The Koran

TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC BY THE REV. J.M. RODWELL, M.A.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE REV. G. MARGOLIOUTH, M.A.

Introduction
Preface
Index

Sura Number (this edition)
Sura Number (Arabic text)
Title

1 96 Thick Blood or Clots of Blood
2 74 The Enwrapped
3 73 The Enfolded
4 93 The Brightness
5 94 The Opening
6 113 The Daybreak
7 114 Men
8 1 Sura I.
9 109 Unbelievers
10 112 The Unity
11 111 Abu Lahab
12 108 The Abundance
13 104 The Backbiter
14 107 Religion
15 102 Desire
16 92 The Night
17 68 The Pen
18 90 The Soil
19 105 The Elephant
20 106 The Koreisch
21 97 Power
22 86 The Night-Comer
23 91 The Sun
24 80 He Frowned
25 87 The Most High
26 95 The Fig
27 103 The Afternoon
28 85 The Starry
29 101 The Blow
30 99 The Earthquake
31 82 The Cleaving
32 81 The Folded Up
33 84 The Splitting Asunder
34 100 The Chargers
35 79 Those Who Drag Forth
36 77 The Sent
37 78 The News
38 88 The Overshadowing
39 89 The Daybreak
40 75 The Resurrection
41 83 Those Who Stint
42 69 The Inevitable
43 51 The Scattering
44 52 The Mountain
45 56 The Inevitable
46 53 The Star
47 70 The Steps or Ascents
48 55 The Merciful
49 54 The Moon
50 37 The Ranks
51 71 Noah
52 76 Man
53 44 Smoke
54 50 Kaf
55 20 Ta. Ha.
56 26 The Poets
57 15 Hedjr
58 19 Mary
59 38 Sad
60 36 Ya. Sin
61 43 Ornaments of Gold
62 72 Djinn
63 67 The Kingdom
64 23 The Believers
65 21 The Prophets
66 25 Al Furkan
67 17 The Night Journey
68 27 The Ant
69 18 The Cave
70 32 Adoration
71 41 The Made Plain
72 45 The Kneeling
73 16 The Bee
74 30 The Greeks
75 11 Houd
76 14 Abraham, On Whom Be Peace
77 12 Joseph, Peace Be On Him
78 40 The Believer
79 28 The Story
80 39 The Troops
81 29 The Spider
82 31 Lokman
83 42 Counsel
84 10 Jonah, Peace Be On Him!
85 34 Saba
86 35 The Creator, or The Angels
87 7 Al Araf
88 46 Al Ahkaf
89 6 Cattle
90 13 Thunder
91 2 The Cow
92 98 Clear Evidence
93 64 Mutual Deceit
94 62 The Assembly
95 8 The Spoils
96 47 Muhammad
97 3 The Family of Imran
98 61 Battle Array
99 57 Iron
100 4 Women
101 65 Divorce
102 59 The Emigration
103 33 The Confederates
104 63 The Hypocrites
105 24 Light
106 58 She Who Pleaded
107 22 The Pilgrimage
108 48 The Victory
109 66 The Forbidding
110 60 She Who Is Tried
111 110 HELP
112 49 The Apartments
113 9 Immunity
114 5 The Table

Introduction

The Koran admittedly occupies an important position among the
great religious books of the world. Though the youngest of the
epoch-making works belonging to this class of literature, it yields
to hardly any in the wonderful effect which it has produced on
large masses of men. It has created an all but new phase of human
thought and a fresh type of character. It first transformed a number
of heterogeneous desert tribes of the Arabian peninsula into a
nation of heroes, and then proceeded to create the vast
politico-religious organisations of the Muhammedan world which
are one of the great forces with which Europe and the East have to
reckon to-day.

The secret of the power exercised by the book, of course, lay in the
mind which produced it. It was, in fact, at first not a book, but a
strong living voice, a kind of wild authoritative proclamation, a
series of admonitions, promises, threats, and instructions
addressed to turbulent and largely hostile assemblies of untutored
Arabs. As a book it was published after the prophet's death. In
Muhammed's life-time there were only disjointed notes, speeches,
and the retentive memories of those who listened to them. To
speak of the Koran is, therefore, practically the same as speaking
of Muhammed, and in trying to appraise the religious value of the
book one is at the same time attempting to form an opinion of the
prophet himself. It would indeed be difficult to find another case
in which there is such a complete identity between the literary
work and the mind of the man who produced it.

That widely different estimates have been formed of Muhammed
is well-known. To Moslems he is, of course, the prophet par
excellence, and the Koran is regarded by the orthodox as nothing
less than the eternal utterance of Allah. The eulogy pronounced by
Carlyle on Muhammed in Heroes and Hero Worship will probably
be endorsed by not a few at the present day. The extreme contrary
opinion, which in a fresh form has recently been revived by an
able writer, is hardly likely to find much lasting support. The
correct view very probably lies between the two extremes. The
relative value of any given system of religious thought must
depend on the amount of truth which it embodies as well as on the
ethical standard which its adherents are bidden to follow. Another
important test is the degree of originality that is to be assigned to
it, for it can manifestly only claim credit for that which is new in
it, not for that which it borrowed from other systems.

With regard to the first-named criterion, there is a growing opinion
among students of religious history that Muhammed may in a real
sense be regarded as a prophet of certain truths, though by no
means of truth in the absolute meaning of the term. The
shortcomings of the moral teaching contained in the Koran are
striking enough if judged from the highest ethical standpoint with
which we are acquainted; but a much more favourable view is
arrived at if a comparison is made between the ethics of the Koran
and the moral tenets of Arabian and other forms of heathenism
which it supplanted.

The method followed by Muhammed in the promulgation of the
Koran also requires to be treated with discrimination. From the
first flash of prophetic inspiration which is clearly discernible in
the earlier portions of the book he, later on, frequently descended
to deliberate invention and artful rhetoric. He, in fact,
accommodated his moral sense to the circumstances in which the
r\oc\le he had to play involved him.

On the question of originality there can hardly be two opinions
now that the Koran has been thoroughly compared with the
Christian and Jewish traditions of the time; and it is, besides some
original Arabian legends, to those only that the book stands in any
close relationship. The matter is for the most part borrowed, but
the manner is all the prophet's own. This is emphatically a case in
which originality consists not so much in the creation of new
materials of thought as in the manner in which existing traditions
of various kinds are utilised and freshly blended to suit the special
exigencies of the occasion. Biblical reminiscences, Rabbinic
legends, Christian traditions mostly drawn from distorted
apocryphal sources, and native heathen stories, all first pass
through the prophet's fervid mind, and thence issue in strange new
forms, tinged with poetry and enthusiasm, and well adapted to
enforce his own view of life and duty, to serve as an
encouragement to his faithful adherents, and to strike terror into
the hearts of his opponents.

There is, however, apart from its religious value, a more general
view from which the book should be considered. The Koran enjoys
the distinction of having been the starting-point of a new literary
and philosophical movement which has powerfully affected the
finest and most cultivated minds among both Jews and Christians
in the Middle Ages. This general progress of the Muhammedan
world has somehow been arrested, but research has shown that
what European scholars knew of Greek philosophy, of
mathematics, astronomy, and like sciences, for several centuries
before the Renaissance, was, roughly speaking, all derived from
Latin treatises ultimately based on Arabic originals; and it was the
Koran which, though indirectly, gave the first impetus to these
studies among the Arabs and their allies. Linguistic investigations,
poetry, and other branches of literature, also made their
appearance soon after or simultaneously with the publication of
the Koran; and the literary movement thus initiated has resulted in
some of the finest products of genius and learning.

The style in which the Koran is written requires some special
attention in this introduction. The literary form is for the most part
different from anything else we know. In its finest passages we
indeed seem to hear a voice akin to that of the ancient Hebrew
prophets, but there is much in the book which Europeans usually
regard as faulty. The tendency to repetition which is an inherent
characteristic of the Semitic mind appears here in an exaggerated
form, and there is in addition much in the Koran which strikes us
as wild and fantastic. The most unfavourable criticism ever passed
on Muhammed's style has in fact been penned by the prophet's
greatest British admirer, Carlyle himself; and there are probably
many now who find themselves in the same dilemma with that
great writer.

The fault appears, however, to lie partly in our difficulty to
appreciate the psychology of the Arab prophet. We must, in order
to do him justice, give full consideration to his temperament and to
the condition of things around him. We are here in touch with an
untutored but fervent mind, trying to realise itself and to assimilate
certain great truths which have been powerfully borne in upon
him, in order to impart them in a convincing form to his
fellow-tribesmen. He is surrounded by obstacles of every kind, yet
he manfully struggles on with the message that is within him.
Learning he has none, or next to none. His chief objects of
knowledge are floating stories and traditions largely picked up
from hearsay, and his over-wrought mind is his only teacher. The
literary compositions to which he had ever listened were the
half-cultured, yet often wildly powerful rhapsodies of early
Arabian minstrels, akin to Ossian rather than to anything else
within our knowledge. What wonder then that his Koran took a
form which to our colder temperaments sounds strange,
unbalanced, and fantastic?

Yet the Moslems themselves consider the book the finest that ever
appeared among men. They find no incongruity in the style. To
them the matter is all true and the manner all perfect. Their eastern
temperament responds readily to the crude, strong, and wild appeal
which its cadences make to them, and the jingling rhyme in which
the sentences of a discourse generally end adds to the charm of the
whole. The Koran, even if viewed from the point of view of style
alone, was to them from the first nothing less than a miracle, as
great a miracle as ever was wrought.

But to return to our own view of the case. Our difficulty in
appreciating the style of the Koran even moderately is, of course,
increased if, instead of the original, we have a translation before
us. But one is happy to be able to say that Rodwell's rendering is
one of the best that have as yet been produced. It seems to a great
extent to carry with it the atmosphere in which Muhammed lived,
and its sentences are imbued with the flavour of the East. The
quasi-verse form, with its unfettered and irregular rhythmic flow
of the lines, which has in suitable cases been adopted, helps to
bring out much of the wild charm of the Arabic. Not the least
among its recommendations is, perhaps, that it is scholarly without
being pedantic that is to say, that it aims at correctness without
sacrificing the right effect of the whole to over-insistence on small
details.

Another important merit of Rodwell's edition is its chronological
arrangement of the Suras or chapters. As he tells us himself in his
preface, it is now in a number of cases impossible to ascertain the
exact occasion on which a discourse, or part of a discourse, was
delivered, so that the system could not be carried through with
entire consistency. But the sequence adopted is in the main based
on the best available historical and literary evidence; and in
following the order of the chapters as here printed, the reader will
be able to trace the development of the prophet's mind as he
gradually advanced from the early flush of inspiration to the less
spiritual and more equivocal r\oc\le of warrior, politician, and
founder of an empire.

G. Margoliouth.

The following is a list of the English translations:

From the original Arabic by G. Sale, 1734, 1764, 1795, 1801;
many later editions, which include a memoir of the translator by R.
A. Davenport, and notes from Savary's version of the Koran; an
edition issued by E. M. Wherry, with additional notes and
commentary (Tr\du\ubner's Oriental Series), 1882, etc.; Sale's
translation has also been edited in the Chandos Classics, and
among Lubbock's Hundred Books (No. 22). The Holy Qur\da\an,
translated by Dr. Mohammad Abdul Hakim Khan, with short
notes, 1905; Translation by J. M. Rodwell, with notes and index
(the Suras arranged in chronological order), 1861, 2nd ed., 1876;
by E. H. Palmer (Sacred Books of the East, vols. vi., ix.).

Selections: Chiefly from Sale's edition, by E. W. Lane, 1843;
revised and enlarged with introduction by S. Lane-Poole.
(Tr\du\ubner's Oriental Series), 1879; The Speeches and
Table-Talk of the Prophet Mohammad, etc., chosen and translated,
with introduction and notes by S. Lane-Poole, 1882 (Golden
Treasury Series); Selections with introduction and explanatory
notes (from Sale and other writers), by J. Murdock (Sacred Books
of the East), 2nd ed., 1902; The Religion of the Koran, selections
with an introduction by A. N. Wollaston (The Wisdom of the
East), 1904.

TO
SIR WILLIAM MARTIN, K.T., D.C.L.
LATE CHIEF JUSTICE OF NEW ZEALAND,
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED, WITH SINCERE FEELINGS
OF ESTEEM FOR HIS PRIVATE WORTH,
PUBLIC SERVICES,
AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS,

BY The Translator.

Preface

It is necessary that some brief explanation should be given with
reference to the arrangement of the Suras, or chapters, adopted in
this translation of the Koran. It should be premised that their order
as it stands in all Arabic manuscripts, and in all hitherto printed
editions, whether Arabic or European, is not chronological, neither
is there any authentic tradition to shew that it rests upon the
authority of Muhammad himself. The scattered fragments of the
Koran were in the first instance collected by his immediate
successor Abu Bekr, about a year after the Prophet's death, at the
suggestion of Omar, who foresaw that, as the Muslim warriors,
whose memories were the sole depositaries of large portions of the
revelations, died off or were slain, as had been the case with many
in the battle of Yemƒma, A.H. 12, the loss of the greater part, or
even of the whole, was imminent. Zaid Ibn Thƒbit, a native of
Medina, and one of the Ansars, or helpers, who had been
Muhammad's amanuensis, was the person fixed upon to carry out
the task, and we are told that he "gathered together" the fragments
of the Koran from every quarter, "from date leaves and tablets of
white stone, and from the breasts of men." The copy thus formed
by Zaid probably remained in the possession of Abu Bekr during
the remainder of his brief caliphate, who committed it to the
custody of Haphsa, one of Muhammad's widows, and this text
continued during the ten years of Omar's caliphate to be the
standard. In the copies made from it, various readings naturally
and necessarily sprung up; and these, under the caliphate of
Othman, led to such serious disputes between the faithful, that it
became necessary to interpose, and in accordance with the warning
of Hodzeifa, "to stop the people, before they should differ
regarding their scriptures, as did the Jews and Christians." In
accordance with this advice, Othman determined to establish a text
which should be the sole standard, and entrusted the redaction to
the Zaid already mentioned, with whom he associated as
colleagues, three, according to others, twelve of the Koreisch, in
order to secure the purity of that Meccan idiom in which
Muhammad had spoken, should any occasions arise in which the
collators might have to decide upon various readings. Copies of
the text formed were thus forwarded to several of the chief
military stations in the new empire, and all previously existing
copies were committed to the flames.

Zaid and his coadjutors, however, do not appear to have arranged
the materials which came into their hands upon any system more
definite than that of placing the longest and best known Suras first,
immediately after the Fatthah, or opening chapter (the eighth in
this edition); although even this rule, artless and unscientific as it
is, has not been adhered to with strictness. Anything approaching
to a chronological arrangement was entirely lost sight of. Late
Medina Suras are often placed before early Meccan Suras; the
short Suras at the end of the Koran are its earliest portions; while,
as will be seen from the notes, verses of Meccan origin are to be
found embedded in Medina Suras, and verses promulged at
Medina scattered up and down in the Meccan Suras. It would seem
as if Zaid had to a great extent put his materials together just as
they came to hand, and often with entire disregard to continuity of
subject and uniformity of style. The text, therefore, as hitherto
arranged, necessarily assumes the form of a most unreadable and
incongruous patchwork; "une assemblage," says M. Kasimirski in
his Preface, "informe et incoh‚rent de pr‚ceptes moraux, religieux,
civils et politiques, mˆl‚s d'exhortations, de promesses, et de
menaces" and conveys no idea whatever of the development and
growth of any plan in the mind of the founder of Islam, or of the
circumstances by which he was surrounded and influenced. It is
true that the manner in which Zaid contented himself with simply
bringing together his materials and transcribing them, without any
attempt to mould them into shape or sequence, and without any
effort to supply connecting links between adjacent verses, to fill up
obvious chasms, or to suppress details of a nature discreditable to
the founder of Islam, proves his scrupulous honesty as a compiler,
as well as his reverence for the sacred text, and to a certain extent
guarantees the genuineness and authenticity of the entire volume.
But it is deeply to be regretted that he did not combine some
measure of historical criticism with that simplicity and honesty of
purpose which forbade him, as it certainly did, in any way to
tamper with the sacred text, to suppress contradictory, and exclude
or soften down inaccurate, statements.

The arrangement of the Suras in this translation is based partly
upon the traditions of the Muhammadans themselves, with
reference especially to the ancient chronological list printed by
Weil in his Mohammed der Prophet, as well as upon a careful
consideration of the subject matter of each separate Sura and its
probable connection with the sequence of events in the life of
Muhammad. Great attention has been paid to this subject by Dr.
Weil in the work just mentioned; by Mr. Muir in his Life of
Mahomet, who also publishes a chronological list of Suras, 21
however of which he admits have "not yet been carefully fixed;"
and especially by N”ldeke, in his Geschichte des Q“rans, a work to
which public honours were awarded in 1859 by the Paris Academy
of Inscriptions. From the arrangement of this author I see no
reason to depart in regard to the later Suras. It is based upon a
searching criticism and minute analysis of the component verses of
each, and may be safely taken as a standard, which ought not to be
departed from without weighty reasons. I have, however, placed
the earlier and more fragmentary Suras, after the two first, in an
order which has reference rather to their subject matter than to
points of historical allusion, which in these Suras are very few;
whilst on the other hand, they are mainly couched in the language
of self-communion, of aspirations after truth, and of mental
struggle, are vivid pictures of Heaven and Hell, or descriptions of
natural objects, and refer also largely to the opposition met with by
Muhammad from his townsmen of Mecca at the outset of his
public career. This remark applies to what N”ldeke terms "the
Suras of the First Period."

The contrast between the earlier, middle, and later Suras is very
striking and interesting, and will be at once apparent from the
arrangement here adopted. In the Suras as far as the 54th, p. 76, we
cannot but notice the entire predominance of the poetical element,
a deep appreciation (as in Sura xci. p. 38) of the beauty of natural
objects, brief fragmentary and impassioned utterances,
denunciations of woe and punishment, expressed for the most part
in lines of extreme brevity. With a change, however, in the
position of Muhammad when he openly assumes the office of
"public warner," the Suras begin to assume a more prosaic and
didactic tone, though the poetical ornament of rhyme is preserved
throughout. We gradually lose the Poet in the missionary aiming to
convert, the warm asserter of dogmatic truths; the descriptions of
natural objects, of the judgment, of Heaven and Hell, make way
for gradually increasing historical statements, first from Jewish,
and subsequently from Christian histories; while, in the 29 Suras
revealed at Medina, we no longer listen to vague words, often as it
would seem without positive aim, but to the earnest disputant with
the enemies of his faith, the Apostle pleading the cause of what he
believes to be the Truth of God. He who at Mecca is the
admonisher and persuader, at Medina is the legislator and the
warrior, who dictates obedience, and uses other weapons than the
pen of the Poet and the Scribe. When business pressed, as at
Medina, Poetry makes way for Prose, and although touches of the
Poetical element occasionally break forth, and he has to defend
himself up to a very late period against the charge of being merely
a Poet, yet this is rarely the case in the Medina Suras; and we are
startled by finding obedience to God and the Apostle, God's gifts
and the Apostle's, God's pleasure and the Apostle's, spoken of in
the same breath, and epithets and attributes elsewhere applied to
Allah openly applied to himself as in Sura ix., 118, 129.

The Suras, viewed as a whole, strike me as being the work of one
who began his career as a thoughtful enquirer after truth, and an
earnest asserter of it in such rhetorical and poetical forms as he
deemed most likely to win and attract his countrymen, and who
gradually proceeded from the dogmatic teacher to the politic
founder of a system for which laws and regulations had to be
provided as occasions arose. And of all the Suras it must be
remarked that they were intended not for readers but for hearers
that they were all promulgated by public recital and that much was
left, as the imperfect sentences shew, to the manner and suggestive
action of the reciter. It would be impossible, and indeed it is
unnecessary, to attempt a detailed life of Muhammad within the
narrow limits of a Preface. The main events thereof with which the
Suras of the Koran stand in connection, are The visions of Gabriel,
seen, or said to have been seen, at the outset of his career in his
40th year, during one of his seasons of annual monthly retirement,
for devotion and meditation to Mount Hirƒ, near Mecca, the period
of mental depression and re-assurance previous to the assumption
of the office of public teacher the Fatrah or pause (see n. p. 20)
during which he probably waited for a repetition of the angelic
vision his labours in comparative privacy for three years, issuing in
about 40 converts, of whom his wife Chadijah was the first, and
Abu Bekr the most important: (for it is to him and to Abu Jahl the
Sura xcii. p. 32, refers) struggles with Meccan unbelief and
idolatry followed by a period during which probably he had the
second vision, Sura liii. p. 69, and was listened to and respected as
a person "possessed" (Sura lxix. 42, p. 60, lii. 29, p. 64) the first
emigration to Abyssinia in A.D. 616, in consequence of the
Meccan persecutions brought on by his now open attacks upon
idolatry (Taghout) increasing reference to Jewish and Christian
histories, shewing that much time had been devoted to their study
the conversion of Omar in 617 the journey to the Thaquifites at
Taief in A.D. 620 the intercourse with pilgrims from Medina, who
believed in Islam, and spread the knowledge thereof in their native
town, in the same year the vision of the midnight journey to
Jerusalem and the Heavens the meetings by night at Acaba, a
mountain near Mecca, in the 11th year of his mission, and the
pledges of fealty there given to him the command given to the
believers to emigrate to Yathrib, henceforth Medinat-en-nabi (the
city of the Prophet) or El-Medina (the city), in April of A.D. 622
the escape of Muhammad and Abu Bekr from Mecca to the cave
of Thaur the FLIGHT to Medina in June 20, A.D. 622 treaties
made with Christian tribes increasing, but still very imperfect
acquaintance with Christian doctrines the Battle of Bedr in Hej. 2,
and of Ohod the coalition formed against Muhammad by the Jews
and idolatrous Arabians, issuing in the siege of Medina, Hej. 5
(A.D. 627) the convention, with reference to the liberty of making
the pilgrimage, of Hudaibiya, Hej. 6 the embassy to Chosroes King
of Persia in the same year, to the Governor of Egypt and to the
King of Abyssinia, desiring them to embrace Islam the conquest of
several Jewish tribes, the most important of which was that of
Chaibar in Hej. 7, a year marked by the embassy sent to Heraclius,
then in Syria, on his return from the Persian campaign, and by a
solemn and peaceful pilgrimage to Mecca the triumphant entry
into Mecca in Hej. 8 (A.D. 630), and the demolition of the idols of
the Caaba the submission of the Christians of Nedjran, of Aila on
the Red Sea, and of Taief, etc., in Hej. 9, called "the year of
embassies or deputations," from the numerous deputations which
flocked to Mecca proffering submission and lastly in Hej. 10, the
submission of Hadramont, Yemen, the greater part of the southern
and eastern provinces of Arabia and the final solemn pilgrimage to
Mecca.

While, however, there is no great difficulty in ascertaining the
Suras which stand in connection with the more salient features of
Muhammad's life, it is a much more arduous, and often
impracticable task, to point out the precise events to which
individual verses refer, and out of which they sprung. It is quite
possible that Muhammad himself, in a later period of his career,
designedly mixed up later with earlier revelations in the same
Suras not for the sake of producing that mysterious style which
seems so pleasing to the mind of those who value truth least when
it is most clear and obvious but for the purpose of softening down
some of the earlier statements which represent the last hour and
awful judgment as imminent; and thus leading his followers to
continue still in the attitude of expectation, and to see in his later
successes the truth of his earlier predictions. If after-thoughts of
this kind are to be traced, and they will often strike the attentive
reader, it then follows that the perplexed state of the text in
individual Suras is to be considered as due to Muhammad himself,
and we are furnished with a series of constant hints for attaining to
chronological accuracy. And it may be remarked in passing, that a
belief that the end of all things was at hand, may have tended to
promote the earlier successes of Islam at Mecca, as it
unquestionably was an argument with the Apostles, to flee from
"the wrath to come." It must be borne in mind that the allusions to
contemporary minor events, and to the local efforts made by the
new religion to gain the ascendant are very few, and often couched
in terms so vague and general, that we are forced to interpret the
Koran solely by the Koran itself. And for this, the frequent
repetitions of the same histories and the same sentiments, afford
much facility: and the peculiar manner in which the details of each
history are increased by fresh traits at each recurrence, enables us
to trace their growth in the author's mind, and to ascertain the
manner in which a part of the Koran was composed. The absence
of the historical element from the Koran as regards the details of
Muhammad's daily life, may be judged of by the fact, that only two
of his contemporaries are mentioned in the entire volume, and that
Muhammad's name occurs but five times, although he is all the
way through addressed by the Angel Gabriel as the recipient of the
divine revelations, with the word SAY. Perhaps such passages as
Sura ii. 15, p. 339, and v. 246, p. 365, and the constant mention of
guidance, direction, wandering, may have been suggested by
reminiscences of his mercantile journeys in his earlier years.

It may be considered quite certain that it was not customary to
reduce to writing any traditions concerning Muhammad himself
for at least the greater part of a century. They rested entirely on the
memory of those who have handed them down, and must
necessarily have been coloured by their prejudices and
convictions, to say nothing of the tendency to the formation of
myths and to actual fabrication, which early shews itself,
especially in interpretations of the Koran, to subserve the purposes
of the contending factions of the Ommeyads and Abbƒsides. It was
under the 5th Caliph, Al-Mƒm–n, that three writers (mentioned
below) on whom we mainly depend for all really reliable
information, flourished: and even their writings are necessarily
coloured by the theological tendencies of their master and patron,
who was a decided partizan of the divine right of Ali and of his
descendants. The incidents mentioned in the Koran itself, for the
interpretation of which early tradition is available, are
comparatively few, and there are many passages with which it is
totally at variance; as, for instance, that Muhammad worked
miracles, which the Koran expressly disclaims. Traditions can
never be considered as at all reliable, unless they are traceable to
some common origin, have descended to us by independent
witnesses, and correspond with the statements of the Koran itself
always of course deducting such texts as (which is not
unfrequently the case) have themselves given rise to the tradition.
It soon becomes obvious to the reader of Muslim traditions and
commentators that both miracles and historical events have been
invented for the sake of expounding a dark and perplexing text;
and that even the earlier traditions are largely tinged with the
mythical element.

The first biographer of Muhammad of whom we have any
information was Zohri, who died A.H. 124, aged 72; but his works,
though abundantly quoted by later writers, are no longer extant.
Much of his information was derived from Orwa, who died A.H.
94, and was a near relative of Ayesha, the prophet's favourite wife.

Ibn Ishaq, who died in A.H. 151, and who had been a hearer of
Zohri, composed a Biography of Muhammad for the use of the
Caliph Al M ns–r. On this work, considerable remains of which
have come down to us, Ibn Hisham, who died A.H. 213, based his
Life of Muhammad.

Waquidi of Medina, who died A.H. 207, composed a biographical
work, which has reached us in an abbreviated form through his
secretary (Katib). It is composed entirely of traditions.

Tabari, "the Livy of the Arabians" (Gibbon, 51, n. 1), who died at
Baghdad A.H. 310, composed annals of Muhammad's life and of
the progress of Islam.

These ancient writers are the principal sources whence anything
like authentic information as to the life of Muhammad has been
derived. And it may be safely concluded that after the diligent
investigations carried on by the professed collectors of traditions
in the second century after the Hejira, that little or nothing remains
to be added to our stores of information relative to the details of
Muhammad's life, or to facts which may further illustrate the text
of the Koran. But however this may be, no records which are
posterior in date to these authorities can be considered as at all
deserving of dependance. "To consider," says Dr. Sprenger, "late
historians like Abulfeda as authorities, and to suppose that an
account gains in certainty because it is mentioned by several of
them, is highly uncritical." Life of Mohammad, p. 73.

The sources whence Muhammad derived the materials of his
Koran are, over and above the more poetical parts, which are his
own creation, the legends of his time and country, Jewish
traditions based upon the Talmud, or perverted to suit his own
purposes, and the floating Christian traditions of Arabia and of S.
Syria. At a later period of his career no one would venture to doubt
the divine origin of the entire book. But at its commencement the
case was different. The people of Mecca spoke openly and
tauntingly of it as the work of a poet, as a collection of antiquated
or fabulous legends, or as palpable sorcery. They accused him of
having confederates, and even specified foreigners who had been
his coadjutors. Such were Salman the Persian, to whom he may
have owed the descriptions of Heaven and Hell, which are
analogous to those of the Zendavesta; and the Christian monk
Sergius, or as the Muhammadans term him, Boheira. From the
latter, and perhaps from other Christians, especially slaves
naturalised at Mecca, Muhammad obtained access to the teaching
of the Apocryphal Gospels, and to many popular traditions of
which those Gospels are the concrete expression. His wife
Chadijah, as well as her cousin Waraka, a reputed convert to
Christianity, and Muhammad's intimate friend, are said to have
been well acquainted with the doctrines and sacred books both of
Jews and Christians. And not only were several Arab tribes in the
neighbourhood of Mecca converts to the Christian faith, but on
two occasions Muhammad had travelled with his uncle, Abu Talib,
as far as Bostra, where he must have had opportunities of learning
the general outlines of Oriental Christian doctrine, and perhaps of
witnessing the ceremonial of their worship. And it appears
tolerably certain that previous to and at the period of his entering
into public life, there was a large number of enquirers at Mecca,
who like Zaid, Omayah of Taief, Waraka, etc., were dissatisfied
equally with the religion of their fathers, the Judaism and the
Christianity which they saw around them, and were anxiously
enquiring for some better way. The names and details of the lives
of twelve of the "companions" of Muhammad who lived in Mecca,
Medina, and Taief, are recorded, who previous to his assumption
of the Prophetic office, called themselves Hanyfs, i.e., converts,
puritans, and were believers in one God, and regarded Abraham as
the founder of their religion. Muhammad publicly acknowledged
that he was a Hanyf and this sect of the Hanyfites (who are in no
way to be confounded with the later sect of the same name) were
among his Meccan precursors. See n. pp. 209, 387. Their history is
to be found in the Fihrist MS. Paris, anc. fonds, nr. 874 (and in
other treatises) which Dr. Sprenger believes to have been in the
library of the Caliph El-Mƒm–n. In this treatise, the Hanyfs are
termed Sabeites, and said to have received the Volumes (Sohof) or
Books of Abraham, mentioned in Sura lxxxvii. 19, p. 40, 41,
which most commentators affirm to have been borrowed from
them, as is also the case with the latter part of Sura liii. 37, ad f. p.
71; so that from these "Books" Muhammad derived the legends of
Ad and Themoud, whose downfall, recent as it was (see note p.
300), he throws back to a period previous to that of Moses, who is
made to ask (Sura xiv. 9, p. 226) "whether their history had
reached his hearers." Muhammad is said to have discovered these
"Books" to be a recent forgery, and that this is the reason why no
mention of them occurs after the fourth year of his Prophetic
function, A.D. 616. Hence too, possibly, the title Hanyf was so
soon dropped and exchanged for that of Muslim, one who
surrenders or resigns himself to God. The Waraka above
mentioned, and cousin of Chadijah, is said to have believed on
Muhammad as long as he continued true to the principles of the
Hanyfs, but to have quitted him in disgust at his subsequent
proceedings, and to have died an orthodox Christian.

It has been supposed that Muhammad derived many of his notions
concerning Christianity from Gnosticism, and that it is to the
numerous gnostic sects the Koran alludes when it reproaches the
Christians with having "split up their religion into parties." But for
Muhammad thus to have confounded Gnosticism with Christianity
itself, its prevalence in Arabia must have been far more universal
than we have any reason to believe it really was. In fact, we have
no historical authority for supposing that the doctrines of these
heretics were taught or professed in Arabia at all. It is certain, on
the other hand, that the Basilidans, Valentinians, and other gnostic
sects had either died out, or been reabsorbed into the orthodox
Church, towards the middle of the fifth century, and had
disappeared from Egypt before the sixth. It is nevertheless possible
that the gnostic doctrine concerning the Crucifixion was adopted
by Muhammad as likely to reconcile the Jews to Islam, as a
religion embracing both Judaism and Christianity, if they might
believe that Jesus had not been put to death, and thus find the
stumbling-block of the atonement removed out of their path. The
Jews would in this case have simply been called upon to believe in
Jesus as being what the Koran represents him, a holy teacher, who,
like the patriarch Enoch or the prophet Elijah, had been
miraculously taken from the earth. But, in all other respects, the
sober and matter-of-fact statements of the Koran relative to the
family and history of Jesus, are altogether opposed to the wild and
fantastic doctrines of Gnostic emanations, and especially to the
manner in which they supposed Jesus, at his Baptism, to have been
brought into union with a higher nature. It is quite clear that
Muhammad borrowed in several points from the doctrines of the
Ebionites, Essenes, and Sabeites. Epiphanius (H‘r. x.) describes
the notions of the Ebionites of Nabath‘a, Moabitis, and Basanitis
with regard to Adam and Jesus, almost in the very words of Sura
iii. 52. He tells us that they observed circumcision, were opposed
to celibacy, forbad turning to the sunrise, but enjoined Jerusalem
as their Kebla (as did Muhammad during twelve years), that they
prescribed (as did the Sabeites), washings, very similar to those
enjoined in the Koran, and allowed oaths (by certain natural
objects, as clouds, signs of the Zodiac, oil, the winds, etc.), which
we find adopted in the Koran. These points of contact with Islam,
knowing as we do Muhammad's eclecticism, can hardly be
accidental.

We have no evidence that Muhammad had access to the Christian
Scriptures, though it is just possible that fragments of the Old or
New Testament may have reached him through Chadijah or
Waraka, or other Meccan Christians, possessing MSS. of the
sacred volume. There is but one direct quotation (Sura xxi. 105) in
the whole Koran from the Scriptures; and though there are a few
passages, as where alms are said to be given to be seen of men,
and as, none forgiveth sins but God only, which might seem to be
identical with texts of the New Testament, yet this similarity is
probably merely accidental. It is, however, curious to compare
such passages as Deut. xxvi. 14, 17; 1 Peter v. 2, with Sura xxiv.
50, p. 448, and x. 73, p. 281 John vii. 15, with the "illiterate"
Prophet Matt. xxiv. 36, and John xii. 27, with the use of the word
hour as meaning any judgment or crisis, and The last judgment the
voice of the Son of God which the dead are to hear, with the
exterminating or awakening cry of Gabriel, etc. The passages of
this kind, with which the Koran abounds, result from Muhammad's
general acquaintance with Scriptural phraseology, partly through
the popular legends, partly from personal intercourse with Jews
and Christians. And we may be quite certain that whatever
materials Muhammad may have derived from our Scriptures,
directly or indirectly, were carefully recast. He did not even use its
words without due consideration. For instance, except in the
phrase "the Lord of the worlds," he seems carefully to have
avoided the expression the Lord, probably because it was applied
by the Christians to Christ, or to God the Father.

It should also be borne in mind that we have no traces of the
existence of Arabic versions of the Old or New Testament
previous to the time of Muhammad. The passage of St. Jerome
"H‘c autem translatio nullum de veteribus sequitur interpretem;
sed ex ipso Hebraico, Arabicoque sermone, et interdum Syro, nunc
verba, nunc sensum, nunc simul utrumque resonabit," (Prol. Gal.)
obviously does not refer to versions, but to idiom. The earliest Ar.
version of the Old Testament, of which we have any knowledge, is
that of R. Saadias Gaon, A.D. 900; and the oldest Ar. version of
the New Testament, is that published by Erpenius in 1616, and
transcribed in the Thebais, in the year 1171, by a Coptic Bishop,
from a copy made by a person whose name is known, but whose
date is uncertain. Michaelis thinks that the Arabic versions of the
New Testament were made between the Saracen conquests in the
seventh century, and the Crusades in the eleventh century an
opinion in which he follows, or coincides with, Walton (Prol. in
Polygl. xiv.) who remarks "Plane constat versionem Arabicam
apud eas (ecclesias orientales) factam esse postquam lingua
Arabica per victorias et religionem Muhammedanicam per
Orientem propagata fuerat, et in multis locis facta esset
vernacula." If, indeed, in these comparatively late versions, the
general phraseology, especially in the histories common to the
Scriptures and to the Koran, bore any similarity to each other, and
if the orthography of the proper names had been the same in each,
it might have been fair to suppose that such versions had been
made, more or less, upon the basis of others, which, though now
lost, existed in the ages prior to Muhammad, and influenced, if
they did not directly form, his sources of information. But this
does not appear to be the case. The phraseology of our existing
versions is not that of the Koran and these versions appear to have
been made from the Septuagint, the Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and
Greek; the four Gospels, says Tischendorf originem mixtam
habere videntur.

From the Arab Jews, Muhammad would be enabled to derive an
abundant, though most distorted, knowledge of the Scripture
histories. The secrecy in which he received his instructions from
them, and from his Christian informants, enabled him boldly to
declare to the ignorant pagan Meccans that God had revealed those
Biblical histories to him. But there can be no doubt, from the
constant identity between the Talmudic perversions of Scripture
histories and Rabbinic moral precepts, that the Rabbins of the
Hejaz communicated their legends to Muhammad. And it should
be remembered that the Talmud was completed a century previous
to the era of Muhammad, and cannot fail to have extensively
influenced the religious creed of all the Jews of the Arabian
peninsula. In one passage, Muhammad speaks of an individual Jew
perhaps some one of note among his professed followers, as a
witness to his mission; and there can be no doubt that his relations
with the Jews were, at one time, those of friendship and intimacy,
when we find him speak of their recognising him as they do their
own children, and hear him blaming their most colloquial
expressions. It is impossible, however, for us at this distance of
time to penetrate the mystery in which this subject is involved. Yet
certain it is, that, although their testimony against Muhammad was
speedily silenced, the Koreisch knew enough of his private history
to disbelieve and to disprove his pretensions of being the recipient
of a divine revelation, and that they accused him of writing from
the dictation of teachers morning and evening. And it is equally
certain, that all the information received by Muhammad was
embellished and recast in his own mind and with his own words.
There is a unity of thought, a directness and simplicity of purpose,
a peculiar and laboured style, a uniformity of diction, coupled with
a certain deficiency of imaginative power, which proves the ayats
(signs or verses) of the Koran at least to be the product of a single
pen. The longer narratives were, probably, elaborated in his leisure
hours, while the shorter verses, each claiming to be a sign or
miracle, were promulgated as occasion required them. And,
whatever Muhammad may himself profess in the Koran as to his
ignorance, even of reading and writing, and however strongly
modern Muhammadans may insist upon the same point an
assertion by the way contradicted by many good authors there can
be no doubt that to assimilate and work up his materials, to fashion
them into elaborate Suras, to fit them for public recital, must have
been a work requiring much time, study, and meditation, and
presumes a far greater degree of general culture than any orthodox
Muslim will be disposed to admit.

In close connection with the above remarks, stands the question of
Muhammad's sincerity and honesty of purpose in coming forward
as a messenger from God. For if he was indeed the illiterate person
the Muslims represent him to have been, then it will be hard to
escape their inference that the Koran is, as they assert it to be, a
standing miracle. But if, on the other hand, it was a Book carefully
concocted from various sources, and with much extraneous aid,
and published as a divine oracle, then it would seem that the
author is at once open to the charge of the grossest imposture, and
even of impious blasphemy. The evidence rather shews, that in all
he did and wrote, Muhammad was actuated by a sincere desire to
deliver his countrymen from the grossness of its debasing
idolatries that he was urged on by an intense desire to proclaim
that great truth of the Unity of the Godhead which had taken full
possession of his own soul that the end to be attained justified to
his mind the means he adopted in the production of his Suras that
he worked himself up into a belief that he had received a divine
call and that he was carried on by the force of circumstances, and
by gradually increasing successes, to believe himself the
accredited messenger of Heaven. The earnestness of those
convictions which at Mecca sustained him under persecution, and
which perhaps led him, at any price as it were, and by any means,
not even excluding deceit and falsehood, to endeavour to rescue
his countrymen from idolatry, naturally stiffened at Medina into
tyranny and unscrupulous violence. At the same time, he was
probably, more or less, throughout his whole career, the victim of
a certain amount of self-deception. A cataleptic subject from his
early youth, born according to the traditions of a highly nervous
and excitable mother, he would be peculiarly liable to morbid and
fantastic hallucinations, and alternations of excitement and
depression, which would win for him, in the eyes of his ignorant
countrymen, the credit of being inspired. It would be easy for him
to persuade himself that he was "the seal of the Prophets," the
proclaimer of a doctrine of the Divine Unity, held and taught by
the Patriarchs, especially by Abraham a doctrine that should
present to mankind Judaism divested of its Mosaic ceremonial,
and Christianity divested of the Atonement and the Trinity
doctrine, as he might have believed, fitted and destined to absorb
Judaism, Christianity, and Idolatry; and this persuasion, once
admitted into his mind as a conviction, retained possession of it,
and carried him on, though often in the use of means, towards the
end of his career, far different from those with which he
commenced it, to a victorious consummation. It is true that the
state of Arabia previous to the time of Muhammad was one of
preparedness for a new religion that the scattered elements were
there, and wanted only the mind of a master to harmonise and
enforce them and that Islam was, so to speak, a necessity of the
time. Still Muhammad's career is a wonderful instance of the force
and life that resides in him who possesses an intense Faith in God
and in the unseen world; and whatever deductions may be made
and they are many and serious from the noble and truthful in his
character, he will always be regarded as one of those who have had
that influence over the faith, morals, and whole earthly life of their
fellow-men, which none but a really great man ever did, or can,
exercise; and as one of those, whose efforts to propagate some
great verity will prosper, in spite of manifold personal errors and
defects, both of principle and character.

The more insight we obtain, from undoubted historical sources,
into the actual character of Muhammad, the less reason do we find
to justify the strong vituperative language poured out upon his
head by Maracci, Prideaux, and others, in recent days, one of
whom has found, in the Byzantine "Maometis," the number of the
Beast (Rev. xii)! It is nearer to the truth to say that he was a great
though imperfect character, an earnest though mistaken teacher,
and that many of his mistakes and imperfections were the result of
circumstances, of temperament, and constitution; and that there
must be elements both of truth and goodness in the system of
which he was the main author, to account for the world-wide
phenomenon, that whatever may be the intellectual inferiority (if
such is, indeed, the fact) of the Muslim races, the influence of his
teaching, aided, it is true, by the vast impulse given to it by the
victorious arms of his followers, has now lasted for nearly thirteen
centuries, and embraces more than one hundred millions of our
race more than one-tenth part of the inhabitants of the globe.

It must be acknowledged, too, that the Koran deserves the highest
praise for its conceptions of the Divine nature, in reference to the
attributes of Power, Knowledge, and universal Providence and
Unity that its belief and trust in the One God of Heaven and Earth
is deep and fervent and that, though it contains fantastic visions
and legends, teaches a childish ceremonial, and justifies
bloodshedding, persecution, slavery, and polygamy, yet that at the
same time it embodies much of a noble and deep moral
earnestness, and sententious oracular wisdom, and has proved that
there are elements in it on which mighty nations, and conquering
though not, perhaps, durable empires can be built up. It is due to
the Koran, that the occupants in the sixth century of an arid
peninsula, whose poverty was only equalled by their ignorance,
become not only the fervent and sincere votaries of a new creed,
but, like Amru and many more, its warlike propagators. Impelled
possibly by drought and famine, actuated partly by desire of
conquest, partly by religious convictions, they had conquered
Persia in the seventh century, the northern coasts of Africa, and a
large portion of Spain in the eighth, the Punjaub and nearly the
whole of India in the ninth. The simple shepherds and wandering
Bedouins of Arabia, are transformed, as if by a magician's wand,
into the founders of empires, the builders of cities, the collectors
of more libraries than they at first destroyed, while cities like
Fostƒt, Baghdad, Cordova, and Delhi, attest the power at which
Christian Europe trembled. And thus, while the Koran, which
underlays this vast energy and contains the principles which are its
springs of action, reflects to a great extent the mixed character of
its author, its merits as a code of laws, and as a system of religious
teaching, must always be estimated by the changes which it
introduced into the customs and beliefs of those who willingly or
by compulsion embraced it. In the suppression of their idolatries,
in the substitution of the worship of Allah for that of the powers of
nature and genii with Him, in the abolition of child murder, in the
extinction of manifold superstitious usages, in the reduction of the
number of wives to a fixed standard, it was to the Arabians an
unquestionable blessing, and an accession, though not in the
Christian sense a Revelation, of Truth; and while every Christian
must deplore the overthrow of so many flourishing Eastern
churches by the arms of the victorious Muslims, it must not be
forgotten that Europe, in the middle ages, owed much of her
knowledge of dialectic philosophy, of medicine, and architecture,
to Arabian writers, and that Muslims formed the connecting link
between the West and the East for the importation of numerous
articles of luxury and use. That an immense mass of fable and silly
legend has been built up upon the basis of the Koran is beyond a
doubt, but for this Muhammad is not answerable, any more than he
is for the wild and bloodthirsty excesses of his followers in after
ages. I agree with Sale in thinking that, "how criminal soever
Muhammad may have been in imposing a false religion on
mankind, the praises due to his real virtues ought not to be denied
him" (Preface), and venture to think that no one can rise from the
perusal of his Koran without argeeing with that motto from St.
Augustin, which Sale has prefixed to his title page, "Nulla falsa
doctrina est, qu‘ non aliquid veri permisceat." Qu‘st. Evang. ii.
40.

The Arabic text from which this translation has been made is that
of Fluegel. Leips. 1841. The translations of Sale, Ullmann, Wahl,
Hammer von Purgstall in the Fundgruben des Orients, and M.
Kasimirski, have been collated throughout; and above all, the great
work of Father Maracci, to whose accuracy and research search
Sale's work mainly owes its merits. Sale has, however, followed
Maracci too closely, especially by introducing his paraphrastic
comments into the body of the text, as well as by his constant use
of Latinised instead of Saxon words. But to Sale's "Preliminary
Discourse" the reader is referred, as to a storehouse of valuable
information; as well as to the works of Geiger, Gerock, and
Freytag, and to the lives of Muhammad by Dr. Weil, Mr. Muir, and
that of Dr. Sprenger now issuing from the press, in German. The
more brief and poetical verses of the earlier Suras are translated
with a freedom from which I have altogether abstained in the
historical and prosaic portions; but I have endeavoured nowhere to
use a greater amount of paraphrase than is necessary to convey the
sense of the original. "Vel verbum e verbo," says S. Jerome (Pr‘f.
in Jobum) of versions, "vel sensum e sensu, vel ex utroque
commixtum, et medie temperatum genus translationis." The proper
names are usually given as in our Scriptures: the English reader
would not easily recognise Noah as N–h, Lot as L–t, Moses as
Musa, Abraham as Ibrahym, Pharaoh as Firaun, Aaron as Harun,
Jesus as Isa, John as Yahia, etc.; and it has been thought best to
give different renderings of the same constantly recurring words
and phrases, in order more fully to convey their meaning. For
instance, the Arabic words which mean Companions of the fire,
are also rendered inmates of, etc., given up to, etc.; the People of
the Book, i.e. Jews, Christians and Sabeites, is sometimes retained,
sometimes paraphrased. This remark applies to such words as
tanzyl, lit. downsending or Revelation; zikr, the remembrance or
constant repetition or mention of God's name as an act of devotion;
saha, the Hour of present or final judgment; and various epithets of
Allah.

I have nowhere attempted to represent the rhymes of the original.
The "Proben" of H. v. Purgstall, in the Fundgruben des Orients,
excellent as they are in many respects, shew that this can only be
done with a sacrifice of literal translation. I subjoin as a specimen
Lieut. Burton's version of the Fatthah, or opening chapter of
previous editions. See Sura [viii.] p. 28.

"I have endeavoured," he adds, "in this translation to imitate the
imperfect rhyme of the original Arabic. Such an attempt, however,
is full of difficulties. The Arabic is a language in which, like
Italian, it is almost impossible not to rhyme." Pilgr. ii. 78. SURA1
XCVI. THICK BLOOD, OR CLOTS OF BLOOD
[I.]

Mecca. 19 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful2

RECITE3 thou, in the name of thy Lord who created;

Created man from CLOTS OF BLOOD:

Recite thou! For thy Lord is the most Beneficent,

Who hath taught the use of the pen;

Hath taught Man that which he knoweth not.

Nay, verily,4 Man is insolent,

Because he seeth himself possessed of riches.

Verily, to thy Lord is the return of all.

What thinkest thou of him that holdeth back

A servant5 of God when he prayeth?

What thinkest thou?6 Hath he followed the true Guidance, or
enjoined Piety?

What thinkest thou? Hath he treated the truth as a lie and turned
his back?

What! doth he not know how that God seeth?

Nay, verily, if he desist not, We shall seize him by the forelock,

The lying sinful forelock!

Then let him summon his associates;7

We too will summon the guards of Hell:

Nay! obey him not; but adore, and draw nigh to God.8

_______________________

1 The word Sura occurs nine times in the Koran, viz. Sur. ix. 65,
87, 125, 128; xxiv. 1; xlvii. 22 (twice); ii. 21; x. 39; but it is not
easy to determine whether it means a whole chapter, or part only
of a chapter, or is used in the sense of "revelation." See Weil's
Mohammed der Prophet, pp. 361-363. It is understood by the
Muhammadan commentators to have a primary reference to the
succession of subjects or parts, like the rows of bricks in a wall.
The titles of the Suras are generally taken from some word
occurring in each, which is printed in large type throughout, where
practicable.

2 This formula Bismillahi 'rrahmani 'rrahim is of Jewish
origin. It was in the first instance taught to the Koreisch by
Omayah of Taief, the poet, who was a contemporary with, but
somewhat older than, Muhammad; and who, during his mercantile
journeys into Arabia Petr‘a and Syria, had made himself
acquainted with the sacred books and doctrines of Jews and
Christians. (Kitab al-Aghƒni, 16. Delhi.) Muhammad adopted and
constantly used it, and it is prefixed to each Sura except the ninth.
The former of the two epithets implies that the mercy of God is
exercised as occasions arise, towards all his creatures; the latter
that the quality of mercy is inherent in God and permanent, so
that there is only a shade of difference between the two words.
Maracci well renders, In Nomine Dei Miseratoris, Misericordis.
The rendering I have adopted is that of Mr. Lane in his extracts
from the Koran. See also Freytag's Lex. ii. p. 133. Perhaps, In the
name of Allah, the God of Mercy, the Merciful, would more fully
express the original Arabic. The first five verses of this Sura are, in
the opinion of nearly all commentators, ancient and modern, the
earliest revelations made to Muhammad, in the 40th year of his
life, and the starting point of El-Islam. (See the authorities quoted
in detail in N”ldeke's Geschichte des Qorƒns, p. 62, n.)

3 The usual rendering is read. But the word qaraa, which is the
root of the word Koran, analogous to the Rabbinic mikra, rather
means to address, recite; and with regard to its etymology and use
in the kindred dialects to call, cry aloud, proclaim. Compare Isai.
lviii. 1; 1 Kings xviii. 37; and Gesen. Thesaur. on the Hebrew root.
I understand this passage to mean, "Preach to thy fellow men what
thou believest to be true of thy Lord who has created man from the
meanest materials, and can in like manner prosper the truth which
thou proclaimest. He has taught man the art of writing (recently
introduced at Mecca) and in this thou wilt find a powerful help
for propagating the knowledge of the divine Unity." The speaker
in this, as in all the Suras, is Gabriel, of whom Muhammad had, as
he believed, a vision on the mountain Hirƒ, near Mecca. See note 1
on the next page. The details of the vision are quite unhistorical.

4 This, and the following verses, may have been added at a later
period, though previous to the Flight, and with special reference, if
we are to believe the commentators Beidhawi, etc., to the
opposition which Muhammad experienced at the hands of his
opponent, Abu Jahl, who had threatened to set his foot on the
Prophet's neck when prostrate in prayer. But the whole passage
admits of application to mankind in general.

5 That is Muhammad. N”ldeke, however, proposes to render "a
slave." And it is certain that the doctrines of Islam were in the first
instance embraced by slaves, many of whom had been carried
away from Christian homes, or born of Christian parents at Mecca.
"Men of this description," says Dr. Sprenger (Life of Mohammad.
Allahabad. p. 159), "no doubt prepared the way for the Islam by
inculcating purer notions respecting God upon their masters and
their brethren. These men saw in Mohammad their liberator; and
being superstitious enough to consider his fits as the consequence
of an inspiration, they were among the first who acknowledged
him as a prophet. Many of them suffered torture for their faith in
him, and two of them died as martyrs. The excitement among the
slaves when Mohammad first assumed his office was so great, that
Abd Allah bin Jod'an, who had one hundred of these sufferers,
found it necessary to remove them from Makkah, lest they should
all turn converts." See Sura xvi. 105, 111; ii. 220.

6 Lit. hast thou seen if he be upon the guidance.

7 The principal men of the Koreisch who adhered to Abu Jahl.

8 During a period variously estimated from six months to three
years from the revelation of this Sura, or of its earliest verses, the
prophetic inspiration and the revelation of fresh Suras is said to
have been suspended. This interval is called the Fatrah or
intermission; and the Meccan Suras delivered at its close show
that at or during this period Muhammad had gained an increasing
and more intimate acquaintance with the Jewish and Christian
Scriptures. "The accounts, however," says Mr. Muir (vol. ii. 86)
"are throughout confused, if not contradictory; and we can only
gather with certainty that there was a time during which his mind
hung in suspense, and doubted the divine mission." The idea of
any supernatural influence is of course to be entirely excluded;
although there is no doubt that Muhammad himself had a full
belief in the personality and influence of Satans and Djinn.
Profound meditation, the struggles of an earnest mind anxious to
attain to truth, the morbid excitability of an epileptic subject,
visions seen in epileptic swoons, disgust at Meccan idolatry, and a
desire to teach his countrymen the divine Unity will sufficiently
account for the period of indecision termed the Fatrah, and for the
determination which led Muhammad, in all sincerity, but still
self-deceived, to take upon himself the office and work of a
Messenger from God. We may perhaps infer from such passages as
Sura ii. 123, what had ever been the leading idea in Muhammad's
mind.

SURA LXXIII. THE ENFOLDED1 [III.]

MECCA. 20 Verses.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
O THOU ENFOLDED in thy mantle,
Stand up all night, except a small portion of it, for prayer:
Half; or curtail the half a little,
Or add to it: And with measured tone intone the Koran,2
For we shall devolve on thee weighty words.
Verily, at the oncoming of night are devout impressions strongest,
and words are most collected;3
But in the day time thou hast continual employ
And commemorate the name of thy Lord, and devote thyself to
Him with entire devotion.
Lord of the East and of the West! No God is there but
He! Take Him for thy protector,
And endure what they say with patience, and depart from them
with a decorous departure.
And let Me alone with the gainsayers, rich in the pleasures of this
life; and bear thou with them yet a little while:
For with Us are strong fetters, and a flaming fire,
And food that choketh, and a sore torment.

The day cometh when the earth and the mountains shall be shaken;
and the mountains shall become a loose sand heap.

Verily, we have sent you an Apostle to witness against you, even
as we sent an Apostle to Pharaoh:

But Pharaoh rebelled against the Apostle, and we therefore laid
hold on him with a severe chastisement.

And how, if ye believe not, will you screen yourselves from the
day that shall turn children greyheaded?

The very heaven shall be reft asunder by it: this threat shall be
carried into effect.

Lo! this is a warning. Let him then who will, take the way to his
Lord.

Of a truth,4 thy Lord knoweth that thou prayest almost two-thirds,
or half, or a third of the night, as do a part of thy followers. But
God measureth the night and the day: He knoweth that ye cannot
count its hours aright, and therefore, turneth to you mercifully.
Recite then so much of the Koran as may be easy to you. He
knoweth that there will be some among you sick, while others
travel through the earth in quest of the bounties of God; and others
do battle in his cause. Recite therefore so much of it as may be
easy. And observe the Prayers and pay the legal Alms,5 and lend
God a liberal loan: for whatever good works ye send on before for
your own behoof, ye shall find with God. This will be best and
richest in the recompense. And seek the forgiveness of God: verily,
God is forgiving, Merciful.

_______________________

1 From the first line of this Sura, and its expressions concerning
the Koran, Prayer, and Future Punishment: from the similarity of
the tradition with regard to its having been preceded by a vision of
Gabriel (Beidh., etc.), it seems to belong to, or at least to describe,
a period, perhaps immediately succeeding the Fatrah, during which
the hours of night were spent by Muhammad in devotion and in the
labour of working up his materials in rhythmical and rhyming
Suras, and in preparation for the public assumption of the
prophetic office. Comp. especially verses 11, 19, 20, at the end,
with 11, 54, 55, of the preceding Sura.
2 Singe den Koran laut. H.v.P. Psalle Alcoranum psallendo. Mar.
Singe den Koran mit singender und lauter Stimme ab. Ullm.

3 Lit. most firm, perhaps, distinct.
4 This verse, according to a tradition of Ayesha, was revealed one
year later than the previous part of the Sura. N”ldeke says it is
"offenbar ein Medinischer."

5 The reader will not be surprised to find in the very outset of
Muhammad's career a frequent mention of Alms, Prayer, Heaven,
Hell, Judgment, Apostles, etc., in their usual sense, when he
remembers that Judaism was extensively naturalised in Arabia,
and Christianity, also, although to a smaller extent. The words and
phrases of these religions were doubtless familiar to the Meccans,
especially to that numerous body who were anxiously searching
after some better religion than the idolatries of their fathers (v. on
Sura iii. 19, 60), and provided Muhammad with a copious fund
from which to draw.

SURA LXXIII. THE ENFOLDED1 [III.]

MECCA. 20 Verses.

The day cometh when the earth and the mountains shall be shaken;
and the mountains shall become a loose sand heap.

Verily, we have sent you an Apostle to witness against you, even
as we sent an Apostle to Pharaoh:

But Pharaoh rebelled against the Apostle, and we therefore laid
hold on him with a severe chastisement.

And how, if ye believe not, will you screen yourselves from the
day that shall turn children greyheaded?

The very heaven shall be reft asunder by it: this threat shall be
carried into effect.

Lo! this is a warning. Let him then who will, take the way to his
Lord.

_______________________

2 Singe den Koran laut. H.v.P. Psalle Alcoranum psallendo. Mar.
Singe den Koran mit singender und lauter Stimme ab. Ullm.

3 Lit. most firm, perhaps, distinct.

4 This verse, according to a tradition of Ayesha, was revealed one
year later than the previous part of the Sura. N”ldeke says it is
"offenbar ein Medinischer."

SURA XCIII.1 THE BRIGHTNESS [IV.]

MECCA. 11 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

BY the noon-day BRIGHTNESS,
And by the night when it darkeneth!
Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither hath he been displeased.
And surely the Future shall be better for thee than the Past,
And in the end shall thy Lord be bounteous to thee and thou be
satisfied.
Did he not find thee an orphan2 and gave thee a home?
And found thee erring and guided thee,3
And found thee needy and enriched thee.
As to the orphan therefore wrong him not;
And as to him that asketh of thee, chide him not away;
And as for the favours of thy Lord tell them abroad.

_______________________

1 This and the six following Suras are expressions of a state of
deep mental anxiety and depression, in which Muhammad seeks to
reassure himself by calling to mind the past favours of God, and by
fixing his mind steadfastly on the Divine Unity. They belong to a
period either before the public commencement of his ministry or
when his success was very dubious, and his future career by no
means clearly marked out.

2 The charge of the orphaned Muhammad was undertaken by
Abd-al-Mutalib, his grandfather, A.D. 576. Hishami, p. 35; Kitab
al Wakidi, p. 22, have preserved traditions of the fondness with
which the old man of fourscore years treated the child, spreading a
rug for him under the shadow of the Kaaba, protecting him from
the rudeness of his own sons, etc.

3 Up to his 40th year Muhammad followed the religion of his
countrymen. Waq. Tabari says that when he first entered on his
office of Prophet, even his wife Chadijah had read the Scriptures,
and was acquainted with the History of the Prophets. Spreng. p.
100. But his conformity can only have been partial.

SURA XCIV. THE OPENING [V.]

MECCA. 8 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

HAVE we not OPENED thine heart for thee?
And taken off from thee thy burden,
Which galled thy back?
And have we not raised thy name for thee?
Then verily along with trouble cometh ease.
Verily along with trouble cometh ease.
But when thou art set at liberty, then prosecute thy toil.
And seek thy Lord with fervour.

SURA CXIII. THE DAYBREAK [VI.]

MECCA OR MEDINA. 5 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

SAY: I betake me for refuge to the Lord of the DAY BREAK
Against the mischiefs of his creation;
And against the mischief of the night when it overtaketh me;
And against the mischief of weird women;1
And against the mischief of the envier when he envieth.

_______________________

1 Lit. who blow on knots. According to some commentators an
allusion to a species of charm. Comp. Virg.Ec. vi. But the
reference more probably is to women in general, who disconcert
schemes as thread is disentangled by blowing upon it. Suras cxiii.
are called the el mouwwidhetani, or preservative chapters, are
engraved on amulets,etc.

SURA CXIV. MEN [VII.]

MECCA OR MEDINA. 6 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

SAY: I betake me for refuge to the Lord of MEN,
The King of men,
The God of men,
Against the mischief of the stealthily withdrawing whisperer,1
Who whispereth in man's breast
Against djinn and men.

_______________________

1 Satan.

SURA I.1 [VIII.]

MECCA 7 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

PRAISE be to God, Lord of the worlds!
The compassionate, the merciful!
King on the day of reckoning!
Thee only do we worship, and to Thee do we cry for help.
Guide Thou us on the straight path,2
The path of those to whom Thou hast been gracious; with whom
thou art not angry, and who go not astray.3

_______________________

1 This Sura, which N”ldeke places last, and Muir sixth, in the
earliest class of Meccan Suras, must at least have been composed
prior to Sura xxxvii. 182,where it is quoted, and to Sura xv. 87,
which refers to it. And it can scarcely be an accidental
circumstance that the words of the first, second, and fifth verses do
not occur in any other Suras of the first Meccan period as given by
N”ldeke, but frequently in those of the second, which it therefore,
in N”ldeke, opinion, immediately precedes. But this may be
accounted for by its having been recast for the purposes of private
and public devotion by Muhammad himself, which is the meaning
probably of the Muhammadan tradition that it was revealed twice.
It should also be observed that, including the auspicatory formula,
there are the same number of petitions in this Sura as in the Lord's
Prayer. It is recited several times in each of the five daily prayers,
and on many other occassions, as in concluding a bargain, etc. It is
termed "the Opening of the Book," "the Completion," "the
Sufficing Sura," the Sura of Praise, Thanks, and Prayer," "the
Healer," "the Remedy," "the Basis," "the Treasure," "the Mother
of the Book," "the Seven Verses of Repetition." The
Muhammadans always say "Amen" after this prayer, Muhammad
having been instructed, says the Sonna, to do so by the Angel
Gabriel.

2 Islam

3 The following transfer of this Sura from the Arabic into the
corresponding English characters may give some idea of the
rhyming prose in which the Koran is written:

Bismillahi 'rahhmani 'rrahheem.
El-hamdoo lillahi rabi 'lalameen.
Arrahhmani raheem.
Maliki yowmi-d-deen.
Eyaka naboodoo, wa‚yaka nest aeen.
Ihdina 'ssirat almostakeem.
Sirat alezeena anhamta aleihim, gheiri-'l mughdoobi aleihim, wala
dsaleen. Ameen.

SURA CIX. UNBELIEVERS [IX.]

MECCA. 6 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

SAY: O ye UNBELIEVERS!
I worship not that which ye worship,
And ye do not worship that which I worship;
I shall never worship that which ye worship,
Neither will ye worship that which I worship.
To you be your religion; to me my religion.1

_______________________

1 This Sura is said to have been revealed when WalŒd urged
Muhammad to consent that his God should be worshipped at the
same time with the old Meccan deities, or alternately every year.
Hishƒmi, p. 79; Tabari, p. 139. It is a distinct renunciation of
Meccan idolatry, as the following Sura is a distinct recognition of
the Divine Unity.

SURA CXII. THE UNITY [X.]

MECCA. 4 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

SAY: He is God alone:
God the eternal!
He begetteth not, and He is not begotten;
And there is none like unto Him.

SURA CXI. ABU LAHAB [XI.]

MECCA. 5 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

LET the hands of ABU LAHAB1 perish,and let himself perish!
His wealth and his gains shall avail him not.
Burned shall he be at the fiery flame,2
And his wife laden with fire wood,
On her neck a rope of palm fibre.

_______________________

1 Undoubtedly one of the earliest Suras, and refers to the rejection
of Muhammad's claim to the prophetic office by his uncle, Abu
Lahab, at the instigation of his wife, Omm Djemil, who is said to
have strewn the path of Muhammad on one occasion with thorns.
The following six Suras, like the two first, have special reference
to the difficulties which the Prophet met with the outset of his
career, especially from the rich.

2 In allusion to the meaning of Abu Lahab, father of flame.

SURA CVIII. THE ABUNDANCE [XII.]

MECCA. 3 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

TRULY we have given thee an ABUNDANCE;
Pray therefore to the Lord, and slay the victims
Verily whose hateth thee shall be childless.1

_______________________

1 A reply to those who had taunted Muhammad with the death of
his sons, as a mark of the divine displeasure.

SURA CIV. THE BACKBITER [XII.]

MECCA. 9 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Woe to every BACKBITER, Defamer!
Who amasseth wealth and storeth it against the future!
He thinketh surely that his wealth shall be with him for ever.
Nay! for verily he shall be flung into the Crushing Fire;
And who shall teach thee what the Crushing Fire is?
It is God's kindled fire,
Which shall mount above the hearts of the damned;
It shall verily rise over them like a vault,
On outstretched columns.

SURA CVII. RELIGION [XIV.]

MECCA. 7 Verses

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHAT thinkest thou of him who treateth our RELIGION as a lie?
He it is who trusteth away the orphan,
And stirreth not others up to feed the poor.
Woe to those who pray,
But in their prayer are careless;
Who make a shew of devotion,
But refuse help to the needy.

SURA CII. DESIRE [XV.]

MECCA. 8 Verses

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

THE DESIRE of increasing riches occupieth you,
Till ye come to the grave.
Nay! but in the end ye shall know
Nay! once more,in the end ye shall know your folly.
Nay! would that ye knew it with knowledge of certainty!
Surely ye shall see hell-fire.
Then shall ye surely see it with the eye of certainty;
Then shall ye on that day be taken to task concerning pleasures.

SURA LXVIII. THE PEN [XVII.]

Mecca. 52 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Nun.1 By the PEN2 and by what they write,Thou, O Prophet; by
the grace of thy Lord art not possessed!3

And truly a boundless recompense doth await thee,
For thou art of a noble nature.4
But thou shalt see and they shall see
Which of you is the demented.

Now thy Lord! well knoweth He the man who erreth from his path,
and well doth he know those who have yielded to Guidance;

Give not place, therefore, to those who treat thee as a liar:

They desire thee to deal smoothly with them: then would they be
smooth as oil with thee:

But yield not to the man of oaths, a despicable person,
Defamer, going about with slander,
Hinderer of the good, transgressor, criminal,
Harsh beside this, impure by birth,
Though a man of riches and blessed with sons.

Who when our wondrous verses are recited to him saith "Fables
of the ancients."

We will brand him on the nostrils.

Verily, we have proved them (the Meccans) as we proved the
owners of the garden, when they swore that at morn they would cut
its fruits;

But added no reserve.5

Wherefore an encircling desolation from thy Lord swept round it
while they slumbered,

And in the morning it was like a garden whose fruits had all been
cut.

Then at dawn they called to each other,

"Go out early to your field, if ye would cut your dates."

So on they went whispering to each other,

"No poor man shall set foot this day within your garden;"

And they went out at daybreak with this settled purpose.

But when they beheld it, they said, "Truly we have been in fault:

Yes! we are forbidden our fruits."

The most rightminded of them said, "Did I not say to you, Will ye
not give praise to God?"

They said, "Glory to our Lord! Truly we have done amiss."

And they fell to blaming one another:

They said, "Oh woe to us! we have indeed transgressed!

Haply our Lord will give us in exchange a better garden than this:
verily we crave it of our Lord."

Such hath been our chastisement but heavier shall be the
chastisement of the next world. Ah! did they but know it.

Verily, for the God-fearing are gardens of delight in the presence
of their Lord.

Shall we then deal with those who have surrendered themselves to
God, as with those who offend him?

What hath befallen you that ye thus judge?
Have ye a Scripture wherein ye can search out
That ye shall have the things ye choose?
Or have ye received oaths which shall bind Us even until the day
of the resurrection, that ye shall have what yourselves judge right?

Ask them which of them will guarantee this?

Or is it that they have joined gods with God? let them produce
those associate-gods of theirs, if they speak truth.

On the day when men's legs shall be bared,6 and they shall be
called upon to bow in adoration, they shall not be able:

Their looks shall be downcast: shame shall cover them: because,
while yet in safety, they were invited to bow in worship, but would
not obey.

Leave me alone therefore with him who chargeth this revelation
with imposture. We will lead them by degrees to their ruin; by
ways which they know not;

Yet will I bear long with them; for my plan is sure.

Askest thou any recompense from them? But they are burdened
with debt.

Are the secret things within their ken? Do they copy them from the
Book of God?

Patiently then await the judgment of thy Lord, and be not like him
who was in the fish,7 when in deep distress he cried to God.

Had not favour from his Lord reached him, cast forth would he
have been on the naked shore, overwhelmed with shame:

But his Lord chose him and made him of the just.

Almost would the infidels strike thee down with their very looks
when they hear the warning of the Koran. And they say, "He is
certainly possessed."

Yet is it nothing less than a warning for all creatures.

_______________________

1 It has been conjectured that as the word Nun means fish, there
may be a reference to the fish which swallowed Jonas (v. 48). The
fact, however, is that the meaning of this and of the similar
symbols, throughout the Koran, was unknown to the
Muhammadans themselves even in the first century. Possibly the
letters Ha, Mim, which are prefixed to numerous successive Suras
were private marks, or initial letters, attached by their proprietor to
the copies furnished to Said when effecting his recension of the
text under Othman. In the same way, the letters prefixed to other
Suras may be monograms, or abbreviations, or initial letters of the
names of the persons to whom the copies of the respective Suras
belonged.

2 This Sura has been supposed by ancient Muslim authorities to
be, if not the oldest, the second revelation, and to have followed
Sura xcvi. But this opinion probably originated from the
expression in v. 1 compared with Sura xcvi. 4. Verses 17-33 read
like a later addition, and this passage, as well as verse 48-50, has
been classed with the Medina revelations. In the absence of any
reliable criterion for fixing the date, I have placed this Sura with
those which detail the opposition encountered by the Prophet at
Mecca.

3 By djinn. Comp. Sur. xxxiv. 45.

4 In bearing the taunts of the unbelievers with patience.

5 They did not add the restriction, if God will.

6 An expression implying a grievous calamity; borrowed probably
from the action of stripping previous to wrestling, swimming, etc.

7 Lit. the companion of the fish. Comp. on Jonah Sura xxxvii.
139-148, and Sura xxi. 87.

SURA XC. THE SOIL [XVIII.]

MECCA. 20 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I NEED not to swear by this SOIL,
This soil on which thou dost dwell,
Or by sire and offspring!1
Surely in trouble have we created man.
What! thinketh he that no one hath power over him?
"I have wasted," saith he, "enormous riches!"
What! thinketh he that no one regardeth him?
What! have we not made him eyes,
And tongue, and lips,
And guided him to the two highways?2
Yet he attempted not the steep.
And who shall teach thee what the steep is?
It is to ransom the captive,3
Or to feed in the day of famine,
The orphan who is near of kin, or the poor that lieth in the dust;
Beside this, to be of those who believe, and enjoin stedfastness on
each other, and enjoin compassion on each other.
These shall be the people of the right hand:
While they who disbelieve our signs,
Shall be the people of the left.
Around them the fire shall close.

_______________________

1 Lit. and begetter and what he hath begotten.
2 Of good and evil.

3 Thus we read in Hilchoth Matt'noth Aniim, c. 8, "The ransoming
of captives takes precedence of the feeding and clothing of the
poor, and there is no commandment so great as this."
SURA CV. THE ELEPHANT [XIX.]

MECCA. 5 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

HAST thou not seen1 how thy Lord dealt with the army of the
ELEPHANT?

Did he not cause their stratagem to miscarry?
And he sent against them birds in flocks (ababils),
Claystones did they hurl down upon them,
And he made them like stubble eaten down!

_______________________

1 This Sura is probably Muhammad's appeal to the Meccans,
intended at the same time for his own encouragement, on the
ground of their deliverance from the army of Abraha, the Christian
King of Abyssinia and Arabia Felix, said to have been lost in the
year of Muhammad's birth in an expedition against Mecca for the
purpose of destroying the Caaba. This army was cut off by
small-pox (Wakidi; Hishami), and there is no doubt, as the Arabic
word for small-pox also means "small stones," in reference to the
hard gravelly feeling of the pustules, what is the true interpretation
of the fourth line of this Sura, which, like many other poetical
passages in the Koran, has formed the starting point for the most
puerile and extravagant legends. Vide Gibbon's Decline and Fall,
c. 1. The small-pox first shewed itself in Arabia at the time of the
invasion by Abraha. M. de Hammer Gemaldesaal, i. 24. Reiske
opusc. Med. Arabum. Hal‘, 1776, p. 8.

SURA CVI. THE KOREISCH [XX.]

MECCA. 4 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

For the union of the KOREISCH:
Their union in equipping caravans winter and summer.
And let them worship the Lord of this house, who hath provided
them with food against hunger,
And secured them against alarm.1

_______________________

1 In allusion to the ancient inviolability of the Haram, or precinct
round Mecca. See Sura, xcv. n. p. 41. This Sura, therefore, like the
preceding, is a brief appeal to the Meccans on the ground of their
peculiar privileges.

SURA XCVII. POWER [XXI.]

MECCA. 5 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

VERILY, we have caused It1 to descend on the night of POWER.

And who shall teach thee what the night of power is?

The night of power excelleth a thousand months:

Therein descend the angels and the spirit by permission of their
Lord for every matter;2

And all is peace till the breaking of the morn.

_______________________

1 The Koran, which is now pressed on the Meccans with increased
prominence, as will be seen in many succeeding Suras of this
period.

2 The night of Al Kadr is one of the last ten nights of Ramadhan,
and as is commonly believed the seventh of those nights reckoning
backward. See Sura xliv. 2. "Three books are opened on the New
Year's Day, one of the perfectly righteous, one of the perfectly
wicked, one of the intermediate. The perfectly righteous are
inscribed and sealed for life," etc. Bab. Talm. Rosh. Hash., 1.

SURA LXXXVI. THE NIGHT-COMER [XXII.]

MECCA. 17 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

BY the heaven, and by the NIGHT-COMER!
But who shall teach thee what the night-comer is?
'Tis the star of piercing radiance.
Over every soul is set a guardian.
Let man then reflect out of what he was created.
He was created of the poured-forth germs,
Which issue from the loins and breastbones:
Well able then is God to restore him to life,
On the day when all secrets shall be searched out,
And he shall have no other might or helper.
I swear by the heaven which accomplisheth its cycle,
And by the earth which openeth her bosom,
That this Koran is a discriminating discourse,
And that it is not frivolous.
They plot a plot against thee,
And I will plot a plot against them.
Deal calmly therefore with the infidels; leave them awhile alone.

SURA XCI. THE SUN [XXIII.]

MECCA. 15 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

BY the SUN and his noonday brightness!
By the Moon when she followeth him!
By the Day when it revealeth his glory!
By the Night when it enshroudeth him!
By the Heaven and Him who built it!
By the Earth and Him who spread it forth!
By a Soul and Him who balanced it,
And breathed into it its wickedness and its piety,
Blessed now is he who hath kept it pure,
And undone is he who hath corrupted it!
Themoud1 in his impiety rejected the message of the Lord,
When the greatest wretch among them rushed up:
Said the Apostle of God to them, "The Camel of God! let her
drink."
But they treated him as an impostor and hamstrung her.
So their Lord destroyed them for their crime, and visited all alike:
Nor feared he the issue.

_______________________

1 See Sura vii. 33, for the story of Themoud.

SURA LXXX. HE FROWNED [XXIV.]

MECCA. 42 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

HE FROWNED, and he turned his back,1
Because the blind man came to him!
But what assured thee that he would not be cleansed by the Faith,
Or be warned, and the warning profit him?
As to him who is wealthy
To him thou wast all attention:
Yet is it not thy concern if he be not cleansed:2
But as to him who cometh to thee in earnest,
And full of fears
Him dost thou neglect.
Nay! but it (the Koran) is a warning;
(And whoso is willing beareth it in mind)
Written on honoured pages,
Exalted, purified,
By the hands of Scribes, honoured, righteous.
Cursed be man! What hath made him unbelieving?
Of what thing did God create him?
Out of moist germs.3
He created him and fashioned him,
Then made him an easy passage from the womb,
Then causeth him to die and burieth him;
Then, when he pleaseth, will raise him again to life.
Aye! but man hath not yet fulfilled the bidding of his Lord.
Let man look at his food:
It was We who rained down the copious rains,
Then cleft the earth with clefts,
And caused the upgrowth of the grain,
And grapes and healing herbs,
And the olive and the palm,
And enclosed gardens thick with trees,
And fruits and herbage,
For the service of yourselves and of your cattle.
But when the stunning trumpet-blast shall arrive,4
On that day shall a man fly from his brother,
And his mother and his father,
And his wife and his children;
For every man of them on that day his own concerns shall be
enough.
There shall be faces on that day radiant,
Laughing and joyous:
And faces on that day with dust upon them:
Blackness shall cover them!
These are the Infidels, the Impure.

_______________________

1 We are told in the traditions, etc., that when engaged in converse
with Walid, a chief man among the Koreisch, Muhammad was
interrupted by the blind Abdallah Ibn Omm Makt–m, who asked to
hear the Koran. The Prophet spoke very roughly to him at the time,
but afterwards repented, and treated him ever after with the
greatest respect. So much so, that he twice made him Governor of
Medina.

2 That is, if he does not embrace Islam, and so become pure from
sin, thou wilt not be to blame; thou art simply charged with the
delivery of a message of warning.

3 Ex spermate.

4 Descriptions of the Day of Judgment now become very frequent.
See Sura lxxxv. p. 42, and almost every Sura to the lv., after which
they become gradually more historical.

SURA LXXXVII. THE MOST HIGH [XXV.]

MECCA. 19 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

PRAISE the name of thy Lord THE MOST HIGH,
Who hath created and balanced all things,
Who hath fixed their destinies and guideth them,
Who bringeth forth the pasture,
And reduceth it to dusky stubble.
We will teach thee to recite the Koran, nor aught shalt thou forget,
Save what God pleaseth; for he knoweth alike things manifest and
hidden;
And we will make easy to thee our easy ways.
Warn, therefore, for the warning is profitable:
He that feareth God will receive the warning,
And the most reprobate only will turn aside from it,
Who shall be exposed to the terrible fire,
In which he shall not die, and shall not live.
Happy he who is purified by Islam,
And who remembereth the name of his Lord and prayeth.
But ye prefer this present life,
Though the life to come is better and more enduring.
This truly is in the Books of old,
The Books of Abraham1 and Moses.

_______________________

1 Thus the Rabbins attribute the Book Jezirah to Abraham. See
Fabr. Cod. Apoc. V. T. p. 349.

SURA XCV. THE FIG [XXVI.]

MECCA. 8 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I SWEAR by the FIG and by the olive,
By Mount Sinai,
And by this inviolate soil!1
That of goodliest fabric we created man,
Then brought him down to be the lowest of the low;
Save who believe and do the things that are right, for theirs shall
be a reward that faileth not.
Then, who after this shall make thee treat the Judgment as a lie?
What! is not God the most just of judges?

_______________________

1 In allusion to the sacredness of the territory of Mecca. This
valley in about the fourth century of our ‘ra was a kind of sacred
forest of 37 miles in circumference, and called Haram a name
applied to it as early as the time of Pliny (vi. 32). It had the
privilege of asylum, but it was not lawful to inhabit it, or to carry
on commerce within its limits, and its religious ceremonies were a
bond of union to several of the Bedouin tribes of the Hejaz. The
Koreisch had monopolised most of the offices and advantages of
the Haram in the time of Muhammad. See Sprenger's Life of
Mohammad, pp. 7 20.

SURA CIII. THE AFTERNOON [XXVII.]

MECCA. 3 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I SWEAR by the declining day!
Verily, man's lot is cast amid destruction,1
Save those who believe and do the things which be right, and
enjoin truth and enjoin stedfastness on each other.

_______________________

1 Said to have been recited in the Mosque shortly before his death
by Muhammad. See Weil, p. 328.

SURA LXXXV. THE STARRY [XXVIII.]

MECCA. 22 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

BY the star-bespangled Heaven!1
By the promised Day!
By the witness and the witnessed!2
Cursed the masters of the trench3
Of the fuel-fed fire,
When they sat around it
Witnesses of what they inflicted on the believers!

Nor did they torment them but for their faith in God, the Mighty,
the Praiseworthy:4

His the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth; and God is the
witness of everything.

Verily, those who vexed the believers, men and women, and
repented not, doth the torment of Hell, and the torment of the
burning, await.

But for those who shall have believed and done the things that be
right, are the Gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow. This
the immense bliss!

Verily, right terrible will be thy Lord's vengeance!
He it is who produceth all things, and causeth them to return;
And is He the Indulgent, the Loving;
Possessor of the Glorious throne;
Worker of that he willeth.
Hath not the story reached thee of the hosts
Of Pharaoh and Themoud?
Nay! the infields are all for denial:
But God surroundeth them from behind.
Yet it is a glorious Koran,
Written on the preserved Table.

_______________________

1 Lit. By the Heaven furnished with towers, where the angels keep
watch; also, the signs of the Zodiac: this is the usual interpretation.
See Sura xv. 15.

2 That is, by Muhammad and by Islam; or, angels and men. See,
however, v. 7.

3 Prepared by Dhu Nowas, King of Yemen, A.D. 523, for the
Christians. See Gibbon's Decline and Fall, chap. xii. towards the
end. Pocock Sp. Hist. Ar. p. 62. And thus the comm. generally. But
Geiger (p. 192) and N”ldeke (p. 77 n.) understand the passage of
Dan. iii. But it should be borne in mind that the Suras of this early
period contain very little allusion to Jewish or Christian legends.

4 Verses 8 11 wear the appearance of a late insertion, on account
of their length, which is a characteristic of the more advanced
period. Observe also the change in the rhymes.

SURA CI. THE BLOW [XXIX.]

MECCA. 8 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

THE BLOW! what is the Blow?
Who shall teach thee what the Blow is?
The Day when men shall be like scattered moths,
And the mountains shall be like flocks of carded wool,
Then as to him whose balances are heavy his shall be a life that
shall please him well:

And as to him whose balances are light his dwelling-place1 shall
be the pit.
And who shall teach thee what the pit (El-Hawiya) is?
A raging fire!

_______________________

1 Lit. Mother.

SURA XCIX. THE EARTHQUAKE [XXX.]

MECCA. 8 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHEN the Earth with her quaking shall quake
And the Earth shall cast forth her burdens,
And man shall say, What aileth her?
On that day shall she tell out her tidings,
Because thy Lord shall have inspired her.
On that day shall men come forward in throngs to behold their
works,
And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of good shall
behold it,
And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of evil shall
behold it.

SURA LXXXII. THE CLEAVING [XXXI.]

MECCA. 19 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHEN the Heaven shall CLEAVE asunder,
And when the stars shall disperse,
And when the seas1 shall be commingled,
And when the graves shall be turned upside down,
Each soul shall recognise its earliest and its latest actions.
O man! what hath misled thee against thy generous Lord,
Who hath created thee and moulded thee and shaped thee aright?
In the form which pleased Him hath He fashioned thee.
Even so; but ye treat the Judgment as a lie.
Yet truly there are guardians over you
Illustrious recorders
Cognisant of your actions.
Surely amid delights shall the righteous dwell,
But verily the impure in Hell-fire:
They shall be burned at it on the day of doom,
And they shall not be able to hide themselves from it.
Who shall teach thee what the day of doom is?
Once more. Who shall teach thee what the day of doom is?
It is a day when one soul shall be powerless for another soul: all
sovereignty on that day shall be with God.

_______________________

1 Salt water and fresh water.

SURA LXXXI. THE FOLDED UP [XXXII.]

MECCA. 29 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHEN the sun shall be FOLDED UP,1
And when the stars shall fall,
And when the mountains shall be set in motion,
And when the she-camels shall be abandoned,
And when the wild beasts shall be gathered together,2
And when the seas shall boil,
And when souls shall be paired with their bodies,
And when the female child that had been buried alive shall be
asked
For what crime she was put to death,3
And when the leaves of the Book shall be unrolled,
And when the Heaven shall be stripped away,4
And when Hell shall be made to blaze,
And when Paradise shall be brought near,
Every soul shall know what it hath produced.
It needs not that I swear by the stars5 of retrograde motions
Which move swiftly and hide themselves away,
And by the night when it cometh darkening on,
And by the dawn when it brighteneth,
That this is the word of an illustrious Messenger,6
Endued with power, having influence with the Lord of the Throne,
Obeyed there by Angels, faithful to his trust,
And your compatriot is not one possessed by djinn;
For he saw him in the clear horizon:7
Nor doth he grapple with heaven's secrets,8
Nor doth he teach the doctrine of a cursed 9 Satan.
Whither then are ye going?
Verily, this is no other than a warning to all creatures;
To him among you who willeth to walk in a straight path:
But will it ye shall not, unless as God willeth it,10 the Lord of the
worlds.

_______________________

1 Involutus fuerit tenebris. Mar. Or, thrown down.

2 Thus Bab. Talm. Erchin, 3. "In the day to come (i.e., of
judgment) all the beasts will assemble and come, etc."

3 See Sura xvi. 61; xvii. 33.

4 Like a skin from an animal when flayed. The idea is perhaps
borrowed from the Sept. V. of Psalm civ. 2. Vulg. sicut pellem.

5 Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn.

6 Gabriel; of the meaning of whose name the next verse is
probably a paraphrase.

7 Sura 1iii. 7.

8 Like a mere Kahin, or soothsayer.

9 Lit. stoned. Sura iii. 31. This vision or hallucination is one of the
few clearly stated miracles, to which Muhammad appeals in the
Koran. According to the tradition of Ibn-Abbas in Waquidi he was
preserved by it from committing suicide by throwing himself down
from Mount Hira, and that after it, God cheered him and
strengthened his heart, and one revelation speedily followed
another.

10 Comp. the doctrine of predestination in Sura 1xxvi. v. 25 to
end.

SURA LXXXIV. THE SPLITTING ASUNDER [XXXIII.]

MECCA. 25 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHEN the Heaven shall have SPLIT ASUNDER
And duteously obeyed its Lord;1
And when Earth shall have been stretched out as a plain,
And shall have cast forth what was in her and become empty,
And duteously obeyed its Lord;
Then verily, O man, who desirest to reach thy Lord, shalt
thou meet him.
And he into whose right hand his Book shall be given,
Shall be reckoned with in an easy reckoning,
And shall turn, rejoicing, to his kindred.
But he whose Book shall be given him behind his back2
Shall invoke destruction:
But in the fire shall he burn,
For that he lived joyously among his kindred,
Without a thought that he should return to God.
Yea, but his Lord beheld him.
It needs not therefore that I swear by the sunset redness,
And by the night and its gatherings,
And by the moon when at her full,
That from state to state shall ye be surely carried onward.3
What then hath come to them that they believe not?
And that when the Koran is recited to them they adore not?
Yea, the unbelievers treat it as a lie.
But God knoweth their secret hatreds:
Let their only tidings4 be those of painful punishment;
Save to those who believe and do the things that be right.
An unfailing recompense shall be theirs.

_______________________

1 Lit. and obeyed its Lord, and shall be worthy, or capable, i.e., of
obedience.

2 That is, into his left hand. The Muhammadans believe that the
right hand of the damned will be chained to the neck; the left
chained behind the back.

