If the mountain will not come to Mohammed…

Do you know who coined this proverb? None other than Francis Bacon. He also introduced the word “archetype” into English, as credited by the Oxford English Dictionary, the first use being in The Advancement of Learning (1605). How interesting, then, that his biography should conform to the heroic lawgiver archetype as outlined by Lord Raglan, Otto Rank, Joseph Campbell, and others?

“Nay, you shall see a bold fellow many times do Mahomet’s miracle. Mahomet made the people believe that he would call a hill to him, and from the top of it offer up his prayers for the observers of his law. The people assembled: Mahomet called the hill to come to him again and again: and when the hill stood still, he was never a whit abashed, but said, “If the hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill.  So, these men, when they have promised great matters, and failed most shamefully, yet (if they have the perfection of boldness) they will but slight it over, and make a turn, and no more ado.”

https://jimadamsauthordotcom.wordpress.com/2023/07/20/if-the-mountain-will-not-come-to-muhammad-2/