The Sources of Voltaire's "Mahomet"

Author(s): Ronald W. Tobin

Source: The French Review, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Feb., 1961), pp. 372-378
Published by: American Association of Teachers of French
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The Sourcesof Voltaire's"Mahomet"
by Ronald W. Tobin

E IGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE witnessed a surge of inter-

est in historical figures of diverse races and geographical locales. If we
judge by the numerous lives of the prophet and the translations of the
Koran which appeared in France between 1695-1750,1 then Mohammed,
founder of the Moslem religion, must certainly be considered a prom-
inent person. And so, we encounter even Voltaire endeavoring to pro-
duce a play at once capitalizing on the current popularity of the Arab
"Envoyd de Dieu," and also demonstrating the fear, ignorance and fa-
naticism which he felt was at the basis of organized religion. The re-
sult was Mahomet, one of Voltaire's more famous dramatic efforts, pre-
cisely because it was the one that caused the most furor.
Voltaire himself places the early formation of the tragedy in 1736.
Foreseeing that some parties might take offense at his play, he sub-
mitted the manuscript to the Cardinal de Fleury in 1740. It was sanc-
tioned and first performed, with great success, at Lille, in April of 1741.
Continuing his cautious approach, the playwright sent his work to
the Lieutenant of Police at Paris, Henry Feydeau de Marville. Despite
the objections of Cr6billon pare, Mahomet was passed, and allowed to
be staged at the Theditre-Franfais on August 9, 1742. The representa-
tion was poorly received in general, many of the spectators being
shocked at some of the more overt slaps at the government and the
Christian faith.2
Even Parlement was stirred, principally through the efforts of the
procureur-gendral, Joly de Fleury, who had not seen the play, but had
relied on his subordinates for the information. At length, it was decided
that the best course for all concerned was to put a quiet end to the
performances. Voltaire accepted the bitter pill, but not to be outdone,
dedicated his work, "victime des jansenistes," to Pope Benedict XIV. In
return, to the astonishment and consternation of several,3 the Holy Fa-
1 Du Ryer, L'Alcoran de Mahomet; Prideaux, Life of Mahomet; Sale, The Koran;
Traitd de la religion mahometane; etc.
2 Paul M. Bondois, "Le
procureur-gdndral Joly de Fleury et le Mahomet de Vol-
taire," Revue d'Histoire Littgraire, XXXVI (1929), 246-259.
8 See Pierre Martino, "Un
r6quisitoire contre Voltaire (1746)," RHL, XXXV
(1928), 563-567.
372

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VOLTAIRE'S-MAHOMET 73

ther gave the author his papal blessing. This accomplished,Voltaire

had no censorshipdifficultieswhen, in 1751, he revived Mahomet.
We now know the history of the play's early life. But what of the
sources employed by Voltaire in creating Mahomet?What was the ori-
gin of the ideas which became the reality of the play. In 1741 Voltaire
wrote to the King of Prussia:

M. Le Comte de Boulainvilliers ecrivit il y a quelques anndes la vie

de ce faux prophtte. 11essaya de le faire passerpour un grand homme
que la providenceavoit choisi pour punir les Cretiens,et pour changer
la face d'une partie du monde.
M. Sale, qui nous a donnt une excellente version de l'alcoranen an-
glais, veut faire regarder Mahomet comme un Numa, et comme un
T sde.4

Boulainvilliers'La Vie de Mahomed"was, then, the dramatist'sbasis

for biographicaldata of the prophet. It has been felt that the Life of
Mahomet by Prideux6played a part in the constructionof the tragedy.7
However, there is no need for this assumption. For, as cited above,
Voltaire admits the knowledge of Boulainvilliers'work, and an exami-
nation of the texts involved will demonstrate that it was Boulainvil-
liers, not Prideaux, that he actually consulted.
First, it should frankly be noted that there are certain details in the
play Mahomet traceableneither to Boulainvilliersnor to Prideaux. For
example, in Acte 1, scene 1, Zopire,who is the leader at Mecca,declares:
Le cruel [Mahomet] fit perir ma femme et mes enfants:
Et moi, jusqu'en son camp j'ai porte le carnage;
La mort de son fils honora mon courage.8

