Aungell tolde hir of the incarnation, she hadde great dread, for she was righte younge, and there was one in the countrey that medled with sorcery, that men called Takina,6 that with enchauntements could make him lyke an Aungell and he went often and lay with maidens, and therefore was Mary the more aferde7 of the Aungell, and thought in hir mynde that it had bene Takina that went to maydens, and she conjured him that he should tell hir if he were the same Takina, and the Aungell bad hir have no dreade for he was for certayne a true messenger of Jesu Christ. Also theyr booke of Alkaron saith, that she had a child under a palme tree, then was she greatly ashamed and sayde that she woulde she had bene dead. As sone as hir childe was borne, he spake and comforted hir and sayd, Ne timeas Maria, That is to say, Be not afraide Mary. And in many other places, sayth theyr booke Alkaron, that Jesu Christ spake as sone as he was borne, & the booke sayth that Jesu Christ was sent of Almighty God to be ensample to all men, and that God shall deme8 all men, the good to heaven and the wicked to hell & that Jesu Christ is the best prophete of all other and nexte to God and that he was a holy prophet, for he gave to the blynde theyr sight, and heled Mesels9 & raysed men and went all quick10 to heaven. And if they may finde a boke with gospels, namely, Missus est Angelus, they doe it great worship, they fast a moneth in the yere & they eate but in the night, and they kepe them from theyr wyves, but they that are syke are not Constrayned to that. And that booke Alkaron speaketh of Jewes and sayth, they are wicked people for they will not beleve that Jesu Christ is of God. And they say, yt the Jewes lye on our Lady and hir sonne Jesu Christ, saying that they did him not on the crosse, for Sarasyns beleve so nere our fayth, that they are lightly converted when men preche the lawe of Jesu Christ, and they saye that they wote well by theyr prophicies, that theyr lawe of Machomet shall fayll as doth the law of Jews and that Christen mens laws shall last unto the worlds ende. And if a man aske them wherein they beleve they say that they beleve in god almightie, that is the maker of heaven and earth and all other things and without him is nothing done and at the day of Judgement when euery man shall be rewarded after his deserving, & that all things is soth11 that Christ said through the mouthes of his prophetes.
