ABSTRACT
I. THE close resemblance that the Divine Comedy has been shown to bear to the legend of the Miraj gives rise to a multiplicity of problems in the history of literature, all relevant to the originality of Dante's poem. These problems are so important that a more minute examination of the poem in its several parts-limbo, hell, purgatory and the earthly and celestial paradises-is required in order to resolve whether or not many of the descriptive features and even whole scenes and episodes, although successfully standing the test of comparison with the Miraj, are, nevertheless, traceable to other Moslem legends and beliefs.