3 From Life to Death, from the Grave to Resurrection, thence to
Paradise.

4 The expression is ironical. See Freyt. on the word. Lit. tell them
glad tidings.

SURA C. THE CHARGERS [XXXIV.]

Mecca. 11 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

By the snorting CHARGERS!
And those that dash off sparks of fire!
And those that scour to the attack at morn!
And stir therein the dust aloft;
And cleave therein their midway through a host!
Truly, Man is to his Lord ungrateful.
And of this he is himself a witness;
And truly, he is vehement in the love of this world's good.
Ah! knoweth he not, that when that which is in the graves shall be
laid bare,
And that which is in men's breasts shall be brought forth,
Verily their Lord shall on that day be informed concerning them?

SURA LXXIX.1 THOSE WHO DRAG FORTH [XXXV.]

Mecca. 46 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

By those angels who DRAG FORTH souls with violence,
And by those who with joyous release release them;
By those who swim swimmingly along;
By those who are foremost with foremost speed;2
By those who conduct the affairs of the universe!
One day, the disturbing trumpet-blast shall disturb it,
Which the second blast shall follow:
Men's hearts on that day shall quake:
Their looks be downcast.
The infidels will say, "Shall we indeed be restored as at first?
What! when we have become rotten bones?"
"This then," say they, "will be a return to loss."
Verily, it will be but a single blast,
And lo! they are on the surface of the earth.
Hath the story of Moses reached thee?
When his Lord called to him in Towa's holy vale:
Go to Pharaoh, for he hath burst all bounds:
And say, "Wouldest thou become just?
Then I will guide thee to thy Lord that thou mayest fear him."
And he showed him a great miracle,
But he treated him as an impostor, and rebelled;
Then turned he his back all hastily,
And gathered an assembly and proclaimed,
And said, "I am your Lord supreme."
So God visited on him the punishment of this life and of the other.
Verily, herein is a lesson for him who hath the fear of God.
Are ye the harder to create, or the heaven which he hath built?
He reared its height and fashioned it,
And gave darkness to its night, and brought out its light,
And afterwards stretched forth the earth,
He brought forth from it its waters and its pastures;
And set the mountains firm
For you and your cattle to enjoy.
But when the grand overthrow shall come,
The day when a man shall reflect on the pains that he hath taken,
And Hell shall be in full view of all who are looking on;
Then, as for him who hath transgressed
And hath chosen this present life,
Verily, Hell that shall be his dwelling-place:
But as to him who shall have feared the majesty of his Lord,
and shall have refrained his soul from lust,
Verily, Paradise that shall be his dwelling-place.
They will ask thee of "the Hour," when will be its fixed time?
But what knowledge hast thou of it?
Its period is known only to thy Lord;
And thou art only charged with the warning of those who fear it.

On the day when they shall see it, it shall seem to them as though
they had not tarried in the tomb, longer than its evening or its
morn.

_______________________

1 This Sura obviously consists of three portions, verses 1 14,
15 26, 27 46, of which the third is the latest in point of style, and
the second, more detailed than is usual in the Suras of the early
period, which allude to Jewish and other legend only in brief and
vague terms. It may therefore be considered as one of the short and
early Suras.

2 Or, By those angels which precede, i.e., the souls of the pious
into Paradise. Or, are beforehand with the Satans and djinn in
learning the decrees of God.

SURA LXXVII. THE SENT [XXXVI.]

Mecca. 50 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

By the train of THE SENT ones,1
And the swift in their swiftness;
By the scatterers who scatter,
And the distinguishers who distinguish;
And by those that give forth the word
To excuse or warn;
Verily that which ye are promised is imminent.
When the stars, therefore, shall be blotted out,
And when the heaven shall be cleft,
And when the mountains shall be scattered in dust,
And when the Apostles shall have a time assigned them;
Until what day shall that time be deferred?
To the day of severing!
And who shall teach thee what the day of severing is?
Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
Have we not destroyed them of old?
We will next cause those of later times to follow them.2
Thus deal we with the evil doers.
Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
Have we not created you of a sorry germ,
Which we laid up in a secure place,
Till the term decreed for birth?
Such is our power! and, how powerful are We!
Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
Have we not made the earth to hold
The living and the dead?
And placed on it the tall firm mountains, and given you to drink of
sweet water.
Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
Begone to that Hell which ye called a lie:
Begone to the shadows that lie in triple masses;
"But not against the flame shall they shade or help you:"
The sparks which it casteth out are like towers
Like tawny camels.
Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
On that day they shall not speak,
Nor shall it be permitted them to allege excuses.
Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
This is the day of severing, when we will assemble you and your
ancestors.
If now ye have any craft try your craft on me.
Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
But the god-fearing shall be placed amid shades and fountains,
And fruits, whatsoever they shall desire:
"Eat and drink, with health,3 as the meed of your toils."
Thus recompense we the good.
Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
"Eat ye and enjoy yourselves a little while. Verily, ye are doers of
evil."
Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
For when it is said to them, bend the knee, they bend it not.
Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture
In what other revelation after this will they believe?

_______________________

1 Lit. by the sent (fem.) one after another. Per missas. Mar. Either
angels following in a continued series; or, winds, which disperse
rain over the earth; or the successive verses of the Koran which
disperse truth and distinguish truth from error.

2 Sura xliv. 40.

3 Maimonides says that the majority of the Jews hope that Messiah
shall come and "raise the dead, and they shall be gathered into
Paradise, and there shall eat and drink and be in good health to all
eternity." Sanhedrin, fol. 119, col. 1.

SURA LXXVIII. THE NEWS [XXXVII.]

Mecca. 41 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Of what ask they of one another?
Of the great NEWS.1
The theme of their disputes.
Nay! they shall certainly knows its truth!
Again. Nay! they shall certainly know it.
Have we not made the Earth a couch?
And the mountains its tent-stakes?
We have created you of two sexes,
And ordained your sleep for rest,
And ordained the night as a mantle,
And ordained the day for gaining livelihood,
And built above you seven solid2 heavens,
And placed therein a burning lamp;
And we send down water in abundance from the rain-clouds,
That we may bring forth by it corn and herbs,
And gardens thick with trees.
Lo! the day of Severance is fixed;
The day when there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and ye shall
come in crowds,
And the heaven shall be opened and be full of portals,
And the mountains shall be set in motion, and melt into thin
vapour.
Hell truly shall be a place of snares,
The home of transgressors,
To abide therein ages;
No coolness shall they taste therein nor any drink,
Save boiling water and running sores;
Meet recompense!
For they looked not forward to their account;
And they gave the lie to our signs, charging them with falsehood;
But we noted and wrote down all:
"Taste this then: and we will give you increase of nought but
torment."
But, for the God-fearing is a blissful abode,
Enclosed gardens and vineyards;
And damsels with swelling breasts, their peers in age,
And a full cup:
There shall they hear no vain discourse nor any falsehood:
A recompense from thy Lord sufficing gift!

Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and of all that between3 them
lieth the God of Mercy! But not a word shall they obtain from
Him.

On the day whereon the Spirit4 and the Angels shall be ranged in
order, they shall not speak: save he whom the God of Mercy shall
permit, and who shall say that which is right.

This is the sure day. Whoso then will, let him take the path of
return to his Lord.

Verily, we warn you of a chastisement close at hand:

The day on which a man shall see the deeds which his hands have
sent before him; and when the unbeliever shall say, "Oh! would I
were dust!"

_______________________

1 Of the Resurrection. With regard to the date of this Sura, we can
only be guided (1) by the general style of the earlier portion (to
verse 37, which is analogous to that of the early Meccan Suras; (2)
by verse 17, which pre-supposes lxxvii. 12; (3) by the obviously
later style of verse 37 to the end.

2 See Sura ii. 27. This is the title given by the Talmudists to the
fifth of the seven heavens.

3 This phrase is of constant recurrence in the Talmud.
Maimonides, Yad Hach. i. 3, makes it one of the positive
commands of the Rabbins to believe "that there exists a first Being
and that all things existing, Heaven and Earth, and whatever is
between them, exist only through the truth of his existence."

4 Gabriel.

SURA LXXXVIII. THE OVERSHADOWING [XXXVIII.]

Mecca. 26 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Hath the tidings of the day that shall OVERSHADOW, reached
thee?
Downcast on that day shall be the countenances of some,
Travailing and worn,
Burnt at the scorching fire,
Made to drink from a fountain fiercely boiling.
No food shall they have but the fruit of Darih,1
Which shall not fatten, nor appease their hunger.
Joyous too, on that day, the countenances of others,
Well pleased with their labours past,
In a lofty garden:
No vain discourse shalt thou hear therein:
Therein shall be a gushing fountain,
Therein shall be raised couches,
And goblets ready placed,
And cushions laid in order,
And carpets spread forth.
Can they not look up to the clouds, how they are created;
And to the heaven how it is upraised;
And to the mountains how they are rooted;
And to the earth how it is outspread?
Warn thou then; for thou art a warner only:
Thou hast no authority over them:
But whoever shall turn back and disbelieve,
God shall punish him with the greater punishment.
Verily to Us shall they return;
Then shall it be Our's to reckon with them.

_______________________

1 The name of a bitter, thorny shrub.

SURA LXXXIX. THE DAYBREAK [XXXIX.]

Mecca. 30 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

By the DAYBREAK and ten nights.1
By that which is double and that which is single,
By the night when it pursues its course!
Is there not in this an oath becoming a man of sense?
Hast thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with Ad,
At Irem adorned with pillars,
Whose like have not been reared in these lands!
And with Themoud who hewed out the rocks in the valley;
And with Pharaoh the impaler;
Who all committed excesses in the lands,
And multiplied wickedness therein.
Wherefore thy Lord let loose on them the scourge of
chastisement,2
For thy Lord standeth on a watch tower.
As to man, when his Lord trieth him and honoureth him and is
bounteous to him,
Then saith he, "My Lord honoureth me:"
But when he proveth him and limiteth his gifts to him,
He saith, "My Lord despiseth me."
Aye. But ye honour not the orphan,
Nor urge ye one another to feed the poor,
And ye devour heritages, devouring greedily,
And ye love riches with exceeding love.
Aye. But when the earth shall be crushed with crushing, crushing,
And thy Lord shall come and the angels rank on rank,

And Hell on that day shall be moved up,3 Man shall on that day
remember himself. But how shall remembrance help him?

He shall say, Oh! would that I had prepared for this my life! On
that day none shall punish as God punisheth,

And none shall bind with such bonds as He.
Oh, thou soul which art at rest,
Return to thy Lord, pleased, and pleasing him:
Enter thou among my servants,
And enter thou my Paradise.

_______________________

1 Of the sacred month Dhu'lhajja.

2 Or, poured on them the mixed cup of chastisement.

3 The orthodox Muhammadans take this passage literally. Djelal
says that hell will "be dragged up by 70,000 chains, each pulled by
70,000 angels," as if it were an enormous animal or locomotive
engine.

SURA LXXV. THE RESURRECTION [XL.]

Mecca. 40 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
It needeth not that I swear by the day of the RESURRECTION,
Or that I swear by the self-accusing soul.
Thinketh man that we shall not re-unite his bones?
Aye! his very finger tips are we able evenly to replace.
But man chooseth to deny what is before him:
He asketh, "When this day of Resurrection?"
But when the eye shall be dazzled,
And when the moon shall be darkened,
And the sun and the moon shall be together,1
On that day man shall cry, "Where is there a place to flee to?"
But in vain there is no refuge
With thy Lord on that day shall be the sole asylum.
On that day shall man be told of all that he hath done first and last;
Yea, a man shall be the eye witness against himself:
And even if he put forth his plea. 2
(Move not thy tongue in haste to follow and master this
revelation:3
For we will see to the collecting and the recital of it;
But when we have recited it, then follow thou the recital,
And, verily, afterwards it shall be ours to make it clear to thee.)
Aye, but ye love the transitory,
And ye neglect the life to come.
On that day shall faces beam with light,
Outlooking towards their Lord;
And faces on that day shall be dismal,
As if they thought that some great calamity would befal them.
Aye, when the soul shall come up into the throat,
And there shall be a cry, "Who hath a charm that can restore him?"
And the man feeleth that the time of his departure is come,
And when one leg shall be laid over the other,4
To thy Lord on that day shall he be driven on;
For he believed not, and he did not pray,
But he called the truth a lie and turned his back,
Then, walking with haughty men, rejoined his people.
That Hour is nearer to thee and nearer,5
It is ever nearer to thee and nearer still.
Thinketh man that he shall be left supreme?
Was he not a mere embryo?6
Then he became thick blood of which God formed him and
fashioned him;
And made him twain, male and female.
Is not He powerful enough to quicken the dead?

_______________________

1 Lit. shall be united. In the loss of light, or in the rising in the
west. Beidh.

2 Supply, it shall not be accepted.

3 Verses 16 19 are parenthetic, and either an address to
Muhammad by Gabriel desiring him (1) not to be overcome by any
fear of being unable to follow and retain the revelation of this
particular Sura; (2) or, not to interrupt him, but to await the
completion of the entire revelation before he should proceed to its
public recital. In either case we are led to the conclusion that, from
the first, Muhammad had formed the plan of promulging a written
book. Comp. Sura xx. 112.

4 In the death-struggle.

5 Or, Therefore woe to thee, woe! And, again, woe to thee, woe.
Thus Sale, Ullm. Beidhawi; who also gives the rendering in the
text, which is that of Maracci.

6 Nonne fuit humor ex spermate quod spermatizatur.

SURA LXXXIII. THOSE WHO STINT [XLI.]

Mecca. 36 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Woe to those who STINT the measure:

Who when they take by measure from others, exact the full;

But when they mete to them or weigh to them, minish

What! have they no thought that they shall be raised again

For the great day?

The day when mankind shall stand before the Lord of the worlds.

Yes! the register of the wicked is in Sidjin.1

And who shall make thee understand what Sidjin is?

It is a book distinctly written.

Woe, on that day, to those who treated our signs as lies,

Who treated the day of judgment as a lie!

None treat it as a lie, save the transgressor, the criminal,

Who, when our signs are rehearsed to him, saith, "Tales of the
Ancients!"

Yes; but their own works have got the mastery over their hearts.

Yes; they shall be shut out as by a veil from their Lord on that day;

Then shall they be burned in Hell-fire:

Then shall it be said to them, "This is what ye deemed a lie."

Even so. But the register of the righteous is in Illiyoun.

And who shall make thee understand what Illiyoun is?

A book distinctly written;

The angels who draw nigh unto God attest it.

Surely, among delights shall the righteous dwell!
Seated on bridal couches they will gaze around;
Thou shalt mark in their faces the brightness of delight;
Choice sealed wine shall be given them to quaff,
The seal of musk. For this let those pant who pant for bliss
Mingled therewith shall be the waters of Tasnim 2
Fount whereof they who draw nigh to God shall drink.
The sinners indeed laugh the faithful to scorn:
And when they pass by them they wink at one another,
And when they return to their own people, they return jesting,
And when they see them they say, "These are the erring ones."
And yet they have no mission to be their guardians.
Therefore, on that day the faithful shall laugh the infidels to scorn,
As reclining on bridal couches they behold them.
Shall not the infidels be recompensed according to their works?

_______________________

1 Sidjin is a prison in Hell which gives its name to the register of
actions there kept, as Illiyoun, a name of the lofty apartments of
Paradise, is transferred to the register of the righteous.

2 Derived from the root sanima, to be high: this water being
conveyed to the highest apartments in the Pavilions of Paradise.

SURA LXIX. THE INEVITABLE [XLII.]

Mecca. 52 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The INEVITABLE!

What is the Inevitable?
And who shall make thee comprehend what the Inevitable is?
Themoud and Ad treated the day of Terrors1 as a lie.
So as to Themoud,2 they were destroyed by crashing thunder bolts;
And as to Ad, they were destroyed by a roaring and furious blast.
It did the bidding of God3 against them seven nights and eight
days
together, during which thou mightest have seen the people laid
low, as though they had been the trunks of hollow palms;
And couldst thou have seen one of them surviving?
Pharaoh also, and those who flourished before him, and the
overthrown cities, committed sin,
And disobeyed the Sent one of their Lord; therefore did he chastise
them with an accumulated chastisement.
When the Flood rose high, we bare you in the Ark,
That we might make that event a warning to you, and that the
retaining ear might retain it.
But when one blast shall be blown on the trumpet,
And the earth and the mountains shall be upheaved, and shall both
be crushed into dust at a single crushing,
On that day the woe that must come suddenly shall suddenly
come,4
And the heaven shall cleave asunder, for on that day it shall be
fragile;
And the angels shall be on its sides, and over them on that day
eight shall bear up the throne of thy Lord.
On that day ye shall be brought before Him: none of your hidden
deeds shall remain hidden:
And he who shall have his book given to him in his right hand, will
say to his friends, "Take ye it; read ye my book;
I ever thought that to this my reckoning I should come."
And his shall be a life that shall please him well,
In a lofty garden,
Whose clusters shall be near at hand:
"Eat ye and drink with healthy relish, as the meed of what ye sent
on beforehand in the days which are past."
But he who shall have his book given into his left hand, will say,
"O that my book had never been given me!
And that I had never known my reckoning!
O that death had made an end of me!
My wealth hath not profited me!
My power hath perished from me!"
"Lay ye hold on him and chain him,
Then at the Hell-fire burn him,
Then into a chain whose length is seventy cubits thrust him;
For he believed not in God, the Great,
And was not careful to feed the poor;
No friend therefore shall he have here this day,
Nor food, but corrupt sores,
Which none shall eat but the sinners."
It needs not that I swear by what ye see,
And by that which ye see not,
That this verily is the word of an apostle worthy of all honour!
And that it is not the word of a poet how little do ye believe!
Neither is it the word of a soothsayer (Kahin) how little do ye
receive warning!
It is a missive from the Lord of the worlds.
But if Muhammad had fabricated concerning us any sayings,
We had surely seized him by the right hand,
And had cut through the vein of his neck.5
Nor would We have withheld any one of you from him.
But, verily, It (the Koran) is a warning for the God-fearing;
And we well know that there are of you who treat it as a falsehood.
But it shall be the despair of infidels,
For it is the very truth of sure knowledge.
Praise, then, the name of thy Lord, the Great.

_______________________

1 Thus Beidh., Sale, etc. But with reference to another sense of the
root karaa, it may be rendered the day of decision, the day on
which man's lot shall be decided.

2 On Ad and Themoud. See Sura vii. 63 77.

3 Lit. God subjected it to himself, availed himself of it against
them.

4 El-wakia, the sudden event, the calamity; the woe that must
break in upon Heaven and Earth. The same word is used, Sura lvi.
1, and ci. 1, for the Resurrection and Day of Judgment.

5 In allusion to the mode of executing criminals in many eastern
countries.

SURA LI. THE SCATTERING [XLIII.]

Mecca. 60 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
By the clouds1 which scatter with SCATTERING,
And those which bear their load,
And by those which speed lightly along,
And those which apportion by command!
True, indeed, is that with which ye are threatened,
And lo! the judgment will surely come.2
By the star-tracked heaven!
Ye are discordant in what ye say;
But whose turneth him from the truth, is turned from it by a divine
decree.
Perish the liars,
Who are bewildered in the depths of ignorance!
They ask, "When this day of judgment?"
On that day they shall be tormented at the fire.
"Taste ye of this your torment, whose speedy coming ye
challenged."
But the God-fearing shall dwell amid gardens and fountains,
Enjoying what their Lord hath given them, because, aforetime they
were well-doers:
But little of the night was it that they slept,
And at dawn they prayed for pardon,
And gave due share of their wealth to the suppliant and the
outcast.
On Earth are signs for men of firm belief,
And also in your own selves: Will ye not then behold them?
The Heaven hath sustenance for you, and it containeth that which
you are promised.
By the Lord then of the heaven and of the earth, I swear that this is
the truth, even as ye speak yourselves.3
Hath the story reached thee of Abraham's honoured guests?4
When they went in unto him and said, "Peace!" he replied,
"Peace: they are strangers."
And he went apart to his family, and brought a fatted calf,
And set it before them. He said, "Eat ye not?"
And he conceived a fear of them. They said to him, "Fear not;"
and announced to him a wise son.
His wife came up with outcry: she smote her face and said, "What
I, old and barren!"
They said, "Thus saith thy Lord. He truly is the Wise, the
Knowing."
Said he, "And what, O messengers, is your errand?"
They said, "To a wicked people are we sent,
To hurl upon them stones of clay,
Destined5 by thy Lord for men guilty of excesses."
And we brought forth the believers who were in the city:
But we found not in it but one family of Muslims.
And signs we left in it for those who dread the afflictive
chastisement,
And in Moses: when we sent him to Pharaoh with manifest power:
But relying on his forces6 he turned his back and said, "Sorcerer,
or Possessed."
So we seized him and his hosts and cast them into the sea; for of
all blame was he worthy.
And in Ad: when we sent against them the desolating blast:
It touched not aught over which it came, but it turned it to dust.
And in Themoud:7 when it was said to them, "Enjoy yourselves for
yet a while."
But they rebelled against their Lord's command: so the tempest
took them as they watched its coming.8
They were not able to stand upright, and could not help
themselves.
And we destroyed the people of Noah, before them; for an impious
people were they.
And the Heaven with our hands have we built it up, and given it
its expanse;
And the Earth we have stretched it out like a carpet; and how
smoothly have we spread it forth!
And of everything have we created pairs: that haply ye may reflect.
Fly then to God: I come to you from him a plain warner.
And set not up another god with God: I come to you from him a
plain warner.
Even thus came there no apostle to those who flourished before
them, but they exclaimed, "Sorcerer, or Possessed."
Have they made a legacy to one another of this scoff? Yes, they are
a rebel people.
Turn away, then, from them, and thou shalt not incur reproach:
Yet warn them, for, in truth, warning will profit the believers.
I have not created Djinn and men, but that they should worship
me:
I require not sustenance from them, neither require I that they feed
me:
Verily, God is the sole sustainer: possessed of might: the
unshaken!
Therefore to those who injure thee shall be a fate like the fate of
their fellows of old. Let them not challenge me to hasten it.
Woe then to the infidels, because of their threatened day.

_______________________

1 Lit. (I swear) by those which scatter (i.e., the rain) with a
scattering, (2) and by those which carry a burden, (3) and by those
which run lightly, (4) and by those which divide a matter, or by
command. The participles are all in the feminine: hence some
interpret verse 1 of winds; verse 2 of clouds; verse 3 of ships;
verse 4 of angels.

2 Comp. note at Sura lvi. 1, p. 65.

3 That is, this oath is for the confirmation of the truth, as ye are
wont to confirm things one among another by an oath.

4 Comp. Sura xi. 72, and xv. 51. From the want of connection with
what precedes, it is highly probable that the whole passage from
verse 24 60 did not originally form a part of this Sura, but was
added at a later period, perhaps in the recension of the text under
Othman.

5 Lit. marked, with the names of the individuals to be slain, say the
commentators.

6 Or, with his nobles.

7 For Ad and Themoud, see Sura xi.

8 That is, in broad daylight. Thus Beidh. Comp. Sura xlvi. 22.

SURA LII. THE MOUNTAIN [XLIV.]

MECCA. 49 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

BY the MOUNTAIN,
And by the Book written
On an outspread roll,
And by the frequented fane,1
And by the lofty vault,
And by the swollen sea,
Verily, a chastisement from thy Lord is imminent,
And none shall put it back.
Reeling on that day the Heaven shall reel,
And stirring shall the mountains stir.2
And woe, on that day, to those who called the apostles liars,
Who plunged for pastime into vain disputes
On that day shall they be thrust with thrusting to the fire of Hell:
"This is the fire which ye treated as a lie.
What! is this magic, then? or, do ye not see it?

Burn ye therein: bear it patiently or impatiently 'twill be the same
to you: for ye shall assuredly receive the reward of your doings."

But mid gardens and delights shall they dwell who have feared
God,

Rejoicing in what their Lord hath given them; and that from the
pain of hell-fire hath their Lord preserved them.

"Eat and drink with healthy enjoyment, in recompense for your
deeds."

On couches ranged in rows shall they recline; and to the damsels
with large dark eyes will we wed them.

And to those who have believed, whose offspring have followed
them in the faith, will we again unite their offspring; nor of the
meed of their works will we in the least defraud them. Pledged to
God is every man for his actions and their desert.3

And fruits in abundance will we give them, and flesh as they shall
desire:

Therein shall they pass to one another the cup which shall
engender no light discourse, no motive to sin:

And youths shall go round among them beautiful as imbedded
pearls:

And shall accost one another and ask mutual questions.

"A time indeed there was," will they say, "when we were full of
care as to the future lot of our families;

But kind hath God been to us, and from the pestilential torment
hath he preserved us;

For, heretofore we called upon Him and He is the Beneficent, the
Merciful."

Warn thou, then. For thou by the favour of thy Lord art neither
soothsayer nor possessed.

Will they say, "A poet! let us await some adverse turn of his
fortune?"

SAY, wait ye, and in sooth I too will wait with you.

Is it their dreams which inspire them with this? or is it that they are
a perverse people?

Will they say, "He hath forged it (the Koran) himself?" Nay, rather
it is that they believed not.

Let them then produce a discourse like it, if they speak the Truth.

Were they created by nothing? or were they the creators of
themselves?

Created they the Heavens and Earth? Nay, rather, they have no
faith.

Hold they thy Lord's treasures? Bear they the rule supreme?

Have they a ladder for hearing the angels? Let any one who hath
heard them bring a clear proof of it.

Hath God daughters and ye sons?

Asketh thou pay of them? they are themselves weighed down with
debts.

Have they such a knowledge of the secret things that they can
write them down?

Desire they to lay snares for thee? But the snared ones shall be
they who do not believe.

Have they any God beside God? Glory be to God above what they
join with Him.

And should they see a fragment of the heaven falling down, they
would say, "It is only a dense cloud."

Leave them then until they come face to face with the day when
they shall swoon away:

A day in which their snares shall not at all avail them, neither shall
they be helped.

And verily, beside this is there a punishment for the evildoers: but
most of them know it not.

Wait thou patiently the judgment of thy Lord, for thou art in our
eye; and celebrate the praise of thy Lord when thou risest up,

And in the night-season: Praise him when the stars are setting.

_______________________

1 The more prosaic style of this verse indicates a later origin than
the context. Muir places the whole Sura in what he terms the
fourth stage of Meccan Suras.

2 Of the Caaba.

3 Comp. Psalm lxviii. 9.

SURA LVI. THE INEVITABLE [XLV.]

MECCA. 96 Verses

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHEN the day that must come shall have come suddenly,1
None shall treat that sudden coming as a lie:
Day that shall abase! Day that shall exalt!

When the earth shall be shaken with a shock,
And the mountains shall be crumbled with a crumbling,
And shall become scattered dust,
And into three bands shall ye be divided:2
Then the people of the right hand3 Oh! how happy shall be the
people of the right hand!
And the people of the left hand Oh! how wretched shall be the
people of the left hand!
And they who were foremost on earth the foremost still.4
These are they who shall be brought nigh to God,
In gardens of delight;
A crowd of the former
And few of the latter generations;
On inwrought couches
Reclining on them face to face:
Aye-blooming youths go round about to them
With goblets and ewers and a cup of flowing wine;
Their brows ache not from it, nor fails the sense:
And with such fruits as shall please them best,
And with flesh of such birds, as they shall long for:
And theirs shall be the Houris, with large dark eyes, like pearls
hidden in their shells,
In recompense of their labours past.
No vain discourse shall they hear therein, nor charge of sin,
But only the cry, "Peace! Peace!"
And the people of the right hand oh! how happy shall be the
people of the right hand!
Amid thornless sidrahs5
And talh6 trees clad with fruit,
And in extended shade,
And by flowing waters,
And with abundant fruits,7

Unfailing, unforbidden,
And on lofty couches.
Of a rare creation have we created the Houris,
And we have made them ever virgins,
Dear to their spouses, of equal age with them,8
For the people of the right hand,
A crowd of the former,
And a crowd of the latter generations.9
But the people of the left hand oh! how wretched shall be the
people of the left hand!
Amid pestilential10 winds and in scalding water,
And in the shadow of a black smoke,
Not cool, and horrid to behold.11
For they truly, ere this, were blessed with worldly goods,
But persisted in heinous sin,
And were wont to say,
"What! after we have died, and become dust and bones, shall we
be raised?
And our fathers, the men of yore?"
SAY: Aye, the former and the latter:
Gathered shall they all be for the time of a known day.
Then ye, O ye the erring, the gainsaying,
Shall surely eat of the tree Ez-zakkoum,
And fill your bellies with it,
And thereupon shall ye drink boiling water,
And ye shall drink as the thirsty camel drinketh.
This shall be their repast in the day of reckoning!
We created you, will ye not credit us?12
What think ye? The germs of life13
Is it ye who create them? or are we their creator?
It is we who have decreed that death should be among you;
Yet are we not thereby hindered14 from replacing you with others,
your likes, or from producing you again in a form which ye know
not!
Ye have known the first creation: will ye not then reflect?
What think ye? That which ye sow

Is it ye who cause its upgrowth, or do we cause it to spring forth?
If we pleased we could so make your harvest dry and brittle that ye
would ever marvel and say,
"Truly we have been at cost,15 yet are we forbidden harvest."
What think ye of the water ye drink?
Is it ye who send it down from the clouds, or send we it down?
Brackish could we make it, if we pleased: will ye not then be
thankful?
What think ye? The fire which ye obtain by friction
Is it ye who rear its tree, or do we rear it?
It is we who have made it for a memorial and a benefit to the
wayfarers of the desert,
Praise therefore the name of thy Lord, the Great.
It needs not that I swear by the setting of the stars,
And it is a great oath, if ye knew it,
That this is the honourable Koran,
Written in the preserved Book:16
Let none touch it but the purified,17
It is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds.
Such tidings as these will ye disdain?
Will ye make it your daily bread to gainsay them?
Why, at the moment when the soul of a dying man shall come up
into his throat,
And when ye are gazing at him,
Though we are nearer to him than ye, although ye see us not:
why do ye not, if ye are to escape the judgment,
Cause that soul to return? Tell me, if ye speak the truth.
But as to him who shall enjoy near access to God,
His shall be repose, and pleasure, and a garden of delights.
Yea, for him who shall be of the people of the right hand,
Shall be the greeting from the people of the right hand "Peace
be to thee."
But for him who shall be of those who treat the prophets as
deceivers,
And of the erring,

His entertainment shall be of scalding water,
And the broiling of hell-fire.
Verily this is a certain truth:
Praise therefore the name of thy Lord, the Great.

_______________________

1 The renderings of Mar. cum inciderit casura, or as in Sur. lxix,
15, ingruerit ingruens nearly express the peculiar force of the
Arabic verb and of the noun formed from it; i.e. a calamity that
falls suddenly and surely. Weil renders, ween der Auferstehung's
Tag eintritt (p. 389). Lane, when the calamity shall have happened.

2 Comp. Tr. Rosch Haschanah, fol. 16, 6.

3 Lit., the companions of the right hand, what shall be the
companions of the right hand! and thus in verses 9, 37, 40.

4 Lit., the preceders, the preceders.

5 See Sura liii. 14, p. 69.

6 Probably the banana according to others, the acacia
gummifera.

7 "A Muslim of some learning professed to me that he considered
the descriptions of Paradise in the Koran to be, in a great measure,
figurative; 'like those,' said he, 'in the book of the Revelation of
St. John;' and he assured me that many learned Muslims were of
the same opinion." Lane's Modern Egyptians, i. p. 75, note.

8 Like them, grow not old.

9 This seems a direct contradiction to verse 14, unless we suppose
with Beidhawi that an inferior and more numerous class of
believers are here spoken of.

10 Or, scorching.

11 Lit., not noble, agreeable in appearance.

12 As to the resurrection.

13 Lit., semen quod emittitis.

14 Lit., forestalled, anticipated.

15 Lit, have incurred debt.

16 That is, The Prototype of the Koran written down in the Book
kept by God himself.

17 This passage implies the existence of copies of portions at least
of the Koran in common use. It was quoted by the sister of Omar
when at his conversion be desired to take her copy of Sura xx. into
his hands.

SURA1 LIII. THE STAR [XLVI.]

MECCA. 62 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

By the STAR when it setteth,
Your compatriot erreth not, nor is he led astray,
Neither speaketh he from mere impulse.
The Koran is no other than a revelation revealed to him:
One terrible in power2 taught it him,
Endued with wisdom. With even balance stood he
In the highest part of the horizon:
Then came he nearer and approached,
And was at the distance of two bows, or even closer,
And he revealed to his servant what he revealed.
His heart falsified not what he saw.
What! will ye then dispute with him as to what he saw?
He had seen him also another time,
Near the Sidrah-tree, which marks the boundary.3

Near which is the garden of repose.
When the Sidrah-tree4 was covered with what covered it,5
His eye turned not aside, nor did it wander:
For he saw the greatest of the signs of his Lord.
Do you see Al-Lat and Al-Ozza,6
And Manat the third idol besides?7
What? shall ye have male progeny and God female?
This were indeed an unfair partition!
These are mere names: ye and your fathers named them thus: God
hath not sent down any warranty in their regard. A mere conceit
and their own impulses do they follow. Yet hath "the guidance"
from their Lord come to them.
Shall man have whatever he wisheth?
The future and the present are in the hand of God:
And many as are the Angels in the Heavens, their intercession
shall be of no avail8
Until God hath permitted it to whom he shall please and will
accept.
Verily, it is they who believe not in the life to come, who name the
angels with names of females:
But herein they have no knowledge: they follow a mere conceit;
and mere conceit can never take the place of truth.
Withdraw then from him who turneth his back on our warning and
desireth only this present life.
This is the sum of their knowledge. Truly thy Lord best knoweth
him who erreth from his way, and He best knoweth him who hath
received guidance.
And whatever is in the Heavens and in the Earth is God's that he
may reward those who do evil according to their deeds: and those
who do good will He reward with good things.
To those who avoid great crimes and scandals but commit only
lighter faults, verily, thy Lord will be diffuse of mercy. He well
knew you when he produced you out of the earth, and when ye
were embryos in your mother's womb. Assert not then your own
purity. He best knoweth who feareth him.

Hast thou considered him who turned his back?
Who giveth little and is covetous?
Is it that he hath the knowledge and vision of the secret things?
Hath he not been told of what is in the pages of Moses?
And of Abraham faithful to his pledge?
That no burdened soul shall bear the burdens of another,
And that nothing shall be reckoned to a man but that for which he
hath made efforts:
And that his efforts shall at last be seen in their true light:
That then he shall be recompensed with a most exact recompense,
And that unto thy Lord is the term of all things,
And that it is He who causeth to laugh and to weep,
And that He causeth to die and maketh alive,
And that He hath created the sexes, male and female,
From the diffused germs of life,9
And that with Him is the second creation,
And that He enricheth and causeth to possess,
And that He is the Lord of Sirius,10
And that it was He who destroyed the ancient Adites,
And the people of Themoud and left not one survivor,
And before them the people of Noah who were most wicked and
most perverse.
And it was He who destroyed the cities that were overthrown.
So that that which covered them covered them.
Which then of thy Lord's benefits wilt thou make a matter of
doubt?11

He who warneth you is one of the warners of old.

The day that must draw nigh, draweth nigh already: and yet none
but God can reveal its time.

Is it at these sayings that ye marvel?

And that ye laugh and weep not?

And that ye are triflers?

Prostrate yourselves then to God and worship.

_______________________

1 This Sura was revealed at about the time of the first emigration
of Muhammad's followers to Abyssinia, A. 5. The manner in
which the Prophet cancelled the objectionable verses 19, 20, is the
strongest proof of his sincerity (as also is the opening of Sura
1xxx.) at this period. Had he not done so, nothing would have been
easier for him than to have effected a reconciliation with the
powerful party in Mecca, who had recently compelled his
followers to emigrate.

2 The Angel Gabriel, to the meaning of whose name, as the strong
one of God, these words probably allude.

3 That is, Beyond which neither men nor angels can pass (Djelal).
The original word is also rendered, the Lote-Tree of the extremity,
or of the loftiest spot in Paradise, in the seventh Heaven, on the
right hand of the throne of God. Its leaves are fabled to be as
numerous as the members of the whole human family, and each
leaf to bear the name of an individual. This tree is shaken on the
night of the 15th of Ramadan every year a little after sunset, when
the leaves on which are inscribed the names of those who are to
die in the ensuing year fall, either wholly withered, or with more
or less green remaining, according to the months or weeks the
person has yet to live.

4 The Sidrah is a prickly plum, which is called Ber in India, the
zizyphus Jujuba of Linn‘us. A decoction of the leaves is used in
India to wash the dead, on account of the sacredness of the tree.

5 Hosts of adoring angels, by which the tree was masked.

6 Al-Lat or El-Lat, probably the Alilat of Herodotus (iii. 8) was an
idol at Nakhlah, a place east of the present site of Mecca. Al-Ozza
was an idol of the Kinanah tribe; but its hereditary priests were the
Banu Solaym, who were stationed along the mercantile road to
Syria in the neighbourhood of Chaibar.

7 When at the first recital of this Sura, the prophet had reached this
verse, he continued,

These are the exalted females, [or, sublime swans, i.e., mounting
nearer and nearer to God]

And truly their intercession may be expected.

These words, however, which were received by the idolaters with
great exultation, were disowned by Muhammad in the course of a
few days as a Satanic suggestion, and replaced by the text as it
now stands. The probability is that the difficulties of his position
led him to attempt a compromise of which he speedily repented. In
the Suras subsequent to this period the denunciations of idolatry
become much sterner and clearer. The authorities are given by
Weil, Sprenger and Muir. See Sura [lxvii.] xvii. 74 76.

8 Verses 26 33 are probably later than the previous part of the
Sura, but inserted with reference to it. Some (as Omar b.
Muhammad and 1tq.) consider verse 33, or (as Itq.36) verses
34 42, or (as Omar b. Muhammad) the whole Sura, to have
originated at Medina.

9 Ex spermate cum seminatum fuerit.

10 The Dog-star, worshipped by the Arabians.

11 Compare the refrain in Sura lv. p. 74.

SURA LXX. THE STEPS OR ASCENTS [XLVII.]

Mecca. 44 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

A SUITOR sued1 for punishment to light suddenly

On the infidels: none can hinder

God from inflicting it, the master of those ASCENTS,

By which the angels and the spirit ascend to him in a day, whose
length is fifty thousand years.2

Be thou patient therefore with becoming patience;

They forsooth regard that day as distant,

But we see it nigh:

The day when the heavens shall become as molten brass,

And the mountains shall become like flocks of wool:

And friend shall not question of friend,

Though they look at one another. Fain would the wicked redeem
himself from punishment on that day at the price of his children,

Of his spouse and his brother,

And of his kindred who shewed affection for him,

And of all who are on the earth that then it might deliver him.

But no. For the fire,

Dragging by the scalp,

Shall claim him who turned his back and went away,

And amassed and hoarded.

Man truly is by creation hasty;

When evil befalleth him, impatient;

But when good falleth to his lot, tenacious.

Not so the prayerful,

Who are ever constant at their prayers;

And of whose substance there is a due and stated portion

For him who asketh, and for him who is ashamed3 to beg;

And who own the judgment-day a truth,

And who thrill with dread at the chastisement of their Lord

For there is none safe from the chastisement of their Lord

And who control their desires,

(Save with their wives or the slaves whom their right hands have
won, for there they shall be blameless;

But whoever indulge their desires beyond this are transgressors);

And who are true to their trusts and their engagements,

And who witness uprightly,

And who keep strictly the hours of prayer:

These shall dwell, laden with honours, amid gardens.

But what hath come to the unbelievers that they run at full stretch
around thee,

On the right hand and on the left, in bands?

Is it that every man of them would fain enter that garden of
delights?

Not at all. We have created them, they know of what.

It needs not that I swear by the Lord of the East and of the West4
that we have power.

To replace them with better than themselves: neither are we to be
hindered.

Wherefore let them flounder on and disport them, till they come
face to face with their threatened day,

The day on which they shall flock up out of their graves in haste
like men who rally to a standard:

Their eyes downcast; disgrace shall cover them. Such their
threatened day.

_______________________

1 Lit. asking one asked; probably some unbeliever, with reference
to the opening of Sura lvi., p. 60, or like statements in some
previous Sura.

2 The expression is hyperbolical, and, as such, identical with Sura
[lxx.] xxxii. 4. Compare also Sura xcvii., p. 37. where the descent
is said to take place in a single night.

3 Lit. forbidden or prevented by shame.

4 See next Sura. v. 16.

SURA LV. THE MERCIFUL [XLVIII.]

Mecca. 78 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The God of MERCY hath taught the Koran,

Hath created man,

Hath taught him articulate speech,

The Sun and the Moon have each their times,

And the plants and the trees bend in adoration.

And the Heaven, He hath reared it on high, and hath appointed the
balance;

That in the balance ye should not transgress.

Weigh therefore with fairness, and scant not the balance.

And the Earth, He hath prepared it for the living tribes:

Therein are fruits, and the palms with sheathed clusters,

And the grain with its husk, and the fragrant plants.

Which then of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain1 deny?

He created man of clay like that of the potter.

And He created the djinn of pure fire:

Which then of the bounties, etc.

He is the Lord of the East,2

He is the Lord of the West:

Which, etc.

He hath let loose the two seas3 which meet each other:

Yet between them is a barrier which they overpass not:

Which, etc.

From each he bringeth up pearls both great and small:

Which, etc.

And His are the ships towering up at sea like mountains:

Which, etc.

All on the earth shall pass away,

But the face of thy Lord shall abide resplendent with majesty and
glory:

Which, etc.

To Him maketh suit all that is in the Heaven and the Earth. Every
day doth some new work employ Him:

Which, etc.

We will find leisure to judge you, O ye men and djinn:4

Which, etc.

O company of djinn and men, if ye can overpass the bounds of the
Heavens and the Earth, then overpass them. But by our leave only
shall ye overpass them:

Which, etc.

A bright flash of fire shall be hurled at you both, and molten brass,
and ye shall not defend yourselves from it:

Which, etc.

When the Heaven shall be cleft asunder, and become rose red, like
stained leather:

Which, etc.

On that day shall neither man nor djinn be asked of his sin:

Which, etc.

By their tokens shall the sinners be known, and they shall be seized
by their forelocks and their feet:

Which, etc.

"This is Hell which sinners treated as a lie."

To and fro shall they pass between it and the boiling water:

Which, etc.

But for those who dread the majesty of their Lord shall be two
gardens:

Which, etc.

With o'erbranching trees in each:

Which, etc.

In each two kinds of every fruit:

Which, etc.

On couches with linings of brocade shall they recline, and the fruit
of the two gardens shall be within easy reach:

Which, etc.

Therein shall be the damsels with retiring glances, whom nor man
nor djinn hath touched before them:

Which, etc.

Like jacynths and pearls:

Which, etc.

Shall the reward of good be aught but good?

Which, etc.

And beside these shall be two other gardens:5

Which, etc.

Of a dark green:

Which, etc.

With gushing fountains in each:

Which, etc.

In each, fruits and the palm and the pomegranate:

Which, etc.

In each, the fair, the beauteous ones:

Which, etc.

With large dark eyeballs, kept close in their pavilions:

Which, etc.

Whom man hath never touched, nor any djinn:6

Which, etc.

Their spouses on soft green cushions and on beautiful carpets
shall recline:

Which, etc.

Blessed be the name of thy Lord, full of majesty and glory.

_______________________

1 Men and djinn. The verb is in the dual.

2 Lit. of the two easts, of the two wests, i.e., of all that lies
between
the extreme points at which the sun rises and sets at the winter and
summer solstices.

3 Lit. he hath set at large, poured forth over the earth the masses
of fresh and salt water which are in contact at the mouths of
rivers, etc. See Sura [lxviii.] xxvii. 62; [lxxxvi.] xxxv. 13.

4 Lit. O ye two weights; hence, treasures; and, generally, any
collective body of men or things.

5 One for men, the other for the Genii; or, two for each man and
Genius; or, both are for the inferior classes of Muslims. Beidh.

6 It should be remarked that these promises of the Houris of
Paradise are almost exclusively to be found in Suras written at a
time when Muhammad had only a single wife of 60 years of age,
and that in all the ten years subsequent to the Hejira, women are
only twice mentioned as part of the reward of the faithful. Suras ii.
23 and iv. 60. While in Suras xxxvi. 56; xliii. 70; xiii. 23; xl. 8 the
proper wives of the faithful are spoken of as accompanying their
husbands into the gardens of bliss.

SURA LIV. THE MOON [XLIX.]

Mecca. 55 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The hour hath approached and the MOON hath been cleft:

But whenever they see a miracle they turn aside and say, This is
well-devised magic.

And they have treated the prophets as impostors, and follow their
own lusts; but everything is unalterably fixed.

A message of prohibition had come to them

Consummate wisdom but warners profit them not.

Quit them then. On the day when the summoner shall summon to a
stern business,

With downcast eyes shall they come forth from their graves, as if
they were scattered locusts,

Hastening to the summoner. "This," shall the infidels say, "is the
distressful day."

Before them the people of Noah treated the truth as a lie. Our
servant did they charge with falsehood, and said, "Demoniac!"
and he was rejected.

Then cried he to his Lord, "Verily, they prevail against me; come
thou therefore to my succour."

So we opened the gates of Heaven with water which fell in
torrents,

And we caused the earth to break forth with springs, and their
waters met by settled decree.

And we bare him on a vessel made with planks and nails.

Under our eyes it floated on: a recompence to him who had been
rejected with unbelief.

And we left it a sign: but, is there any one who receives the
warning?

And how great was my vengeance and my menace!

Easy for warning have we made the Koran but, is there any one
who receives the warning?

The Adites called the truth a lie: but how great was my vengeance
and my menace;

For we sent against them a roaring wind in a day of continued
distress:

It tore men away as though they were uprooted palm stumps.

And how great was my vengeance and my menace!

Easy for warning have we made the Koran but, is there any one
who receives the warning?

The tribe of Themoud treated the threatenings as lies:

And they said, "Shall we follow a single man from among
ourselves? Then verily should we be in error and in folly.

To him alone among us is the office of warning entrusted? No! he
is an impostor, an insolent person."

To-morrow shall they learn who is the impostor, the insolent.

"For we will send the she-camel to prove them: do thou mark them
well, O Saleh, and be patient:

And foretell them that their waters shall1 be divided between
themselves and her, and that every draught shall come by turns to
them."

But they called to their comrade, and he took a knife and
ham-strung her.

And how great was my vengeance and my menance!

We sent against them a single shout; and they became like the dry
sticks of the fold-builders.

Easy have we made the Koran for warning but, is there any one
who receives the warning?

The people of Lot treated his warning as a lie;

But we sent a stone-charged wind against them all, except the
family of Lot, whom at daybreak we delivered,

By our special grace for thus we reward the thankful.

He, indeed, had warned them of our severity, but of that warning
they doubted.

Even this guess did they demand: therefore we deprived them of
sight,

And said, "Taste ye my vengeance and my menace;"

And in the morning a relentless punishment overtook them.

Easy have we made the Koran for warning but, is there any one
who receives the warning?

To the people of Pharaoh also came the threatenings:

All our miracles did they treat as impostures. Therefore seized we
them as he only can seize, who is the Mighty, the Strong.

Are your infidels, O Meccans, better men than these? Is there an
exemption for you in the sacred Books?

Will they say, "We are a host that lend one another aid?"

The host shall be routed, and they shall turn them back.

But, that Hour is their threatened time, and that Hour shall be
most severe and bitter.

Verily, the wicked are sunk in bewilderment and folly.

On that day they shall be dragged into the fire on their faces.
"Taste ye the touch of Hell."

All things have we created after a fixed decree:

Our command was but one word, swift as the twinkling of an eye.

Of old, too, have we destroyed the like of you yet is any one
warned?

And everything that they do is in the Books;2

Each action, both small and great, is written down.

Verily, amid gardens3 and rivers shall the pious dwell.

In the seat of truth, in the presence of the potent King.

_______________________

1 See Sura [lvi.] xxvi. 155; also Sura [lxxxvii.] vii. 71.

2 Kept by the Guardian Angels.

3 The Talmudic descriptions of the Gardens for the later Jews
believed in more than one Paradise and of the rivers and trees
therein, will be found in Schr der Talm. Rabb. Judenthum, pp.
418-432.

SURA XXXVII. THE RANKS [L.]

Mecca. 182 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

By the angels ranged in order for Songs of Praise,

And by those who repel demons,1

And by those who recite the Koran for warning,

Truly your God is but one,

Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between
them, and Lord of the East.2

We have adorned the lower heaven with the adornment of the
stars.

They serve also as a guard against every rebellious Satan,

That they overhear not what passeth in the assembly on high, for
they are darted at from every side,3

Driven off and consigned to a lasting torment;

While, if one steal a word by stealth, a glistening flame pursueth
him.

Ask the Meccans then, Are they, or the angels whom we have
made, the stronger creation? Aye, of coarse clay have we created
them.

But while thou marvellest they mock;

When they are warned, no warning do they take;

And when they see a sign, they fall to mocking,

And say, "This is no other than clear sorcery:

What! when dead, and turned to dust and bones, shall we indeed
be raised?

Our sires also of olden times?"

Say, Yes; and ye shall be covered with disgrace.

For, one blast only, and lo! they shall gaze around them, And shall
say, "Oh! woe to us! this is the day of reckoning; This is the day of
decision which ye gainsaid as an untruth."

Gather together those who have acted unjustly, and their
consorts,4 and the gods whom they adored

Beside God; and guide them to the road for Hell.

Set them forth: they shall be questioned.

"How now, that ye help not one another?"

But on this day they shall submit themselves to God,

And shall address one another with mutual reproaches.

They shall say, "In sooth, ye came to us in well-omened sort:"5

But they will answer, "Nay, it was ye who would not believe; and
we had no power whatever over you. Nay, ye were people given to
transgress;

Just, therefore, is the doom which our Lord hath passed upon us.6
We shall surely taste it:

We made you err, for we had erred ourselves."

Partners therefore shall they be in punishment on that day.

Truly, thus will we deal with the wicked,

Because when it was said to them, There is no God but God, they
swelled with pride,

And said, "Shall we then abandon our gods for a crazed poet?"

Nay, he cometh with truth and confirmeth the Sent Ones of
old.

Ye shall surely taste the painful punishment,
And ye shall not be rewarded but as ye have wrought,
Save the sincere servants of God!
A stated banquet shall they have
Of fruits; and honoured shall they be
In the gardens of delight,
Upon couches face to face.
A cup shall be borne round among them from a fountain,
Limpid, delicious to those who drink;
It shall not oppress the sense, nor shall they therewith be drunken.
And with them are the large-eyed ones with modest refraining
glances, fair like the sheltered egg.7
And they shall address one another with mutual questions.
Saith one of them, "I truly had a bosom friend,
Who said, 'Art thou of those who credit it?
What! when we shall have died, and become dust and bones, shall
we indeed be judged?"'
He shall say to those around him, "Will ye look?"
And he shall look and see him in the midst of Hell.
And he shall say to him, "By God, thou hadst almost caused me to
perish;
And, but for the favour of my Lord, I had surely been of those who
have been brought with thee into torment."
"But do we not die," say the blessed,
"Any other than our first death? and have we escaped the
torment?"8
This truly is the great felicity!
For the like of this should the travailers travail!
Is this the better repast or the tree Ez-zakkoum?
Verily, we have made it for a subject of discord to the wicked.
It is a tree which cometh up from the bottom of hell;
Its fruits is as it were the heads of Satans;
And, lo! the damned shall surely eat of it and fill their bellies with
it:
Then shall they have, thereon, a mixture of boiling water:
Then shall they return to hell.
They found their fathers erring,
And they hastened on in their footsteps.
Also before them the greater number of the ancients had erred.
Though we had sent warners among them.
But see what was the end of these warned ones,
Except of God's true servants.
Noah called on us of old, and right prompt were we to hear him,9
And we saved him and his family out of the great distress,
And we made his offspring the survivors;
And we left for him with posterity,
"Peace be on Noah throughout the worlds!"
Thus do we reward the well-doers,
For he was one of our believing servants;
And the rest we drowned.
And truly, of his faith was Abraham,
When he brought to his Lord a perfect heart,
When he said to his father and to his people, "What is this ye
worship?
Prefer ye with falsehood gods to God?
And what deem ye of the Lord of the worlds?"
So gazing he gazed towards the stars,
And said, "In sooth I am ill:10
And they turned their back on him and departed.
He went aside to their gods and said, "Do ye not eat?
What aileth you that ye do not speak?"
He broke out upon them, with the right hand striking:
When his tribesmen came back to him with hasty steps
He said, "Worship ye what ye carve,
When God hath created you, and that ye make?"
They said, "Build up a pyre for him and cast him into the glowing
flame."
Fain would they plot against him, but we brought them low.
And he said, "Verily, I repair to my Lord who will guide me:
O Lord give me a son, of the righteous."
We announced to him a youth of meekness.
And when he became a full-grown youth,11
His father said to him, "My son, I have seen in a dream that I
should sacrifice thee; therefore, consider what thou seest right."
He said, "My father, do what thou art bidden; of the patient, if
God please, shalt thou find me."
And when they had surrendered them to the will of God, he laid
him down upon his forehead:
We cried unto him, "O Abraham!
Now hast thou satisfied the vision." See how we recompense the
righteous.
This was indeed a decisive test.
And we ransomed his son with a costly12 victim,
And we left this13 for him among posterity,
"Peace be on Abraham!"
Thus do we reward the well-doers,
For he was of our believing servants.
And we announced Isaac to him a righteous Prophet
And on him and on Isaac we bestowed our blessing. And among
their offspring were well-doers, and others, to their own hurt
undoubted sinners.
And of old,14 to Moses and to Aaron shewed we favours:
And both of them, and their people, we rescued from the great
distress:
And we succoured them, and they became the conquerors:
And we gave them (Moses and Aaron) each the lucid book:
And we guided them each into the right way:
And we left this for each among posterity,
"Peace be on Moses and Aaron."
Thus do we reward the well-doers,
For they were two of our believing servants.
And Elias truly was of our Sent Ones,
When he said to his people, "Fear ye not God?
Invoke ye Baal and forsake ye the most skilful Creator?
God is your Lord, and the Lord of your sires of old?"
But they treated him as a liar, and shall therefore be consigned to
punishment,
Except God's faithful servants.
And we left this for him among posterity,
"Peace be on Eliasin!"15
Thus do we reward the well-doers,
For he was one of our believing servants.
And Lot truly was of our Sent Ones,
When we rescued him and all his family,
Save an aged woman among those who tarried.
Afterward we destroyed the others.
And ye indeed pass by their ruined dwellings at morn
And night: will ye not then reflect?
Jonas, too, was one of the Apostles,
When he fled unto the laden ship,
And lots were cast,16 and he was doomed,
And the fish swallowed him, for he was blameworthy.
But had he not been of those who praise Us,
In its belly had he surely remained, till the day of resurrection.
And we cast him on the bare shore and he was sick;
And we caused a gourd-plant to grow up over him,
And we sent him to a hundred thousand persons, or even more,
And because they believed, we continued their enjoyments for a
season.
Inquire then of the Meccans whether thy Lord hath daughters, and
they, sons?
Have we created the angels females? and did they witness it?
Is it not a falsehood of their own devising, when they say,
"God hath begotten"? They are indeed liars.
Would he have preferred daughters to sons?
What reason have ye for thus judging?
Will ye not then receive this warning?
Have ye a clear proof for them?
Produce your Book if ye speak truth.
And they make him to be of kin with the Djinn: but the Djinn have
long known that these idolaters shall be brought up before God.
Far be the glory of God from what they impute to him.
"His faithful servants do not thus.
Moreover, ye and what ye worship
Shall not stir up any against God,17
Save him who shall burn in Hell.
And verily each one of us hath his appointed place,
And we range ourselves in order,
And we celebrate His praises."18
And if those infidels say,
"Had we a revelation transmitted to us from those of old,19
We had surely been God's faithful servants."
Yet they believe not the Koran. But they shall know its truth at
last.
Our word came of old to our servants the apostles,
That they should surely be the succoured,
And that our armies should procure the victory for them.
Turn aside therefore from them for a time,
And behold them, for they too shall in the end behold their doom.
Would they then hasten our vengeance?
But when it shall come down into their courts, an evil morning
shall it be to those who have had their warning.
Turn aside from them therefore for a time.
And behold; for they too shall in the end behold their doom.
Far be the glory of thy Lord, the Lord of all greatness, from what
they impute to him,
And peace be on his Apostles!
And praise be to God the Lord of the worlds.

_______________________

1 I have given in the text the sense of these first two verses
according to the Muhammadan commentators. The original,
literally translated, viz. By the ranks which rank themselves, and
by the repellers who repel, would not convey an intelligible idea to
the English reader. Mar. renders, Per ordinantes ordinando et
agitantes agitando.

2 Ar. Easts. Errat in pluralitate mundorum. Mar. But the allusion
probably is to the different points of the horizon at which the sun
rises and sets in the course of the year.

3 See Sura [lvii.] xv. 18.

4 Or, comrades, i.e. the demons.

5 Lit. on the right hand, the side of good omen i.e. with semblance
of truth.

6 See Sura [lx.] xxxvi. 6.

7 The ostrich egg carefully protected from dust.

8 Lit. and are we not among the punished?

9 Lit. et sane euge auditores. Mar.

10 And therefore unable to assist at your sacrifices.

11 Lit. cum igitur pervenisset cum eo ad ‘tatem cui competit
operandi studium. Mar. Beidh. When he had attained to the age
when he could work with him. Lane.

12 Brought, says Rabbi Jehoshua, from Paradise by an angel.
Midr. fol.

13 This salutation.

14 The Arabic particle which is here and elsewhere rendered of
old (also, already, certainly) serves to mark the position of a past
act or event as prior to the time present, and in all such passages
merely gives a fulness and intensity to our perfect, or pluperfect
tense.

15 The form of this word is altered in the original for the sake of
the rhyme.

16 Lit. he cast lots (with the sailors).

17 Nequequam vos ad illud colendum estis Seducturi. Mar.

18 This verse and the six preceding are the words of the Angel.

19 Compare verse 69.

SURA LXXI. NOAH [LI.]

Mecca. 29 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

We sent NOAH to his people, and said to him, "Warn thou thy
people ere there come on them an afflictive punishment."

He said, "O my people! I come to you a plain-spoken warner:

Serve God and fear Him, and obey me:

Your sins will He forgive you, and respite you till the fixed Time;
for when God's fixed Time hath come, it shall not be put back.
Would that ye knew this!"

He said, "Lord I have cried to my people night and day; and my
cry doth but make them flee from me the more.

So oft as I cry to them, that thou mayest forgive them, they thrust
their fingers into their ears, and wrap themselves in their
garments, and persist in their error, and are disdainfully
disdainful.

Then I cried aloud to them:

Then again spake I with plainness, and in private did I secretly
address them:

And I said, Beg forgiveness of your Lord, for He is ready to
forgive.

He will send down the very Heaven upon you in plenteous rains;

And will increase you in wealth and children; and will give you
gardens, and will give you watercourses:

What hath come to you that ye hope not for goodness from the
hand of God?

For He it is who hath formed you by successive steps.1

See ye not how God hath created the seven heavens one over the
other?

And He hath placed therein the moon as a light, and hath placed
there the sun as a torch;

And God hath caused you to spring forth from the earth like a
plant;

Hereafter will He turn you back into it again, and will bring you
forth anew

And God hath spread the earth for you like a carpet,

That ye may walk therein along spacious paths."'

Said Noah, "O my Lord! they rebel against me, and they follow
those whose riches and children do but aggravate their ruin."

And they plotted a great plot;

And they said, "Forsake not your Gods; forsake not Wadd nor
Sowah,

Nor Yaghuth and Yahuk and Nesr;"

And they caused many to err;2 and thou, too, O Muhammad!
shalt be the means of increasing only error in the wicked

Because of their sins they were drowned, and made to go into the
Fire;

And they found that they had no helper save God.

And Noah said, "Lord, leave not one single family cf Infidels on
the Earth:

For if thou leave them they will beguile thy servants and will beget
only sinners, infidels.

O my Lord, forgive me, and my parents, and every one who, being
a believer, shall enter my house, and believers men and women:
and add to the wicked nought but perdition."

_______________________

1 See Sura xxii. 5.

2 Or, the idols had seduced many. Thus Kas. Beidh. gives both
interpp. See on these idols Freytag's Einleitung, p. 349.

SURA LXXVI. MAN [LII.]

Mecca. 31 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Doth not a long time pass over MAN, during which he is a thing
unremembered?1

We have created man from the union of the sexes that we might
prove him; and hearing, seeing, have we made him:

In a right way have we guided him, be he thankful or ungrateful.

For the Infidels we have got ready chains and collars and flaming
fire.

But a wine cup tempered at the camphor fountain2 the just shall
quaff:

Fount whence the servants of God shall drink, and guide by
channels from place to place;

They who fulfilled their vows, and feared the day whose woes will
spread far and wide;

Who though longing for it themselves, bestowed their food on the
poor and the orphan and the captive:

"We feed you for the sake of God: we seek from you neither
recompense nor thanks:3

A stern and calamitous day dread we from our Lord."

From the evil therefore of that day hath God delivered them and
cast on them brightness of face and joy:

And hath rewarded their constancy, with Paradise and silken
robes:

Reclining therein on bridal couches, nought shall they know of sun
or piercing cold:

Its shades shall be close over them, and low shall its fruits hang
down:

And vessels of silver and goblets like flagons shall be borne round
among them:

Flagons of silver whose measure themselves shall mete.

And there shall they be given to drink of the cup tempered with
zendjebil (ginger)

From the fount therein whose name is Selsebil (the softly flowing).

Aye-blooming youths go round among them. When thou lookest at
them thou wouldest deem them scattered pearls;

And when thou seest this, thou wilt see delights and a vast
kingdom:

Their clothing green silk robes and rich brocade: with silver
bracelets shall they be adorned; and drink of a pure beverage
shall their Lord give them.

This shall be your recompense. Your efforts shall meet with
thanks.

We ourselves have sent down to thee the Koran as a missive from
on high.

Await then with patience the judgments of thy Lord, and obey not
the wicked among them and the unbelieving:

And make mention of the name of thy Lord at morn, at even,

And at night. Adore him, and praise him the livelong night.

But these men love the fleeting present, and leave behind them the
heavy day of doom.

Ourselves have we created them, and strengthened their joints;
and when we please, with others like unto themselves will we
replace them.

This truly is a warning: And whoso willeth, taketh the way to his
Lord;

But will it ye shall not, unless God will it, for God is Knowing,
Wise.

He causeth whom He will to enter into his mercy. But for the evil
doers, He hath made ready an afflictive chastisement.

_______________________

1 When in the womb.

2 With (the water of) Kafoor. Lane.

3 Desire no recompense from you.

SURA XLIV. SMOKE [LIII.]

Mecca. 59 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Ha. Mim.1 By this clear Book!

See! on a blessed night2 have we sent it down, for we would warn
mankind:

On the night wherein all things are disposed in wisdom,3

By virtue of our behest. Lo! we have ever sent forth Apostles,

A mercy from thy Lord: he truly heareth and knoweth all things

Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth and of all that is between
them, if ye be firm in faith

There is no God but He! He maketh alive and killeth! Your Lord
and the Lord of your sires of old!

Yet with doubts do they disport them.

But mark them on the day when the Heaven shall give out a
palpable SMOKE,

Which shall enshroud mankind: this will be an afflictive torment.

They will cry, "Our Lord! relieve us from this torment: see! we are
believers."

But how did warning avail them, when an undoubted apostle had
come to them;

And they turned their backs on him, and said, "Taught by others,
possessed?"

Were we to relieve you from the plague even a little, ye would
certainly relapse.4

On the day when we shall fiercely put forth our great fierceness,
we will surely take vengeance on them!

Of old, before their time, had we proved the people of Pharaoh,
when a noble apostle presented himself to them.

"Send away with me," cried he, "the servants of God; for I am an
apostle worthy of all credit:

And exalt not yourselves against God, for I come to you with
undoubted power;

And I take refuge with Him who is my Lord and your Lord, that ye
stone me not:

And if ye believe me not, at least separate yourselves from me."

And he cried to his Lord, "That these are a wicked people."

"March forth then, said God, with my servants by night, for ye will
be pursued.

And leave behind you the cleft sea: they are a drowned host."

How many a garden and fountain did they quit!

And corn fields and noble dwellings!

And pleasures in which they rejoiced them!

So was it: and we gave them as a heritage to another people.

Nor Heaven nor Earth wept for them, nor was their sentence
respited;

And we rescued the children of Israel from a degrading
affliction

From Pharaoh, for he was haughty, given to excess.

And we chose them, in our prescience, above all peoples,5

And we shewed them miracles wherein was their clear trial.

Yet these infidels say,

"There is but our first death, neither shall we be raised again:

Bring back our sires, if ye be men of truth."

Are they better than the people of Tobba,6

And those who flourished before them whom we destroyed for
their
evil deeds?

We have not created the Heavens and the Earth and whatever is
between them in sport:

We have not created them but for a serious end:7 but the greater
part of them understand it not.

Verily the day of severing8 shall be the appointed time of all:

A day when the master shall not at all be aided by the servant,
neither shall they be helped;

Save those on whom God shall have mercy: for He is the mighty,
the merciful.

Verily the tree of Ez-Zakkoum9

Shall be the sinner's10 food:

Like dregs of oil shall it boil up in their bellies,

Like the boiling of scalding water.

" Seize ye him, and drag him into the mid-fire;

Then pour on his head of the tormenting boiling water.

'Taste this:' for thou forsooth art the mighty, the honourable!

Lo! this is that of which ye doubted."

But the pious shall be in a secure place,

Amid gardens and fountains,

Clothed in silk and richest robes, facing one another:

Thus shall it be: and we will wed them to the virgins with large
dark eyes:

Therein shall they call, secure, for every kind of fruit;

Therein, their first death passed, shall they taste death no more;
and He shall keep them from the pains of Hell:

'Tis the gracious bounty of thy Lord! This is the great felicity.

We have made this Koran easy for thee in thine own tongue, that
they may take the warning.

Therefore wait thou, for they are waiting.11

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. I, p. 32.

2 Of the 23rd and 24th of Ramadhan, in which, according to the
Muslim creed, all the events of the year subsequent are arranged.
See Sura xcvii. n. 2, p. 27.

3 Lit. We settle each wise affair called wise, because proceeding
direct from the will of Him who is absolute wisdom.

4 Beidh, and others suppose this verse to have been revealed at
Medina. This opinion, however, is based upon the supposition that
it refers to the famine with which Mecca was visited after the
Hejira.

5 Comp. Ex. xx. 20; Deut. viii. 16.

6 Tobba, i.e. Chalif or successor, is the title of the Kings of
Yemen;
or of Hadramont, Saba, and Hamyar. See Pocock, Spec. Hist. Ar.
p. 60.

7 Lit. in truth.

8 That is, Of the good from the bad.

9 See Sura xxxvii. 60, p. 81.

10 The commentators suppose this sinner to be Abu Jahl, one of
the chief of the Koreisch, and the bitter enemy of Muhammad.

11 To see the turn which events may take.

SURA L. KAF [LIV.]

Mecca. 45 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Kaf1. By the glorious Koran:

They marvel forsooth that one of themselves hath come to them
charged with warnings. "This," say the infidels, "is a marvellous
thing:

What! when dead and turned to dust shall we. ? Far off is such a
return as this?"

Now know we what the earth consumeth of them, and with us is a
Book in which account is kept.

But they have treated the truth which hath come to them as
falsehood; perplexed therefore is their state.

Will they not look up to the heaven above them, and consider how
we have reared it and decked it forth, and that there are no flaws
therein?

And as to the earth, we have spread it out, and have thrown the
mountains upon it, and have caused an upgrowth in it of all
beauteous kinds of plants,

For insight and admonition to every servant who loveth to turn to
God:

And we send down the rain from Heaven with its blessings, by
which we cause gardens to spring forth and the grain of harvest,

And the tall palm trees with date-bearing branches one above the
other

For man's nourishment: And life give we thereby to a dead
country. So also shall be the resurrection.

Ere the days of these (Meccans) the people of Noah, and the men
of Rass2 and Themoud, treated their prophets as impostors:

And Ad and Pharaoh, and the brethren of Lot and the dwellers in
the forest, and the people of Tobba,3 all gave the lie to their
prophets: justly, therefore, were the menaces inflicted.

Are we wearied out with the first creation? Yet are they in doubt
with regard to a new creation!4

We created man: and we know what his soul whispereth to him,
and we are closer to him than his neck-vein.

When the two angels charged with taking account shall take it, one
sitting on the right hand, the other on the left:

Not a word doth he utter, but there is a watcher with him ready to
note it down:

And the stupor of certain death cometh upon him: "This is what
thou wouldst have shunned"

And there shall be a blast on the trumpet, it is the threatened
day!

And every soul shall come, an angel with it urging it along, and
an angel to witness against it5

Saith he, "Of this day didst thou live in heedlessness: but we have
taken off thy veil from thee, and thy sight is becoming sharp this
day."

And he who is at this side6 shall say, "This is what I am prepared
with against thee."

And God will say, "Cast into Hell, ye twain, every infidel, every
hardened one,

The hinderer of the good, the transgressor, the doubter,

Who set up other gods with God. Cast ye him into the fierce
torment."

He who is at his side shall say, "O our Lord! I led him not astray,
yet was he in an error wide of truth."

He shall say, "Wrangle not in my presence. I had plied you
beforehand with menaces:

My doom changeth not, and I am not unjust to man."

On that day will we cry to Hell, "Art thou full?" And it shall say,
"Are there more?"7

And not far from thence shall Paradise be brought near unto the
Pious:

"This is what ye have been promised: to every one who hath
turned in penitence to God and kept his laws;

Who hath feared the God of Mercy in secret, and come to him with
a contrite heart:

Enter it in peace: this is the day of Eternity."

There shall they have all that they can desire: and our's will it be
to augment their bliss:

And how many generations have we destroyed ere the days of
these (Meccans), mightier than they in strength! Search ye then the
land. Is there any escape?

Lo! herein is warning for him who hath a heart, or giveth ear, and
is himself an eye-witness.8

We created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them
in six days, and no weariness touched us.9

Wherefore put up with what they say, and celebrate the praise of
thy Lord before sunrise and before sunset:

And praise Him in the night: and perform the two final
prostrations.

And list for the day whereon the crier shall cry from a place near
to every one alike:

The day on which men shall in truth hear that shout will be the day
of their coming forth from the grave.

Verily, we cause to live, and we cause to die. To us shall all
return.

On the day when the earth shall swiftly cleave asunder over the
dead, will this gathering be easy to Us.

We know best what the infidels say: and thou art not to compel
them.

Warn then by the Koran those who fear my menace.

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. I, p. 32.

2 See [lxvi.] xxv. 40.

3 See xliv. 36, p. 90.

4 The Resurrection.

5 Lit. a driver and a witness.

6 The Satan who is chained to him. Sura [lxxi.] xli. 24.

7 Lit. is there any addition? which some explain as if Hell
enquired whether, being already full, any addition could be made
to its size. Comp. Prov. xxx. 15, and Othioth Derabbi Akiba, 8, 1:
"That the Prince of Hell saith daily, Give me food enough, is clear
from what is said (Is. v. 14). Therefore Shaol hath enlarged
herself, and opened her mouth without measure, etc."

8 That is, of the ruins of the destroyed cities, etc.

9 This verse is said (by Omar b. Muhammad, Itq. 36, Djelal Eddin,
ap. Maracc. and Beidh.) to have been revealed in answer to the
Jews who told the Prophet that if God rested on the Sabbath, it
was because he was weary. But a connection with verse 14 seems
more natural.

SURA XX.1 TA. HA. [LV.]

MECCA. 135 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

TA. HA.2 Not to sadden thee have we sent down this Koran to
thee,

But as a warning for him who feareth;

It is a missive from Him who hath made the earth and the lofty
heavens!

The God of Mercy sitteth on his throne:

His, whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth,
and whatsoever is between them both, and whatsoever is beneath
the humid soil!

Thou needest not raise thy voice:3 for He knoweth the secret
whisper, and the yet more hidden.

God! There is no God but He! Most excellent His titles!

Hath the history of Moses reached thee?

When he saw a fire, and said to his family, "Tarry ye here, for I
perceive a fire:

Haply I may bring you a brand from it, or find at the fire a
guide."4

And when he came to it, he was called to, "O Moses!

Verily, I am thy Lord:. therefore pull off thy shoes: for thou art in
the holy valley of Towa.

And I have chosen thee: hearken then to what shall be revealed.

Verily, I am God: there is no God but me: therefore worship me,
and observe prayer for a remembrance of me.

Verily the hour is coming: I all but manifest it

That every soul may be recompensed for its labours.

Nor let him who believeth not therein and followeth his lust, turn
thee aside from this truth, and thou perish.

Now, what is that in thy right hand, O Moses?"

Said he, "It is my staff on which I lean, and with which I beast
down leaves for my sheep, and I have other uses for it."

He said, "Cast it down, O Moses!"

So he cast it down, and lo! it became a serpent that ran along.

He said, "Lay hold on it, and fear not: to its former state will we
restore it."

"Now place thy right hand to thy arm-pit: it shall come forth
white, but unhurt: another sign!

That We may shew thee the greatest of our signs.

Go to Pharaoh, for he hath burst all bounds."

He said, "O my Lord! enlarge my breast for me,

And make my work easy for me,

And loose the knot of my tongue,5

That they may understand my speech.

And give me a counsellor6 from among my family,

Aaron my brother;

By him gird up my loins,7

And make him a colleague in my work,

That we may praise thee oft and oft remember thee,

For thou regardest us."

He said, "O Moses, thou hast obtained thy suit:

Already, at another time, have we showed thee favour,

When we spake unto thy mother what was spoken:

'Cast him into the ark:8 then cast him on the sea [the river], and
the sea shall throw him on the shore: and an enemy

to me and an enemy to him shall take him up.' And I myself have
made thee an object of love,

That thou mightest be reared in mine eye.

When thy sister went and said, 'Shall I shew you one who will
nurse him?'9 Then We returned thee to thy mother that her eye
might be cheered, and that she might not grieve. And when thou
slewest a person, We delivered thee from trouble, and We tried
thee with other trial.

For years didst thou stay among the people of Midian; then camest
thou hither by my decree, O Moses:

And I have chosen thee for Myself.

Go thou and thy brother with my signs and be not slack to
remember me.

Go ye to Pharaoh, for he hath burst all bounds:

But speak ye to him with gentle speech; haply he will reflect or
fear."

They said, "O our Lord! truly we fear lest he break forth against
us, or act with exceeding injustice."

He said, "Fear ye not, for I am with you both. I will hearken and I
will behold.

Go ye then to him and say, 'Verily we are Sent ones of thy Lord;
send therefore the children of Israel with us and vex them not: now
are we come to thee with signs from thy Lord, and, Peace shall be
on him who followeth the right guidance.

For now hath it been revealed to us, that chastisement shall be on
him who chargeth with falsehood, and turneth him away."'

And he said, "Who is your Lord, O Moses?"

He said, "Our Lord is He who hath given to everything its form
and then guideth it aright."

"But what," said he, "was the state of generations past?"10

He said, "The knowledge thereof is with my Lord in the Book of
his decrees. My Lord erreth not, nor forgetteth.

He hath spread the earth as a bed, and hath traced out paths for
you therein, and hath sent down rain from Heaven, and by it we
bring forth the kinds11 of various herbs:

'Eat ye, and feed your cattle.' Of a truth in this are signs unto
men endued with understanding.

From it have we created you, and into it will we return you, and
out of it will we bring you forth a second time."12

And we shewed him all our signs: but he treated them as
falsehoods, and refused to believe.

He said, "Hast thou come, O Moses, to drive us from our land by
thine enchantments?

Therefore will we assuredly confront thee with like enchantments:
so appoint a meeting between us and you we will not fail it, we,
and do not thou in a place alike for both."

He said, "On the feast day13 be your meeting, and in broad
daylight let the people be assembled."

And Pharaoh turned away, and collected his craftsmen and came.

Said Moses to them, "Woe to you! devise not a lie against God:

For then will he destroy you by a punishment. They who have lied
have ever perished."

And the magicians discussed their plan, and spake apart in secret:

They said, "These two are surely sorcerers: fain would they drive
you from your land by their sorceries, and lead away in their paths
your chiefest men:

So muster your craft: then come in order: well this day shall it be
for him, who shall gain the upper hand."

They said, "O Moses, wilt thou first cast down thy rod, or shall we
be the first who cast?"

He said, "Yes, cast ye down first." And lo! by their enchantment
their cords and rods seemed to him as if they ran.

And Moses conceived a secret fear within him.

We said, "Fear not, for thou shalt be the uppermost:

Cast forth then what is in thy right hand: it shall swallow up what
they have produced: they have only produced the deceit of an
enchanter: and come where he may, ill shall an enchanter fare."

And the magicians fell down and worshipped. They said,

"We believe in the Lord of Aaron and of Moses."

Said Pharaoh, "Believe ye on him ere I give you leave? He, in
sooth, is your Master who hath taught you magic. I will therefore
cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will
crucify you on trunks of the palm, and assuredly shall ye learn
which of us is severest in punishing, and who is the more
abiding."14

They said, "We will not have more regard to thee than to the clear
tokens which have come to us, or than to Him who hath made us:
doom the doom thou wilt: Thou canst only doom as to this present
life: of a truth we have believed on our Lord that he may pardon
us our sins and the sorcery to which thou hast forced us, for God is
better, and more abiding than thou.15

As for him who shall come before his Lord laden with crime for
him verily is Hell: he shall not die in it and he shall not live.

But he who shall come before Him, a believer, with righteous
works, these! the loftiest grades await them:

Gardens of Eden, beneath whose trees16 the rivers flow: therein
shall they abide for ever. This, the reward of him who hath been
pure."

Then revealed we to Moses, "Go forth by night with my servants
and cleave for them a dry path in the sea;

Fear not thou to be overtaken, neither be thou afraid."

And Pharaoh followed them with his hosts, and the whelming
billows of the sea overwhelmed them,17 for Pharaoh misled his
people, and did not guide them.

O children of Israel! we rescued you from your foes; and We
appointed a meeting with you on the right side of the mountain;
and We caused the manna and the quail to descend upon you:

"Eat," said We, "of the good things with which we have supplied
you; but without excess, lest my wrath fall upon you; for on whom
my wrath doth fall, he perisheth outright.

Surely however will I forgive him who turneth to God and
believeth, and worketh righteousness, and then yieldeth to
guidance.

But what hath hastened thee on apart from thy people,18 O
Moses?"

He said, "They are hard on my footsteps: but to thee, O Lord, have
I hastened, that thou mightest be well pleased with me."

He said, "Of a truth now have we proved thy people since thou
didst leave them, and Samiri19 had led them astray."

And Moses returned to his people, angered, sorrowful.

He said, "O my people! did not your Lord promise you a good
promise? Was the time of my absence long to you? or desired ye
that wrath from your Lord should light upon you, that ye failed in
your promise to me?"

They said, "Not of our own accord have we failed in the promise
to thee, but we were made to bring loads of the people's trinkets,
and we threw them into the fire and Samiri likewise cast them in,
and brought forth to them a corporeal lowing20 calf: and they said,
"This is your God and the God of Moses, whom he hath
forgotten."'

What! saw they not that it returned them no answer, and could
neither hurt nor help them?

And Aaron had before said to them, "O my people! by this calf are
ye only proved: surely your Lord is the God of Mercy: follow me
therefore and obey my bidding."

They said, "We will not cease devotion to it, till Moses come back
to us."

He said, "O Aaron! when thou sawest that they had gone astray,
what hindered thee from following me? Hast thou then disobeyed
my command?"

He said, "O Son of my mother! seize me not by my beard, nor by
my head: indeed I feared lest thou shouldst say,

Thou hast rent the children of Isreal asunder, and hast not
observed my orders."'

He said, "And what was thy motive, O Samiri?" He said, "I saw
what they saw not: so I took a handful of dust from the track21 of
the messenger of God, and flung it into the calf, for so my soul
prompted me."

He said, "Begone then: verily thy doom even in this life shall be to
say, 'Touch me not.'22 And there is a threat against thee, which
thou shalt not escape hereafter. Now look at thy god to which thou
hast continued so devoted: we will surely burn it and reduce it to
ashes, which we will cast into the sea.

Your God is God, beside whom there is no God: In his knowledge
he embraceth all things."

Thus do We recite to thee histories of what passed of old; and
from
ourself have we given thee admonition.

Whoso shall turn aside from it shall verily carry a burden on the
day of Resurrection:

Under it shall they remain: and grievous, in the day of
Resurrection, shall it be to them to bear.

On that day there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and We will
gather the wicked together on that day with leaden23 eyes:

They shall say in a low voice, one to another, "Ye tarried but ten
days on earth."

We are most knowing with respect to that which they will say
when
the most veracious24 of them will say. "Ye have not tarried above
a
day."

And they will ask thee of the mountains: SAY: scattering my Lord
will scatter them in dust;

And he will leave them a level plain: thou shalt see in it no
hollows
or jutting hills.

On that day shall men follow their summoner25 he marcheth
straight on: and low shall be their voices before the God of Mercy,
nor shalt thou hear aught but the light footfall.

No intercession shall avail on that day, save his whom the God of
Mercy shall allow to intercede, and whose words he shall approve.

He knoweth their future and their past; but in their own knowledge
they comprehend it not:

And humble shall be their faces before Him that Liveth, the
Self-subsisting: and undone he, who shall bear the burden of
iniquity;

But he who shall have done the things that are right and is a
believer, shall fear neither wrong nor loss.

Thus have We sent down to thee an Arabic Koran, and have set
forth menaces therein diversely, that haply they may fear God, or
that it may give birth to reflection in them.

Exalted then be God, the King, the Truth! Be not hasty in its
recital26 while the revelation of it to thee is incomplete. Say
rather,
"O my Lord, increase knowledge unto me."

And of old We made a covenant with Adam; but he forgat it; and
we found no firmness of purpose in him.

And when We said to the angels, "Fall down and worship Adam,"
they worshipped all, save Eblis, who refused: and We said, "O
Adam! this truly is a foe to thee and to thy wife. Let him not
therefore drive you out of the garden, and ye become wretched;

For to thee is it granted that thou shalt not hunger therein, neither
shalt thou be naked;

But Satan whispered him: said he, "O Adam! shall I shew thee the
tree of Eternity,27 and the Kingdom that faileth not?"

And they both ate thereof, and their nakedness appeared to them,
and they began to sew of the leaves of the Garden to cover them,
and Adam disobeyed his Lord and went astray.

Afterwards his Lord chose him for himself, and was turned
towards him, and guided him.

And God said, "Get ye all down hence, the one of you a foe unto
the other. Hereafter shall guidance come unto you from me;

And whoso followeth my guidance shall not err, and shall not be
wretched:

But whoso turneth away from my monition, his truly shall be a life
of misery:

And We will assemble him with others on the day of Resurrection,
blind."28

He will say, "O my Lord! why hast thou assembled me with others,
blind? whereas I was endowed with sight."

He will answer, "Thus is it, because our signs came unto thee and
thou didst forget them, and thus shalt thou be forgotten this day."

Even thus will We recompense him who hath transgressed and
hath not believed in the signs of his Lord; and assuredly the
chastisement of the next world will be more severe and more
lasting.

Are not they, who walk the very places where they dwelt, aware
how many generations we have destroyed before them? Verily in
this are signs to men of insight.

And had not a decree of respite from thy Lord first gone forth,
their chastisement had at once ensued. Yet the time is fixed.

Put up then with what they say; and celebrate the praise of thy
Lord before the sunrise, and before its setting; and some time in
the night do thou praise him, and in the extremes29 of the day, that
thou haply mayest please Him.

And strain not thine eye after what We have bestowed on divers of
them the braveries of this world that we may thereby prove
them. The portion which thy Lord will give, is better and more
lasting.

Enjoin prayer on thy family, and persevere therein. We ask not of
thee to find thine own provision we will provide for thee, and a
happy issue shall there be to piety.

But they say, "If he come not to us with a sign from his Lord !"30
But have not clear proofs for the Koran come to them, in what is in
the Books of old?

And had We destroyed them by a chastisement before its time,
they
would surely have said, "O our Lord! How could we believe if
thou didst not send unto us an Apostle that we might follow thy
signs ere that we were humbled and disgraced."

Say: Each one of us awaiteth the end. Wait ye then, and ye shall
know which of us have been followers of the even way, and who
hath been the rightly guided.

_______________________

1 The first 14 or 16 verses of this Sura are said to have induced
Omar to embrace Islam (His. 226. Ibn Sƒd, i. and v. Comp. Weil,
p. 60. Causs. i. 396 ff.) in the sixth year before the Hejira.

2 Freytag supposes these letters to mean, Hush! but see Sura lxviii.
1, p. 32.

3 Lit. if thou raise thy voice.

4 Lit. guidance. Moses had lost his way, say the Commentators,
when journeying to Egypt to visit his mother.

5 The Muhammadan Commentators tell how Moses when a child
burnt his tongue with a live coal. The same story is found in Midr.
Jalkut on Ex. c. 166, and in Shalsheleth Hakabalah, p. 5, b. Ed.
Amsterd.

6 Lit vizir.

7 Or, strengthen my back.

8 The form of the word in the original is not the pure Hebraic, but
the later Rabbinic form.

9 See Sura [lxxix.] xxviii. 11, 12.

10 What is their condition after their death as to happiness or
misery. Beidh. whom Sale follows. But the word state, which Mar.
renders mens, refers rather to their creed. "How," enquires
Pharaoh, "do you explain the fact that the generations of men
have always practised a different worship?"

11 Lit. pairs.

12 The Midrasch Tanchumah on Ex. vii. gives a very similar
dialogue between Pharaoh and Moses.

13 Lit. the day of ornament.

14 In punishing. Beidh.

15 To recompense. Beidh.

16 As the garden is said in Sura lxxxviii. to be lofty in point of
situation, this frequently recurring phrase may mean that rivers
run at its base. The Commentators, however, generally understand
it to imply that the rivers flow beneath its shades or pavilions.

17 Lit. and there overwhelmed them of the sea that which
overwhelmed them.

18 The 70 elders who were to have accompanied him.

19 That is, the Samaritan. This rendering, which is probably the
true explanation of the word Samiri, involves a grievous ignorance
of history on the part of Muhammad. Selden (de diis Syr. Syn. i.
ch.
4) supposes that Samiri is Aaron himself, the Shomeer, or keeper
of Israel during the absence of Moses. Many Arabians identify him
with the Micha of Judges xvii. who is said to have assisted in
making the calf (Raschi, Sanhedr. 102, 2 Hottinger Hist. Orient. p.
84). Geiger suggests that Samiri may be a corruption of Samael.
See next note. But it is probable that the name and its application
in the present instance, is to be traced to the old national feud
between the Jews and Samaritans. See De Sacy, Chrestom. i. p.
189, who quotes Abu Rihan Muhammad as stating that the
Samaritans were called Al-limsahsit, the people who say, "Touch
me not" (v. 97, below), and Juynboll Chron. Sam. (Leid. 1848) p.
113. Sale also mentions a similar circumstance of a tribe of
Samaritan Jews dwelling on one of the islands in the Red Sea.

20 "The calf came forth (Ex. xxxii. 24) lowing and the Israelites
beheld it. R. Jehuda saith, Samuel entered into it and lowed in
order to mislead Israel." Pirke R. Eliezer, 45.

21 From the track of Gabriel's horse, or of Gabriel himself.

22 Lit. no touch.

23 I have adopted the word leaden as expressive of the idea
implied in the original word, viz. grey or greyish blue; hence,
dulled, dimmed. The Arabians have a great aversion to blue and
grey eyes as characteristic of their enemies the Greeks. The word,
however, may also mean blind. Comp. v. 124, 5.

