Though not mentioned in the Qur'an, the story of the Light of Muhammad, which shone on his forehead and was his pre-existent essence, so to speak, occupies a very important place in the Traditions. Whole pages are filled with such traditions in such books as the Raudatu'l Ahbab. There we read that "When Adam was created, God placed that light upon his forehead, and said, ‘O Adam, this light which I have placed upon thy forehead is the light of the noblest and best son [of thine], and it is the light of the chief of the prophets who shall be sent.’" Then the narrative goes on to say that the light passed on from Adam to Seth, and from Seth to the noblest of his descendants in each generation, until in due course it reached 'Abdu'llah ibn Al Muttalab. From him it passed to Aminah when she conceived Muhammad54. It may be that Muhammadans have intended in their account of this light of Muhammad to exalt their master so as to match what is said of Christ in John i. 4, 5 (cf. xii. 41), and that there is a confusion in their minds between the first of these passages and Gen. i. 3. At the same time it will be seen from the passages which we now proceed to quote that the details, though with marvellous exaggeration and invention, are, in their main outline, borrowed from Zoroastrian legend.
In the Pahlavi Minukhirad, which was composed in the days of the early Sasanian kings of Persia, we read that Ormazd created this world and all His creatures, and the archangels, and the Heavenly Reason, out of His own special light, with the praise of Zarvan i Akarana or "Endless Time." But in a work far more ancient than this the fable of the light is found existent in Persia. In the Avesta it is mentioned in connexion with the great Yima Khshaeta or Yima "the Brilliant," who from its possession derived his name, afterwards corrupted into the modern Persian Jamshid. He is identical with the Sanskrit Yama, who in the Rig Veda is spoken of as the first of men, as in vain tempted to sin by his twin sister Yami, and as after death ruling the shades of the dead. Yima, in Persian tradition on the other hand, is the founder of Persian civilization. His father's name, Vivanhvat55, is the same as the Vivasvat of the Indian legend, who is the Sun, and is father of Yama. On Yima's brow shone the Kavaem Hvareno or "Royal Brightness," an emanation from the Divine glory, until through sin he lost it. Of this the following description is given in the56 Avesta:—
"The mighty Royal Brightness for a long time adhered to Jamshid, master of the good herd, while he reigned on the seven-climed earth, over divs and men, magicians and Paris, evil spirits and soothsayers and wizards. ... Then, when he conceived in mind that false and worthless word, the visible brightness departed from him in the form of a bird. ... He who is Jamshid, master of the good herd, Jam, no longer seeing that brightness, became sorrowful; and he, having become troubled, engaged in working hostility upon earth. The first time that brightness departed, that brightness [departed] from Jamshid, that brightness departed from Jam, son of Vivanhvat, like57 a fluttering bird. ... Mithra took that brightness. When the second time that brightness departed from Jamshid, that brightness (departed) from Jam, son of Vivanhvat, it went away like a fluttering bird: Faridun, offspring of the Athwiyani tribe, the brave tribe, took that brightness, since he was the most victorious man among victorious men. ... When the third time that brightness departed from Jamshid, that brightness departed from Jam, son of Vivanhvat, like a fluttering bird: Keresaspa the manly took that brightness, since he was the mightiest among mighty men."
Here we see that, just as in the Muhammadan legend, the light passes on from generation to generation, to the most worthy man in each. It was natural for the offspring of the Sun to possess this light in the first place, and its transmission marked the handing down of the sovereignty. There seems no special suitability in the legend that it was handed down from Adam to Muhammad, unless to magnify the prophet in the same way in which the ancient legend glorified these various old Persian heroes.
Moreover, we notice that Jamshid ruled "over divs and men, magicians and Paris, evil spirits and soothsayers and wizards," just as the Jewish and Muhammadan legends spoken of in an earlier chapter58 represent Solomon as doing. Doubtless the Jews borrowed this story from the Zoroastrians and passed it on to the Muslims, as we have said in Chapter III.
What the Muslim Tradition says of the dividing up of the "Light of Muhammad," when first created, into various parts, out of which other things were made, is very similar to the story concerning Zoroaster in the old Persian book entitled Dasatir i Asmani, whence it was very possibly derived, especially as the same idea is found also in older Zoroastrian writings, as in the Minukhirad quoted above.