Christendom believed that she could change the course of affairs by influencing the conduct of superior beings.

Islam rested in a pious resignation to the unchangeable will of God.

The prayer of the Christian was mainly an earnest intercession for benefits hoped for, that of the Saracen a devout expression of gratitude for the past.

Both substituted prayer for the ecstatic meditation of India.
To the Christian the progress of the world was an exhibition of disconnected impulses, of sudden surprises.

To the Mohammedan that progress presented a very different aspect.