24 Lit. the most excellent or just of them in his way: dignitate,
Mar. But Kam. in Freyt. (iii. 150) justissimus eorum, simillimus
veracibus. The sense of the last clause is, "Yes have not tarried
even so much as ten days, such, now that we look back upon it, is
the brevity of life." See Sura [lxiv.] xxiii. 115.

25 The angel Israfil.

26 Compare Sura lxxv. 16-19, p. 56.

27 It should be observed that here and in Sura vii. 19, Muhammad
seems unaware of the distinction between the tree of knowledge,
and the tree of life, as given in Gen. ii. 9, and iii. 5.

28 From the intensity of the light, mentioned Sura [1xxx.] xxxix.
69.

29 In order to reconcile this passage with the prescribed hours,
some understand the extremes to mean the mid-day, when the day
is as it were divided.

30 Supply, we will not believe.

SURA XXVI. THE POETS1 [LVI.]

Mecca. 228 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Ta. Sin. Mim.2 These are the signs of the lucid Book.

Haply thou wearest thyself away with grief because they will not
believe.

Were it our will we could send down to them a sign from Heaven,
before which they would humbly bow.3

But from each fresh warning that cometh to them from the God of
Mercy they have only turned aside,

And treated it as a lie: But tidings shall reach them which they
shall not laugh to scorn.

Have they not beheld the earth how we have caused every kind of
noble plant to spring up therein?

Verily, in this is a sign: but most of them believe not.

And assuredly, thy Lord! He is the Mighty, the Merciful.

And remember when thy Lord called to Moses, "Go to the wicked
people,

The people of Pharaoh. What! will they not fear me?"

He said, "My Lord, in sooth I fear lest they treat me as a liar:

And my breast is straitened, and I am slow of speech:4 send
therefore to Aaron to be my helpmate.

For they have a charge5 against me, and I fear lest they put me to
death."

He said, "Surely not. Go ye therefore with our signs: we will be
with you and will hearken.

And go to Pharaoh and say: 'Verily we are the messengers of the
Lord of the worlds

Send forth with us the children of Israel."'

He said, "Did we not rear thee among us when a child? And hast
thou not passed years of thy life among us?

And yet what a deed is that which thou hast done!6 Thou art one of
the ungrateful."

He said, "I did it indeed, and I was one of those who erred: And I
fled from you because I feared you; but my Lord hath given me
wisdom and hath made me one of his Apostles.

And is this the favour thou hast conferred on me, that thou hast
enslaved the children of Israel?"

Said Pharaoh, "Who then is the Lord of the Worlds?"

He said, "The Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth and of all that
is between them, if only ye believe it."

Said Pharaoh to those around him, "Hear ye this?"

"Your Lord," said Moses, "and the Lord of your sires of old."

"In sooth, your Apostle whom He hath sent to you," said Pharaoh,
"is certainly possessed."

He said, "Lord is He of the East and of the West, and of all that is
between them, if ye can understand."

He said, "If ye take any God beside me, I will surely put thee in
ward."

Said Moses, "What! if I shew thee that which shall be a proof of
my mission?"

He said, "Forth with it then, if thou speakest truth."

Then threw he down his staff, and lo! an undoubted serpent:

And he drew out his hand, and lo! it was white7 to the beholders.

He said to his nobles around him. "This truly is a right cunning
sorcerer:

Fain would he drive you out of your land by his Sorcery. But what
do ye suggest?"

They said, "Put him and his brother off awhile, and send
summoners to all the cities,

Who shall bring to thee every cunning magician."

So the magicians were mustered at a set time, on a solemn day:

And it was said to the people, "Are ye all assembled?"

"Yes! and we will follow the magicians if they gain the day."

And when the magicians were arrived they said to Pharaoh, "Shall
we have a reward if we gain the day?"

He said, "Yes. And verily in that case ye shall be of those who are
near my person."

Moses said to them, "Throw down what ye have to throw."

So they cast down their ropes and rods, and said, "By Pharaoh's
might we shall surely win."

Then Moses threw down his rod, and lo! it swallowed up their
cheating wonders.

Then the magicians threw themselves down in worship:

They said, "We believe on the Lord of the Worlds,

The Lord of Moses and of Aaron."

Said Pharaoh, "Have ye then believed on him ere I gave you
leave? He truly is your master who hath taught you magic.8 But
bye and bye ye shall surely know my power.

I will cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will have
you all crucified."

They said, "It cannot harm us, for to our Lord shall we return:

Assuredly we trust that our Lord will forgive us our sins, since we
are of the first who believe."

Then revealed we this order to Moses: "Go forth by night with my
servants, for ye will be pursued."

And Pharaoh sent summoners through the cities:

"These Israelites," said they, "are a scanty band;

Yet are they enraged against us

But we truly are numerous, wary."

Thus we caused them to quit gardens and fountains,

And treasures and splendid dwellings;

So was it; and we gave them to the children of Israel for an
heritage.9

Then at sunrise the Egyptians followed them:

And when the hosts came in view of one another, the comrades of
Moses said, "We are surely overtaken."

He said, "By no means: for my Lord is with me He will guide
me."

And we revealed this order to Moses, "Strike the sea with thy
rod." And it clave asunder, and each part became like a huge
mountain.

Then made we the others to draw on;

And we saved Moses, and those who were with him, all;

But we drowned the others.

Truly in this was a sign; but most of them did not believe.

But verily thy Lord, He is the Mighty, the Merciful!

And recite to them the story of Abraham

When he said to his Father and to his people, "What worship ye?"

They said, "We worship idols, and constant is our devotion to
them."

He said, "Can they hear you when ye cry to them?

Or help you or do you harm?"

They said, "But we found our Fathers do the like."

He said, "How think ye? They whom ye worship,

Ye and your fathers of early days,

Are my foes: but not so10 the Lord of the Worlds,

Who hath created me, and guideth me,

Who giveth me food and drink;

And when I am sick, he healeth me,

And who will cause me to die and again quicken me,

And who, I hope, will forgive me my sins in the day of reckoning.

My Lord! bestow on me wisdom and join me to the just,

And give me a good name11 among posterity,

And make me one of the heirs of the garden of delight,

And forgive my father, for he was one of the erring,

And put me not to shame on the day when mankind shall be raised
up,

The day when neither wealth nor children shall avail,

Save to him who shall come to God with a sound heart:

When Paradise shall be brought near the pious,

And Hell shall lay open for those who have gone astray.

And it shall be said to them, 'Where are they whom ye worshipped

Beside God? Can they harm you or help themselves?'

And they shall be cast into it the seducers and the seduced,

And all the host of Eblis.

They shall say, as they wrangle therein together,

'By God, we were in a plain error,

When we equalled you with the Lord of the Worlds:

And none misled us but the wicked,

And we have none to plead for us,

Nor friend who careth for us.

Could we but return, we would be of the believers."'

Verily, in this was a sign: but most of them believed not.

And truly thy Lord! He is the Mighty, the Merciful!

The people of Noah gainsaid the Apostles,

When their brother Noah said to them, "Will ye not fear God?

Of a truth am I your faithful Apostle;

Fear God then and obey me.

I ask of you no reward for this, for my reward is of the Lord of the
Worlds alone:

Fear God then and obey me."

They said, "Shall we believe on thee when the meanest only are
thy followers?"

He said, "But I have no knowledge of that they did:12

To my Lord only must their account be given: would that ye
understood this!

And I will not thrust away those who believe,

For I am only one charged with plain warnings."

They said, "Now unless thou desist, O Noah, one of the stoned
shalt thou surely be."

He said, "Lord! my people treat me as a liar:

Decide thou therefore a decision between me and them, and rescue
me and the faithful who are with me."

So we saved him and those who were with him in the fullyladen
ark,

And afterwards we drowned the rest.

Herein truly was a sign, but most of them believed not.

But thy Lord! He is the Mighty, the Merciful.

The Adites13 treated their Apostles as liars,

When their brother Houd said to them, "Will ye not fear God?

I am your Apostle, worthy of all credit;

Fear God then and obey me:

I ask for no reward for this; for my reward is of the Lord of the
Worlds alone.

What! build ye landmarks on all heights in mere pastime?

And raise ye structures to be your lasting abodes?14

And when ye put forth your power do ye put it forth with
harshness?

Fear ye God then and obey me;

And fear ye Him who hath plenteously betowed on you ye well
know what:

Plenteously bestowed on you flocks and children,

And gardens and fountains;

Indeed I fear for you the punishment of a tremendous day."

They said, "It is the same to us whether thou warn or warn us not.

This is but a tale of the ancients,

And we are not they who shall be punished."

And they charged him with imposture; and we destroyed them. In
this was a sign: but most of them believed not.

But thy Lord! He is the Mighty, the Merciful!

The Themoudites also treated their Apostles as liars,

When their brother Saleh said to them, "Will ye not fear God?

I am your Apostle worthy of all credit:

Fear God, then, and obey me.

I ask of you no reward for this: my reward is of the Lord of the
Worlds alone.

Shall ye be left secure amid these things here?

Amid gardens and fountains,

And corn-fields and palm-trees, with flower-sheathing branches?

And, insolent that ye are, will ye hew out your dwellings in the
mountains?

But fear God and obey me,

And obey not the bidding of those who commit excess,

Who act disorderly on the earth and reform it not."

They said, "Certainly thou art a person bewitched;

Thou art only a man like us: produce now a sign if thou art a man
of truth."

He said, "This she-camel, then drink shall there be for her, and
drink shall there be for you, on a several day for each.

But harm her not, lest the punishment of a tremendous day
overtake you."

But they ham-strung her, and repented of it on the morrow;

For the punishment overtook them. In this truly was a sign, but
most of them believed not.

But thy Lord! He is the Powerful, the Merciful!

The people of Lot treated their apostles as liars,

When their brother Lot said to them, "Will ye not fear God?

I am your Apostle worthy of all credit:

Fear God, then, and obey me.

For this I ask you no reward: my reward is of the Lord of the
worlds alone.

What! with men, of all creatures, will ye have commerce?

And leave ye your wives whom your Lord hath created for you?
Ah! ye are an erring people!"

They said, "O Lot, if thou desist not, one of the banished shalt thou
surely be."

He said, "I utterly abhor your doings:

My Lord! deliver me and my family from what they do."

So we delivered him and his whole family

Save an aged one among those who tarried

Then we destroyed the rest

And we rained a rain upon them, and fatal was the rain to those
whom we had warned.

In this truly was a sign; but most of them did not believe.

But thy Lord! He is the Powerful, the Merciful!

The dwellers in the forest of Madian15 treated the Apostles as
liars.

When Shoaib their brother said to them, "Will ye not fear God?

I truly am your trustworthy Apostle.

Fear God, then, and obey me:

No reward ask I of you for this: my reward is of the Lord of the
Worlds alone.

Fill the measure, and be not of those who minish:

Weigh with exact balance:

And defraud not men in their substance, and do no wrong on the
earth by deeds of licence;

And fear Him who made you and the races of old."

They said, "Certainly thou art a person bewitched.

Thou art but a man like us, and we deem thee liar

Make now a part of the heaven to fall down upon us, if thou art a
man of truth."

He said, "My Lord best knoweth your doings."

And when they treated him as a liar, the chastisement of the day of
cloud overtook them. This truly was the chastisement of a dreadful
day!

In this was a sign, but most of them believed not.

But thy Lord! He is the Mighty, the Merciful!

Verily from the Lord of the Worlds hath this Book come down;

The faithful spirit16 hath come down with it

Upon thy heart, that thou mightest become a warner

In the clear Arabic tongue:

And truly it is foretold in the Scriptures of them of yore.17

Was it not a sign to them18 that the learned among the children of
Israel recognised it?

If we had sent it down unto any foreigner,

And he had recited it to them, they had not believed.

In such sort have we influenced19 the heart of the wicked ones,

That they will not believe it till they see the grievous
chastisement?

And it shall come upon them on a sudden when they look not for
it:

And they will say, "Can we be respited?"

What! will they seek to hasten on our chastisement?

How thinkest thou? If after we have given them their fill for years,

That with which they are menaced come upon them at last,

Of what avail will their enjoyments be to them?

We never destroyed a city which had not first its warners

With admonition; nor did we deal unjustly.

The Satans were not sent down with this Koran:

It beseemed them not, and they had not the power,

For they are far removed from hearing it.20

Call not thou on any other god but God, lest thou be of those
consigned to torment:

But warn thy relatives of nearer kin,21

And kindly lower thy wing over the faithful who follow thee.

And if they disobey thee, then say: "I will not be answerable for
your doings;"

And put thy trust in Him that is the Mighty, the Merciful,

Who seeth thee when thou standest in prayer,

And thy demeanour amongst those who worship;

For He heareth, knoweth all.

Shall I tell you on whom Satan descend?

They descend on every lying, wicked person:

They impart what they have heard;22 but most of them are liars.

It is the POETS23 whom the erring follow:

Seest thou not how they rove distraught in every valley?

And that they say that which they do not?

Save those who believe and do good works, and oft remember
God;

And who defend themselves when unjustly treated. But they who
treat them unjustly shall find out what a lot awaiteth them.

_______________________

1 This Sura belongs to about the seventh year of Muhammad's
prophetic life.

2 See Sura 1xviii. I, p. 32.

3 Lit. to which their necks would humble themselves.

4 Lit. my tongue is not free. This verse appears to be a studied
simplification of Ex. iv. 10-13.

5 The murder of the Egyptian. See Geiger, 159.

6 Lit. and thou hast done thy deed which thou hast done. See
xxviii. 15.

7 Thus Pirke R. Elieser 48. "He placed his hand in his bosom,
and drew it forth, white as snow with leprosy."

8 "The Pharaoh who lived in the days of Moses was a great
magician." Mid. Jalkut, c. 182. Comp. Sura xxviii. 38, where, in
accordance with the Rabbinic traditions Pharaoh claims to be a
God.

9 See ii. 58, and Midr. Jalkut on Ex. xii. c. 208.

10 Lit. except.

11 Lit. a tongue of truth, i.e. high repute. Or, grant that my words
may be believed among posterity. See [lviii.] xix. 47.

12 Of their motives in embracing Islam.

13 The Adites are mentioned in vii. and xi.

14 This is to be understood of the small forts erected by the
nomades of the Hejaz along the route of the caravans to guarantee
their safety. Comp. Gen. xi. 1-10, and Sura lxxxix. 6, p. 54.

15 The Madian and the El-Aika of other Suras are unquestionably
one and the same place, as they have the same prophet Shoaib (or
Sho'eyb), the Jethro of Scripture a name perhaps altered from
Hobab (Numb. x. 29) and because the same sin is laid to the
charge of both. See Winer's Realw”rterbuch on Jethro. The Midr.
Rabbah on Ex. ii. I6, Par. I, makes Jethro renounce idolatry, and
his office of Priest, and undergo banishment from the Midianites.

16 Gabriel. See Sura lxxxi. 19, p. 46.

17 See Sura xiii. 36. This verse is said to have been revealed at
Medina by Itq. 34.

18 The unbelieving Meccans. Lit. that the knowing (Doctors,
Uhlemas) knew it.

19 Lit. have introduced it, i.e. infidelity; or, the Koran. Beidh. The
latter interpretation seems most accordant with the context.

20 Comp. Sura xxxvii. 7, 8, p. 79.

21 It is probable that within three or four years from his entry
upon the prophetic office, Muhammad had made about 40
converts. Some biographers refer to this passage, and not to Sura
lxiv. I, as the first call to preach. But this Sura is itself late, and
bears evidence of the opposition to which the prophet had become
exposed, and of adherents to his cause, now become numerous.
The diffuseness and feeblenss of the style clearly point to a late
origin.

22 They impart to their votaries on earth what they have learned
by stealth and partially, in heaven.

23 Muhammad found it necessary to employ the pens of certain
poets to defend himself and his religion from the ridicule and
satire of other poets, whose productions were recited at the great
annual fair held at Okatz, the Olympus of the Hejaz. The poems
which were judged the best were written up in letters of gold, or
suspended (hence called Moallakat) in the Caaba. These poetical
contests were subsequently suppressed by Muhammad, as offering
openings for discussions which might prove inconvenient, and
dangerous to his rising claims.

SURA XV. HEDJR1 [LVII.]

MECCA 99 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. RA.2 These are the signs of the Book, and of a lucid
recital [Koran].

Many a time will the infidels wish that they had been Muslims.

Let them feast and enjoy themselves, and let hope beguile them:
but they shall know the truth at last.

We never destroyed a city whose term was not perfixed:3

No people can forestall or retard its destiny.

They say: "O thou to whom the warning hath been sent down, thou
art surely possessed by a djinn:

Wouldst thou not have come to us with the angels, if thou wert of
those who assert the truth?"

We will not send down the angels without due cause.4 The
Infidels would not in that case have been respited.

Verily, We have sent down the warning, and verily, We will be its
guardian;

And already have We sent Apostles, before thee, among the sects
of the ancients;

But never came Apostles to them whom they did not deride.

In like manner will We put it into the hearts of the sinners of
Mecca to do the same:

They will not believe on him though the example of those of old
hath gone before.

Even were We to open above them a gate in Heaven, yet all the
while they were mounting up to it,

They would surely say: It is only that our eyes are drunken: nay,
we are a people enchanted.

We have set the signs of the zodiac5 in the Heavens, and adorned
and decked them forth for the beholders,

And We guard them from every stoned6 Satan,

Save such as steal a hearing:7 and him doth a visible flame pursue.

And the Earth have We spread forth, and thrown thereon the
mountains, and caused everything to spring forth in it in balanced
measure:

And We have provided therein sustenance for you, and for the
creatures which not ye sustain:

And no one thing is there, but with Us are its storehouses; and We
send it not down but in settled measure:

And We send forth the fertilising winds, and cause the rain to
come down from the heaven, and give you to drink of it; and it is
not ye who are its storers:

And We cause to live and We cause to die,8 and We are the heir of
all things:

We know those of you who flourish first and We know those who
come later:

And truly thy Lord will gather them together again, for He is Wise,
Knowing.

We created man of dried clay, of dark loam moulded;

And the djinn had We before created of subtle fire.

Remember when thy Lord said to the Angels, "I create man of
dried clay, of dark loam moulded:

And when I shall have fashioned him and breathed of my spirit
into him, then fall ye down and worship him."

And the Angels bowed down in worship, all of them, all together,

Save Eblis: he refused to be with those who bowed in worship.

"O Eblis,"9 said God, "wherefore art thou not with those who bow
down in worship?"

He said, "It beseemeth not me to bow in worship to man whom
thou hast created of clay, of moulded loam."

He said, "Begone then hence; thou art a stoned one,10

And the curse shall be on thee till the day of reckoning."

He said, "O my Lord! respite me till the day when man shall be
raised from the dead."

He said, "One then of the respited shalt thou be

Till the day of the predestined time."

He said, "O my Lord! because thou hast beguiled me, I will surely
make all fair seeming to them11 on the earth; I will surely beguile
them all;

Except such of them as shall be thy sincere servants."

He said, "This is the right way with me;

For over none of my servants shalt thou have power, save those
beguiled ones who shall follow thee."

And verily, Hell is the promise for them one and all.

It hath seven Portals;12 at each Portal is a separate band of them;

But 'mid gardens and fountains shall the pious dwell:

"Enter ye therein in peace, secure "

And all rancour will We remove from their bosoms: they shall sit
as brethren, face to face, on couches:

Therein no weariness shall reach them, nor forth from it shall they
be cast for ever.

Announce to my servants that I am the Gracious, the Merciful,

And that my chastisement is the grievous chastisement.

And tell them of Abraham's guests.

When they entered in unto him, and said, "Peace."

"Verily," said he, "We fear you."

They said, "Fear not, for of a sage son we bring thee tidings."

He said, "Bring ye me such tidings now that old age hath come
upon me? What, therefore, are your tidings really?"

They said, "We announce them to thee in very truth. Be not then
one of the despairing."

"And who," said he, "despaireth of the mercy of his Lord, but they
who err?"

He said, "What is your business then, O ye Sent Ones?"

They said, "We are sent unto a people who are sinners,

Except the family of Lot, whom verily we will rescue all,

Except his wife. We have decreed that she shall be of those who
linger."

And when the Sent Ones came to the family of Lot

He said, "Yes; are persons unknown to me."

They said, "Yes; but we have come to thee for a purpose about
which thy people doubt:

We have come to thee with very truth, and we are truthful envoys.

Lead forth therefore thy family in the dead of the night; follow
thou on their rear: and let no one of you turn round, but pass ye on
whither ye are bidden."

And this command we gave him because to the last man should
these people be cut off at morning.

Then came the people of the city rejoicing at the news13

He said, "These are my guests: therefore disgrace me not.

And fear God and put me not to shame."

They said, "Have we not forbidden thee to entertain any one
whatever?"14

He said, "Here are my daughters, if ye will thus act."

As thou livest, O Muhammad, they were bewildered in the
drunkenness of their lust.

So a tempest overtook them at their sunrise,

And we turned the city upside down, and we rained stones of
baked clay upon them.

Verily, in this are signs for those who scan heedfully;

And these cities lay on the high road.15

Verily, in this are signs for the faithful.

The inhabitants also of El Aika16 were sinners:

So we took vengeance on them, and they both became a plain
example.

And the people of HEDJR treated God's messengers as liars.

And we brought forth our signs to them, but they drew back from
them:

And they hewed them out abodes in the mountains to secure them:

But a tempest surprised them at early morn,

And their labours availed them nothing.

We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that
between them is, but for a worthy end.17 And verily, "the hour"
shall surely come. Wherefore do thou, Muhammad, forgive with
kindly forgiveness,

For thy Lord! He is the Creator, the Wise.

We have already given thee the seven verses of repetition18 and
the
glorious Koran.

Strain not thine eyes after the good things we have bestowed on
some of the unbelievers: afflict not thyself on their account, and
lower thy wing to the faithful.19

And SAY: I am the only plain-spoken warner.

We will punish those who foster divisions,20

Who break up the Koran into parts:

By thy Lord! we will surely take account from them one and all,

Concerning that which they have done.

Profess publicly then what thou hast been bidden,21 and withdraw
from those who join gods to God.

Verily, We will maintain thy cause against those who deride thee,

Who set up gods with God: and at last shall they know their folly.

Now know We that thy heart is distressed22 at what they say:

But do thou celebrate the praise of thy Lord, and be of those who
bow down in worship;

And serve thy Lord till the certainty23 o'ertake thee.

_______________________

1 Hedjr, a valley in the route between Medina and Syria,
originally the country of the Themoudites.

2 See Sura lxviii. p. 32.

3 Lit. which had not a known writing.

4 That is, not merely to gratify the curiosity of the doubting, but to
execute prompt punishment. It might also be rendered, save with
justice

5 Ar. bourdj, Gr. [greek text], towers, i.e. Signs of the Zodiac.

6 See Sura xv. 34; and note p. 114.

7 Comp. Sura xxxvii. 6, p. 79. In Chagiga 16, 1, the Demons
(schedim) are said to learn the secrets of the future by listening
behind the veil (parg“d).

8 Compare precisely a similar association of subjects, the Rain,
Food, God, as Lord of life and death in Tr. Taanith, fol. 1 a.

9 Comp. Sura [xci.] ii. 32. There is much in this dialogue between
Eblis and Allah which reminds of the dialogue between Jehovah
and Satan in the opening of the Book of Job.

10 That is, accursed. According to the Muhammadan tradition,
Abraham drove Satan away with stones when he would have
hindered him from sacrificing Ismael. Hence the custom during the
pilgrimage of throwing a certain number of stones the Shafeis,
49; the Hanafis, 70 as if at Satan, in the valley of Mina, near
Mecca. The spot where the apparition of Satan to Abraham took
place is marked by three small pillars, at which the stones are now
thrown. Comp. Gen. xv. II.

11 Lit. I will embellish, prepare.

12 Thus, in Sota, 10, David is said to have rescued Absalom from
"the seven dwellings of Hell;" in Midr. on Ps. xi. "There are
seven houses of abode for the wicked in Hell;" and in Sohar ii.
150, "Hell hath seven gates."

13 At the arrival of strangers.

14 Comp. Midr. Rabbah on Gen. Par. 50.

15 From Arabia to Syria. The pronoun in the fem. sing. may refer
to the Pentapolis as to a single city, or to Sodom alone.

16 See Sura [lvi.] xxvi. 176.

17 See Sura [lxxiii.] xvi. 3.

18 That is, the seven verses of Sura 1, p. 28. Others understand,
the seven long Suras; or, the fifteen Suras which make a seventh of
the whole; or, this Sura (Hedjr) as originally the seventh. Mathani
is an allusion, according to some, to the frequency with which the
fatthah is to be repeated; or, to the frequent repetitions of great
truths, etc., in order to impress them on the memory of the hearer
and reader; or, to the manner in which waid and wa'd, promises
and threatenings, alternate and balance each other in the same or
subsequent verses and Suras, in pairs. This verse and Sura x. 10
shew that a part at least of the Koran was known under that name
and existed as a whole in the time of Muhammad. Geiger's
interpretations at pp. 59, 60 (and in the note) seem very forced.

19 Comp. Sura [lvi.] xxvi. 215, i.e. demean thyself gently.

20 Lit. as we sent down upon the dividers, i.e. the Jews and
Christians, who receive part of the Scriptures and reject part.
Others render obstructors and explain the passage of twelve
idolaters, who in order to intimidate the Meccans, seized upon the
public revenues of Mecca during the pilgrimage.

21 In this, the fourth year of his mission, Muhammad is said to
have hazarded the step of mounting the Safa, a slight eminence in
one of the streets of Mecca, and publicly preached to the Koreisch.
The authorities are given in Sprenger (Life of M. p. 177, 8).

22 Lit. contracted.

23 Death.

SURA XIX.1 MARY [LVIII.]

MECCA. 98 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

KAF. HA. YA. AIN. SAD.2 A recital of thy Lord's mercy to his
servant Zachariah;

When he called upon his Lord with secret calling,

And said: "O Lord, verily my bones are weakened, and the hoar
hairs glisten on my head,

And never, Lord, have I prayed to thee with ill success.

But now I have fears for my kindred after me;3 and my wife is
barren:

Give me, then, a successor as thy special gift, who shall be my heir
and an heir of the family of Jacob: and make him, Lord, well
pleasing to thee."

"O Zachariah! verily we announce to thee a son, his name
John:

That name We have given to none before him."4

He said: "O my Lord! how when my wife is barren shall I have a
son, and when I have now reached old age, failing in my powers?"

He said: So shall it be. Thy Lord hath said, Easy is this to me, for I
created thee aforetime when thou wast nothing."

He said: "Vouchsafe me, O my Lord! a sign." He said: "Thy sign
shall be that for three nights, though sound in health, thou
speakest not to man."

And he came forth from the sanctuary to his people, and made
signs to them to sing praises morn and even.

We said: "O John! receive the Book with purpose of heart:"5 and
We bestowed on him wisdom while yet a child;

And mercifulness from Ourself, and purity; and pious was he, and
duteous to his parents; and not proud, rebellious.

And peace was on him on the day he was born, and the day of his
death, and shall be on the day when he shall be raised to life!

And make mention in the Book, of Mary, when she went apart
from
her family, eastward,6

And took a veil to shroud herself from them:7 and we sent our
spirit8 to her, and he took before her the form of a perfect man.9

She said: "I fly for refuge from thee to the God of Mercy! If thou
fearest Him, begone from me."

He said: "I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on
thee a holy son."

She said: "How shall I have a son, when man hath never touched
me? and I am not unchaste."

He said: "So shall it be. Thy Lord hath said: 'Easy is this with
me;' and we will make him a sign to mankind, and a mercy from
us. For it is a thing decreed."

And she conceived him,10 and retired with him to a far-off place.

And the throes came upon her11 by the trunk of a palm. She said:
"Oh, would that I had died ere this, and been a thing forgotten,
forgotten quite!"

And one cried to her from below her:12 "Grieve not thou, thy Lord
hath provided a streamlet at thy feet:

And shake the trunk of the palm-tree toward thee:13 it will drop
fresh ripe dates upon thee.

Eat then and drink, and be of cheerful eye:14 and shouldst thou see
a man,

Say, Verily, I have vowed abstinence to the God of mercy. To
no one will I speak this day."

Then came she with the babe to her people, bearing him. They
said, "O Mary! now hast thou done a strange thing!

O sister of Aaron!15 Thy father was not a man of wickedness, nor
unchaste thy mother."

And she made a sign to them, pointing towards the babe. They
said, "How shall we speak with him who is in the cradle, an
infant?"

It said,16 "Verily, I am the servant of God; He hath given me the
Book, and He hath made me a prophet;

And He hath made me blessed wherever I may be, and hath
enjoined me prayer and almsgiving so long as I shall live;

And to be duteous to her that bare me: and he hath not made me
proud, depraved.

And the peace of God was on me the day I was born, and will be
the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised to life."

This is Jesus, the son of Mary; this is a statement of the truth
concerning which they doubt.

It beseemeth not God to beget a son. Glory be to Him! when he
decreeth a thing, He only saith to it, Be, and it Is.17

And verily, God is my Lord and your Lord; adore Him then. This is
the right way.

But the Sects have fallen to variance among themselves about
Jesus: but woe, because of the assembly of a great day, to those
who believe not!

Make them hear, make them behold the day when they shall come
before us! But the offenders this day are in a manifest error.

Warn them of the day of sighing when the decree shall be
accomplished, while they are sunk in heedlessness and while they
believe not.

Verily, we will inherit the earth and all who are upon it. To us
shall they be brought back.

Make mention also in the Book of Abraham; for he was a man of
truth, a Prophet.18

When he said to his Father, "O my Father! why dost thou worship
that which neither seeth nor heareth, nor profiteth thee aught?

O my Father! verily now hath knowledge come to me which hath
not come to thee. Follow me therefore I will guide thee into an
even path.

O my Father! worship not Satan, for Satan is a rebel against the
God of Mercy.

O my Father! indeed I fear lest a chastisement from the God of
Mercy light upon thee, and thou become Satan's vassal."

He said, "Castest thou off my Gods, O Abraham? If thou forbear
not, I will surely stone thee. Begone from me for a length of time."

He said, "Peace be on thee! I will pray my Lord for thy
forgiveness, for he is gracious to me:

But I will separate myself from you, and the gods ye call on beside
God, and on my Lord will I call. Haply, my prayers to my Lord
will not be with ill success."

And when he had separated himself from them and that which they
worshipped beside God, we bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, and
each of them we made a prophet:

And we bestowed gifts on them in our mercy, and gave them the
lofty tongue of truth."19

And commemorate Moses in "the Book;" for he was a man of
purity: moreover he was an Apostle, a Prophet:

From the right side of the mountain we called to him, and caused
him to draw nigh to us for secret converse:

And we bestowed on him in our mercy his brother Aaron, a
Prophet.

And commemorate Ismael in "the Book;" for he was true to his
promise, and was an Apostle, a Prophet;

And he enjoined prayer and almsgiving on his people, and was
well pleasing to his Lord.

And commemorate Edris20 in "the Book;" for he was a man of
truth, a Prophet:

And we uplifted him to a place on high.21

These are they among the prophets of the posterity of Adam, and
among those whom we bare with Noah, and among the posterity of
Abraham and Israel, and among those whom we have guided and
chosen, to whom God hath shewed favour. When the signs of the
God of Mercy were rehearsed to them, they bowed them down
worshipping and weeping.

But others have come in their place after them: they have made an
end of prayer, and have gone after their own lusts; and in the end
they shall meet with evil:

Save those who turn and believe and do that which is right, these
shall enter the Garden, and in nought shall they be wronged:

The Garden of Eden, which the God of Mercy hath promised to his
servants, though yet unseen:22 for his promise shall come to pass:

No vain discourse shall they hear therein, but only "Peace;" and
their food shall be given them at morn and even:

This is the Paradise which we will make the heritage of those our
servants who fear us.

We23 come not down from Heaven but by thy Lord's command.
His, whatever is before us and whatever is behind us, and
whatever is between the two! And thy Lord is not forgetful,

Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between
them! Worship Him, then, and abide thou steadfast in his worship.
Knowest thou any other of the same name?24

Man saith: "What! after I am dead, shall I in the end be brought
forth alive?"

Doth not man bear in mind that we made him at first, when he was
nought?

And I swear by thy Lord, we will surely gather together them and
the Satans: then will we set them on their knees round Hell:

Then will we take forth from each band those of them who have
been stoutest in rebellion against the God of Mercy:

Then shall we know right well to whom its burning is most due:

No one is there of you who shall not go down unto it25 This is a
settled decree with thy Lord

Then will we deliver those who had the fear of God, and the
wicked will we leave in it on their knees.

And when our clear signs are rehearsed to them, the infidels say to
those who believe: "Which of the two parties26 is in the best
plight? and which is the most goodly company?"

But how many generations have we brought to ruin before them,
who surpassed them in riches and in splendour!

Say: As to those who are in error, the God of Mercy will lengthen
out to them a length of days

Until they see that with which they are threatened, whether it be
some present chastisement, or whether it be "the Hour," and they
shall then know which is in the worse state, and which the more
weak in forces:

But God will increase the guidance of the already guided.

And good works which abide, are in thy Lord's sight better in
respect of guerdon, and better in the issue than all worldly good.

Hast thou marked him who believeth not in our signs, and saith, "I
shall surely have riches and children bestowed upon me?"

Hath he mounted up into the secrets of God? Hath he made a
compact with the God of Mercy?

No! we will certainly write down what he saith, and will lengthen
the length of his chastisement:

And we will inherit what he spake of, and he shall come before us
all alone.

They have taken other gods beside God to be their help.27

But it shall not be. Those gods will disavow their worship and will
become their enemies.

Seest thou not that we send the Satans against the Infidels to urge
them into sin?

Wherefore be not thou in haste with them;28 for a small number of
days do we number to them.

One day we will gather the God-fearing before the God of Mercy
with honours due:29

But the sinners will we drive unto Hell, like flocks driven to the
watering.

None shall have power to intercede, save he who hath received
permission at the hands of the God of Mercy.

They say: "The God of Mercy hath gotten offspring." Now have ye
done a monstrous thing!

Almost might the very Heavens be rent thereat, and the Earth
cleave asunder, and the mountains fall down in fragments,

That they ascribe a son to the God of Mercy, when it beseemeth
not the God of Mercy to beget a son!

Verily there is none in the Heavens and in the Earth but shall
approach the God of Mercy as a servant. He hath taken note of
them, and numbered them with exact numbering:

And each of them shall come to Him, on the day of Resurrection,
singly:

But love will the God of Mercy vouchsafe to those who believe
and
do the things that be right.

Verily we have made this Koran easy and in thine own tongue, that
thou mayest announce glad tidings by it to the God-fearing, and
that thou mayest warn the contentious by it.

How many generations have we destroyed before them! Canst thou
search out one of them? or canst thou hear a whisper from them?

_______________________

1 Comp. the first 37 verses of this Sura with Sura iii. 35-57 with
reference to the different style adopted by Muhammad in the later
Suras, probably for the purpose of avoiding the imputation of his
being merely a poet, a sorcerer, or person possessed. Sura lii. 29,
30; xxi. 5; lxviii. 2, 51. This Sura is one of the fullest and earliest
Koranic Gospel Histories, and was recited to the Nagash or King
of ‘thiopia, in the presence of the ambassadors of the Koreisch.
His. 220; Caussin, i. 392; Sprenger (Life of M.) p. 193.

2 See Sura lxviii. I, p. 32. Golius conjectured that these letters
represent coh ya'as, thus he counselled, and that they were added
by some Jewish scribe. Sprenger (Journ. of As. Soc. of Bengal, xx.
280) arranges them as Ain, Sad, Kaf, Ha, Ya, and supposes them to
be taken from the Arabic words for Aisa (Jesus) of the Nazarenes,
King of the Jews. But we can hardly imagine that Muhammad
would ascribe such a title to our Lord, and the word which Dr.
Sprenger uses for Jews is not the form peculiar to the Koran.

3 Lest they should desert the worship of the God of Israel.

4 Ar. Yahia. It may be true that the name in this form had never
been given. Otherwise, we have in this passage a
misunderstanding of Luke i. 61, as well as ignorance of the Jewish
Scriptures. Comp. 2 Kings xxv. 23; 1 Chron. iii. 16; Ezra viii. 12;
Jerem. xl. 8. Some commentators try to avoid the difficulty by
rendering samiyan, deserving of the name.

5 Or, with firm resolve. See Sura [xcvii.] iii. 36. The speaker is
God.

6 To an eastern chamber in the temple to pray. Or it may mean, to
some place eastward from Jerusalem, or from the house of her
parents.

7 Thus the Protev. Jac. c. 12 says that Mary, although at a later
period, [greek text] But Wahl, she laid aside her veil.

8 Gabriel.

9 See Sura [lxxxix.] vi. 9.

10 It is quite clear from this passage, and from verse 36, that
Muhammad believed Jesus to have been conceived by an act of the
divine will. Comp. Sura [xcvii.] iii. 52; see also note at Sura [xci.]
ii. 81.

11 Or, the throes urged her to the trunk of, etc.

12 This was either the Infant which spoke as soon as born, or
Gabriel. Comp. Thilo Cod. Apoc. 136-139 on this passage.
Beidhawi explains: from behind the palm tree.

13 See Thilo Cod. Apoc. N. T. p. 138, and the Hist. Nat. Mar. c.
20,
which connects similar incidents with the flight into Egypt. Thus
also Latona, [greek text], Call. H. in Apoll. and [greek text], H. in
Delum.

14 Or, settle, calm thine eye, refresh thine eye. The birth of a son
is still called korrat ol ain.

15 The anachronism is probably only apparent. See Sura iii. 1, n.
Muhammad may have supposed that this Aaron (or Harun) was the
son of Imran and Anna. Or, if Aaron the brother of Moses be
meant Mary may be called his sister, either because she was of the
Levitical race, or by way of comparison.

16 See Sura [cxiv.] v. 109.

17 From the change in the rhyme, and from the more polemical
tone of the following five verses, it may be inferred that they were
added at a somewhat later period.

18 The title Nabi, prophet, is used of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
as depositaries of the worship of the one true God, but with a
mission restricted to their own families; whereas Houd, Saleh,
Shoaib, etc., are designated as (Resoul) apostles and envoys,
charged with a more extended mission to the tribes of Arabia. In
Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, etc., are united the office and gift
both of prophet (nabi) and apostle (resoul).

19 Made them to be highly praised. Beidh.

20 Enoch. Beidhawi derives the name Edris from the Ar. darasa,
to search out, with reference to his knowledge of divine mysteries.
The Heb. Enoch, in like manner, means initiated.

21 Comp. Gen. v. 24, and the tract Derek Erez in Midr. Jalkut, c.
42, where Enoch is reckoned among the nine according to other
Talmudists, thirteen (Schr der's Talm. und Rabb.
Judenthum) individuals who were exempted from death and
taken straight to Paradise. It should be observed that both here
and Sura xxi. 85, Edris is named after Ismael.

22 Maracci and Beidhawi, in absentid. Sale, as an object of faith.
Beidhawi ad f. in reward for their secret faith. Ullmann fr die
verborgene Zukunft.

23 This verse is to be understood as an answer on the part of
Gabriel to Muhammad's complaints of the long intervals between
the revelations.

24 The idolaters called their deities Gods, but as Polytheists were
unused to the singular Allah, God.

25 Even the pious on their way to Paradise are to pass the
confines of Hell.

26 The Koreisch, or the Muslims.

27 Or, glory, strength.

28 To call down judgments upon them.

29 As ambassadors come into the presence of a prince. Sale. This
is implied in the original.

SURA XXXVIII. SAD [LIX.]

Mecca. 88 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Sad.1 By the Koran full of warning! In sooth the Infidels are
absorbed in pride, in contention with thee.

How many generations have we destroyed before them! And they
cried for mercy but no time was it of escape!

And they marvel that a warner from among themselves hath come
to them; and the Infidels say, "This is a sorcerer, a liar:

Maketh he the gods to be but one god? A strange thing forsooth is
this!"

And their chiefs took themselves off. "Go, said they, and cleave
steadfastly2 to your gods. Ye see the thing aimed at.

We heard not of this in the previous creed.3 It is but an imposture:

To him alone of us all hath a book of warning been sent down?"
Yes! they are in doubt as to my warnings, for they have not yet
tasted my vengeance.

Are the treasures of the mercy of thy Lord, the Mighty, the
bounteous, in their hands?

Is the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth and of all that is
between them theirs? Then let them mount up by cords!

Any army of the confederates4 shall here be routed.

Before them the people of Noah and Ad and Pharaoh the impaler5
treated their prophets as impostors;

And Themoud, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers in the
forest: these were the confederates.

Nought did they all but charge the apostles with falsehood: Just,
therefore, the retribution.

And these (Meccans) await but one single trumpet blast There
shall be no delaying it

Yet they dare to say, "O our Lord! hasten our lot to us, before the
day of reckoning."

Put thou up with what they say: and remember our servant David,
a man strong of hand6, one who turned him to Us in penitence:

We constrained the mountains7 to join with him in lauds at even
and at sunrise;

And the birds which flocked to him, and would all return to him
oft;

And we stablished his kingdom: and wisdom, and skill to
pronounce clear decisions, did we bestow on him.

Hath the story of the two pleaders8 reached thee, O Muhammad,
when they mounted the walls of his closet?

When they entered in upon David, and he was frightened at them,
they said, "Be not afraid; we are two opposing parties: one of us
hath wronged the other. Judge therefore with truth between us,
and be not unjust, but guide us to the right way.

Now this my brother had ninety and nine ewes, and I had but a
single ewe; and he said, make me her keeper. And he
over-persuaded me in the dispute."

He said, "Certainly he hath wronged thee in asking for thine ewe
to add her to his own ewes: and truly many associates do one
another wrong except those who believe and do the things that
are right; and few indeed are they!" And David perceived that we
had tried him; so he asked pardon of his Lord, and fell down and
bowed himself and repented.

So we forgave him that his sin; and truly he shall have a high rank
with Us, and an excellent retreat in Paradise.

O David! verily we have made thee our vicegerent upon earth.
Judge therefore between men with truth, and follow not thy
passions, lest they cause thee to err from the way of God. For they
who err from the way of God shall meet with a grievous
chastisement, for that they have forgotten the day of reckoning.

We have not created the heaven and the earth and what is between
them for nought. That is the thought of infidels; but woe to the
infidels because of the fire!

Shall we treat those who believe and do the things that are right
like those who propagate evil on earth? Shall we treat the
God-fearing like the impious?

A blessed Book9 have we sent down to thee, that men may
meditate
its verses, and that those endued with understanding may bear it in
mind.

And Solomon gave we unto David. An excellent servant, for he
loved to turn him Godward.

Remember when at eventide the prancing10 chargers were
displayed before him,

And he said, "Truly I have loved the love of earthly goods above
the remembrance of my Lord, till the sun hath been hidden by the
veil of darkness.11

Bring them back to me." And he began to sever the legs and necks.

We also made trial of Solomon, and placed a phantom12 on his
throne: whereupon he returned to US (in penitence).

He said, O my Lord! pardon me, and give me a dominion that may
not be to any one beside me, for thou art the liberal giver.

So we subjected the wind to him; it ran softly at his bidding,
whithersoever he directed it:

And the Satans every builder and diver

And others bound in chains:13

"This," said we, "is our gift: be bounteous then, or withhold thy
favours; no account shalt thou render."

And his rank also is high with Us, and an excellent retreat.

And remember our servant Job when he cried to his Lord, "Verily,
Satan hath laid on me disease and pain."

"Stamp," said we, "with thy foot. This14 is to wash with; cool, and
to drink."

And we gave him back his family, and as many more with them in
our mercy; and for a monition to men of judgment.

And we said, "Take in thine hand a rod, and strike15 with it, nor
break thine oath." Verily, we found him patient!

How excellent a servant, one who turned to Us was he!

And remember our servants Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, men of
might and vision.16

With this cleansing did we cleanse them the remembrance of the
abode of Paradise.

And verily, they were, in our sight, of the elect and of the good.

And remember Ishmael and Elisha and Dhoulkefl, for all these
were of the just.

This is a monition: and verily, the pious shall have a goodly
retreat:

Gardens of Eden, whose portals shall stand open to them:

Therein reclining, they shall there call for many a fruit and drink:

And with them shall be virgins of their own age, with modest
retiring glances:

"This is what ye were promised at the day of reckoning."

"Yes! this is our provision: it shall never fail."

Even so. But for the evil doers is a wretched home Hell wherein
they shall be burned: how wretched a bed! Even so. Let them then
taste it boiling water and gore, And other things of kindred sort!

To their leaders it shall be said, "This company shall be thrown in
headlong with you. No greetings shall await them, for they shall be
burned in the fire."

They shall say: "But ye, too! there shall be no welcome for you. It
was ye who prepared this for us, and wretched is the abode!"

They will say: "O our Lord! increase twofold in the fire, the
punishment of him who hath brought this upon us."

And they will say: "Why see we not the men whom we numbered
among the wicked

Whom we used to treat with scorn? Have they escaped our
eyes?"17

Verily this is truth the wrangling together of the people of the
fire.

SAY: I am but a warner; and there is no God but God the One, the
Almighty!

Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between
them,18 the Potent, the Forgiving!

SAY: this is a weighty message,19

From which ye turn aside!

Yet had I no knowledge of what passed among the celestial chiefs
when they disputed,20

Verily, it hath been revealed to me only because I am a public
preacher

When thy Lord said to the angels, "I am about to make man of
clay,21

And when I have formed him and breathed my spirit into him, then
worshipping fall down before him."

And the angels prostrated themselves, all of them with one accord,

Save Eblis. He swelled with pride, and became an unbeliever.

"O Eblis," said God, "what hindereth thee from prostrating
thyself before him whom my hands have made?

Is it that thou are puffed up with pride? or art thou a being of lofty
merit?"

He said: "I am more excellent than he; me hast thou created of
fire:22 of clay hast thou created him."

He said: "Begone then hence: thou art accursed,23

And lo! my ban shall be on thee till the day of the reckoning."

He said: "O my Lord! respite me till the day of Resurrection."

He said, "One then of the respited shalt thou be,

Till the day of the time appointed."

He said: "I swear by thy might then that all of them will I seduce,

Save thy sincere servants among them."

He said: "It is truth, and the truth I speak. From thee will I surely
fill Hell, and with such of them as shall follow thee, one and all.

Say: I ask no wage of you for this, nor am I one who
intermeddleth.

Of a truth the Koran is no other than a warning to all creatures.

And after a time shall ye surely know its message.

_______________________

1 The letter S. See Sura lxviii. p. 32.

2 These verses are said to have been revealed when, upon the
conversion of Omar, the Koreisch went in a body to Abu Talib and
requested him to withdraw his protection from Muhammad, but
being put to silence by the latter, departed in great confusion.
Wah. Beidh.

3 That is, in the Christian religion, which teaches, Muhammad
ironically implies, a plurality of Gods.

4 This may allude to the so-called "confederacy" of the Koreisch
against Muhammad.

5 This term is also applied to Pharaoh, Sura lxxxix. 9, p. 54. He is
said to have fastened the Israelites to stakes, and then subjected
them to various torments.

6 Pr‘diti (manibus) virtute. Mar.

7 Comp. Ps. cxlviii. 9, 10.

8 Two angels who pretended to appeal to David in order to
convince him of his sin in the matter of Uriah's wife. Comp. I Sam.
xii.

9 The Psalms, if we suppose with N”ldeke, p. 99, that David is still
addressed: the Koran, if with Sale we refer the passage to
Muhammad.

10 The Commentators say that the word used in the original
implies that the mares stood on three feet, and touched the ground
with the edge of the fourth foot.

11 Solomon, in his admiration of these horses, the result, we are
told, of David's or his own conquests, forgot the hour of evening
prayer, and when aware of his fault commenced their slaughter.
The Tr. Sanhedr. fol. 21, mentions Solomon's love for horses, and
that he determined to have a large stud; yet not to send the people
to Egypt (Deut. xvii. 16) but to have them brought to him out of
Egypt (I Kings x. 28).

12 One of the Djinn. The absurd fiction may be seen in extenso in
Sale. Compare Tr. Sanhedr. fol. 20, b. and Midr. Jalkut on I Kings
vi. 182.

13 Thus the second Targum on Esther i. 2, mentions the four
different kinds of Demons which were "given into the hand" of
Solomon a legend derived from a misunderstanding of Eccl. ii. 8.

14 The fountain which had sprung up. To this history the
Talmudists have no allusion.

15 Thy wife; on whom he had sworn that he would inflict an
hundred blows, because she had absented herself from him when
in need of her assistance, or for her words (Job ii. 9). The oath
was kept, we are told, by his giving her one blow with a rod of a
hundred stalks. This passage is often quoted by the Muslims as
authorising any similar manner of release from an oath
inconsiderately taken.

16 Lit. men of hand and of sight.

17 Lit. or do our eyes wander from them.

18 See verses 9, 26, above. It seems to have been one of the
peculiarities of Muhammad, as a person very deficient in
imagination, to dwell upon and repeat the same ideas, with an
intensity which is at once an evidence of deep personal conviction
and consciousness, of the simple Arabian especially.

19 The connection between the concluding episode and the
preceding part of the Sura does not seem very clear. It probably
originated at a different but uncertain period.

20 About the creation of man.

21 Comp. Sura [xci.] ii. 28, ff.

22 Comp. Ps. civ. 4.

23 Lit. stoned. See Sura xv. 34, p. 114.

SURA XXXVI. YA. SIN [LX.]

MECCA. 83 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

YA. SIN.1 By the wise Koran!

Surely of the Sent Ones, Thou,

Upon a right path!

A revelation of the Mighty, the Merciful,

That thou shouldest warn a people whose fathers were not warned
and therefore lived in heedlessness!

Just, now, is our sentence2 against most of them; therefore they
shall not believe.

On their necks have we placed chains which reach the chin, and
forced up are their heads:

Before them have we set a barrier and behind them a barrier, and
we have shrouded them in a veil, so that they shall not see.

Alike is it to them if thou warn them or warn them not: they will
not believe.

Him only shalt thou really warn, who followeth the monition and
feareth the God of mercy in secret: him cheer with tidings of
pardon, and of a noble recompense.

Verily, it is We who will quicken the dead, and write down the
works which they have sent on before them, and the traces which
they shall have left behind them: and everything have we set down
in the clear Book of our decrees.3

Set forth to them the instance of the people of the city4 when the
Sent Ones came to it.

When we sent two unto them and they charged them both with
imposture therefore with a third we strengthened them: and they
said, "Verily we are the Sent unto you of God."

They said, "Ye are only men like us: Nought hath the God of
Mercy sent down. Ye do nothing but lie."

They said, "Our Lord knoweth that we are surely sent unto you;

To proclaim a clear message is our only duty."

They said, "Of a truth we augur ill from you:5 if ye desist not we
will surely stone you, and a grievous punishment will surely befall
you from us."

They said, "Your augury of ill is with yourselves. Will ye be
warned?6 Nay, ye are an erring people."

Then from the end of the city a man came running:7 He said, "O
my people! follow the Sent Ones;

Follow those who ask not of you a recompense, and who are
rightly guided.

And why should I not worship Him who made me, and to whom ye
shall be brought back?

Shall I take gods beside Him? If the God of Mercy be pleased to
afflict me, their intercession will not avert from me aught, nor will
they deliver:

Truly then should I be in a manifest error.

Verily, in your Lord have I believed; therefore hear me."8

It was said to him, "Enter thou into Paradise:" And he said,
"Oh that my people knew

How gracious God hath been to me, and that He hath made me
one of His honoured ones."

But no army sent we down out of heaven after his death, nor were
we then sending down our angels

There was but one shout from Gabriel, and lo! they were extinct.

Oh! the misery that rests upon my servants! No apostle cometh to
them but they laugh him to scorn.

See they not how many generations we have destroyed before
them?

Not to false gods is it that they shall be brought9 back,

But all, gathered together, shall be set before Us.

Moreover, the dead earth is a sign to them: we quicken it and
bring forth the grain from it, and they eat thereof:

And we make in it gardens of the date and vine; and we cause
springs to gush forth in it;

That they may eat of its fruits and of the labour of their hands.
Will
they not therefore be thankful?

Glory be to Him, who hath created all the sexual pairs of such
things as Earth produceth,10 and of mankind themselves; and of
things beyond their ken!

A sign to them also is the Night. We withdraw the day from it, and
lo! they are plunged in darkness;

And the Sun hasteneth to her place of rest. This, the ordinance of
the Mighty, the Knowing!

And as for the Moon, We have decreed stations for it, till it change
like an old and crooked palm branch.

To the Sun it is not given to overtake the Moon, nor doth the night
outstrip the day; but each in its own sphere doth journey on.

It is also a sign to them that we bare their posterity in the
full-laden Ark;

And that we have made for them vessels like it on which they
embark;

And if we please, we drown them, and there is none to help them,
and they are not rescued,

Unless through our mercy, and that they may enjoy themselves for
yet awhile.

And when it is said to them, Fear what is before you and what is
behind you,11 that ye may obtain mercy.

Aye, not one sign from among the signs of their Lord dost thou
bring them, but they turn away from it!

And when it is said to them, Give alms of what God hath bestowed
on you,12 they who believe not say to the believers, "Shall we feed
him whom God can feed if He will? Truly ye are in no other than a
plain error."

And they say, "When will this promise be fulfilled, if what ye say
be true?"

They await but a single blast: as they are wrangling shall it assail
them:

And not a bequest shall they be able to make, nor to their families
shall they return.

And the trumpet shall be blown, and, lo! they shall speed out of
their sepulchres to their Lord:

They shall say, "Oh! woe to us! who hath roused us from our
sleeping place? 'Tis what the God of Mercy promised; and the
Apostles spake the truth."

But one blast shall there be,13 and, lo! they shall be assembled
before us, all together.

And on that day shall no soul be wronged in the least: neither
shall ye be rewarded but as ye shall have wrought.

But joyous on that day shall be the inmates of Paradise, in their
employ;

In shades, on bridal couches reclining, they and their spouses:

Therein shall they have fruits, and shall have whatever they
require

"Peace!" shall be the word on the part of a merciful Lord.

"But be ye separated this day, O ye sinners!

Did I not enjoin on you, O sons of Adam, 'Worship not Satan, for
that he is your declared foe,'

But 'Worship Me: this is a right path'?

But now hath he led a vast host of you astray. Did ye not then
comprehend?

This is Hell with which ye were threatened:

Endure its heat this day, for that ye believed not."

On that day will we set a seal upon their mouths; yet shall their
hands speak unto us, and their feet14 shall bear witness of that
which they shall have done.

And, if we pleased, we would surely put out their eyes: yet even
then would they speed on with rivalry in their path: but how
should they see?

And, if we pleased, we would surely transform them as they
stand,15 and they would not be able to move onward, or to return.

Him cause we to stoop through age whose days we lengthen. Will
they not understand?

We have not taught him (Muhammad) poetry,16 nor would it
beseem him. This Book is no other than a warning and a clear
Koran,

To warn whoever liveth; and, that against the Infidels sentence
may be justly given.

See they not that we have created for them among the things which
our hands have wrought, the animals of which they are masters?

And that we have subjected them unto them? And on some they
ride, and of others they eat;

And they find in them profitable uses and beverages:

Yet have they taken other gods beside God that they might be
helpful to them.

No power have they to succour them: yet are their votaries an
army at their service.

Let not their speech grieve thee: We know what they hide and what
they bring to light.

Doth not man perceive that we have created him of the moist
germs of life? Yet lo! is he an open caviller.

And he meeteth us with arguments,17 and forgetteth his creation:
"Who," saith he, "shall give life to bones when they are rotten?"

Say: He shall give life to them who gave them being at first, for in
all creation is he skilled:

Who even out of the green tree hath given you fire18, and lo! ye
kindle flame from it.

What! must not He who hath created the Heavens and the Earth be
mighty enough to create your likes? Yes! and He is the skilful
creator.

His command when He willeth aught, is but to say to it, BE, and IT
IS.

So glory be to Him in whose hand is sway over all things! And to
Him shall ye be brought back.

_______________________

1 This Sura is said to have been termed by Muhammad "the heart
of the Koran." It is recited in all Muhammadan countries to the
dying, at the tombs of saints, etc. On Ya. Sin, see Sura lxviii. p. 32.

2 Sura xxxviii. 85, p. 129.

3 Lit. in the clear prototype, that is, in the Preserved Table, on
which all the actions of mankind are written down.

4 Antioch, to which Jesus is said to have sent two disciples to
preach the unity of God, and subsequently Simon Peter. This
vague story, and that of the seven sleepers in Sura xviii. are the
only traces to be found in the Koran of any knowledge, on the part
of Muhammad, of the history of the Church subsequent to the day
of Pentecost, or of the spread of the Christian religion.

5 Comp. Sura xxvii. 48; vii. 128, where, as in this passage, the
word augur refers to the mode of divination practised previous to
Islam, by the flight of birds.

6 Lit. if ye have been warned (will ye still disbelieve?).

7 Habib, the carpenter, who, as implied at verse 25, was martyred,
and whose tomb at Antioch is still an object of veneration to the
Muhammadans.

8 Ullm. following Wahl, renders, Als sie (die stadtlente) darauf ihn
sch„ndlich behandleten. The verb in the original is thus used in
the 4th conj. N”ldeke supposes that words to this effect have been
lost from the text. But of this there is no trace in the
Commentators.

9 Or, the Apostles shall not return to them again. Ullm.

10 For instance, date trees, the female blossoms of which were
carefully impregnated, when requisite, by branches of the male
plant. See Freyt. Einl. p. 271.

11 The chastisements of this world and of the next.

12 On account of this precept, Itq. 35, and Omar b. Muhammad
suppose the verse to have originated at Medina.

13 The Muhammadans affirm that a space of forty years will
intervene between two blasts of the Trumpet. Maracci suggests
that the idea of the two blasts is derived from 1 Thess. iv. 16, "the
voice of the archangel and the trump of God."

14 Thus Chagiga, 16; Taanith, 11. "The very members of a man
bear witness against him, for thus is it written (Is. xliii. 12), Ye
yourselves are my witnesses, saith the Lord." See also Sura [lxxi.]
xli. 19, 20.

15 Lit. in their place.

16 See Sura xxvi. 225, p. III.

17 Lit. he setteth forth to us comparisons.

18 The form of the Arabic word is Rabbinic Hebrew.

SURA XLIII. ORNAMENTS OF GOLD [LXI.]

Mecca. 89 Verses.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Ha. Mim.1 By the Luminous Book!

We have made it an Arabic Koran that ye may understand:

And it is a transcript of the archetypal Book,2 kept by us; it is
lofty,
filled with wisdom,

Shall we then turn aside this warning from you because ye are a
people who transgress?

Yet how many prophets sent we among those of old!

But no prophet came to them whom they made not the object of
their scorn:

Wherefore we destroyed nations mightier than these Meccans in
strength; and the example of those of old hath gone before!

And if thou ask them who created the Heavens and the Earth, they
will say: "The Mighty, the Sage, created them both,"

Who hath made the Earth as a couch for you, and hath traced out
routes therein for your guidance;

And who sendeth down out of Heaven the rain in due degree, by
which we quicken a dead land; thus shall ye be brought forth from
the grave:

And who hath created the sexual couples, all of them, and hath
made for you the ships and beasts whereon ye ride:

That ye may sit balanced on their backs and remember the
goodness of your Lord as ye sit so evenly thereon, and say: "Glory
to Him who hath subjected these to us! We could not have attained
to it of ourselves:

And truly unto our Lord shall we return."

Yet do they assign to him some of his own servants for offspring!
Verily man is an open ingrate!

Hath God adopted daughters from among those whom he hath
created, and chosen sons for you?

But when that3 is announced to any one of them, which he
affirmeth to be the case with the God of Mercy,4 his face settleth
into darkness and he is silent-sad.

What! make they a being to be the offspring of God who is brought
up among trinkets, and is ever contentious without reason?

And they make the angels who are the servants of God of Mercy,
females. What! did they witness their creation? Their witness shall
be taken down, and they shall hereafter be enquired at.

And they say: "Had the God of Mercy so willed it we should never
have worshipped them." No knowledge have they in this: they only
lie.

Have we ere this given them a Book?5 and do they possess it still?

But say they: "Verily we found our fathers of that persuasion, and
verily, by their footsteps do we guide ourselves."

And thus never before thy time did we send a warner to any city
but its wealthy ones said: "Verily we found our fathers with a
religion, and in their tracks we tread."

Say, such was our command to that apostle "What! even if I
bring you a religion more right than that ye found your fathers
following?" And they said, "Verily we believe not in your
message."

Wherefore we took vengeance on them, and behold what hath been
the end of those who treated our messengers as liars!

And bear in mind when Abraham said to his father and to his
people, "Verily I am clear of what ye worship,

Save Him who hath created me; for he will vouchsafe me
guidance."

And this he established as a doctrine that should abide among his
posterity, that to God might they be turned.

In sooth to these idolatrous Arabians and to their fathers did I
allow their full enjoyments, till the truth should come to them, and
an undoubted apostle:

But now that the truth hath come to them, they say, "'Tis sorcery,
and we believe it not."

And they say, "Had but this Koran been sent down to some great
one of the two cities6 !"

Are they then the distributors of thy Lord's Mercy?7 It is we who
distribute their subsistence among them in this world's life; and
we raise some of them by grades above others, that the one may
take the other to serve him: but better is the mercy of thy Lord
than all their hoards.

But for fear that all mankind would have become a single people
of unbelievers, verily we would certainly have given to those who
believe not in the God of Mercy roofs of silver to their houses, and
silver stairs to ascend by;

And doors of silver to their houses, and couches of silver to recline
on;

And ORNAMENTS OF GOLD: for all these are merely the good
things of the present life; but the next life doth thy Lord reserve for
those who fear Him.

And whoso shall withdraw from the Warning of the God of Mercy,
we will chain a Satan to him, and he shall be his fast companion:

For the Satans will turn men aside from the Way, who yet shall
deem themselves rightly guided;

Until when man shall come before us, he shall say, "O Satan,
would that between me and thee were the distance of the East and
West."8 And a wretched companion is a Satan.

But it shall not avail you on that day, because ye were unjust:
partners shall ye be in the torment.

What! Canst thou then make the deaf to hear, or guide the blind
and him who is in palpable error?

Whether therefore we take thee off by death, surely will we avenge
ourselves on them;

Or whether we make thee a witness of the accomplishment of that
with which we threatened them, we will surely gain the mastery
over them.9

Hold thou fast therefore what hath been revealed to thee, for thou
art on a right path:

For truly to thee and to thy people it is an admonition; and ye
shall have an account to render for it at last.10

And ask our Sent Ones whom we have sent before thee,

"Appointed we gods beside the God of Mercy whom they should
worship?"11

Of old sent we Moses with our signs to Pharaoh and his nobles:
and he said, "I truly am the Apostle of the Lord of the worlds."

And when he presented himself before them with our signs, lo!
they
laughed at them,

Though we shewed them no sign that was not greater than its
fellow:12 and therefore did we lay hold on them with
chastisement,
to the intent that they might be turned to God.

Then they said, "O Magician! call on thy Lord on our behalf to do
as he hath engaged with thee, for truly we would fain be guided."

But when we relieved them from the chastisement, lo! they broke
their pledge.

And Pharaoh made proclamation among his people. Said he, "O
my people! is not the kingdom of Egypt mine, and these rivers
which flow at my feet?13 Do ye not behold?

Am I not mightier than this despicable fellow,

And who scarce can speak distinctly?

Have bracelets of gold14 then been put upon him, or come there
with him a train of Angels?"

And he inspired his people with levity, and they obeyed him; for
they were a perverse people:

And when they had angered us, we took vengeance on them, and
we drowned them all.

And we made them a precedent and instance of divine judgments
to those who came after them.

And when the Son of Mary was set forth as an instance of divine
power, lo! thy people cried out for joy thereat:

And they said, "Are our gods or is he the better?"15 They put this
forth to thee only in the spirit of dispute. Yea, they are a
contentious people.

Jesus is no more than a servant whom we favoured, and proposed
as an instance of divine power to the children of Israel.

(And if we pleased, we could from yourselves bring forth Angels
to
succeed you on earth:)16

And he shall be a sign of the last hour;17 doubt not then of it, and
follow ye me: this is the right way;

And let not Satan turn you aside from it, for he is your manifest
foe.

And when Jesus came with manifest proofs, he said, "Now am I
come to you with wisdom; and a part of those things about which
ye are at variance I will clear up to you; fear ye God therefore and
obey me.

Verily, God is my Lord and your Lord; wherefore worship ye him:
this is a right way."

But the different parties18 fell into disputes among themselves;
but
woe to those who thus transgressed, because of the punishment of
an afflictive day!

For what wait they but for the hour "to come suddenly on them,
while they expect it not?"

Friends on that day shall become foes to one another, except the
God-fearing:

"O my servants! on this day shall no fear come upon you, neither
shall ye be put to grief,

Who have believed in our signs and become Muslims:

Enter ye and your wives into Paradise, delighted."

Dishes and bowls of gold shall go round unto them: there shall
they enjoy whatever their souls desire, and whatever their eyes
delight in; and therein shall ye abide for ever.

This is Paradise, which ye have received as your heritage in
recompense for your works;

Therein shall ye have fruits in abundance, of which ye shall eat.

But in the torment of Hell shall the wicked remain for ever:

It shall not be mitigated to them, and they shall be mute for
despair therein,

For it is not we who have treated them unjustly, but it was they
who were unjust to themselves.

And they shall cry: "O Malec!19 would that thy Lord would make
an end of us!" He saith: "Here must ye remain."

We have come to you with the truth (O Meccans), but most of you
abhor the truth.

Have they drawn tight their toils for thee?20 We too will tighten
ours.

Think they that we hear not their secrets and their private talk?
Yes, and our angels who are at their sides write them down.

Say: If the God of Mercy had a son, the first would I be to worship
him:

But far be the Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, the Lord of
the Throne, from that which they impute to Him!

Wherefore let them alone, to plunge on, and sport, until they meet
the day with which they are menaced.

He who is God in the Heavens is God in earth also: and He is the
Wise, the Knowing.

And Blessed be He whose is the kingdom of the Heavens and of
the
Earth and of all that is between them; for with Him is the
knowledge of the Hour, and to Him shall ye be brought back.

The gods whom they call upon beside Him shall not be able to
intercede for others: they only shall be able who bore witness to
the truth and21 knew it."

If thou ask them who hath created them, they will be sure to say,
"God." How then hold they false opinions?

And one22 saith, "O Lord! verily these are people who believe
not."

Turn thou then from them, and say, "Peace:" In the end they shall
know their folly.

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. I, p. 32.

2 Lit. it is in the Mother of the Book, i.e. the original of the Koran,
preserved before God.

3 That is, of the birth of a female.

4 Lit. which he imputeth to the God of Mercy, as his likeness.

5 To authorise angel-worship.

6 Supply, Mecca and Taief, we would have received it.

7 Lit. mercy, i.e. the gift and office of prophecy.

8 Lit. the two Easts, by which some understand the distance
between the two solstices.

9 Comp. Suras xl. 77; xxiii. 97; x. 47; xxix. 53; xxxvii. 179; xiii.
42. These passages clearly show that Muhammad had at this
period towards the close of his Meccan period full faith in his
ultimate success, and in the fulfilment of his menaces against the
unbelievers.

10 Lit. ye shall be examined in the end.

11 This verse is said (see N”ld. p. 100, n.) to have been revealed in
the temple at Jerusalem on the occasion of the night journey
thither. See also Weil's Muhammed der Prophet, p. 374.

12 Lit. sister.

13 See Sura [lxxix.] xxviii. 39, n.

14 Comp. Gen. xli. 42.

15 This was a captious objection made to Muhammad by the
idolaters of Mecca when he condemned their gods (Sura xxi. 98),
as if they had said, "Jesus is worshipped as a God by the
Christians: does he come under your anathema equally with our
idols? we shall be content for our gods to be with him."

16 That is, as we caused Jesus to be born without a human father.

17 At his return to this earth. Some refer this to the Koran as
revealing the last Hour. Lit. He (or it) is for knowledge of the
Hour.

18 Jewish and Christian sects.

19 Malec is one of the keepers of Hell, who specially presides over
the torments of the damned.

20 Lit. if they have twisted tight or set firmly the affair, i.e. their
plots against thee and the truth.

21 Or, and they (the Infidels). The Commentators say that Jesus,
Ezra, and the angels, will be allowed to intercede.

22 Muhammad.

SURA LXXII. DJINN [LXII.]

Mecca. 28 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Say: It hath been revealed to me that a company of

DJINN1 listened, and said, "Verily, we have heard a marvellous
discourse (Koran);

It guideth to the truth; wherefore we believed in it, and we will not
henceforth join any being with our Lord;

And He, may the majesty of our Lord be exalted! hath taken no
spouse neither hath he any offspring.

But the foolish among us hath spoken of God that which is unjust:

And we verily thought that no one amongst men or Djinn would
have uttered a lie against God.

There are indeed people among men, who have sought for refuge
unto people among Djinn: but they only increased their folly:

And they thought, as ye think, that God would not raise any from
the dead.

And the Heavens did we essay, but found them filled with a
mighty
garrison, and with flaming darts;

And we sat on some of the seats to listen, but whoever listeneth
findeth an ambush ready for him of flaming darts.

And truly we know not whether evil be meant for them that are on
earth, or whether their Lord meaneth guidance for them.

And there are among us good, and others among us of another
kind; we are of various sorts:

And verily we thought that no one could weaken God on earth,
neither could we escape from him by flight:

Wherefore as soon as we had heard 'the guidance' we believed in
it; and whoever believeth in his Lord, need not fear either loss or
wrong.

There are some among us who have resigned themselves to God
(the Muslims); and there are others of us who have gone astray.
And whoso resigneth himself to God pursueth the way of truth;

But they who go astray from it shall be fuel for Hell."

Moreover, if they (the Meccans) keep straight on in that way, we
will surely give them to drink of abundant waters,

That we may prove them thereby: but whoso withdraweth from the
remembrance of his Lord, him will He send into a severe torment.

It is unto God that the temples are set apart: call not then on any
other therein with God.

When the servant of God stood up to call upon Him, the djinn
almost jostled him by their crowds.

Say: I call only upon my Lord, and I join no other being with Him.

Say: No control have I over what may hurt or benefit you.

Say: Verily none can protect me against God;

Neither shall I find any refuge beside Him.

My sole work is preaching from God, and His message: and for
such as shall rebel against God and his apostle is the fire of Hell!
they shall remain therein alway, for ever!

Until they see their threatened vengeance they will be perverse!
but then shall they know which side was the weakest in a protector
and the fewest in number.

Say: I know not whether that with which ye are threatened be nigh,
or whether my Lord hath assigned it to a distant day: He knoweth
the secret, nor doth He divulge his secret to any,

Except to that Apostle who pleaseth Him; and before him and
behind him He maketh a guard to march:

That He may know if his Apostles have verily delivered the
messages of their Lord: and He embraceth in his knowledge all
their ways, and taketh count of all that concerneth them.

_______________________

1 This interview with the Djinn took place at Nakhla, probably the
"Wady Mohram" of Burckhardt, midway between Mecca and
Ta‹ef, when Muhammad was driven from Mecca. A.D. 620.

SURA LXVII. THE KINGDOM [LXIII.]

Mecca. 30 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Blessed be He is whose hand is the KINGDOM! and over all
things is He potent:

Who hath created death and life to prove which of you will be
most
righteous in deed; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving!

Who hath created seven Heavens one above another: No defect
canst thou see in the creation of the God of Mercy: Repeat the
gaze: seest thou a single flaw?

Then twice more repeat the gaze: thy gaze shall return to thee
dulled and weary.

Moreover we have decked the lowest heaven with lights, and have
placed them there to be hurled at the Satans, for whom we have
prepared the torment of the flaming fire.

And for those who believe not in their Lord is the torment of Hell;
and horrid the journey thither!

When they shall be thrown into it, they shall hear it braying:1 and
it shall boil

Almost shall it burst for fury. So oft as a crowd shall be thrown
into it, its keepers shall ask them, "Came not the warner to you?"

They shall say, Yes! there came to us one charged with warnings;
but we treated him as a liar, and said, "Nothing hath God sent
down: ye are in nothing but a vast delusion."

And they shall say, "Had we but hearkened or understood, we had
not been among the dwellers in the flames;"

And their sin shall they acknowledge: but, "Avaunt, ye dwellers in
the flame."

But pardon and a great reward for those who fear their Lord in
secret!

Be your converse hidden or open, He truly knoweth the inmost
recess of your breasts!

What! shall He not know who hath created? for He is the Subtil,2
the Cognizant.

It is He who hath made the earth level for you: traverse then its
broad sides, and eat of what He hath provided. Unto Him shall
be the resurrection.

What! are ye sure that He who is in Heaven will not cleave the
Earth beneath you? And lo, it shall quake.

Or are ye sure that He who is in Heaven will not send against you
a stone-charged whirlwind? Then shall ye know what my warning
meant!

And verily, those who flourish before you treated their prophets as
liars: and how grievous my wrath!

Behold they not the birds over their heads, outstretching and
drawing in their wings? None, save the God of Mercy, upholdeth
them: for he regardeth all things.

Who is he that can be as an army to you, to succour you, except
the God of Mercy? Truly, the infidels are in the merest delusion.

Or who is he that will furnish you supplies, if He withhold His
supplies? Yet do they persist in pride and in fleeing from Him!

Is he who goeth along grovelling on his face, better guided than he
who goeth upright on a straight path?

Say: It is He who hath brought you forth, and gifted you with
hearing and sight and heart: yet how few are grateful!

Say: It is He who hath sown you in the earth, and to Him shall ye
be gathered.

And they say, "When shall this threat be put in force, if ye speak
the truth?"

Say: Nay truly, this knowledge is with God alone: and I am only
an open warner.

But when they shall see it nigh, sad shall wax the countenances of
the infidels: and it shall be said, "This is what ye have been
calling for."

Say: What think ye? Whether God destroy me or not, and those
who follow me, or whether he have mercy on us, yet who will
protect the infidels from a woeful torment?

Say: He is the God of Mercy: in Him do we believe, and in Him
put we our trust; and ye shall know hereafter who is in a manifest
error.

Say: What think ye? If at early morn your waters shall have sunk
away, who then will give you clear running water?

_______________________

1 Thus Shakespeare uses the word braying of clamours of Hell;
and Milton speaks of braying horrible discord. Comp. Sura xxv.
12-21.

2 Der alles durchdringt. Ullm.; perspicax. Mar.; sagacious. Sale.
The primary meaning of the Arabic root is to draw near; hence the
above signification, in the sense of God's presence as
interpenetrating all things: hence also the other sense of benign,
as in Sura [lxxxiii.] xlii. 18.

SURA XXIII. THE BELIEVERS [LXIV.]

Mecca.1 118 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Happy now the BELIEVERS,
Who humble them in their prayer,
And who keep aloof from vain words,2
And who are doers of alms deeds,
And who restrain their appetites,
(Save with their wives, or the slaves whom their right hands
possess: for in that case they shall be free from blame:
But they whose desires reach further than this are transgressors:)
And who tend well their trusts and their covenants,
And who keep them strictly to their prayers:
These shall be the heritors,
Who shall inherit the paradise, to abide therein for ever.
Now of fine clay have we created man:
Then we placed him, a moist germ,3 in a safe abode;

Then made we the moist germ a clot of blood: then made the
clotted blood into a piece of flesh; then made the piece of flesh
into bones: and we clothed the bones with flesh: then brought forth
man of yet another make4 Blessed therefore be God, the most
excellent of Makers5

Then after this ye shall surely die:

Then shall ye be waked up on the day of resurrection.

And we have created over you seven heavens:6 and we are not
careless of the creation.

And we send down water from the Heaven in its due degree, and
we cause it to settle on the earth; and we have power for its
withdrawal:

And by it we cause gardens of palm trees, and vineyards to spring
forth for you, in which ye have plenteous fruits, and whereof ye
eat;

And the tree that groweth up on Mount Sinai; which yieldeth oil
and a juice for those who eat.

And there is a lesson for you in the cattle: We give you to drink of
what is in their bellies, and many advantages do ye derive from
them, and for food they serve you;

And on them and on ships are ye borne.

We sent Noah heretofore unto his people, and he said, "O my
people! serve God: ye have no other God than He: will ye not
therefore fear Him?

But the chiefs of the people who believed not said, "This is but a
man like yourselves: he fain would raise himself above you: but
had it pleased God to send, He would have sent angels: We heard
not of this with our sires of old;

Verily he is but a man possessed; leave him alone therefore for a
time."

He said, "O my Lord! help me against their charge of imposture."

So we revealed unto him, "Make the ark under our eye, and as we
have taught, and when our doom shall come on, and the earth's
surface shall boil up,7

Carry into it of every kind a pair, and thy family, save him on
whom sentence hath already passed: and plead not with me for the
wicked, for they shall be drowned.

And when thou, and they who shall be with thee, shall go up into
the ark; say, 'Praise be unto God, who hath rescued us from the
wicked folk.'

And say, 'O my Lord! disembark me with a blessed disembarking:
for thou art the best to disembark."'

Verily in this were signs, and verily we made proof of man.

We then raised up other generations after them;

And we sent among them an apostle from out themselves, with,
"Worship ye God! ye have no other God than He: will ye not
therefore fear Him?"

And the chiefs of His people who believed not, and who deemed
the meeting with us in the life to come to be a lie, and whom we
had richly supplied in this present life, said, "This is but a man
like yourselves; he eateth of what ye eat,

And he drinketh of what ye drink:

And if ye obey a man like yourselves, then ye will surely be
undone.

What! doth he foretell you, that after ye shall be dead and become
dust and bones, ye shall be brought forth?

Away, away with his predictions!

There is no life beyond our present life; we die, and we live, and
we shall not be quickened again!

This is merely a man who forgeth a lie about God: and we will not
believe him."

He said, "O my Lord! help me against this charge of imposture."

He said, "Yet a little, and they will soon repent them!"

Then did the shout of the destroying angel in justice surprise them,
we made them like leaves swept down by a torrent. Away then
with
the wicked people!

Then raised we up other generations after them

Neither too soon, nor too late, shall a people reach its appointed
time

Then sent we our apostles one after another. Oft as their apostle
presented himself to a nation, they treated him as a liar; and we
caused one nation to follow another; and we made them the
burden of a tale. Away then with the people who believe not!

Then sent we Moses and his brother Aaron, with our signs and
manifest power,

To Pharaoh and his princes; but they behaved them proudly, for
they were a haughty people.

And they said, "Shall we believe on two men like ourselves, whose
people are our slaves?"

And they treated them both as impostors; wherefore they became
of the destroyed.

And we gave Moses the Book for Israel's guidance.

And we appointed the Son of Mary, and His mother for a sign; and
we prepared an abode for both in a lofty spot,8 quiet, and watered
with springs.

"O ye apostles! eat of things that are good: and do that which is
right: of your doings I am cognisant.

And truly this your religion is the one religion;9 and I am your
Lord: therefore fear me."

But men have rent their great concern, one among another, into
sects; every party rejoicing in that which is their own;

Wherefore leave them till a certain time, in their depths of error.

What! think they that what we largely, bestow on them of wealth
and children,

We hasten to them for their good? Nay, they have no knowledge.

But they who are awed with the dread of their Lord,

And who believe in the signs of their Lord,

And who join no other gods with their Lord,

And who give that which they give with hearts thrilled with dread
because they must return unto their Lord,

These hasten after good, and are the first to win it.

We will not burden a soul beyond its power: and with us is a book,
which speaketh the truth; and they shall not be wronged:

But as to this Book, their hearts are plunged in error, and their
works are far other than those of Muslims, and they will work
those works,

Until when we lay hold on their affluent ones with punishment; lo!
they cry for help:

"Cry not for help this day, for by Us ye shall not be succoured:

Long since were my signs rehearsed to you, but ye turned back on
your heels,

Puffed up with pride, discoursing foolishly by night."

Do they not then heed the things spoken whether that hath come
to them which came not to their fathers of old?

Or do they not recognise their apostle; and therefore disavow
him?

Or say they, "A Djinn is in him?" Nay! he hath come to them with
the truth; but the truth do most of them abhor.

But if the truth had followed in the train of their desires, the
heavens and the earth, and all that therein is, had surely come to
ruin! But we have brought them their warning; and from their
warning they withdraw.

Dost thou ask them for remuneration? But, remuneration from thy
Lord is best; and He is the best provider.

And thou indeed biddest them to the right path;

But verily they who believe not in the life to come, from that path
do surely wander!

And if we had taken compassion on them, and relieved them from
their trouble, they would have plunged on in their wickedness,
wildly wandering.10

We formerly laid hold on them with chastisement, yet they did not
humble them to their Lord, nor did they abase them;

Until, when we have opened upon them the door of a severe
punishment, lo! they are in despair at it.

It is He who hath implanted in you hearing, and sight, and heart;
how few of you give thanks!

It is He who hath caused you to be born on the earth: and unto
Him shall ye be gathered.

And it is He who maketh alive and killeth, and of Him is the
change of the night and of the day: Will ye not understand?

But they say, as said those of old:

They say,"What! When we shall be dead, and have become dust
and bones, shall we, indeed, be waked to life?

This have we been promised, we and our fathers aforetime: but it
is only fables of the ancients."

SAY: Whose is the earth, and all that is therein; if ye know?

They will answer, "God's." SAY: Will ye not, then reflect?

SAY: Who is the Lord of the seven heavens, and the Lord of the
glorious throne?

They will say, "They are God's". SAY: Will ye not, then, fear
Him?

SAY: In whose hand is the empire of all things, who protecteth but
is not protected? if ye know:

They will answer, "In God's." SAY: How, then, can ye be so
spell-bound?

Yea, we have brought them the truth; but they are surely liars:

God hath not begotten offspring; neither is there any other God
with Him: else had each god assuredly taken away that which he
had created,11 and some had assuredly uplifted themselves above
others! Far from the glory of God, be what they affirm of Him!

He knoweth alike the unseen and the seen: far be He uplifted
above the gods whom they associate with Him!

SAY: O my Lord! If thou wilt let me witness the infliction of that
with which they have been threatened!

O my Lord! place me not among the ungodly people.

Verily, we are well able to make thee see the punishment with
which we have threatened them.

Turn aside evil with that which is better: we best know what they
utter against thee.

And SAY: "O my Lord! I betake me to Thee, against the
promptings of the Satans:

And I betake me to Thee, O my Lord! that they gain no hurtful
access to me."

When death overtaketh one of the wicked, he saith, "Lord, send me
back again,

That I may do the good which I have left undone."12 "By no
means." These are the very words which he shall speak:

But behind them shall be a barrier, until the day when they shall
be raised again.

And when the trumpet shall be sounded, the ties of kindred
between them shall cease on that day; neither shall they ask each
other's help.

They whose balances shall be heavy, shall be the blest.

But they whose balances shall be light, these are they who shall
lose their souls, abiding in hell for ever:

The fire shall scorch their faces, and their lips shall quiver
therein:

"What! Were not my signs rehearsed unto you? and did ye not
treat them as lies?"

They shall say, "O our Lord! our ill-fortune prevailed against us,
and we became an erring people.

O our Lord! Bring us forth hence: if we go back again to our sins,
we shall indeed be evil doers."

He will say; "Be ye driven down into it; and, address me not."

A part truly of my servants was there, who said, "O our Lord! we
believe: forgive us, then, and be merciful to us, for of the merciful
art thou the best."

But ye received them with such scoffs that they suffered you to
forget my warning, and ye laughed them to scorn.

Verily this day will I reward then, for their patient endurance: the
blissful ones shall they be!

He will say, "What number of years tarried ye on earth?"

They will say, "We tarried a day, or part of a day;13 but ask the
recording angels."14

God will say, "Short indeed was the time ye tarried, if that ye
knew it.

What! Did ye then think that we had created you for pastime, and
that ye should not be brought back again to us?" Wherefore let
God be exalted, the King, the Truth! There is no god but He! Lord
of the stately throne! And whoso, together with God, shall call on
another god, for whom he hath no proof, shall surely have to give
account to his Lord. Aye, it shall fare ill with the infidels.

And SAY: "O my Lord, pardon, and have mercy; for of those who
show mercy, art thou the best."

_______________________

1 This Sura is said by Wahidi Intr, and by Assuy–ti, 55, to be the
last Meccan revelation. But there seems to be no reason for this
opinion.

2 In prayer. Eccl. v. I; Matt. vi. 7. But it may be understood of idle
talk generally.

3 See Sura xxii. 5, n.

4 That is, a perfect man at last, composed of soul and body. The
verb halaka, to create, is used throughout, for which I have
necessarily substituted to make, in order to retain the same word
throughout the verse.

5 These words are said by most commentators on Sura vi. 93, to
have been uttered by Muhammad's scribe, Abdallah, on hearing
the previous part of this verse, and to have been adopted by the
prophet, at the same moment, as identical with his own
inspirations.

6 Lit. seven paths a Talmudic expression.

7 See Sura [lxxv.] xi. 42, n.

8 Comp. Sura xix. 22 ff., p. 119. Wahl understands this passage of
Paradise.

9 Comp. Sura xxi. 92, p. 157.

10 There is no reliable tradition as to the nature of the visitation
here alluded to.

11 That is, each would have formed a separate and independent
kingdom.

12 Or, in the (world) which I have left.

13 That is, our past life seems brevity itself in comparison with
eternal torment.

14 Lit. those who number, or keep account, i.e. our torments
distract us too much to allow us to compute.

SURA XXI. THE PROPHETS [LXV.]

MECCA. 112 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

THIS people's reckoning hath drawn nigh, yet, sunk in
carelessness, they turn aside.

Every fresh warning that cometh to them from their Lord they only
hear to mock it,

Their hearts set on lusts: and they who have done this wrong say
in secret discourse, "Is He more than a man like yourselves?
What! will ye, with your eyes open,1 accede to sorcery?"

SAY: "My Lord knoweth what is spoken in the heaven and on the
earth: He is the Hearer, the Knower."

"Nay," say they, "it is the medley of dreams: nay, he hath forged
it: nay, he is a poet: let him come to us with a sign as the prophets
of old were sent."

Before their time, none of the cities which we have destroyed,
believed: will these men, then, believe?

And we sent none, previous to thee, but men to whom we had
revealed ourselves. Ask ye the people who are warned by
Scriptures,2 if ye know it not.

We gave them not bodies which could dispense with food: and
they
were not to live for ever.

Then made we good our promise to them; and we delivered them
and whom we pleased, and we destroyed the transgressors.

And now have we sent down to you "the book," in which is your
warning: What, will ye not then understand?

And how many a guilty city have we broken down, and raised up
after it other peoples:

And when they felt our vengeance, lo! they fled from it.

"Flee not," said the angels in mockery, "but come back to that
wherein ye revelled, and to your abodes! Questions will haply be
put to you."

They said, "Oh, woe to us! Verily we have been evil doers."

And this ceased not to be their cry, until we made them like reaped
corn, extinct.

We created not the heaven and the earth, and what is between
them, for sport:

Had it been our wish to find a pastime, we had surely found it in
ourselves; if to do so had been our will.

Nay, we will hurl the truth at falsehood, and it shall smite it, and
lo! it shall vanish. But woe be to you for what ye utter of God!

All beings in the heaven and on the earth are His: and they who
are in his presence disdain not his service, neither are they
wearied:

They praise Him night and day: they rest not.3

Have they taken gods from the earth who can quicken the dead?

Had there been in either heaven or earth gods besides God, both
surely had gone to ruin. But glory be to God, the Lord of the
throne, beyond what they utter!

He shall not be asked of his doings, but they shall be asked.

Have they taken other gods beside Him? Say; Bring forth your
proofs that they are gods. This is the warning of those who are
with me, and the warning of those who were before me: but most
of them know not the truth, and turn aside.