Neither of the biographersmakes reference to Mohammed killing the

wife and children of Abu-Sophian (Zopire), or to the death of the
prophet's son at the hands of Abu-Sophian.
4 Voltaire's Correspondence, Theodore Besterman, ed.
(Genbve, 1954), X, 345.
5 Henri, Comte de Boulainvilliers, La Vie de Mahomed avec des
Reflexions sur
la Religion Mahometane, & les Coutumes des Musulmans, Seconde Edition (Amster-
dam, 1731).
6 Humphrey Prideaux, The True Nature of Imposture
fully display'd in the Life
of Mahomet, 8th Edition (London, 1723).
7 Gustave Larroumet, "Voltaire, Le Vrai 'Mahomet,' " Revue des Cours et Con-
fdrences, VIII, 2 (June 1900), 600-609.
8 Voltaire, "Mahomet,"
(Euvres completes, Moland ed. (Paris: Gamier Fr&res, 1877),

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374 FRENCH
REVEW

In another instance, Zopire explains to Omar:

Comme un sdditieux i mes pieds amend,

Par quarante vieillards a l'exil condamnd:
Trop leger chatiment qui l'enhardit au crime
De caverne en caverne il fuit avec Fatime. (1, 2)

Although Mohammed was forced to take flight (the "Hegira"), the "Par
quarante vieillards" cannot be explained factually. Moreover, the studies
on the prophet indicate that Mohammed's only companion in flight
was Abu-Becre (Boulainvilliers, p. 394).
Again, Omar, the second in command, is made to say of his master,
"Apre's quinze ans d'exil, il revoit ses foyers;" (11, 2). This statement
is completely without foundation, as Mohammed died in the eleventh
year of the Hegira, having been away from his birthplace for only ten
years.
The purpose of these citations is obviously not to criticize the ac-
curacy of Voltaire's reporting. The dramatist undoubtedly had tech-
nical reasons for distorting the facts, such as plot formation, metric
considerations, emphasis, and euphony. But it is evident that he did
alter points to some degree.
However, there are many incidents which the author has faithfully
transposed. Boulainvilliers notes the fact that Abu-Sophian, the Meccan
chief, is a long-time enemy of Mohammed. Voltaire has changed the
name, but not the character or position of Abu-Sophian, whom he
speaks of in these terms:

Je sai [sic] que Mahomet n'a pas tramd precisement l'espece de trahi-
son qui fait le sujet de cette tragddie, l'histoire dit seulement qu'il
enleva la femme de Seide, Fun de ses disciples, et qu'il pers&cuta Abu-
softan, que je nomme Zopire.9

Boulainvilliers does indeed speak of this Zeid, who

est fameux dans cette histoire par rapport a l'injustice que Mahomed
commit envers lui par l'enlevement de sa Femme, dont il itoit devenu
amoureux, & qu'il obligea de repudier pour l'dpouser ensuite. (p. 297)

This is the character who is the unfortunate instrument of the impostor

Mahomet in the drama.
9 Correspondence,X, 346.

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VOLTAIRE'S MAHOMET 375

Another of Voltaire's borrowings from Boulainvilliers is made clear

if we consider the portrayal of Omar. He is revealed by the biographer
as one of Mohammed's more forceful companions, who had been an
enemy of the prophet until his conversion to Islamism. Then, at the
time of the Hegira, he too left Mecca. And so we discover these Vol-
tairian lines:

Qui? ce farouche Omar,

Que l'erreur aujourd'hui conduit aprkesson char,
Qui combattit longtemps le tyran qu'il adore,
Qui vengea son pays? (II, 3)

