Those who pretend to
some knowledge of Mohammedan symbols, affirm that the hand is the
emblem of doctrine; the five fingers designating the five principal
commandments of the creed of Islam, fasting, pilgrimage,
alms-giving, ablution, and war against infidels. The key, say they, is
the emblem of the faith or of power; the key of Daoud or David,
transmitted to the prophet. "And the key of the house of David will
I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open and none shall shut, and
he shall shut and none shall open." (Isaiah xxii. 22.) The key we
are told was emblazoned on the standard of the Moslems in opposition
to the Christian emblem of the cross, when they subdued Spain or
Andalusia. It betokened the conquering power invested in the
prophet. "He that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man
shutteth; and shutteth and no man openeth." (Rev. iii. 7.)
A different explanation of these emblems, however, was given by
the legitimate son of the Alhambra, and one more in unison with the
notions of the common people, who attach something of mystery and
magic to every thing Moorish, and have all kind of superstitions
connected with this old Moslem fortress. According to Mateo, it was
a tradition handed down from the oldest inhabitants, and which he
had from his father and grandfather, that the hand and key were
magical devices on which the fate of the Alhambra depended.
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