No apostle have we sent before thee to whom we did not reveal
that "Verily there is no God beside me: therefore worship me."

Yet they say, "The God of Mercy hath begotten issue from the
angels." Glory be to Him! Nay, they are but His honoured
servants:

They speak not till He hath spoken;4 and they do His bidding.

He knoweth what is before them and what is behind them; and no
plea shall they offer

Save for whom He pleaseth; and they tremble for fear of Him.

And that angel among them who saith "I am a god beside Him,"
will we recompense with hell: in such sort will we recompense the
offenders.

Do not the infidels see that the heavens and the earth were both a
solid mass, and that we clave them asunder, and that by means of
water we give life to everything? Will they not then believe?

And we set mountains on the earth lest it should move with them,
and we made on it broad passages between them as routes for
their guidance;

And we made the heaven a roof strongly upholden; yet turn they
away from its signs.

And He it is who hath created the night and the day, and the sun
and the moon, each moving swiftly in its sphere.

At no time 5 have we granted to man a life that shall last for ever:
if thou then die, shall they live for ever?

Every soul shall taste of death:6 and for trial will we prove you
with evil and with good; and unto Us shall ye be brought back.

And when the infidels see thee they receive thee only with
scoffs: "What! is this he who maketh such mention of your
gods?" Yet when mention is made to them of the God of Mercy,
they believe not.

"Man," say they, "is made up of haste."7 But I will shew you my
signs:8 desire them not then to be hastened.

They say, "When will this threat be made good? Tell us, if ye be
men of truth?"

Did the infidels but know the time when they shall not be able to
keep the fire of hell from their faces or from their backs, neither
shall they be helped!

But it shall come on them suddenly and shall confound them; and
they shall not be able to put it back, neither shall they be respited.

Other apostles have been scoffed at before thee: but that doom at
which they mocked encompassed the scoffers.

Say: Who shall protect you by night and by day from the God of
Mercy? Yet turn they away from the warning of their Lord.

Have they gods beside Us who can defend them? For their own
succour have they no power; neither shall the gods they join with
God screen them from Us.

Yes! we have given these men and their fathers enjoyments so long
as their life lasted. What! see they not that we come to a land and
straiten its borders9 Is it they who are the conquerors?

SAY: I only warn you of what hath been revealed to me: but the
deaf will not hear the call, whenever they are warned;

Yet if a breath of thy Lord's chastisement touch them, they will
assuredly say, "Oh! woe to us! we have indeed been offenders."

Just balances will we set up for the day of the resurrection, neither
shall any soul be wronged in aught; though, were a work but the
weight of a grain of mustard seed, we would bring it forth to be
weighed: and our reckoning will suffice.

We gave of old to Moses and Aaron the illumination,10 and a light
and a warning for the God-fearing,

Who dread their Lord in secret, and who tremble for "the Hour."

And this Koran which we have sent down is a blessed warning:
will ye then disown it?

Of old we gave unto Abraham his direction,11 for we knew him
worthy.

When he said to his Father and to his people, "What are these
images to which ye are devoted?"

They said, "We found our fathers worshipping them."

He said, "Truly ye and your fathers have been in a plain mistake."

They said, "Hast thou come unto us in earnest? or art thou of
those who jest?"

He said, "Nay, your Lord is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth,
who hath created them both; and to this am I one of those who
witness:

And, by God, I will certainly lay a plot against your idols, after
ye shall have retired and turned your backs."

So, he broke them all in pieces, except the chief of them, that to it
they might return, inquiring.

They said, "Who hath done this to our gods? Verily he is one of
the unjust."

They said, "We heard a youth make mention of them: they call him
Abraham."

They said, "Then bring him before the people's eyes, that they may
witness against him."

They said, "Hast thou done this to our gods, O Abraham?"

He said, "Nay, that their chief hath done it: but ask ye them, if
they can speak."

So they turned their thoughts upon themselves, and said, "Ye truly
are the impious persons:"

Then became headstrong in their former error12 and
exclaimed,"Thou knowest that these speak not."

He said, "What! do ye then worship, instead of God, that which
doth not profit you at all, nor injure you? Fie on you and on that
ye worship instead of God! What! do ye not then understand?"

They said:13 "Burn him, and come to the succour of your gods: if
ye will do anything at all."

We said, "O fire! be thou cold, and to Abraham a safety!"14

And they sought to lay a plot against him, but we made them the
sufferers.

And we brought him and Lot in safety to the land which we have
blessed for all human beings:

And we gave him Isaac and Jacob as a farther gift, and we made
all of them righteous:

We also made them models who should guide others by our
command, and we inspired them with good deeds and constancy in
prayer and almsgiving, and they worshipped us.

And unto Lot we gave wisdom, and knowledge; and we rescued
him from the city which wrought filthiness; for they were a people,
evil, perverse:

And we caused him to enter into our mercy, for he was of the
righteous.

And remember Noah when aforetime he cried to us and we heard
him, and delivered him and his family from the great calamity;

And we helped him against the people who treated our signs as
impostures. An evil people verily were they, and we drowned them
all.

And David and Solomon; when they gave judgment concerning a
field when some people's sheep had caused a waste therein; and
we were witnesses of their judgment.

And we gave Solomon insight into the affair; and on both of them
we bestowed wisdom and knowledge. And we constrained the
mountains and the birds to join with David in our praise: Our
doing was it!

And we taught David the art of making mail15 for you, to defend
you from each other's violence: will ye therefore be thankful?

And to Solomon we subjected we subjected the strongly blowing
wind; it sped at his bidding to the land we had blessed; for we
know all things:

And sundry Satans16 who should dive for him and perform other
work beside: and we kept watch over them.

And remember Job: When he cried to his Lord, "Truly evil hath
touched me: but thou art the most merciful of those who shew
mercy."

So we heard him, and lightened the burden of his woe; and we
gave him back his family, and as many more with them, a mercy
from us, and a memorial for those who serve us:

And Ismael, and Edris17 and Dhoulkefl18 all steadfast in patience.

And we caused them to enter into our mercy; for they were of the
righteous:

And Dhoulnoun; 19 when he went on his way in anger, and
thought
that we had no power over him. But in the darkness he cried
"There is no God but thou: Glory be unto Thee! Verily, I have
been one of the evil doers:"

So we heard him and rescued him from misery: for thus rescue we
the faithful:

And Zacharias; when he called upon his Lord saying, "O my Lord,
leave me not childless: but there is no better heir than Thyself."20

So we heard him, and gave him John, and we made his wife fit for
child-bearing. Verily, these vied in goodness, and called upon us
with love and fear, and humbled themselves before us:

And her who kept her maidenhood, and into whom 21 we breathed
of our spirit, and made her and her son a sign to all creatures.

Of a truth, this, your religion, is the one 22 Religion, and I your
Lord; therefore serve me:

But they have rent asunder this their great concern among
themselves into sects. All of them shall return to us.

And whoso shall do the things that are right, and be a believer, his
efforts shall not be disowned: and surely will we write them down
for him.

There is a ban on every city which we shall have destroyed, that
they shall not rise again,

Until a way is opened for Gog and Magog,23 and they shall hasten
from every high land,

And this sure promise shall draw on. And lo! the eyes of the
infidels shall stare amazedly; and they shall say, "Oh, our misery!
of this were we careless! yea, we were impious persons."

Verily, ye, and what ye worship beside God,24 shall be fuel for
hell: ye shall go down into it.

Were these gods, they would not go down into it; but they shall all
abide in it for ever.

Therein shall they groan; but nought therein shall they hear to
comfort them.

But they for whom we have before ordained good things, shall be
far away from it:

Its slightest sound they shall not hear: in what their souls longed
for, they shall abide for ever:

The great terror shall not trouble them; and the angel shall meet
them with, "This is your day which ye were promised."

On that day we will roll up the heaven as one rolleth up25 written
scrolls. As we made the first creation, so will we bring it forth
again. This promise bindeth us; verily, we will perform it.

And now, since the Law was given, have we written in the Psalms
that "my servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth."26

Verily, in this Koran is teaching for those who serve God.

We have not sent thee otherwise than as mercy unto all creatures.

SAY: Verily it hath been revealed to me that your God is one God;
are ye then resigned to Him? (Muslims.)

But if they turn their backs, then SAY: I have warned you all alike;
but I know not whether that with which ye are threatened be nigh
or distant.

God truly knoweth what is spoken aloud, and He also knoweth that
which ye hide.

And I know not whether haply this delay be not for your trial, and
that ye may enjoy yourselves for a time.

My Lord saith: Judge ye with truth; for our Lord is the God of
Mercy whose help is to be sought against what ye utter.

_______________________

1 Lit. while ye see it to be such.

2 Lit. the people or family of the admonition. Itq. 34 considers this
verse to have been revealed at Medina.

3 Or, they invent not (concerning Him). Comp. Rev. iv. 8.

4 Lit. they precede him not in speech.

5 Lit. before thee, which might seem to imply that the grant of
immortality had been made to Muhammad. I have therefore
rendered, as in the text, to avoid the ambiguity. Comp. Suras
[xcvii.] iii. 182; [lxxxi.] xxix. 57, and Weil's Life of Mohammad,
p.
350.

6 Comp. Matt. xvi. 28; Heb. ii. 9. Hist. Josephi Fabr. Lign. c. 22 at
the end.

7 See the index under the word Man. The Rabbins teach that man
was created with innate evil propensities. See Schr der's Talm.
Rabb.- Judenthum, p. 378.
8 That is, my teaching as to the future lot of the infidels, etc.

9 Muhammad appeals to the rapid progress of Islam as a proof of
his divine mission.

10 Ar. furquan a derived by Muhammad from the Jews,
constantly used in the Talmud, and meaning as in Syr. and ‘th.
deliverance, liberation. Thus, Sura viii. 29, 42, and hence,
illumination, revelation, generally. The usual interpretation here
and in other passages is the distinction, i.e. between good and evil,
lawful and unlawful. The title is applied to the Koran and
Pentateuch alike.

11 This story is taken in part verbatim from Midr. Rabbah on Gen.
par. 17. See also Schalscheleth Hakabala, 2; Maimon de Idol. ch.
1; and Yad Hachazakah, vii. 6, who makes Abraham in his 40th
year renounce star-worship, break images, escape the wrath of
the king by a miracle, and preach that there is one God of the
whole universe.

12 Lit. sie neigten sich nach ihren Kopfen. They were turned down
upon their heads. Ullm. and Sale in notes. But Ullm. in the text,
verfielen sie wieder in ihren Aberglauben.

13 The Rabbins make Nimrod to have been the persecutor of
Abraham. Comp. Targ. Jon. on Gen. xv. 7. Tr. Bava Bathra, fol. 91
a. Maimon. More Nevochim, iii. 29. Weil, Legenden, p. 74.
14 Or, let peace be upon Abraham. Comp. Targ. Jon. on Gen. xi.
28, from the mistranslation of which this legend took its rise, the
word ur in Heb. meaning fire. See also Targ. Jon. on. Gen. xv. 7.
The legend was adopted by some of the Eastern Christians; and
commemorated in the Syrian Calendar on Jan. 29. (Hyde de Rel.
V. Pers. 74). Comp. the Abyssinian Calendar on Jan. 25. (Ludolf.
Hist. p. 409).

15 It has been observed that the blacksmith has ever been looked
upon with awe by barbarians on the same principle that made
Vulcan a deity. In Abyssinia all artisans are Budah, sorcerers,
especially the blacksmith, and he is a social outcast, as among the
Somal; Throughout the rest of El-Islam, the blacksmith is
respected as treading in the path of David, the father of the craft.
Burton. First Footsteps in E. Africa, p. 33. The numerous wars in
which David was engaged, may have given rise to the myth of his
being the inventor of mail.

16 See Sura xxxviii. 37, p. 127.

17 See Sura xix. 55, 6, p. 121.

18 The man of the lot of portion. Or, of care, support. According to
some Elias, as others say, Isaiah. It is more probable, however,
that he is he Obadiah of 1 Kings xviii. 4, who supported 100
prophets in the cave, or Ezechiel, who is called Kephil by the
Arabs. See Niebuhr, Travels, ii. 265.

19 The man of the fish Jonah.

20 See Suras [xcvii.] iii. 33; xix. p. 117, for the story of Zacharias
in full. The concluding sentence of this clause is obscure. It
probably means that even if no heir were vouchsafed to Zacharias,
yet since God will be the heir of all things he would take Zacharias
to himself and thus abundantly recompense him. See Sura [lxxix.]
xxviii. 58.

21 See Sura [cix.] lxvi. 12. It is quite clear from these two
passages that Muhammad believed in the Immaculate and
miraculous conception of Jesus.

22 That is, identical with that of the previous prophets, etc.

23 See Sura [lxix.] xviii. 93. Thus, the ancient Jewish and
Christian legend connects Gog and Magog with the end of the
world. Rev. xx. 8. Pseudojon on Lev. xxvi. 44. Comp. Numb. xi.
27.
Gog, however, is probably the mountain Ghef or Ghogh (see
Reinegg's Beschreib. der Caucasus, ii. 79) and the syllable Ma in
Magog, the Sanscrit mah, maha great.

24 "Whenever a people is punished (for idolatry) the beings
honoured by them as gods, shall also be punished, for so it is
written, on all the gods also of Egypt will I inflict judgments."
(Sakkah, 29.)

25 Ar. Sidjill, which is supposed by some to be the name of the
angel who writes down the actions of every man's life upon a
scroll, which is rolled up at his death (comp. Isai. xxxiv. 4); by
others, to be the name of one of Muhammad's secretaries.

26 Ps. xxxvii. 29. This is the only text quoted in the Koran.

SURA XXV. AL FURKAN [LXVI.]

MECCA. 77 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

BLESSED be He who hath sent down AL FURKAN1 (the
illumination) on his servant, that to all creatures he may be a
warner.

His the Kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! No son hath He
begotten! No partner hath He in his Empire! All things hath He
created, and decreeing hath decreed their destinies.

Yet have they adopted gods beside Him which have created
nothing, but were themselves created:

And no power have they over themselves for evil or for good, nor
have they power of death, or of life, or of raising the dead.

And the infidels say, "This Koran is a mere fraud of his own
devising, and others have helped him with it,2 who had come
hither
by outrage and lie."3

And they say, "Tales of the ancients that he hath put in writing!
and they were dictated to him morn and even."

SAY: He hath sent it down who knoweth the secrets of the
Heavens
and of the Earth. He truly is the Gracious, the Merciful.

And they say, "What sort of apostle is this? He eateth food and he
walketh the streets! Unless an angel be sent down and take part in
his warnings,

Or a treasure be thrown down to him, or he have a garden that
supplieth him with food "4 and those unjust persons say, "Ye
follow but a man enchanted."

See what likenesses they strike out for thee! But they err, and
cannot find their way.

Blessed be He who if he please can give thee better than that of
which they speak Gardens, 'neath which the rivers flow: and
pavilions will He assign thee.

Aye, they have treated the coming of "the Hour" as a lie. But a
flaming fire have we got ready for those who treat the coming of
the Hour as a lie.

When it shall see them from afar, they shall hear its raging and
roaring,

And when they shall be flung into a narrow space thereof bound
together, they shall invoke destruction on the spot:

"Call not this day for one destruction, but call for destructions
many."

SAY: Is this, or the Paradise of Eternity which was promised to the
God-fearing, best? Their recompense shall it be and their retreat;

Abiding therein for ever, they shall have in it all that they desire!
It is a promise to be claimed of thy Lord.

And on the day when he shall gather them together, and those
whom they worshipped beside God, he will say, "Was it ye who
led
these my servants astray, or of themselves strayed they from the
path?"

They will say, "Glory be to thee! It beseemed not us to take other
lords than thee. But thou gavest them and their fathers their fill of
good things, till they forgat the remembrance of thee, and became
a lost people."

Then will God say to the Idolaters, "Now have they made you liars
in what ye say,5 and they have no power to avert your doom, or to
succour you."

And whosoever of you thus offendeth, we will make him taste a
great punishment.

Never have we sent Apostles before thee who ate not common
food, and walked not the streets. And we test you by means of each
other. Will ye be steadfast? Thy Lord is looking on!

They who look not forward to meet Us say, "If the angels be not
sent down to us, or unless we behold our Lord. " Ah! they are
proud of heart, and exceed with great excess!

On the day when they shall see the angels, no good news shall
there be for the guilty ones, and they shall cry out, "A barrier that
cannot be passed!"6

Then will we proceed to the works which they have wrought, and
make them as scattered dust.

Happier, on that day, the inmates of the Garden as to abode, and
better off as to place of noontide slumber!

On that day shall the heaven with its clouds be cleft, and the
angels shall be sent down, descending:

On that day shall all empire be in very deed with the God of
Mercy, and a hard day shall it be for the Infidels.

And on that day shall the wicked one7 bite his hands, and say,
"Oh! would that I had taken the same path with the Apostle!

"Oh! woe is me! would that I had not taken such an one8 for my
friend!

It was he who led me astray from the Warning which had reached
me! and Satan is man's betrayer."9

Then said the Apostle, "O my Lord! truly my people have
esteemed
this Koran to be vain babbling."

Thus have we given to every Prophet an enemy from among the
wicked ones But thy Lord is a sufficient guide and helper.

And the infidels say, "Unless the Koran be sent down to him all at
once. " But in this way would we stablish thy heart by it; in
parcels have we parcelled it out to thee;10

Nor shall they come to thee with puzzling questions,11 but we will
come to thee with the truth, and their best solution.

They who shall be gathered upon their faces into hell, shall have
the worst place, and be farthest from the path of happiness.

Heretofore we gave the law to Moses, and appointed his brother
Aaron to be his counsellor:12

And we said, "Go ye to the people who treat our signs as lies."
And them destroyed we with utter destruction.

And as to the people of Noah! when they treated their Apostles as
impostors, we drowned them; and we made them a sign to
mankind: A grievous chastisement have we prepared for the
wicked!

And Ad and Themoud, and the men of Rass,13 and divers
generations between them:

Unto each of them did we set forth parables for warnings, and
each of them did we utterly exterminate.

Oft are this have the unbelieving Meccans passed by the city on
which was rained a fatal rain. What! Have they not seen it? Yet
have they no hope of a resurrection!

And when they see thee, they do but take thee as the subject of
their railleries. "What! Is this he whom God has sent as an
Apostle?

Indeed he had well nigh led us astray from our gods, had we not
persevered steadfastly in their service." But in the end they shall
know, when they shall see the punishment, who hath most strayed
from the path.

What thinkest thou? He who hath taken his passions as a god wilt
thou be a guardian over him?

Thinkest thou that the greater part of them hear or understand?
They are just like the brutes! Yes! they stray even further from the
right way.

Hast thou not seen how thy Lord lengtheneth out the shadow?14
Had He pleased he had made it motionless.15 But we made the sun
to be its guide;

Then draw it in unto Us with easy indrawing.

He it is who ordaineth the night as a garment, and sleep for rest,
and ordaineth the day for waking up to life:

He it is who sendeth the winds as the forerunner of his mercy
(rain); and pure water send we down from Heaven,

That we may revive by it a dead land: and we give it for drink to
our creation, beasts and men in numbers;

And we distribute it among them on all sides, that they may
reflect:
but most men refuse to be aught but thankless.

Had we pleased, we had raised up a warner in every city.

Give not way therefore to the Infidels, but by means of this Koran
strive against them with a mighty strife.

And He it is who hath let loose the two seas,16 the one sweet,
fresh;
and the other salt, bitter; and hath put an interspace between
them, and a barrier that cannot be passed.

And it is He who hath created man of water,17 and established
between them the ties of kindred and affinity: and potent is thy
Lord.

Yet beside God do they worship what can neither help nor hurt
them: and the Infidel is Satan's helper against his Lord:

Still we have sent thee only as a herald and a warner.

SAY: I ask of you no recompense for it,18 except from him who is
willing to take the way to his Lord.

And put thou thy trust in Him that liveth and dieth not, and
celebrate his praise; (He fully knoweth the faults of his servants)
who in six days created the Heavens and the Earth, and whatever
is between them, then mounted his Throne: the God of Mercy! Ask
now of the Wise concerning Him.

But when it is said to them, "Bow down before the God of Mercy,"
they say, "Who is the God of Mercy? Shall we bow down to what
thou biddest?" And they fly from thee the more.

Blessed be He who hath placed in the Heaven the sign of the
Zodiac!19 who hath placed in it the Lamp of the Sun, and the
light-giving Moon!

And it is He who hath ordained the night and the day to succeed
one another for those who desire to think on God or desire to be
thankful.

And the servants of the God of Mercy are they who walk upon the
Earth softly; and when the ignorant20 address them, they reply,
"Peace!"

They that pass the night in the worship of their lord prostrate and
standing:

And that say, "O our Lord! turn away from us the torment of Hell,
for its torment is endless: it is indeed an ill abode and resting
place!

Those who when they spend are neither lavish nor niggard, but
keep the mean:

Those who call on no other gods with God, nor slay whom God
hath forbidden to be slain, except for a just cause, and who commit
not fornication (for he who doth this shall meet the reward of his
wickedness:

Doubled to him shall be the torment on the day of Resurrection;
and in it shall he remain, disgraced, for ever:

Save those who shall repent and believe and do righteous
works for them God will change their evil things into good
things, for God is Gracious, Merciful

And whose turneth to God and doeth what is right, he verily will
convert with a true conversion):

And they who bear not witness to that which is false, and when
they pass by frivolous sport, pass on with dignity:

And they who, when monished by the signs of their Lord, fall not
down thereat, as if deaf and blind:

And who say, "O our Lord! give us in our wives and offspring the
joy of our eyes, and make us examples to those who fear thee:"

These shall be rewarded with the High Places of Paradise for their
steadfast endurance, and they shall meet therein with Welcome
and Salutation:

For ever shall they remain therein: a fair abode and resting-place!

SAY: Not on your account doth my Lord care if ye call not on
Him!
ye have treated his Apostle as an impostor: but bye and bye a
punishment shall cleave to them.

_______________________

1 See Sura [lxv.] xxi. 49.

2 Comp. Sura [lxxiii.] xvi. 105. The frequency with which
Muhammad feels it necessary to rebut this charge by mere denial
is strongly indicative of its truth.

3 "The meaning may possibly be that the teachers of Muhammad
were persons who had taken refuge in Arabia for offences and
heresies." Sprenger, Life of M. p. 96, n. Or, but they utter an
injustice and a falsehood. N”ldeke combats Dr. Sprenger's
supposition that "Tales of the ancients" (verse 6) is a book. Hist.
of Qoran, p. 13.

4 Supply, we will not believe.

5 In your ascriptions of divinity to them. Beidh.

6 Or, far, far be they removed. The same words occur at the end of
verse 55. The Commentators doubt whether they are spoken by the
wicked of the impossibility of their attaining Paradise, or by the
angels to the wicked.

7 Said by Beidh. to be the polytheist Okbeh, the son of Abu
Mo'eyt,
who by Muhammad's persuasion professed Islam, but afterwards
retracted to please Ubei ben Khalaf. See Gagnier's Vie de Mahom.
i. 362.

8 Ar. fulani (whence the Spanish fulano) identical with the Heb. p.
155, used of a person only in Ruth iv. 1, but by the Rabbinic
writers, constantly.

9 Or, abandoner.

10 This verse shews that the Koran was of gradual growth in the
time of Muhammad himself.

11 Lit. parables.

12 Lit. vizier.

13 It is uncertain whether Rass is the name of a city in Yemama;
or
merely, as some interpret it, of a well near Midian; or, according
to others, in the territory of Hadramont.

14 Geiger is mistaken in supposing that this passage alludes to 2
Kings xx. 9 12, and his translation is inaccurate.

15 Lit. quiescent, i.e. always the same.

16 According to some commentators, Muhammad here speaks of
the waters of the Tigris, which do not mingle with the salt water of
the sea till they have reached a considerable distance from the
river-mouth. See Zech. xiv. 8.
17 See Sura [cv.] xxiv. 44, n.
18 "Thou art taught that whoever would make a profit by the Law
depriveth himself of life." Pirke Aboth, i. 4. This precept is of
frequent occurrence in the Talmud.
19 Comp. Sura [xc.] xiii. 29; and the following Sura xvii. 109, n.

20 The idolaters.

SURA XVII. THE NIGHT JOURNEY [LXVII.]

MECCA.1 III Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

GLORY be to Him who carried his servant by night2 from the
sacred temple of Mecca to the temple3 that is more remote, whose
precinct we have blessed, that we might shew him of our signs! for
He is the Hearer, the Seer.

And4 we gave the Book to Moses and ordained it for guidance to
the children of Israel "that ye take no other Guardian than me."

O posterity of those whom we bare with Noah! He truly was a
grateful servant!

And we solemnly declared to the children of Israel in the Book,
"Twice surely will ye enact crimes in the earth, and with great
loftiness of pride will ye surely be uplifted."

So when the menace for the first crime5 came to be inflicted, we
sent against you our servants endued with terrible prowess; and
they searched the inmost part of your abodes, and the menace was
accomplished.

Then we gave you the mastery over them6 in turn, and increased
you in wealth and children, and made you a most numerous host.

We said, "If ye do well, to your own behoof will ye do well: and if
ye do evil, against yourselves will ye do it. And when the menace
for your latter crime7 came to be inflicted, then we sent an enemy
to sadden your faces, and to enter the temple as they entered it at
first, and to destroy with utter destruction that which they had
conquered.

Haply your Lord will have mercy on you! but if ye return, we will
return:8 and we have appointed Hell the prison of the infidels.

Verily, this Koran guideth to what is most upright; and it
announceth to believers

Who do the things that are right, that for them is a great reward;

And that for those who believe not in the life to come, we have got
ready a painful punishment.

Man prayeth for evil as he prayeth for good; for man is hasty.

We have made the night and the day for two signs: the sign of the
night do we obscure, but the sign of the day cause we to shine
forth, that ye may seek plenty from your Lord, and that ye may
know the number of the years and the reckoning of time; and we
have made everything distinct by distinctiveness.

And every man's fate9 have we fastened about his neck: and on the
day of resurrection will we bring forth to him a book which shall
be proffered to him wide open:

"Read thy Book:10 there needeth none but thyself to make out an
account against thee this day."

For his own good only shall the guided yield to guidance, and to
his own loss only shall the erring err; and the heavy laden shall
not be laden with another's load. We never punished until we had
first sent an apostle:

And when we willed to destroy a city, to its affluent ones did we
address our bidding; but when they acted criminally therein, just
was its doom, and we destroyed it with an utter destruction.

And since Noah, how many nations have we exterminated! And of
the sins of his servants thy Lord is sufficiently informed,
observant.

Whoso chooseth this quickly passing life, quickly will we bestow
therein that which we please even on him we choose; afterward
we will appoint hell for him, in which he shall burn disgraced,
outcast:

But whoso chooseth the next life, and striveth after it as it should
be striven for, being also a believer, these! their striving shall be
grateful to God:

To all both to these and those will we prolong the gifts of thy
Lord; for not to any shall the gifts of thy Lord be denied.

See how we have caused some of them to excel others! but the
next
life shall be greater in its grades, and greater in excellence.

Set not up another god with God, lest thou sit thee down
disgraced, helpless.11

Thy Lord hath ordained that ye worship none but him; and,
kindness to your parents, whether one or both of them attain to old
age with thee: and say not to them, "Fie!" neither reproach them;
but speak to them both with respectful speech;

And defer humbly to them12 out of tenderness; and say, "Lord,
have compassion on them both, even as they reared me when I was
little."

Your Lord well knoweth what is in your souls; he knoweth
whether
ye be righteous:

And gracious is He to those who return to Him.

And to him who is of kin render his due, and also to the poor and
to the wayfarer; yet waste not wastefully,

For the wasteful are brethren of the Satans, and Satan was
ungrateful to his Lord:

But if thou turn away from them, while thou thyself seekest boons
from thy Lord for which thou hopest, at least speak to them with
kindly speech:

And let not thy hand be tied up to thy neck; nor yet open it with all
openness, lest thou sit thee down in rebuke, in beggary.

Verily, thy Lord will provide with open hand for whom he
pleaseth, and will be sparing. His servants doth he scan, inspect.

Kill not your children for fear of want:13 for them and for you will
we provide. Verily, the killing them is a great wickedness.

Have nought to do with adultery; for it is a foul thing and an evil
way:

Neither slay any one whom God hath forbidden you to slay, unless
for a just cause: and whosoever shall be slain wrongfully, to his
heir14 have we given powers; but let him not outstep bounds in
putting the manslayer to death, for he too, in his turn, will be
assisted and avenged.

And touch not the substance of the orphan, unless in an upright
way, till he attain his age of strength: And perform your covenant;
verily the covenant shall be enquired of:

And give full measure when you measure, and weigh with just
balance. This will be better, and fairest for settlement:

And follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge;15 because
the hearing and the sight and the heart, each of these shall be
enquired of:

And walk not proudly on the earth, for thou canst not cleave the
earth, neither shalt thou reach to the mountains in height:

All this is evil; odious to thy Lord.

This is a part of the wisdom which thy Lord hath revealed to thee.
Set not up any other god with God, lest thou be cast into Hell,
rebuked, cast away.

What! hath your Lord prepared sons for you, and taken for himself
daughters from among the angels? Indeed, ye say a dreadful
saying.

Moreover, for man's warning have we varied16 this Koran: Yet it
only increaseth their flight from it.

SAY: If, as ye affirm, there were other gods with Him, they would
in that case seek occasion against the occupant of the throne:

Glory to Him! Immensely high is He exalted above their
blasphemies!

The seven heavens17 praise him, and the earth, and all who are
therein; neither is there aught which doth not celebrate his praise;
but their utterances of praise ye understand not. He is kind,
indulgent.

When thou recitest the Koran we place between thee and those
who believe not in the life to come, a dark veil;

And we put coverings over their hearts lest they should understand
it, and in their ears a heaviness;

And when in the Koran thou namest thy One Lord, they turn their
backs in flight.

We well know why they hearken, when they hearken unto thee,
and
when they whisper apart; when the wicked say, "Ye follow no
other than a man enchanted."

See what likenesses they strike out for thee! But they are in error,
neither can they find the path.

They also say, "After we shall have become bones and dust, shall
we in sooth be raised a new creation?"

SAY: "Yes, though ye were stones, or iron, or any other creature,
to your seeming, yet harder to be raised." But they will say, "Who
shall bring us back?" SAY: "He who created you at first." And
they will wag their heads at thee, and say, "When shall this be?"
SAY: "Haply it is nigh."

On that day shall God call you forth, and ye shall answer by
praising Him; and ye shall seem to have tarried but a little while.

Enjoin my servants to speak in kindly sort: Verily Satan would stir
up strifes among them, for Satan is man's avowed foe.

Your Lord well knoweth you: if He please He will have mercy on
you; or if He please He will chastise you: and we have not sent
thee to be a guardian over them.

Thy Lord hath full knowledge of all in the heavens and the earth.
Higher gifts have we given to some of the prophets than to others,
and the Psalter we gave to David.

SAY: Call ye upon those whom ye fancy to be gods beside Him;
yet
they will have no power to relieve you from trouble, or to shift it
elsewhere.

Those whom ye call on, themselves desire union with their
Lord,18
striving which of them shall be nearest to him: they also hope for
his mercy and fear his chastisement. Verily the chastisement of thy
Lord is to be dreaded.

There is no city which we will not destroy before the day of
Resurrection, or chastise it with a grievous chastisement. This is
written in the Book.

Nothing hindered us from sending thee with the power of working
miracles, except that the peoples of old treated them as lies. We
gave to Themoud19 the she-camel before their very eyes, yet they
maltreated her! We send not a prophet with miracles but to strike
terror.

And remember when we said to thee, Verily, thy Lord is round
about mankind; we ordained the vision20 which we shewed thee,
and likewise the cursed tree of the Koran, only for men to dispute
of; we will strike them with terror; but it shall only increase in
them enormous wickedness:

And when we said to the Angels, "Prostrate yourselves before
Adam:" and they all prostrated them, save Eblis. "What!" said he,
"shall I bow me before him whom thou hast created of clay?

Seest thou this man whom thou hast honoured above me? Verily, if
thou respite me till the day of Resurrection, I will destroy his
offspring, except a few."

He said, "Begone; but whosoever of them shall follow thee, verily,
Hell shall be your recompense; an ample recompense!

And entice such of them as thou canst by thy voice; assault them
with thy horsemen and thy footmen;21 be their partner in their
riches and in their children, and make them promises: but Satan
shall make them only deceitful promises.

As to my servants, no power over them shalt thou have; And thy
Lord will be their sufficient guardian."

It is your Lord who speedeth onward the ships for you in the sea,
that ye may seek of his abundance; for he is merciful towards you.

When a misfortune befalleth you out at sea, they whom ye invoke
are not to be found: God alone is there: yet when he bringeth you
safe to dry land, ye place yourselves at a distance from Him.
Ungrateful is man.

What! are ye sure, then, that he will not cleave the sides of the
earth for you? or that he will not send against you a whirlwind
charged with sands? Then shall ye find no protector.

Or are ye sure that he will not cause you to put back to sea a
second time, and send against you a storm blast, and drown you,
for that ye have been thankless? Then shall ye find no helper
against us therein.

And now have we honoured the children of Adam: by land and by
sea have we carried them: food have we provided for them of good
things, and with endowments beyond many of our creatures have
we endowed them.

One day we will summon all men with their leaders: they whose
book shall be given into their right hand, shall read their book,
and not be wronged a thread:

And he who has been blind here, shall be blind hereafter, and
wander yet more from the way.

And, verily, they had well nigh beguiled thee from what we
revealed to thee, and caused thee to invent some other thing in our
name: but in that case they would surely have taken thee as a
friend;22

And had we not settled thee, thou hadst well nigh leaned to them a
little:

In that case we would surely have made thee taste of woe23 in life
and of woe in death: then thou shouldest not have found a helper
against us.

And truly they had almost caused thee to quit the land, in order
wholly to drive thee forth from it:24 but then, themselves should
have tarried but a little after thee.

This was our way with the Apostles we have already sent before
thee, and in this our way thou shalt find no change.

Observe prayer at sunset, till the first darkening of the night, and
the daybreak reading for the daybreak reading hath its
witnesses,

And watch unto it in the night: this shall be an excess in service:25
it may be that thy Lord will raise thee to a glorious station:

And say, "O my Lord, cause me to enter26 with a perfect entry,
and
to come forth with a perfect forthcoming, and give me from thy
presence a helping power:"

And SAY: Truth is come and falsehood is vanished. Verily,
falsehood is a thing that vanisheth.

And we send down of the Koran that which is a healing and a
mercy to the faithful: But it shall only add to the ruin of the
wicked.

When we bestow favours on man, he withdraweth and goeth aside;
but when evil toucheth him, he is despairing.

SAY: Every one acteth after his own manner: but your Lord well
knoweth who is best guided in his path.

And they will ask thee of the Spirit.27 SAY: The Spirit proceedeth
at
my Lord's command: but of knowledge, only a little to you is
given.

If we pleased, we could take away what we have revealed to thee:
none couldst thou then find thee to undertake thy cause with us,

Save as a mercy from thy Lord; great, verily, is his favour towards
thee.

SAY: Verily, were men and Djinn assembled to produce the like of
this Koran, they could not produce its like, though the one should
help the other.

And of a truth we have set out to men every kind of similitude in
this Koran, but most men have refused everything except unbelief.

And they say, "By no means will we believe on thee till thou cause
a fountain to gush forth for us from the earth;

Or, till thou have a garden of palm-trees and grapes, and thou
cause forth-gushing rivers to gush forth in its midst;

Or thou make the heaven to fall on us, as thou hast given out, in
pieces; or thou bring God and the angels to vouch for thee;

Or thou have a house of gold; or thou mount up into Heaven; nor
will we believe in thy mounting up, till thou send down to us a
book which we may read." SAY: Praise be to my Lord! Am I more
than a man, an apostle?

And what hindereth men from believing, when the guidance hath
come to them, but that they say, "Hath God sent a man as an
apostle?"

SAY: Did angels walk the earth as its familiars, we had surely sent
them an angel-apostle out of Heaven.

SAY: God is witness enough between you and me. His servants He
scanneth, eyeth.

And He whom God shall guide will be guided indeed; and whom
he shall mislead thou shalt find none to assist, but Him: and we
will gather them together on the day of the resurrection, on their
faces, blind and dumb and deaf: Hell shall be their abode: so oft
as its fires die down, we will rekindle the flame.

This shall be their reward for that they believed not our signs and
said, "When we shall have become bones and dust, shall we surely
be raised a new creation?"

Do they not perceive that God, who created the Heavens and the
Earth, is able to create their like? And he hath ordained them a
term; there is no doubt of it: but the wicked refuse everything
except unbelief.

SAY: If ye held the treasures of my Lord's mercy ye would
certainly refrain from them through fear of spending them: for
man is covetous.

We therefore gave to Moses nine clear signs. Ask thou, therefore,
the children of Israel how it was when he came unto them, and
Pharaoh said to him, "Verily, I deem thee, O Moses, a man
enchanted."

Said Moses, "Thou knowest that none hath sent down these clear
signs but the Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth; and I surely
deem thee, O Pharaoh, a person lost."

So Pharaoh sought to drive them out of the land; but we drowned
him and all his followers.

And after his death, we said to the children of Israel, "Dwell ye in
the land:" and when the promise of the next life shall come to
pass, we will bring you both up together to judgment. In truth have
we sent down the Koran, and in truth hath it descended, and we
have only sent thee to announce and to warn.

And we have parcelled out the Koran into sections, that thou
mightest recite it unto men by slow degrees, and we have sent it
down piecemeal.

SAY: Believe ye therein or believe ye not? They verily to whom
knowledge had been given previously, fall on their faces
worshipping when it is recited to them, and say: "Glory be to God!
the promise of our Lord is made good!"

They fall down on their faces weeping, and It increaseth their
humility.

SAY: Call upon God (Allah),28 or call upon the God of Mercy
(Arrahman), by whichsoever ye will invoke him: He hath most
excellent names. And be not loud in thy prayer, neither pronounce
it too low;29 but between these follow a middle way:

And SAY: Praise be to God who hath not begotten a son, who hath
no partner in the Kingdom, nor any protector on account of
weakness. And magnify him by proclaiming His greatness.30

_______________________

1 Verses 12, 23 41, 75 82, 87, are supposed by many
commentators to have originated at Medina.

2 Waquidy says the night-journey took place on the 17th of Rabhy'
1, a twelvemonth before the Hejira.

3 Of Jerusalem; and thence through the seven heavens to the
throne of God on the back of Borak, accompanied by Gabriel,
according to some traditions; while others, and those too of early
date, regard it as no more than a vision. It was, however, in all
probability a dream. Muir ii. 219; N”ld. p. 102, who give the
Muhammadan sources of information.

4 It is probable that as this verse has no real or apparent
connection with the preceding, a verse may have been lost, and
that verse 1 has been placed at the head of the Sura merely
because the night-journey is elsewhere alluded to in it.

5 According to the commentators the slaughter of Isaiah and the
imprisonment of Jeremiah, punished by the invasion of the
Assyrians.

6 Over Sennacherib.

7 The slaying Zacharias, John Baptist, and Jesus, punished by the
destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Comp. Tr. Gittin, fol. 57,
where we read of the sufferings drawn down upon the Jews in
consequence of the former of these crimes.

8 That is, if ye return to sin, we will return to punish.

9 Lit. bird.

10 Comp. Mischnah Aboth, 3, 20.

11 Comp. in Heb. Isai. liii. 3.

12 Lit. lower a wing of humility.

13 Comp. Sura [lxxxix.] vi. 151; lxxxi. 8, p. 45. Zaid, the sceptical
seeker after truth, is reported to have discouraged the killing of
daughters, saying, "I will support them." Kitƒb al Wackidi, p. 255.
See note at Sura [xcvii.] iii. 18.

14 Or, next of kin.

15 Or, run not after vain things which will avail nought. Or,
accuse not any of a crime if thou art not sure of his guilt.

16 Used a variety of arguments and illustrations.

17 Thus Tr. Chagiga, fol. 9 b. "There are seven heavens (rakian):
the veil, the firmament, the clouds, the habitation, the abode, the
fixed seat, the araboth." See Wetst. on 2 Cor. xii. 2.

18 In obvious allusion to the saint-worship of the Christians.

19 See Sura [lxxxvii.] vii. 71.

20 See note on v. 1. The tree is Zakkoum, Sura [xlv.] lvi. The
Rabbins teach that food of the bitterest herbs is one of the
punishments of Hell. See Schr”der's Rabb. und. Talm. Judenthum,
p. 403.

21 That is, with all thy might.

22 Zamakshary relates that this passage was revealed when the
Thaqyfites in framing the document of agreement between
themselves and Muhammad, required that the words requiring the
prostrations in worship should not be added. The writer looked at
the prophet, who stood by in silence, when Omar stood up and
drew his sword with menacing words. They replied, We speak not
thee but to Muhammad. Then this verse was revealed. Thus Dr.
Sprenger. Life, p. 186. He renders the last clause, but at the right
moment a friend reprehended thee.

23 Lit. weakness, languors.

24 "The Jews, envious of Muhammad's good reception and stay
there, told him, by way of counsel, that Syria was the land of the
Prophets, and that if he was really a prophet, he ought to go
there." Sale from Djelal Eddin ap. Mar. Geiger, p. 12, quotes a
Talmudical saying to the same effect, but without any reference.
25 A work of supererogation, and therefore doubly meritorious.
Thus Tr. Berachoth, fol. 4. The word station (mekam) is still used
of the nearness to God, attained in spiritual ecstacies, etc.

26 That is, to enter the Grave or Mecca. Lit. with an entry of truth.

27 The word spirit is probably to be understood of the Angel
Gabriel. Comp. 1 Kings xxii. 21. Others understand it of the
immaterial soul of man. See note on Sura [xci.] ii. 81.

28 The infidels hearing Muhammad say, Ya Allah! Ya Rahman! in
his prayers, imagined that he was addressing two Deities; hence
this passage. Comp. [lxxiii.] xvi. 52; [lxvi.] xxv. 61. As this title of
God (Rahman) disappears from the later Suras, it has been
inferred that Muhammad's original intention was to have
combined it with Allah, but that through fear lest Allah and
Arrahman should be supposed to be two Gods, he dropped the
latter. This title was applied to their deities by the Himyarites;
and it occurs in Ps. lxxviii. 38, and Ex. xxxiv. 6. The root is not
found in ‘thiopic.

29 The Talm. Tr. Berachoth, 31, 2, forbids loudness in prayer by
the example of Hannah.

30 Lit. magnify Him by magnifying.

SURA XXVII. THE ANT [LXVIII.]

MECCA. 95 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

TA. SAD.1 These are the signs (verses) of the Koran and of the
lucid Book;

Guidance and glad tidings to the believers who observe prayer
and pay the stated alms, and believe firmly do they in the life
to come.

As to those who believe not in the life to come, we have made
their
own doings fair seeming to them, and they are bewildered therein.

These are they whom the woe of chastisement awaiteth; and in the
next life they shall suffer yes shall they greatest loss;

But thou hast certainly received the Koran from the Wise, the
Knowing.

Bear in mind when Moses said to his family, "I have perceived a
fire;

I will bring you tidings from it, or will bring you a blazing brand,
that ye may warm you."

And when he came to it, he was called to, "Blessed, He who is in
the fire, and He who is about it; and glory be to God, the Lord of
the worlds!

O Moses! verily, I am God, the Mighty, the Wise!

Throw down now thy staff." And when he saw that it moved itself
as though it were a serpent, he retreated backward and returned
not. "O Moses, fear not; for the Sent Ones fear not in my presence,

Save he who having done amiss shall afterwards exchange the evil
for good; for I am Forgiving, Merciful.

Put now thy hand into thy bosom: it shall come forth white, yet
free from hurt:2 one of nine signs to Pharaoh and his people; for a
perverse people are they."

And when our signs were wrought in their very sight,3 they said,
"This is plain magic."

And though in their souls they knew them to be true, yet in their
wickedness and pride they denied them. But see what was the end
of the corrupt doers!

And of old we gave knowledge to David and Solomon: and they
said, "Praise be to God, who hath made us to excel many of his
believing servants!"

And in knowledge Solomon was David's heir. And he said, "O
men, we have been taught the speech of birds,4 and are endued
with everything. This is indeed a clear boon from God."

And to Solomon were gathered his hosts of Djinn5 and men and
birds, and they were marched on in bands,

Till they reached the Valley of Ants. Said AN ANT, "O ye ants,
enter your dwellings, lest Solomon and his army crush you and
know it not."

Then smiled Solomon, laughing at her words, and he said, "Stir
me up, O Lord, to be thankful for thy favour which thou hast
shewed upon me and upon my parents, and to do righteousness
that shall be well pleasing to thee, and bring me in, by thy mercy,
among thy servants the righteous."

And he reviewed the birds, and said, "How is it that I see not the
lapwing? Is it one of the absent?

Surely, with a severe chastisement will I chastise it, or I will
certainly slaughter it, unless it bring me a clear excuse."

Nor tarried it long ere it came and said, "I have gained the
knowledge that thou knowest not, and with sure tidings have I
come to thee from Saba:

I found a woman reigning over them, gifted with everything, and
she hath a splendid throne;

And I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of
God; and Satan hath made their works fair seeming to them, so
that he hath turned them from the Way: wherefore they are not
guided,

To the worship of God, who bringeth to light the secret things of
heaven and earth, and knoweth what men conceal and what they
manifest:

God! there is no god but He! the lord of the glorious throne!"

He said, "We shall see whether thou hast spoken truth, or whether
thou art of them that lie.

Go with this my letter and throw it down to them: then turn away
from them and await their answer."

She said, "O my nobles! an honourable letter hath been thrown
down to me:

It is from Solomon; and it is this: 'In the name of God, the
Compassionate, the Merciful!

Set not up yourselves against me, but come to me submitting
(Muslims).' "

She said, "O my nobles, advise me in mine affair: I decide it not
without your concurrence."6

They said, "We are endued with strength and are endued with
mighty valour. But to command is thine: See therefore what thou
wilt command us."

She said, "Kings when they enter a city spoil it, and abase the
mightiest of its people: and in like manner will these also do.

But I will send to them with a gift, and await what my envoys
bring
back."

And when the messenger came to Solomon, he said, "Aid ye me
with riches? But what God hath given to me is better than what he
hath given you: yet ye glory in your gifts:

Return to them: for we will surely come to them with forces which
they cannot withstand, and we will drive them from their land
humbled and contemptible."

Said he, "O nobles, which of you will bring me her throne before
they come to me, submitting? (Muslims)."

An Efreet7 of the Djinn said: "I will bring it thee ere thou risest
from thy place: I have power for this and am trusty."

And one who had the knowledge of Scripture said, "I will bring it
to thee in the twinkling of an eye."8 And when he saw it set before
him, he said, "This is of the favour of my Lord, to try me whether I
will be thankful or unthankful. And he who is thankful is thankful
to his own behoof; and as for him who is unthankful truly my
Lord is self-sufficient, bounteous!"

Said he, "Make her throne so that she know it not: we shall see
whether she hath or not guidance."

And when she came he said, "Is thy throne like this?" She said,
"As though it were the same." "And we," said he, "have had
knowledge given us before her, and have been Muslims."

But the gods she had worshipped instead of God had led her
astray: for she was of a people who believe not.

It was said to her,"Enter the Palace:" and when she saw it, she
thought it a lake of water, and bared her legs. He said, "It is a
palace paved with glass."

She said, "O my Lord! I have sinned against my own soul, and I
resign myself, with Solomon, to God the Lord of the Worlds."

And of old we sent to Themoud their brother Saleh, with "Serve ye
God:"but lo! they became two sets of disputants wrangling with
each other.

He said, "O my people, why, if ye ask not pardon of God that ye
may find mercy, hasten ye on evil rather than good?"

They said,"We augur 9 ill concerning thee and those who are with
thee." He said, "The ills of which ye augur 10 depend on God. But
ye are a people on your trial."

And there were in the city nine persons who committed excesses in
the land and did not that which is right.

They said, "Swear ye to one another by God that we will surely
fall on him and on his family by night: then will be say to the
avenger of blood, we witnessed not the destruction of his family:
and verily we speak the truth."

And they devised a device, and we devised a device, and they were
not aware of it

And see what was the end of their device! We destroyed them and
their whole people:

And for their sin these their houses are empty ruins: Verily in this
is a sign to those who understand;

And we delivered those who believed and feared.

And Lot, when he said to his people, "What! proceed ye to such
filthiness with your eyes open?

What! come ye with lust unto men rather than to women? Surely
ye
are an ignorant people."

And the answer of his people was but to say, "Cast out the family
of Lot from your city: they, forsooth, are men of purity!"

So we rescued him and his family: but as for his wife, we decreed
her to be of them that lingered:

And we rained a rain upon them, and fatal was the rain to those
who had had their warning.

SAY: Praise be to God and peace be on His servants whom He
hath chosen! Is God the more worthy or the gods they join with
Him?

Is not He who hath made the Heavens and the Earth, and hath sent
down rain to you from Heaven, by which we cause the luxuriant
groves to spring up! It is not in your power to cause its trees to
spring up! What! A god with God? Yet they find equals for Him!

Is not He, who hath set the earth so firm, and hath made rivers in
its midst, and hath placed mountains upon it, and put a barrier
between the two seas?11 What! a god with God? Yet the greater
part of them have no knowledge!

Is not He the more worthy who answereth the oppressed when they
cry to him, and taketh off their ills, and maketh you to succeed
your sires on the earth? What! a god with God? How few bear
these things in mind!

Is not He, who guideth you in the darkness of the land and of the
sea, and who sendeth forth the winds as the forerunners of His
mercy? What! a god with God? Far from God be what ye join with
Him!

Is not He, who created a Being, then reneweth it, and who
supplieth you out of the Heaven and the Earth? What! a god with
God? SAY: Bring forth your proofs if you speak the truth.

SAY: None either in the Heavens or in the Earth knoweth the
unseen but God. And they know not

When they shall be raised.

Yet they have attained to a knowledge of the life to come: 12 yet
are they in doubt about it: yet are they blind about it!

And the unbelievers say: "When we and our fathers have been
dead shall we be taken forth?

Of old have we been promised this, we and our sires of old it is but
fables of the ancients."

SAY: Go ye through the land, and see what hath been the end of
the wicked.

And grieve not thou for them, nor be in distress at their devisings.

And they say, "When will this promise be made good, if ye speak
true?"

SAY: Haply a part of what ye desire to be hastened may be close
behind you.

And truly thy Lord is full of goodness towards men: But most of
them are not thankful.

And thy Lord knoweth well what their breasts enshroud, and what
they bring to light,

And there is no secret thing in the Heaven or on the Earth, but it is
in the clear Book.

Truly this Koran declareth to the children of Israel most things
wherein they disagree:

And it is certainly guidance and a mercy to the faithful.

Verily, by his wisdom will thy Lord decide between them: for He
is
the Mighty, the Knowing.

Put thou then thy trust in God: for thou hast clear truth on thy
side.13

Thou shalt not make the dead to hear; neither shalt thou make the
deaf to hear the call, when they turn away backward;

Neither art thou the guide of the blind out of their errors: none
truly shalt thou make to hear but those who believe our signs: and
they are Muslims.

When the doom shall be ready to light upon them, we will cause a
monster 14 to come forth to them out of the earth, and cry to them
"Verily men have not firmly believed our signs."

And on that day shall be gathered out of every nation a company
of those who have gainsaid our signs, in separate bands;

Till they come before God, who will say, "Treated ye my signs as
impostures, although ye embraced them not in your knowledge? or
what is it that ye were doing?

And doom shall light upon them for their evil deeds, and nought
shall they have to plead.

See they not that we have ordained the night that they may rest in
it, and the day with its gift of light? Of a truth herein are signs to
people who believe.

On that day there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and all that are
in the heavens, and all that the on the earth shall be
terror-stricken, save him whom God pleaseth to deliver; and all
shall come to him in humble guise.

And thou shalt see the mountains, which thou thinkest so firm,
pass
away with the passing of a cloud! 'Tis the work of God, who
ordereth all things! of all that ye do is He well aware.

To him who shall present himself with good works, shall be a
reward beyond their desert,15 and they shall be secure from the
terror on that day;

And they who shall present themselves with evil shall be flung
downward on their faces into the fire. Shall ye be rewarded but as
ye have wrought?

SAY: Specially am I commanded to worship the Lord of this land,
which He hath sanctified. All things are His: and I am commanded
to be one of those who surrender them to God (a Muslim)

And to recite the Koran: and whoever is rightly guided, assuredly
will be rightly guided to his own behoof.

And as to him who erreth, SAY, I truly am a warner only.And
SAY,
Praise be to God! He will shew you His signs, and ye shall
acknowledge them: and of what ye do, thy Lord is not regardless.

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii., p. 32, n.

2 Not really leprous.

3 Lit. when our visible signs came to them.

4 This tradition may be derived from 1 Kings iv. 33. Comp.
Geiger,
p. 185. The legend of Solomon's power over the Genii originates
in a mistranslation of Eccl. ii. 8. Comp. also for other points in
this story Prov. vi. 6; 1 Kings x. 1 10.

5 "Demons obeyed him (Solomon) and evil spirits were
subjected to him." Targ. 2. on Esther 1, 2. From the same source
Muhammad has adopted, with slight variations, the whole story of
Solomon's intercourse with the Queen of Saba. Comp. also Tr.
Gittin, fol. 68, and Midr. Jalkut on 1 Kings vi. ch. 182.

6 Lit. unless ye bear me witness.

7 That is, malignant. "The efreets are generally believed to differ
from the other djinn in being very powerful and always malicious;
but to be in other respects of a similar nature" (Lane's Modern
Egyptians, i. 285). "The ghosts of dead persons are also called by
this name" (ib. 289).

8 Or, before thy glance can be withdrawn from an object.

9 Lit. we have consulted the flight of birds: hence presage.

10 Lit. your bird, augury.

11 Comp. Sura [lxvi.] xxv. 55.

12 Lit. their knowledge attaineth to the next life.

13 Lit. art on clear truth.

14 Al Jassaca, the Spy.

15 Or, shall derive advantage from them.

SURA XVIII. THE CAVE [LXIX.]

MECCA. 110 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

PRAISE be to God, who hath sent down the Book to his servant,
and hath not made it tortuous1

But direct; that it may warn of a grievous woe from him, and
announce to the faithful who do the things that are right, that a
goodly reward, wherein they shall abide for ever, awaiteth them;

And that it may warn those who say, "God hath begotten a Son."

No knowledge of this have either they or their fathers! A grievous
saying to come out of their mouths! They speak no other than a lie!

And haply, if they believe not in this new revelation, thou wilt slay
thyself, on their very footsteps, out of vexation.

Verily, we have made all that is on earth as its adornment, that we
might make trial who among mankind would excel in works:

But we are surely about to reduce all that is thereon to dust!

Hast thou reflected that the Inmates of THE CAVE and of Al
Rakim2were on our wondrous signs?

When the youths betook them to the cave they said, "O our Lord!
grant us mercy from before thee, and order for us our affair
aright."

Then struck we upon their ears with deafness in the cave for many
a year:

Then we awaked them that we might know which of the two
parties
could best reckon the space of their abiding.

We will relate to thee their tale with truth. They were youths who
had believed in their Lord, and in guidance had we increased
them;

And we had made them stout of heart, when they stood up and
said, "Our Lord is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth: we will
call on no other God than Him; for in that case we had said a
thing outrageous.

These our people have taken other gods beside Him, though they
bring no clear proof for them; but, who more iniquitous than he
who forgeth a lie of God?

So when ye shall have separated you from them and from that
which they worship beside God, then betake you to the cave: Your
Lord will unfold his mercy to you, and will order your affairs for
you for the best."

And thou mightest have seen the sun when it arose, pass on the
right of their cave, and when it set, leave them on the left, while
they were in its spacious chamber. This is one of the signs of God.
Guided indeed is he whom God guideth; but for him whom He
misleadeth, thou shalt by no means find a patron, director.

And thou wouldst have deemed them awake,3though they were
sleeping: and we turned them to the right and to the left. And in
the entry lay their dog with paws outstretched.4 Hadst thou come
suddenly upon them, thou wouldst surely have turned thy back on
them in flight, and have been filled with fear at them.

So we awaked them that they might question one another. Said one
of them, "How long have ye tarried here?" They said, "We have
tarried a day or part of day." They said, "Your Lord knoweth best
how long ye have tarried: Send now one of you with this your coin
into the city, and let him mark who therein hath purest food, and
from him let him bring you a supply: and let him be courteous, and
not discover you to any one.

For they, if they find you out, will stone you or turn you back to
their faith, and in that case it will fare ill with you for ever."

And thus made we their adventure known to their fellow citizens,
that they might learn that the promise of God is true, and that as to
"the Hour" there is no doubt of its coming. When they disputed
among themselves concerning what had befallen them, some said,
"Build a building over them; their Lord knoweth best about
them." Those who prevailed in the matter said, "A place of
worship will we surely raise over them."

Some say, "They were three; their dog the fourth:" others say,
"Five; their dog the sixth," guessing at the secret: others say,
"Seven; and their dog the eighth." SAY: My Lord best knoweth the
number: none, save a few, shall know them.

Therefore be clear in they discussions about them,5 and ask not
any Christian concerning them.

Say not thou of a thing, " I will surely do it to-morrow;" without ,
"If God will."6 And when thou hast forgotten, call thy Lord to
mind; and say, "Haply my Lord will guide me, that I may come
near to the truth of this story with correctness."

And they tarried in their cave 300 years, and 9 years over.7

SAY: God best knoweth how long they tarried: With Him are the
secrets of the Heavens and of the Earth: Look thou and hearken
unto Him alone.8 Man hath no guardian but Him, and none may
bear part in his judgments:

And publish what hath been revealed to thee of the Book of thy
Lord none may change his words, and thou shalt find no refuge
beside Him.

Be patient with those who call upon their Lord at morn and even,
seeking his face: and let not thine eyes be turned away from them
in quest of the pomp of this life;9 neither obey him10 whose heart
we have made careless of the remembrance of Us, and who
followeth his own lusts, and whose ways are unbridled.

And SAY: the truth is from your Lord: let him then who will,
believe; and let him who will, be an infidel. But for the offenders
we have got ready the fire whose smoke shall enwrap them: and if
they implore help, helped shall they be with water like molten
brass which shall scald their Wretched the drink! and an unhappy
couch!

But as to those who have believed and done the things that are
right, Verily we will not suffer the reward of him whose works
were good, to perish!

For them, the gardens of Eden, under whose shades shall rivers
flow: decked shall they be therein with bracelets of gold, and
green robes of silk and rich brocade shall they wear, reclining
them therein on thrones. Blissful the reward! and a pleasant
couch!11

And set forth to them as a parable two men; on one of whom we
bestowed two gardens of grape vines, and surrounded both with
palm trees, and placed corn fields between them: Each of the
gardens did yield its fruit, and failed not thereof at all:

And we caused a river to flow in their midst: And this man
received his fruit, and said, disputing with him, to his companion,
"More have I than thou of wealth, and my family is mightier."

And he went into his garden to his own soul unjust. He said, "I
do not think that this will ever perish:

And I do not think that 'the Hour' will come: and even if I be taken
back to my Lord, I shall surely find a better than it in exchange."

His fellow said to him, disputing with him, "What ! hast thou no
belief in him who created thee of the dust, then of the germs of
life,12 then fashioned thee a perfect man?

But God is my Lord; and no other being will I associate with my
Lord.

And why didst thou not say when thou enteredst thy garden, 'What
God willeth! There is no power but in God.' Though thou seest
that I have less than thou of wealth and children,

Yet haply my Lord may bestow on me better than thy garden, and
may send his bolts upon it out of Heaven, so that the next dawn
shall find it barren dust;

Or its water become deep sunk, so that thou art unable to find it."

And his fruits were encompassed by destruction. Then began he to
turn down the palms of his hands at what he had spent on it; for its
vines were falling down on their trellises, and he said, "Oh that I
had not joined any other god to my Lord!"

And he had no host to help him instead of God, neither was he able
to help himself.

Protection in such a case is of God the Truth: He is the best
rewarder, and He bringeth to the best issue.

And set before them a similitude of the present life. It is as water
which we send down from Heaven, and the herb of the Earth is
mingled with it, and on the morrow it becometh dry stubble which
the winds scatter: for God hath power over all things.

Wealth and children are the adornment of this present life: but
good works, which are lasting, are better in the sight of thy Lord
as to recompense, and better as to hope.

And call to mind the day when we will cause the mountains to pass
away,13 and thou shalt see the earth a levelled plain, and we will
gather mankind together, and not leave of them any one.

And they shall be set before thy Lord in ranks: "Now are ye
come unto us as we created you at first: but ye thought that we
should not make good to you the promise."

And each shall have his book put into his hand: and thou shalt see
the wicked in alarm at that which is therein: and they shall say,
"O woe to us! what meaneth this Book? It leaveth neither small
nor great unnoted down!" And they shall find all that they have
wrought present to them, and thy Lord will not deal unjustly with
any one.

When we said to the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam,"
they all prostrated them save Eblis, who was of the Djinn,14 and
revolted from his Lord's behest. behest. What! will ye then take
him and his offspring as patrons rather than Me? and they your
enemies? Sad exchange for the ungodly!

I made them not witnesses of the creation of the Heavens and of
the Earth, nor of their own creation, neither did I take seducers as
my helpers.

On a certain day, God shall say, "Call ye on the companions ye
joined with me, deeming them to be gods:" and they shall call on
them, but they shall not answer them: then will we place a valley
of perdition between them:

And the wicked shall see the fire, and shall have a foreboding that
they shall be flung into it, and they shall find no escape from it.

And now in this Koran we have presented to man similitudes of
every kind: but, at most things is man a caviller.

And what, now that guidance is come to them, letteth men from
believing and from asking forgiveness of their Lord unless they
wait till that the doom of the ancients overtake them, or the
chastisement come upon them in the sight of the universe?

We send not our Sent Ones but to announce and to warn: but the
infidels cavil with vain words in order to refute the truth; and they
treat my signs and their own warnings with scorn.

But who is worse than he who when told of the signs of his Lord
turneth him away and forgetteth what in time past his hands have
wrought? Truly we have thrown veils over their hearts lest they
should understand this Koran, and into their ears a heaviness:

And if thou bid them to "the guidance" yet will they not even then
be guided ever.

The gracious one, full of compassion, is thy Lord! if he would have
chastised them for their demerits he would have hastened their
chastisement. But they have a time fixed for the accomplishment
of
our menaces: and beside God they shall find no refuge.

And those cities did we destroy when they became impious; and of
their coming destruction we gave them warning.

Remember when Moses said to his servant, "I will not stop till I
reach the confluence of the two seas,15 or for years will I journey
on."

But when they reached their confluence, they forgot their fish, and
it took its way in the sea at will.

And when they had passed on, said Moses to his servant, "Bring us
our morning meal; for now have we incurred weariness from this
journey."

He said, "What thinkest thou? When we repaired to the rock for
rest I forgot the fish; and none but Satan made me forget it, so as
not to mention it; and it hath taken its way in the sea in a
wondrous sort."

He said, "It is this we were in quest of."16 And they both went
back
retracing their footsteps.

Then found they one of our servants to whom we had vouchsafed
our mercy, and whom we had instructed with our knowledge.

And Moses said to him, "Shall I follow thee that thou teach me, for
guidance, of that which thou too hast been taught?"

He said, "Verily, thou canst not have patience with me;

How canst thou be patient in matters whose meaning thou
comprehendest not?"

He said, "Thou shalt find me patient if God please, nor will I
disobey thy bidding."

He said, "Then, if thou follow me, ask me not of aught until I have
given thee an account thereof."

So they both went on, till they embarked in a ship, and he the
unknown staved it in. "What!" said Moses, "hast thou staved it
in that thou mayest drown its crew? a strange thing now hast thou
done!"

He said, "Did I not tell thee that thou couldst not have patience
with me?"

He said, "Chide me not that I forgat, nor lay on me a hard
command."

Then went they on till they met a youth, and he slew him. Said
Moses, "Hast thou slain him who is free from guilt of blood? Now
hast thou wrought a grievous thing!"

He said, "Did I not tell thee that thou couldst not have patience
with me?"

Moses said, "If after this I ask thee aught, then let me be thy
comrade no longer; but now hast thou my excuse."

They went on till they came to the people of a city. Of this people
they asked food, but they refused them for guests. And they found
in it a wall that was about to fall, and he set it upright. Said
Moses, "If thou hadst wished, for this thou mightest have obtained
pay."

He said, "This is the parting point between me and thee. But I will
first tell thee the meaning of that which thou couldst not await
with
patience.

"As to the vessel, it belonged to poor men who toiled upon the sea,
and I was minded to damage it, for in their rear was a king who
seized every ship by force.

As to the youth his parents were believers, and we feared lest he
should trouble them by error and infidelity.

And we desired that their Lord might give them in his place a
child, better than he in virtue, and nearer to filial piety.

And as to the wall, it belonged to two orphan youths in the city,
and beneath it was their treasure: and their father was a righteous
man: and thy Lord desired that they should reach the age of
strength, and take forth their treasure through the mercy of thy
Lord. And not of mine own will have I done this. This is the
interpretation of that which thou couldst not bear with patience."

They will ask thee of Dhoulkarnain [the two-horned17]. SAY: I
will
recite to you an account of him.

We stablished his power upon the earth, and made for him a way
to everything. And a route he followed,

Until when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it to set in a
miry fount; and hard by he found a people.

We said, "O Dhoulkarnain! either chastise or treat them
generously."

"The impious," said he, "will we surely chastise;" then shall he be
taken back to his Lord, and he will chastise him with a grievous
chastisement.

But as to him who believeth and doeth that which is right, he shall
have a generous recompense, and we will lay on them our easy
behests.

Then followed he a route,

Until when he reached the rising of the sun he found it to rise on a
people to whom we had given no shelter from it.

Thus it was. And we had full knowledge of the forces that were
with him.

Then followed he a route

Until he came between the two mountains, beneath which he
found
a people who scarce understood a language.

They said, "O Dhoulkarnain! verily, Gog and Magog18 waste this
land; shall we then pay thee tribute, so thou build a rampart19
between us and them?"

He said, "Better than your tribute is the might wherewith my Lord
hath strengthened me; but help me strenuously, and I will set a
barrier between you and them.

Bring me blocks of iron," until when it filled the space between
the mountain sides "Ply," said he, "your bellows," until when
he had made it red with heat (fire), he said "Bring me molten
brass that I may pour upon it."

And Gog and Magog were not able to scale it, neither were they
able to dig through it.

"This," said he, "is a mercy from my Lord:

But when the promise of my Lord shall come to pass, he will turn
it
to dust; and the promise of my Lord is true."

On that day we will let them dash like billows one over another;
and there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and we will gather them
together in a body.

And we will set Hell on that day close before the infidels,

Whose eyes were veiled from my warning, and who had no power
to hear.

What! do the infidels think that they can take my servants as their
patrons, beside Me? Verily, we have got Hell ready as the abode
of the infidels.

SAY: Shall we tell you who they are that have lost their labour
most?

Whose aim in the present life hath been mistaken, and who deem
that what they do is right?

They are those who believe not in the signs of the Lord, or that
they shall ever meet him. Vain, therefore, are their works; and no
weight will we allow them on the day of resurrection.

This shall be their reward Hell.20 Because they were unbelievers,
and treated my signs and my Apostles with scorn.

But as for those who believe and do the things that are right, they
shall have the gardens of Paradise21 for their abode:

They shall remain therein for ever: they shall wish for no change
from it.

SAY: Should the sea become ink, to write the words of my Lord,
the sea would surely fail ere the words of my Lord would fail,
though we brought its like in aid.

SAY: In sooth I am only a man like you. It hath been revealed to
me that your God is one only God: let him then who hopeth to
meet his Lord work a righteous work: nor let him give any other
creature a share in the worship of his Lord.

_______________________

1 Lit. hath not put crookedness into it.

2 The valley, or mountain, in which the Cave of the Seven
Sleepers
was situated. Comp. Fundgreiben des Orients, iii. 347-381.
Gibbon's Decline and Fall, ch. xxxiii., especially the concluding
sentences.

3 Because they slept with their eyes open. Beidh.

4 The Muhammadans believe that this dog will be admitted into
Paradise. One of its traditional names is Katmir, a word whose
letters, it should be observed, are with one exception identical with
Rakim.

5 Lit. dispute not about them unless with clear disputation.

6 Muhammad had omitted to use the qualifying phrase when, in
reply to the Jews who asked for the History of the Seven Sleepers,
he simply promised to give it on the morrow; hence, this verse.
Comp. James iv. 13 15.

7 They entered the cavern under Decius and awoke in the time of
Theodosius, according to the tradition; which cannot be
reconciled with the number of years given in the text.

8 Thus Ullm. But the words may be taken with Beidh. and Sale, as
ironical. Make thou him to see and hear.

9 Said to have been promulgated at Medina. N”ld. p. 106

10 Omaya Ibn Chalf, who advised Muhammad to cast off all his
poorer followers, out of respect to the Koreisch.

11 It is probable that this and the numerous similar descriptions of
the enjoyments in Paradise are based upon Muhammad's
knowledge, or possibly personal observation, of the luxurious
habits of the Persians, to whom many Arabian tribes owed
allegiance, and with whom they had mercantile transactions by
means of caravans. The word Paradise, the names of cups and
brocade in Sura lvi. pp. 66, 67, and the word sundus in this
passage, are all Persian.

12 Lit ex spermate.

13 Comp. Isai. xl. 4, etc.

14 Muhammad appears, according to this text, to have considered
Eblis not only as the father of the Djinn, but as one of their
number. The truth appears to be that Muhammad derived his
doctrines of the Genii from the Persian and Indian mythology, and
attempted to identify them with the Satan and demons of the
Semitic races. Both the Satans and Djinn represent in the Koran
the principle of Evil. See Sura [xci.] ii. 32, n.

15 The sea of Greece and the sea of Persia. But as no literal
interpretation of the passage seems satisfactory, the
Commentators have devised a spiritual or metaphorical one, and
explain it of the two oceans of natural and supernatural
knowledge. There is no trace of this legend in the Rabbinic
writings.

16 The loss of our fish is a sign to us of our finding him whom we
seek, namely, El-Khidr, or El-Khadir, the reputed vizier of
Dhoulkarnain, and said to have drunk of the fountain of life, by
virtue of which he still lives, and will live till the day of judgment.
He is also said to appear, clad in green robes, to Muslims in
distress, whence his name. Perhaps the name Khidr is formed from
J ethro.

17 Probably Alexander the Great so called from his expeditions
to the East and West. He seems to be regarded in this passage as
invested with a divine commission for the extirpation of impiety
and idolatry. Comp. Dan. viii. and Tr. Tanith, fol. 32. Hottinger
Bibl. Orient. 109.
18 Ar. Yadjoudj and Madjoudj the barbarous people of E. Asia.
See Ibn Batoutah's Travels, iv. p. 274 (Par.ed.)

19 This rampart has been identified with fortifications which
extended from the W. shore of the Caspian Sea to the Pontus
Euxinus, made, as it is said, by Alexander, and repaired by
Yezdegird II. Caussin de Perceval, vol.i.p. 66. See Sura [lxv.] xxi.
96

20 The form of this word in the Arabic, with the h in the second
syllable and the final m, shews that the word was borrowed from
the Hebrew, and not from the Greek or Syriac.

21 Observe in this expression the same admixture of the Semitic
and Indo-Persian elements as was noticed above in the
identification of Satans and Djinn, verse 48.

SURA XXXII. ADORATION [LXX.]

MECCA. 30 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

ELIF. LAM. MIM.1 This Book is without a doubt a Revelation
sent
down from the Lord of the Worlds.

Will they say, He hath forged it? Nay, it is the truth from thy Lord
that thou mayest warn a people to whom no warner hath come
before thee, that haply they may be guided.

God it is who hath created the Heavens and the Earth and all that
is between them in six days; then ascended his throne. Save Him
ye have no patron, and none to plead for you. Will ye not then
reflect?

From the Heaven to the Earth He governeth all things: hereafter
shall they come up to him on a day whose length shall be a
thousand of such years as ye reckon.2

This is He who knoweth the unseen and the seen; the Mighty, the
Merciful,

Who hath made everything which he hath created most good; and
began the creation of man with clay;

Then ordained his progeny from germs of life,3 from sorry water:

Then shaped him, and breathed of His Spirit into him, and gave
you hearing and seeing and hearts: what little thanks do ye return!

And they say, "What! when we shall have lain hidden in the earth,
shall we become a new creation?"

Yea, they deny that they shall meet their Lord.

SAY: The angel of death who is charged with you shall cause you
to die: then shall ye be returned to your Lord.

Couldst thou but see when the guilty shall droop their heads
before their Lord, and cry, "O our Lord! we have seen and we
have heard: return us then to life: we will do that which is right.
Verily we believe firmly!"

(Had we pleased we had certainly given to every soul its guidance.
But true shall be the word which hath gone forth from me I will
surely fill hell with Djinn and men together.)

"Taste then the recompense of your having forgotten the meeting
with this your day. We, too, we have forgotten you: taste then an
eternal punishment for that which ye have wrought."

They only believe in our signs, who, when mention is made of
them, fall down in ADORATION, and celebrate the praise of their
Lord, and are not puffed up with disdain:

Who, as they raise them4 from their couches, call on their Lord
with fear and desire, and give alms of that with which we have
supplied them.

No soul knoweth what joy of the eyes is reserved for the good in
recompense of their works.

Shall he then who is a believer be as he who sinneth grossly? they
shall not be held alike.

As to those who believe and do that which is right, they shall have
gardens of eternal abode as the meed of their works:

But as for those who grossly sin, their abode shall be the fire: so
oft as they shall desire to escape out of it, back shall they be
turned into it. And it shall be said to them, Taste ye the torment of
the fire, which ye treated as a lie.

And we will surely cause them to taste a punishment yet nearer at
hand, besides the greater punishment, that haply they may turn to
us in penitence.

Who acteth worse than he who is warned by the signs of his Lord,
then turneth away from them? We will surely take vengeance on
the guilty ones.

We heretofore gave the Book of the law to Moses: have thou no
doubt as to our meeting with him:5 and we appointed it for the
guidance of the children of Israel.

And we appointed Imƒms from among them who should guide
after
our command when they had themselves endured with constancy,
and had firmly believed in our signs.

Now thy Lord! He will decide between them on the day of
resurrection as to the subject of their disputes.

Is it not notorious to them how many generations, through whose
abodes they walk, we have destroyed before them? Truly herein
are sings: will they not then hear?

See they not how we drive the rain to some parched land and
thereby bring forth corn of which their cattle and themselves do
eat? Will they not then behold?

They say, "When will this decision take place? Tell us, if ye are
men of truth?"

SAY: On the day of that decision, the faith of infidels shall not
avail them, and they shall have no further respite.

Stand aloof from them then, and wait thou, for they too wait.6

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. 1, p. 32.

2 Comp. Sura [cvii.] xxii. 46, and Ps. xc. 4, which is taken literally
by many of the Talmudists. Comp. e.g. Sanhed. 96, 2.

3 Lit. ex spermate genitali.

4 Lit. their sides are raised.

5 Noldeke thinks that the word for meeting is used here in the
same sense as in v. 10 above and Sura [lxxi.] xli. 54, and that the
clause does not belong to this verse, p. 108, n.

6 Wait thou for their punishment as they wait for thy downfall.

SURA1 XLI. THE MADE PLAIN [LXXI.]

MECCA. 54 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

HA. MIM.2 A Revelation from the Compassionate, the Merciful!

A Book whose verses (signs) are MADE PLAIN an Arabic Koran,
for men of knowledge;

Announcer of glad tidings and charged with warnings! But most of
them withdraw and hearken not:

And they say, "Our hearts are under shelter from thy teachings,
and in our ears is a deafness, and between us and thee there is a
veil. Act as thou thinkest right: we verily shall act as we think
right."

SAY: I am only a man like you.3 It is revealed to me that your God
is one God: go straight then to Him, and implore his pardon. And
woe to those who join gods with God;

Who pay not the alms of obligation, and in the life to come believe
not!

But they who believe and do the things that are right shall receive
a perfect4 recompense.

SAY: Do ye indeed disbelieve in Him who in two days created the
earth? and do ye assign Him peers? The Lord of the worlds is He!

And he hath placed on the earth the firm mountains which tower
above it; and He hath blessed it, and distributed food throughout
it, for the cravings of all alike, in four days:

Then He applied himself to the Heaven, which then was but
smoke:
and to it and to the Earth He said, "Come ye, whether in
obedience or against your will?" and they both said, "We come
obedient."

And He made them seven heavens in two days, and in each heaven
made known its office: And we furnished the lower heaven with
lights and guardian angels. This, the disposition of the Almighty,
the All-knowing.

If they turn away, then SAY: I warn you of a tempest, like the
tempest of Ad and Themoud!

When the apostles came to them on every side,5 saying, "Worship
none but God," they said, "Had our Lord been pleased to send
down, He had surely sent down angels; and in sooth, your message
we do not believe."

As to Ad, they bore them proudly and unjustly in the land, and
said, "Who more mighty than we in prowess?" Saw they not that
God their creator was mightier than they in prowess? And they
rejected our signs.

Therefore on ill-omened days did we send against them an
impetuous blast that we might make them taste the chastisement of
shame in this world: but more shameful shall be the chastisement
of the life to come; and they shall not be protected.

And as to Themoud, we had vouchsafed them guidance; but to
guidance did they prefer blindness; wherefore the tempest of a
shameful punishment overtook them for their doings:

But we rescued the believing and the God-fearing:

And warn of the day when the enemies of God shall be gathered6
unto the fire urged on in bands:

Until when they reach it, their ears and their eyes and their skins
shall bear witness against them of their deeds:

And they shall say to their skins, "Why witness ye against us?"
They shall say, "God, who giveth a voice to all things, hath given
us a voice: He created you at first, and to Him are ye brought
back.

And ye did not hide yourselves so that neither your ears nor your
eyes nor your skins should witness against you: but ye thought that
God knew not many a thing that ye did!

And this your thought which ye did think of your Lord hath ruined
you, so that ye are become of those who perish."

And be they patient, still the fire shall be their abode: or if they
beg for favour, yet shall they not be of favoured.

And we will appoint Satans as their fast companions; for it was
they who made their present and future state seem fair and right to
them; and the sentence passed on the peoples of Djinn and men
who flourished before them hath become their due, and they shall
perish.

Yet the unbelievers say, "Hearken not to this Koran, but keep up a
talking, that ye may overpower the voice of the reader."

Surely therefore will we cause the unbelievers to taste a terrible
punishment;

And recompense them according to the worst of their actions.

This the reward of the enemies of God, the Fire! it shall be their
eternal abode, in requital for their gainsaying our signs.

And they who believed not shall say, "O our Lord! shew us those
of the Djinn and men who led us astray: both of them will we put
under out feet, that they may be of the humbled."

But as for those who say, "Our Lord is God;" and who go straight
to Him,7 angels shall descend to them and say, "Fear ye not,
neither be ye grieved, but rejoice ye in the paradise which ye have
been promised.

We are your guardians in this life and in the next: your's therein
shall be your soul's desire, and your's therein whatever ye shall
ask for,

The hospitality of a Gracious, a Merciful One."

And who speaketh fairer than he who biddeth to God and doth the
thing that is right, and saith, "I for my part am of the Muslims"?

Moreover, good and evil are not to be treated as the same thing.
Turn away evil by what is better, and lo! he between whom and
thyself was enmity, shall be as though he were a warm friend.

But none attain to this save men steadfast in patience, and none
attain to it except the most highly favoured.8

And if an enticement from Satan entice thee, then take refuge in
God, for He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

And among his signs are the night, and the day, and the sun, and
the moon. Bend not in adoration to the sun or the moon, but bend
in adoration before God who created them both, if ye would serve
Him.

But if they are too proud for this, yet they who are with thy Lord
do celebrate His praises night and day,9 and cease not.

And among His signs is this, that thou seest the earth drooping:
but, when we send down the rain upon it, it is stirred and swelleth;
verily He who giveth it life, will surely give life to the dead; for
His might extendeth over all things.10

They truly who with obloquy disown our signs are not hidden from
us. Is he then who shall be cast into the fire, or he who shall come
forth secure on the day of resurrection, in the better position? Do
what ye will: but His eye is on all your doings.

Verily, they who believe not in "the warning," after it hath come
to them and yet the Koran is a glorious book!

Falsehood, from whatever side it cometh, shall not come night
it;11
it is a missive down from the Wise, the Praiseworthy.

Nothing hath been said to thee which hath not been said of old to
apostles before thee. Verily with thy Lord is forgiveness, and with
Him is terrible retribution.

Had we made it a Koran in a foreign tongue, they had surely said,
"Unless its signs be made clear !12 What! in a foreign tongue?
and the people Arabian?" SAY: It is to those who believe a guide
and a medicine;13 but as to those who believe not, there is a
thickness in their ears, and to them it is a blindness: they are like
those who are called to from afar.

Of old we gave the Book to Moses, and disputes arose about it:
and if a decree of respite from thy Lord had gone before, there
would surely have been a decision between them: for great were
their doubts and questionings about it.14

He who doth right it is for himself:15 and he who doth it is for
himself: and thy Lord will not deal unfairly with his servants.

With Him alone16 is the knowledge of "the Hour." No fruit
cometh
forth from its coverings, neither doth any female conceive, nor is
she delivered, but with His knowledge. And on that day He shall
call men to Him, saying, "Where are the companions ye gave
me?" They shall say, "We own to thee, there is no one of us can
witness for them."

And what they erst called on shall pass away from them, and they
shall perceive that there will be no escape for them.

Man ceaseth not to pray for good: but if evil betide him he
despondeth, despairing.

And if we cause him to taste our mercy after affliction hath
touched him, he is sure to say, "This is my due: and I take no
thought of the Hour of Resurrection: and if I be brought back to
my Lord, I shall indeed attain with Him my highest good." But we
will then certainly declare their doings to the Infidels, and cause
them to taste a stern punishment.

When we are gracious to man, he withdraweth and turneth him
aside: but when evil toucheth him, he is a man of long prayers.

SAY: What think ye? If this Book be from God and ye believe it
not, who will have gone further astray than he who is at a distance
from it?

We will shew them our signs in different countries and among
themselves, until it become plain to them that it is the truth. Is it
not enough for thee that thy Lord is witness of all things?

Are they not in doubt as to the meeting with their Lord? But doth
he not encompass all things?

_______________________

1 In some MSS. this Sura is entitled Adoration. Thus Beidh.
According to His. 186, comp. Caussin 1, 375 f., Muhammad's aim
in this Sura was the conversion of a noble Meccan, Utba ben
Rabia, to Islam. The precise year is uncertain.

2 See Sura lxviii. 1, p. 32.

3 Thus SS. Paul and Barnabas, Acts xiv. 15.

4 Or, never failing.

5 Lit. from before them and from behind them.

6 See Sura [lx.] xxxvi. 64, n.

7 Comp. Sura [lxxxviii.] xlvi. 12.

8 Lit. the possessor of great good fortune.

9 Comp. Rev. iv. 8 in the original.

10 Thus Tr. Taanith (init.).

11 Lit. vanity shall not come to it from before it, or from behind it.

12 We will not receive it. The literal rendering of the following
words is what! foreign and Arabian?

13 Comp. Sura [lxvii.] xvii. 83, 84.

14 Lit. verily they were in suspicious doubting about it.

15 Lit. for his soul. See next Sura, v. 14.

16 Lit. to Him is referred.

SURA XLV. THE KNEELING [LXXII.]

MECCA. 36 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

HA. MIM.1 This Book is sent down2 from God, the Mighty, the
Wise!

Assuredly in the Heavens and the Earth are signs for those who
believe:

And in your own creation, and in the beasts which are scattered
abroad are signs to the firm in faith:

And in the succession of night and day, and in the supply which
God sendeth down from the Heaven whereby He giveth life to the
earth when dead, and in the change of the winds, are signs for a
people of discernment.

Such are the signs of God: with truth do we recite them to thee.
But in what teaching will they believe, if they reject3 God and his
signs?

Woe to every lying sinner,

Who heareth the signs of God recited to him, and then, as though
he heard them not, persisteth in proud disdain! Apprise him of an
afflictive punishment.

And when he becometh acquainted with any of our signs he
turneth them into ridicule. These! a shameful punishment for
them!

Hell is behind them! and neither their gains nor the lords whom
they have adopted beside God shall avail them in the least: and
theirs, a great punishment!

This is "Guidance:" and for those who disbelieve the signs of their
Lord is the punishment of an afflictive torment.

It is God who hath subjected the sea to you that the ships may
traverse it at his bidding, and that ye may go in quest of the gifts of
his bounty, and that ye may be thankful.

And he hath subjected to you all that is in the Heavens and all that
is on the Earth: all is from him. Verily, herein are signs for those
who reflect.

Tell the believers to pardon those who hope not for the days of
God4 in which He purposeth to reward men according to their
deeds.

He who doth that which is right, doth it to his own behoof, and
whoso doth evil, doth it to his own hurt. Hereafter, to your Lord
shall ye be brought back.

To the children of Israel gave we of old the Book and the Wisdom,
and the gift of Prophecy, and we supplied them with good things,
and privileged them above all peoples:

And we gave them clear sanctions for our behests: neither did they
differ, through mutual envy, till after they had become possessed
of knowledge; but thy Lord will judge between them on the day of
resurrection, as to the subject of their disputes.

Afterwards we set thee over our divine law:5 follow it then: and
follow not the wishes of those who have no knowledge,

For against God shall they avail thee nothing. And in sooth, the
doers of evil are one another's patrons; but the patron of them that
fear Him is God himself.

This Book hath insight for mankind, and a Guidance and Mercy to
a people who are firm in faith.

Deem they whose gettings are only evil, that we will deal with
them as with those who believe and work righteousness, so that
their lives and deaths shall be alike? Ill do they judge.

In all truth hath God created the Heavens and the Earth, that he
may reward every one as he shall have wrought; and they shall not
be wronged.

What thinkest thou? He who hath made a God of his passions, and
whom God causeth wilfully to err, and whose ears and whose
heart he hath sealed up, and over whose sight he hath placed a
veil who, after his rejection by God, shall guide such a one? Will
ye not then be warned?

And they say, "There is only this our present life: we die and we
live, and nought but time destroyeth us." But in this they have no
knowledge: it is merely their own conceit.

And when our clear signs are recited to them, their only argument
is to say, "Bring back our fathers, if ye speak the truth."

Say: God giveth you life, then causeth you to die: then will He
assemble you on the day of resurrection: there is no doubt of it:
but most men have not this knowledge.

And God's is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth; and on
the day when the Hour shall arrive, on that day shall the
despisers6 perish.

And thou shalt see every nation KNEELING: to its own book shall
every nation be summoned: "This day shall ye be repaid as ye
have wrought.

This our Book will speak of you with truth: therein have we
written
down whatever ye have done."

As to those who have believed and wrought righteously, into his
mercy shall their Lord cause them to enter. This shall be
undoubted bliss!

But as to the Infidels "Were not my signs recited to you? but ye
proudly scorned them, and became a sinful people."

And when it was said, "Verily the Promise of God is truth; and as
to the Hour, there is no doubt of it;" ye said, "We know not what
the hour is we conceive it a mere conceit, we have no
assurance of it."

And the evils they have wrought shall rise up into their view, and
that at which they mocked shall hem them in on every side.

And it shall be said to them, "This day will we forget you as ye
forgat your meeting with us this day, and your abode shall be the
fire, and none shall there be to succour you:

This, because ye received the signs of God with mockery, and this
present life deceived you." On that day therefore they shall not
come out from it; and they shall not be asked to win the favour of
God.

Praise then be to God, Lord of the Heavens and Lord of the Earth;
the Lord of the worlds!