In the next scene, Zopire says to Omar, "Eh bienl apr6s six ans tu
revois ta patrie." And it was exactly six years between the Hegira and
the truce which allowed Omar to re-enter Mecca. The truce itself is
mentioned later in the play by Omar.
Once more, we can easily perceive the connection between the two
following quotations:

Tu connais quel oracle et quel bruit populaire

Ont promis l'univers h l'envoye d'un dieu,
Qui, regu dans la Mecque, et vainqueur en tout lieu,
Entrerait dans ces murs en icartant la guerre. (II, 4)
and

Ce Mahomed, a' la naissance duquel, selon les Auteurs Arabes, que

toute la nation etoit prdparde, qu'elle attendoit mime avec ardeur de-
puis plusieurs siecles, (selon l'itymologie de son nom, qui exprime le
ddsiri des Peuples,) & qui en devoit etre aussi le secours & la Conso-
lation, suivant une autre interpretation. (Boulainvilliers, p. 194)

Finally, the long speech of Mahomet (II, 5) contains several elements

found in La Vie de Mahomed; the main features are these:

La Perse encore sanglante, et son trone ebranld,

L'Inde esclave et timide, et l'Egypte abaissde,
Des murs de Constantin la splendeur dclipsde;
Vois l'empire romain tombant de toutes parts,
Ce grand corps dechire, dont les membres epars
Languissent dispersas sans honneur et sans vie:
Sur ces ddbris du monde dlevons l'Arabie.

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376 FRENCH
REVIEW

Sous un roi, sous un dieu, je viens la rdunir;

Et, pour la rendre illustre, il la faut asservir.

Pages 233 to 239 of Boulainvilliers' work contain exactly these same

notions.
If it is true that the Comte de Boulainvilliers treats Mohammed rath-
er sympathetically, whereas Voltaire and Prideaux do not, it is also
correct to note that he does specifically highlight those personal traits
of his subject which the playwright stresses: ambition and sensuality.
Moreover, the lack of connection between Prideaux's findings and Vol-
taire's information leads to the obvious conclusion that Prideaux was
not a source for Mahomet. On the other hand, the factual correspond-
ence above listed demonstrates that Boulainvilliers was the principal,
if not the only basis of biographical data for Voltaire.
Mohammed once more became a subject of interest to Voltaire, in
the Essai sur les mmnurs,specifically those articles entitled "De l'Arabie,
et de Mahomet" (Chapitre VI) and "De 1'Alcoran, et de la Loi Musul-
mane" (Chapitre VII).
In Professor Ira O. Wade's recent study, "The Search for a New Vol-
taire," are revealed Voltaire's withdrawals from the Bibliotheque Royale
for fourteen periods, extending from 1734 to 1777. For the year 1747
there are two particular items of interest:

Le 30 8breMr. de Voltaire l'Alcoran par Sale en Anglais 40, 1 263

et 80 465/3
8o Vie de Mahomet par Boulainvilliers et de plus celle de Gagnier
I 464/2
Traite de la religion mahometane 80 464/12.10

We therefore re-encounter Boulainvilliers as a document for the events

of Mohammed's existence. However, this time another work is cited,
that of Gagnier.11 This two-volume endeavor was, in fact, written part-
ly to refute Boulainvilliers, as the preface indicates: "Preface ou l'on
refute les paradoxes avanc6s par Mr. le Comte de BOULAINVILLIERS
dans sa Vie de MAHOMET." The body of the study is, however, a
rather impartial, extensive expos6.
10 Ira
O. Wade, "The Search For a New Voltaire," Transactions of the Ameri-
can Philosophical Society, new series, XLVIII ,part 4 (1958), 65.
11 Jean Gagnier, La Vie de Mahomet Traduite et CompilMe de l'Alcoran, des
Traditions Authentiques de la Sonna, et des Meilleurs Auteurs Arabes, Deux Tomes
(Amsterdam, 1732).