And His be the greatness in the Heavens and on the Earth; for He
is the Mighty, the Wise!

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. p. 32.

2 Lit. the sending down, i.e. the revelation of the Book.

3 Lit. after God.

4 That is, the days of victory. In Scripture phrase, "the days of the
right hand of the Most High."

5 The Arabic amri may be rendered either command or business,
i.e. of religion.

6 Lit. the makers vain, i.e. vanitatis arguentes alcoranum. Mar.

SURA XVI. THE BEE [LXXIII.]

MECCA. 128 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

THE doom of God cometh to pass. Then hasten it not. Glory be to
Him! High let Him be exalted above the gods whom they join with
Him!

By his own behest will He cause the angels to descend with the
Spirit on whom he pleaseth among his servants, bidding them,
"Warn that there is no God but me; therefore fear me."

He hath created the Heavens and the Earth to set forth his truth;1
high let Him be exalted above the gods they join with Him!

Man hath He created from a moist germ;2 yet lo! man is an open
caviller.

And the cattle! for you hath He created them: in them ye have
warm garments and gainful uses; and of them ye eat:

And they beseem you well3 when ye fetch them home and when
ye
drive them forth to pasture:

And they carry your burdens to lands which ye could not else
reach but with travail of soul: truly your Lord is full of goodness,
and merciful:

And He hath given you horses, mules, and asses, that ye may ride
them, and for your ornament: and things of which ye have no
knowledge hath he created.

Of God it is to point out "the Way." Some turn aside from it: but
had He pleased, He had guided you all aright.

It is He who sendeth down rain out of Heaven: from it is your
drink; and from it are the plants by which ye pasture.

By it He causeth the corn, and the olives, and the palm-trees, and
the grapes to spring forth for you, and all kinds of fruits: verily, in
this are signs for those who ponder.

And He hath subjected to you the night and the day; the sun and
the moon and the stars too are subjected to you by his behest;
verily, in this are signs for those who understand:

And all of varied hues that He hath created for you over the earth:
verily, in this are signs for those who remember.

And He it is who hath subjected the sea to you, that ye may eat of
its fresh fish, and take forth from it ornaments to wear thou seest
the ships ploughing its billows and that ye may go in quest of his
bounties, and that ye might give thanks.

And He hath thrown firm mountains on the earth, least it move
with you; and rivers and paths for your guidance,

And way marks. By the stars too are men guided.

Shall He then who hath created be as he who hath not created?
Will ye not consider?

And if ye would reckon up the favours of God, ye could not count
them. Aye! God is right Gracious, Merciful!

And God knoweth what ye conceal, and what ye bring to light,

While the gods whom they call on beside God, create nothing, but
are themselves created:

Dead are they, lifeless! and they know not

When they shall be raised!

Your God is the one God: and they who believe not in a future life,
have hearts given to denial, and are men of pride:

Beyond a doubt God knoweth what they conceal and what they
manifest:

He truly loveth not the men of pride.

For when it is said to them, "What is this your Lord hath sent
down?" they say, "Fables of the ancients,"

That on the day of resurrection they may bear their own entire
burden, and the burden of those whom they, in their ignorance,
misled. Shall it not be a grievous burden for them?

They who were before them did plot of old. But God attacked their
building at its foundation the roof fell on them from above; and,
whence they looked not for it, punishment overtook them:4

On the day of resurrection, too, will He shame them. He will say,
"Where are the gods ye associated with me, the subjects of your
disputes?" They to whom "the knowledge" hath been given will
say, Verily, this day shall shame and evil fall upon the infidels.

The sinners against their own souls whom the angels shall cause to
die will proffer the submission, "No evil have we done." Nay! God
knoweth what ye have wrought:

Enter ye therefore the gates of Hell to remain therein for ever: and
horrid the abiding place of the haughty ones!

But to those who have feared God it shall be said, "What is this
that your Lord hath awarded?" They shall say, "That which is
best. To those who do good, a good reward in this present world;
but better the mansion of the next, and right pleasant the abode of
the God-fearing!"

Gardens of Eden into which they shall enter; rivers shall flow
beneath their shades; all they wish for shall they find therein! Thus
God rewardeth those who fear Him;

To whom, as righteous persons, the angels shall say, when they
receive their souls, "Peace be on you! Enter Paradise as the meed
of your labours."

What can the infidels expect but that the angels of death come
upon them, or that a sentence of thy Lord take effect? Thus did
they who flourished before them. God was not unjust to them, but
to their ownselves were they unjust;

And the ill which they had done recoiled upon them, and that
which they had scoffed at encompassed them round about.

They who have joined other gods with God say, "Had He pleased,
neither we nor our fathers had worshipped aught but him; nor
should we, apart from him, have forbidden aught." Thus acted
they who were before them. Yet is the duty of the apostles other
than public preaching?

And to every people have we sent an apostle saying: Worship
God and turn away from Taghout.5 Some of them there were
whom
God guided, and there were others decreed to err. But go through
the land and see what hath been the end of those who treated my
apostles as liars!

If thou art anxious for their guidance, know that God will not
guide him whom He would lead astray, neither shall they have any
helpers.

And they swear by God with their most sacred oath that "God will
never raise him who once is dead." Nay, but on Him is a promise
binding, though most men know it not,

That He may clear up to them the subject of their disputes, and
that the infidels may know that they are liars.

Our word to a thing when we will it, is but to say, "Be," and it is.6

And as to those who when oppressed have fled their country for
the sake of God, we will surely provide them a goodly abode in
this world, but greater the reward of the next life, did they but
know it

They who bear ills with patience and put their trust in the Lord!

None have we sent before thee but men inspired ask of those who
have Books of Monition,7 if ye know it not

With proofs of their mission and Scriptures: and to thee have we
sent down this Book of Monition that thou mayest make clear to
men what hath been sent down to them, and that they may ponder
it.

What! Are they then who have plotted mischiefs, sure that God
will
not cause the earth to cleave under them? or that a chastisement
will not come upon them whence they looked not for it?

Or that He will not seize upon them in their comings and goings,
while they shall not be able to resist him?

Or that he will not seize them with some slowly wasting scourge?
But verily your Lord is Good, Gracious.

Have they not seen how everything which God hath created
turneth its shadow right and left, prostrating itself before God in
all abasement?

And all in the Heavens and all on the Earth, each thing that
moveth, and the very angels, prostrate them in adoration before
God, and are free from pride;

They fear their Lord who is above them, and do what they are
bidden:

For God hath said, "Take not to yourselves two gods, for He is
one God: me, therefore! yea, me revere!

All in the Heavens and in the Earth is His! His due unceasing
service! Will ye then fear any other than God?

And all your blessings are assuredly from God: then, when trouble
befalleth you, to Him ye turn for help:

Then when He relieveth you of the trouble, lo! some of you join
associates with your Lord:

To prove how thankless are they for our gifts! Enjoy yourselves
then: but in the end ye shall know the truth.

And for idols, of which they know nothing, they set apart a share
of our bounties! By God ye shall be called to account for your
devices!

And they ascribe daughters unto God! Glory be to Him! But they
desire them not for themselves:8

For when the birth of a daughter is announced to any one of them,
dark shadows settle on his face, and he is sad:

He hideth him from the people because of the ill tidings: shall he
keep it with disgrace or bury it in the dust?9 Are not their
judgments wrong?

To whatever is evil may they be likened who believe not in a
future
life;10 but God is to be likened to whatever is loftiest: for He is the
Mighty, the Wise.

Should God punish men for their perverse doings, he would not
leave on earth a moving thing! but to an appointed term doth He
respite them; and when their term is come, they shall not delay or
advance it an hour.

Yet what they loathe themselves do they assign to God; and their
tongues utter the lie, that theirs shall be a goodly lot. But beyond a
doubt is it that the fire awaiteth them, and that they shall be the
first sent into it.

By God we have sent Apostles to nations before thee, but Satan
prepared their work for them, and this day is he their liege; and a
woeful punishment doth await them.

And we have sent down the Book to thee only, that thou mightest
clear up to them the subject of their wranglings, and as a guidance
and a mercy to those who believe.

And God sendeth down water from Heaven, and by it giveth life to
the Earth after it hath been dead: verily, in this is a sign to those
who hearken.

Ye have also teaching from the cattle. We give you drink of the
pure milk, between dregs and blood, which is in their bellies; the
pleasant beverage of them that quaff it.

And among fruits ye have the palm and the vine, from which ye
get
wine and healthful nutriment: in this, verily, are signs for those
who reflect.

And thy Lord hath taught the BEE, saying: "Provide thee houses
in the mountains, and in the trees, and in the hives which men do
build thee:

Feed, moreover, on every kind of fruit, and walk the beaten paths
of thy Lord." From its belly cometh forth a fluid of varying hues,11
which yieldeth medicine to man. Verily in this is a sign for those
who consider.

And God hath created you; by and bye will he take you to himself;
and some among you will he carry on to abject old age, when all
that once was known is known no longer. Aye, God is Knowing,
Powerful.

And God hath abounded to some of you more than to others in the
supplies of life; yet they to whom He hath abounded, impart not
thereof to the slaves whom their right hands possess, so that they
may share alike. What! will they deny, then, that these boons are
from God?

God, too, hath given you wives of your own race, and from your
wives hath He given you sons and grandsons, and with good things
hath he supplied you. What, will they then believe in vain idols?
For God's boons they are ungrateful!

And they worship beside God those who neither out of the
Heavens
or Earth can provide them a particle of food, and have no power
in themselves!

Make no comparisons, therefore, with God.12 Verily, God hath
knowledge, but ye have not.

God maketh comparison between a slave13 the property of his
lord,
who hath no power over anything, and a free man whom we have
ourselves supplies, and who giveth alms therefrom both in secret
and openly. Shall they be held equal? No: praise be to God! But
most men know it not.

God setteth forth also a comparison between two men, one of
whom is dumb from his birth, and hath no power over anything,
and is a burden to his lord: send him where he will, he cometh not
back with success. Shall he and the man who enjoineth what is
just, and keepeth in the straight path, be held equal?

God's are the secrets of the Heavens and of the Earth! and the
business of the last hour will be but as the twinkling of an eye, or
even less. Yes! for all things is God Potent.

God hath brought you out of your mothers' wombs devoid of all
knowledge; but hath given you hearing, and sight, and heart, that
haply ye might render thanks.

Have they never looked up at the birds subjected to Him in
Heaven's vault? None holdeth them in hand but God! In this are
signs for those who believe.

And God hath given you tents to dwell in: and He hath given you
the skins of beasts for tents, that ye may find them light when ye
shift your quarters, or when ye halt; and from their wool and soft
fur and hair, hath He supplied you with furniture and goods for
temporary use.

And from the things which He hath created, hath God provided
shade for you, and hath given you the mountains for places of
shelter, and hath given you garments to defend you from the heat,
and garments to defend you in your wars. Thus doth He fill up the
measure of His goodness towards you, that you may resign
yourselves to Him.

But if they turn their backs, still thy office is only plain spoken
preaching.

They own the goodness of God then they disown it and most of
them are infidels.

But one day, we will raise up a witness out of every nation: them
shall the infidels have no permission to make excuses, and they
shall find no favour.

And when they who have acted thus wrongly shall behold their
torment, it shall not be made light to them, nor will God deign to
look upon them.

And when they who had joined associates with God shall see those
their associate-gods, they shall say, "O our Lord! these are our
associate-gods whom we called upon beside Thee." But they shall
retort on them, "Verily, ye are liars."

And on that day shall they proffer submission to God; and the
deities of their own invention shall vanish from them.

As for those who were infidels and turned others aside from the
way of God, to them we will add punishment on punishment for
their corrupt doings.

And one day we will summon up in every people a witness against
them from among themselves; and we will bring thee up as a
witness against these Meccans: for to thee have we sent down the
Book which cleareth up everything, a guidance, and mercy, and
glad tidings to those who resign themselves to God (to Muslims).

Verily, God enjoineth justice and the doing of good and gifts to
kindred, and he forbiddeth wickedness and wrong and oppression.
He warneth you that haply ye may be mindful.

Be faithful in the covenant of God when ye have covenanted, and
break not your oaths after ye have pledged them: for now have ye
made God to stand surety for you. Verily, God hath knowledge of
what ye do.

And, because you are a more numerous people than some other
people, be not like her who unravelleth the thread which she had
strongly spun, by taking your oaths with mutual perfidy. God is
making trial of you in this: and in the day of resurrection he will
assuredly clear up to you that concerning which ye are now at
variance.

Had God pleased, He could have made you one people: but He
causeth whom He will to err, and whom He will He guideth: and
ye shall assuredly be called to account for your doings.

Therefore take not your oaths with mutual fraud, lest your foot slip
after it hath been firmly fixed, and ye taste of evil because ye have
turned others aside from the way of God, and great be your
punishment.

And barter not the covenant of God for a mean price; for with God
is that which is better for you, if ye do but understand.

All that is with you passeth away, but that which is with God
abideth. With a reward meet for their best deeds will we surely
recompense those who have patiently endured.

Whoso doeth that which is right, whether male or female, if a
believer, him will we surely quicken to a happy life, and
recompense them with a reward meet for their best deeds.

When thou readest the Koran, have recourse to God for help
against Satan the stoned,14

For no power hath he over those who believe, and put their trust in
their Lord,

But only hath he power over those who turn away from God, and
join other deities with Him.

And when we change one (sign) verse for another, and God
knoweth best what He revealeth, they say, "Thou art only a
fabricator." Nay! but most of them have no knowledge.

SAY: The Holy Spirit15 hath brought it down with truth from thy
Lord, that He may stablish those who have believed, and as
guidance and glad tidings to the Muslims.

We also know that they say, "Surely a certain person teacheth
him." But the tongue of him at whom they hint is foreign,16 while
this Koran is in the plain Arabic.

As for those who believe not in the signs of God, God will not
guide them, and a sore torment doth await them.

Surely they invent a lie who believe not in the signs of God and
they are the liars.

Whoso, after he hath believed in God denieth him, if he were
forced to it and if his heart remain steadfast in the faith, shall be
guiltless:17 but whoso openeth his breast to infidelity on such
shall be wrath from God, and a severe punishment awaiteth them.

This, because they have loved this present life beyond the next,
and because God guideth not the unbelievers!

These are they whose hearts and ears and eyes God hath sealed
up: these are the careless ones: in the next world shall they perish
beyond a doubt.

To those also who after their trials fled their country,18 then
fought
and endured with patience, verily, thy Lord will in the end be
forgiving, gracious.

On a certain day shall every soul come to plead for itself, and
every soul shall be repaid according to its deeds; and they shall
not be wronged.

God proposeth the instance of a city,19 secure and at ease, to
which its supplies come in plenty from every side. But she was
thankless for the boons of God; God therefore made her taste the
woe20 of famine and of fear, for what they had done.

Moreover, an apostle of their own people came to them, and they
treated him as an impostor. So chastisement overtook them
because they were evil doers.

Of what God hath supplied you eat the lawful and good, and be
grateful for the favours of God, if ye are his worshippers.

Forbidden to you is that only which dieth of itself, and blood, and
swine's flesh, and that which hath been slain in the name of any
other than God: but if any be forced, and neither lust for it nor
wilfully transgress, then verily God is forgiving, gracious.21

And say not with a lie upon your tongue, "This is lawful and this is
forbidden:" for so will ye invent a lie concerning God: but they
who invent a lie of God shall not prosper:

Brief their enjoyment, but sore their punishment!

To the Jews22 we have forbidden that of which we before told
thee;
we injured them not, but they injured themselves.

To those who have done evil in ignorance, then afterwards have
repented and amended, verily thy Lord is in the end right gracious,
merciful.

Verily, Abraham was a leader in religion:23 obedient to God,
sound in faith:24 he was not of those who join gods with God.

Grateful was he for His favours: God chose him and guided him
into the straight way;

And we bestowed on him good things in this world: and in the
world to come he shall be among the just.

We have moreover revealed to thee that thou follow the religion of
Abraham, the sound in faith. He was not of those who join gods
with God.

The Sabbath was only ordained for those who differed about it:
and of a truth thy Lord will decide between them on the day of
resurrection as to the subject of their disputes.

Summon thou to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and with kindly
warning: dispute with them in the kindest manner: thy Lord best
knoweth those who stray from his way, and He best knoweth those
who have yielded to his guidance.

If ye make reprisals,25 then make them to the same extent that ye
were injured: but if ye can endure patiently, best will it be for the
patiently enduring.

Endure then with patience. But thy patient endurance must be
sought in none but God. And be not grieved about the infidels, and
be not troubled at their devices; for God is with those who fear
him and do good deeds.

_______________________

1 See Sura [lxxxiv.] x. 5, n.

2 Ex gutta spermatis. Pirke Aboth iii. Unde venisti? ex gutt…
f tidd. This verse is said to be an allusion to a difficulty proposed
by an idolatrous Arab, who brought a carious leg-bone to
Muhammad, and asked whether it could be restored to life.
Compare a similar argument for the Resurrection, Tr. Sanhedrin,
fol. 91 a.

3 Lit. there is beauty in them for you, i.e. they win you credit.

4 In allusion to Gen. xi. 1-10.

5 An Arabian idol.

6 Ps. xxxv. 9.

7 Lit. the family of the admonition, i.e. Jews and Christians versed
in the Pentateuch and Gospel.

8 The idolatrous Arabians regarded Angels as females and
daughters of God. But their own preference was always for male
offspring. Thus Rabbinism teaches that to be a woman is a great
degradation. The modern Jew says in his Daily Prayers, fol. 5, 6,
"Blessed art thou, O Lord our God! King of the Universe! who
hath not made me a woman."

9 See Sura lxxxi. 8, p. 45. It is said that the only occasion on which
Othman ever shed a tear was when his little daughter, whom he
was burying alive, wiped the dust of the grave-earth from his
beard.

10 Lit. the likeness of evil to those, etc.

11 The Arabs are curious in and fond of honey: Mecca alone
affords eight or nine varieties green, white, red, and brown.
Burton's Pilgr. iii. 110.

12 Ex. xx. 4.

13 The slave, and the dumb in verse following, are the idols.

14 See Sura [xcvii.] iii. 34, and n. 1, p. 114.

15 Gabriel.

16 This passage has been supposed to refer to Salman the Persian.
He did not, however, embrace Islam till a much later period, at
Medina. N”ld. p. 110. Mr. Muir thinks that it may refer to Suheib,
son of Sinan, "the first fruits of Greece," as Muhammad styled
him, who, while yet a boy, had been carried off by some Greeks as
a slave, from Mesopotamia to Syria, brought by a party of the Beni
Kalb, and sold to Abdallah ibn Jodda'ƒn of Mecca. He became
rich, and embraced Islam. Dr. Sprenger thinks the person alluded
to may have been Addas, a monk of Nineveh, who had settled at
Mecca. Life of M. p. 79.

17 This is to be understood of the persecutions endured by the
more humble and needy Muslims by their townspeople of Mecca.

18 From Mecca to Medina, i.e. the Mohadjers, to whom also verse
43 refers. Both passages, therefore, are of a later date than the
rest of this Sura. Thus N”ldeke. Sprenger, however (Life, p. 159),
explains this passage of the seven slaves purchased and
manumitted by Abu Bekr. They had been tortured for professing
Islam, shortly after Muhammad assumed the Prophetic office.

19 Mecca.

20 Lit. the garment.

21 Comp. Sura [lxxxix.] vi. 119.

22 Comp. Sura [lxxxix.] vi. 147. This verse as well as the
following, and verse 125, were probably added at Medina.

23 Antistes. Maracci. Or the text may be literally rendered
Abraham was a people, i.e. the people of Abraham; from whom
the
idolatrous Koreisch pretended to derive their origin.

24 Ar. a Hanyf. According to a tradition in Waquidi, fol. 255, Zaid
(who died only five years before Muhammad received his first
inspiration, and undoubtedly prepared the way for many of his
subsequent announcements) adopted this term at the instance of a
Christian and a Jew, who exhorted him to become a Hanyf. Zaid
having at this time renounced idolatry, and being unable to
receive either Judaism or Christianity, "What," said he, "is a
Hanyf?" They both told him, it was the religion of Abraham, who
worshipped nothing but God. On this Zaid exclaimed, "O God, I
bear witness that I follow the religion of Abraham." The root,
whence Hanyf is derived, means generally to turn from good to
bad, or vice versƒ, and is equivalent to the verbs convert and
pervert.

25 All Muhammadan commentators explain this verse as a
prohibition to avenge the death of Hamza on the Meccans with too
great severity.

SURA XXX. THE GREEKS [LXXIV.]

MECCA. 60 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. MIM.1 THE GREEKS have been defeated2

In a land hard by: But after their defeat they shall defeat their
foes,

In a few years.3 First and last is the affair with God. And on that
day shall the faithful rejoice

In the aid of their God: He aideth whom He will; and He is the
Mighty, the Merciful.

It is the promise of God: To his promise God will not be untrue:
but most men know it not.

They know the outward shews of this life present, but of the next
life are they careless.

Have they not considered within themselves that God hath not
created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is between them
but for a serious end, and for a fixed term? But truly most men
believe not that they shall meet their Lord.

Have they never journeyed through the land, and seen what hath
been the end of those who were before them? Mightier were they
than these in strength; and they broke up the land, and dwelt in it
in greater numbers than they who dwell there now; and their
apostles came to them with proofs of their mission: and it was not
God who would wrong them, but they wronged themselves.

Then evil was the end of the evil doers; because they had treated
our signs as lies, and laughed them to scorn.

God bringth forth the creation then causeth it to return
again then to Him shall ye come back.4

And on the day when the hour shall arrive, the guilty shall be
struck dumb for despair,

And they shall have no intercessors from among the gods whom
they have joined with God, and they shall deny the gods they
joined with Him.

And on that day when the Hour shall arrive, shall men be
separated one from another;

And as for those who shall have believed and done the things that
are right, they shall enjoy themselves in a flowery mead;

But as for those who shall not have believed, but treated our signs
and the meeting of the next life as lies, they shall be given over to
the torment.

Glorify God therefore when ye reach the evening, and when ye rise
at morn:

And to Him be praise in the Heavens and on the Earth; and at
twilight, and when ye rest at noon.

He bringeth forth the living out of the dead, and He bringeth forth
the dead out of the living: and He quickeneth the earth when dead.
Thus is it that ye too shall be brought forth.5

And one of his signs it is that He hath created you out of dust; then
lo! ye become men who spread themselves far and wide:

And one of his signs it is, that He hath created wives for you of
your own species,6 that ye may dwell with them, and hath put love
and tenderness between you. Herein truly are signs for those who
reflect.

And among his signs are the creation of the Heavens and of the
Earth, and your variety of tongues and colour. Herein truly are
signs for all men.

And of his signs are your sleep by night and by day, and your
goings in quest of his bounties. Herein truly are signs to those who
hearken.

And of his signs are, that He sheweth you the lightning, a source of
awe and hope; and that He sendeth down rain from the heaven
and giveth life by it to the earth when dead. Herein truly are signs
to those who understand.

And of his signs also one is that the Heaven and the Earth stand
firm at his bidding: hereafter, when with one summons He shall
summon you out of the earth, lo! forth shall ye come.

His, whatsoever is in the Heavens and on the Earth: all are
obedient to him.

And He it is who bringeth a creature forth, then causeth it to
return again; and to him is this most easy. To whatever is loftiest
in heaven and earth is He to be likened; and He is the Mighty, the
Wise.

He setteth forth to you an instance drawn from yourselves. Have
ye among the slaves whom your right hands have won, any partner
in what we have bestowed on you, so that ye share alike? Fear ye
them as ye fear each other? (Thus make we our signs clear to men
of understanding.)

No, ye do not. But the wicked, devoid of knowledge, follow their
own desires:7 and those whom God shall mislead, who shall guide,
and who shall be their protector?

Set thou thy face then, as a true convert,8 towards the Faith which
God hath made, and for which He hath made man. No change is
there in the creation of God. This is the right Faith, but the greater
part of men know it not.

And be ye turned to Him, and fear Him, and observe prayer, and
be not of those who unite gods with God:

Of those who have split up their religion, and have become sects,
where every party rejoices in what is their own.9

When some evil toucheth men, they turn to their Lord and call
upon him: then when he hath made them taste his mercy, lo, a part
of them join other gods with their Lord,

Ungrateful for our favours! Enjoy yourselves then. But in the end
ye shall know your folly.

Have we sent down to them any mandate which speaketh in favour
of what they join with God?

When we cause men to taste mercy they rejoice in it; but if, for
that
which their hands have aforetime wrought, evil befall them, they
despair.

See they not that God bestoweth full supplies on whom He
pleaseth
and giveth sparingly to whom He pleaseth? Signs truly are there
herein to those who believe.

To him who is of kin to thee give his due, and to the poor and to
the wayfarer: this will be best for those who seek the face of God;
and with them it shall be well.

Whatever ye put out at usury to increase it with the substance of
others shall have no increase from God:10 but whatever ye shall
give in alms, as seeking the face of God, shall be doubled to you.

It is God who created you then fed you then will cause you to
die then will make you alive. Is there any of your
companion-gods who can do aught of these things? Praise be to
Him! and far be He exalted above the gods they join with Him.

Destruction hath appeared by land and by sea on account of what
men's hands have wrought, that it might make them taste
somewhat of the fruit of their doings, that haply they might turn to
God.

SAY: Journey through the land, and see what hath been the end of
those who were before you! The greater part of them joined other
gods with God.

Set thy face then towards the right faith, ere the day come which
none can hinder God from bringing on.11 On that day shall they be
parted in twain:

Unbelievers on whom shall be their unbelief; and they who have
wrought righteousness, and prepared for themselves couches of
repose:

That of his bounty He may reward those who have believed and
wrought righteousness; for the unbelievers He loveth not.

And one of his signs is that He sendeth the winds with glad tidings
of rain, both that He may cause you to taste his mercy, and that
ships may sail at his command, that out of his bounties ye may
seek wealth, and that haply ye may render thanks.

We have sent apostles before thee to their peoples, and they
presented themselves to them with clear proofs of their mission;
and while it behoved us to succour the faithful, we took vengeance
on the guilty.

It is God who sendeth the winds and uplifteth the clouds, and, as
He pleaseth, spreadeth them on high, and breaketh them up; and
thou mayest see the rain issuing from their midst; and when He
poureth it down on such of his servants as He pleaseth, lo! they
are filled with joy,

Even they who before it was sent down to them, were in mute
despair.

Look then at the traces of God's mercy how after its death he
quickeneth the earth! This same God will surely quicken the dead,
for to all things His might is equal.

Yet should we send a blast, and should they see their harvest turn
yellow, they would afterwards shew themselves ungrateful.

Thou canst not make the dead to hear, neither canst thou make the
deaf to hear the call, when they withdraw and turn their backs:

Neither canst thou guide the blind out of their error: in sooth,
none shalt thou make to hear, save him who shall believe in our
signs: for they are resigned to our will (Muslims).

It is God who hath created you in weakness, then after weakness
hath given you strength: then after strength, weakness and grey
hairs: He createth what He will; and He is the Wise, the Powerful.

And on the day whereon the Hour shall arrive, the wicked will
swear

That not above an hour have they waited: Even so did they utter
lies on earth:

But they to whom knowledge and faith have been given will say,
"Ye have waited, in accordance with the book of God, till the day
of Resurrection: for this is the day of the Resurrection but ye
knew it not."

On that day their plea shall not avail the wicked, neither shall they
again be bidden to seek acceptance with God.

And now have we set before men, in this Koran, every kind of
parable: yet if thou bring them a single verse of it, the infidels will
surely say, "Ye are only utterers of vain things."

It is thus that God hath sealed up the hearts of those who are
devoid of knowledge.

But do thou, Muhammad, bear with patience, for true is the
promise of God; and let not those who have no firm belief, unsettle
thee.

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. 1, p. 32.

2 By the Persians; probably in Palestine in the 6th year before the
Hejira, under Khosrou Parviz. (Ann. 615. See Gibbon's Decline
and Fall, ch. xlvi.) The sympathies of Muhammad would naturally
be enlisted on the side of the Christians rather than on that of the
idolatrous fire-worshippers, with whom Islam had nothing in
common.

3 This alludes to the defeat of the Persians by Heraclius, ann. 625.
The Muhammadans appeal to this passage as a clear proof of the
inspiration of their prophet. But it should be borne in mind that the
vowel points of the consonants of the Arabic word for defeated in
verse 1, not being originally written, and depending entirely on the
speaker or reader, would make the prophecy true in either event,
according as the verb received an active or passive sense in
pronunciation. The whole passage was probably constructed with
the view of its proving true in any event.

4 Comp. Psalm xc. 30, in the Arabic version.

5 The Talmudists apply the description of God of the sender of the
rain to the divine command which shall cause the dead to arise.
Taanith (init.).

6 Lit. from yourselves, i.e. either from the side of Adam or of
human, and of no other kind of being. Beidh.

7 By worshipping idols conjointly with God.

8 Lit. as a Hanyf. See note on the preceding Sura, 121, p. 209.

9 Peculiar to and distinctive of themselves. Muhammad had a just
appreciation of that narrowness of mind which is the
characteristic of sectarians in every age, who seize upon some one
point of truth, through inability to grasp the whole in its due
proportions and bearing, and glory in it, as if the fragment were
the whole.

10 Comp. Ps. xv. 5.

11 Lit. which none can put back from God.

SURA XI. HOUD [LXXV.]

MECCA. 123 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. RA.1 A book whose verses are stablished in wisdom
and then set forth with clearness from the Wise, the All-informed

That ye worship none other than God Verily I come to you from
Him charged with warnings, announcements;

And that ye seek pardon of your Lord, and then be turned unto
Him! Goodly enjoyments will He give you to enjoy until a destined
time, and His favours will He bestow on every one who deserves
his favours.2 But if ye turn away, then verily I fear for you the
chastisement of the great day.

Unto God shall ye return, and over all things is he Potent.

Do they not doubly fold up their breasts, that they may hide
themselves from Him?

But when they enshroud themselves in their garments, doth He not
know alike what they conceal and what they shew?

For He knoweth the very inmost of their breast.

There is no moving thing on earth whose nourishment dependeth
not on God; he knoweth its haunts and final resting place: all is in
the clear Book.

And He it is who hath made the Heavens and the Earth in six days:
His throne had stood ere this upon the waters,3 that He might
make proof which of you4 would excel in works.

And if thou say, "After death ye shall surely be raised again," the
infidels will certainly exclaim, "This is nothing but pure sorcery."

And if we defer their chastisement to some definite time, they will
exclaim, "What keepeth it back?" What! will it not come upon
them on a day when there shall be none to avert it from them? And
that at which they scoffed shall enclose them in on every side.

And if we cause man to taste our mercy, and then deprive him of
it,
verily, he is despairing, ungrateful.

And if after trouble hath befallen him we cause him to taste our
favour, he will surely exclaim, "The evils are passed away from
me." Verily, he is joyous, boastful.

Except those who endure with patience and do the things that are
right: these doth pardon await and a great reward.

Perhaps thou wilt suppress a part of what hath been revealed to
thee, and wilt be distress at heart lest they say, "If a treasure be
not sent down to him, or an angel come with him. " But thou art
only a warner, and God hath all things in his charge.

If they shall say, "The Koran is his own device," SAY: Then bring
ten Suras like it5 of your devising, and call whom ye can to your
aid beside God, if ye are men of truth.

But if they answer you not, then know that it hath been sent down
to you in the wisdom of God only, and that there is no God but He.
Are ye then Muslims?

Those who choose this present life and its braveries, we will
recompense for their works therein: they shall have nothing less
therein than their deserts.

These are they for whom there is nothing in the next world but the
Fire: all that they have wrought in this life shall come to nought,
and vain shall be all their doings.

20 With such can they be compared who rest upon clear proofs
from their Lord? to whom a witness from him reciteth the Koran,
and who is preceded by the Book of Moses, a guide and mercy?
These have faith in it: but the partisans of idolatry, who believe
not in it, are menaced with the fire! Have thou no doubts about
that Book, for it is the very truth from thy Lord. But most men will
not believe.

Who is guilty of a greater injustice than he who inventeth a lie
concerning God? They shall be set before their Lord, and the
witnesses shall say, "These are they who made their Lord a liar."
Shall not the malison of God be on these unjust doers,

Who pervert others from the way of God, and seek to make it
crooked, and believe not in a life to come? God's power on earth
they shall not weaken; and beside God they have no protector!
Doubled shall be their punishment! They were not able to hearken,
and they could not see.

These are they who have lost their own souls, and the deities of
their own devising have vanished from them:

There is no doubt but that in the next world they shall be the lost
ones.

But they who shall have believed and done the things that are
right, and humbled them before their Lord, shall be the inmates of
Paradise; therein shall they abide for ever.

These two sorts of persons resemble the blind and deaf, and the
seeing and hearing: shall these be compared as alike? Ah! do ye
not comprehend?

We sent Noah of old unto his people: "Verily I come to you a plain
admonisher,

That ye worship none but God. Verily I fear for you the
punishment of a grievous day."

Then said the chiefs of his people who believed not, "We see in
thee but a man like ourselves; and we see not who have followed
thee except our meanest ones of hasty judgment, nor see we any
excellence in you above ourselves: nay, we deem you liars."

He said: "O my people! how think you? If I am upon a clear
revelation from my Lord, who hath bestowed on me mercy from
Himself to which ye are blind, can we force it on you, if ye are
averse from it?

And, O my people! I ask you not for riches: my reward is of God
alone: and I will not drive away those who believe that they shall
meet their Lord: but I see that ye are an ignorant people.

And, O my people! were I to drive them away, who shall help me
against God? Will ye not therefore consider?

And I tell you not that with me are the treasures of God: nor do I
say, 'I know the things unseen;' nor do I say, 'I am an angel;' nor
do I say of those whom you eye with scorn, No good thing will
God
bestow on them: God best knoweth what is in their minds for then
should I be one of those who act unjustly."

They said: "O Noah! already hast thou disputed with us, and
multiplied disputes with us: Bring then upon us what thou hast
threatened, if thou be of those who speak truth."

He said, "God will bring it on you at His sole pleasure, and it is
not you who can weaken him;

Nor, if God desire to mislead you, shall my counsel profit you,
though I fain would counsel you aright. He is your Lord, and unto
Him shall ye be brought back.

Do they say, "This Koran is of his own devising?" Say: On me be
my own guilt, if I have devised it, but I am clear of that whereof ye
are guilty.

And it was revealed unto Noah. Verily, none of thy people shall
believe, save they who have believed already; therefore be not
thou grieved at their doings.

But build the Ark under our eye and after our revelation: and
plead not with me for the evil doers, for they are to be drowned.

So he built the Ark; and whenever the chiefs of his people passed
by they laughed him to scorn:6 said he, "Though ye laugh at us,
we truly shall laugh at you, even as ye laugh at us; and in the end
ye shall know

On whom a punishment shall come that shall shame him, and on
whom shall light a lasting punishment."

Thus was it until our sentence came to pass, and the earth's
surface7 boiled up. We said, "Carry into it one pair of every kind,
and thy family, except him on whom sentence hath before been
passed, and those who have believed." But there believed not with
him except a few.

And he said, "Embark ye therein. In the name of God be its course
and its riding at anchor! Truly my Lord is right Gracious,
Merciful."

And the Ark moved on with them amid waves like mountains: and
Noah called to his son for he was apart "Embark with us, O my
child! and be not with the unbelievers."

He said, "I will betake me to a mountain that shall secure me from
the water." He said, "None shall be secure this day from the
decree of God, save him on whom He shall have mercy." And a
wave passed between them, and he was among the drowned.

And it was said, "O Earth! swallow up thy water;" and "cease, O
Heaven!" And the water abated, and the decree was fulfilled, and
the Ark rested upon Al-Djoudi;8 and it was said, "Avaunt! ye tribe
of the wicked!"

And Noah called on his Lord and said, "O Lord! verily my son is of
my family: and thy promise is true, and thou art the most just of
judges."

He said, "O Noah! verily, he is not of thy family: in this thou actest
not aright.9 Ask not of me that whereof thou knowest nought: I
warn thee that thou become not of the ignorant.

He said, "To thee verily, O my Lord, do I repair lest I ask that of
thee wherein I have no knowledge: unless thou forgive me and be
merciful to me I shall be one of the lost.

It was said to him, "O Noah! debark with peace from Us, and with
blessings on thee and on peoples to be born from those who are
with thee; but as for other and unbelieving peoples, we will give
them their good things in this world, but hereafter shall a grievous
punishment light on them from us.

This is one of the secret Histories: we reveal it unto thee: neither
thou nor thy people knew it ere this: be patient thou: verily, there
is a prosperous issue to the God-fearing.

And unto Ad we sent their Brother HOUD. He said, "O my people,
worship God. You have no God beside Him. Ye only devise a lie.

O my people! I ask of you no recompense for this: my recompense
is with Him only who hath made me. Will ye not then understand?

O my people! ask pardon of your Lord; then be turned unto Him:
He will send down the heavens upon you with copious rains:

And with strength on strength will He increase you: only turn not
back with deeds of evil."

They said, "O Houd, thou hast not brought us proofs of thy
mission: we will not abandon our gods at thy word, and we believe
thee not.

We can only say that some of our gods have smitten thee with
evil." Said he, "Now take I God to witness, and do ye also witness,
that I am clear of your joining other gods

To God. Conspire then against me all of you, and delay me not.

For I trust in God, my Lord and yours. No single beast is there
which he holdeth not by its forelock. Right, truly, is the way in
which my Lord goeth.

But if ye turn back, I have already declared to you my message.
And my Lord will put another people in your place, nor shall ye at
all hurt Him; verily, my Lord keepeth watch over all things."

And when our doom came to be inflicted, we rescued Houd and
those who had like faith with Him, by our special mercy: we
rescued them from the rigorous chastisement.

These men of Ad gainsaid the signs of their Lord, and rebelled
against his messengers, and followed the bidding of every proud
contumacious person.

Followed therefore were they in this world by a curse; and in the
day of the Resurrection it shall be said to them, "What! Did not Ad
disbelieve their Lord?" Was not Ad, the people of Houd, cast far
away?

And unto Themoud we sent their Brother Saleh:10 "O my people!
said he, worship God: you have no other god than Him. He hath
raised you up out of the earth, and hath given you to dwell therein.
Ask pardon of him then, and be turned unto him; for thy Lord is
nigh, ready to answer."

They said, "O Saleh! our hopes were fixed on thee till now:11
forbiddest thou us to worship what our fathers worshipped? Truly
we misdoubt the faith to which thou callest us, as suspicious."

He said, "O my people! what think ye? If I have a revelation from
my Lord to support me, and if He hath shewed his mercy on me,
who could protect me from God if I rebel against him? Ye would
only confer on me increase of ruin.

O my people! this is the she-Camel of God, and a sign unto you.
Let her go at large and feed in God's earth, and do her no harm,
lest a speedy punishment overtake you."

Yet they hamstrung her: then said he, "Yet three days more enjoy
yourselves in your dwellings: this menace will not prove untrue."

And when our sentence came to pass, we rescued Saleh and those
who had a like faith with him, by our mercy, from ignominy on
that
day. Verily, thy Lord is the Strong, the Mighty!

And a violent tempest overtook the wicked, and they were found in
the morning porstrate in their dwellings,

As though they had never abode in them. What! Did not Themoud
disbelieve his Lord? Was not Themoud utterly cast off?

And our messengers came formerly to Abraham with glad tidings.
"Peace," said they. He said, "Peace," and he tarried not, but
brought a roasted calf.

And when he saw that their hands touched it not,12 he misliked
them, and grew fearful of them. They said, "Fear not, for we are
sent to the people of Lot."

His wife was standing by and laughed;13 and we announced Isaac
to her; and after Isacc, Jacob.

She said, "Ah, woe is me! shall I bear a son when I am old, and
when this my husband is an old man? This truly would be a
marvellous thing."

They said, "Marvellest thou at the command of God? God's mercy
and blessing be upon you, O people of this house; praise and glory
are His due!"

And when Abraham's fear had passed away, and these glad tidings
had reached him, he pleaded with us for the people of Lot. Verily,
Abraham was right kind, pitiful, relenting.

"O Abraham! desist from this; for already hath the command of
thy God gone forth; as for them, a punishment not to be averted is
coming on them."

And when our messengers came to Lot, he was grieved for them;
and he was too weak to protect them,14 and he said, "This is a day
of difficulty."

And his people came rushing on towards him, for aforetime had
they wrought this wickedness. He said, "O my people! these my
daughters will be purer for you: fear God, and put me not to
shame in my guests. Is there no rightminded man among you?"

They said, "Thou knowest now that we need not thy daughters; and
thou well knowest what we require."

He said, "Would that I had strength to resist you, or that I could
find refuge with some powerful chieftain."15

The Angels said, "O Lot! verily, we are the messengers of thy
Lord: they shall not touch thee: depart with thy family in the dead
of night, and let not one of you turn back: as for thy wife, on her
shall light what shall light on them. Verily, that with which they
are threatened is for the morning. Is not the morning near?"

And when our decree came to be executed we turned those cities
upside down, and we rained down upon them blocks of claystone
one after another, marked16 by thy Lord himself. Nor are they far
distant from the wicked Meccans.

And we sent to Madian17 their brother Shoaib. He said, "O my
people! worship God: no other God have you than He: give not
short weight and measure: I see indeed that ye revel in good
things; but I fear for you the punishment of the all-encompassing
day.

O my people! give weight and measure with fairness; purloin not
other men's goods; and perpetrate not injustice on the earth with
corrupt practices:

A residue,18 the gift of God, will be best for you if ye are
believers:

But I am not a guardian over you."

They said to him, "O Shoaib! is it thy prayers which enjoin that we
should leave what our fathers worshipped, or that we should not
do with our substance as pleaseth us? Thou forsooth art the mild,
the right director!"

He said, "O my people! How think ye? If I have a clear revelation
from my Lord, and if from Himself He hath supplied me with
goodly supplies, and if I will not follow you in that which I myself
forbid you, do I seek aught but your amendment so far as in me
lieth? My sole help is in God. In Him do I trust, and to Him do I
turn me.

O my people! let not your opposition to me draw down upon you
the like of that which befel the people of Noah, or the people of
Houd, or the people of Saleh: and the abodes of the people of Lot
are not far distant from you!

Seek pardon of your Lord and be turned unto Him: verily, my Lord
is Merciful, Loving.

They said, "O Shoaib! we understand not much of what thou
sayest, and we clearly see that thou art powerless among us: were
it not for thy family we would have surely stoned thee, nor
couldest
thou have prevailed against us."

He said, "O my people! think ye more highly of my family than of
God? Cast ye Him behind your back, with neglect? Verily, my
Lord is round about your actions.

And, O my people! act with what power ye can for my hurt: I
verily
will act: and ye shall know

On whom shall light a punishment that shall disgrace him, and
who is the liar. Await ye; verily I will await with you."

And when our decree came to pass, we delivered Shoaib and his
companions in faith, by our mercy: And a violent tempest overtook
the wicked, and in the morning they were found prostrate in their
houses

As if they had never dwelt in them. Was not Madian swept off
even
as Themoud had been swept off?

Of old sent we Moses with our signs and with incontestable power
to Pharaoh, and to his nobles who followed the behests of
Pharaoh, and, unrighteous were Pharaoh's behests.

He shall head his people on the day of the Resurrection and cause
them to descend into the fire: and wretched the descent by which
they shall descend!

They were followed by a curse in this world; and in the day of the
Resurrection, wretched the gift that shall be given them!

Such, the histories of the cities which we relate to thee. Some of
them are standing, others mown down:

We dealt not unfairly by them, but they dealt not fairly by
themselves: and their gods on whom they called beside God
availed them not at all when thy Lord's behest came to pass. They
did but increase their ruin.

Such was thy Lord's grasp19 when he laid that grasp on the cities
that had been wicked. Verily his grasp is afflictive, terrible!

Herein truly is a sign for him who feareth the punishment of the
latter day. That shall be a day unto which mankind shall be
gathered together; that shall be a day witnessed by all creatures.

Nor do we delay it, but until a time appointed.

When that day shall come no one shall speak a word but by His
leave, and some shall be miserable and others blessed.

And as for those who shall be consigned to misery their place the
Fire! therein shall they sigh and bemoan them

Therein shall they abide while the Heavens and the Earth shall
last, unless thy Lord shall will it otherwise; verily thy Lord doth
what He chooseth.

And as for the blessed ones their place the Garden! therein shall
they abide while the Heavens and the Earth endure, with whatever
imperishable boon thy Lord may please to add.

Have thou no doubts therefore concerning that which they
worship: they worship but what their fathers worshipped before
them: we will surely assign them their portion with nothing
lacking.

Of old gave we Moses the Book, and they fell to variance about it.
If a decree of respite had not gone forth from thy Lord, there had
surely been a decision between them. Thy people also are in
suspicious doubts about the Koran.

And truly thy Lord will repay every one according to their works!
for He is well aware of what they do.

Go straight on then as thou hast been commanded, and he also
who hath turned to God with thee, and let him transgress no more.
He beholdeth what ye do.

Lean not on the evil doers lest the Fire lay hold on you. Ye have no
protector, save God, and ye shall not be helped against Him.

And observe prayer at early morning, at the close of the day, and
at the approach of night; for the good deeds drive away the evil
deeds. This is a warning for those who reflect:

And persevere steadfastly, for verily God will not suffer the reward
of the righteous to perish.

Were the generations before you, endued with virtue, and who
forbad corrupt doings on the earth, more than a few of those whom
we delivered? but the evil doers followed their selfish pleasures,
and became transgressors.

And thy Lord was not one who would destroy those cities unjustly,
when its inhabitants were righteous.

Had thy Lord pleased he would have made mankind of one
religion: but those only to whom thy Lord hath granted his mercy
will cease to differ. And unto this hath He created them; for the
word of thy Lord shall be fulfilled, "I will wholly fill hell with
Djinn and men."

And all that we have related to thee of the histories of these
Apostles, is to confirm thy heart thereby. By these hath the truth
reached thee, and a monition and warning to those who believe.

But say to those who believe not, "Act as ye may and can: we will
act our part: and wait ye; we verily will wait."

To God belong the secret things of the Heavens and of the Earth:
all things return to him: worship him then and put thy trust in
Him: thy Lord is not regardless of your doings.20

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. p. 32.

2 Or, will bestow his grace on every gracious one, or will bestow
his abundance on every one who hath abundance (of merit). The
difficulty of rendering this passage arises from the word fadhl,
which means merit as applied to man, favour as applied to God.

3 That is, before the Creation. Precisely the same statement occurs
in Raschi on Gen. i. 2, also in the modern catechism. Tsenah
ur'enak b'noth Tsion, authoritatively put forth by the Polish and
German Talmudist Rabbins. "At the first creation of Heaven and
Earth the throne of glory of the Blessed God stood in the air
above the waters." Comp. Ps. civ. 3.

4 Men, heaven, and earth. Comp. Tr. Aboth, v. Mischna 1.

5 Comp. verse 37 and Sura [xci.] ii. 21. It should be observed that
the challenge in these passages is not to produce a book which
shall equal the Koran in point of poetry or rhetoric, but in the
importance of its subject-matter with reference to the Divine
Unity, the future retribution, etc. Upon these topics Muhammad
well knew that he had preoccupied the ground. And we may infer
from the fragments of the Revelations of Musailima and Sajƒh
(Hisam. 946; Attabƒri (ed. Kosegarten) i. 134, 136, 152; Tab.
Agƒni, 339), which are mere imitations of the Koran, that he felt
this to be the case.

6 "They laughed and jeered at him in their words." Midr.
Tanchuma. "The passage Job xii. 5, refers to the righteous Noah
who taught them and spake to them words severe as flames: but
they scorned him, and said, 'Old man! for what purpose is this
ark?"' Sanhedr. 108. Comp. Midr. Rabbah on Gen. 30, and 33 on
Eccl. ix. 14.

7 Or, oven: according to others, reservoir. Geiger thinks that the
expression the oven boiled up may be a figurative mode of
expressing the Rabbinic idea that "the generation of the Deluge
were punished by hot water." Rosch. Haschanah, 16, 2; Sanhedr.
108. Comp. Weil's Legenden, p. 44.

8 The Montes Gordy i, perhaps.

9 According to another reading: He hath done amiss. The origin of
this story is probably Gen. ix. 20-25.

10 A Prophet, so far as we know, of Muhammad's own invention,
unless Muir's conjecture be admitted that he was a Christian or
Jewish missionary whose adventures and persecution were recast
into this form. The name may have been suggested by,
Methusaleh,
upon whose piety the Midrasch enlarges.

11 That is, we had intended to make thee our chief. Beidh.

12 Thus, in contradiction to Gen. xviii. 8, the Rabbins; comp. Tr.
Baba Mezia, fol. 86, "They made as though they ate."

13 Or, menstrua passa est, in token of the possibility of her
bearing a child.

14 Lit. his arm was straitened concerning them.

15 Lit. column.

16 With the name, it is said, of the person each should strike.

17 See Sura [lvi.] xxvi. 176.

18 That is, after giving fair measure.

19 Seizure, for punishment. Hence, the punishment itself.

20 In the later period of his life Muhammad attributed his gray
hairs to the effect produced upon him by this Sura and its
"Sisters." While Abu Bekr and Omar sat in the mosque at Medina,
Muhammad suddenly came upon them from the door of one of his
wives' houses. And Abu Bekr said, "Ah! thou for whom I would
sacrifice father and mother, white hairs are hastening upon thee!"
And the Prophet raised up his beard with his hand and gazed at it;
and Abu Bekr's eyes filled with tears. "Yes," said Muhammad,
"H–d and its sisters have hastened my white hairs." "And what,"
asked Abu Bekr, "are its sisters?" "The Inevitable (Sura lvi.) and
the Blow (Sura ci.)." Kitƒb al Wackidi, p. 84, ap. Muir.

SURA XIV. ABRAHAM, ON WHOM BE PEACE [LXXVI.]

MECCA. 52 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. RA. This Book have we sent down to thee that by
their
Lord's permission thou mayest bring men out of darkness into
light, into the path of the Mighty, the Glorious

Of God; to whom belongeth whatever is in the Heavens and
whatever is on the Earth: and woe! for their terrible punishment,
to the infidels,

Who love the life that now is, above that which is to come, and
mislead from the way of God, and seek to make it crooked. These
are in a far-gone error.

And in order that He might speak plainly to them, we have not sent
any Apostle, save with the speech of his own people; but God
misleadeth whom He will, and whom He will he guideth: and He is
the Mighty, the Wise.

Of old did we send Moses with our signs: and said to him, "Bring
forth thy people from the darkness into the light, and remind them
of the days of God." Verily, in this are signs for every patient,
grateful person:

When Moses said to his people, "Remember the kindness of God
to
you, when he rescued you from the family of Pharaoh who laid on
you a cruel affliction, slaughtering your male children, and
suffering only your females to live." In this was a sore trial from
your Lord

And when your Lord caused it to be heard that, "If we render
thanks then will I surely increase you more and more: but if ye be
thankless. Verily, right terrible my chastisement."

And Moses said, "If ye and all who are on the Earth be thankless,
yet truly God is passing Rich, and worthy of all praise."

Hath not the story reached you of those who were before you, the
people of Noah, and Ad, and Themoud,

And of those who lived after them? None knoweth them but God.
When their prophets came to them with proofs of their mission,
they put their hands on their mouths and said, "In sooth, we
believe not your message; and in sooth, of that to which you bid
us, we are in doubt, as of a thing suspicious."

Their prophets said: "Is there any doubt concerning God, maker
of the Heavens and of the Earth, who calleth you that He may
pardon your sins, and respite you until an appointed time?"

They said, "Ye are but men like us: fain would ye turn us from our
fathers' worship. Bring us therefore some clear proof."

Their Apostles said to them, "We are indeed but men like you. But
God bestoweth favours on such of his servants as he pleaseth, and
it is not in our power to bring you any special proof,

But by the leave of God. In God therefore let the faithful trust.

And why should we not put our trust in God, since He hath already
guided us in our ways. We will certainly bear with constancy the
harm you would do to us. In God let the trustful trust."

And they who believed not said to their Apostles, "Forth from our
land will we surely drive you, or, to our religion shall ye return."
Then their Lord revealed to them, "We will certainly destroy the
wicked doers,

And we shall certainly cause you to dwell in the land after them.
This for him who dreadeth the appearance at my judgment-seat
and who dreadeth my menace!"

Then sought they help from God, and every proud rebellious one
perished:

Hell is before him: and of tainted water shall he be made to drink:

He shall sup it and scarce swallow it for loathing; and Death shall
assail him on every side, but he shall not die: and before him shall
be seen a grievous torment.

A likeness of those who believe not in their Lord. Their works are
like ashes which the wind scattereth on a stormy day: no
advantage shall they gain from their works. This is the far-gone
wandering.

Seest thou not that in truth1 hath God created the Heavens and the
Earth? Were such his pleasure He could make you pass away, and
cause a new creation to arise.

And this would not be hard for God.

All mankind shall come forth before God; and the weak shall say
to the men of might, "Verily, we were your followers: will ye not
then relieve us of some part of the vengeance of God?"

They shall say, "If God had guided us, we surely had guided you.
It is now all one whether we be impatient, or endure with patience.
We have no escape."

And after doom hath been given, Satan shall say, "Verily, God
promised you a promise of truth: I, too, made you a promise, but I
deceived you. Yet I had no power over you:

But I only called you and ye answered me. Blame not me then, but
blame yourselves: I cannot aid you, neither can ye aid me. I never
believed that I was His equal with whom ye joined me."2 As for
the
evil doers, a grievous torment doth await them.

But they who shall have believed and done the things that be right,
shall be brought into gardens beneath which the rivers flow:
therein shall they abide for ever by the permission of their Lord:
their greeting therein shall be "Peace."

Seest thou not to what God likeneth a good word?3 To a good tree:
its root firmly fixed, and its branches in the Heaven:

Yielding its fruit in all seasons by the will of its Lord. God setteth
forth these similitudes to men that haply they may reflect.

And an evil word is like an evil tree torn up from the face of the
earth, and without strength to stand.

Those who believe shall God stablish by his steadfast word both in
this life and in that which is to come: but the wicked shall He
cause to err: God doth his pleasure.

Hast thou not beholden those who repay the goodness of God with
infidelity, and sink their people into the abode of perdition

Hell? Therein shall they be burned; and wretched the dwelling!

They set up compeers with God in order to mislead man from his
way. SAY: Enjoy your pleasures yet awhile, but assuredly, your
going hence shall be into the fire.

Speak to my servants who have believed, that they observe prayer,
and give alms of that with which we have supplied them, both
privately and openly, ere the day come when there shall be neither
traffic nor friendship.

It is God who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, and sendeth
down water from the Heaven, and so bringeth forth the fruits for
your food: And He hath subjected to you the ships, so that by His
command, they pass through the sea; and He hath subjected the
rivers to you: and He hath subjected to you the sun and the moon
in their constant courses: and He hath subjected the day and the
night to you: of everything which ye ask Him, giveth He to you;
and if ye would reckon up the favours of God, ye cannot count
them! Surely man is unjust, ungrateful!

ABRAHAM said, "O Lord make this land secure, and turn aside
me and my children from serving idols:

For many men, O my Lord, have they led astray. But whosoever
shall follow me, he truly shall be of me; and whosoever shall
disobey me. Thou truly art Gracious, Merciful.

O our Lord! verily I have settled some of my offspring in an
unfruitful valley, nigh to thy holy house;4 O our Lord, that they
may strictly observe prayer! Make thou therefore the hearts of men
to yearn toward them, and supply them with fruits that they may be
thankful.

O our Lord! thou truly knowest what we hide and what we bring to
light; nought on earth or in heaven is hidden from God. Praise be
to God who hath given me, in my old age, Ismael and Isaac! My
Lord is the hearer of prayer.

Lord! grant that I and my posterity may observe prayer. O our
Lord! and grant this my petition. O our Lord! forgive me and my
parents and the faithful, on the day wherein account shall be
taken."

Think thou not that God is regardless of the deeds of the wicked.
He only respiteth them to the day on which all eyes shall stare up
with terror:

They hasten forward in fear; their heads upraised in supplication;
their looks riveted; and their hearts a blank. Warn men therefore
of the day when the punishment shall overtake them,

And when the evil doers shall say, "O our Lord! respite us yet a
little while:5

To thy call will we make answer; thine Apostles will we follow."
"Did ye not once swear that no change should befal you?

Yet ye dwelt in the dwellings of those6 who were the authors of
their undoing7 and it was made plain to you how we had dealt with
them; and we held them up to you as examples. They plotted their
plots: but God could master their plots, even though their plots
had been so powerful as to move the mountains."

Think not then that God will fail his promise to his Apostles: aye!
God is mighty, and Vengeance is His.

On the day when the Earth shall be changed into another Earth,
and the Heavens also, men shall come forth unto God, the Only,
the Victorious.

And thou shalt see the wicked on that day linked together in
chains

Their garments of pitch, and fire shall enwrap their faces that
God may reward every soul as it deserveth; verily God is prompt
to reckon.

This is a message for mankind, that they may thereby be warned:
and that they may know that there is but one God; and that men of
understanding may ponder it.

_______________________

1 See Sura [lxxxiv.] x. 5.

2 Lit. I truly renounce your having associated me (with God)
heretofore.

3 The preaching and the profession of Islam. Comp. Ps. i. 3, 4.

4 The Caaba.

5 Lit. to a term near at hand.

6 Of the anciently destroyed cities of Themoud, Ad, etc.

7 Lit. were unjust to their own souls.

SURA XII. JOSEPH, PEACE BE ON HIM [LXXVII.]

MECCA. III Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. RA.1 These are signs of the clear Book.

An Arabic Koran have we sent it down, that ye might understand
it.

In revealing to thee this Koran,2 one of the most beautiful of
narratives will we narrate to thee, of which thou hast hitherto been
regardless.

When Joseph said to his Father, "O my Father! verily I beheld
eleven stars and the sun and the moon beheld them make
obeisance to me!"3

He said, "O my son! tell not thy vision to thy brethren, lest they
plot a plot against thee: for Satan is the manifest foe of man.

It is thus that thy Lord shall choose thee and will teach thee the
interpretation of dark saying, and will perfect his favours on thee
and on the family of Jacob, as of old he perfected it on thy fathers
Abraham and Isaac; verily thy Lord is Knowing, Wise!"

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. p. 32. In no other Sura beside this is one subject
treated of throughout. It was recited to the first eight of the Ansars
who were converted, and clearly proves that Muhammad must
have been in confidential intercourse with learned Jews.

2 The word Koran is here used in the same sense as Sura.

3 Muhammad was either unaware of the previous dream
mentioned, Gen. xxxvii. 7, or passes it by in silence.

Now in JOSEPH and his brethren are signs for the enquirers;4

When they said, "Surely better loved by our Father, than we, who
are more in number, is Joseph and his brother; verily, our father
hath clearly erred.

Slay ye Joseph! or drive him to some other land, and on you alone
shall your father's face be set! and after this, ye shall live as
upright persons."

One of them said, "Slay not Joseph, but cast him down to the
bottom of the well: if ye do so, some wayfarers will take him up."

They said, "O our Father! why dost thou not entrust us with
Joseph? indeed we mean him well.

Send him with us to-morrow that he may enjoy himself and sport:
we will surely keep him safely."

He said, "Verily, your taking him away will grieve me; and I fear
lest while ye are heedless of him the wolf devour him."

They said, "Surely if the wolf devour him, and we so many, we
must in that case be weak indeed."5

And when they went away with him they agreed to place him at
the
bottom of the well. And We revealed to him, "Thou wilt yet tell
them of this their deed, when they shall not know thee."

And they came at nightfall to their father weeping.

They said, "O our Father! of a truth, we went to run races, and we
left Joseph with our clothes, and the wolf devoured him: but thou
wilt not believe us even though we speak the truth."

And they brought his shirt with false blood upon it. He said, "Nay,
but yourselves have managed this affair.6 But patience is seemly:
and the help of God is to be implored that I may bear what you tell
me."

And wayfarers came and sent their drawer of water,7 and he let
down his bucket. "Good news!" 8 said he, "This is a youth!" And
they kept his case secret, to make merchandise of him. But God
knew what they did.

4 The captious and unbelieving Koreisch.

5 Wir mussten denn zuerst das Leben einbssen. Wahl. Ullm.
Maracci.

6 Lit. your minds have made a thing seem pleasant to you.

7 According to Gen. xxxvii. 24, the well or pit had "no water in it.

8 Some take the Arabic Boshra as the proper name of the person
who accompanied the drawer of water.

And they sold him for a paltry price for some dirhems counted
down, and at no high rate did they value him.

And he who bought him an Egyptian said to his wife, "Treat
him hospitably; haply he may be useful to us, or we may adopt him
as a son." Thus did we settle Joseph in the land, and we instructed
him in the interpretation of dark sayings, for God is equal to his
purpose; but most men know it not.

And when he had reached his age of strength we bestowed on him
judgment and knowledge; for thus do we recompense the well
doers.

And she in whose house he was conceived a passion for him, and
she shut the doors and said, "Come hither." He said, "God keep
me! Verily, my lord hath given me a good home: and the injurious
shall not prosper."

But she longed for him; and he had longed for her had he not seen
a token from his lord.9 Thus we averted evil and defilement from
him, for he was one of our sincere servants.

And they both made for the door, and she rent his shirt behind;
and at the door they met her lord. "What," said she, "shall be the
recompense of him who would do evil to thy family, but a
prison10
or a sore punishment?"

He said, "She solicited me to evil." And a witness out of her own
family11 witnessed: "If his shirt be rent in front she speaketh truth,
and he is a liar:

But if his shirt be rent behind, she lieth and he is true."

And when his lord saw his shirt torn behind, he said, "This is one
of your devices! verily your devices are great!

Joseph! leave this affair. And thou, O wife, ask pardon for thy
crime, for thou hast sinned."

And in the city, the women said, "The wife of the Prince hath
solicited her servant: he hath fired her with his love: but we
clearly see her manifest error."

And when she heard of their cabal, she sent to them and got ready
a banquet for them, and gave each one of them a knife, and said,
"Joseph shew thyself to them." And when they saw him they were
amazed at him, and cut their hands,12 and said, "God keep us!
This is no man! This is no other than a noble angel!"

9 The apparition of his father, who said, "Hereafter shall the
names of thy brethren, engraven on precious stones, shine on the
breast of the High Priest. Shall thine be blotted out?" Tr. Sotah,
fol. 36. Comp. Weil, Legenden, p. 109, n.

10 Lit. that he be imprisoned.

11 An infant in the cradle. Sepher Hadjascher, as below on v. 31.

She said, "This is he about whom ye blamed me. I wished him to
yield to my desires, but he stood firm. But if he obey not my
command, he shall surely be cast into prison, and become one of
the despised."

He said, "O my Lord! I prefer the prison to compliance with their
bidding: but unless thou turn away their snares from me, I shall
play the youth with them, and become one of the unwise."

And his Lord heard him and turned aside their snares from him:
for he is the Hearer, the Knower.

Yet resolved they, even after they had seen the signs of his
innocence, to imprison him for a time.

And there came into the prison with him two youths. Said one of
them, "Methought in my dream that I was pressing grapes." And
the other said, "I dreamed that I was carrying bread on my head,
of which the birds did eat. Declare to us the interpretation of this,
for we see thou art a virtuous person."

He said, "There shall not come to you in a dream any food
wherewith ye shall be fed, but I will acquaint you with its
interpretation ere it come to pass to you. This is a part of that
which my Lord hath taught me: for I have abandoned the
religion13 of those who believe not in God and who deny the life
to come;

And I follow the religion of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob. We may not associate aught with God. This is of God's
bounty towards us and towards mankind: but the greater part of
mankind are not thankful.

O my two fellow prisoners! are sundry lords best, or God, the One,
the Mighty?

Ye worship beside him mere names which ye have named, ye and
your fathers, for which God hath not sent down any warranty.
Judgment belongeth to God alone. He hath bidden you worship
none but Him. This is the right faith: but most men know it not.

O my two fellow prisoners! as to one of you, he will serve wine
unto his Lord: but as to the other, he will be crucified and the
birds shall eat from off his head. The matter is decreed concerning
which ye enquire."

12 Instead of their food, through surprise at his beauty. Seph.
Hadj. in Midr. Jalkut. See also Midr. Abkhir, ib. ch. 146.

13 It is curious to observe how Muhammad, in this and the
following verse, puts his own doctrine and convictions into the
mouth of Joseph.

And he said unto him who he judged would be set at large,
"Remember me with thy lord." But Satan caused him to forget the
remembrance of his Lord,14 so he remained some years in prison.

And the King said, "Verily, I saw in a dream seven fat kine which
seven lean devoured; and seven green ears and other withered. O
nobles, teach me my vision, if a vision ye are able to expound."

They said, "They are confused dreams, nor know we aught of the
unravelling of dreams."

And he of the twain who had been set at large, said, "I will tell you
the interpretation; let me go for it."

"Joseph, man of truth! teach us of the seven fat kine which seven
lean devoured, and of the seven green ears, and other withered,
that I may return to the men, and that they may be informed."

He said, "Ye shall sow seven years as is your wont, and the corn
which ye reap leave ye in its ear, except a little of which ye shall
eat.

Then after that shall come seven grievous years which shall eat
what ye have stored for them, except a little which ye shall have
kept.

Then shall come after this a year, in which men shall have rain,
and in which they shall press the grape."

And the King said, "Bring him to me."15 And when the messenger
came to Joseph he said, "Go back to thy lord, and ask him what
meant the women who cut their hands, for my lord well knoweth
the snare they laid."

Then said the Prince to the women, "What was your purpose when
ye solicited Joseph?" They said, "God keep us! we know not any
ill of him." The wife of the Prince said, "Now doth the truth
appear. It was I who would have led him into unlawful love, and
he is one of the truthful."

"By this" (said Joseph) "may my lord know that I did not in his
absence play him false, and that God guideth not the machinations
of deceivers.

14 Satan induced Joseph to place his confidence in man, rather
than in God alone, in punishment of which sin the imprisonment
was continued. Thus Midr. Rabba. Gen. Par. 89. Midr. Jalkut, ib.
ch. 147.

15 In Gen. xli. 14, Joseph is released from prison before the
interpretation of the dreams. But the Koran makes him decline to
quit it till his character is cleared.

Yet I hold not myself clear, for the heart is prone to evil, save
theirs on whom my Lord hath mercy; for gracious is my Lord,
Merciful."

And the King said, "Bring him to me: I will take him for my
special service." And when he had spoken with him he said,
"From this day shalt thou be with us, invested with place and
trust."

He said, "Set me over the granaries of the land,16 I will be their
prudent keeper!"

Thus did we stablish Joseph in the land that he might house
himself therein at pleasure. We bestow our favours on whom we
will, and suffer not the reward of the righteous to perish.

And truly the recompense of the life to come is better, for those
who have believed and feared God.

And Joseph's brethren came and went in to him and he knew them,
but they recognised him not.

And when he had provided them with their provision, he said,
"Bring me your brother from your father. See ye not that I fill the
measure, and am the best of hosts?

But if ye bring him not to me, then no measure of corn shall there
be for you from me, nor shall ye come near me."

They said, "We will ask him of his father, and we will surely do
it."

Said he to his servants, "Put their money into their camel-packs,
that they may perceive it when they have returned to their family:
haply they will come back to us."

And when they returned to their father, they said, "O, our father!
corn is withholden from us: send, therefore, our brother with us
and we shall have our measure; and all care of him will we take."

He said, "Shall I entrust you with him otherwise than as I before
entrusted you with his brother? But God is the best guardian, and
of those who shew compassion He is the most compassionate."

And when they opened their goods they found their money had
been returned to them. They said, "O, our father, what more can
we desire? Here is our money returned to us; we will provide corn
for our families, and will take care of our brother, and shall
receive a camel's burden more of corn. This is an easy quantity."17

16 According to Gen. xli. 39, Pharaoh of his own accord sets
Joseph over his house and land.

17 For the king to bestow.

He said, "I will not send him with you but on your oath before God
that ye will, indeed, bring him back to me, unless hindrances
encompass you." And when they had given him their pledge, he
said, "God is witness of what we say."

And he said, "O, my sons! Enter not by one gate, but enter by
different gates.18 Yet can I not help you against aught decreed by
God: judgment belongeth to God alone. In Him put I my trust, and
in Him let the trusting trust."

And when they entered as their father had bidden them, it did not
avert from them anything decreed of God; but it only served to
satisfy a desire in the soul of Jacob which he had charged them to
perform; for he was possessed of knowledge which we had taught
him; but most men have not that knowledge.

And when they came in to Joseph, he took his brother to him. He
said, "Verily, I am thy brother. Be not thou grieved for what they
did."19

And when he had provided them with their provisions, he placed
his drinking cup in his brother's camel-pack. Then a crier cried
after them, "O travellers! ye are surely thieves."

They turned back to them and said, "What is that ye miss?"

"We miss," said they, "the prince's cup. For him who shall restore
it, a camel's load of corn! I pledge myself for it."

They said, "By God! ye know certainly that we came not to do
wrong20 in the land and we have not been thieves."

"What," said the Egyptians, "shall be the recompense of him who
hath stolen it, if ye be found liars?"

They said, "That he in whose camel-pack it shall be found be
given up to you in satisfaction for it. Thus recompense we the
unjust."

And Joseph began with their sacks, before the sack of his brother,
and then from the sack of his brother he drew it out. This
stratagem did we suggest to Joseph. By the King's law he had no
power to seize his brother, had not God pleased. We uplift into
grades of wisdom whom we will. And there is one knowing above
every one else endued with knowledge.

18 Thus we read in Mid. Rab. on Gen. Par. 91, "Jacob said to
them, Enter ye not all by one gate." See also Midr. Jalkut, ch. 148.

19 Thus also, in the Sepher Hadjaschar, Joseph first discovers
himself to Benjamin, in opposition to Gen. xlv. 1.

20 Comp. Gen. xlii. 9.

They said, "If he steal, a brother of his hath stolen heretofore."21
But Joseph kept his secret, and did not discover it to them. Said he,
aside, "Ye are in the worse condition. And God well knoweth what
ye state."

They said, "O Prince! Verily he hath a very aged father; in his
stead, therefore, take one of us, for we see that thou art a generous
person."

He said, "God forbid that we should take but him with whom our
property was found, for then should we act unjustly."

And when they despaired of Benjamin, they went apart for
counsel. The eldest of them said, "Know ye not how that your
father hath taken a pledge from you before God, and how formerly
ye failed in duty with regard to Joseph? I will not quit the land till
my father give me leave, or God decide for me; for of those who
decide is He the best.

Return ye to your father and say, 'O our father! Verily, thy son
hath stolen: we bear witness only of what we know: we could not
guard against the unforeseen.

Enquire for thyself in the city where we have been, and of the
caravan with which we have arrived; and we are surely speakers
of the truth.'

He said, "Nay, ye have arranged all this among yourselves: But
patience is seemly: God, may be, will bring them back to me
together; for he is the Knowing, the Wise."

And he turned away from them and said, "Oh! how I am grieved
for Joseph!" and his eyes became white with grief, for he bore a
silent sorrow.

They said, "By God thou wilt only cease to think of Joseph when
thou art at the point of death, or dead."

He said, "I only plead my grief and my sorrow to God: but I know
from God what ye know not:22

Go, my sons, and seek tidings of Joseph and his brother, and
despair not of God's mercy, for none but the unbelieving despair
of the mercy of God."

And when they came in to Joseph, they said, "O Prince, distress
hath reached us and our family, and little is the money that we
have brought. But give us full measure, and bestow it as alms, for
God will recompense the almsgivers."

21 Joseph is said by the Muhammadan commentators to have
stolen an idol of gold belonging to his mother's father, which he
broke, that he might not worship it. But this comment, as well as
the text of the Koran, is probably based upon some such tradition
as that of Midr. Rabba, Par. 92, "He is a thief and the son of a
thief" (Comp. Gen. xxxi. 19) spoken of Benjamin.

22 That is, that Joseph was still alive. Thus Midr. Tanchumah on
Gen. xlii. 1.

He said, "Know ye what ye did to Joseph and his brother in your
ignorance?"

They said, "Canst thou indeed be Joseph?" He said, "I am
Joseph, and this is my brother. Now hath God been gracious to us.
For whoso feareth God and endureth. God verily will not suffer
the reward of the righteous to perish!"

They said, "By God! now hath God chosen thee above us, and we
have indeed been sinners!"

He said, "No blame be on you this day. God will forgive you, for
He is the most merciful of those who shew mercy.

Go ye with this my shirt and throw it on my father's face, and he
shall recover his sight: and bring me all your family."

And when the caravan was departed, their father said, "I surely
perceive the smell of Joseph:23 think ye that I dote?"

They said, "By God, it is thy old mistake."

And when the bearer of good tidings came, he cast it on his face,
and Jacob's eyesight returned."

Then he said, "Did I not tell you that I knew from God what ye
knew not?"

They said, "Our father, ask pardon for our crimes for us, for we
have indeed been sinners."

He said, "I will ask your pardon of my Lord, for he is Gracious,
Merciful."

And when they came into Joseph he took his parents 24 to him,
and
said, "Enter ye Egypt, if God will, secure."

And he raised his parents to the seat of state, and they fell down
bowing themselves unto him. Then said he, "O my father, this is
the meaning of my dream of old. My Lord hath now made it true,
and he hath surely been gracious to me, since he took me forth
from the prison, and hath brought you up out of the desert, after
that Satan had stirred up strife between me and my brethren; for
my Lord is gracious to whom He will; for He is the Knowing, the
Wise.

23 Comp. Gen. xxvii. 27.

24 Joseph's mother had long been dead. See Gen. xxxv. 19. But the
object of Muhammad was probably to bring the event into strict
accordance with the prediction of the dream. Gen. xxxvii. 10.
Some, however, suppose that Bilhah is here meant, and her
appearance before Joseph is also asserted to be the fulfilment of
the dream by some of the Rabbins. Comp. Raschi on Gen. xxxvii.
10.

O my Lord, thou hast given me dominion, and hast taught me to
expound dark sayings. Marker of the Heavens and of the Earth!
My guardian art thou in this world and in the next! Cause thou me
to die a Muslim, and join me with the just."

This is one of the secret histories25 which we reveal unto thee.
Thou wast not present with Joseph's brethren when they conceived
their design and laid their plot: but the greater part of men,
though thou long for it, will not believe.

Thou shalt not ask of them any recompense for this message. It is
simply an instruction for all mankind.

And many as are the signs in the Heavens and on the Earth, yet
they will pass them by, and turn aside from them:

And most of them believe not in God, without also joining other
deities with Him.

What! Are they sure that the overwhelming chastisement of God
shall not come upon them, or that that Hour shall not come upon
them suddenly, while they are unaware?

SAY: This is my way: resting on a clear proof, I call you to God, I
and whoso followeth me: and glory be to God! I am not one of
those who add other deities to Him.

Never before thee have we sent any but men, chosen out of the
people of the cities, to whom we made revelations. Will they not
journey through the land, and see what hath been the end of those
who were before them? But the mansions of the next life shall be
better for those who fear God. Will they not then comprehend?

When at last the Apostles lost all hope, and deemed that they were
reckoned as liars, our aid reached them, and we delivered whom
we would; but our vengeance was not averted from the wicked.

Certainly in their histories is an example for men of
understanding. This is no new tale of fiction, but a confirmation of
previous scriptures, and an explanation of all things, and guidance
and mercy to those who believe.

25 Lit. This is of the announcements of the things unseen (by thee,
Muhammad). Compare the manner in which the story of the
Creation and of Moses in the mount is introduced. Sura xxxviii.
70; xxviii. 45. Mr. Muir thinks that Muhammad must at this
period, while recasting and working up these materials, have
entered upon a course of wilful dissimulation and deceit (although
the end would justify to him the means employed) in claiming
inspiration for them.

SURA XL. THE BELIEVER [LXXVIII.]

MECCA. 85 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

HA. MIM. The Revelation (sending down) of the Book is from
God the Almighty, the All-knowing, 1

Forgiver of sin, and receiver of penitence, vehement in
chastisement,

Long-suffering! There is no God but He: to Him shall be the final
gathering.

None but infidels gainsay the signs of God: but let not their
prosperity in the land deceive thee.

The people of Noah, and the confederates after them, have brought
the charge of imposture before these Meccans: each nation
schemed against their apostle to lay violent hold on him, and
disputed with vain words to refute the truth. Therefore did I lay
violent hold on them; and how great was my chastisement!

Thus is it that thy Lord's sentence, that inmates shall they be of the
fire, was accomplished upon the infidels.

They who bear the throne2 and they who encircle it, celebrate the
praise of their Lord and believe in Him, and implore forgiveness
for the believers: "O our Lord! thou embracest all things in
mercy and knowledge; forgive, therefore, those who turn to thee
and follow thy path; keep them from the pains of hell:

O our Lord! and bring them into the Gardens of Eden which thou
hast promised to them, and to the righteous ones of their fathers
and their wives and their children; for thou art the All-mighty, the
All-wise:

And keep them from evil: for on him hast thou mercy whom on
that day thou shalt keep from evil;" and this will be the great
felicity.

But to the infidels shall a voice cry, "Surely the hatred of God is
more grievous than your hatred of yourselves, when ye were called
to the faith, and remained unbelievers."

They shall say, "Twice, O our Lord, hast thou given us death, and
twice hast thou given us life:3 and we acknowledge our sins: is
there no way to escape?"

"This hath befallen you, for that when One God was proclaimed to
you, ye believed not: but when partners had been united with him,
ye believed: But judgment belongeth unto God, the High, the
Great."

It is He who sheweth you his signs, and sendeth down supplies to
you from Heaven: but none will receive warning save he who
turneth to God.

Call then on God, offering him a pure worship, though the infidels
abhor it.

Of exalted grade, of the throne possessed, He sendeth forth the
Spirit at His own behest on whomsoever of His servants He
pleaseth, that He may warn of the day of meeting,

The day when they shall come forth from their graves, when
nought that concerneth them shall be hidden from God. With
whom shall be the power supreme on that day? With God, the One,
the Almighty.

On that day shall every soul be recompensed as it hath deserved:
no injustice on that day! Verily, God will be swift to reckon.

Warn them, then, of the approaching day, when men's hearts shall
rise up, choking them, into their throats.

The evil-doers shall have no friend or intercessor who shall
prevail.

God knoweth the deceitful of eye, and what men's breasts
conceal.

And everything will God decide with truth: But nothing shall those
gods whom men call on beside him, decide. Verily, God! the
Hearer, the Beholder, He!

Have they never journeyed in this land, and seen what hath been
the end of those who flourished before them? Mightier were they
in strength than these Meccans, and their traces remain in the land:
Yet God took them in their sins, and there was none to defend
them against God.

This, because their apostles had come to them with proofs of their
mission, and they believed not: so God took them in hand; for He
is mighty, vehement in punishing.

Moreover we had sent Moses of old with our signs and with clear
authority.

To Pharaoh, and Haman, and Karun:4 and they said, "Sorcerer,
impostor."

And when he came to them from our presence with the truth, they
said, "Slay the sons of those who believe as he doth, and save their
females alive;" but the stratagem of the unbelievers issued only in
failure.

And Pharaoh said, "Let me alone, that I may kill Moses; and let
him call upon his Lord: I fear lest he change your religion, or cause
disorder to shew itself in the land."

And Moses said, "I take refuge with my Lord and your Lord from
every proud one who believeth not in the day of reckoning."

And a man of the family of Pharaoh, who was a BELIEVER,5 but
hid his faith, said, "Will ye slay a man because he saith my Lord is
God, when he hath already come to you with proofs of his mission
from your Lord? and if he be a liar, on him will be his lie:6 but if
he be a man of truth, part at least of what he threateneth will fall
upon you. Truly God guideth not him who is a transgressor, a liar.

O my people! this day is the kingdom yours, the eminent of the
earth! but who shall defend us from the vengeance of God if it
come on us?" Pharaoh said, "I would have you see only what I see;
and in a right way only will I guide you."

Then said he who believed, "O my people! truly I fear for you the
like of the day of the allies,7

The like of the state of the people of Noah and Ad and Themoud,

And of those who came after them; yet God willeth not injustice to
his servants.

And, O my people! I indeed fear for you the day of mutual
outcry

The day when ye shall be turned back from the Judgment into hell.
No protector shall ye have then against God. And he whom God
shall mislead no guide shall there be for him.

Moreover, Joseph had come to you before with clear tokens, but ye
ceased not to doubt of the message with which he came to you,
until when he died, ye said, 'God will by no means raise up an
apostle after him.' " Thus God misleadeth him who is the
transgressor, the doubter.

They who gainsay the signs of God without authority having come
to them, are greatly hated by God and by those who believe. Thus
God sealeth up every proud, contumacious heart.

And Pharaoh said, "O Haman,8 Build for me a tower that I may
reach the avenues,

The avenues of the heavens, and may mount to the God of Moses,
for I verily deem him a liar."

And thus the evil of his doings was made fair-seeming to Pharaoh,
and he turned away from the path of truth; but the artifice of
Pharaoh ended only in his ruin.

And he who believed said, "O my people! follow me: into the right
way will I guide you.

O my people! this present life is only a passing joy, but the life to
come is the mansion that abideth.

Whose shall have wrought evil shall not be recompensed but with
its like; but whoso shall have done the things that are right,
whether male or female, and is a believer these shall enter
paradise: good things unreckoned shall they enjoy therein.

And, O my people! how is it that I bid you to salvation, but that ye
bid me to the fire?

Ye invite me to deny God, and to join with him gods of whom I
know nothing; but I invite you to the Mighty, the Forgiving.

No doubt is there that they to whom ye invite me are not to be
invoked either in this world or in the world to come: and that unto
God is our return, and that the transgressors shall be the inmates of
the fire.

Then shall ye remember what I am saying unto you: and to God
commit I my case: Verily, God beholdeth his servants."

So God preserved him from the evils which they had planned, and
the woe of the punishment encompassed the people of Pharaoh.

It is the fire to which they shall be exposed morning and evening,
and on the day when "the Hour" shall arrive "Bring in the people
of Pharaoh into the severest punishment." 50 And when they shall
wrangle together in the fire, the weak shall say to those who had
borne themselves so proudly, "It is you we followed: will ye
therefore relieve us from aught of the fire?"

And those proud ones shall say, "Verily we are all in it; for now
hath God judged between his servants."

And they who are in the fire shall say to the keepers of Hell,
"Implore your Lord that he would give us ease but for one day
from this torment."

They shall say, "Came not your apostles to you with the tokens?"
They shall say, "Yes." They shall say, "Cry ye then aloud for
help:" but the cry of the unbelievers shall be only in vain.

Assuredly, in this present life will we succour our apostles and
those who shall have believed, and on the day when the witnesses
shall stand forth;

A day whereon the plea of the evil doers shall not avail them; but
theirs shall be a curse, and theirs the woe of the abode in Hell.

And of old gave we Moses the guidance, and we made the children
of Israel the heritors of the Book, a guidance and warning to men
endued with understanding.

Therefore be steadfast thou and patient; for true is the promise of
God: and seek pardon for thy fault,9 and celebrate the praise of thy
Lord at evening and at morning.

As to those who cavil at the signs of God without authority having
reached them, nought is there but pride in their breasts: but they
shall not succeed. Fly thou for refuge then to God, for He is the
Hearer, the Beholder.

Greater surely than the creation of man is the creation of the
heavens and of the earth: but most men know it not.

Moreover, the blind and the seeing, and the evil doer and they
who believe and do the things that are right, shall not be deemed
equal. How few ponder this!

Aye, "the Hour" will surely come: there is no doubt of it: but most
men believe it not.

And your Lord saith, "Call upon me I will hearken unto you: but
they who turn in disdain from my service shall enter Hell with
shame."

It is God who hath ordained the night for your rest, and the day to
give you light: verily God is rich in bounties to men: but most men
render not the tribute of thanks.

This is God your Lord, Creator of all things: no god is there but
He: why then do ye turn away from Him?

Yet thus are they turned aside who gainsay the signs of God.

It is God who hath given you the earth as a sure foundation, and
over it built up the Heaven, and formed you, and made your forms
beautiful, and feedeth you with good things. This is God your
Lord. Blessed then be God the Lord of the Worlds!

He is the Living One. No God is there but He. Call then upon Him
and offer Him a pure worship. Praise be to God the Lord of the
Worlds!

SAY: Verily I am forbidden to worship what ye call on beside
God, after that the clear tokens have come to me from my Lord,
and I am bidden to surrender myself to the Lord of the Worlds.

He it is who created you of the dust, then of the germs of life, then
of thick blood, then brought you forth infants: then he letteth you
reach your full strength, and then become old men (but some of
you die first), and reach the ordained term. And this that haply ye
may understand.

It is He who giveth life and death; and when He decreeth a thing,
He only saith of it, "Be," and it is.

Seest thou not those who cavil at the signs of God? how are they
turned aside!

They who treat "the Book," and the message with which we have
sent our Sent Ones, as a lie, shall know the truth hereafter,

When the collars shall be on their necks and the chains to drag
them into Hell: then in the fire shall they be burned.

Then shall it be said to them, "Where are they whom ye made the
objects of joint worship with God?" They shall say, "They have
vanished away from us. Yea, it was nought on which we called
heretofore." Thus God leadeth the unbelievers astray.

"This for you, because of your unrighteous insolence and
immoderate joys on earth.

Enter ye the portals of Hell to abide therein for ever. And,
wretched the abode of the haughty ones!"

Therefore be thou steadfast in patience: for the promise of God is
truth: and whether we shall make thee see part of the woes with
which we threatened them, or whether we cause thee first to die,
unto us shall they be brought back.

And we have already sent apostles before thee: of some we have
told thee, and of others we have told thee nothing:10 but no apostle
had the power to work a miracle unless by the leave of God. But
when God's behest cometh, everything will be decided with truth:
and then they perish who treated it as a vain thing.

It is God who hath given you the cattle that on some of them ye
may ride, and of some may eat:

(Other advantages too do ye derive from them) and that by them
ye may effect the projects ye cherish in your breasts; for on them,
and on ships are ye borne:

And He sheweth you His signs: which, then, of the signs of God
will ye deny?

Have they not journeyed in this land, and seen what hath been the
end of those who flourished before them? More were they than
these in number and mightier in strength, and greater are the traces
of their power remaining in the land:11 yet their labours availed
them nothing.

And when their apostles had come to them with the tokens of their
mission, they exulted in what they possessed of knowledge; but
that retribution at which they scoffed, encompassed them.

And when they beheld our vengeance they said, "We believe in
God alone, and we disbelieve in the deities we once associated
with Him."

But their faith, after they had witnessed our vengeance, profited
them not. Such the procedure of God with regard to his servants
who flourished of old. And then the unbelievers perished.

_______________________

1 See Sura 1xviii. 1, p. 32.

2 The Cherubic beings of Scripture are said to be above the throne
of God (Is. vi. 1), beneath it (Ezek. x.); and the mystical beasts in
the Revelations are said to be in the midst of the throne and round
about it.

3 Probably the union of life and death in the womb, and the
subsequent life followed by death.

4 See Sura [lxxix.] xxviii. 76.

5 Thus Sura [lxxix.] xxviii 20, and Sura [lx.] xxxvi. 19, we have a
similar character introduced into the narrative.

6 Comp. Acts v. 38, 39.

7 These tribes no doubt constantly formed temporary alliances.
Muhammad implies that they were confederate against their
prophets.

8 Haman, the favourite of Ahasuerus and the enemy of the Jews, is
thus made the vizier of Pharaoh. The Rabbins make this vizier to
have been Korah, Jethro, or Balaam. Midr. Jalkut on Ex. ch. 1,
Sect. 162 168; and Tr. Solah, fol. 11. See Sura [lxxix.] xxviii. 5.
9 Thy remissness in propagating Islam. Beidh.
10 It is possible that Muhammad, conscious of his ignorance of
Jewish history, intends in this verse to screen himself from the
charge of passing over the histories of many of their prophets.
11 The wealth of Mecca, although it still numbered about 12,000
inhabitants (as well as of Arabia generally), had much declined at
the time of Muhammad, owing mainly to the navigation of the Red
Sea, under the Roman dominion over Egypt, which of course
impoverished the tribes situated on the line of the old mercantile
route southward. Mecca, however, was still to a certain extent
prosperous. Comp. Sura [lxi.] xliii. 28.

SURA XXVIII. THE STORY [LXXIX.]

MECCA. 88 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

TA. SIN. MIM.1 These are the signs of the lucid Book.

We will recite to thee portions of the History of Moses and
Pharaoh with truth, for the teaching of the faithful.

Now Pharaoh lifted himself up in the earth, and divided his people
into parties: one portion of them he brought low He slew their
male children, and let their females only live; for he was one of
those who wrought disorders.

And we were minded to shew favour to those who were brought
low in the land, and to make them spiritual chiefs,2 and to make
them Pharaoh's heirs,

And to stablish them in the land;3 and to make Pharaoh and
Haman
and their hosts, the eye-witnesses of what they dreaded from them.

And we said by revelation to the mother of Moses, "Give him
suck; and if thou fearest for him, launch him on the sea; and fear
not, neither fret; for we will restore him to thee, and make him one
of the apostles."

And Pharaoh's family took him up to be a foe and a sorrow to
them, for sinners were Pharaoh and Haman and their hosts!

And Pharaoh's wife said, "Joy of the eye4 to me and thee! put him
not to death: haply he will be useful to us, or we may adopt him as
a son." But they knew not what they did.

And the heart of Moses' mother became a blank through fear: and
almost had she discovered him, but that we girt up her heart with
constancy, in order that she might be one of those who believe.

She said to his sister, "Follow him." And she watched him from
afar: and they perceived it not.

And we caused him to refuse the nurses,5 until his sister came and
said, Shall I point out to you the family of a house that will rear
him for you, and will be careful of him?

So we restored him to his mother, to be the joy of her eyes, and
that she might not fret, and that she might know that the promise
of God was true. But most men knew it not.

And when he had reached his age of strength, and had become a
man, we bestowed on him wisdom and knowledge; for thus do we
reward the righteous.

And he entered a city at the time when its inhabitants would not
observe him,6 and found therein two men fighting: the one, of his
own people; the other, of his enemies. And he who was of his own
people asked his help against him who was of his enemies. And
Moses smote him with his fist and slew him. Said he, "This is a
work of Satan; for he is an enemy, a manifest misleader."

He said, "O my Lord, I have sinned to mine own hurt:7 forgive
me." So God forgave him; for He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

He said, "Lord, because thou hast showed me this grace, I will
never again be the helper of the wicked."

And in the city at noon he was full of fear, casting furtive glances
round him: and lo! the man whom he had helped the day before,
cried out to him again for help. Said Moses to him, "Thou art
plainly a most depraved person."

And when he would have laid violent hands on him who was their
common foe, he said to him, "O Moses, dost thou desire to slay
me, as thou slayedst a man yesterday? Thou desirest only to
become a tyrant in this land, and desirest not to become a
peacemaker."

But a man came running up from the city's end. He said, "O
Moses, of a truth, the nobles consult to slay thee Begone then I
counsel thee as a friend."

So forth he went from it in fear, looking warily about him. He
said, "O Lord, deliver me from the unjust people."

And when he was journeying toward Madian, he said, "Haply my
Lord will direct me in an even path."

And when he arrived at the water of Madian, he found at it a
company of men watering.

And he found beside them, two women8 keeping back their flock:
"Why do ye," said he, "thus?" They said "We shall not water till
the shepherds shall have driven off; for our father is very aged."

So he watered for them then retired to the shade and said, "O my
Lord, of the good thou hast caused me to meet with I stand in
need."9

And one of them came to him, walking bashfully. Said she, "My
father calleth thee, that he may pay thee wages for thy watering for
us." And when he came to him and had told him his STORY,
"Fear not," said he, "thou hast escaped from an unjust people."

One of them said, "O my father, hire him: for the best thou canst
hire is the strong, the trusty."

He said, "Truly to one of these my two daughters I desire to marry
thee, if for eight years thou wilt be my hired servant:10 and if thou
fulfil ten, it shall be of thine own accord, for I wish not to deal
hardly with thee. Thou wilt find me, if God will, one of the
upright."

He said, "Be it so between me and thee: Whichever of the two
terms I fulfil, there will be no injustice to me. And God is witness
of what we say."

And when Moses had fulfilled the term, and was journeying with
his family, he perceived a fire on the mountain side. He said to his
family, "Wait ye, for I perceive a fire. Haply I may bring you
tidings from it, or a brand from the fire to warm you."

And when he came up to it, a Voice cried to him 11 out of the
bush
from the right side of the valley in the sacred hollow, "O Moses, I
truly am God, the Lord of the Worlds:

Throw down now thy rod." And when he saw it move as though it
were a serpent, he retreated and fled and returned not. "O Moses,"
cried the Voice, "draw near and fear not, for thou art in safety.

Put thy hand into thy bosom; it shall come forth white, but
unharmed: and draw back thy hand12 to thee without fear. These
shall be two signs from thy Lord to Pharaoh and his nobles; for
they are a perverse people."

He said, "O my Lord! truly I have slain one of them, therefore fear
I lest they slay me.

My brother Aaron is clearer of speech than I. Send him, therefore,
with me as a help, and to make good my cause, for I fear lest they
treat me as an impostor."

He said, "We will strengthen thine arm with thy brother, and we
will give power unto you both, and they shall not equal you in our
signs. Ye twain and they who shall follow you, shall gain the day."

And when Moses came to him with our demonstrative signs they
said, "This is nought but magical device. We never heard the like
among our sires of old."

And Moses said, "My Lord best knoweth on whom He hath
bestowed His guidance, and whose shall be the recompense of the
abode of Paradise. Verily, the wicked shall not prosper."

And Pharaoh said, "O ye nobles, ye have no other God that I know
of but myself. Burn me then, Haman, bricks of clay,13 and build
me
a tower that I may mount up to the God of Moses, for in sooth, I
deem him a liar."

And he and his hosts behaved themselves proudly and unjustly on
the earth, and thought that they should never be brought back to us.

But we seized on him and his hosts and cast them into the sea:
Behold, then, the end of the wrongful doers:

And we made them imƒms who invite to the fire of hell, and on the
day of Resurrection they shall not be helped.

We followed them with a curse in this world, and covered shall
they be with shame on the day of Resurrection.

And after we had destroyed the former generations, we gave the
book of the Law to Moses for man's enlightening, and a guidance
and a mercy, that haply they might reflect.

And thou wast not on the western slope of Sinai when we laid his
charge on Moses, nor wast thou one of the witnesses;

But we raised up generations after Moses, men whose days were
lengthened;14 neither didst thou dwell among the inhabitants of
Madian to rehearse to them our signs, but we sent Apostles to
them.15

Nor wast thou on the slope of Sinai when we called to Moses, but
it is of the mercy of thy Lord that thou warnest a people, to whom
no warner had come before thee, to the intent that they should
reflect:

And that they should not say when a calamity shall befal them for
their previous handy work, "O our Lord! why hast thou not sent an
Apostle to us? Then we should have followed thy signs and have
been of the believers."

Yet when the truth came to them from our very presence, they
said, "Unless the like powers be given to him that were given to
Moses. "16 But did they not disbelieve in what of old was given
to Moses? They said, "Two works of sorcery17 have helped each
other;" and they said, "We disbelieve them both."

SAY: Bring then a Book from before God which shall be a better
guide than these, that I may follow it; if ye speak the truth.

And if they answer thee not, then know that verily they are
following their own caprices: and who goeth more widely astray
than he who followeth his own caprice without guidance from
God? for God guideth not the wicked.

And now have we caused our word to come unto them, that they
may be warned:

They18 to whom we gave the Scriptures before IT, do in IT
believe.

And when it is recited to them they say, "We believe in it, for it is
the truth from our Lord. We were Muslims before it came."

Twice shall their reward be given them, for that they suffered with
patience, and repelled evil with good, and gave alms out of that
with which we provided them.

And when they hear light discourse they withdraw from it, and say,
"Our works for us and your works for you! Peace be on you! We
are not in quest of fools!"

Thou truly canst not guide whom thou desirest; but God guideth
whom He will; and He best knoweth those who yield to guidance.

But they say, "If we follow the way in which thou art guided,19 we
shall be driven from our country." But have we not established for
them a sacred secure precinct, to which fruits of every kind, our
gift for their support, are gathered together? But most of them have
no knowledge.

And how many cities have we destroyed that flourished in wanton
ease! And these their dwellings have not been inhabited since their
time save by a few, and it is we who became their heirs.

But thy Lord did not destroy the cities till He had sent an apostle to
their mother-city to rehearse our signs to its people: nor did we
destroy the cities unless its people were unjust.

And all that hath been bestowed on you is merely for enjoyment
and pomp of this life present: but that which is with God is better
and more lasting. Will ye not be wise?

Shall he then to whom we have promised a goodly promise and
who obtaineth it, be as he on whom we have bestowed the
enjoyments of this life present, and who on the day of Resurrection
shall be brought up for punishment?

On that day will God cry to them and say, "Where are my
companions, as ye supposed them?"

They on whom doom shall be justly pronounced will say, "O our
Lord! these are they whom we led astray: we led them astray even
as we had been led astray ourselves: Thou hast no cause of blame
against us: It was not we whom they worshipped.20

And it shall be said, "Call now on those whom ye made God's
companions:" and they shall call on them, but they will not answer
them. And they shall see the punishment, and wish that they had
been guided aright.

And on that day shall God call to them and say, "How answered ye
the apostles?"

But on that day they shall be too blinded with confusion to give an
account,21 nor shall they ask it of one another.

Yet as to him who shall turn to God and believe and do the thing
that is right, it may come to pass that he shall be among the happy.

And thy Lord createth what he will and hath a free choice. But
they, the false gods, have no power to choose. Glory be to God!
and high let him be exalted above those whom they associate with
him.

And thy Lord knoweth what their breasts conceal and what they
bring to light.

And He is God! There is no god but He! His, all praise in this life
and in the next, and His the power supreme,22 and to Him shall ye
be brought back!

SAY: What think ye? If God should enshroud you with a long
night until the day of resurrection, what god beside God would
bring you light? Will ye not then hearken?

SAY: What think ye? If God should make it one long day for you
until the day of resurrection, what god but God could bring you the
night in which to take your rest? Will ye not then see?

Of His mercy he hath made for you the night that ye may take your
rest in it; and the day that ye may seek what ye need out of his
bounteous supplies, and that ye may give thanks.

One day God will call to them and say, "Where are my
companions as ye supposed them?

And we will bring up a witness out of every nation and say, "Bring
your proofs." And they shall know that the truth is with God alone,
and the gods of their own devising shall desert them.

Now Korah23 was of the people of Moses: but he behaved
haughtily toward them; for we had given him such treasure that its
keys would have burdened a company of men of strength. When
his people said to him, "Exult not, for God loveth not those who
exult;

But seek, by means of what God hath given thee, to attain the
future Mansion; and neglect not thy part in this world, but be
bounteous to others as God hath been bounteous to thee, and seek
not to commit excesses on the earth; for God loveth not those who
commit excesses:"

He said, "It hath been given me only on account of the knowledge
that is in me." Did he not know that God had destroyed before him
generations that were mightier than he in strength and had
amassed more abundant wealth? But the wicked shall not be asked
of their crimes.

And Korah went forth to his people in his pomp. Those who were
greedy for this present life said, "Oh that we had the like of that
which hath been bestowed on Korah! Truly he is possessed of
great good fortune."

But they to whom knowledge had been given said, "Woe to you!
the reward of God is better for him who believeth and worketh
righteousness, and none shall win it but those who have patiently
endured."

And we clave the earth for him and for his palace, and he had no
forces, in the place of God,24 to help him, nor was he among those
who are succoured.

And in the morning those who the day before had coveted his lot
said, "Aha! God enlargeth supplies to whom he pleaseth of his
servants, or is sparing. Had not God been gracious to us, He had
caused it to cleave for us. Aha! the ungrateful can never prosper."

As to this future mansion, we will bestow it on those who seek not
to exalt them in the earth or to do wrong: And there is a happy
issue for the God-fearing.

Whoso doeth good shall have reward beyond its merits, and whoso
doeth evil, they who do evil shall be rewarded only as they shall
have wrought.

He who hath sanctioned the Koran to thee will certainly bring thee
to thy home.25 SAY: My Lord best knoweth who hath guidance,
and who is in undoubted error.

Thou didst never expect that the Book would be given thee. Of thy
Lord's mercy only hath it been sent down. Be not thou helpful then
to the unbelievers:

Neither let them turn thee aside from the signs of God after they
have been sent down to thee, but bid men to thy Lord; and be not
among those who add gods to God:

And call not on any other god with God. There is no god but He!
Everything shall perish except Himself! Judgment is His, and to
Him shall ye return!

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. 1, p. 32.

2 Lit. Imƒms.

3 Comp. [xci.] ii. 58.

4 That is, This child will be a comfort to us. See Sura [lviii.] xix.
26.

5 "Why must the nurse be a Hebrew woman? (Ex. ii. 7.) This
shews that he refused the breast of all the Egyptian women. For the
Holy, blessed be He, had said, Shall the mouth that is to speak with
me suck an unclean thing?" Sotah. xii. 2.

6 Lit. in the time of neglect on the part of its people, i.e. at the
hour
of the noon sleep.

7 Lit. I have acted unjustly to my soul.

8 Comp. Ex. ii. 16, 17, where the daughters are said to be seven.

9 That is, of a wife.

10 The compact (Gen. xxix. 15-39) between Laban and Jacob must
have been present to the mind of Muhammad when composing this
tale.

11 Lit. he was cried to. According to Muhammad, Moses had
resolved to quit Madian previously to the Vision of the Bush,
which, according to Ex. iii., was the real occasion.

12 Lit. thy wing.

13 Lit. kindle upon the clay. Comp. [lxxviii.] xl. 38 49. "He
(Pharaoh) said to them: From the first have ye spoken an untruth,
for Lord of the Worlds am I. I created myself and the Nile, as it is
said (Ez. xxix. 3), 'My river is mine own and I have made it for
myself."' (E.T.) Mid. Rab. on Ex. Par. 5.

14 So that the oral traditions would be easily handed down.

15 Or, yet have we sent thee as an Apostle to them.

16 Supply, we will not believe.

17 That is, the Pentateuch and the Koran.

18 The Meccan Jews and Christians who had formerly embraced
Islam, and could now affirm that they had always held the same
faith. This passage could not have been written after Muhammad's
experience of Jewish unbelief at Medina.

19 Lit. the guidance with thee.

20 But their own imaginations and passions.

21 Lit. the account shall be blind or dark to them. Sie werden vor
Bestrzung keine Rechenschaft geben. Ullm.

22 Potestas judiciaria. Mar. Richteramt. Ullm.

23 Ar. Karun. "Joseph concealed three treasures in Egypt, one of
which became known to Korah the keys of Korah's treasure
chambers were a burden for 300 white mules." Midr. Jalkut on
Eccl. v. 12, "Riches kept for the owners thereof to their
hurt," which may have furnished Muhammad with the nucleus of
this story. Compare also Tract. Psachim. fol. 119 a.

24 Or, against God.

25 Probably to Paradise, according to others to Mecca, as a
conqueror. But this latter interpretation involves the revelation of
this verse at least, at Medina.

SURA XXXIX. THE TROOPS [LXXX.]

MECCA. 75 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

THE Book1 sent down from God, the Mighty, the Wise!

We have sent down the Book to thee with the truth: serve thou God
then, and be sincere in thy worship:

Is not a sincere worship due to God?

But they who take others beside him as lords saying, "We serve
them only that they may bring us near to God" God will judge
between them and the faithful, concerning that wherein they are at
variance.

Verily God will not guide him who is a liar, an infidel.

Had God desired to have had a son, he had surely chosen what he
pleased out of his own creation. But praise be to Him! He is God,
the One, the Almighty.

For truth2 hath he created the Heavens and the Earth: It is of Him
that the night returneth upon the day and that the day returneth
upon the night: and He controlleth the sun and the moon so that
each speedeth to an appointed goal. Is He not the Mighty, the
Gracious?

He created you all of one man, from whom He afterwards formed
his wife; and of cattle He hath sent down to you four pairs.3 In the
wombs of your mothers did He create you by creation upon
creation in triple darkness. It is He who is God your Lord: the
kingdom is His: There is no God but He. How then are ye so
turned aside from Him?

Suppose ye render him no thanks! yet forsooth is God rich without
you: but He is not pleased with thanklessness in His servants: yet if
ye be thankful He will be pleased with you. The soul burdened
with its own works shall not be burdened with the burden of
another: hereafter shall ye return to your Lord, and he will tell you
of all your works,

For he knoweth the very secrets of your breasts.

When some trouble toucheth a man, he turneth to his Lord and
calleth on him: yet no sooner hath He enriched him with his favour
than he forgetteth Him on whom he before had called, and setteth
up peers with God, that he may beguile others from His way. SAY:
Enjoy thou thyself yet a little in thine ingratitude! but thou shalt
surely be one of the inmates of the fire.

Shall he who observeth the hours of the night, prostrate or standing
in devotion, heedful of the life to come, and hoping for the mercy
of his Lord ? SAY: Shall they who have knowledge and they
who have it not, be treated alike? In sooth, men of understanding
only will take the warning.

SAY: O my believing servants, fear your Lord. For those who do
good in this world there is good: and broad is God's earth4 verily
those who endure with patience shall be repaid: their reward shall
not be by measure.

SAY: I am bidden to serve God with a sincere worship: and I am
bidden to be the first of those who surrender themselves to him
(Muslims).

SAY: Verily I fear if I rebel against my Lord the punishment of a
great day.

SAY: God will I serve, presenting him with a sincere worship:

And serve ye what ye choose beside Him. SAY: The losers truly
will they be who shall lose their own souls and their families on
the day of resurrection: Is not this the clear ruin?

Canopies of fire shall be over them, and floors of fire beneath
them. With this doth God alarm his servants: Fear ye me, then, O
my servants!

But good tidings are there for those who shun the worship of
Thagout and are turned to God. Cheer then with good tidings those
my servants who hearken to my word and follow its excellence.
These are they whom God guideth, and these are men of insight.

Him then on whom the sentence of punishment hath justly
lighted him who is doomed to the fire canst thou rescue?

But for those who fear their Lord are storied pavilions beneath
which shall the rivers flow: it is the promise of God, and God will
not fail in his promise.

Seest thou not that God sendeth down water from heaven, and
guideth it along so as to form springs in the earth then bringeth
forth by it corn of varied sorts then causeth he it to wither, and
thou seest it become yellow then crumbleth it away? Lo! herein
is teaching for men of insight.

Shall he then whose breast God hath opened to Islam, and who
hath light from his Lord ? But woe to those whose hearts are
hardened against the remembrance of God! They plainly err.

The best of recitals hath God sent down a book in unison with
itself, and teaching by iteration.5 The very skins of those who fear
their Lord do creep at it! Then do their skins and their hearts soften
at the remembrance of their Lord! This is God's guidance: by it
will He guide whom He pleaseth; and, whom God shall mislead,
no guide shall there be for him.

Shall he who shall have nought but his own face to shelter him
with from the torment of the punishment on the day of the
resurrection ? Aye, to the evil doers it shall be said, "Taste what
ye have earned."

They who were before them said it was a lie; but a punishment
came upon them whence they looked not for it:

And God made them taste humiliation in this present life: but
greater surely will be the punishment of the life to come. Did they
but know it!

Now have we set before man in this Koran every kind of parable
for their warning:

An Arabic Koran, free from tortuous wording, to the intent that
they may fear God.

God setteth forth the comparison of a man with associates6 at
variance among themselves, and of a man devoted wholly to a
man. Are these to be held alike? No, praise be to God! But the
greater part of them understand not.

Thou truly shall die, O Muhammad, and they too shall die:

Then, at the day of resurrection, ye shall wrangle with one another
in the presence of your Lord.

And who acteth more unjustly than he who lieth of God, and
treateth the truth when it cometh to him as a lie? Is there not a
dwelling-place in Hell for the infidels?

But he who bringeth the truth, and he who believeth it to be the
truth: these are the God-fearing.

Whatever they shall desire, awaiteth them with their Lord! This is
the reward of the righteous;

That God may do away the guilt of their worst actions, and for
their best actions render them their reward.

Is not God all-sufficient for his servant? Yet would they scare thee
by their idols. But no guide shall there be for him whom God
misleadeth:

And he whom God guideth shall have none to mislead him. Is not
God, all-mighty, able to revenge?

And if thou ask them who hath created the Heavens and the Earth,
they will surely answer, God. SAY: Think ye, then, that they7 on
whom ye call beside God, if God choose to afflict me, could
remove his affliction? or if he choose to show me mercy, could
they withhold His mercy? SAY: God sufficeth me: in Him let the
trusting trust.

SAY: O my people, act your part as best ye can, I too will act
mine; and in the end ye shall know

On whom shall light a punishment that shall shame him, and on
whom a lasting punishment shall fall.

Assuredly we have sent down the Book to thee for man and for the
ends of truth. Whoso shall be guided by it it will be for his own
advantage, and whoso shall err, shall only err to his own loss. But
not to thy keeping are they entrusted.

God taketh souls unto Himself at death; and during their sleep
those who do not die:8 and he retaineth those on which he hath
passed a decree of death, but sendeth the others back till a time
that is fixed. Herein are signs for the reflecting.

Have they taken aught beside God as intercessors? SAY: What!
though they have no power over anything, neither do they
understand?

SAY: Intercession is wholly with God:9 His the kingdom of the
Heavens and of the Earth! To him shall ye be brought back
hereafter!

But when the One God is named, the hearts of those who believe
not in the life to come, shrivel up: but when the deities who are
adored beside Him are named, lo! they are filled with joy.

SAY: O God, creator of the Heaven and of the Earth, who knowest
the hidden and the manifest, thou shalt judge between thy servants
as to the subject of their disputes.

If the wicked possessed all that is in the earth and as much again
therewith, verily they would ransom themselves with it from the
pain of the punishment on the day of the resurrection; and there
shall appear to them, from God, things they had never reckoned
on:

And their own ill deeds shall be clearly perceived by them, and
that fire at which they mocked shall encircle them on every side.

When trouble befalleth a man he crieth to Us; afterwards, when
we have vouchsafed favour to him, he saith, "God knew that I
deserved it."10 Nay, it is a trial. But the greater part of them knew
it not.

The same said those who flourished before them; but their deeds
profited them not.

And their own ill deeds recoiled upon them. And whoso among
these (Meccans) shall do wrong, on them likewise their own
misdeeds shall light, neither shall they invalidate God.

Know they not that God giveth supplies with open hand, and that
He is sparing to whom He will? Of a truth herein are signs to those
who believe.

SAY: O my servants who have transgressed to your own hurt,11
despair not of God's mercy, for all sins doth God forgive.
Gracious, Merciful is He!

And return ye to your Lord, and to Him resign yourselves, ere the
punishment come on you, for then ye shall not be helped:

And follow that most excellent thing which hath been sent down to
you from your Lord, ere the punishment come on you suddenly,
and when ye look not for it:

So that a soul say, "Oh misery! for my failures in duty towards
God! and verily I was of those who scoffed:"

Or say, "Had God guided me, I had surely been of those who
feared Him:"

Or say, when it seeth the punishment, "Could I but return, then I
would be of the righteous."

Nay! my signs had already come to thee, and thou didst treat them
as untruths, and wast arrogant, and becamest of those who
believed not.

And on the resurrection day, thou shalt see those who have lied of
God, with their faces black. Is there not an abode in Hell for the
arrogant?

But God shall rescue those who fear him into their safe retreat: no
ill shall touch them, neither shall they be put to grief.

God is the creator of all things, and of all things is He the
guardian! His the keys of the Heavens and of the Earth! and who
believe not in the signs of God these! they shall perish!

SAY: What! do ye then bid me worship other than God, O ye
ignorant ones?

But now hath it been revealed to thee and to those who flourished
before thee, "Verily, if thou join partners with God, vain shall be
all thy work, and thyself shalt be of those who perish.

Nay, rather worship God! and be of those who render thanks."

But they have not deemed of God as is His due;12 for on the
resurrection day the whole Earth shall be but his handful, and in
his right hand shall the Heavens be folded together. Praise be to
Him! and high be He uplifted above the partners they join with
Him!

And there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and all who are in the
Heavens and all who are in the Earth shall expire, save those
whom God shall vouchsafe to live. Then shall there be another
blast on it, and lo! arising they shall gaze around them:

And the earth shall shine with the light of her Lord, and the Book
shall be set, and the prophets shall be brought up, and the
witnesses; and judgment shall be given between them with equity;
and none shall be wronged:

And every soul shall receive as it shall have wrought, for well
knoweth He men's actions.

And by TROOPS shall the unbelievers be driven towards Hell,
until when they reach it, its gates shall be opened, and its keepers
shall say to them, "Came not apostles from among yourselves to
you, reciting to you the signs of your Lord, and warning you of the
meeting with Him on this your day?"13 They shall say, "Yes." But
just is the sentence of punishment on the unbelievers.

It shall be said to them, "Enter ye the gates of Hell, therein to
dwell for ever;" and wretched the abode of the arrogant!

But those who feared their Lord shall be driven on by troops to
Paradise, until when they reach it, its gates shall be opened, and its
keepers shall say to them, "All hail! virtuous have ye been: enter
then in, to abide herein for ever."

And they shall say, "Praise be to God, who hath made good to us
His promise, and hath given to us the earth as our heritage, that we
may dwell in Paradise wherever we please!" And goodly is the
reward of those who travailed virtuously.

And thou shalt see the Angels circling around the Throne with
praises of their Lord: and judgment shall be pronounced between
them with equity: and it shall be said, "Glory be to God the Lord of
the Worlds."

_______________________

1 Lit. the sending down, or revelation, of the Book is, etc.

2 Lit. in truth, i.e. for a serious and earnest purpose, and not as
mere pastime.

3 That is, camels, oxen, sheep and goats.

4 The wording of this verse would seem to indicate a period when
Muhammad was meditating flight from Mecca. Comp. [lxxxi.]
xxix. 56.

5 See on the word Mathani, Sura xv. 87, p. 116. Or, by rhyming
couplets.

6 The word associates contains an implied allusion to the deities
associated with God, and who distract the idolaters in their
worship.

7 In the fem. gender in the Ar. This passage was revealed shortly
after the circumstances mentioned, liii. 20, n. p. 70.

8 See Sura [lxxxix.] vi. 60.

9 That is, none may intercede with Him but those whom He
permits to do so.

10 Lit. It was only given to me on account of knowledge. Mar.
Deus sciebat me esse dignum eo. Thus Sale.

11 By becoming apostates from Islam. Comp. Sura [lxxiii.] xvi.
108. This and the two following verses are said to have originated
at Medina. His 230, Wah. Omar ben Muhammad. Beidh. Itq. 19.

12 Lit. they have not esteemed God according to the truth of His
estimation.

13 Adventum diei hujus. Mar.SURA XXIX. THE SPIDER
[LXXXI.]

MECCA 69 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. MIM.1 Think men that when they say, "We believe,"
they shall be let alone and not be put to proof?

We put to proof those who lived before them; for God will surely
take knowledge of those who are sincere, and will surely take
knowledge of the liars.

Think they who work evil that they shall escape Us? Ill do they
judge.

To him who hopeth to meet God, the set time of God will surely
come. The Hearer, the Knower, He!

Whoso maketh efforts for the faith, maketh them for his own good
only. Verily God is rich enough to dispense with all creatures.

And as to those who shall have believed and done the things that
are right, their evil deeds will we surely blot out from them, and
according to their best actions will we surely reward them.

Moreover we have enjoined on man to shew kindness to parents:
but if they strive with thee that thou join that with Me of which
thou hast no knowledge,2 obey them not. To me do ye return, and
then will I tell you of your doings:

And those who shall have believed and done the things that are
right, we will surely give them an entering in among the just.

But some men say, "We believe in God," yet when they meet with
sufferings in the cause of God, they regard trouble from man as
chastisement from God. Yet if a success come from thy Lord they
are sure to say, "We were on your side!" Doth not God well know
what is in the breasts of his creatures?

Yes, and God well knoweth those who believe, and He well
knoweth the Hypocrites.

The unbelievers say to the faithful, "Follow ye our way, and we
will surely bear your sins." But not aught of their sins will they
bear verily they are liars!

But their own burdens, and burdens beside their own burdens shall
they surely bear: and inquisition shall be made of them on the day
of Resurrection as to their false devices.

Of old sent we Noah to his people: a thousand years save fifty did
he tarry among them; and the flood overtook them in their
wrongful doings:

But we rescued him and those who were in the vessel; and we
made it a sign to all men:

And Abraham; when he said to his people, "Worship God and fear
Him. This will be best for you, if ye have knowledge;"

Ye only worship idols beside God, and are the authors of a lie.
Those whom ye worship beside God can give you no supplies:
seek, then, your supplies from God; and serve Him and give Him
thanks. To Him shall ye return.

Suppose that ye treat me as a liar! nations before you have treated
God's messenger as a liar; but open preaching is his only duty.

See they not how God bringeth forth creation? and then causeth it
to return again? This truly is easy for God.

SAY,3 Go through the earth, and see how he hath brought forth
created beings. Hereafter, with a second birth will God cause them
to be born again; for God is Almighty.

Whom He pleaseth will He chastise, and on whom He pleaseth
will He have mercy, and to Him shall ye be taken back.

And ye shall not invalidate his power either in the Earth or in the
Heaven:4 and, save God, ye shall have neither patron nor helper.

As for those who believe not in the signs of God, or that they shall
ever meet him, these of my mercy shall despair, and these doth a
grievous chastisement await."

And the only answer of his people was to say, "Slay him or burn
him." But from the fire did God save him! Verily, herein are signs
to those who believe.

And Abraham said, "Of a truth ye have taken idols along with God
as your bond of union5 in this life present;

But on the day of resurrection some of you shall deny the others,
and some of you shall curse the others; and your abode shall be the
fire, and ye shall have none to help."

But Lot believed on him,6 and said, "I betake me to my Lord, for
He truly is the Mighty, the Wise."

And we bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob,7 and placed the gift of
prophecy and the Scripture among his posterity; And we gave him
his reward in this world, and in the next he shall be among the just.

We sent also Lot: when he said to his people, "Proceed ye to a
filthiness in which no people in the world hath ever gone before
you?

Proceed ye even to men? attack ye them on the highway? and
proceed ye to the crime in your assemblies?" But the only answer
of his people was to say, "Bring God's chastisement upon us, if
thou art a man of truth."

He cried: My Lord! help me against this polluted people.

And when our messengers came to Abraham with the tidings of a
son, they said, "Of a truth we will destroy the in-dwellers in this
city, for its in-dwellers are evil doers."

He said, "Lot is therein." They said, "We know full well who
therein is. Him and his family will we save, except his wife; she
will be of those who linger.

And when our messengers came to Lot, he was troubled for them,
and his arm was too weak8 to protect them; and they said, "Fear
not, and distress not thyself, for thee and thy family will we save,
except thy wife; she will be of those who linger.9

We will surely bring down upon the dwellers in this city
vengeance from Heaven for the excesses they have committed."

And in what we have left of it is a clear sign to men of
understanding.

And to Madian we sent their brother Shoaib. And he said, "Oh! my
people! worship God, and expect the latter day, and enact not in
the land deeds of harmful excess."

But they treated him as an impostor: so an earthquake assailed
them; and at morn they were found prostrate and dead in their
dwellings.

And we destroyed Ad and Themoud. Already is this made plain to
you in the ruins of their dwellings. For Satan had made their own
works fair seeming to them, and drew them from the right path,
keen-sighted though they were.

And Corah and Pharaoh and Haman. With proofs of his mission
did Moses come to them, and they behaved proudly on the earth;
but us they could not outstrip;10

For, every one of them did we seize in his sin. Against some of
them did wesend a stone-charged wind: Some of them did the
terrible cry of Gabriel surprise: for some of them we cleaved the
earth; and some of them we drowned. And it was not God who
would deal wrongly by them, but they wronged themselves.

The likeness for those who take to themselves guardians instead of
God is the likeness of the SPIDER who buildeth her a house: But
verily, frailest of all houses surely is the house of the spider. Did
they but know this!

God truly knoweth all that they call on beside Him; and He is the
Mighty, the Wise.

These similitudes do we set forth to men: and none understand
them except the wise.

God hath created the Heavens and the Earth for a serious end.11
Verily in this is a sign to those who believe.

Recite the portions of the Book which have been revealed to thee
and discharge the duty of prayer: for prayer restraineth from the
filthy and the blame-worthy. And the gravest duty is the
remembrance of God; and God knoweth what ye do.

Dispute not, unless in kindly sort, with the people of the Book;12
save with such of them as have dealt wrongfully with you: And say
ye, "We believe in what hath been sent down to us and hath been
sent down to you. Our God and your God is one, and to him are we
self-surrendered" (Muslims).

Thus have we sent down the Book of the Koran to thee: and they to
whom we have given the Book of the law believe in it: and of
these
Arabians there are those who believe in it: and none, save the
Infidels, reject our signs.

Thou didst not recite any book (of revelation) before it: with that
right hand of thine thou didst not transcribe one: else might they
who treat it as a vain thing have justly doubted:

But it is a clear sign in the hearts of those whom "the knowledge"
hath reached. None except the wicked reject our signs.

And they say, "Unless a sign be sent down to him from his
Lord. " SAY: Signs are in the power of God alone. I am only a
plain spoken warner.

Is it not enough for them that we have sent down to thee the Book
to be recited to them? In this verily is a mercy and a warning to
those who believe.

SAY: God is witness enough between me and you.

He knoweth all that is in the Heavens and the Earth, and they who
believe in vain things13 and disbelieve in God these shall be the
lost ones.

They will challenge thee to hasten the punishment: but had there
not been a season fixed for it, that punishment had already come
upon them. But it shall overtake them suddenly when they look not
for it.

They will challenge thee to hasten the punishment: but verily Hell
shall be round about the infidels.

One day the punishment shall wrap them round, both from above
them and from beneath their feet; and God will say, "Taste ye your
own doings."

O my servants who have believed! Vast truly is my Earth:14 me,
therefore! yea worship me.

Every soul shall taste of death. Then to us shall ye return.

But those who shall have believed and wrought righteousness will
we lodge in gardens with palaces, beneath which the rivers flow.
For ever shall they abide therein. How goodly the reward of those
who labour,

Who patiently endure, and put their trust in their Lord!

How many animals are there which provide not15 their own food!
God feedeth them and you. He Heareth, Knoweth all things.

If thou ask them who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, and
hath imposed laws on the sun and on the moon, they will certainly
say, "God." How then can they devise lies?

God lavisheth supplies on such of his servants as He pleaseth or
giveth to them by measure. God knoweth all things.

If thou ask them who sendeth rain from heaven, and by it
quickeneth the earth, after it hath been dead, they will certainly
answer, "God." SAY: Praise be to God! Yet most of them do not
understand.

This present life is no other than a pastime and a disport: but truly
the future mansion is life indeed! Would that they knew this!

Lo! when they embark on shipboard, they call upon God, vowing
him sincere worship, but when He bringeth them safe to land,
behold they join partners with Him.

In our revelation they believe not, yet take their fill of good things.
But in the end they shall know their folly.

Do they not see that we have established a safe precinct16 while
all
around them men are being spoiled? Will they then believe in vain
idols, and not own the goodness of God?

But who acteth more wrongly than he who deviseth a lie against
God, or calls the truth when it hath come to him, a lie? Is there not
an abode for the infidels in Hell?

And whoso maketh efforts for us, in our ways will we guide them:
for God is assuredly with those who do righteous deeds.

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. p. 32. The first ten verses of this Sura were
revealed at Medina, after the battles of Bedr and Ohod. N”ld. p.
115.

2 Deities for whose worship thou canst shew no authority. Comp.
Tr. Jebhamoth, fol. 6. If a father saith to his son, "Defile thyself,"
or saith, "Make not restitution," shall he obey him? It is said (Lev.
xix. 3), Let every man reverence his father and mother, but keep
my Sabbaths all of you: ye are all bound to honour me. Thus also
Midr. Jalkut, 604. Comp. next Sura, v. 13.

3 The word SAY the usual address of God or Gabriel to
Muhammad must either be considered as spoken by God to
Abraham, in which case we have a curious instance of the manner
in which Muhammad identifies himself with Abraham, and makes
Abraham speak in words which he constantly elsewhere uses
himself; or, with Wahl, we must suppose that from v. 17 to v. 22
are misplaced.

4 Comp. Ps. cxxxix. 7.

5 Lit. for love among yourselves, or as an object of love, i.e.
devout worship.

6 Thus Sura [lxv.] xxi. 71. The Midr. Rabbah on Gen. Par. 18, says
that Haran, the father of Lot, was brought by Abraham's
deliverance from the furnace to the adoption of his doctrines.
Muhammad may have transferred this idea to Lot.

7 The following passages deserve to be compared, as shewing the
loose way in which Muhammad could speak of the relationship
subsisting between Abraham and the other Patriarchs. See 38
below. Sura [xci.] ii. 127; [lxxxix.] vi. 84; [lviii.] xix. 50; [lxv.]
xxi. 72; [lxxvii.] xii. 6. It is a curious coincidence that in the Sonna
398, 400, Joseph is said to be the Grandson, and Jacob the Son, of
Abraham.

8 Lit. was straitened in regard to them.

9 See [lxxv.] xi. 83.

10 So as to fly from our vengeance.

11 Lit. in truth.

12 With the Jews. This passage is quoted by modern Muslims in
justification of their indifference with respect to the propagation of
their religion. "The number of the faithful," said one of them to
Mr. Lane, "is decreed by God, and no act of man can increase or
diminish it." Mod. Egypt. i. p. 364. N”ldeke supposes this verse to
have been revealed at Medina, and renders, Contend not except in
the best way, i.e. not by words but by force.

13 Idols.

14 That is, you may find places of refuge where you may worship
the true God in some other parts of the earth, if driven forth from
your native city. This verse is very indicative of a late Meccan
origin. Flight from Mecca must have been imminent when
Muhammad could thus write.

15 Lit. carry not. Comp. Matth. vi. 26; Luke xii. 24.

16 At Mecca.

SURA XXXI. LOKMAN1 [LXXXII.]

MECCA. 34 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. MIM.2 These are the verses (signs) of the wise Book,

A guidance and a mercy to the righteous,

Who observe prayer, and pay the impost,3 and believe firmly in
the
life to come:

These rest on guidance from their Lord, and with these it shall be
well.

But a man there is4 who buyeth an idle tale, that in his lack of
knowledge he may mislead others from the way of God, and turn it
to scorn. For such is prepared a shameful punishment!

And when our signs are rehearsed to him, he turneth away
disdainfully, as though he heard them not, as though his ears
were heavy with deafness. Announce to him therefore tidings of an
afflictive punishment!

But they who shall have believed and wrought good works, shall
enjoy the gardens of delight:

For ever shall they dwell therein: it is God's true promise! and He
is the Mighty, the Wise.

Without pillars that can be seen hath He created the heavens, and
on the earth hath thrown mountains lest it should move with you;5
and He hath scattered over it animals of every sort: and from the
Heaven we send down rain and cause every kind of noble plant to
grow up therein.

This is the creation of God: Shew me now what others than He
have created. Ah! the ungodly are in a manifest delusion.

Of old we bestowed wisdom upon LOKMAN, and taught him
thus "Be thankful to God: for whoever is thankful, is thankful to
his own behoof; and if any shall be thankless God truly is
self-sufficient, worthy of all praise!"

And bear in mind when Lokman said to his son by way of warning,
"O my son! join not other gods with God, for the joining gods with
God is the great impiety."

(We have commanded6 man concerning his parents. His mother
carrieth him with weakness upon weakness; nor until after two
years is he weaned.7 Be grateful to me, and to thy parents. Unto
me
shall all come.

But if they importune thee to join that with Me of which thou hast
no knowledge, obey them not: comport thyself towards them in
this world as is meet and right; but follow the way of him who
turneth unto me. Unto me shall ye return at last, and then will I tell
you of your doings;)

"O my son! verily God will bring everything to light, though it
were but the weight of a grain of mustard-seed, and hidden in a
rock or in the heavens or in the earth; for, God is subtile, informed
of all.

O my son! observe prayer, and enjoin the right and forbid the
wrong, and be patient under whatever shall betide thee: for this is a
bounden duty.

And distort not thy face at men; nor walk thou loftily on the earth;
for God loveth no arrogant vain-glorious one.

But let thy pace be middling; and lower thy voice: for the least
pleasing of voices is surely the voice of asses."

See ye not how that God hath put under you all that is in the
heavens and all that is on the earth, and hath been bounteous to
you of his favours, both for soul and body.8 But some are there
who dispute of God without knowledge, and have no guidance and
no illuminating Book:

And when it is said to them, Follow ye what God hath sent down,
they say, "Nay; that religion in which we found our fathers will we
follow." What! though Satan bid them to the torment of the flame?

But whoso setteth his face toward God with self-surrender, and is a
doer of that which is good, hath laid hold on a sure handle; for
unto God is the issue of all things.

But let not the unbelief of the unbelieving grieve thee: unto us
shall they return: then will we tell them of their doings; for God
knoweth the very secrets of the breast.

Yet a little while will we provide for them: afterwards will we
force them to a stern punishment.

If thou ask them who hath created the heavens and the earth, they
will certainly reply, "God." SAY: God be praised! But most of
them have no knowledge.

God's, whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth! for God, He is
the Rich,9 the Praiseworthy.

If all the trees that are upon the earth were to become pens, and if
God should after that swell the sea into seven seas of ink, His
words would not be exhausted: for God is Mighty, Wise.10

Your creation and your quickening hereafter, are but as those of a
single individual. Verily, God Heareth, Seeth!

Seest thou not that God causeth the night to come in upon the day,
and the day to come in upon the night? and that he hath subjected
the sun and the moon to laws by which each speedeth along to an
appointed goal? and that God therefore is acquainted with that
which ye do?

This, for that God is the truth; and that whatever ye call upon
beside Him is a vain thing; and that God He is the High, the
Great.

Seest thou not how the ships speed on in the sea, through the
favour of God, that he may shew you of his signs? for herein are
signs to all patient, grateful ones.

When the waves cover them like dark shadows they call upon God
as with sincere religion; but when He safely landeth them, some of
them there are who halt between two opinions.11 Yet none reject
our signs but all deceitful, ungrateful ones.

O men! fear ye your Lord, and dread the day whereon father shall
not atone for son, neither shall a son in the least atone for his
father.

Aye! the promise of God is a truth. Let not this present life then
deceive you; neither let the deceiver deceive you concerning God.

Aye! God! with Him is the knowledge of the Hour: and He
sendeth down the rain and He knoweth what is in the
wombs but no soul knoweth what it shall have gotten on the
morrow: neither knoweth any soul in what land it shall die. But
God is knowing, informed of all.

_______________________

1 Nothing certain is known concerning the history of this fabulist
and philosopher. The opinion most generally received is that
Lokman is the same person whom the Greeks, not knowing his real
name, have called ‘sop, i.e., ‘thiops. This Sura shews the high
degree of respect entertained for Lokman in Arabia at the time of
Muhammad, who doubtless aimed to promote the interests of his
new religion by connecting the Koran with so celebrated a name.

2 See Sura lxviii. 1, p. 32.

3 Beidh. and Itq. suppose this verse to have been revealed at
Medina, on account of the precept to pay the impost, required by
Muhammad of his followers as a religious duty, and different from
the alms. The former is usually coupled with the duty of observing
prayer. Mar. renders, sacrum censum in marg.

4 Nodhar Ibn El Hareth, who had purchased in Persia the romance
of Roustem and Isfendiar, two of the most famous heroes of that
land, which he recited to the Koreisch as superior to the Koran.

5 Comp. Ps. civ. 5.

6 This verse and the verse following would seem more naturally to
follow verse 18, where Wahl has placed them. See preceding Sura,
v. 7.

7 Comp. Talm. Kethuboth, 60, 1, "A woman is to suckle her child
two years." Comp. Jos. Ant. ii. 9, 6.

8 Or, the seen and unseen, lit., outwardly and inwardly.

9 Or as rendered in verse 11, "the self-sufficient."

10 Wah. Omar ben Muhammad, Zam. and Beidh. suppose this and
the three following verses to have been revealed at Medina, in
answer to the Jews, who had affirmed that all knowledge was
contained in their own Law. But the accuracy of this supposition is
very doubtful, if considered with regard to the preceding and
following context.

11 Between idolatry and Islam.

SURA XLII. COUNSEL [LXXXIII.]

MECCA. 53 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

HA. MIM. AIN. SIN. KAF.1 Thus unto thee as unto those who
preceded thee doth God, the Mighty, the Wise, reveal!

All that is in the Heavens and all that is in the Earth is His: and He
is the High, the Great!

Ready are the Heavens to cleave asunder from above for very awe:
and the angels celebrate the praise of their Lord, and ask
forgiveness for the dwellers on earth: Is not God the Indulgent, the
Merciful?

But whose take aught beside Him as lords God watcheth them!
but thou hast them not in thy charge.

It is thus moreover that we have revealed to thee an Arabic Koran,
that thou mayest warn the mother city2 and all around it, and that
thou mayest warn them of that day of the Gathering, of which
there is no doubt when part shall be in Paradise and part in the
flame.

Had God so pleased, He had made them one people and of one
creed: but He bringeth whom He will within His mercy; and as for
the doers of evil, no patron, no helper shall there be for them.

Will they take other patrons than Him? But God is man's only
Lord: He quickeneth the dead; and He is mighty over all things.

And whatever the subject of your disputes, with God doth its
decision rest. This is God, my Lord: in Him do I put my trust, and
to Him do I turn in penitence;

Creator of the Heavens and of the Earth! he hath given you wives
from among your own selves, and cattle male and female by this
means to multiply you: Nought is there like Him! the Hearer, the
Beholder He!

His, the keys of the Heavens and of the Earth! He giveth with open
hand, or sparingly, to whom He will: He knoweth all things.

To you hath He prescribed the faith which He commanded unto
Noah, and which we have revealed to thee, and which we
commanded unto Abraham and Moses and Jesus, saying, "Observe
this faith, and be not divided into sects therein." Intolerable to
those who worship idols jointly with God

Is that faith to which thou dost call them. Whom He pleaseth will
God choose for it, and whosoever shall turn to Him in penitence
will He guide to it.

Nor were they divided into sects through mutual jealousy, till after
that "the knowledge" had come to them: and had not a decree from
thy Lord gone forth respiting them to a fixed time, verily, there had
at once been a decision between them.3 And they who have
inherited "the Book" after them, are in perplexity of doubt
concerning it.

For this cause summon thou them to the faith, and go straight on as
thou hast been bidden, and follow not their desires: and

SAY: In whatsoever Books God hath sent down do I believe: I am
commanded to decide justly between you: God is your Lord and
our Lord: we have our works and you have your works: between us
and you let there be no strife: God will make us all one: and to
Him shall we return.

And as to those who dispute about God, after pledges of obedience
given to Him,4 their disputings shall be condemned by their Lord,
and wrath shall be on them, and theirs shall be a sore torment.

It is God who hath sent down the Book with truth, and the
Balance:5 but who shall inform thee whether haply "the Hour" be
nigh?

They who believe not in it, challenge its speedy coming:6 but they
who believe are afraid because of it, and know it to be a truth. Are
not they who dispute of the Hour, in a vast error?

Benign is God towards his servants: for whom He will doth He
provide: and He is the Strong, the Mighty.

Whoso will choose the harvest field of the life to come, to him will
we give increase in this his harvest field: and whoso chooseth the
harvest field of this life, thereof will we give him: but no portion
shall there be for him in the life to come.7

Is it that they have gods who have sanctioned for them aught in the
matter of religion which God hath not allowed? But had it not been
for a decree of respite till the day of severance, judgment had ere
now taken place among them; and assuredly the impious shall
undergo a painful torment.

On that day thou shalt see the impious alarmed at their own works,
and the consequence thereof shall fall upon them: but they who
believe and do the things that are right, shall dwell in the meadows
of paradise: whatever they shall desire awaiteth them with their
Lord. This, the greatest boon.

This is what God announceth to his servants who believe and do
the things that are right. SAY: For this ask I no wage of you, save
the love of my kin. And whoever shall have won the merit of a
good deed, we will increase good to him therewith; for God is
forgiving, grateful.

Will they say he hath forged a lie of God? If God pleased,

He could then seal up thy very heart.8 But God will bring untruth
to
nought, and will make good the truth by his word: for He knoweth
the very secrets of the breast.

He it is who accepteth repentance from his servants, and forgiveth
their sins and knoweth your actions:

And to those who believe and do the things that are right will he
hearken, and augment his bounties to them:9 but the unbelievers
doth a terrible punishment await.

Should God bestow abundance upon his servants, they might act
wantonly on the earth: but He sendeth down what He will by
measure; for he knoweth, beholdeth his servants.

He it is who after that men have despaired of it, sendeth down the
rain, and spreadeth abroad his mercy: He is the Protector, the
Praiseworthy.

Among his signs is the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth,
and the creatures which he hath scattered over both: and, for their
gathering together when he will, He is allpowerful!

Nor happeneth to you any mishap, but it is for your own
handy-work: and yet he forgiveth many things.

Ye cannot weaken him on the earth: neither, beside God, patron or
helper shall ye have.

Among his signs also are the sea-traversing ships like mountains: if
such be his will, He lulleth the wind, and they lie motionless on
the back of the waves: truly herein are signs to all the constant,
the grateful;

Or if, for their ill deserts, He cause them to founder, still He
forgiveth much:

But they who gainsay our signs shall know that there will be no
escape for them.

All that you receive is but for enjoyment in this life present: but
better and more enduring is a portion with God, for those who
believe and put their trust in their Lord;

And who avoid the heinous things of crime, and filthiness, and
when they are angered, forgive;

And who hearken to their Lord, and observe prayer, and whose
affairs are guided by mutual COUNSEL, and who give alms of that
with which we have enriched them;

And who, when a wrong is done them, redress themselves:

Yet let the recompense of evil be only a like evil but he who
forgiveth and is reconciled, shall be rewarded by God himself; for
He loveth not those who act unjustly.

And there shall be no way open against those who, after being
wronged, avenge themselves;

But there shall be a way open against those who unjustly wrong
others, and act insolently on the earth in disregard of justice.
These! a grievous punishment doth await them.

And whoso beareth wrongs with patience and forgiveth; this
verily is a bounden duty;

But he whom God shall cause to err, shall thenceforth have no
protector. And thou shalt behold the perpetrators of injustice,

Exclaiming, when they see the torment, "Is there no way to
return?"

And thou shalt see them when set before it, downcast for the
shame: they shall look at it with stealthy glances: and the believers
shall say, "Truly are the losers they who have lost themselves and
their families on the day of Resurrection! Shall not the perpetrators
of injustice be in lasting torment?"

And no other protectors shall there be to succour them than God;
and no pathway for him whom God shall cause to err.

Hearken then to your Lord ere the day come, which none can put
back when God doth ordain its coming. No place of refuge for you
on that day! no denying your own works!

But if they turn aside from thee, yet we have not sent thee to be
their guardian. 'Tis thine but to preach. When we cause man to
taste our gifts of mercy, he rejoiceth in it; but if for their by-gone
handy-work evil betide them, then lo! is man ungrateful.

God's, the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! He createth
what He will! and he giveth daughters to whom He will, and sons
to whom He will:

Or He giveth them children of both sexes, and He maketh whom
He will to be childless; for He is Wise, Powerful!

It is not for man that God should speak with him but by vision, or
from behind a veil:

Or, He sendeth a messenger to reveal, by his permission, what He
will: for He is Exalted, Wise!

Thus have we sent the Spirit (Gabriel10) to thee with a revelation,
by our command. Thou knewest not, ere this, what "the Book"
was, or what the faith. But we have ordained it for a light: by it
will we guide whom we please of our servants. And thou shalt
surely guide into the right way,

The way of God, whose is all that the Heaven and the Earth
contain. Shall not all things return to God?

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. 1, p. 32.

2 Mecca.

3 Jews and Christians.

4 Or, nachdem ihm (Mohamed) die Lehre geworden. Ullm.
Postquam responsum fuit illi (id est, Mahumeto de Religione
manifestanda). Mar.

5 The law contained in the Koran.

6 Isai. v. 19.

7 Comp. Gal. vi. 7, 8.

8 That is, deprive thee of the Prophetic mission; or, fortify thee
with patience against the calumny of forging lies of God. Thus
Mar. If this latter interpretation be adopted, the remainder of the
verse must be rendered: And God will abolish the lie and, etc.

9 Lit. he will increase them. Comp. Ps. cxv. 14.
10 Thus Beidhawi.

SURA X. JONAH, PEACE BE ON HIM! [LXXXIV.]

MECCA. 109 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. RA.1 These are the signs of the wise Book!

A matter of wonderment is it to the men of Mecca, that to a person
among themselves We revealed, "Bear warnings to the people:
and, to those who believe, bear the good tidings that they shall
have with their Lord the precedence merited by their sincerity."
The unbelievers say, "Verily this is a manifest sorcerer."

Verily your Lord is God who hath made the Heavens and the Earth
in six days then mounted his throne to rule all things: None can
intercede with him till after his permission: This is God your Lord:
therefore serve him: Will ye not reflect?

Unto Him shall ye return, all together: the promise of God is sure:
He produceth a creature, then causeth it to return again that he may
reward those who believe and do the things that are right, with
equity: but as for the infidels! for them the draught that boileth and
an afflictive torment because they have not believed.

It is He who hath appointed the sun for brightness, and the moon
for a light, and hath ordained her stations that ye may learn the
number of years and the reckoning of time. God hath not created
all this but for the truth.2 He maketh his signs clear to those who
understand.

Verily, in the alternations of night and of day, and in all that God
hath created in the Heavens and in the Earth are signs to those who
fear Him.

Verily, they who hope not to meet Us, and find their satisfaction in
this world's life, and rest on it, and who of our signs are heedless;

These! their abode the fire, in recompense of their deeds!

But they who believe and do the things that are right, shall their
Lord direct aright because of their faith. Rivers shall flow at their
feet in gardens of delight:

Their cry therein, "Glory be to thee, O God!" and their salutation
therein, "Peace!"

And the close of their cry, "Praise be to God, Lord, of all
creatures!"

Should God hasten evil on men as they fain would hasten their
good, then were their end decreed! So leave we those who hope
not to meet Us, bewildered in their error.

When trouble toucheth a man, he crieth to us, on his side, or
sitting, or standing; and when we withdraw his trouble from him,
he passeth on as though he had not called on us against the trouble
which touched him! Thus are the deeds of transgressors
pre-arranged for them.

And of old destroyed we generations before you, when they had
acted wickedly, and their Apostles had come to them with clear
tokens of their mission, and they would not believe: thus reward
we the wicked.

Then we caused you to succeed them on the earth, that we might
see how ye would act.

But when our clear signs are recited to them, they who look not
forward to meet Us, say, "Bring a different Koran from this, or
make some change in it." SAY: It is not for me to change it as
mine own soul prompteth. I follow only what is revealed to me:
verily, I fear, if I rebel against my Lord, the punishment of a great
day.

SAY: Had God so pleased, I had not recited it to you, neither had I
taught it to you. Already have I dwelt among you for years, ere it
was revealed to me. Understand ye not?

And who is more unjust than he who coineth a lie against God, or
treateth his signs as lies? Surely the wicked shall not prosper!

And they worship beside God, what cannot hurt or help them; and
say, "These are our advocates with God!" SAY: Will ye inform
God of aught in the Heavens and in the Earth which he knoweth
not? Praise be to Him! High be He exalted above the deities they
join with Him!

Men were of one religion only:3 then they fell to variance: and
had not a decree (of respite) previously gone forth from thy Lord,
their differences had surely been decided between them!

They say: "Unless a sign be sent down to him from his Lord. " But
SAY: The hidden is only with God: wait therefore: I truly will be
with you among those who wait.

And when after a trouble which you befallen them,4 we caused
this people to taste of mercy, lo! a plot on their part against our
signs! SAY: Swifter to plot is God! Verily, our messengers note
down your plottings.

He it is who enableth you to travel by land and sea, so that ye go
on board of ships which sail on with them, with favouring breeze
in which they rejoice. But if a tempestuous gale overtake them,
and the billow come on them from every side, and they think that
they are encompassed therewith, they call on God, professing
sincere religion: "Wouldst thou but rescue us from this, then will
we indeed be of the thankful."

But when we have rescued them, lo! they commit unrighteous
excesses on the earth! O men! assuredly your self-injuring excess
is only an enjoyment of this life present: soon ye return to us: and
we will let you know what ye have done!

Verily, this present life is like the water which we send down from
Heaven, and the produce of the earth, of which men and cattle eat,
is mingled with it, till the earth hath received its golden raiment,
and is decked out: and they who dwell on it deem that they have
power over it! but, Our behest cometh to it by night or by day, and
we make it as if it had been mown, as if it had not teemed only
yesterday! Thus make we our signs clear to those who consider.

And God calleth to the abode of peace;5 and He guideth whom He
will into the right way.

Goodness6 itself and an increase of it for those who do good!
neither blackness nor shame shall cover their faces! These shall be
the inmates of Paradise, therein shall they abide for ever.

And as for those who have wrought out evil, their recompense
shall be evil of like degree, and shame shall cover them no
protector shall they have against God: as though their faces were
darkened with deep murk of night! These shall be inmates of the
fire: therein they shall abide for ever.

And on that day will we gather them all together: then will we say
to those who added gods to God, "To your place, ye and those
added gods of yours!" Then we will separate between them: and
those their gods shall say, "Ye served us not:7

And God is a sufficient witness between us and you: we cared not
aught for your worship."

There shall every soul make proof of what itself shall have sent on
before, and they shall be brought back to God, their true lord, and
the deities of their own devising shall vanish from them.

SAY: Who supplieth you from the Heaven and the Earth? Who
hath power over hearing and sight? And who bringeth forth the
living from the dead, and bringeth forth the dead from the living?
And who ruleth all things? They will surely say, "God:" then SAY:
"What! will ye not therefore fear him?

This God then is your true Lord: and when the truth is gone, what
remaineth but error? How then are ye so perverted?

Thus is the word of thy Lord made good on the wicked, that they
shall not believe.

SAY: Is there any of the gods whom ye add to God who produceth
a creature, then causeth it to return to him? SAY: God produceth a
creature, then causeth it to return to Him: How therefore are ye
turned aside?

SAY: Is there any of the gods ye add to God who guideth into the
truth? SAY: God guideth into the truth. Is He then who guideth
into the truth the more worthy to be followed, or he who guideth
not unless he be himself guided? What then hath befallen you that
ye so judge?

And most of them follow only a conceit: But a conceit attaineth to
nought of truth! Verily God knoweth what they say.

Moreover this Koran could not have been devised by any but God:
but it confirmeth what was revealed before it, and is a clearing up
of the Scriptures there is no doubt thereof from the Lord of all
creatures.

Do they say, "He hath devised it himself?" SAY: Then bring a Sura
like it; and call on whom ye can beside God, if ye speak truth.

But that which they embrace not in their knowledge have they
charged with falsehood, though the explanation of it had not yet
been given them. So those who were before them brought charges
of imposture: But see what was the end of the unjust!

And some of them believe in it, and some of them believe not in it.
But thy Lord well knoweth the transgressors.

And if they charge thee with imposture, then SAY: My work for
me, and your work for you! Ye are clear of that which I do, and I
am clear of that which ye do.

And some of them lend a ready ear to thee: But wilt thou make the
deaf to hear even though they understand not?

And some of them look at thee: But wilt thou guide the blind even
though they see not?

Verily, God will not wrong men in aught, but men will wrong
themselves.

Moreover, on that day, He will gather them all together: They shall
seem as though they had waited but an hour of the day! They shall
recognise one another! Now perish they who denied the meeting
with God, and were not guided aright!

Whether we cause thee to see some of our menaces against them
fulfilled, or whether we first take thee to Ourself,8 to us do they
return. Then shall God bear witness of what they do.

And every people hath had its apostle.9 And when their apostle
came, a rightful decision took place between them, and they were
not wronged.

Yet they say, "When will this menace be made good? Tell us if ye
speak truly."

SAY: I have no power over my own weal or woe, but as God
pleaseth. Every people hath its time: when their time is come, they
shall neither retard nor advance it an hour.

SAY: How think ye? if God's punishment came on you by night or
by day, what portion of it would the wicked desire to hasten on?

When it falleth on you, will ye believe it then? Yes! ye will believe
it then. Yet did ye challenge its speedy coming.

Then shall it be said to the transgressors, "Taste ye the punishment
of eternity! Shall ye be rewarded but as ye have wrought?"

They will desire thee to inform them whether this be true? SAY:
Yes! by my Lord it is the truth: and it is not ye who can weaken
Him.

And every soul that hath sinned, if it possessed all that is on earth,
would assuredly ransom itself therewith; and they will proclaim
their repentance when they have seen the punishment: and there
shall be a rightful decision between them, and they shall not be
unjustly dealt with.

Is not whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth God's? Is not then
the promise of God true? Yet most of them know it not.

He maketh alive and He causeth to die, and to Him shall ye return.

O men! now hath a warning come to you from your Lord, and a
medicine for what is in your breasts, and a guidance and a mercy
to believers.

SAY: Through the grace of God and his mercy! and in this
therefore let them rejoice: better is this than all ye amass.

SAY: What think ye? of what God hath sent down to you for food,
have ye made unlawful and lawful? SAY: Hath God permitted
you? or invent ye on the part of God?

But what on the day of Resurrection will be the thought of those
who invent a lie on the part of God? Truly God is full of bounties
to man; but most of them give not thanks.

Thou shalt not be employed in affairs, nor shalt thou read a text
out of the Koran, nor shall ye work any work, but we will be
witnesses over you when ye are engaged therein: and not the
weight of an atom on Earth or in Heaven escapeth thy Lord; nor is
there aught that is less than this or greater, but it is in the
perspicuous Book.

Are not the friends of God, those on whom no fear shall come, nor
shall they be put to grief?

They who believe and fear God

For them are good tidings in this life, and in the next! There is no
change in the words of God! This, the great felicity!

And let not their discourse grieve thee: for all might is God's: the
Hearer, the Knower, He!

Is not whoever is in the Heavens and the Earth subject to God?
What then do they follow who, beside God, call upon deities they
have joined with Him? They follow but a conceit, and they are but
liars!

It is He who hath ordained for you the night wherein to rest, and
the lightsome day. Verily in this are signs for those who hearken.

They say, "God hath begotten children." No! by his glory! He is the
self-sufficient. All that is in the Heavens and all that is in the Earth
is His! Have ye warranty for that assertion? What! speak ye of God
that which ye know not?

SAY: Verily, they who devise this lie concerning God shall fare ill.

A portion have they in this world! Then to us they return! Then
make we them to taste the vehement torment, for that they were
unbelievers.

Recite to them the history of Noah,10 when he said to his people,
If, O my people! my abode with you, and my reminding you of the
signs of God, be grievous to you, yet in God is my trust: Muster,
therefore, your designs and your false gods, and let not your design
be carried on by you in the dark: then come to some decision about
me, and delay not.

And if ye turn your backs on me, yet ask I no reward from you: my
reward is with God alone, and I am commanded to be of the
Muslims.

But they treated him as a liar: therefore we rescued him and those
who were with him in the ark, and we made them to survive the
others; and we drowned those who charged our signs with
falsehood. See, then, what was the end of these warned ones!

Then after him, we sent Apostles to their peoples, and they came
to them with credentials; but they would not believe in what they
had denied aforetime: Thus seal we up the hearts of the
transgressors!

Then sent we, after them, Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and his
nobles with our signs; but they acted proudly and were a wicked
people:

And when the truth came to them from us, they said, "Verily, this
is clear sorcery."

Moses said: "What! say ye of the truth after it hath come to you, 'Is
this sorcery?' But sorcerers shall not prosper."

They said: "Art thou come to us to pervert us from the faith in
which we found our fathers, and that you twain shall bear rule in
this land? But we believe you not."

And Pharaoh said: "Fetch me every skilled magician." And when
the magicians arrived, Moses said to them, "Cast down what ye
have to cast."

And when they had cast them down, Moses said, "Verily, God will
render vain the sorceries which ye have brought to pass: God
prospereth not the work of the evildoers.

And by his words will God verify the Truth, though the impious be
averse to it.

And none believed on Moses but a race among his own people,
through fear of Pharaoh and his nobles, lest he should afflict them:
For of a truth mighty was Pharaoh in the land, and one who
committed excesses.

And Moses said: "O my people! if ye believe in God, then put your
trust in Him if ye be Muslims."

And they said: "In God put we our trust. O our Lord! abandon us
not to trial from that unjust people,

And deliver us by thy mercy from the unbelieving people."

Then thus revealed we to Moses and to his brother: "Provide
houses for your people in Egypt, and in your houses make a Kebla,
and observe prayer and proclaim good tidings to the believers."

And Moses said: "O our Lord! thou hast indeed given to Pharaoh
and his nobles splendour and riches in this present life: O our
Lord! that they may err from thy way! O our Lord! confound their
riches, and harden their hearts that they may not believe till they
see the dolorous torment."

He said: "The prayer of you both is heard: pursue ye both therefore
the straight path, and follow not the path of those who have no
knowledge."

And we led the children of Israel through the sea; and Pharaoh and
his hosts followed them in eager and hostile sort until, when the
drowning overtook him, he said, "I believe that there is no God but
he on whom the children of Israel believe, and I am one of the
Muslims."

"Yes, now," said God: "but thou hast been rebellious hitherto, and
wast one of the wicked doers.

But this day will we rescue thee with thy body that thou mayest be
a sign to those who shall be after thee:11 but truly, most men are
of our signs regardless!"

Moreover we prepared a settled abode for the children of Israel,
and provided them with good things: nor did they fall into variance
till the knowledge (the Law) came to them: Truly thy Lord will
decide between them on the day of Resurrection concerning that in
which they differed.

And if thou art in doubt as to what we have sent down to thee,
inquire at those who have read the Scriptures before thee.12 Now
hath the truth come unto thee from thy Lord: be not therefore of
those who doubt.

Neither be of those who charge the signs of God with falsehood,
lest thou be of those who perish.

Verily they against whom the decree of thy Lord is pronounced,
shall not believe,

Even though every kind of sign come unto them, till they behold
the dolorous torment!

Were it otherwise, any city, had it believed, might have found its
safety in its faith. But it was so, only with the people of JONAS.
When they believed, we delivered them from the penalty of shame
in this world, and provided for them for a time.

But if thy Lord had pleased, verily all who are in the earth would
have believed together. What! wilt thou compel men to become
believers?

No soul can believe but by the permission of God: and he shall lay
his wrath on those who will not understand.

SAY: Consider ye whatever is in the Heavens and on the Earth: but
neither signs, nor warners, avail those who will not believe!

What then can they expect but the like of such days of wrath as
befel those who flourish before them? SAY: WAIT; I too will wait
with you:

Then will we deliver our apostles and those who believe. Thus is it
binding on us to deliver the faithful.

SAY: O men! if ye are in doubt as to my religion, verily I worship
not what ye worship beside God; but I worship God who will cause
you to die: and I am commanded to be a believer.

And set thy face toward true religion, sound in faith, and be not of
those who join other gods with God:

Neither invoke beside God that which can neither help nor hurt
thee: for if thou do, thou wilt certainly then be one of those who
act unjustly.

And if God lay the touch of trouble on thee, none can deliver thee
from it but He: and if He will thee any good, none can keep back
his boons. He will confer them on such of his servants as he
chooseth: and He is the Gracious, the Merciful!

SAY: O men! now hath the truth come unto you from your Lord.
He therefore who will be guided, will be guided only for his own
behoof: but he who shall err will err only against it; and I am not
your guardian!

And follow what is revealed to thee: and persevere steadfastly till
God shall judge, for He is the best of Judges.

_______________________

1 See Sura 1xviii. n. 3, p. 32.

2 That is, for a serious end, to manifest the Divine Unity.

3 Gen. xi. 1.

4 This refers to the seven years of scarcity with which Mecca had
been visited.

5 Paradise.

6 Verses 27, 28 are to be noted, as defining the proportion to be
observed in rewards and punishments, the severity of the latter
being only in proportion to the crime, the excellence of the former
being above and beyond its strict merits.

7 But rather your own lusts. The Muhammadans believe that idols
will be gifted with speech at the day of judgment.

8 The ordinary Arabic word for to die seems to be avoided in
speaking of Jesus and Muhammad.

9 This is the doctrine of the Rabbins. Comp. Midrasch Rabba, and
Midr. Jalkut on Numb. xxii. 2.

10 The preaching of Noah is mentioned by the Rabbins. Sanhedrin,
108. Comp. Midr. Rabbah on Gen. Par. 30 and 33, on Eccl. ix. 14,
and in the probably sub. Apostolic 2 Pet. ii. 5.

11 This is in accordance with Talmudic legend. "Recognise the
power of repentance, in the case of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, who
rebelled excessively against the most High; Who is God that I
should hearken to his voice? (Ex. v. 2). But with the same tongue
that sinned he did penance: Who is like thee, O Lord, among the
Gods? (xv. 11). The Holy One, Blessed be He, delivered him from
the dead so that he should not die (ix. 15, 16). For now have I
stretched forth my hand, and verily thee have I raised up from
among the dead, to proclaim my might." Ex. ix. 15, 16. A strange
comment! Pirke R. Eliezer, 43. Comp. Midr. on Ps. cvi. Midr.
Jalkut, ch. 238.

12 That is, whether thou art not foretold in the Law and Gospel,
and whether the Koran is not in unison with, and confirmatory of,
them.

SURA XXXIV. SABA1 [LXXXV.]

MECCA. 54 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

PRAISE be to God! to whom belongeth all that is in the Heavens
and all that is on the Earth; and to Him be praise in the next world:
for he is the All-wise, the All-informed!

He knoweth what entereth into the earth, and what proceedeth
from it; and what cometh down from heaven, and what goeth up
into it: and He is the Merciful, the Forgiving!

"Never," say the unbelievers, "will the Hour come upon us!" SAY:
Yea, by my Lord who knoweth the unseen, it will surely come
upon you! not the weight of a mote either in the Heavens or in the
Earth escapeth him; nor is there aught less than this or aught
greater, which is not in the clear Book;

To the intent that God may reward those who have believed and
done the things that are right: Pardon and a noble provision shall
they receive:

But as for those who aim to invalidate our signs, a chastisement
of painful torment awaiteth them!

And they to whom knowledge hath been given see that what hath
been sent down to thee from thy Lord is the truth, and that it
guideth into the way of the Glorious one, the Praiseworthy.

But the unbelievers say to those whom they fall in with, "Shall we
shew you a man who will foretell you that when ye shall have been
utterly torn and rent to pieces, ye shall be restored in a new form?

He deviseth a lie about God, or there is a djinn in him," but they
who believe not in the next life, shall incur the chastisement, and
be lost in the mazes of estrangement from God.

What! have they never contemplated that which is before them and
behind them, the Heaven and the Earth? If such were our pleasure,
we could sink them into that Earth, or cause a portion of that
Heaven to fall upon them! herein truly is a sign for our every
returning servant.

Of old bestowed we on David a gift, our special boon: "Ye
mountains and ye birds answer his songs of praise." And we made
the iron soft for him: "Make coats of mail, and arrange its
plates; and work ye righteousness; for I behold your actions."

And unto Solomon did we subject the wind, which travelled in the
morning a month's journey, and a month's journey in the evening.
And we made a fountain of molten brass to flow for him. And of
the Djinn were some who worked in his presence, by the will of
his Lord; and such of them as swerved from our bidding will we
cause to taste the torment of the flame.

They made for him whatever he pleased, of lofty halls, and images,
and dishes large as tanks for watering camels, and cooking pots
that stood firmly. "Work," said we, "O family of David with
thanksgiving:" But few of my servants are the thankful!

And when we decreed the death of Solomon, nothing shewed them
that he was dead but a reptile of the earth that gnawed the staff
which supported his corpse.2 And when it fell, the Djinn perceived
that if they had known the things unseen, they had not continued in
this shameful affliction.3

A sign there was to SABA, in their dwelling places: two gardens,
the one on the right hand and the other on the left: "Eat ye of
your Lord's supplies, and give thanks to him: Goodly is the
country, and gracious is the Lord!"

But they turned aside: so we sent upon them the flood of Irem;4
and we changed them their gardens into two gardens of bitter fruit
and tamarisk and some few jujube trees.

Such was our retribution on them for their ingratitude: but do we
thus recompense any except the ungrateful?

And we placed between them and the cities which we have
blessed, conspicuous cities, and we fixed easy stages: "Travel ye
through them by night and day, secure."

But they said, "O Lord! make the distance between our journeys
longer,"5 and against themselves did they act unjustly: so we
made them a tale, and scattered them with an utter scattering.
Truly herein are signs to everyone that is patient, grateful.

And Eblis found that he had judged truly of them: and they all
except a remnant of the faithful, followed him:

Yet no power had he over them. Only we would discern him who
believed in the life to come, from him who doubted of it; for thy
Lord watcheth all things.

SAY: Call ye upon those whom ye deem gods, beside God: their
power in the Heavens and in the Earth is not the weight of an
atom neither have they any share in either; nor hath He a helper
from among them.

No intercession shall avail with Him but that which He shall
Himself allow. Until when at last their hearts shall be relieved
from terror, they shall say, "What saith your Lord?" they shall say,
"The Truth; and He is the High, the Great."

SAY: Who supplieth you out of the Heavens and the Earth? SAY:
God. And either we or ye have guidance, or are in palpable error!

SAY: Not as to our faults shall ye be questioned; neither shall we
be questioned as to your actions.

SAY: Our Lord will gather us together: then will He judge between
us in justice; for He is the Judge, the Knowing!

SAY: Shew me those whom ye have united with Him as
associates: Nay, rather, He is God, the Mighty, the Wise!

And we have sent thee to mankind at large, to announce and to
threaten. But most men understand not.

And they say, "When will this threat come to pass? Tell us, if ye be
men of truth."

SAY: Ye are menaced with a day, which not for an hour shall ye
retard or hasten on.

The unbelievers say, "We will not believe in this Koran, nor in the
Books which preceded it." But couldst thou see when the wicked
shall be set before their Lord! With reproaches will they answer
one another. The weak shall say to the mighty ones, "But for you
we had been believers:"

Then shall the mighty ones say to the weak, "What! was it we who
turned you aside from the guidance which had reached you? Nay,
but ye acted wickedly yourselves."

And the weak shall say to the mighty ones, "Nay, but there was a
plot by night and by day, when ye bad us believe not in God, and
gave him peers." And they shall proclaim their repentance after
they have seen the punishment! And yokes will we place on the
necks of those who have not believed! Shall they be rewarded but
as they have wrought?

And never have we sent a warner to any city whose opulent men
did not say, "In sooth we disbelieve your message."

And they said, "We are the more abundant in riches and in
children, nor shall we be among the punished."

SAY: Of a truth my Lord will be liberal or sparing in his supplies
to whom he pleaseth: but the greater part of men acknowledge it
not.

Neither by your riches nor by your children shall you bring
yourselves into nearness with Us; but they who believe and do the
thing that is right shall have a double reward for what they shall
have done: and in the pavilions of Paradise shall they dwell secure!

But they who shall aim to invalidate our signs, shall be consigned
to punishment.

SAY: Of a truth my Lord will be liberal in supplies to whom he
pleaseth of his servants, or will be sparing to him: and whatever ye
shall give in alms he will return; and He is the best dispenser of
gifts.

One day he will gather them all together: then shall he say to the
angels, "Did these worship you?"

They shall say, "Glory be to thee! Thou art our master, not these!
But they worshipped the Djinn: it was in them that most of them
believed.

On this day the one of you shall have no power over others for help
or hurt. And we will say to the evil doers, "Taste ye the torment of
the fire, which ye treated as a delusion."

For when our distinct signs are recited to them, they say, "This is
merely a man who would fain pervert you from your father's
Worship." And they say, "This (Koran) is no other than a forged
falsehood." And the unbelievers say to the truth when it is
presented to them, "Tis nothing but palpable sorcery."

Yet have we given them no books in which to study deeply, nor
have we sent any one to them before thee, charged with warnings.

They also flourished before them, treated our apostles as impostors
in like sort: but not to the tenth part of what we bestowed on
them,6 have these attained. And yet when they charged my
apostles
with deceit, how terrible was my vengeance:

SAY: One thing in sooth do I advise you: that ye stand up before
God two and two, or singly,7 and then reflect that in your fellow
citizen is no djinn:8 he is no other than your warner before a
severe
punishment.

SAY: I ask not any wage from you: keep it for yourselves: my
wage is from God alone. And He is witness over all things!

SAY: Truly my Lord sendeth forth the Truth: Knower of things
unseen!

SAY: Truth is come, and falsehood shall vanish and return no
more.

SAY: If I err, verily to my own cost only shall I err: but if I have
guidance, it will be of my Lord's revealing, for He is the Hearer,
the near at hand.

Couldst thou see how they shall tremble and find no escape, and
be taken forth from the place that is so near;9

And shall say, "We believe in Him!" But how, in their present
distance, shall they receive the faith,

When they had before denied it, and aimed their shafts at the
mysteries from afar?10

And a gulf shall be between them and that which they shall
desire

As was done unto their likes of old, who were lost in the
questionings of doubt.

_______________________

1 In Arabia Felix, three days' journey from Sanaa.

2 The Talmud mentions the worm Shameer, used by Solomon to
cut the stones for building the temple. Pirke Aboth. v. See Buxt.
Lex. Talmud, p. 2456. Tr. Gittin, fol. 68; and Midr. Jalkut on 1
Kings, vi. 7. This passage of Scripture may have suggested the idea
that Solomon built, etc., by the aid of Spirits.
3 That is, in their difficult toils.

4 See M. Caussin de Perceval Hist. des Arabes, vol. iii., who, as
well as M. de Sacy, fix this event in the second century of our era.

5 The Saba, of verse 14 formed an important branch of the trading
population of Yemen. This whole passage, 14 18, alludes to the
cessation of traffic between them and Syria, which led to the
desire to lengthen the stages and diminish the expense of the
journey. See Muir's Life of Muhammad, i. p. cxxxix. Muhammad
attributes this desire to covetousness.

6 That is, of strength and material prosperity.

7 That is, so as to form a judgment free from the influence of
others.

8 It is very remarkable, that when the power of Muhammad
became firmly established, he never reverts to the insinuations
against the soundness of his mind which in the earlier Suras he so
often rebuts.

9 That is, their graves. Mar. So called because there is but a step
into it from the surface of the earth. Ullm.

10 That is, when in this life.

SURA XXXV. THE CREATOR, OR THE ANGELS [LXXXVI.]

MECCA. 45 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

PRAISE be to God, Maker of the Heavens and of the Earth! Who
employeth the ANGELS as envoys, with pairs of wings, two, three,
and four: He addeth to his creature what He will! Truly God hath
power for all things.

The mercy which God layeth open for man, no one can keep back;
and what He shall keep back, none can afterwards send forth. And
He is the Mighty, the Wise.

O men! bear in mind the favour of God towards you. Is there a
creator other than God, who nourisheth you with the gifts of
heaven and earth? There is no God but He! How then are ye turned
aside from Him?

If they treat thee as an impostor, then before thee have apostles
been treated as impostors. But to God shall all things return.

O men! assuredly the promise of God is true: let not then the
present life deceive you: and let not the Deceiver deceive you as to
God.

Yes, Satan is your foe. For a foe then hold him. He calleth his
followers to him that they may become inmates of the flame.

The unbelievers, for them a terrible punishment!

But believers and doers of good works, for them is mercy, and a
great reward!

Shall he, the evil of whose deeds are so tricked out to him that he
deemeth them good, be treated like him who seeth things aright?
Verily God misleadeth whom He will, and guideth whom He will.
Spend not thy soul in sighs for them: God knoweth their doings.

It is God who sendeth forth the winds which raise the clouds aloft:
then drive we them on to some land dead from drought,1 and give
life thereby to the earth after its death. So shall be the
resurrection.

If any one desireth greatness, all greatness is in God. The good
word riseth up to Him, and the righteous deed will He exalt. But a
severe punishment awaiteth the plotters of evil things; and the
plots of such will He render vain.

Moreover, God created you of dust then of the germs of
life then made you two sexes: and no female conceiveth or
bringeth forth without his knowledge; and the aged ageth not, nor
is aught minished from man's age, but in accordance with the
Book. An easy thing truly is this to God.

Nor are the two seas2 alike: the one fresh, sweet, pleasant for
drink, and the other salt, bitter; yet from both ye eat fresh fish, and
take forth for you ornaments to wear, and thou seest the ships
cleaving their waters that ye may go in quest of his bounties, and
that ye may be thankful.

He causeth the night to enter in upon the day, and the day to enter
in upon the night; and He hath given laws to the sun and to the
moon, so that each journeyeth to its appointed goal: This is God
your Lord: All power is His: But the gods whom ye call on beside
Him have no power over the husk of a date stone!

If ye cry to them they will not hear your cry; and if they heard they
would not answer you, and in the day of resurrection they will
disown your joining them with God: and none can instruct thee
like Him who is informed of all.

O men! ye are but paupers in need of God; but God is the Rich, the
Praiseworthy!

If He please, He could sweep you away, and bring forth a new
creation!

Nor will this be hard for God.

And the burdened soul shall not bear the burden of another: and if
the heavy laden soul cry out for its burden to be carried, yet shall
not aught of it be carried, even by the near of kin! Thou shalt warn
those who fear their Lord in secret, and observe prayer. And
whoever shall keep himself pure, he purifieth himself to his own
behoof: for unto God shall be the final gathering.

And the blind and the seeing are not alike; neither darkness and
light; nor the shade and the hot wind;

Nor are the living and the dead the same thing! God indeed shall
make whom He will to hearken, but thou shalt not make those who
are in their graves to hearken; for only with warning art thou
charged.

Verily we have sent thee with the truth; a bearer of good tidings
and a warner; nor hath there been a people unvisited by its
warner.

And if they treat thee as a liar, so did those who were before them
threat their Apostles who came to them with the proofs of their
mission, and with the Scriptures and with the enlightening Book:3

Then chastised I the unbelievers: and how great was my
vengeance!

Seest thou not how that God sendeth down water from the Heaven,
and that by it we cause the up-growth of fruits of varied hues, and
that on the mountains4 are tracks of varied hues, white and red,
and others are of a raven black? And of men and reptiles and
animals, various likewise are the hues. Such only of his servants as
are possessed of knowledge fear God. Lo! God is Mighty,
Gracious!

Verily they who recite the Book of God, and observe prayer, and
give alms in public and in private from what we have bestowed
upon them, may hope for a merchandise that shall not perish:

God will certainly pay them their due wages, and of his bounty
increase them: for He is Gracious, Grateful.

And that which we have revealed to thee of the Book is the very
Truth, confirmatory of previous Scriptures: for God knoweth and
beholdeth his servants.

Moreover, we have made the Book an heritage to those of our
servants whom we have chosen. Some of them injure themselves
by
evil deeds; others keep the midway between good and evil; and
others, by the permission of God, outstrip in goodness; this is the
great merit!

Into the gardens of Eden shall they enter: with bracelets of gold
and pearl shall they be decked therein, and therein shall their
raiment be of silk:

And they shall say, "Praise be to God who hath put away sorrow
from us. Verily our Lord is Gracious, Grateful,

Who of His bounty hath placed us in a manison that shall abide for
ever: therein no toil shall reach us, and therein no weariness shall
touch us."

But for infidels is the fire of Hell; to die shall never be decreed
them, nor shall aught of its torment be made light to them. Thus
reward we every infidel!

And therein shall they cry aloud, "Take us hence, O our Lord!
righteousness will we work, and not what we wrought of
old." "Prolonged we not your days that whoever would be
warned might be warned therein? And the preacher came to you

Taste it then." There is no protector for the unjust.

God truly knoweth the hidden things both of the Heavens and of
the Earth: for He knoweth the very secrets of the breast.

He hath appointed you his vicegerents in the earth: And whoever
believeth not, on him shall be his unbelief; and their unbelief shall
only increase for the unbelievers, hatred at the hands of their
Lord: and their unbelief shall only increase for the unbelievers
their own perdition!

SAY: What think ye of the gods whom ye invoke beside God?
Shew
me what part of the earth they have created? Had they a share in
the creation of the Heavens? Have we given them a Book in which
they can find proofs that they are to be called on? Nay, the wicked
promise one another only deceits.

Verily God holdeth fast the Heavens and the Earth that they pass
not away: and if they were passing away none could hold them
back but He: for He is Kind, Gracious.

They swore by God with their mightiest oath that should a
preacher come to them they would yield to guidance more than
any people: but when the preacher came to them it only increased
in them their estrangement,

Their haughtiness on earth and their plotting of evil! But the
plotting of evil shall only enmesh those who make use of it.5 Look
they then for aught but God's way6 of dealing with the peoples of
old? Thou shalt not find any change in the way of God,

Yea, thou shalt not find any variableness in the way of God.

Have they never journeyed in the land and seen what hath been
the end of those who flourished before them, though mightier in
strength than they? God is not to be frustrated by aught in the
Heavens or in the Earth; for He is the All-knowing, the All-mighty.

If, moreover, God should chastise men according to their deserts,
He would not leave even a reptile on the back of the earth! But to
an appointed time doth He respite them.

And when their time shall come, then verily God's eye is on his
servants.

_______________________

1 See note at Sura [xcvii.] iii. 18. This is one of the passages said
to have originated with Zayd.

2 Not only seas, properly so called, but the great masses of fresh
water in the Nile, Tigris, inland lakes, etc.
3 The Gospel.

4 This idea was probably suggested by Muhammad's
reminiscences of the view from the Cave of Hira, to the north and
west of which there is a prospect thus described by Burckhardt
(Travels, p. 176). "The country before us had a dreary aspect, not
a single green spot being visible; barren, black, and grey hills, and
white sandy valleys were the only objects in sight."

5 Lit. shall encompass its people.

6 Method of dealing, i.e., first warning, then punishing.

SURA VII. AL ARAF [LXXXVII.]

MECCA. 205 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. MIM. SAD.1 A Book hath been sent down to thee:
therefore let there be no difficulty in thy breast concerning it: to
the intent that thou mayest warn thereby, and that it may be a
monition to the faithful.

Follow ye what hath been sent down to you from your Lord; and
follow no masters beside Him. How little will ye be monished!

How many cities have we destroyed! By night, or while they were
in their midday slumber, did our wrath reach them!

And what was their cry when our wrath reached them, but to say,
"Verily, we have been impious."

Surely, therefore, will we call those to account, to whom an
Apostle hath been sent, and of the sent ones themselves will we
certainly demand a reckoning.

And with knowledge will we tell them of their deeds, for we were
not absent from them.

The weighing2 on that day, with justice! and they whose balances
shall be heavy, these are they who shall be happy.

And they whose balances shall be light, these are they who have
lost their souls, for that to our signs they were unjust:

And now have we stabilished you on the earth, and given you
therein the supports of life. How little do ye give thanks!

We created you; then fashioned you; then said we to the angels,
"Prostrate yourselves unto Adam: and they prostrated them all in
worship, save Eblis: He was not among those who prostrated
themselves.

To him said God: "What hath hindered thee from prostrating
thyself in worship at my bidding?" He said, "Nobler am I than he:
me hast thou created of fire; of clay hast thou created him."

He said, "Get thee down hence: Paradise is no place for thy pride:
Get thee gone then; one of the despised shalt thou be."

He said, "Respite me till the day when mankind shall be raised
from the dead."