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VOLTAIRE'S
MAHOMET 377
We must again discount Prideaux as a possible source, since the ma-
terial is traceable either to Boulainvilliers or to Gagnier. There are
thus no grounds for assuming Voltaire's use of the Englishman's study.
Since "De l'Alcoran," Chapter VII of the Essai, was no doubt com-
posed with Sale's translation of the Koran and the TraitWde la religion
mahometane in mind, "De Mahomet" (Chapitre VI) will be the one
to furnish the more suitable area for a comparative Boulainvilliers-
Gagnier examination. The first paragraph tells us that Mohammed was
born in Mecca, "l'an 569 de notre bre vulgaire,"12 a detail expressly
cited by Gagnier, Volume I, page 77. While Boulainvilliers does not
disagree in fact, he rather uses the A.D. notation: "La meme annee 571
de Jesus-Christ," (p. 195).
Another evident borrowing from Gagnier is Omar's profession of
faith. As quoted by Gagnier it reads: "J'atteste, qu'il n'y a point d'autre
Dieu que Dieu, qui n'a ni Compagnon ni Associd, &cque Mahomet est
son serviteur et son Ap6tre," (1, 129). Voltaire has it in this form:
"J'atteste qu'il n'y a qu'un Dieu, qu'il n'a ni Compagnon ni Associ6,
et que Mahomet est son serviteur et son proph6te," ("Essai," p. 205).
The differences are so patently non-essential as to be virtually non-
existent. No trace of this oath is to be discovered in Boulainvilliers.
Voltaire notes that the Arab historians have expounded at great
length on every event of their leader's existence. Even the words of
the marriage contract with his first wife, Khadigjia, are known: "At-
tendu que Cadige est amoureuse de Mahomet, et Mahomet pareille-
ment amoureux d'elle," ("Essai," p. 208). This is almost word-for-word
the version used by Gagnier (I, 102), whereas Boulainvilliers' treatment
contains no quotation even remotely approaching Voltaire's.
Nevertheless, besides the material which both biographers list in com-
mon (e.g., the date of Mohammed's death, his age at that time, his last
words), we discern certain evidences reported only by the Comte de
Boulainvilliers. One would be the number of Mohammed's disciples
involved in the Hegira. Sixteen says Voltaire, as does Boulainvilliers
(p. 377). Gagnier counts only fifteen (I, 120).
Another lies in the consideration that Voltaire's facts for the follow-
ing passage are drawn, together with some of the phraseology, directly
from Boulainvilliers (p. 423):

Dans ses premiers succes, il avait dcrit au roi de Perse Cosroes Second;
i l'empereur Heraclius; au Prince des Cophtes, gouverneur d'Egypte;
12 Voltaire, "Essai sur les mceurs," CEuvres Compldtes, XI, 203.

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378 FRENCH
REVIEW

au roi des Abyssins; & un roi nommd Mondar, qui regnait dans une
province pros du golfe Persique. ("Essai," p. 206)
Gagnier also relates these undertakings (Vol. II, 29-42), but not in the
same concise manner, nor with the similar use of vocabulary and con-
struction which is evident in a comparison of the Voltaire and the Bou-
lainvilliers texts.
Taking a broad view of Chapter VI of the Essai sur les mceurs it is
evident that Voltaire continued to employ Le Vie de Mahomed, by the
Comte de Boulainvilliers, as a source of information, as he had for the
earlier tragedy Mahomet. However, he looked even more to Jean Gag-
nier's fuller, two-volume treatment for the extensive documentation re-
quired for an undertaking such as the Essai.
If Voltaire used books as a source of information from which he drew
ideas, and if these ideas then led him to intelligent action directed to-
ward all the ends, principally humanitarian, that he sought, then this
article will have been of value in having demonstrated the influence
of two works on the Ferney Patriarch in the creation of Mahomet, and
Chapter VI of the Essai sur les mceurs.
NEW YORKCITY

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