He said, "One of the respited shalt thou be."

He said, "Now, for that thou hast caused me to err, surely in thy
straight path will I lay wait for them:

Then will I surely come upon them from before, and from behind,
and from their right hand, and from their left, and thou shalt not
find the greater part of them to be thankful."

He said, "Go forth from it, a scorned, a banished one! Whoever of
them shall follow thee, I will surely fill hell with you, one and all.

And, O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in Paradise, and eat ye
whence ye will, but to this tree approach not, lest ye become of the
unjust doers."

Then Satan whispered them to shew them their nakedness, which
had been hidden from them both. And he said, "This tree3 hath
your Lord forbidden you, only lest ye should become angels, or
lest ye should become immortals."

And he sware to them both, "Verily I am unto you one who
counselleth aright."

So he beguiled them by deceits: and when they had tasted of the
tree, their nakedness appeared to them, and they began to sew
together upon themselves the leaves of the garden. And their Lord
called to them, "Did I not forbid you this tree, and did I not say to
you, 'Verily, Satan is your declared enemy.' "

They said, "O our Lord! With ourselves have we dealt unjustly: if
thou forgive us not and have pity on us, we shall surely be of those
who perish."

He said, "Get ye down, the one of you an enemy4 to the other; and
on earth shall be your dwelling, and your provision for a season."

He said, "On it shall ye live, and on it shall ye die, and from it
shall ye be taken forth."

O children of Adam! now have we sent down to you raiment to
hide your nakedness, and splendid garments; but the raiment of
piety this is best. This is one of the signs of God, that man haply
may reflect.

O children of Adam! let not Satan bring you into trouble, as he
drove forth your parents from the Garden, by despoiling them of
their raiment, that he might cause them to see their nakedness: He
truly seeth you, he and his comrades, whence ye see not them.
Verily, we have made the Satans tutelars of those who believe not.

And when the wicked commit some filthy deed, they say, "We
found our fathers practising it, and to us hath God commanded
it" SAY: God enjoineth not filthy deeds. Will ye speak of God ye
know not what?

SAY: My Lord hath enjoined what is right. Turn your faces
therefore towards every place where he is worshipped5 and call
upon him with sincere religion. As he created you, to him shall ye
return: some hath he guided, and some hath he justly left in error,
because they have taken the Satans as their tutelars beside God,
and have deemed that they were guided aright.

O children of Adam! wear your goodly apparel when ye repair to
any mosque,6 and eat ye and drink; but exceed not, for He loveth
not those who exceed.

SAY: Who hath prohibited God's goodly raiment, and the healthful
viands which He hath provided for his servants? SAY: These are
for the faithful in this present life, but above all on the day of the
resurrection. Thus make we our signs plain for people of
knowledge.

SAY: Truly my Lord hath forbidden filthy actions whether open or
secret, and iniquity, and unjust violence, and to associate with
God that for which He hath sent down no warranty, and to speak
of God that ye know not.

Every nation hath its set time. And when their time is come, they
shall not retard it an hour; and they shall not advance it.

O children of Adam! there shall come to you Apostles from among
yourselves, rehearsing my signs to you; and whoso shall fear God
and do good works, no fear shall be upon them, neither shall they
be put to grief.

But they who charge our signs with falsehood, and turn away from
them in their pride, shall be inmates of the fire: for ever shall they
abide therein.

And who is worse than he who deviseth a lie of God, or treateth
our signs as lies? To them shall a portion here below be assigned
in accordance with the Book of our decrees, until the time when
our messengers,7 as they receive their souls, shall say, "Where are
they on whom ye called beside God?" They shall say: "Gone from
us." And they shall witness against themselves that they were
infidels.

He shall say, "Enter ye into the Fire with the generations of Djinn
and men who have preceded you. So oft as a fresh generation
entereth, it shall curse its sister, until when they have all reached
it, the last comers shall say to the former, 'O our Lord! these are
they who led us astray: assign them therefore a double torment of
the fire:"' He will say, "Ye shall all have double." But of this are
ye ignorant.

And the former of them shall say to the latter, "What advantage
have ye over us? Taste ye therefore the torment for that which ye
have done."

Verily, they who have charged our signs with falsehood and have
turned away from them in their pride, Heaven's gates shall not be
opened to them, nor shall they enter Paradise, until the camel8
passeth through the eye of the needle. After this sort will we
recompense the transgressors.

They shall make their bed in Hell, and above them shall be
coverings of fire! After this sort will we recompense the evil doers.

But as to those who have believed and done the things which are
right (we will lay on no one a burden beyond his power) These
shall be inmates of Paradise: for ever shall they abide therein;

And we will remove whatever rancour was in their bosoms: rivers
shall roll at their feet: and they shall say, "Praise be to God who
hath guided us hither! We had not been guided had not God
guided us! Of a surety the Apostles of our Lord came to us with
truth." And a voice shall cry to them, "This is Paradise, of which,
as the meed of your works, ye are made heirs."

And the inmates of Paradise shall cry to the inmates of the fire,
"Now have we found what our Lord promised us to be true. Have
ye too found what your Lord promised you to be true?" And they
shall answer, "Yes." And a Herald shall proclaim between them:
"The curse of God be upon the evil doers,

Who turn men aside from the way of God, and seek to make it
crooked, and who believe not in the life to come!"

And between them shall be a partition; and on the wall AL ARAF9
shall be men who will know all,10 by their tokens, and they shall
cry to the inmates of Paradise, "Peace be on you!" but they shall
not yet enter it, although they long to do so.

And when their eyes are turned towards the inmates of the Fire,
they shall say, "O our Lord! place us not with the offending
people."

And they who are upon Al Araf shall cry to those whom they shall
know by their tokens, "Your amassings and your pride have
availed you nothing.

Are these they on whom ye sware God would not bestow mercy?
Enter ye11 into Paradise! where no fear shall be upon you, neither
shall ye be put to grief."

And the inmates of the fire shall cry to the inmates of Paradise:
"Pour upon us some water, or of the refreshments12 God hath
given you?" They shall say, "Truly God hath forbidden both to
unbelievers,

Who made their religion a sport and pastime, and whom the life of
the world hath deceived." This day therefore will we forget them,
as they forgot the meeting of this their day, and as they did deny
our signs.

And now have we brought them the Book: with knowledge have
we
explained it; a guidance and a mercy to them that believe.

What have they to wait for now but its interpretation? When its
interpretation13 shall come, they who aforetime were oblivious of
it
shall say, "The Prophets of our Lord did indeed bring the truth;
shall we have any intercessor to intercede for us? or could we not
be sent back? Then would we act otherwise than we have acted."
But they have ruined themselves; and the deities of their own
devising have fled from them!

Your Lord is God, who in six days created the Heavens and the
Earth, and then mounted the throne: He throweth the veil of night
over the day: it pursueth it swiftly: and he created the sun and the
moon and the stars, subjected to laws by His behest: Is not all
creation and its empire His? Blessed be God the Lord of the
Worlds!

Call upon your Lord with lowliness and in secret, for He loveth
not transgressors.

And commit not disorders on the earth after it hath been well
ordered; and call on Him with fear and longing desire: Verily the
mercy of God is nigh unto the righteous.

And He it is who sendeth forth the winds as the heralds of his
compassion,14 until they bring up the laden clouds, which we
drive
along to some dead land and send down water thereon, by which
we cause an upgrowth of all kinds of fruit. Thus will we bring
forth the dead. Haply ye will reflect.

In a rich soil, its plants spring forth abundantly by the will of its
Lord, and in that which is bad, they spring forth but scantily. Thus
do We diversify our signs for those who are thankful.

Of old sent We Noah to his people,15 and he said, "O my people!
worship God. Ye have no God but Him: indeed I fear for you the
chastisement of the great day."

The chiefs of his people said, "We clearly see that thou art in a
palpable error."

He said, "There is no error in me, O my people! but I am a
messenger from the Lord of the Worlds.

I bring to you the messages of my Lord, and I give you friendly
counsel; for I know from God what ye know not.

Marvel ye that a Warning should come to you from your Lord
through one of yourselves, that he may warn you, and that ye may
fear for yourselves, and that haply ye may find mercy?"

But they treated him as a liar: so we delivered him and those who
were with him in the ark, and we drowned those who charged our
signs with falsehood; for they were a blind people.

And to Ad16 we sent their brother Houd.17 "O my people!" said
he,
"worship God: ye have no other god than Him: Will ye not then
fear Him?"

Said the unbelieving chiefs among his people, "We certainly
perceive that thou art unsound of mind; and we surely deem thee
an impostor."

He said, "O my people! it is not unsoundness of mind in me, but I
am an Apostle from the Lord of the Worlds.

The messages of my Lord do I announce to you, and I am your
faithful18 counsellor.

Marvel ye that a warning hath come to you from your Lord
through one of yourselves that He may warn you? Remember how
he hath made you the successors of the people of Noah, and
increased you in tallness of stature. Remember then the favours of
God, that it may haply be well with you."

They said, "Art thou come to us in order that we may worship one
God alone, and leave what our fathers worshipped? Then bring
that upon us with which thou threatenest us, if thou be a man of
truth."

He said, "Vengeance and wrath shall suddenly light on you from
your Lord. Do ye dispute with me about names that you and your
fathers have given your idols, and for which God hath sent you
down no warranty? Wait ye then, and I too will wait with you."

And we delivered him, and those who were on his side, by our
mercy, and we cut off, to the last man, those who had treated our
signs as lies, and who were not believers.

And to Themoud we sent their brother Saleh.19 He said, O my
people! worship God: ye have no other god than Him: now hath a
clear proof of my mission come to you from your Lord, this
she-camel of God being a sign to you: therefore let her go at large
to pasture on God's earth: and touch her not to harm her, lest a
grievous chastisement seize you.

And remember how he hath made you successors to the Adites,
and
given you dwellings on the earth, so that on its plains ye build
castles, and hew out houses in the hills. And bear in mind the
benefits of God, and lay not the earth waste with deeds of licence.

Said the chiefs of his people puffed up with pride, to those who
were esteemed weak, even to those of them who believed, "What!
know ye for certain that Saleh is sent by his Lord?" They said,
"Truly we believe in that with which he hath been sent."

Then said those proud men, "Verily, we reject that in which ye
believe."

And they ham-strung the she-camel, and rebelled against their
Lord's command, and said, "O Saleh, let thy menaces be
accomplished upon us if thou art one of the Sent Ones."

Then the earthquake surprised them; and in the morning they were
found dead on their faces in their dwellings.

So he turned away from them, and said, "O my people! I did
indeed announce to you the message of my Lord: and I gave you
faithful counsel, but ye love not faithful counsellors.20

We also sent Lot, when he said to his people, commit ye this filthy
deed in which no creature hath gone before you?

Come ye to men, instead of women, lustfully? Ye are indeed a
people given up to excess.

But the only answer of his people was to say, "Turn them out of
your city, for they are men who vaunt them pure."

And we delivered him and his family, except his wife; she was of
those who lingered:

And we rained a rain upon them: and see what was the end of the
wicked!

And we sent to Madian21 their brother Shoaib. He said, "O my
people! worship God; ye have no other God than Him: now hath a
clear sign come to you from your Lord: give therefore the full in
measures and weights; take from no man his chattels, and commit
no disorder on the earth after it has been made so good. This will
be better for you, if you will believe it.

And lay not in ambush by every road in menacing sort; nor
mislead him who believeth in God, from His way, nor seek to
make
it crooked; and remember when ye were few and that he multiplied
you, and behold what hath been the end of the authors of disorder!

And if a part of you believe in that with which I am sent, and a
part of you believe not, then wait steadfastly until God shall judge
between us, for He is the best of judges."

Said the chiefs of his people puffed up with pride, "We will surely
banish thee, O Shoaib, and thy fellow-believers from our cities,
unless indeed ye shall come back to our religion." "What!" said
he, "though we abhor it?

Now shall we have devised a lie concerning God, if after he hath
delivered us from your religion we shall return to it; nor can we
return to it, unless by the will of God our Lord: our Lord
embraceth all things in his ken. In God have we put our trust: O
our Lord! decide between us and between our people, with truth;
for the best to decide art Thou."

And the chiefs of his people who believed not, said, "If ye follow
Shoaib, ye shall then surely perish."

An earthquake therefore surprised them, and they were found in
the morning dead on their faces, in their dwellings.

Those who had treated Shoaib as an impostor, became as though
they had never dwelt in them: they who treated Shoaib as an
impostor, were they that perished.

So he turned away from them and said, O my people! I proclaimed
to you the messages of my Lord, and I counselled you aright; but
how should I be grieved for a people who do not believe?

Nor did we ever send a prophet to any city without afflicting its
people with adversity and trouble, that haply they might humble
them.22

Then changed we their ill for good, until they waxed wealthy, and
said, "Of old did troubles and blessings befall our fathers:"
therefore did we seize upon them suddenly when they were
unaware.

But if that the people of these cities had believed and feared us, we
would surely have laid open to them blessings out of the Heaven
and the Earth: but they treated our signs as lies, and we took
vengeance on them for their deeds.

Were the people, therefore, of those cities secure that our wrath
would not light on them by night, while they were slumbering?

Were the people of those cities secure that our wrath would not
light on them in broad day, while they were disporting themselves?

Did they, therefore, deem themselves secure from the deep
counsel23 of God? But none deem themselves secure from the
deep
counsel of God, save those who perish.

Is it not proved to those who inherit this land after its ancient
occupants, that if we please we can smite them for their sins, and
put a seal upon their hearts, that they hearken not?

We will tell thee the stories of these cities. Their apostles came to
them with clear proofs of their mission; but they would not believe
in what they had before treated as imposture. Thus doth God
seal up the hearts of the unbelievers

And we found not of their covenant in most of them; but we found
most of them to be perverse.

Then after them we sent Moses with our signs to Pharaoh and his
nobles, who acted unjustly in their regard. But see what was the
end of the corrupt doers!

And Moses said, "O Pharaoh! verily I am an apostle from the Lord
of the Worlds.

Nothing but truth is it right for me to speak of God. Now am I
come to you from your Lord with a proof of my mission; send
away, therefore, the children of Israel with me." He said, "If thou
comest with a sign, shew it if thou art a man of truth."

So he threw down his rod, and lo! it distinctly became a serpent.

Then drew he forth his hand, and lo! it was white24 to the
beholders.

The nobles of Pharaoh's people said, "Verily, this is an expert
enchanter:

Fain would he expel you from your land: what then do ye order to
be done?"

They said, "Put25 him and his brother off awhile, and send round
men to your cities who shall muster

And bring to thee every skilled enchanter."

And the enchanters came to Pharaoh. Said they, "Shall we surely
be rewarded if we prevail?"

He said, "Yes; and ye certainly shall be near my person."

They said, "O Moses! either cast thou down thy rod first, or we
will cast down ours."

He said, "Cast ye down." And when they had cast them down they
enchanted the people's eyes, and made them afraid; for they had
displayed a great enchantment.

Then spake we unto Moses, "Throw down thy rod;" and lo! it
devoured their lying wonders.

So the truth was made strong, and that which they had wrought
proved vain:

And they were vanquished on the spot, and drew back humiliated.

But the other enchanters prostrated themselves adoring:

Said they, "We believe on the Lord of the Worlds,

The Lord of Moses and Aaron."

Said Pharaoh, "Have ye believed on him, ere I have given you
leave? This truly is a plot which ye have plotted in this my city, in
order to drive out its people. But ye shall see in the end what shall
happen.

I will surely cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides; then
will I have you all crucified."

They said, "Verily, to our Lord do we return;

And thou takest vengeance on us only because we have believed
on
the signs of our Lord when they came to us. Lord! pour out
constancy upon us, and cause us to die Muslims."

Then said the chiefs of Pharaoh's people "Wilt thou let Moses
and his people go to spread disorders in our land, and desert thee
and thy gods?" He said, "We will cause their male children to be
slain and preserve their females alive: and verily we shall be
masters over them."

Said Moses to his people, "Cry unto God for help, and bear up
patiently, for the earth is God's: to such of His servants as He
pleaseth doth He give it as a heritage; and for those that fear Him
is a happy issue."

"We have been oppressed," they said, "before thou camest to us,
and since thou hast been with us:" "Perhaps," said he, "your
Lord will destroy your enemy, and will make you his successors in
the land, and He will see how ye will act therein."

Already had we chastised the people of Pharaoh with dearth and
scarcity of fruits, that haply they might take warning:

And when good fell to their lot they said, "This is our due." But if
ill befel them, they regarded Moses and his partisans as (the birds)
of evil omen.26 Yet, was not their evil omen from God? But most
of
them knew it not.

And they said, "Whatever sign thou bring us for our enchantment,
we will not believe on thee."

And we sent upon them the flood and the locusts and the kummal
(lice) and the frogs and the blood, clear signs27 but they
behaved proudly, and were a sinful people.

And when any plague fell upon them, they said, "O Moses! pray
for us to thy Lord, according to that which he hath covenanted
with thee: Truly if thou take off the plague from us, we will surely
believe thee, and will surely send the children of Israel with thee."
But when we had taken off the plague from them, and the time
which God had granted them had expired,28 behold! they broke
their promise.

Therefore we took vengeance on them and drowned them in the
sea, because they treated our signs as falsehoods and were
heedless of them.

And we gave to the people who had been brought so low, the
eastern and the western lands, which we had blessed as an
heritage: and the good word of thy Lord was fulfilled on the
children of Israel because they had borne up with patience: and
we destroyed the works and the structures of Pharaoh and his
people:

And we brought the children of Israel across the sea, and they
came to a people who gave themselves up to their idols. They said,
"O Moses! make us a god, as they have gods." He said, "Verily,
ye are an ignorant people:

For the worship they practise29 will be destroyed, and that which
they do, is vain."

He said, "Shall I seek any other god for you than God, when it is
He who hath preferred you above all other peoples?"

And remember when we rescued you from the people of Pharaoh
they had laid on you a cruel affliction; they slew your sons, and let
only your daughters live, and in this was a great trial from your
Lord.

And we appointed a meeting with Moses for thirty nights, which
we completed with ten other nights, so that his whole time with his
Lord30 amounted to forty nights. Then said Moses to his brother
Aaron, "Take thou my place among my people, and act rightly,
and follow not the way of the corrupt doers."

And when Moses came at our set time and his Lord spake with
him, he said, "O Lord, shew thyself to me, that I may look upon
thee." He said, "Thou shalt not see Me; but look towards the
mount, and if it abide firm in its place, then shalt thou see Me."
And when God manifested Himself to the mountain he turned it to
dust! and Moses fell in a swoon.

And when he came to himself, he said, "Glory be to thee! To thee
do I turn in penitence, and I am the first of them that believe."

He said, "O Moses! thee above all men have I chosen by my
commissions, and by my speaking to thee. Take therefore what I
have brought thee, and be one of those who render thanks.

And we wrote for him upon the tables a monition concerning every
matter, and said, "Receive them thyself with steadfastness, and
command thy people to receive them for the observance of its
most
goodly precepts: I will shew you the abode of the wicked."

The unjustly proud ones of the earth will I turn aside from my
signs, for even if they see every sign they will not believe them;
and if they see the path of uprightness, they will not take it for
their path, but if they see the path of error, for their path will they
take it.

This, for that they treated our signs as lies, and were heedless of
them.

Vain will be the works of those who treated our signs, and the
meeting of the life to come, as lies! Shall they be rewarded but as
they have wrought?

And the people of Moses took during his absence a calf made of
their ornaments, and ruddy like gold, and lowing.31 Saw they not
that it could not speak to them, nor guide them in the way?

Yet they took if for a God and became offenders!

But when they repented, and saw that they had erred, they said,
Truly if our Lord have not mercy on us, and forgive us, we shall
surely be of those who perish.

And when Moses returned to his people, wrathful, angered, he
said, "Evil is it that ye have done next upon my departure. Would
ye hasten on the judgments of your Lord?" And he threw down the
tables, and seized his brother by the head and dragged him unto
him. Said he, "Son of my mother! the people thought me weak,
and
had well nigh slain me. Make not mine enemies to rejoice over
me,
and place me not among the wrong doers."

He said, "O Lord, forgive me and my brother, and bring us into
thy mercy; for of those who shew mercy thou art the most
merciful."

Verily as to those who took the calf as a god, wrath from their
Lord shall overtake them, and shame in this present life: for thus
recompense we the devisers of a lie.

But to those who have done evil, then afterwards repent and
believe, thy Lord will thereafter be Lenient, Merciful.

And when the anger of Moses was stilled, he took up the tables;
and in their writing was guidance and mercy for those who dread
their Lord.

And Moses chose seventy men of his people for a meeting
appointed by us. And when the earthquake overtook them, he said,
"O my Lord! if it had been thy pleasure, thou hadst destroyed them
and me ere this! wilt thou destroy us for what our foolish ones
have done? It is nought but thy trial: thou wilt mislead by it whom
thou wilt, and guide whom thou wilt. Our guardian, thou! Forgive
us then and have mercy on us; for of those who forgive art thou the
best:

And write down for us what is good in this world, as well as in the
world to come, for to thee are we guided." He said, "My
chastisement shall fall on whom I will, and my mercy embraceth
all things, and I write it down for those who shall fear me, and pay
the alms, and believe in our signs,

Who shall follow the Apostle, the unlettered32 Prophet whom they
shall find described with them in the Law and Evangel. What is
right will he enjoin them, and forbid them what is wrong, and will
allow them healthful viands and prohibit the impure, and will ease
them of their burden, and of the yokes which were upon them; and
those who shall believe in him, and strengthen him, and help
him,33
and follow the light34 which hath been sent down with him, these
are they with whom it shall be well."

SAY to them: O men! Verily I am God's apostle to you all;

Whose is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! Therefore
believe on God but He! He maketh alive and killeth! Therefore
believe on God, and his Apostle the unlettered Prophet who
believeth in God and his word. And follow him that ye may be
guided aright.

And among the people of Moses there is a certain number35 who
guide others with truth, and practise what is right according to it.

And we divided the Israelites into twelve tribes, as nations; and we
revealed unto Moses when the people asked drink of him "Strike
the rock with thy staff:" and there gushed forth from it twelve
fountains the men all knew their drinking places. And we caused
clouds to overshadow them, and sent down upon them the manna
and the quails. "Eat of the good things with which we have
supplied you." But it was not us whom they injured, but they
injured their own selves:

And when it was said to them, "Dwell in this city, and eat
therefrom what ye will, and say 'Hittat' (forgiveness), and enter
the gate with prostrations; then will we pardon your offences, we
will give increase to the doers of good:"

But the ungodly ones among them changed that word into another
than that which had been told them:36 therefore sent we forth
wrath out of Heaven upon them for their wrong doings.

And-37 ask them about the city that stood by the sea, when its
inhabitants broke the Sabbath; when their fish came to them on
their Sabbath day appearing openly, but came not to them on the
day when they kept no Sabbath. Thus did we make trial of them,
for that they were evildoers.38

And when some of them said, why warn ye those whom God
would
destroy or chastise with terrible chastisement? they said, For our
own excuse with your Lord; and that they may fear Him.

And when they forgot their warnings, we delivered those who had
forbidden evil; and we inflicted a severe chastisement on those
who had done wrong, for that they were evil doers.

But when they proudly persisted in that which was forbidden, we
said to them, "Become scouted apes;" and then thy Lord declared
that until the day of the resurrection, he would surely send against
them39 (the Jews) those who should evil entreat and chastise
them:
for prompt is thy Lord to punish; and He is Forgiving, Merciful.

And we have divided them upon the Earth as peoples: some of
them are upright and some are otherwise; and by good things and
by evil things have we proved them, to the intent that they might
return to us.

And they have had successors to succeed them: they have inherited
the Book: they have received the passing good things of this lower
world,40 and say, "It will be forgiven us." Yet if the like good
things came to them again, they would again receive them. But
hath there not been received on their part a covenant through the
Scripture that they should speak nought of God but the truth? And
yet they study its contents. But the mansion of the next world hath
more value for those who fear God Do ye not then
comprehend?

And who hold fast the Book, and observe prayer: verily, we will
not suffer the reward of the righteous to perish.

And when we shook the mount41 over them as if it had been a
shadow, and they thought it falling upon them, "Receive, said
we, with steadfastness what we have brought you, and remember
what is therein to the end that ye may fear God."

And when thy Lord brought forth their descendants from the reins
of the sons of Adam and took them to witness against themselves,
"Am I not," said He, "your Lord?" They said, "Yes, we witness
it." This we did, lest ye should say on the day of Resurrection,
"Truly, of this were we heedless, because uninformed;"

Or lest ye should say, "Our fathers, indeed, aforetime joined other
gods with our God, and we are their seed after them: wilt thou
destroy us for the doings of vain men?"

Thus make we our signs clear: that haply they may return to God.

Recite to them42 the history of him43 to whom we vouchsafed our
signs, and who departed from them, so that Satan followed him,
and he became one of the seduced.

Had we pleased, we had certainly thereby exalted him; but he
crouched to the earth and followed his own lust: his likeness,
therefore, is as that of the dog which lolls out his tongue, whether
thou chase him away, or leave him alone! Such is the likeness of
those who treat our signs as lies. Tell them this tale then, that they
may consider.

Evil the likeness of those who treat our signs as lies! and it is
themselves they injure.

He whom God guideth is the guided, and they whom he misleadeth
shall be the lost.

Many, moreover, of the Djinn and men have we created for Hell.
Hearts have they with which they understand not, and eyes have
they with which they see not, and ears have they with which they
hearken not. They are like the brutes: Yea, they go more astray:
these are the heedless.

Most excellent titles hath God:44 by these call ye on Him, and
stand aloof from those who pervert45 his titles. For what they have
done shall they be repaid!

And among those whom we have created are a people who guide
others with truth, and in accordance therewith act justly.

But as for those who treat our signs as lies, we will gradually
bring them down by means of which they know not:

And though I lengthen their days, verily, my stratagem shall prove
effectual.

Will they not bethink them that their companion Muhammad is not
djinn-possessed? Yes, his office is only that of plain warner.

Will they not look forth on the realms of the Heaven and of the
Earth, and on all things which God hath made, to see whether
haply their end be not drawing on? And in what other book will
they believe46 who reject the Koran?

No other guide for him whom God shall mislead! He will leave
them distraught in their wanderings.

They will ask thee of the Hour for what time is its coming fixed?
SAY: The knowledge of it is only with my Lord: none shall
manifest it in its time but He: it is the burden47 of the Heavens and
of the Earth: not otherwise than on a sudden will it come on
you.48

They will ask thee as if thou wast privy to it: SAY: The knowledge
of it is with none but God. But most men know not this.

SAY: I have no control over what may be helpful or hurtful to me,
but as God willeth. Had I the knowledge of his secrets, I should
revel in the good, and evil should not touch me. But I am only a
warner, and an announcer of good tidings to those who believe.

He it is who hath created you from a single person, and from him
brought forth his wife that he might dwell with her: and when he
had known her, she bore a light burden, and went about with it;
and when it became heavy, they both cried to God their Lord, "If
thou give us a perfect child we will surely be of the thankful."

Yet when God had given them a perfect child,49 they50 joined
partners with Him in return for what he had given them. But high
is God above the partners they joined with Him!

What! Will they join those with Him who cannot create anything,
and are themselves created, and have no power to help them, or to
help themselves?

And if ye summon them to "the guidance," they will not follow
you! It is the same to them whether ye summon them or whether
ye
hold your peace!

Truly they whom ye call on beside God, are, like yourselves, His
servants! Call on them then, and let them answer you, if what ye
say of them be true!

Have they feet to walk with? Have they hands to hold with? Have
they eyes to see with? Have they ears to hear with? SAY: Call on
these joint gods of yours; then make your plot against me, and
delay it not.

Verily, my Lord is God, who hath sent down "the Book;" and He
is the protector of the righteous.

But they whom ye call on beside Him, can lend you no help, nor
can they help themselves:

And if ye summon them to "the guidance," they hear you not: thou
seest them look towards thee, but they do not see!

Make the best of things;51 and enjoin what is just, and withdraw
from the ignorant:

And if stirrings to evil from Satan stir thee, fly thou for refuge to
God: He verily heareth, knoweth!

Verily, they who fear God, when some phantom from Satan
toucheth them, remember Him, and lo! they see clearly.

Their Brethren52 will only continue them in error, and cannot
preserve themselves from it.

And when thou bringest not a verse (sign) of the Koran to them,
they say, "Hast thou not yet patched it up?53 SAY: I only follow
my
Lord's utterances to me. This is a clear proof on the part of your
Lord, and a guidance and a mercy for those who believe.

And when the Koran is read, then listen ye to it and keep silence,
that haply ye may obtain mercy.

And think within thine own self on God, with lowliness and with
fear and without loud spoken words, at even and at morn; and be
not one of the heedless.

Verily they who are round about thy Lord disdain not His service.
They praise Him and prostrate themselves before Him.

_______________________

1 The initial letters, it has been conjectured, of (Amara li
Muhammad sahdiq), thus spake to me Muhammad the truthful.
But
see Sura 1xviii. p. 32. The first part of this Sura was perhaps
revealed when the Arabians were assembled at the Pilgrimage.
See verse 29.

2 A figure of frequent occurence in the Talmud. See Tr. Rosh.
Haschana, 17a.

3 Comp. Sura xx. 118, p. 101.

4 Gen. iii. 15.

5 Lit. towards each Mosque, i.e. towards the kibla of each Mosque.
The word mosque, mesjid, however, is usually applied only to that
of Mecca. The common term in use for larger places of worship is
djami, a word unknown, in that sense, to the Koran.

6 For full information as to the clothing of the ancient Arabians
see Freyt. Einl. pp. 295 327. The Koreisch (we are told in Sirat
Arrasul, fol. 26, and Beidh.), in order to instil a deep respect for
the Caaba and other holy places into the minds of the Arabians,
had forbidden all food during the processions, and required that
no clothes, except those borrowed from Meccans, should be worn,
or that those who wore their own should devote them to God as
holy vestments. The consequence was that most of the pilgrims
visited the holy places in perfect nudity. Hence the precept in the
text.

7 The Angels of Death.

8 Comp. Matth. xix. 24; Mark x. 25; Luke xviii. 25. By the change
of a single vowel in the Arabic word for camel, we obtain the
rendering, cable. In the Rabbinic form of the proverb, however,
the elephant is substituted for the camel, which confirms the usual
rendering and reading.

9 "On this wall (the name of which is derived from Arafa, 'to
know,' with allusion to the employment of those upon it) will stand
those whose good and evil works are equal, and are not, therefore,
deserving of either Paradise or Gehenna. The idea, which is
analogous to that of Purgatory, may be derived from the Talmud.
Thus in the Midrasch on Eccl. vii. 14, 'How much space is there
between the two' (Paradise and Hell)? R. Jochanan saith, a wall;
R. Acha, a span: others hold them to be so close that a person may
see from one into the other." See Plato's Phaed. 62.

10 That is, they will know the inmates of Paradise by their
whiteness, and the people of Hell by the blackness of their faces.

11 That is, ye believers: to whom the speakers on Al Araf are
supposed to turn.

12 The fruits of Paradise. Comp. Luke xvi. 19.

13 The fulfilment of its promises and threats.

14 The rain. Thus, the Rabbins call the rain "the might and power
of God," Comp. Tract Tanith, fol. I, and connect it with the
Resurrection, Tract Berachoth, fol. 33.

15 The Rabbins in like manner describe the mission of Noah.
Comp. Sanhedr. 108. Midr. Rabbah on Gen. par. 30, 33; and on
Eccl. 9, 14. See Sura [lxxv.] xi. 40.

16 The two tribes of Ad and Themoud the latter of whom is
mentioned by Diod. Sic. and Ptolemy lay to the north of Mecca in
the direct line of traffic between the countries to the north and to
the south, and both probably disappeared with its cessation, when
the Arabs were no longer held in check by the Romans. The
traditions adopted by Muhammad attribute this to the divine
vengeance, throughout the Koran, and were derived by him from
the popular legends of Arabia. See Freyt. Einl. p. 12.

17 On Houd, see Geiger, pp. 113 119. He supposes him to be the
Eber of the Bible. But Mr. Muir suggests that both Houd and Saleh
may have been persecuted Jewish or Christian emissaries and
teachers, whose rejection was thus recast by Muhammad. See note
on verse 71.

18 Or, entrusted, i.e. with the office of apostle.

19 Saleh according to Bochart, the Peleg of Gen. xi. 16.
D'Herbelot, B. O. 740, makes him the Schelah of Gen. xi. 13. See
v. 63, n. and p. 220, n.

20 It is just possible that the act of Koleib, chief of the Banu
Taghlib tribe, in killing the milch camel of Bas–s, a female
relative
of his wife of Bani-Bakr lineage which led to a forty years' war
between these two tribes, A.D. 490 may have been worked up by
Muhammad into this account of the persecutions of Saleh.

21 See Sura xxiv. 176, p. 109.

22 This verse may contain an implied reference to the famine with
which Mecca had been visited, and fix the date of this part of the
Sura. Comp. verse 127.

23 Lit. plot, stratagem.

24 Comp. the passage from Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 48, who makes
Moses perform this miracle in the presence of Pharaoh, which the
Scripture (Ex. vii.) account does not. The Muhammadan tradition
is that Moses was a black.

25 Lit. cause him to hope, temporise with him.

26 Lit. male ominati sunt. Mar. They traced their calamities to
Moses. So Sale. Kas. But Ullmann. renders, they attributed their
misfortunes to the predictions of Moses.

27 In Suras [lxvii.] xvii. and [lxviii.] Muhammad speaks of nine
plagues. The flood is not mentioned in the Scripture.

28 Lit. when we removed from them the plague until a period at
which they should arrive.

29 Lit. that in which these are.

30 Lit. the set time of his Lord was fulfilled in forty nights.

31 Sale and others render having a body, corporeal, of which the
commentators give no satisfactory explanation. I have adopted
that given by Freytag in v. That the calf lowed in consequence of
Sama‰l having entered into it, is one of the traditions of the
Talmud. Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 45.

32 Compare Sura [lxxxi.] xxix. 47, [xciv.] lxxii. 2, [xci.] ii. 73.
The
word ummyy is derived from ummah, a nation, and means Gentile;
it here refers to Muhammad's ignorance, previous to the
revelation of Islam, of the ancient Scriptures. It is equivalent to the
Gr. laic, ethnic, and to the term gojim, as applied by the Jews to
those unacquainted with the Scriptures. There can, however, be no
doubt that Muhammad in spite of his assertions to the contrary,
with the view of proving his inspiration was well acquainted with
the Bible histories. He wished to appear ignorant in order to raise
the elegance of the Koran into a miracle. For the passages of
Scripture said to foretel Muhammad, see Pocock's Sp. Hist. Ar. p.
188, ed. White.

33 If these words, as N”ldeke supposes, contain an allusion to the
Ansars, it is likely that this verse was added at Medina. The epithet
Al-Ummy (the unlettered) does not, thus, occur in Meccan Suras.

34 The Koran.

35 Pirke R. Eliezer, 45, explains Ex. xxxii. 26, of the tribe of Levi,
as not having been implicated with the other tribes in the sin of the
golden calf.

36 The Jews changed hittat, absolution, indulgence, into habbat,
corn.

37 This and the next six verses are supposed to have been added at
Medina.

38 Comp. Sura [xci.] ii. 61. No trace of this legend is to be found
in the Talmudists. The city is said to have been Aila (Elath) on the
Red Sea.

39 Perhaps in allusion to Deut. xxviii. 49, 50.

40 As bribes to pervert Scripture, etc.

41 Sinai which, however, is not mentioned in the Koran as the
place where the law was given. Comp. "I will cover you with the
mountain like a roof." Abodah Sar. 2, 2. Thus also in Tract
Sabbath, f. 88, 1, "R. Avdimi saith, These words teach us that the
Holy One, blessed be He, turned the mountain over them like a
vessel, and said to them, If ye will receive the law, well; but if not,
there shall be your grave." This tradition is still held by the Jews.
See D. Lewis Pent. Prayers, fol. 150. Its origin is a
misunderstanding of Ex. xix. 17, rightly rendered in the E. version
at the nether part of the mountain.

42 To the Jews.

43 Balaam. But according to others, a Jew who renounced his
faith in Muhammad.

44 The 99 titles of God, taken from the Koran, are to be found in
Maracci, vol. 11, p. 414, or in Macbride's Religion of the
Mohammedans, p. 121. To facilitate the repetition of these names,
the Muslims use a rosary.

45 In altering the names of God, changing allah into Allat, Elaziz
into Alozza, Mennan into Menat, etc.

46 Lit. and in what declaration after it will they believe?

47 That is, it weighs heavily on the hopes and fears of men, djinn,
and angels.

48 Probably the usual final clause, whence ye looked not for it,
should here be added to make good the rhyme, which is otherwise
interrupted in the original.

49 Some render salihan, well made, rightly shaped; others,
virtuous, morally perfect.

50 And their idolatrous posterity. Beidh.

51 Take or use indulgence; i.e. take men and their actions as they
are, and make all due allowances. Some understand it, of
Muhammad's accepting such voluntary and superfluous alms as
the people could spare.

52 That is, those under Satanic influence.

53 Collected or sought it out. Beidh.

SURA XLVI. AL AHKAF [LXXXVIII.]

MECCA. 35 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

HA. MIM.1 The Revelation (sending down) of this Book is from
the
Mighty, the Wise!

We have not created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is
between them otherwise than in truth and for a settled term. But
they who believe not, turn away from their warning.

SAY: What think ye? As for those whom ye invoke beside God,
shew me what part of the earth it is which they have created? Had
they a share in the Heavens? Bring me a Book sent down by them
before this Koran, or traces of their knowledge;2 if ye are men of
truth.

And who erreth more than he who, beside God, calleth upon that
which shall not answer him until the day of Resurrection? Yes,
they regard not their invocations;

And when mankind shall be assembled together, they will become
their enemies, and ungratefully disown their worship.

And when our clear signs are recited to them, they who believe not
say of the truth when it cometh to them, "This is plain sorcery."

Will they say, "He hath devised It?" SAY: If I have devised the
Koran, then not one single thing shall ye ever obtain for me from
God! He best knoweth what ye utter in its regard! Witness enough
is He between me and you! And He is the Gracious, the Merciful.

SAY: I am no apostle of new doctrines: neither know I what will
be
done with me or you. Only what is revealed to me do I follow, and
I am only charged to warn openly.

SAY: What think ye? If this Book be from God, and ye believe it
not, and a witness of the children of Israel3 witness to its
conformity with the Law, and believe, while ye proudly disdain
it ? Ah! God guideth not the people guilty of such a wrong!

But the infidels say of the believers, "If it were a good Book they
would not have been before us in believing it:"4 And not having
submitted to guidance, they proceed to say, "It is an old lying
legend!"

But before the Koran was the Book of Moses, a rule and a mercy;
and this Book confirmeth it (the Pentateuch) in the Arabic
tongue that those who are guilty of that wrong may be warned,
and as glad tidings to the doers of good.

Assuredly they who say, "Our Lord is God," and take the straight
way to Him no fear shall come on them, neither shall they be put
to grief:

These shall be the inmates of Paradise to remain therein for
ever, the recompense of their deeds!

Moreover, we have enjoined on man to shew kindness to his
parents. With pain his mother beareth him; with pain she bringeth
him forth: and his bearing and his weaning is thirty months; until
when he attaineth his strength, and attaineth to forty years,5 he
saith, "O my Lord! stir me up to be grateful for thy favours
wherewith thou hast favoured me and my parents, and to do good
works which shall please thee: and prosper me in my offspring: for
to thee am I turned, and am resigned to thy will" (am a Muslim).

These are they from whom we will accept their best works, and
whose evil works we will pass by; among the inmates shall they be
of Paradise: a true promise which they are promised.

But he who saith to his parents, "Fie on you both! Promise ye me
that I shall be taken forth from the grave alive, when whole
generations have already passed away before me?" But they both
will implore the help of God, and say, "Alas for thee! Believe: for
the promise of God is true." But he saith, "It is no more than a
fable of the ancients."

These are they in whom the sentence passed on the nations, djinn
and men, who flourished before them, is made good. They shall
surely perish.6

And there are grades for all, according to their works, that God
may repay them for their works; and they shall not be dealt with
unfairly.

And they who believe not shall one day be set before the fire. "Ye
made away your precious gifts during your life on earth; and ye
took your fill of pleasure in them: This day, therefore, with
punishment of shame shall ye be rewarded, for that ye behaved
you proudly and unjustly on the earth, and for that ye were given
to excesses."

Remember, too, the brother of Ad7 when he warned his people in
AL AHKAF8 and before and since his time there have been
warners "Worship none but God: verily I fear for you the
punishment of the great day."

They said, "Art thou come to us to turn us away from our Gods?
Bring on us now the woes which thou threatenest if thou speakest
truth."

"That knowledge," said he, "is with God alone: I only proclaim to
you the message with which I am sent. But I perceive that ye are a
people sunk in ignorance."

So when they saw a cloud coming straight for their valleys, they
said, "It is a passing cloud that shall give us rain." "Nay, it is that
whose speedy coming ye challenged a blast wherein is an
afflictive punishment:

It will destroy everything at the bidding of its Lord!" And at morn
nought was to be seen but their empty dwellings! Thus repay we a
wicked people.

With power had we endued them, even as with power have we
endued you; and we had given them ears and eyes and hearts: yet
neither their eyes, nor their ears, nor their hearts aided them at
all, when once they gainsaid the signs of God; but that punishment
which they had mocked at enveloped them on all sides.

Of old, too, did we destroy the cities which were round about you;
and, in order that they might return to us, we varied our signs
before them.

But did those whom they took for gods beside God as his kindred
deities, help them?9 Nay, they withdrew from them. Such was
their
delusion, and their device!

And remember when we turned aside a company of the djinn to
thee, that they might hearken to the Koran: and no sooner were
they present at its reading than they said to each other, "Hist;"
and when it was ended, they returned to their people with
warnings.

They said, "O our people! verily we have been listening to a book
sent down since the days of Moses, affirming the previous
scriptures; it guideth to the truth, and to the right way.

O our people! Obey the Summoner of God, and believe in him,
that
He may forgive your sins, and rescue you from an afflictive
punishment.

And he who shall not respond to God's preacher, yet cannot
weaken God's power on earth, nor shall he have protectors beside
Him. These are in obvious error."

See they not that God who created the Heavens and the Earth, and
was not wearied with their creation, is of power to quicken the
dead? Yea, he is for all things Potent.

And a day is coming when the infidels shall be set before the fire.
"Is not this it in truth?" They shall say, "Aye, by our Lord." He
said, "Taste then the punishment for that ye would not believe."

Bear thou up, then, with patience, as did the Apostles endued with
firmness, and seek not to accelerate their doom. For, on the day
when they shall see that with which they have been menaced,

It shall be as though they had waited but an hour of the day.
Enough! shall any perish save they who transgress?

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. p. 32.

2 Of a divine revelation, authorising the worship of other gods
than God

3 Abdallah bin Salma, say the commentators.

4 Comp. John vii. 48.

5 Thus Mischn. Aboth, v. 21, "at forty years of age a man comes to
intelligence." This verse refers, it is said by the Sonnites, to Abu
Bekr, afterwards Chalif, who embraced Islam in his 40th year. But
this interpretation was probably invented after his accession to
power.

6 Lit. suffer loss.

7 The Prophet Houd.

8 That is, Sandhills; at Taief, to which Muhammad had retired in
consequence of the opposition, etc., of the Meccans. Verses 20 31
are probably misplaced, as they interrupt the connection between
19 and 32, but appear to belong to the same period as the rest of
the Sura.

9 Thus Ullm. als naheverwandte G”tter. But Wahl, denen sie sich
mit gottesdienstlichen Opfer n„herten. Ad appropinquandum
(magis ipsi Deo), by intercession. Mar. Beidh.

SURA VI. CATTLE [LXXXIX.]

Mecca. 165 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

PRAISE be to God, who hath created the Heavens and the Earth,
and ordained the darkness and the light! Yet unto their Lord do the
infidels give peers!

He it is who created you of clay then decreed the term of your
life: and with Him is another prefixed term for the resurrection.
Yet have ye doubts thereof!

And He is God in the Heavens and on the Earth! He knoweth your
secrets and your disclosures! and He knoweth what ye deserve.

Never did one single sign from among the signs of their Lord come
to them, but they turned away from it;

And now, after it hath reached them, have they treated the truth
itself as a lie. But in the end, a message as to that which they have
mocked, shall reach them.

See they not how many generations we have destroyed before
them? We had settled them on the earth as we have not settled you,
and we sent down the very heavens upon them in copious rains,
and we made the rivers to flow beneath their feet: yet we destroyed
them in their sins, and raised up other generations to succeed
them.

And had we sent down to thee a Book written on parchment, and
they had touched it with their hands, the infidels had surely said,
"This is nought but plain sorcery."

They say, too, "Unless an angel be sent down to him. " But if we
had sent down an angel, their judgment would have come on them
at once,1 and they would have had no respite:

And if we had appointed an angel, we should certainly have
appointed one in the form of a man, and we should have clothed
him before them in garments like their own.2

Moreover, apostles before thee have been laughed to scorn: but
that which they laughed to scorn encompassed the mockers among
them!

SAY: Go through the land: then see what hath been the end of
those who treated them as liars.

SAY: Whose is all that is in the Heavens and the Earth?

SAY: God's. He had imposed mercy on Himself as a law. He will
surely assemble you on the Resurrection day; there is no doubt of
it. They who are the authors of their own ruin, are they who will
not believe.

His, whatsoever hath its dwelling in the night and in the day! and
He, the Hearing, the Knowing!

SAY: Other than God shall I take as Lord, maker of the Heavens
and of the Earth, who nourisheth all, and of none is nourished?
SAY: Verily, I am bidden to be the first of those who surrender
them to God (profess Islam): and, be not thou of those who join
gods with God.

SAY: Verily, I fear, should I rebel against my Lord, the
punishment
of the great day.

From whomsoever it shall be averted on that day, He will have
had mercy on him: and this will be the manifest bliss.

If God touch thee with trouble, none can take it off but He: and if
He visit thee with good it is He whose power is over all things;

And He is the Supreme over his servants; and He is the Wise, the
Cognisant!

SAY: What thing is weightiest in bearing witness? SAY: God is
witness between me and you; and this Koran hath been revealed to
me that I should warn you by it, and all whom it shall reach. What!
will ye really bear witness that there are other gods with God?
SAY: I bear no such witness. SAY: Verily, He is one God, and
truly
am guiltless of what ye join with Him.

They to whom we have given the Book, recognise him
(Muhammad) as they do their own children: 3 but they who are the
authors of their own perdition are they who will not believe.

And who more wicked than he who inventeth a lie concerning
God,
or who treateth our signs as lies? Verily those wicked ones shall
not prosper.4

And on "the Day" we will gather them all together: then will we
say to those who joined gods with God, "Where are those
companion-gods of yours, as ye supposed them?"

Then shall they find no other excuse than to say, "By God our
Lord! we joined not companions with Him."

Behold! how they lie against themselves and the gods of their
own inventing desert them!

Some among them hearken unto thee: but we have cast veils over
their hearts that they should not understand the Koran, and a
weight into their ears: and though they should see all kinds of
signs, they will refuse all faith in them, until when they come to
thee, to dispute with thee, the infidels say, "Verily, this is nothing
but fables of the ancients."

And they will forbid it, and depart from it: but they are only the
authors of their own perdition, and know it not.

If thou couldst see when they shall be set over the fire, and shall
say, "Oh! would we might be sent back! we would not treat the
signs of our Lord as lies! we would be of the believers."

Aye! that hath become clear5 to them which they before
concealed;
but though they should return, they would surely go back to that
which was forbidden them; for they are surely liars!

And they say, "There is no other than our life in this world, neither
shall we be raised again."

But if thou couldest see when they shall be set before their Lord!
He shall say to them, "Is not this it6 in truth?" They shall say,
"Yea, by our Lord!" "Taste then," saith He, "the torment, for that
ye believed not!"

Lost are they who deny the meeting with God until "the Hour"
cometh suddenly upon them! Then will they say, "Oh, our sighs for
past negligence of this hour!" and they shall bear their burdens on
their back! Will not that be evil with which they shall be
burdened?

The life in this world is but a play and pastime; and better surely
for men of godly fear will be the future mansion! Will ye not then
comprehend?

Now know we that what they speak vexeth thee:7 But it is not
merely thee whom they charge with falsehood, but the ungodly
gainsay the signs of God.

Before thee have apostles already been charged with falsehood:
but they bore the charge and the wrong with constancy, till our
help came to them; for none can change the words of God. But
this history of His Sent Ones hath already reached thee.

But if their estrangement be grievous to thee, and if thou art able
to seek out an opening into the earth or a ladder into Heaven,8 that
thou mightest bring them a sign. yes! But if God pleased, He
would surely bring them, one and all, to the guidance! therefore be
not thou one of the ignorant.

To those only who shall lend an ear will He make answer: as for
the dead, God will raise them up; then unto Him shall they return.

They say, "Unless a sign be sent down to him from his
Lord. "SAY: Verily, God is able to send down a sign; but the
greater part of them know it not.

No kind of beast is there on earth nor fowl that flieth with its
wings, but is a folk9 like you: nothing have we passed over in the
Book: 10 then unto their Lord shall they be gathered.

They who gainsay our signs are deaf, and dumb, in darkness: God
will mislead whom He pleaseth, and whom He pleaseth He will
place upon the straight path.

SAY: What think ye? If the punishment of God were to come
upon
you, or "the Hour" were to come upon you, will ye cry to any
other than God? Tell me, if ye speak the truth?

Yes! to Him will ye cry: and if He please He will deliver you from
that ye shall cry to Him to avert, and ye shall forget the partners
ye joined with Him.

Already have we sent apostles to nations that were before thee,
and we laid hold on them with troubles and with straits in order
that they might humble themselves:

Yet, when our trouble came upon them, they did not humble
themselves; but their hearts were hardened, and Satan
pre-arranged for them11 their course of conduct.

And when they had forgotten their warnings, we set open to them
the gates of all things, until, as they were rejoicing in our gifts, we
suddenly laid hold upon them, and lo! they were plunged into
despair,

And the uttermost part of that impious people was cut off. All
praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds!

SAY: What think ye? If God should take away your hearing and
your sight and set a seal upon your hearts, what god beside God
would restore them to you? See! how we vary our wondrous verses
(signs)! yet they turn away from them!

SAY: What think ye? If the punishment of God come on you
suddenly or foreseen,12 shall any perish except the impious?

We send not our Sent Ones but as heralds of good news and
warners; and whoso shall believe and amend, on them shall come
no fear, neither shall they be sorrowful:

But whoso shall charge our signs with falsehood, on them shall
fall a punishment for their wicked doings.

SAY: I say not to you, "In my possession are the treasures of
God;" neither say I, "I know things secret;" neither do I say to
you, "Verily, I am an angel:" Only what is revealed to me do I
follow. SAY: Shall the blind and the seeing be esteemed alike?
Will
ye not then reflect?

And warn those who dread their being gathered to their Lord, that
patron or intercessor they shall have none but Him, to the intent
that they may fear Him!

And thrust not thou away those who cry to their Lord at morn and
even, craving to behold his face. It is not for thee in anything to
judge of their motives, nor for them in anything to judge of thee. If
thou thrust them away thou wilt be of the doers of wrong.

Thus have we made proof of some of them by others, that they
may
say, "Are these they among us to whom God hath been gracious?"
Doth not God best know the thankful?

And when they who believe in our signs come to thee, SAY:

Peace be upon you! Your Lord hath laid down for himself a law of
mercy; so that if any one of you commit a fault through ignorance,
and afterwards turn and amend, He surely will be Gracious,
Merciful.

Thus have we distinctly set forth our signs, that the way of the
wicked might be made known.

SAY: Forbidden am I to worship those whom ye call on beside
God. SAY: I will not follow your wishes; for then should I have
gone astray, and should not be of the guided.

SAY: I act upon proofs from my Lord, but ye treat them as
falsehoods. That punishment which ye desire to be hastened is not
in my power; judgment is with God only: He will declare the truth;
and He is the best settler of disputes.

SAY: If what ye would hasten on, were in my power, the matter
between me and you had been decided: but God best knoweth the
impious.

And with Him are the keys13 of the secret things; none knoweth
them but He: He knoweth whatever is on the land and in the sea;
and no leaf falleth but He knoweth it; neither is there a grain in
the darknesses of the earth, nor a thing green or sere, but it is
noted in a distinct writing.14

It is He who taketh your souls at night,15 and knoweth what ye
have merited in the day: then he awaketh you therein, that the set
life-term may be fulfilled: then unto Him shall ye return; and then
shall be declare to you that which ye have wrought.

Supreme over his servants, He sendeth forth guardians who watch
over you, until, when death overtaketh any one of you, our
messengers take his soul, and fail not:

Then are they returned to God their Lord, the True. Is not
judgment His? Swiftest He, of those who take account!

SAY: Who rescueth you from the darkness of the land and of the
sea, when humbly and secretly ye cry to Him "If thou rescue us
from this, we will surely be of the thankful?"

SAY: God rescueth you from them, and from every strait: yet
afterwards ye give Him companions!

SAY: It is He who hath power to send on you a punishment from
above you, or from beneath your feet, or to clothe you with
discord,16 and to make some of you to taste the violence of others.
See how variously we handle the wondrous verses, that haply they
may become wise!

But thy people hath accused the Koran of falsehood, though it be
the truth: SAY: I am not in charge of you: To every prophecy is its
set time, and bye-and-bye ye shall know it!

And when thou seest those who busy themselves with cavilling at
our signs, withdraw from them till they busy themselves in some
other subject: and if Satan cause thee to forget this, sit not, after
recollection, with the ungodly people:17

Not that they who fear God are to pass any judgment upon them,
but the object of recollection is that they may continue to fear
Him.

And quit those who make their religion a sport and a pastime, and
whom this present life hath deceived: warn them hereby that every
soul will be consigned to doom for its own works: patron or
intercessor, beside God, shall it have none: and could it
compensate with fullest compensation, it would not be accepted
from it. They who for their deeds shall be consigned to doom for
them are draughts of boiling water, and a grievous torment; for
that they believed not!

SAY: Shall we, beside God, call upon those who can neither help
nor hurt us? Shall we turn upon our heel after that God hath
guided us? Like some bewildered man whom the Satans have
spell-bound in the desert, though his companions call him to the
true guidance, with, "Come to us!" SAY: Verily, guidance from
God, that is the true guidance; and we are commanded to
surrender ourselves to the Lord of the Worlds.

And observe ye the times of prayer, and fear ye God: for it is He to
whom ye shall be gathered.

And it is He who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, in truth,
and when He saith to a thing, "Be," it is.

His word is the truth: and His the kingdom, on the day when there
shall be a blast on the trumpet: He knoweth alike the unseen and
the seen: and He is the Wise, the Cognisant.

And remember when Abraham said to his father Azar,18 Takest
thou images as gods? Verily, I see that thou and thy people are in
manifest error.

And thus did we shew Abraham the kingdom of the Heavens and
of
the Earth,19 that he might be stablished in knowledge.

And when the night overshadowed him, he beheld a star. "This,"
said he, "is my Lord:" but when it set, he said, "I love not gods
which set."

And when he beheld the moon uprising, "This," said he, "is my
Lord:" but when it set, he said, "Surely, if my Lord guide me not, I
shall surely be of those who go astray."

And when he beheld the sun uprise, he said, "This is my Lord; this
is greatest." But when it set, he said, "O my people! I share not
with you the guilt of joining gods with God;

I turn my face to him who hath created the Heavens and the Earth,
following the right religion:20 I am not one of those who add gods
to God."

And his people disputed with him. He said: "Dispute ye with me
about God, when He hath guided me? And I fear not the deities
whom ye join with Him, for only by the will of my Lord have they
any power:21 My Lord embraceth all things in His knowledge.
Will
ye not then consider?

And how should I fear what ye have joined with God, since ye fear
not for having joined with Him that for which He hath sent you
down no warranty? Which, therefore, of the two parties is more
worthy of safety? Know ye that?

They who believe, and who clothe not their faith with error.22
theirs is safety, and they are guided aright."

This is our reasoning with which we furnished Abraham against
his people: We uplift to grades of wisdom whom we will; Verily
thy
Lord is Wise, Knowing.

And we gave him Isaac and Jacob, and guided both aright; and we
had before guided Noah; and among the descendants of Abraham,
David and Solomon, and Job and Joseph, and Moses and Aaron:
Thus do we recompense the righteous:

And Zachariah, John, Jesus, and Elias: all were just persons:

And Ismael and Elisha and Jonas and Lot: all these have we
favoured above mankind:

And some of their fathers, and of their offspring, and of their
brethren: and we chose them, and guided them into the straight
way.

This is God's guidance: He guideth by it such of his servants as he
will: But if they join others god with Him, vain assuredly shall be
all their works.

These are they to whom we gave the Scripture and Wisdom and
Prophecy: but if these their posterity believe not therein, we will
entrust these gifts to a people who will not disbelieve therein.

These are they whom God hath guided: follow therefore their
guidance. SAY: No pay do I ask of you for this:23 Verily it is no
other than the teaching for all creatures.

No just estimate do they form of God when they say, "Nothing
hath
God sent down to man." SAY: Who sent down the Book which
Moses brought, a light and guidance to man, which ye set down on
paper, publishing part, but concealing most: though ye have now
been taught that which neither ye nor your fathers knew? SAY: It
is God: then leave them in their pastime of cavillings.24

And this Book which we have sent down is blessed, confirming
that
which was before it; and in order that thou mightest warn the
mother-city and those who dwell round about it. They who believe
in the next life will believe in It, and will keep strictly to their
Prayers.

But is any more wicked than he who deviseth a lie of God, or saith,
"I have had a revelation," when nothing was revealed to him?25
And who saith, "I can bring down a book like that which God hath
sent down"? But couldst thou see when the ungodly are in the
floods of death, and the angels reach forth their hands, saying,
"Yield up your souls: this day shall ye be recompensed with a
humiliating punishment for your untrue sayings about God, and
for proudly rejecting his signs!"

"And now are ye come back to us, alone, as we created you at
first, and ye leave behind you the good things which we had given
you, and we see not with you your intercessors whom ye regarded
as the companions of God among you. There is a severance
between you now, and those whom ye regarded as partners with
God have deserted you."

Verily God causeth the grain and the date stone to put forth: He
bringeth forth the living from the dead, and the dead from the
living! This is God! Why, then, are ye turned aside from Him?

He causeth the dawn to appear, and hath ordained the night for
rest, and the sun and the moon for computing time! The ordinance
of the Mighty, the Wise!

And it is He who hath ordained the stars for you that ye may be
guided thereby in the darknesses of the land and of the sea! clear
have we made our signs to men of knowledge.

And it is He who hath produced you from one man, and hath
provided for you an abode and resting-place!26 Clear have we
made our signs for men of insight.

And it is He who sendeth down rain from Heaven: and we bring
forth by it the buds of all the plants, and from them bring we forth
the green foliage, and the close growing grain, and palm trees
with sheaths of clustering dates, and gardens of grapes, and the
olive and the pomegranate, like and unlike.27 Look ye on their
fruits when they fruit and ripen. Truly herein are signs unto people
who believe.

Yet have they assigned the Djinn to God as his associates, though
He created them; and in their ignorance have they falsely ascribed
to him sons and daughters. Glory be to Him! And high let Him be
exalted above that which they attribute to Him!

Sole maker of the Heavens and of the Earth! how, when He hath
no consort, should He have a son? He hath created everything,
and He knoweth everything!

This is God your Lord. There is no God but He, the creator of all
things: therefore worship Him alone; and He watcheth over all
things.

No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision:28 and He is
the
Subtile, the All-informed.

Now have proofs that may be seen, come to you from your Lord;
whoso seeth them, the advantage will be his own: and whoso is
blind to them, his own will be the loss: I am not made a keeper
over you.

Thus variously do we apply our signs,29 that they may say, "Thou
hast studied deep:" and that to people of understanding we may
make them clear.

Follow thou that which hath been revealed to thee by thy Lord:
there is no god but He! and withdraw from those who join other
gods with Him.

Had God pleased, they had not joined other gods with Him: and
we have not made thee keeper over them, neither art thou a
guardian over them.

Revile not those whom they call on beside God,30 lest they, in
their
ignorance, despitefully revile Him. Thus have we planned out their
actions for every people; then shall they return to their Lord, and
He will declare to them what those actions have been.

With their most solemn oath have they sworn by God, that if a sign
come unto them they will certainly believe it; SAY: Signs are in
the
power of God alone; and He teacheth you not thereby, only
because when they were wrought, ye did not believe.31

And we will turn their hearts and their eyes away from the truth,
because they did not believe therein at first, and we will leave
them in their transgressions, wandering in perplexity.

And though we had sent down the angels to them, and the dead
had spoken to them, and we had gathered all things about them in
tribes, they had not believed, unless God had willed it! but most of
them do not know it.

Thus have we given an enemy to every prophet Satans among
men and among Djinn: tinsel discourses do they suggest the one to
the other, in order to deceive: and had thy Lord willed it, they
would not have done it. Therefore, leave them and their vain
imaginings

And let the hearts of those who believe not in the life to come
incline thereto, and let them find their content in this, and let them
gain what they are gaining.

What! shall I seek other judge than God, when it is He who hath
sent down to you the distinguishing Book? They to whom we have
given the Book know that it is sent down from thy Lord with truth.
Be not thou then of those who doubt.

And the words of thy Lord are perfect in truth and in justice: none
can change his words: He is the Hearing, Knowing.

But if thou obey most men in this land, from the path of God will
they mislead thee: they follow but a conceit, and they are only
liars.

Thy Lord! He best knoweth those who err from his path, and He
knoweth the rightly guided.

Eat32 of that over which the name of God hath been pronounced,
if
ye believe in his signs.

And why eat ye not of that over which the name of God hath been
pronounced, since He hath made plain to you what He hath
forbidden you, save as to that which is forced upon you? But
indeed many mislead others by their appetites, through lack of
knowledge. Verily, thy Lord! He best knoweth the transgressors.

And abandon the semblance of wickedness, and wickedness
itself.33 They, verily, whose only acquirement is iniquity, shall be
rewarded for what they shall have gained.

Eat not therefore of that on which the name of God has not been
named, for that is assuredly a crime: the Satans will indeed
suggest to their votaries to wrangle with you; but if ye obey them,
ye will indeed be of those who join gods with God.

Shall the dead, whom we have quickened, and for whom we have
ordained a light whereby he may walk among men, be like him,
whose likeness is in the darkness, whence he will not come forth?
Thus have the doings of the unbelievers been prepared for them.

Even so have we placed in every city, ringleaders of its wicked
ones, to scheme therein: but only against themselves shall they
scheme! and they know it not.

And when a sign cometh to them they say, "We will not believe,
till
the like of what was accorded to the apostles of God, be accorded
to us." God best knoweth where to place his mission. Disgrace
with God, and a vehement punishment shall come on the
transgressors for their crafty plottings.

And whom God shall please to guide, that man's breast will He
open to Islam; but whom He shall please to mislead, strait and
narrow will He make his breast, as though he were mounting up
into the very Heavens! Thus doth God inflict dire punishment on
those who believe not.

And this is the right way of thy Lord. Now have we detailed our
signs unto those who will consider.

For them is a dwelling of peace with their Lord! and in
recompense for their works, shall he be their protector.

On the day whereon God shall gather them all together "O race
of Djinn," will He say, "much did ye exact from mankind." And
their votaries from among men shall say, "O our Lord! we
rendered one another mutual services: but we have reached our
set term, which thou hast set for us." He will say, "Your abode the
fire! therein abide ye for ever: unless as God shall will." Verily,
thy Lord is Wise, Knowing.

Even thus place we some of the wicked over others, as the meed of
their doings.

O race of Djinn and men! came not apostles to you from among
yourselves, rehearsing my signs to you, and warning you of the
meeting of this your day? They shall say, "We bear witness
against ourselves." This world's life deceived them; and they shall
bear witness against themselves that they were infidels:

This,34 because thy Lord would not destroy the cities in their sin,
while their people were yet careless.

And for all, are grades of recompense as the result of their deeds;
and of what they do, thy Lord is not regardless.

And thy Lord is the Rich one, full of compassion! He can destroy
you if He please, and cause whom He will to succeed you, as he
raised you up from the offspring of other people:

Verily, that which is threatened you shall surely come to pass,
neither shall ye weaken its might.

SAY: O my people! Act as ye best can: I verily will act my part,
and hereafter shall ye know

Whose will be the recompense of the abode! Verily, the ungodly
shall not prosper.

Moreover, they set apart a portion of the fruits and cattle35 which
he hath produced, and say, "This for God" so deem they "And
this for his companions, whom we associate with Him." But that
which is for these companions of theirs, cometh not to God; yet
that which is for God, cometh to the companions! Ill do they judge.

Thus have the companion-gods induced many of these, who join
them with God, to slay their children, that they might ruin them,
and throw the cloak of confusion over their religion. But if God
had pleased, they had not done this. Therefore, leave them and
their devices.

They also say, "These cattle and fruits are sacred: none may taste
them but whom we please:" so deem they "And there are cattle,
whose backs should be exempt from labour." And there are cattle
over which they do not pronounce the name of God: inventing in
all this a lie against Him. For their inventions shall He reward
them.

And they say, "That which is in the wombs of these cattle is
allowed to our males, and forbidden to our wives;" but if it prove
abortive, both partake of it. God shall reward them for their
distinctions! Knowing, Wise is He.

Lost are they who, in their ignorance, have foolishly slain their
children, and have forbidden that which God hath given them for
food, devising an untruth against God! Now have they erred; and
they were not rightly guided.

He it is who produceth gardens of the vine trellised and
untrellised, and the palm trees, and the corn of various food, and
olives, and pomegranates, like and unlike. Eat of their fruit when
they bear fruit, and pay the due thereof on the day of its
ingathering: and be not prodigal, for God loveth not the prodigal.

And there are cattle for burdens and for journeys. Eat of what God
hath given you for food; and follow not the steps of Satan, for he is
your declared enemy.

You have four sorts of cattle in pairs: of sheep a pair, and of goats
a pair. SAY: Hath He forbidden the two males or the two females;
or that which the wombs of the two females enclose? Tell me with
knowledge, if ye speak the truth:

And of camels a pair, and of oxen a pair. SAY: Hath He forbidden
the two males or the two females; or that which the wombs of the
two females enclose?36 Were ye witnesses when God enjoined
you
this? Who then is more wicked than he who, in his ignorance,
inventeth a lie against God, to mislead men? God truly guideth not
the wicked.

SAY: I find not in what hath been revealed to me aught forbidden
to the eater to eat, except it be that which dieth of itself, or blood
poured forth, or swine's flesh; for this is unclean or profane, being
slain in the name of other than God. But whoso shall be a forced
partaker, if it be without wilfulness, and not in
transgression, verily, thy Lord is Indulgent, Merciful!

To the Jews did we forbid every beast having an entire hoof, and
of both bullocks and sheep we forbade them the fat, save what
might be on their backs, or their entrails, and the fat attached to
the bone. With this have we recompensed them, because of their
transgression: and verily, we are indeed equitable.

If they treat thee as an impostor, then SAY: Your Lord is of
all-embracing mercy: but his severity shall not be turned aside
from the wicked.

They who add gods to God will say, "If God had pleased, neither
we nor our fathers had given him companions, nor should we have
interdicted anything." Thus did they who flourished before them
charge with imposture, until they had tasted our severity! SAY:
Have ye any knowledge that ye can produce to us? Verily, ye
follow only a conceit: ye utter only lies!

SAY: Peremptory proof is God's! Had He pleased He had guided
you all aright.

SAY: Bring hither your witnesses who can witness that God hath
forbidden these animals; but if they bear witness, witness not thou
with them, nor witness to the conceits of those who charge our
signs with falsehood, and who believe not in the life to come, and
give equals to our Lord.

SAY: Come, I will rehearse what your Lord hath made binding on
you that ye assign not aught to Him as partner; and that ye be
good to your parents; and that ye slay not your children, because
of poverty: for them and for you will we provide:37 and that ye
come not near to pollutions, outward or inward:38 and that ye slay
not anyone whom God hath forbidden you, unless for a just cause.
This hath he enjoined on you, to the intent that ye may understand.

And come not nigh to the substance of the orphan, but to improve
it, until he come of age: and use a full measure, and a just
balance: We will not task a soul beyond its ability. And when ye
give judgment, observe justice, even though it be the affair of a
kinsman, and fulfil the covenant of God. This hath God enjoined
you for your monition

And, "this is my right way." Follow it then; and follow not other
paths lest ye be scattered from His path. This hath he enjoined
you, that ye may fear Him.

Then39 gave we the Book to Moses complete for him who should
do right, and a decision for all matters, and a guidance, and a
mercy, that they might believe in the meeting with their Lord.

Blessed, too, this Book which we have sent down. Wherefore
follow it and fear God, that ye may find mercy:

Lest ye should say, "The Scriptures were indeed sent down only
unto two peoples before us, but we were not able to go deep into
their studies:"40

Or lest ye should say, "If a book had been sent down to us, we had
surely followed the guidance better than they." But now hath a
clear exposition come to you from your Lord, and a guidance and
a mercy. Who then is more wicked than he who treateth the signs
of God as lies, and turneth aside from them? We will recompense
those who turn aside from our signs with an evil punishment,
because they have turned aside.

What wait they for, but the coming of the angels to them, or the
coming of thy Lord Himself, or that some of the sings of the Lord
should come to pass? On the day when some of thy Lord's signs
shall come to pass, its faith shall not profit a soul which believed
not before, nor wrought good works in virtue of its faith. SAY:
Wait ye. Verily, we will wait also.

As to those who split up their religion and become sects, have
thou nothing to do with them: their affair is with God only.
Hereafter shall he tell them what they have done.

He who shall present himself with good works shall receive a
tenfold reward; but he who shall present himself with evil works
shall receive none other than a like punishment: and they shall not
be treated unjustly.

SAY: As for me, my Lord hath guided me into a straight path; a
true religion, the creed of Abraham, the sound in faith; for he was
not of those who join gods with God.

SAY: My prayers and my worship and my life and my death are
unto God, Lord of the Worlds. He hath no associate. This am I
commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims.

SAY: Shall I seek any other Lord than God, when He is Lord of all
things? No soul shall labour but for itself; and no burdened one
shall bear another's burden. At last ye shall return to your Lord,
and he will declare that to you about which you differ.

And it is He who hath made you the successors of others on the
earth, and hath raised some of you above others by various
grades, that he may prove you by his gifts. Verily thy Lord is swift
to punish. But He is also Gracious, Merciful!

_______________________

1 Lit. their affair would have been decided. In that case there
would no longer have been an opportunity for the warnings of the
prophets and for repentance, but the angels would at once have
executed the divine judgments.

2 See Sura xli. 13, p. 193.

3 See Sura [xc.] xiii. 36.

4 This denunciation is repeated in eleven other passages of the
Koran, and coupled with the known reverence of the early
Muslims for what they considered as the word of God, must have
greatly tended to secure the revelations of the Prophet from being
in any way tampered with and corrupted.

5 They are self-convicted of their own hypocrisy and of the
hollowness of their professions.

6 The Resurrection, etc.

7 Abu Jahl had said: "Muhammad speaks truth, and he never said
a falsehood; but, if the Banu Chosai, who enjoy already the offices
of bearing the standard, of providing the pilgrims with water, and
of keeping the keys of the Kaaba, should also obtain the
Prophetship, what would remain for the other Koreisch." Kashaf
in 1.

8 See Sura lii. 38, p. 65. These passages may allude to the ladder
set up in a tower by Wacih ben Salamah, one of the ancient
doorkeepers of the Caaba, by which he professed to mount up to
God and receive divine Oracles. Freyt. Einl. p. 371.

9 A community. Comp. Prov. xxx. 25, 26. Animals as well as
mankind are under the control of God, are held within the limits of
his decrees, are accountable to him, and will stand before him in
the judgment.

10 Of the Eternal decrees.

11 Or, embellished, made it fair-seeming.

12 Lit. openly, i.e. preceded by some sign.

13 The Rabbins speak of the three keys in the hand of God. Tr.
Tanith, fol. x.

14 On the preserved tablet, on which are written the decrees of
God.

15 That is, during sleep. See Sura xxxix. 43, p. 258. Or, layeth to
rest. Mar. renders literally, defungi faciet vos, id est,
obdormiscere. Thus also Beidh. But see the use of the same word
in the next verse.

16 Or, to perplex you (by dividing you into) sects.

17 Comp. Sura [cx.] 1x. 13.

18 Azar. This form is probably borrowed from Athar, as Terah is
called by Eusebius. See Maracci Prodr. iv. 90. Compare a similar
narrative (Midr. Rabbah on Gen. par. 17) in which Abraham is
given over by his idolatrous father Zarah to Nimrod, who says,
"We will adore the Fire:" "Rather," said Abraham, "the water
which puts out fire." "The Water then" "Rather the clouds that
bear the water." "The Clouds then" "Rather the wind which
scatters the clouds." "The Wind then" "Rather man who endures
the wind." Whereupon Abraham was thrown into the furnace. It
is quite possible that in what follows, Muhammad may have
intended to imply that Abraham had renounced the Sabian
starworship of his fathers, and to vindicate him from the habit of
consulting the stars attributed to him by the Talmudists. Shabbath,
fol. 156, col. 1. "Abraham replied, I have consulted my
Astrology." Comp. Rashi on Gen. xv. 5. See Maim. Yad Hachaz.
vii. 6.

19 Comp. Gen. xv. 5.

20 See Sura xxi. 52.

21 Lit. unless that my Lord shall will anything.

22 Or, confuse not their faith with wrong, injustice, i.e. idolatry.

23 Koran.

24 This verse and the following were probably added at Medina
after the Hejira; at least it is difficult to conceive that Muhammad
would have ventured thus to have written at Mecca.

25 This verse is said to have been revealed at Medina and to be
aimed at the false prophets Moseilama, Aswad and Amsi; also at
Abdallah Ibn Saad, Muhammad's secretary, who for corrupting
the sacred text and apostacy, was one of the ten proscribed at the
taking of Mecca.

26 In the womb.

27 Of all sorts.

28 Lit. attaineth to Mr. Lane renders, "the eyes see not Him, but
He seeth the eyes."

29 The verses of the Koran.

30 Comp. Ex. xxii. 28.

31 Notwithstanding this disclaimer, the Muslim tradition, etc.
speak of many of their Prophet's miracles. See Maracci's Prodr. p.
ii. p. 16, and 30 46.

32 Verses 118 121 seem misplaced, and should probably follow
154.

33 Lit. the outside of iniquity and its inside. Some understand
these
words of open sins, and secret sins.

34 That is, God's method of dealing with the guilty was to send
apostles previous to the execution of his judgments.

35 It appears to have been the custom of the idolatrous Arabs to
set apart one portion of their fields for the Supreme God, and the
other for the inferior gods represented by their idols. If any of the
fruit happened to fall from the part consecrated to the idols into
that consecrated to God, they restored it, but if the reverse
occurred, they gave it to the idols. God, said they, is rich and can
dispense with it. The secret, however, was that the idols' portion
was reserved for the priests, Beidhawi. Freytag mentions the
names of 73 idols worshipped by the Arab tribes, previous to Islam
(Einl. pp. 270 and 342 357) and generally with Allah, as Supreme
God.

36 Comp. Sura [cxiv.] v. 102.

37 Comp. Sura xvii. 33, p. 167.

38 See verse 120 above.

39 This very abrupt transition to Jewish history seems to indicate
that a passage between this and the preceding verse is lost.

40 Lit. we were careless of their studiesSURA XIII. THUNDER
[XC.]

MECCA. 43 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. MIM. RA.1 These, the signs of the Book! And that
which hath been sent down to thee from thy Lord is the very truth:
But the greater part of men will not believe.

It is God who hath reared the Heavens without pillars thou canst
behold; then mounted his throne, and imposed laws on the sun and
moon: each travelleth to its appointed goal. He ordereth all
things. He maketh his signs clear, that ye may have firm faith in a
meeting with your Lord.

And He it is who hath outstretched the earth, and placed on it the
firm mountains, and rivers: and of every fruit He hath placed on it
two kinds: He causeth the night to enshroud the day. Verily in this
are signs for those who reflect.

And on the earth hard by each other are its various portions:
gardens of grapes and corn, and palm trees single or clustered.
Though watered by the same water, yet some make we more
excellent as food than other: Verily in all this are signs for those
who understand.

If ever thou dost marvel, marvellous surely is their saying, "What!
when we have become dust, shall we be restored in a new
creation?"

These are they who in their Lord believe not: these! the collars
shall be on their necks; and these shall be inmates of the fire, to
abide therein for aye.

To hasten evil rather than good will they challenge thee: but,
before their time have been like examples. Full, truly, of mercy is
thy Lord unto men, despite their sins; but verily, thy Lord is right
vehement to punish.

And they who believe not say: "If a sign from his Lord be not sent
down to him !" Thou art a warner only. And every people hath
its guide.

God knoweth the burden of every female, and how much their
wombs lessen and enlarge: with Him everything is by measure:

Knower of the Hidden and the Manifest! the Great! the Most
High!

Alike to Him is that person among you who concealeth his words,
and he that telleth them abroad: he who hideth him in the night,
and he who cometh forth in the day.

Each hath a succession of Angels before him and behind him, who
watch over him by God's behest. Verily, God will not change his
gifts to men, till they change what is in themselves: and when God
willeth evil unto men, there is none can turn it away, nor have they
any protector beside Him.

He it is who maketh the lightning to shine unto you; for fear and
hope: and who bringeth up the laden clouds.

And the THUNDER uttereth his praise, and the Angels also, for
awe of Him: and he sendeth his bolts and smiteth with them whom
he will2 while they are wrangling about God! Mighty is he in
prowess.

Prayer is His of right: but these deities to whom they pray beside
Him give them no answer, otherwise than as he is answered who
stretcheth forth his hands to the water that it may reach his mouth,
when it cannot reach it! The prayer of the Infidels only wandereth,
and is lost.

And unto God doth all in the Heavens and on the Earth bow down
in worship, willingly or by constraint: their very shadows also
morn and even!

SAY: Who is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth? SAY: God.
SAY: Why then have ye taken beside Him protectors, who even for
their own selves have no power for help or harm? SAY: What!
shall the blind and the seeing be held equal? Shall the darkness
and the light be held equal? Or have they given associates to God
who have created as He hath created, so that their creation appear
to them like His? SAY: God is the Creator of all things! He is the
One! the Conquering!

He sendeth down the rain from Heaven: then flow the torrents in
their due measure, and the flood beareth along a swelling foam.
And from the metals which are molten in the fire for the sake of
ornaments or utensils, a like scum ariseth. In this way doth God
depict (set forth) truth and falsehood. As to the foam, it is quickly
gone: and as to what is useful to man, it remaineth on the earth.
Thus doth God set forth comparisons! To those who respond to
their Lord shall be an excellent reward; but those who respond not
to his call, had they all that the earth containeth twice over, they
would surely give it for their ransom. Evil their reckoning! and
Hell their home! And wretched the bed!

Shall he then who knoweth that what hath been sent down to thee
from thy Lord is the truth, act like him who is blind? Men of
insight only will bear this in mind,

Who fulfil their pledge to God, and break not their compact:

And who join together what God hath bidden to be joined, and
who fear their Lord, and dread an ill reckoning;

And who, from desire to see the face of their Lord, are constant
amid trials, and observe prayer and give alms, in secret and
openly, out of what we have bestowed upon them, and turn aside
evil by good: for these is the recompense of that abode,

Gardens of Eden into which they shall enter together with the
just of their fathers, and their wives, and their descendants: and
the angels shall go in unto them at every portal:

"Peace be with you!" say they, "because ye have endured all
things!" Charming the recompense of their abode!

But those who, after having contracted it, break their covenant
with God, and cut asunder what God hath bidden to be united, and
commit misdeeds on the earth, these, a curse awaiteth them, and
an ill abode!

God is open-handed with supplies to whom he will, or is sparing.
They rejoice in the life that now is, but this present life is but a
passing good, in respect of the life to come!3

And they who believe not say, "Unless a sign be sent down to him
from his Lord. " SAY: God truly will mislead whom he will; and
He will guide to Himself him who turneth to Him,

Those who believe, and whose hearts rest securely on the thought
of God. What! Shall not men's hearts repose in the thought of
God? They who believe and do the things that be
right blessedness awaiteth them, and a goodly home.

Thus have we sent thee to a people whom other peoples have
preceded, that thou mightest rehearse to them our revelations to
thee. Yet they believe not on the God of Mercy.4 SAY: He is my
Lord. There is no God but He. In Him do I put my trust. To Him
must I return.

If there were a Koran by which the mountains could be set in
motion, or the earth cleft, or the dead be made to speak ! But all
sovereignty is in the hands of God. Do then believers doubt5 that
had He pleased God would certainly have guided all men aright?

Misfortune shall not cease to light on the unbelievers for what they
have done, or to take up its abode hard by their dwellings, until
the threat of God come to pass. Verily, God will not fail his
plighted word.

Before thee indeed have apostles been mocked at; but though I
bore long with the unbelievers, at last I seized upon them; and
how severe was my punishment!

Who is it then that is standing over every soul to mark its actions?
Yet have they set up associates with God. SAY: Name them.
What!
Would ye inform God of that which He knoweth not on the Earth?
Or are they not a mere empty name? But prepared of old for the
infidels was this fraud of theirs; and they are turned aside from the
path; and whom God causeth to err, no guide shall there be for
him!

Chastisement awaiteth them in this present life, and more grievous
shall be the chastisement of the next: and none shall screen them
from God.

A picture of the Paradise which God hath promised to them that
fear Him. The rivers flow beneath its bowers: its food and its
shades are perpetual. This is the reward of those who fear God;
but the reward of the unbelievers is the Fire.

They to whom we have given the Book rejoice6 in what hath been
sent down to thee; yet some are banded together who deny a part
of it. SAY: I am commanded to worship God, and not to associate
any creature with Him. On Him do I call, and to Him shall I
return.

Thus, then, as a code in the Arabic tongue have we sent down the
Koran; and truly, if after the knowledge that hath reached thee
thou follow their desires, thou shalt have no guardian nor
protector against God.

Apostles truly have we already sent before thee, and wives and
offspring have we given them. Yet no apostle had come with
miracles unless by the leave of God. To each age its Book.

What He pleaseth will God abrogate or confirm: for with Him is
the source of revelation.7

Moreover, whether we cause thee to see the fulfilment of part of
our menaces, or whether we take thee hence, verily, thy work is
preaching only, and ours to take account.

See they not that we come into their land and cut short its
borders?8 God pronounceth a doom, and there is none to reverse
his doom. And swift is He to take account.

Those who lived before them made plots: but all plotting is
controlled by God: He knoweth the works of every one, and the
infidels shall know whose will be the recompense of the abode.

The infidels, moreover, will say; Thou art not sent of God. SAY:
God is witness enough betwixt me and you, and, whoever hath
knowledge of the Book.

_______________________

1 See Sura 1xviii. p. 32.

2 This is said by the traditionists and commentators generally, to
refer to Amir and Arbad ben Kais, who in the year 9 or 10
conspired against Muhammad's life, and were struck dead by
lightning. See the authorities in N”ld. p. 120: Weil, 256; Caussin,
iii. 295. But this explanation may have been suggested by the
words of the text, which must, if the comment be correct, have
been revealed at Medina.

3 Thus, "one hour of bliss in the world to come is better than all
life in this world." Mischnah Aboth, iv. 17. Comp. Sura [cxiii.] ix.
38.

4 See Sura xvii. 109. This verse is said to have been occasioned by
the refusal of the Meccans at Hudaibiya to adopt the formula
prescribed by Muhammad In the Name of the God of Mercy, the
Merciful declaring that they knew not who the God of Mercy
(Arrahman) was. This was in Hej. 6. See n. p. 173.

5 Lit. despair.

6 That is, the Jews, who at this period of Muhammad's prophetic
function, must have been highly gratified at the strong leaning
towards, and respect for, their Scriptures and Histories, which
shews itself increasingly in the later Meccan Suras.

7 Lit. Mother, or Prototype of the Book. Either God's knowledge
or Prescience, or the fabled preserved tablet, on which is written
the original of the Koran, and all God's decrees. The Jews have a
tradition that the Law existed before the Creation. Midr. Jalkut, 7.

8 That is, the progressive conquests of the Muslims trench more
and more on the territories of the idolatrous Arabians.

SURA II. THE COW1 [XCI.]

MEDINA. 286 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. MIM.2 No doubt is there about this Book: It is a
guidance to the God-fearing,

Who believe in the unseen,3 who observe prayer, and out of what
we have bestowed on them, expend for God;

And who believe in what hath been sent down to thee, and in what
hath been sent down before thee, and full faith have they in the life
to come:

These are guided by their Lord; and with these it shall be well.

As to the infidels, alike is it to them whether thou warn them or
warn them not they will not believe:

Their hearts and their ears hath God sealed up; and over their
eyes is a covering. For them, a severe chastisement!

And some4 there are who say, "We believe in God, and in the
latter day:" Yet are they not believers!

Fain would they deceive God and those who have believed; but
they deceive themselves only, and know it not.

Diseased are their hearts! And that disease hath God increased
creased to them. Their's a sore chastisement, for that they treated
their prophet as a liar!

And when it is said to them, "Cause not disorders in the earth:"
they say, "Nay, rather do we set them right."

Is it not that they are themselves the authors of disorder? But they
perceive it not!

And when it is said to them, "Believe as other men have believed;"
they say, "Shall we believe as the fools have believed?" Is it not
that they are themselves the fools? But they know it not!

And when they meet the faithful they say, "We believe;" but when
they are apart with their Satans5 they say, "Verily we hold with
you, and at them we only mock."

God shall mock at them, and keep them long in their rebellion,
wandering in perplexity.

These are they who have purchased error at the price of guidance:
but their traffic hath not been gainful, neither are they guided at
all.

They are like one6 who kindleth a fire, and when it hath thrown its
light on all around him. God taketh away their light and leaveth
them in darkness they cannot see!

Deaf, dumb, blind: therefore they shall not retrace their steps from
error!

Or like those who, when there cometh a storm-cloud out of the
Heaven, big with darkness thunder and lightning, thrust their
fingers into their ears because of the thunder-clap, for fear of
death! God is round about the infidels.

The lightning almost snatcheth away their eyes! So oft as it
gleameth on them they walk on in it, but when darkness closeth
upon them, they stop! And if God pleased, of their ears and of their
eyes would he surely deprive them: verily God is Almighty! O
men of Mecca7 adore your Lord, who hath created you and those
who were before you: haply ye will fear Him

Who hath made the earth a bed for you, and the heaven a
covering, and hath caused water to come down from heaven, and
by it hath brought forth fruits for your sustenance! Do not then
wittingly give peers to God.

And if ye be in doubt as to that which we have sent down to our
servant, then produce a Sura like it, and summon your witnesses,
beside God, if ye are men of truth:

But if ye do it not, and never shall ye do it, then fear the fire
prepared for the infidels, whose fuel is men and stones:8

But announce to those who believe and do the things that are
right, that for them are gardens 'neath which the rivers flow! So
oft as they are fed therefrom with fruit for sustenance, they shall
say, "This same was our sustenance of old:" And they shall have
its like given to them.9 Therein shall they have wives of perfect
purity, and therein shall they abide for ever.

Verily God is not ashamed to set forth as well the instance of a
gnat10 as of any nobler object: for as to those who have believed,
they know it to be the truth from their Lord; but as to the
unbelievers, they will say, "What meaneth God by this
comparison?" Many will He mislead by such parables and many
guide: but none will He mislead thereby except the wicked,

Who, after its establishment, violate the covenant of God,11 and
cut
in sunder what God hath bidden to be joined, and act disorderly
on the Earth. These are they who shall suffer loss!

How can ye withhold faith from God? Ye were dead and He gave
you life; next He will cause you to die; next He will restore you to
life: next shall ye return to Him!

He it is who created for you all that is on Earth, then proceeded to
the Heaven, and into seven12 Heavens did He fashion it: and He
knoweth all things.

When thy Lord said to the angels, "Verily, I am about to place one
in my stead on earth,"13 they said, "Wilt thou place there one who
will do ill therein and shed blood, when we celebrate thy praise
and extol thy holiness?" God said, "Verily, I know what ye know
not."

And he taught Adam the names of all things, and then set them
before the angels,14 and said, "Tell me the names of these, if ye
are
endued with wisdom."15

They said, "Praise be to Thee! We have no knowledge but what
Thou hast given us to know. Thou! Thou art the Knowing, the
Wise."

He said, "O Adam, inform them of their names." And when he had
informed them of their names, He said, "Did I not say to you that I
know the hidden things of the Heavens and of the Earth, and that I
know what ye bring to light, and what ye hide?"

And when we said to the angels, "Bow down and worship Adam,"
then worshipped they all, save Eblis.16 He refused and swelled
with
pride, and became one of the unbelievers.

And we said, "O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden,
and eat ye plentifully therefrom wherever ye list; but to this tree
come not nigh, lest ye become of the transgressors."

But Satan17 made them slip from it, and caused their banishment
from the place in which they were. And we said, "Get ye down, the
one of you an enemy to the other: and there shall be for you in the
earth a dwelling-place, and a provision for a time."

And words of prayer learned Adam from his Lord: and God turned
to him; for He loveth to turn, the Merciful.

We said, "Get ye down from it, all together: and if

Guidance shall come to you from me, whoso shall follow my
guidance, on them shall come no fear, neither shall they be
grieved:

But they who shall not believe, and treat our signs as false-hoods,
these shall be inmates of the fire; in it shall they remain for ever."

O children of Israel! remember my favour wherewith I shewed
favour upon you, and be true to your covenant with me; I will be
true to my covenant with you; me therefore, revere me! and
believe
in what I have sent down confirming your Scriptures, and be not
the first to disbelieve it, neither for a mean price barter my signs:
me therefore, fear ye me!

And clothe not the truth with falsehood, and hide not the truth
when ye know it:18

And observe prayer and pay the legal impost, and bow down with
those who bow.

Will ye enjoin what is right upon others, and forget yourselves?
Yet ye read the Book: will ye not understand?

And seek help with patience and prayer: a hard duty indeed is this,
but not to the humble,

Who bear in mind that they shall meet their Lord, and that unto
Him shall they return.

O children of Israel! remember my favour wherewith I shewed
favour upon you; for verily to you above all human beings have I
been bounteous.

And fear ye the day when soul shall not satisfy for soul at all, nor
shall any intercession be accepted from them, nor shall any
ransom be taken, neither shall they be helped.

And remember when we rescued you from the people of Pharaoh,
who had laid on you a cruel chastisement. They slew your male
children, and let only your females live: and in this was a great
trial from your Lord:

And when we parted the sea for you, and saved you, and drowned
the people of Pharaoh, while ye were looking on:

And when we were in treaty with Moses forty nights: then during
his absence took ye the calf and acted wickedly:

Yet after this we forgave you, that ye might be grateful:

And when we gave Moses the Book and the Illumination19 in
order
to your guidance:

And remember when Moses said to his people, "O my people!
verily ye - have sinned to your own hurt, by your taking the calf to
worship it: Be turned then to your creator, and slay the guilty
among you;20 this will be best for you with your creator:" Then
turned He unto you, for He is the one who turneth, the Merciful:

And when ye said, "O Moses! we will not believe thee until we see
God plainly;" the thunderbolt fell upon you while ye were looking
on:

Then we raised you to life after ye had been dead,21 that haply ye
might give thanks:

And we caused the clouds to overshadow you, and we sent down
manna and quails upon; "Eat of the good things we have give
you for sustenance;" and they injured not us but they injured
themselves.22

And when we said, "Enter this city,23 and eat therefrom
plentifully,
at your will, and enter the gate with prostrations, and say,
'Forgiveness;' and we will pardon you your sins, and give an
increase to the doers of good:"

But the evil-doers changed that word into another than that
spoken to them,24 and we sent down upon those evil-doers wrath
from heaven, for that they had done amiss:

And when Moses asked drink for his people, we said, "Strike the
rock with thy rod;" and from it there gushed twelve fountains:
each tribe25 knew their drinking-place: "Eat and drink," said
we, "of what God hath supplied, and do no wrong on the earth by
licentious deeds:"

And when ye said, "O Moses! we will not put up with one sort of
food: pray, therefore, thy Lord for us, that He would bring forth
for us of that which the earth groweth, its herbs and its cucumbers
and its garlic and its lentils and its onions:" He said, "What! will
ye exchange that which is worse for what is better? Get ye down
into Egypt; for ye shall have what ye have asked:" Vileness and
poverty were stamped upon them, and they returned with wrath
from God: This, for that they disbelieved the signs of God, and
slew the Prophets26 unjustly: this, for that they rebelled and
transgressed!

Verily, they who believe (Muslims), and they who follow the
Jewish religion, and the Christians, and the Sabeites27 whoever
of these believeth in God and the last day, and doeth that which is
right, shall have their reward with their Lord: fear shall not come
upon them, neither shall they be grieved.

Call to mind also when we entered into a covenant with you, and
lifted up the mountain28 over you: "Take hold," said we, "on
what we have revealed to you, with resolution, and remember what
is therein, that ye may fear:"

But after this ye turned back, and but for God's grace and mercy
toward you, ye had surely been of the lost! Ye know too those of
you who transgressed on the Sabbath, and to whom we said, "Be
changed into scouted apes:"29

And we made them a warning to those of their day, and to those
who came after them, and a caution to the God-fearing:

And when Moses said to his people, "Verily, God bids you
sacrifice a COW;"30 they said, "Makest thou a jest of us?" He
said, "God keep me from being one of the foolish." They said,
"Call on thy Lord for us that He would make plain to us what she
is." He said, "God saith, 'She is a cow neither old nor young, but
of the middle age between the two:' do therefore what ye are
bidden."

They said, "Call on your Lord for us, that he would make plain to
us what is her colour." He said, "God saith, 'She is a
fawn-coloured cow; her colour is very bright; she rejoiceth the
beholders.' "

They said, "Call on they Lord for us that He would make plain to
us what cow it is for to us are cows alike, and verily, if God
please, we shall be guided rightly:"

He said, "God saith, 'She is a cow not worn by ploughing the
earth or watering the field, sound, no blemish in her.' " They said,
"Now hast thou brought the truth:" Then they sacrificed her; Yet
nearly had they done it not:

And when ye slew a man, and strove among yourselves about him,
God brought to light what he had hidden:

For we said, "Strike the corpse with part of her." So God giveth
life to the dead, and sheweth you his signs, that haply ye may
understand.

Then after that your hearts became hard like rocks, or harder still:
for verily, from rocks have rivers gushed; others, verily, have been
cleft, and water hath issued from them; and others, verily, have
sunk down through fear of God: And God is not regardless of your
actions.

Desire ye then that for your sakes31 the Jews should believe? Yet
a
part of them heard the word of God, and then, after they had
understood it, perverted it, and knew that they did so.

And when they fall in with the faithful, they say, "We believe;" but
when they are apart32 one with another, they say, "Will ye
acquaint them with what God hath revealed to you, that they may
dispute with you about it in the presence of your Lord?"
Understand ye their aim?

Know they not that God knoweth what they hide, as well as what
they bring to light?

But there are illiterates among them who are unacquainted with
the Book,33 but with lies only, and have but vague fancies. Woe to
those who with their own hands transcribe the Book corruptly, and
then say, "This is from God," that they may sell it for some mean
price! Woe then to them for that which their hands have written!
and, Woe to them for the gains which they have made!

And they say, "Hell fire shall not touch us, but for a few days:"34
SAY: Have ye received such a promise from God? for God will not
revoke his promise: or, Speak ye of God that which ye know not?

But they whose only gains are evil works, and who are environed
by their sins, they shall be inmates of the fire, therein to abide for
ever:

But they who have believed and done the things that be right, they
shall be the inmates of Paradise, therein to abide for ever.

And when we entered into covenant with the children of Israel, we
said, "Worship none but God, and be good to your parents and
kindred, and to orphans, and to the poor, and speak with men what
is right, and observe prayer, and pay the stated alms." Then
turned ye away, except a few of you, and withdrew afar off.

And when we made a covenant with you that ye should not shed
your own blood,35 nor expel one another from your abodes, then
ye
ratified it and yourselves were witnesses.

Then were ye the very persons who slew one another; and ye drove
out a part of your own people from their abodes; ye lent help
against them with wrong and hatred; but if they come captives to
you, ye redeem them! Yet it was forbidden you to drive them
out.36 Believe ye then part of the Book, and deny part? But what
shall be the meed of him among you who doth this, but shame in
this life? And on the day of the Resurrection they shall be sent to
the most cruel of torments, for God is not regardless of what ye do.

These are they who purchase this present life at the price of that
which is to come: their torment shall not be lightened, neither
shall they be helped.

Moreover, to Moses gave we "the Book," and we raised up
apostles after him; and to Jesus, son of Mary, gave we clear proofs
of his mission, and strengthened him by the Holy Spirit.37 So oft
then as an apostle cometh to you with that which your souls desire
not, swell ye with pride, and treat some as impostors, and slay
others?

And they say, "Uncircumcised are our hearts." Nay! God hath
cursed them in their infidelity: few are they who believe!

And when a Book had come to them from God, confirming that
which they had received already although they had before
prayed for victory over those who believed not yet when that
Koran come to them, of which they had knowledge, they did not
recognise it. The curse of God on the infidels!

For a vile price have they sold themselves, by not believing what
God hath sent down, envious of God's sending down his grace on
such of his servants as he pleaseth:38 and they have brought on
themselves wrath upon wrath. And for the unbelievers is a
disgraceful chastisement.

And when it is said to them, "Believe in what God hath sent
down," they say, "In that which hath been sent down to us we
believe:" but what hath since been sent down they disbelieve,
although it be the truth confirmatory of their own Scriptures. SAY:
Why then have ye of old slain God's prophets,39 if ye are indeed
believers?

Moreover, Moses came unto you with proofs of his mission. Then
in his absence ye took the calf for your God, and did wickedly.

And when we accepted your covenant, and uplifted40 the
mountain
over you, we said, "Take firm hold on what we have given you,
and hearken." They said, "We have hearkened and have
rebelled:" then were they made to drink down the calf into their
hearts for their ingratitude. SAY: A bad thing hath your faith
commanded you, if ye be indeed believers.

SAY: If the future dwelling place with God be specially for you,
but not for the rest of mankind, then wish for death, if ye are
sincere:

But never can they wish for it, because of that which their own
hands have sent on before them!41 And God knoweth the
offenders.

And thou wilt surely find them of all men most covetous of life,
beyond even the polytheists. To be kept alive a thousand years
might one of them desire: but that he may be preserved alive, shall
no one reprieve himself from the punishment! And God seeth what
they do.

SAY: Whoso is the enemy of Gabriel For he it is who by God's
leave hath caused the Koran to descend on thy heart, the
confirmation of previous revelations, and guidance, and good
tidings to the faithful

Whoso is an enemy to God or his angels, or to Gabriel, or to
Michael, shall have God as his enemy: for verily God is an enemy
to the Infidels.

Moreover, clear signs have we sent down to thee, and none will
disbelieve them but the perverse.

Oft as they have formed an engagement with thee, will some of
them set it aside? But most of them believe not.

And when there came to them an apostle from God, affirming the
previous revelations made to them, some of those to whom the
Scriptures were given, threw the Book of God behind their backs
as if they knew it not:

And they followed what the Satans read42 in the reign of
Solomon:
not that Solomon was unbelieving, but the Satans were
unbelieving. Sorcery did they teach to men, and what had been
revealed to the two angels, Harut and Marut, at Babel. Yet no man
did these two teach until they had said, "We are only a temptation.
Be not then an unbeliever." From these two did men learn how to
cause division between man and wife: but unless by leave of God,
no man did they harm thereby. They learned, indeed, what would
harm and not profit them; and yet they knew that he who bought
that art should have no part in the life to come! And vile the price
for which they have sold themselves, if they had but known it!

But had they believed and feared God, better surely would have
been the reward from God, if they had but known it!

O ye who believe! say not to our apostle, "Raina"43 (Look at us);
but say, "Ondhorna" (Regard us). And attend to this; for, the
Infidels shall suffer a grievous chastisement.

The unbelievers among the people of the Book, and among the
idolaters, desire not that any good should be sent down to you
from your Lord: but God will shew His special mercy to whom He
will, for He is of great bounty.

Whatever verses we cancel,44 or cause thee to forget, we bring a
better or its like. Knowest thou not that God hath power over all
things?

Knowest thou not that the dominion of the Heavens and of the
Earth is God's? and that ye have neither patron nor helper, save
God?

Would ye ask of your apostle what of old was asked of Moses? But
he who exchangeth faith for unbelief,45 hath already erred from
the
even way.

Many of the people of the Book desire to bring you back to
unbelief after ye have believed, out of selfish envy, even after the
truth hath been clearly shewn them. But forgive them, and shun
them till God shall come in with His working. Truly God hath
power over all things.

And observe prayer and pay the legal impost:46 and whatever good
thing ye have sent on before for your soul's sake, ye shall find it
with God. Verily God seeth what ye do.

And they say, "None but Jews or Christians shall enter Paradise:"
This is their wish. SAY: Give your proofs if ye speak the truth.

But they who set their face with resignation Godward, and do what
is right, their reward is with their Lord; no fear shall come on
them, neither shall they be grieved.

Moreover, the Jews say, "The Christians lean on nought:" "On
nought lean the Jews," say the Christians: Yet both are readers of
the Book. So with like words say they who have no knowledge.47
But on the resurrection day, God shall judge between them as to
that in which they differ.

And who committeth a greater wrong than he who hindereth God's
name from being remembered in his temples, and who hasteth to
ruin them?48 Such men cannot enter them but with fear. Their's is
shame in this world, and a severe torment in the next.

The East and the West is God's: therefore, whichever way ye turn,
there is the face of God:49 Truly God is immense and knoweth all.

And they say, "God hath a son:" No! Praise be to Him! But His,
whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth! All obeyeth Him,

Sole maker of the Heavens and of the Earth! And when He
decreeth a thing, He only saith to it, "Be," and it is.

And they who have no knowledge say, "Unless God speak to us, or
thou shew us a sign !" So, with like words, said those who were
before them: their hearts are alike: Clear signs have we already
shewn for those who have firm faith:

Verily, with the Truth have we sent thee, a bearer of good tidings
and a warner: and of the people of Hell thou shalt not be
questioned.

But until thou follow their religion, neither Jews nor Christians
will be satisfied with thee. SAY: Verily, guidance of God, that is
the guidance! And if, after "the Knowledge" which hath reached
thee, thou follow their desires, thou shalt find neither helper nor
protector against God.

They to whom we have given the Book, and who read it as it ought
to be read, these believe therein: but whoso believeth not therein,
shall meet with perdition.

O children of Israel! remember my favour wherewith I have
favoured you, and that high above all mankind have I raised you:

And dread the day when not in aught shall soul satisfy for soul,
nor shall any ransom be taken from it, nor shall any intercession
avail, and they shall not be helped.

When his Lord made trial of Abraham by commands which he
fulfilled, He said, "I am about to make thee an Imƒm to mankind:"
he said, "Of my offspring also:" "My covenant," said God,
"embraceth not the evil doers."

And remember when we appointed the Holy House50 as man's
resort and safe retreat, and said, "Take ye the station of Abraham
for a place of prayer:" And we commanded Abraham and Ismael,
"Purify my house for those who shall go in procession round it,
and those who shall abide there for devotion, and those who shall
bow down and prostrate themselves."

And when Abraham said, "Lord! make this secure land, and
supply its people with fruits, such of them as believe in God and in
the last day:" He said, "And whoso believeth not, for a little while
will I bestow good things on him; then will I drive him to the
torment of the Fire!" An ill passage!

And when Abraham, with Ismael, raised the foundations51 of the
House, they said, "O our Lord! accept it from us; for thou art the
Hearer, the Knower.

O our Lord! make us also Muslims, and our posterity a Muslim
people; and teach us our holy rites, and be turned towards us, for
thou art He who turneth, the Merciful.

O our Lord! raise up among them an apostle52 who may rehearse
thy signs unto them, and teach them 'the Book,' and Wisdom, and
purify them: for thou art the Mighty, the Wise."

And who but he that hath debased his soul to folly will mislike the
faith of Abraham, when we have chosen him in this world, and in
the world to come he shall be of the Just?

When his Lord said to him, "Resign thyself to me," he said, "I
resign myself to the Lord of the Worlds."

And this to his children did Abraham bequeath, and Jacob also,
saying, "O my children! truly God hath chosen a religion for you;
so die not unless ye be also Muslims."

Were ye present when Jacob was at the point of death?53 when he
said to his sons, "Whom will ye worship when I am gone?" They
said, "We will worship thy God and the God of thy fathers
Abraham and Ismael and Isaac, one God, and to Him are we
surrendered (Muslims)."

That people have now passed away; they have the reward of their
deeds, and ye shall have the meed of yours: but of their doings ye
shall not be questioned.

They say, moreover, "Become Jews or Christians that ye may have
the true guidance." SAY: Nay! the religion of Abraham, the sound
in faith,54 and not one of those who join gods with God!

Say ye: "We believe in God, and that which hath been sent down
to us, and that which hath been sent down to Abraham and Ismael
and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes: and that which hath been
given to Moses and to Jesus, and that which was given to the
prophets from their Lord. No difference do we make between any
of them: and to God are we resigned (Muslims)."

If therefore they believe even as ye believe, then have they true
guidance; but if they turn back, then do they cut themselves off
from you: and God will suffice to protect thee against them, for He
is the Hearer, the Knower.55

Islam is the Baptism of God,56 and who is better to baptise than
God? And Him do we serve.

SAY: Will ye dispute with us about God? when He is our Lord and
your Lord! We have our works and ye have your works; and we
are sincerely His.

Will ye say, "Verily Abraham, and Ismael, and Isaac, and Jacob,
and the tribes, were Jews or Christians?" SAY: Who knoweth best,
ye, or God? And who is more in fault than he who concealeth the
witness which he hath from God? But God is not regardless of
what ye do.

That people have now passed away: they have the reward of their
deeds, and for you is the meed of yours; but of their doings ye
shall not be questioned.

The foolish ones will say, "What hath turned them from the kebla
which they used?" SAY: The East and the West are God's. He
guideth whom he will into the right path.

Thus have we made you a central people,57 that ye may be
witnesses in regard to mankind, and that the apostle may be a
witness in regard to you.

We appointed the kebla which thou formerly hadst, only that we
might know him who followeth the apostle, from him who turneth
on his heels: The change is a difficulty, but not to those whom God
hath guided. But God will not let your faith58 be fruitless; for unto
man is God Merciful, Gracious.

We have seen thee turning thy face towards every part of Heaven;
but we will have thee turn to a kebla which shall please thee. Turn
then thy face towards the sacred Mosque,59 and wherever ye be,
turn your faces towards that part. They, verily, to whom "the
Book" hath been given, know this to be the truth from their Lord:
and God is not regardless of what ye do.

Even though thou shouldest bring every kind of sign to those who
have received the Scriptures, yet thy kebla they will not adopt; nor
shalt thou adopt their kebla; nor will one part of them adopt the
kebla of the other. And if, after the knowledge which hath come to
thee, thou follow their wishes, verily then wilt thou become of the
unrighteous.

They to whom we have given the Scriptures know him the
apostle even as they know their own children: but truly a part of
them do conceal the truth, though acquainted with it.60

The truth is from thy Lord. Be not then of those who doubt.

All have a quarter of the Heavens to which they turn them; but
wherever ye be, hasten emulously after good: God will one day
bring you all together; verily, God is all-powerful.

And from whatever place thou comest forth, turn thy face toward
the sacred Mosque; for this is the truth from thy Lord; and God is
not inattentive to your doings.

And from whatever place thou comest forth, turn thy face toward
the sacred Mosque; and wherever ye be, to that part turn your
faces, lest men have cause of dispute against you: but as for the
impious among them, fear them not; but fear me, that I may
perfect
my favours on you, and that ye may be guided aright.

And we sent to you an apostle from among yourselves to rehearse
our signs unto you, and to purify you, and to instruct you in "the
Book," and in the wisdom, and to teach you that which ye knew
not:

Therefore remember me: I will remember you; and give me thanks
and be not ungrateful.

O ye who believe! seek help with patience and with prayer, for
God is with the patient.

And say not of those who are slain on God's path61 that they are
Dead; nay, they are Living! But ye understand not.

With somewhat of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth, and lives,
and fruits, will we surely prove you: but bear good tidings to the
patient,

Who when a mischance chanceth them, say, "Verily we are God's,
and to Him shall we return:"62

On them shall be blessings from their Lord, and mercy: and
these! they are the rightly guided.

Verily, Safa and Marwah63 are among the monuments of God:
whoever then maketh a pilgrimage to the temple, or visiteth it,
shall not be to blame if he go round about them both. And as for
him who of his own accord doeth what is good God is Grateful,
Knowing.

They who conceal aught that we have sent down, either of clear
proof or of guidance, after what we have so clearly shewn to men
in the Book,64 God shall curse them, and they who curse shall
curse them.

But as for those who turn to me, and amend and make known the
truth, even unto them will I turn me, for I am He who Turneth, the
Merciful.

Verily, they who are infidels and die infidels, these! upon them
shall be the malison of God and of angels and of all men:

Under it shall they remain for ever: their torment shall not be
lightened, and God will not even look upon them!

Your God is one God:65 there is no God but He, the
Compassionate, the Merciful.

Assuredly in the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth; and in
the alternation of night and day; and in the ships which pass
through the sea with what is useful to man; and in the rain which
God sendeth down from Heaven, giving life by it to the earth after
its death, and by scattering over it all kinds of cattle; and in the
change of the winds, and in the clouds that are made to do service
between the Heaven and the Earth; are signs for those who
understand.

Yet there are men who take to them idols along with God, and love
them with the love of God: But stronger in the faithful is the love
of God. Oh! the impious will see, when they see their
chastisement,
that all power is God's, and that God is severe in chastising.

When those who have had followers66 shall declare themselves
clear from their followers after that they have seen the
chastisement, and when the ties between them shall be cut
asunder;

The followers shall say, "Could we but return to life we would
keep ourselves clear from them, as they have declared themselves
clear of us." So will God shew them their works! Sighing is upon
them! but, forth from the fire they come not.

Oh men! eat of that which is lawful and good on the earth, but
follow not the steps of Satan, for he is your avowed enemy:

He only enjoineth you evil and wickedness, and that ye should
aver of God that which ye know not.

And when it is said to them, "Follow ye that which God hath sent
down;" they say, "Nay, we follow the usages which we found with
our fathers." What! though their fathers were utterly ignorant and
devoid of guidance?

The infidels resemble him who shouteth aloud to one who heareth
no more than a call and cry! Deaf, Dumb, blind: therefore they
have no understanding.

O ye who believe! eat of the good things with which we have
supplied you, and give God thanks if ye are His worshippers.

But that which dieth of itself, and blood, and swine's flesh, and
that over which any other name than that of God hath been
invoked, is forbidden you. But he who shall partake of them by
constraint, without lust or wilfulness, no sin shall be upon him.
Verily God is Indulgent, Merciful.

They truly who hide the Scriptures which God hath sent down, and
barter them for a mean price these shall swallow into their
bellies nought but fire. God will not speak to them, or assoil them,
on the day of the Resurrection: and theirs shall be a grievous
torment.

These are they who have bartered guidance for error, and pardon
for torment; But how great their endurance in fire!67

This shall be their doom, because God had sent down "the Book"
with the very truth. And verily they who dispute about that Book
are in a far-gone severance from it.

There is no piety in turning your faces toward the east or the west,
but he is pious who believeth in God, and the last day, and the
angles, and the Scriptures, and the prophets; who for the love of
God disburseth his wealth to his kindred, and to the orphans, and
the needy, and the wayfarer, and those who ask, and for
ransoming; who observeth prayer, and payeth the legal alms, and
who is of those who are faithful to their engagements when they
have engaged in them, and patient under ills and hardships, and in
time of trouble: these are they who are just, and these are they
who fear the Lord.

O believers! retaliation for bloodshedding is prescribed to you:
the free man for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the
woman for the woman: but he to whom his brother shall make any
remission,68 is to be dealt with equitably; and to him should he
pay
a fine with liberality.

This is a relaxation69 from your Lord and a mercy. For him who
after his shall transgress,70 a sore punishment!

But in this law of retaliation is your security for life, O men of
understanding! to the intent that ye may fear God.

It is prescribed to you, when any one of you is at the point of
death, if he leave goods, that he bequeath equitably to his parents
and kindred. This is binding on those who fear God. But as for him
who after he hath heard the bequest shall change it, surely the
wrong of this shall be on those who change it: verily, God
Heareth, Knoweth.

But he who feareth from the testator any mistake or wrong, and
shall make a settlement between the parties that shall be no
wrong in him: verily, God is Lenient, Merciful.

O believers! a Fast is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to
those before you, that ye may fear God,

For certain days. But he among you who shall be sick, or on a
journey, shall fast that same number of other days: and as for
those who are able to keep it and yet break it, the expiation of this
shall be the maintenance of a poor man. And he who of his own
accord performeth a good work, shall derive good from it: and
good shall it be for you to fast if ye knew it.

As to the month Ramadhan in which the Koran was sent down to
be man's guidance, and an explanation of that guidance, and of
that illumination,71 as soon as any one of you observeth the moon,
let him set about the fast; but he who is sick, or upon a journey,
shall fast a like number of other days. God wisheth you ease, but
wisheth not your discomfort, and that you fulfil the number of
days, and that you glorify God for his guidance, and that you be
thankful.

And when my servants ask thee concerning me, then will I be nigh
unto them. I will answer the cry of him that crieth, when he crieth
unto me: but let them hearken unto me, and believe in me, that
they may proceed aright.

You are allowed on the night of the fast to approach your wives:
they are your garment and ye are their garment.72 God knoweth
that ye defraud yourselves therein, so He turneth unto you and
forgiveth you! Now, therefore, go in unto them with full desire for
that which God hath ordained for you; and eat and drink until ye
can discern a white thread from a black thread73 by the daybreak:
then fast strictly till night, and go not in unto them, but rather pass
the time in the Mosques. These are the bounds set up by God:
therefore come not near them. Thus God maketh his signs clear to
men that they may fear Him.74

Consume not your wealth among yourselves in vain things, nor
present it to judges that ye may consume a part of other men's
wealth unjustly, while ye know the sin which ye commit.

They will ask thee of the new moons. SAY: They are periods fixed
for man's service and for the Pilgrimage. There is no piety in
entering your houses at the back,75 but piety consists in the fear of
God. Enter your houses then by their doors; and fear God that it
may be well with you.

And fight for the cause of God against those who fight against you:
but commit not the injustice of attacking them first: God loveth not
such injustice:

And kill them wherever ye shall find them, and eject them from
whatever place they have ejected you; for civil discord76 is worse
than carnage: yet attack them not at the sacred Mosque, unless
they attack you therein; but if they attack you, slay them. Such the
reward of the infidels.

But if they desist, then verily God is Gracious, Merciful.

Fight therefore against them until there be no more civil discord,
and the only worship be that of God: but if they desist, then let
there be no hostility, save against the wicked.

The sacred month and the sacred precincts are under the
safeguard of reprisals:77 whoever offereth violence to you, offer
ye
the like violence to him, and fear God, and know that God is with
those who fear Him.

Give freely for the cause of God, and throw not yourselves with
your own hands into ruin;78 and do good, for God loveth those
who
do good.

Accomplish the Pilgrimage and the Visitation79 of the holy places
in honour of God: and if ye be hemmed in by foes, send whatever
offering shall be the easiest: and shave not your heads until the
offering reach the place of sacrifice. But whoever among you is
sick, or hath an ailment of the head, must satisfy by fasting, or
alms, or an offering. And when ye are safe from foes, he who
contents himself with the Visitation of the holy places, until the
Pilgrimage, shall bring whatever offering shall be the easiest. But
he who findeth nothing to offer, shall fast three days in the
Pilgrimage itself, and seven days when ye return: they shall be ten
days in all. This is binding on him whose family shall not be
present at the sacred Mosque. And fear God, and know that God is
terrible in punishing.

Let the Pilgrimage be made in the months already known:80
whoever therefore undertaketh the Pilgrimage therein, let him not
know a woman, nor transgress, nor wrangle in the Pilgrimage. The
good which ye do, God knoweth it. And provide for your journey;
but the best provision is the fear of God: fear me, then, O men of
understanding!

It shall be no crime in you if ye seek an increase from your
Lord;81
and when ye pour swiftly on from Arafat, then remember God near
the holy monument; and remember Him, because He hath guided
you who before this were of those who went astray:

Then pass on quickly82 where the people quickly pass, and ask
pardon of God, for God is Forgiving, Merciful.

And when ye have finished your holy rites, remember God as ye
remember your own fathers, or with a yet more intense
remembrance! Some men there are who say, "O our Lord! give us
our portion in this world:" but such shall have no portion in the
next life:

And some say, "O our Lord! give us good in this world and good
in the next, and keep us from the torment of the fire."

They shall have the lot which they have merited: and God is swift
to reckon.

Bear God in mind during the stated days: but if any haste away83
in two days, it shall be no fault in him: And if any tarry longer, it
shall be no fault in him, if he fear God. Fear God, then, and know
that to Him shall ye be gathered.

A man there is84 who surpriseth thee by his discourse concerning
this life present. He taketh God to witness what is in his heart; yet
is he the most zealous in opposing thee:

And when he turneth his back on thee, he runneth through the land
to enact disorders therein, and layeth waste the fields and flocks:
but God loveth not the disorder.

And when it is said to him, "Fear God," the pride of sin seizeth
him: but he shall have his fill of Hell; and right wretched the
couch!

A man, too, there is85 who selleth his very self out of desire to
please God: and God is good to his servants.

O believers! enter completely into the true religion, and follow not
the steps of Satan, for he is your declared enemy.

But if ye lapse after that our clear signs86 have come to you, know
that God is Mighty, Wise.

What can such expect but that God should come down to them
overshadowed with clouds, and the angels also, and their doom be
sealed? And to God shall all things return.

Ask the children of Isreal how many clear signs we have given
them. But if any man shall alter the boon87 of God after it shall
have reached him, assuredly God will be vehement in punishing
him.

This present life is prepared for those who believe not, and who
mock at the faithful. But they who fear God shall be above them
on
the day of resurrection; and God is bounteous without measure to
whom He will.

Mankind was but one people;88 and God sent prophets to
announce
glad tidings and to warn; and He sent down with them the Book of
Truth, that it might decide the disputes of men; and none disputed
but those to whom the Book had been given, after the clear tokens
had reached them, being full of mutual jealousy. And God guided
those who believed to the truth of that about which, by his
permission, they had disputed; for God guideth whom he pleaseth
into the straight path.

Think ye to enter Paradise, when no such things have come upon
you, as on those who flourish before you? Ills and troubles tried
them; and so tossed were they by trials, that the Apostle and they
who shared his faith, said, "When will the help of God come?" Is
not the help of God nigh?

They will ask thee what they shall bestow in alms. SAY: Let the
good which ye bestow be for parents, and kindred, and orphans,
and the poor, and the wayfarer; and whatever good ye do, of a
truth God knoweth.

War is prescribed to you: but from this ye are averse.

Yet haply ye are averse from a thing, though it be good for you,
and haply ye love a thing though it be bad for you: And God
knoweth; but ye, ye know not.

They will ask thee concerning war in the Sacred Month. SAY: To
war therein is bad, but to turn aside from the cause of God, and to
have no faith in Him, and in the Sacred Temple, and to drive out
its people, is worse in the sight of God; and civil strife is worse
than bloodshed. They will not cease to war against you until they
turn you from your religion, if they be able: but whoever of you
shall turn from his religion and die an infidel, their works shall be
fruitless in this world, and in the next: they shall be consigned to
the fire; therein to abide for aye.

But they who believe, and who fly their country, and fight in the
cause of God may hope for God's mercy: and God is Gracious,
Merciful.

They will ask thee concerning wine89 and games of chance. SAY:
In
both is great sin, and advantage also, to men; but their sin is
greater than their advantage. They will ask thee also what they
shall bestow in alms:

SAY: What ye can spare. Thus God sheweth you his signs that ye
may ponder

On this present world, and on the next. They will also ask thee
concerning orphans. SAY: Fair dealing with them is best;

But if ye mix yourselves up (in their affairs) they are your
brethren: God knoweth the foul dealer from the fair: and, if God
pleased, he could indeed afflict you! Verily, God is Mighty, Wise.

Marry not idolatresses until they believe; a slave who believeth is
better than an idolatress, though she please you more. And wed
not your daughters to idolaters until they believe; for a slave who
is a believer, is than better an idolater, though he please you.

They invite to the Fire; but God inviteth to Paradise, and to
pardon, if he so will, and maketh clear his signs to men that they
may remember.

They will also question thee as to the courses of women. SAY:
They
are a pollution. Separate yourselves therefore from women and
approach them not, until they be cleansed. But when they are
cleansed, go in unto them as God hath ordained for you. Verily
God loveth those who turn to Him, and loveth those who seek to
be
clean.

Your wives are your field: go in, therefore, to your field as ye will;
but do first some act for your souls' good: and fear ye God, and
know that ye must meet Him; and bear these good tidings to the
faithful.

Swear not by God, when ye make oath, that ye will be virtuous and
fear God, and promote peace among men; for God is He who
Heareth, Knoweth.

God will not punish you for a mistake in your oaths: but He will
punish you for that which your hearts have done. God is Gracious,
Merciful.

They who intend to abstain from their wives shall wait four
months; but if they go back from their purpose, then verily God is
Gracious, Merciful:

And if they resolve on a divorce, then verily God is He who
Heareth, Knoweth.

The divorced shall wait the result, until they have had their
courses thrice, nor ought they to conceal what God hath created in
their wombs, if they believe in God and the last day; and it will be
more just in their husbands to bring them back when in this state,
if they desire what is right. And it is for the women to act as they
(the husbands) act by them, in all fairness; but the men are a step
above them. God is Mighty, Wise.

Ye may divorce your wives twice: Keep them honourably, or put
them away with kindness. But it is not allowed you to appropriate
to yourselves aught of what ye have given to them, unless both fear
that they cannot keep within the bounds90 set up by God. And if
ye
fear that they cannot observe the ordinances of God, no blame
shall attach to either of you for what the wife shall herself give for
her redemption. These are the bounds of God: therefore overstep
them not; for whoever oversteppeth the bounds of God, they are
evil doers.

But if the husband divorce her a third time, it is not lawful for him
to take her again, until she shall have married another husband;
and if he also divorce her, then shall no blame attach to them if
they return to each other, thinking that they can keep within the
bounds fixed by God. And these are the bounds of God; He maketh
them clear to those who have knowledge.

But when ye divorce women, and the time for sending them away
is come, either retain them with generosity, or put them away with
generosity: but retain them not by constraint so as to be unjust
towards them. He who doth so, doth in fact injure himself. And
make not the signs of God a jest; but remember God's favour
toward you, and the Book and the Wisdom which He hath sent
down to you for your warning, and fear God, and know that God's
knowledge embraceth everything.

And when ye divorce your wives, and they have waited the
prescribed time, hinder them not from marrying their husbands
when they have agreed among themselves in an honourable way.
This warning is for him among you who believeth in God and in
the last day. This is most pure for you, and most decent. God
knoweth, but ye know not.

Mothers, when divorced, shall give suck to their children two full
years,91 if the father desire that the suckling be completed; and
such maintenance and clothing as is fair for them, shall devolve on
the father. No person shall be charged beyond his means. A
mother shall not be pressed unfairly for her child, nor a father for
his child: And the same with the father's heir. But if they choose to
wean the child by consent and by bargain, it shall be no fault in
them. And if ye choose to have a nurse for your children, it shall
be no fault in you, in case ye pay what ye promised her according
to that which is fair. Fear God, and know that God seeth what ye
do.

If those of you who die leave wives, they must await their state
during four months and ten days; and when this their term is
expired, you shall not be answerable for the way in which they
shall dispose of themselves fairly. And God is cognisant of what ye
do.

And then shall no blame attach to you in making proposals of
marriage92 to such women, or in keeping such intention to
yourselves? God knoweth that ye will not forget them. But promise
them not in secret, unless ye speak honourable words;

And resolve not on the marriage tie until the prescribed time be
reached; and know that God knoweth what is in your minds:
therefore, beware of Him; and know that God is Gracious, Mild!

It shall be no crime in you if ye divorce your wives so long as ye
have not consummated the marriage, nor settled any dowry on
them. And provide what is needful for them he who is in ample
circumstances according to his means, and he who is straitened,
according to his means with fairness: This is binding on those
who do what is right.

But if ye divorce them before consummation, and have already
settled a dowry on them, ye shall give them half of what ye have
settled, unless they make a release, or he make a release in whose
hand is the marriage tie. But if ye make a release, it will be nearer
to piety. And forget not generosity in your relations one towards
another; for God beholdeth your doings.

Observe strictly the prayers, and the middle93 prayer, and stand up
full of devotion towards God.

And if you have any alarm, then pray on foot or riding: but when
you are safe, then remember God, how he hath made you to know
what ye knew not.

And94 such of you as shall die and leave wives, shall bequeath
their wives a year's maintenance without causing them to quit
their homes; but if they quit them of their own accord, then no
blame shall attach to you for any disposition they may make of
themselves in a fair way. And God is Mighty, Wise.

And for the divorced let there be a fair provision. This is a duty in
those who fear God.

Thus God maketh his signs clear to you that ye may understand.

Hast thou not thought on those who quitted their dwellings and
they were thousands for fear of death?95 God said to them,
"Die:" then He restored them to life, for full of bounty towards
man is God. But most men give not thanks!

Fight for the cause of God; and know that God is He who Heareth,
Knoweth.

Who is he that will lend to God a goodly loan? He will double it to
him again and again: God is close, but open handed also: and to
Him shall ye return.

Hast thou not considered96 the assembly of the children of Israel
after the death of Moses, when they said to a prophet of theirs,
"Set up for us a king; we will do battle for the cause of God?" He
said, "May it not be that if to fight were ordained you, ye would
not fight?" They said, "And why should we not fight in the cause
of God, since we and our children are driven forth from our
dwellings?" But when fighting was commanded them, they turned
back, save a few of them: But God knew the offenders!

And their prophet said to them, "Now hath God set (Talout) Saul
king over you." They said, "How shall he reign over us, when we
are more worthy of the kingdom than he, and of wealth he hath no
abundance?" He said, "Verily God hath chosen him to be over
you, and hath given him increase in knowledge and stature; God
giveth his kingdom to whom he pleaseth; and God is Liberal,
Knowing!"

And their prophet said to them, "Verily, the sign of his kingship
shall be that the Ark shall come to you: in it is a pledge of
security97 from your Lord and the relics98 left by the family of
Moses, and the family of Aaron; the angels shall bear it: Truly
herein shall be a sign indeed to you if ye are believers."

And when Saul marched forth with his forces, he said, "God will
test you by a river: He who drinketh of it shall not be of my band;
but he who shall not taste it, drinking a drink out of the hand
excepted, shall be of my band."99 And, except a few of them, they
drank of it. And when they had passed it, he and those who
believed with him, the former said, "We have no strength this day
against (Djalout) Goliath and his forces:" But they who held it as
certain that they must meet God, said, "How oft, by God's will,
hath a small host vanquished a numerous host! and God is with the
steadfastly enduring."

And when they went forth against Goliath and his forces, they
said, "O our Lord! pour out steadfastness upon us, and set our feet
firm, and help us against the infidels!"

And by the will of God they routed them; and (Daood) David slew
Goliath; and God gave him the kingship and wisdom, and taught
him according to His will: and were it not for the restraint of one
by means of the other, imposed on men by God, verily the earth
had been utterly corrupted. But God is bounteous to his creatures.

Such are the signs of God: with truth do we rehearse them to thee,
for one of the Sent Ones art Thou.

Some of the apostles we have endowed more highly than others:
Those to whom God hath spoken, He hath raised to the loftiest
grade, and to Jesus the Son of Mary we gave manifest signs, and
we strengthened him with the Holy Spirit.100 And if God had
pleased, they who came after them would not have wrangled, after
the clear signs had reached them. But into disputes101 they fell:
some of them believed, and some were infidels; yet if God had
pleased, they would not have thus wrangled: but God doth what he
will.

O Believers! give alms of that with which we have supplied you,
before the day cometh when there shall be no trafficking, nor
friendship, nor intercession. And the infidels are the wrong-doers.

God! There is no God but He; the Living, the Eternal; Nor slumber
seizeth Him, nor sleep; His, whatsoever is in the Heavens and
whatsoever is in the Earth! Who is he that can intercede with Him
but by His own permission? He knoweth what hath been before
them and what shall be after them; yet nought of His knowledge
shall they grasp, save what He willeth. His Throne reacheth over
the Heavens and the Earth, and the upholding of both burdeneth
Him not; and He is the High, the Great!

Let there be no compulsion in Religion.102 Now is the right way
made distinct from error. Whoever therefore shall deny
Thagout103
and believe in God he will have taken hold on a strong handle
that shall not be broken: and God is He who Heareth, Knoweth.

God is the patron of believers: He shall bring them out of darkness
into light:

As to those who believe not, their patrons are Thagout: they shall
bring them out of light into darkness: they shall be given over to
the fire: they shall abide therein for ever.

Hast thou not thought on him104 who disputed with Abraham
about
his Lord, because God had given him the kingdom? When
Abraham said, "My Lord is He who maketh alive and cause to
die:" He said, "It is I who make alive and cause to die!" Abraham
said, "Since God bringeth the sun from the East, do thou, then,
bring it from the West." The infidel was confounded; for God
guideth not the evil doers:

Or how he105 demeaned him who passed by a city which had been
laid in ruins.106 "How," said he, "shall God give life to this city,
after she hath been dead?" And God caused him to die for an
hundred years, and then raised him to life. And God said, "How
long hast thou waited?" He said, "I have waited a day or part of a
day." He said, "Nay, thou hast waited an hundred years. Look on
thy food and thy drink; they are not corrupted; and look on thine
ass: we would make thee a sign unto men: And look on the bones
of thine ass, how we will raise them, then clothe them with flesh."
And when this was shewn to him, he said, "I acknowledge that
God hath power to do all things."

When Abraham said, "O Lord, shew me how thou wilt give life to
the dead!" He said, "Hast thou not believed?"

He said, "Yes; but I have asked thee, that my heart may be well
assured." He said, "Take, then, four birds,107 and draw them
towards thee, and cut them in pieces; then place a part of them on
every mountain; then call them and they shall come swiftly to thee:
and know thou that God is Might, Wise!"

The likeness of those who expend their wealth for the cause of
God, is that of a grain of corn which produceth seven ears, and in
each ear a hundred grains; and God will multiply to whom He
pleaseth: God is Liberal, Knowing!

They who expend their wealth for the cause of God, and never
follow what they have laid out with reproaches or harm, shall have
their reward with their Lord; no fear shall come upon them,
neither shall they be put to grief.

A kind speech and forgiveness is better than alms followed by
injury. God is Rich, Clement.

O ye who believe! make not your alms void by reproaches and
injury, like him who spendeth his substance to be seen of men, and
believeth not in God and in the latter day. The likeness of such an
one is that of a rock with a thin soil upon it, on which a heavy rain
falleth but leaveth it hard: No profit from their works shall they be
able to gain; for God guideth not the unbelieving people.

And the likeness of those who expend their substance from a
desire
to please God, and for the stablishing of their souls, is as a garden
on a hill, on which the heavy rain falleth, and it yieldeth its fruits
twofold; and even if a heavy rain fall not on it, yet is there a dew:
God beholdeth your actions.

Desireth any one of you a garden of palms and vines through
which rivers flow, in which he may have every fruit, and that old
age should surprise him there, and that his offspring should be
weakly, and that then a fiery violent wind shall strike it so that it
shall be burned? Thus God maketh plain his signs to you that ye
may reflect.

O ye who believe! bestow alms of the good things which ye have
acquired, and of that which we have brought forth for you out of
the earth, and choose not the bad for almsgiving, 270 Such as ye
would accept yourselves only by connivance: and know that God is
Rich, Praiseworthy.

Satan menaceth you with poverty,108 and enjoineth base actions:
but God promiseth you pardon from himself and abundance: God
is All-bounteous, Knowing.

He giveth wisdom to whom He will: and he to whom wisdom is
given, hath had much good given him; but none will bear it in
mind, except the wise of heart.

And whatever alms ye shall give, or whatever vow ye shall vow, of
a truth God knoweth it: but they who act unjustly shall have no
helpers. Give ye your alms openly?109 it is well. Do ye conceal
them and give them to the poor? This, too, will be of advantage to
you, and will do away your sins: and God is cognisant of your
actions.

Their guidance is not thine affair, O Muhammad; but God guideth
whom he pleaseth. And the good that ye shall give in alms shall
redound unto yourselves; and ye shall not give but as seeking the
face of God; and whatever good thing ye shall have given in alms,
shall be repaid you, and ye shall not be wronged. There are among
you the poor, who being shut up to fighting for the cause of God,
have it not in their power to strike out into the earth for riches.
Those who know them not, think them rich because of their
modesty. By this their token thou shalt know them they ask not of
men with importunity: and of whatever good thing ye shall give
them in alms, of a truth God will take knowledge.

They who give away their substance in alms, by night and day, in
private and in public, shall have their reward with their Lord: no
fear shall come on them, neither shall they be put to grief.

They who swallow down usury, shall arise in the resurrection only
as he ariseth whom Satan hath infected by his touch. This, for that
they say, "Selling is only the like of usury:" and yet God hath
allowed selling, and forbidden usury. He then who when this
warning shall come to him from his Lord, abstaineth, shall have
pardon for the past, and his lot shall be with God. But they who
return to usury, shall be given over to the fire; therein shall they
abide for ever.

God will bring usury to nought, but will increase alms with usury,
and God loveth no infidel, or evil person. But they who believe
and
do the things that are right, and observe the prayers, and pay the
legal impost, they shall have their reward with their Lord: no fear
shall come on them, neither shall they be put to grief.

O believers! fear God and abandon your remaining usury, if ye are
indeed believers.

But if ye do it not, then hearken for war on the part of God and his
apostle: yet if ye repent, ye shall have the principal of your money.
Wrong not, and ye shall not be wronged.

If any one find difficulty in discharging a debt, then let there be a
delay until it be easy for him: but if ye remit it as alms it will be
better for you, if ye knew it.

Fear the day wherein ye shall return to God: then shall every soul
be rewarded according to its desert, and none shall have injustice
done to them.

O ye who believe! when ye contract a debt (payable) at a fixed
date, write it down, and let the notary faithfully note between you:
and let not the notary refuse to note, even as God hath taught him;
but let him note it down, and let him who oweth the debt dictate,
and let him fear God his Lord, and not diminish aught thereof. But
if he who oweth the debt be foolish or weak, or be not able to
dictate himself, let his friend dictate for him with fairness; and call
to witness two witnesses of your people: but if there be not two
men, let there be a man, and two women of those whom ye shall
judge fit for witnesses: if the one of them should mistake, the other
may cause her to recollect. And the witnesses shall not refuse,
whenever they shall be summoned. And disdain not to put the debt
in writing, be it large or small, with its time of payment: this will
be more just for you in the sight of God, better suited for
witnessing, and the best for avoiding doubt. But if the goods be
there present, and ye pass them from hand to hand then it shall
be no fault in you not to write it down. And have witnesses when
ye
sell, and harm not writer or witness: it will be a crime in you to do
this. But fear God and God will give you knowledge, for God hath
knowledge of all things.

And if ye be on a journey and shall find no notary, let pledges be
taken: but if one of you trust the other, let him who is trusted,
restore what he is trusted with, and fear God his Lord. And refuse
not to give evidence. He who refuseth is surely wicked at heart:
and God knoweth your deeds.

Whatever is in the Heavens and in the Earth is God's: and whether
ye bring forth to light what is in your minds or conceal it, God will
reckon with you for it; and whom He pleaseth will He forgive, and
whom He pleaseth will He punish; for God is All-powerful.

The apostle believeth in that which hath been sent down from his
Lord, as do the faithful also. Each one believeth in God, and His
Angels, and His Books, and His Apostles: we make no distinction
between any of His Apostles.110 And they say, "We have heard
and
we obey. Thy mercy, Lord! for unto thee must we return."

God will not burden any soul beyond its power. It shall enjoy the
good which it hath acquired, and shall bear the evil for the
acquirement of which it laboured. O our Lord! punish us not if we
forget, or fall into sin; O our Lord! and lay not on us a load like
that which thou hast laid on those who have been before us; O our
Lord! and lay not on us that for which we have not strength: but
blot out our sins and forgive us, and have pity on us. Thou art our
protector: give us victory therefore over the infidel nations.

_______________________

1 The greater part of this, the oldest of the Medina Suras, was
revealed in the early part of the second year of the Hejira and
previously to the battle of Bedr. The Hejira took place in the
beginning of Muharram, or middle of April, A.D. 622. The
numbers who emigrated with Muhammad at first, were about 150
persons. Medina is 250 miles north of Mecca, and ten days'
journey.

2 Said to mean A mara li Muhammad, i.e. at the command of
Muhammad; but see Sura 1xviii. p. 32.

3 Death, Resurrection, Judgment, etc.

4 The Jews.

5 The Jews and Christians, hostile to the mission of Muhammad.

6 Lit. the similitude of them is as the similitude of, etc.

7 The people of Medina are generally addressed with "O ye who
believe;" the Meccans, with "O men." Hence it has been inferred
that from verse 19 (O men) to 37 inclusively, is of the Meccan
period. The subjects treated of also lead to this conclusion.

8 The statues of false gods.

9 It will be an agreeable surprise to the blessed to have fruits,
which at first sight resemble those of earth, but are infinitely more
delicious,.

10 Muhammad had been reproached for having drawn
illustrations from the Ant, Bee, Spider, etc.

11 Concerning faith in Muhammad. See verse 39 below, note.

12 The number of the Heavens is borrowed from the Talmud, or
traditions based upon it; but the idea probably has its root in the
Scriptural expression, "Heaven of Heavens."

13 Lit. a caliph, vicegerent. "When the Holy One, Blessed be He,
would create man, He took counsel with the Angels and said to
them, We will make man in our image." Midr. Rabbah on Numb.
iv. par. 19. Comp. Midr. on Gen. 1, par. 8, 17. Sanhedr. 38.

14 "God said to the Angels, 'His wisdom is greater than yours.'
Then brought he before them beasts, cattle, and birds, and asked
for their names, but they knew them not. But when he had created
man," etc. Midr. as above.

15 Or, if ye are truthful, or can make good a better claim to the
vicegerency.

16 In the name Eblis (diabolos) and in the honour claimed for
Adam as a kind of Godman, there are traces of a Christian
original, as well as in the identification of the serpent with Satan.
Comp. Ps. civ. 4; Heb. i. 6. The Talmudists also enlarge on the
honour paid to Adam. "Adam sat in the garden and the Angels
brought him flesh and cooling wine." Sanhedr. 29. "In the hour
when the Holy One, Blessed be He, created man, the Angels went
astray in regard to him, and essayed to say before him, 'O Holy
One!' then God permitted sleep to fall on him, and all knew that he
was of earth." Midr. Rabbah on Gen. par. 8. It is possible that the
Arabic word balas, a profligate, wicked person, may have
influenced Muhammad in the formation of the word Eblis. See
note, p. 185. Eblis is used in the Arabic version of the New
Testament, for the probable date of which, see Tischendorf, Prol.
p. 78.

17 Observe the change from Eblis, the calumniator, to Satan, the
hater.

18 Muhammad rarely accused the Jews and Christians of
corrupting, but often of misinterpreting, their Sacred Books, in
order to evade his claims. His charges, however, are always very
vaguely worded, and his utterances upon this subject are
tantamount to a strong testimony in favour of the unimpeachable
integrity of the sacred books, both of the Jews and Christians, so
far as he knew them. See Sura [lxxxvii.] vii. 168, and v. 73 below.

19 See Sura [lxv.] xxi. 49.

20 Lit. slay one another.

21 The Talmudists relate how the Israelites who had died, on
hearing the divine voice, etc., were restored by the intercession of
the Law itself. Sanh. 5.

22 By storing them up in violation of God's command.

23 Jericho according to some commentators, Jerusalem according
to others, but see verse 58.

24 See Sura [lxxxvii.] vii. 162.

25 Lit. all men. This incident is perhaps inadvertently borrowed
from Ex. xv. 27.

26 This passage (comp. xxvi. 59) is one of the numerous
anachronisms which abound in the Koran and prove the gross
ignorance of the Arabian Prophet.

27 The Sabeites are identical with the Mendaites, or so-called
Christians of S. John, residing in the marshy district at the mouth
of the Euphrates, but are not the same with the star-worshipping
Sabians of Harran in Mesopotamia. See D'Herbelot, Bibl. Or.
under the word Sabi; Assemani, Bibl. Or. iii. 2, 609. For curious
details as to the elements of the Sabeite religion, see Chwolson's
SSabier and SSabaismus I.

28 See Sura [lxxxvii.] vii. 170.

29 See Sura [lxxxvii.] vii. 164.

30 Compare Numb. xix.; Deut. xxii. 1 9. The cow was to be
sacrificed in order that a murderer might be discovered through
the miracle to be wrought on the corpse by a piece of her flesh.

31 To please you, O Muslims.

32 This is one of the passages which shews great familiarity with
the habits of the Jews, on the part of Muhammad. See Maracci's
Prodr. i. 44. Wahl's Einleitung, xxx. xxxv.

33 The Pentateuch. This passage shews that the art of writing was
known in Medina shortly after the Hejira.

34 Forty days; the period during which they worshipped the calf.

35 The blood of those who are as your own flesh.

36 Two Jewish tribes (Koreidha and Nadhir) in alliance with
certain Arab tribes who were at war, destroyed one another's
abodes, but redeemed the Jewish captives, professing that they
were commanded to do this by the Law. So the commentators.

37 Gabriel. Muhammad either knowingly rejected the divinity of
the Holy Ghost, or confounded Gabriel announcing the
conception, with the Holy Spirit that overshadowed Mary. It is
probable that Muhammad's ideas of the Spirit were at first
indefinite, but that the two expressions, Gabriel and the Holy
Spirit, became ultimately synonymous. See note on Sura [lxvii.]
xvii. 87. Geiger (p. 82) quotes an instance in which the Jewish
expositors understand the distinctly-speaking Spirit (Sanhedr. 44)
of Gabriel.

38 The gift of the prophetic office, etc., to a pagan Arab and not to
a Jew.

39 Matt. xxiii. 37.

40 See Sura vii. 170, p. 309.

41 Comp. 1 Tim. v. 24.

42 In Solomon's Books of Magic. This story has been supposed to
be of Persian origin. See Hyde de Rel. Vet. Pers. ch. xii. But from
a passage in the Midr. Abhkhir quoted in the Midr. Jalkut, ch. 44,
and from a quotation in Maracci's Prodr. iv. 82, Geiger infers that
Muhammad has transferred to the time of Solomon, the Rabbinic
traditions concerning the influence of angels upon men at the time
of the Deluge. p. 106. "Babel is regarded by the Muslims as the
fountain head of the science of magic. They suppose Haroot and
Maroot to be two angels who, in consequence of their want of
compassion for the frailties of mankind, were sent down to earth to
be tempted. They both sinned; and being permitted to choose
whether they would be punished now or hereafter, chose the
former, and are still suspended by the feet at Babel in a rocky pit,
and are the great teachers of magic." (Lane on ch. iii. note 14 of
the 1001 Nights.)

43 Raina, as pronounced in Hebrew, "our bad one;" but in
Arabic, "look upon us," a kind of salutation of the same
signification as ondhorna, which, however, does not admit of any
secondary bad sense like raina.

44 Comp. Sura xvi. 103; iv. 84. The Muslims admit that there are
225 verses cancelled by later ones. The doctrine of "abrogation"
is taught in the Talmud. Thus Hilchoth Mamrim, ii. 1, 2, etc.

45 That is, does not weigh the evidence for Muhammad's mission
already given, but demands, as the Jews did, to see God himself.

46 In all Muhammadan countries the first time of prayer is the
moghreb or sunset, or rather, four minutes later; the second the
eshe, when it has become quite dark; the third the soobh or fegr,
the daybreak; the fourth, doohr, or a little after noon, when the
sun has begun to decline; the fifth, the asr, midway between noon
and nightfall. The obligatory legal alms or impost are called, as
here, zekah (lit. purity), the voluntary, sudackah. It is, however,
left to the conscience of individuals to give and to apply them as
they think fit.

47 The idolatrous Arabs.

48 If this verse is aimed at the Meccans who, in the 6th year of the
Hejira, forbad Muhammad and his followers to enter the temple of
Mecca in the expedition of Hodeibiya, it is misplaced here.

49 Abrogated by verse 139 below.

50 The Caaba.

51 Freytag (Einl. p. 339) says that there is no good reason for
doubting that the Caaba was founded as stated in this passage. See
note on Sura [xcvii.] iii. 90.

52 Deut. xviii. 15.

53 "At the time when our father Jacob quitted this world, be
summoned his twelve sons and said to them, Hearken to your
father Israel (Gen. xlix. 2). Have ye any doubts in your hearts
concerning the Holy One, Blessed be He! They said, Hear, O
Israel, our Father. As there is no doubt in thy heart, so neither is
there in ours. For the Lord is our God, and He is one." Midr.
Rabbah on Gen. par. 98, and on Deut. par. 2. Comp. also Targ.
Jer. on Deut. vi. 4. Tract. Pesachim, 56.

54 See Sura [lxxiii.] xvi. 121, n., p. 209.

55 Ibn Batutah assures us (vol. ii. 10) that when in the 14th
century he visited Basra, he saw in the mosque the copy of the
Koran which the Caliph Othman had in his hands when murdered,
and that the marks of his blood were still visible at the words of
this verse. Othman's originals are also said to be preserved in
Egypt, Morocco, Damascus, Mecca, and Medina. See M.
Quatremere in Journ. Asiatique, Juillet, 1838.

56 The original simply has Baptism of God. This may be
understood either of Islam generally, or, with Ullmann, in the
more restricted sense of circumcision. Perhaps Muhammad used
the word advisedly as a hint to the Christians of his land, that in
the reception of his religion consisted the true new birth.

57 Or, intermediate, i.e., according to the commentators, not
addicted to excess, just. Ullm. ein vermittelndes Volk, zwischen
Juden und Christen die Mitte haltend.

58 In having prayed towards Jerusalem.

59 Of Mecca. This change of the Kebla from Jerusalem to Mecca
shows that this part of the Sura was revealed at a time when the
breach between Muhammad and the Jews was past healing; i.c. in
the first half of the second year of the Hejira. See Thilo's. Cod.
Apoc. p. 21, n.

60 That is, the Jews are really convinced of the truth of
Muhammad's mission.

61 That is, warring with the infidels. The precise date of verses
148 152 depends upon whether this passage refers to the battle of
Bedr or Ohod.

62 These words are constantly used by the pious Muslims when in
any trouble.

63 Hills in the sacred territory of Mecca, which had long been
objects of superstitious reverence to the idolatrous Arabs, on
which account the Muslims were at first unwilling to include them
among the sacred places.

64 The Pentateuch. See verse 141.

65 This and the three following verses are probably Meccan, as
also verses 167 171.

66 The ringleaders of infidelity and idolatrous faiths.

67 Freyt. Lex. vol. ii. p. 477 Quid eos agere coegit quemadmodum
damnati agunt? But Mar. Quanta erit sustinentia corum!
68 To whom his brother, that is, any Arab or believer, shall remit
the penalty of death.

69 Of the stricter Mosaic lex talionis, as well of the ante-Islamitic
Arabian custom, by which the killing of a slave was avenged by
the
death of a free man, and the killing of a woman by taking the life
of a man. See Freyt. Einl. p. 193. Comp. Ex. xxi. 23.

70 That is, by killing the manslayer.

71 On the word Furquan, see Sura [1xv.] xxi. 49.

72 A mutual comfort to each other.

73 Thus Misch. Berachoth, 1, 2, "Prayer is to be said as soon as
one can distinguish between a blue and white thread."

74 Judging from the minuteness of the precepts laid down in this
and the following verses to 193, it would appear that they were
added at a late period of Muhammad's residence at Medina.

75 Such appears to have been the superstitious custom of the
Arabs after their return from pilgrimages to Mecca.

76 Their driving you out of Mecca; or, the temptation (to idolatry).

77 Lit. the sacred month for the sacred month, and the sacred
precincts or things (for) reprisals. The meaning of this difficult
passage is that in wars for the cause of religion, the sacred month
and the temple of Mecca may be made the time and scene of
contests, which then and there are usually prohibited. For the most
accurate information as to the Pilgrimage, see Freytag, Einl. 418.

78 This shows that Muhammad inculcated the doctrine of entire
freedom of the will.

79 The greater Pilgrimage, which every Muslim is bound to
perform once in his life, is the Hadjat el Farz (the one obligatory
Pilgrimage), or the Hadjat el Islam. The Umrah, or little
pilgrimage, may be performed at any time except the pilgrimage
season, and its ceremonies are much fewer. They are described by
Lieut. Burton in his "Pilgrimage," vol. iii. ch. xxviii.

80 Namely, Shawƒl, Dhu'lkaada, and Dhu'lhajja.

81 By trading during the Hadj.

82 The pilgrims move on very rapidly when in the immediate
neighbourhood of the Holy Places.

83 From the valley of Mina.

84 Said to have been one Al Akhnas Ibn Shoraik, a dissembler
with
Muhammad.

85 Sohaib, when he joined the standard of Muhammad, left all his
property in the hands of the infidels.

86 Verses 204 210 are probably addressed to those Muslims who
were desirous to observe certain parts of the Jewish law.

87 The Koran.

88 That is, there was originally but one religion in the world.

89 Comp. Sura [c.] iv. 42, and [cxiv.] v. 99, 100.

90 Limits, fences. The word is Talmudic. Thus Pirke Aboth, i.
"The
men of the great synagogue said Make a fence for the law;"
and iii. 13, "Tradition is a fence to the law."

91 Comp. Sura [lxxxii.] xxxi. 13.

92 Within the four months and ten days.

93 Either the asr, midway between noon and nightfall (see verse
104 above) or the prayer immediately after midday. See note on
Sura [c.] iv. 46.

94 This verse is certainly older than the commencement of Sura iv.
which alters the law here laid down.

95 Comp. Ezek. xxxvii. 1 10. These Jews are said by some
commentators to have abandoned their dwellings through fear of a
pestilence (comp. Talmud Sanhed. 92); by others, for fear of being
compelled to serve in the wars of God.

96 This and the seven following verses shew that Muhammad,
foreseeing an open rupture with the people of Medina at no distant
period, felt it necessary to stimulate the zeal and courage of his
partisans by examples from Jewish history.

97 Ar. Shechinah. See Freytag Lex. in v. This word, as well as the
Arabic word for ark (p. 95, n.) betray in their form a Rabbinic
origin.

98 The shoes and rod of Moses, the mitre of Aaron, the vase of
manna, the fragments of the two tables of the law.

99 Observe the confusion between Gideon and Saul.

100 See verse 81.

101 The drift of these words, which are of such frequent
recurrence in the Koran, is, that the former revelations had been
abused, and instead of leading them to Islam broke them up into
sects and dissentient parties.

102 This verse must have been revealed before Muhammad felt
himself secure in his new position at Medina.
103 A name applied to an idol or idols especially Allat and Ozza,
the ancient idols of the Meccans. The termination of the word
Thagout is more Hebraic than pure Arabic, and literally means
error.
104 Nimrod.

105 Ozair or Esdras doubted whether Jerusalem could be rebuilt
after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, and the miracle here
narrated, was wrought for his assurance. The fable has its origin
in the circuit made by Nehemiah around the ruined city. Neh. ii.
13.

106 Lit. it was falling on its roofs.

107 Comp. Gen. xv. 9.

108 That is, Satan would dissuade you from liberal contributions
by instilling the fear of poverty.

109 Comp. Matt. vi. 3, 4.
110 This contradicts verse 254, as well as several verses in Sura
[1viii.] xix.

SURA XCVIII. CLEAR EVIDENCE [XCII.]

MEDINA. 8 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

THE unbelievers among the people of the Book, and the
Polytheists, did not waver, until the CLEAR EVIDENCE had
come
to them;

A messenger from God, reciting to them the pure pages wherein
are true Scriptures!

Neither were they to whom the Scriptures were given divided into
sects, till after this clear evidence had reached them!

Yet was not aught enjoined on them but to worship God with
sincere religion, sound in faith; and to observe prayer and pay the
stated alms. For this is true religion.

But the unbelievers among the people of the Book, and among the
Polytheists, shall go into the fire of Gehenna to abide therein for
aye. Of all creatures are they the worst!

But they who believe and do the things that are right these of all
creatures are the best!

Their recompense with their Lord shall be gardens of Eden, 'neath
which the rivers flow, in which they shall abide for evermore.

God is well pleased in them and they in Him! This, for him who
feareth his Lord.

SURA LXIV. MUTUAL DECEIT [XCIII.]

MEDINA.1 18 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ALL that is in the Heavens, and all that is in the Earth, praiseth
God: His the Kingdom and His the Glory! And He hath power over
all things!

It is He who hath created you all; yet some of you are infidel and
others believers: but God beholdeth all your actions.

He hath created the Heavens and the Earth in Truth; and He hath
fashioned you and given you goodly forms; and to Him must ye all
return.

He knoweth all that passeth in the Heavens and in the Earth; and
He knoweth what ye hide and what ye bring to light; and God
knoweth the very secrets of men's breasts.

Hath not the story reached you of those who disbelieved of yore,
and therefore tasted the evil consequences of their doings? And a
sore punishment doth await them.

This, for that when their apostles came to them with the clear
tokens, they said, "What! shall men be our guides?" And they
believed not and turned their backs. But God can dispense with
them; for God is the Rich, the Praiseworthy!

The infidels pretend that they shall not be raised from the dead.
SAY: Yea, by my Lord, ye shall surely be raised; then shall ye
surely be told of your deeds! And easy is this for God.

Believe then in God and his apostle and in the light which we have
sent down; for God is fully aware of all ye do.

The day when He shall gather you together for the day of mutual
gathering, will be the day of MUTUAL DECEIT,2 and whoso shall
have believed in God and done what is right, for him will He
cancel his deeds of evil; and He will bring him into the gardens
beneath whose shades the rivers flow, to abide therein for
evermore. This will be the great bliss!

But the unbelieving those who gave the lie to our signs shall
be the inmates of the fire, wherein they shall remain for ever. And
a wretched passage thither!

No mischance chanceth but by God's permission; and whoso
believeth in God, that man's heart will he guide: and God knoweth
all things.

Obey God then and obey the apostle: but if ye turn away, our
apostle is not to blame, for he is only charged with plain
preaching.

God! there is no God but He! On God, then, let the faithful trust.

O ye who believe! Verily, in your wives and your children ye have
an enemy: wherefore beware of them. But if ye pass it3 over and
pardon, and are lenient, then God too is Lenient, Merciful.

Your wealth and your children are only a source of trial! but God!
with Him is the great recompense.

Fear God, then, with all your might, and hear and obey: and give
alms for your own weal; for such as are saved from their own
greed, shall prosper.

If ye lend God a generous loan, He will double it to you and will
forgive you, for God is Grateful, Long-suffering.

He knoweth alike the Hidden and the Manifest: the Mighty, the
Wise!

_______________________

1 The first verse of this Sura, and the phrase obey God and the
Apostle (verses 8, 12), which usually occurs only in Medina Suras,
the phrases in verse 16 compared with Sura [cii.] lix. 9, as well as
the subject matter, incline me to follow those Muslim
commentators who are of opinion that the whole Sura was
revealed at Medina. Weil and Muir suppose it to be Meccan.

2 That is, the day on which it will be found that if the just had been
wicked they would have taken the place of the reprobates, while
the reprobates will see that if they had been just persons they
would have gone to Paradise.

3 Their occasionally beguiling you from your duty, especially that
of contending for the faith. Comp. 1 Cor. vii. 32.

SURA LXII. THE ASSEMBLY [XCIV.]

MEDINA. II Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ALL that is in the Heavens, and all that is on the Earth, uttereth
the Praise of God, the King! the Holy! the Mighty! the Wise!

It is He who hath sent to the pagan folk (Arabs) an Apostle from
among themselves, to rehearse His signs to them, and to purify
them, and to impart to them a knowledge of "the Book" and
wisdom; for aforetime were they in manifest error.

And others among them have not yet overtaken those who
preceded them in the faith. But He is the Mighty, the Wise!

This is the goodness of God: He bestoweth it on whom He will:
God is of immense goodness!

They on whom the burden of the law was laid, and would not bear
it, are like an ass beneath a load of books. A sorry likeness this,
for the people who give the lie to the signs of God! God guideth
not the people who do this wrong!

SAY: O ye Jews, if ye profess that ye rather than other men are the
friends of God, then wish for death if ye are men of truth.

But never on account of their previous handywork will they wish
for it, and God knoweth the wrong doers.

SAY: Verily the death from which ye flee will surely meet you.
Then shall ye be brought back to Him who knoweth alike the
things done in secret and openly: and He will tell you of your
actions.

O ye who believe! When ye are summoned to prayer on the day of
THE ASSEMBLY,1 haste to the commemoration of God, and quit
your traffic. This, if ye knew it, will be best for you.

And when the Prayer is ended, then disperse yourselves abroad
and go in quest of the bounties of God; and, that it may be well
with you, oft remember God.

But when they get a sight of merchandise or sport, they disperse
after it, and leave thee standing alone.2 SAY: God hath in reserve
what is better than sport or wares. And God is the best provider!

_______________________

1 Friday; the day on which Muhammad made his first entry into
Medina, and the day on which creation was finished.

2 It is said that when Muhammad was preaching, Dahya Alkalbi,
while yet a heathen, came, on a Friday, into Medina at the head of
a caravan, and that all the congregation, attracted by the music of
the tambours which preceded it, left the sermon for the spectacle.
Muquƒtil ap. Alfarrƒ. If this account be accurate, we may
approximate to the date of this Sura as in Hej. 5 (towards the
close). Dahya is known to have fought in the ranks of the Muslims
at the battle of the Ditch. And as the former part is aimed at the
Jews, it is probably of the same period as Sura [xci.] ii.

SURA VIII. THE SPOILS1 [XCV.]

MEDINA 76 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

THEY will question thee about THE SPOILS. SAY: The spoils are
God's and the apostle's. Therefore, fear God, and settle this
among yourselves; and obey God and his apostle, if you are
believers.

Believers are they only whose hearts thrill with fear when God is
named, and whose faith increaseth at each recital of his signs, and
who put their trust in their Lord;

Who observe the prayers, and give alms out of that with which we
have supplied them;

These are the believers: their due grade awaiteth them in the
presence of their Lord, and forgiveness, and a generous provision.

Remember how thy Lord caused thee to go forth from thy home2
on
a mission of truth, and part of the believers were quite averse to it:

They disputed with thee about the truth3 which had been made so
clear, as if they were being led forth to death, and saw it before
them:

And remember when God promised you that one of the two
troops4
should fall to you, and ye desired that they who had no arms
should fall to you: but God purposed to prove true the truth of his
words, and to cut off the uttermost part ofthe infidels;

That he might prove his truth to be the truth, and bring to nought
that which is nought,5 though the impious were averse to it:

When ye sought succour of your Lord, and he answered you, "I
will verily aid you with a thousand6 angels, rank on rank:"

And God made this promise as pure good tidings, and to assure
your hearts by it: for succour cometh from God alone! Verily God
is Mighty, Wise.

Recollect when sleep, a sign of security from Him, fell upon you,
and he sent down upon you water from Heaven that he might
thereby cleanse you, and cause the pollution of Satan to pass from
you, and that he might gird up your hearts, and stablish your feet
by it:

When thy Lord spake unto the angels, "I will be with you:
therefore stablish ye the faithful. I will cast a dread into the hearts
of the infidels." Strike off their heads then, and strike off from
them every finger-tip.

This, because they have opposed God and his apostle: And whoso
shall oppose God and his apostle. Verily, God will be severe in
punishment.

"This for you! Taste it then! and for the infidels is the torture of
the fire!"

O ye who believe! when ye meet the marshalled hosts of the
infidels, turn not your backs to them:

Whoso shall turn his back to them on that day, unless he turn aside
to fight, or to rally to some other troop, shall incur wrath from
God: Hell shall be his abode and wretched the journey thither!

So it was not ye who slew them, but God slew them; and those
shafts were God's, not thine!7 He would make trial of the faithful
by a gracious trial from Himself: Verily, God Heareth, Knoweth.

This befel, that God might also bring to nought the craft of the
infidels.

O Meccans! if ye desired a decision, now hath the decision come
to you.8 It will be better for you if ye give over the struggle. If ye
return to it, we will return; and your forces, though they be many,
shall never avail you aught, for God is with the faithful.

O ye faithful! obey God and his apostle, and turn not away from
Him, now that ye hear the truth;

And be not like those who say "We hear," when they hear not;

For the vilest beasts in God's sight, are the deaf, the dumb, who
understand not.

Had God known any good in them, he would certainly have made
them hear. But even if He had made them hear, they would
certainly have turned back and withdrawn afar.

O ye faithful! make answer to the appeal of God and his apostle
when he calleth you to that which giveth you life. Know that God
cometh in between a man and his own heart, and that to him shall
ye be gathered.

And be afraid of temptation: the evil doers among you will not be
the only ones on whom it will light: And know ye that God is
severe in punishment.

And remember when ye were few, and reputed weak in the land:9
ye feared lest men should pluck you away; then was it that He took
you in and strengthened you with his help, and supplied you with
good things, that haply ye might give thanks.

O ye who believe! deal not falsely with God and his apostle; and
be not false in your engagements, with your own knowledge:

And know that your wealth and your children are a temptation;
and that God! with Him is a glorious recompense.

O ye who believe! if ye fear God he will make good your
deliverance, and will put away your sins from you, and will forgive
you. God is of great bounteousness!

And call to mind when the unbelievers plotted against thee, to
detain thee prisoner, or to kill thee, or to banish thee: They
plotted but God plotted: and of plotters is God the best!

And oft as our signs were rehearsed to them, they said, "Now have
we heard: if we pleased we could certainly utter its like! Yes, it is
mere tales of the ancients."

And when they said, "God! if this be the very truth from before
thee, rain down stones upon us from Heaven, or lay on us some
grievous chastisement."

But God chose not to chastise them while thou wast with them, nor
would God chastise them when they sued for pardon.

But because they debarred the faithful from the holy temple, albeit
they are not its guardians, nothing is there on their part why God
should not chastise them. The Godfearing only are its guardians;
but most of them know it not.

And their prayer at the house of God is no other than whistling
through the fingers and clapping of the hands "Taste then the
torment, for that ye have been unbelievers."

The infidels spend their riches10 with intent to turn men aside
from
the way of God: spend it they shall; then shall sighing be upon
them, and then shall they be overcome.

And the infidels shall be gathered together into Hell,

That God may separate the bad from the good, and put the bad one
upon the other, and heap them all up and put them into Hell!
These are they who shall be lost.

SAY to the infidels: If they desist from their unbelief, what is now
past shall be forgiven them; but if they return to it, they have
already before them11 the doom of the ancients!

Fight then against them till strife be at an end, and the religion be
all of it God's. If they desist, verily God beholdeth what they do:

But if they turn their back, know ye that God is your protector:
Excellent protector! excellent helper!

And know ye, that when ye have taken any booty, a fifth12 part
belongeth to God and to the Apostle, and to the near of kin, and to
orphans, and to the poor, and to the wayfarer, if ye believe in God,
and in that which we have sent down to our servant on the day of
the victory,13 the day of the meeting of the Hosts. Over all things
is
God potent.

When ye were encamped on the near side of the valley, and they
were on the further side, and the caravan was below you, if ye had
made an engagement to attack ye would have failed the
engagement; but ye were led into action notwithstanding, that God
might accomplish the thing destined to be done:

That he who should perish might perish with a clear token14
before
him, and that he who liveth might live with it. And verily, God
Heareth, Knoweth. Remember when God shewed them to thee in
thy dream, as few: Had he shown them numerous, ye would
certainly have become fainthearted, and would certainly have
disputed about the matter But from this God kept you He
knoweth the very secrets of the breast

And when, on your meeting, he made them to appear to your eyes
as few, and diminished you in their eyes, that God might carry out
the thing that was to be done.15 To God do all things return.

Believers! when ye confront a troop, stand firm and make frequent
mention of the name of God, that it may fare well with you:

And obey God and his Apostle; and dispute not, lest ye become
fainthearted and your success go from you; but endure with
steadfastness, for God is with the steadfastly enduring.

And be not like those Meccans who came out of their houses
insolently and to be seen of men, and who turn others from the
way
of God: God is round about their actions.

When Satan prepared their works for them, and said, "No man
shall conquer you this day; and verily I will be near to help you:"
But when the two armies came in sight, he turned on his heel and
said, "Ay, I am clear of you: ay, I see what ye see not:16 ay, I fear
God; for God is severe in punishing."

When the hypocrites and the diseased of heart said, "Their
Religion hath misled the Muslims:17 But whoso putteth his trust in
God. Yes, verily God is Mighty, Wise!

If thou didst see, when the angels cause the infidels to die! They
smite their faces and their backs, and "Taste ye the torture of the
burning:

This, for what your hands have sent on before you:" and God is
not unjust to his servants.

Their state is like that of the people of Pharaoh and of those before
them who believed not in the signs of God: therefore God seized
upon them in their sin! God is Mighty, severe in punishing.

This, because God changeth not the favour with which he
favoureth a people, so long as they change not what is in their
hearts; and for that God Heareth, Knoweth.

Their state is like that of the people of Pharaoh, and of those
before them who treated their Lord's signs as lies. We therefore
destroyed them in their sins, and we drowned the people of
Pharaoh; for they were all doers of wrong.

The worst beasts truly in the sight of God are the thankless who
will not believe;

They with whom thou hast leagued, and who are ever breaking
their league, and who fear not God!

If thou take them in war, then, by the example of their fate, scatter
those who shall follow them that they may be warned:

Or if thou fear treachery from any people, throw back their treaty
to them as thou fairly mayest,18 for God loveth not the
treacherous.

And think not that the infidels shall escape Us! They shall not
weaken God.

Make ready then against them what force ye can, and strong
squadrons whereby ye may strike terror into the enemy of God and
your enemy, and into others beside them whom ye know not, but
whom God knoweth. All that you shall expend for the cause of
God
shall be repaid you; and ye shall not be wronged.

And if they lean to peace, lean thou also to it; and put thy trust in
God: for He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

But if they seek to betray thee, God will be all-sufficient for thee.
He it is who hath strengthened thee with His help, and with the
faithful, and hath made their hearts one. Hadst thou spent all the
riches of the earth, thou couldst not have united their hearts; but
God hath united them, for He is Mighty, Wise.

O prophet! God, and such of the faithful as follow thee, will be
all-sufficient for thee.

O prophet! stir up the faithful to the fight. Twenty of you who
stand
firm shall vanquish two hundred: and if there be a hundred of you
they shall vanquish a thousand of the infidels, for they are a
people devoid of understanding.

Now hath God made your work easy, for he knoweth how weak ye
are. If there be an hundred of you who endure resolutely, they
shall vanquish two hundred; and if there be a thousand of you,
they shall vanquish two thousand19 by God's permission; for God
is with those who are resolute to endure.

No prophet hath been enabled to take captives until he had made
great slaughter in the earth. Ye desire the passing fruitions of this
world, but God desireth the next life for you. And God is Mighty,
Wise.

Had there not been a previous ordinance20 from God, a severe
chastisement had befallen you, for the ransom which ye took.

Eat therefore of the spoils ye have taken what is lawful and good;
and fear God: God is Gracious, Merciful.

O prophet! say to the captives who are in your hands, "If God
shall know good21 to be in your hearts, He will give you good
beyond all that hath been taken from you, and will forgive you: for
God is Forgiving, Merciful."

But if they seek to deal treacherously with you they have already
dealt treacherously22 with God before! Therefore hath He given
you power over them. God is Knowing, Wise.

Verily, they who have believed and fled their homes and spent
their substance for the cause of God, and they who have taken in
the prophet and been helpful to him, shall be near of kin the one to
the other. And they who have believed, but have not fled their
homes, shall have no rights of kindred with you at all, until they
too fly their country. Yet if they seek aid from you on account of
the faith, your part it is to give them aid, except against a people
between whom and yourselves there shall be a treaty. And God
beholdeth your actions.

The infidels lend one another mutual help. Unless ye do the same,
there will be discord in the land and great corruption.

But as for those who have believed and fled their country, and
fought on the path of God, and given the prophet an asylum, and
been helpful to him, these are the faithful; Mercy is their due and a
noble provision.

And they who have believed and fled their country since, and have
fought at your side, these also are of you. Those who are united by
ties of blood23 are the nearest of kin to each other. This is in the
Book of God. Verily, God knoweth all things.

_______________________

1 On this Sura, which relates mainly to the battle of Bedr, see
Weil's M. der Prophet, p. 268.

2 At Medina.

3 The necessity for the combat and its probable result.

4 Muhammad had conceived the design of attacking an unarmed
caravan belonging to the Koreisch on its way from Syria to Mecca.
Abu Sofian, who had charge of it, sent to Mecca for succour,
whence a body of nearly 1000 armed men at once set out to his
assistance. Some of the Muslims were anxious to attack the
caravan: others, notwithstanding the disparity of numbers,
proposed to throw themselves upon the succours.

5 Idolatry.

6 In Sura [xcvii.] iii. the angels are said to be 3000.

7 Lit. thou didst not cast when thou didst cast, but God cast. This is
explained of the miracle of the gravelstones and sand cast by God
into the eyes of the Meccans at Bedr.

8 That is, by our victory over you.

9 Muhammad specially addresses the Mohadjers in this verse, i.e.
those who had fled with him to Medin.

10 Twelve of the Koreisch had given camels and a large sum of
money in aid of the Meccan succours.

11 Lit. hath preceded.

12 Before Islam it had been the custom among the Arabians to
assign a fourth part of the booty to the leader of an expedition. See
Freyt. Einl. p. 266.

13 That is, on the day of the battle of Bedr. See Sura xxi. 49, p.
154.

14 The mission of Gabriel to Muhammad with the promise of
victory.

15 Compare the different account in Sura [xcvii.] iii. II. The
commentators, however, get over the discropancy by explaining
the apparent diminution of the Muslims at the commencement
only
of the battle, which had the effect of drawing on the enemy in
self-confidence.

16 The angels fighting for the Muslims.

17 By inducing them to attack so greatly superior a force.

18 Thus Beidh. Or, more simply, render them the like.

19 Comp. Lev. xxvi. 8; Josh. xxiii. 10.

20 Authorising the ransom of captives.

21 That is, a disposition to become Muslims.
22 That is, on account of their infidelity.
23 See Weil. Life of M. p. 84, n.

SURA1 XLVII. MUHAMMAD [XCVI.]

MEDINA. 40 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHOSO believe not, and prevent others from the way of
God their works will He cause to miscarry;2

But whoso believe, and do things that are right, and believe in
what hath been sent down to MUHAMMAD for it is the truth
from their Lord their sins will He cancel, and dispose their
hearts aright.

This because the infidels followed vanity, while those who
believe, followed the truth from their Lord. Thus to men doth God
set forth their likenesses.

When ye encounter the infidels,3 strike off their heads till ye have
made a great slaughter among them, and of the rest make fast the
fetters.

And afterwards let there either be free dismissals or ransomings,
till the war hath laid down its burdens. Thus do. Were such the
pleasure of God, he could himself take vengeance upon them: but
He would rather prove the one of you by the other. And whoso
fight for the cause of God, their works he will not suffer to
miscarry;

He will vouchsafe them guidance, and dispose their hearts aright;

And he will bring them into the Paradise, of which he hath told
them.

Believers! if ye help God, God will help you, and will set your feet
firm:

But as for the infidels, let them perish: and their works shall God
bring to nought:

This because they were averse from the command which God
sent down; Fruitless, therefore, shall their works become!

Have they not journeyed through the land, and seen what hath
been the end of those who flourished before them? God brought
destruction on them: and the like of this doth await the infidels.

This because God is the protector of those who believe, and
because the infidels have no protector.

Verily God will bring those who believe, and do the things that are
right, into the Gardens, beneath whose shades the rivers flow: but
they who believe not, take their fill, and eat as the beasts eat! And
their dwelling-place the fire!

And how many cities were mightier in strength than thy city,
which
hath thrust thee forth!4 We destroyed them, and there was none to
help them.

Shall he who followeth the clear teaching of his Lord be as he, the
evil of whose doings hath been made to seem good to him, or like
those who follow their own lusts?

A picture of the Paradise which is promised to the God-fearing!
Therein are rivers of water, which corrupt not: rivers of milk,
whose taste changeth not: and rivers of wine, delicious to those
who quaff it;

And rivers of honey clarified: and therein are all kinds of fruit for
them from their Lord! Is this like the lot of those who must dwell
for ever in the fire? and shall have draughts of boiling water
forced on them which will rend their bowels asunder?

Some of them indeed hearken to thee, until when they go out from
thee, they say with sneers to those to whom "the knowledge" hath
been given, "What is this he said?" These are they whose hearts
God hath sealed up, and who follow their own lusts.

But as to those who have the guidance, He will increase their
guidance, and He will teach them what to fear.

For what do the infidels wait, but that the Hour come suddenly on
them? Already are its signs come,5 and when it hath come on them
indeed, how can they be warned then?

Know, then, that there is no god but God: and ask pardon for thy
sin, and for believers, both men and women. God knoweth your
busy movements, and your final resting-places.

The believers say, "Oh, would that a Sura were sent down!"6 but
when a peremptory Sura is revealed, whose burden is war, thou
mayest see the diseased of heart look toward thee, with a look of
one on whom the shadows of death have fallen! But better in them
would be obedience and becoming language.

And if, when the command for war is issued, they are true to God,
it will be assuredly best for them.

Were ye not ready, if ye had turned back from Him, to spread
disorder in the land, and violate the ties of blood?

These are they whom God hath cursed, and made deaf, and
blinded their eyes!

Will they not then meditate on the Koran? Are locks upon their
hearts?

But as to those who return to their errors after "the guidance"
hath been made plain to them, Satan shall beguile them, and fill
them with his suggestions.

This because they say to those who abhor what God hath sent
down, "We will comply with you in part of what ye enjoin." But
God knoweth their secret reservations.

But how? When the angels, in causing them to die, shall smite
them on the face and back!

This because they follow that which angereth God, and abhor
what pleaseth Him: therefore will He make their works fruitless.

Think these men of diseased hearts, that God will not bring out
their malice to light?

If such were our pleasure, we could point them out to thee, and
thou surely know them by their tokens: and know them thou shalt,
by the strangeness of their words.7 God knoweth your doings.

And we will surely test you, until we know the valiant and the
steadfast among you: and we will test the reports of your conduct.

Verily they who believe not, and turn others from the way of God,
and separate from the Apostle after that "the guidance" hath been
clearly shewn them, shall in no way injure God: but their works
shall he bring to nought.

Believers! obey God and the Apostle: and render not your works
vain.

Verily those who believe not, and who pervert others from the way
of God, and then die in unbelief, God will not forgive.

Be not fainthearted then; and invite not the infidels to peace when
ye have the upper hand: for God is with you, and will not defraud
you of the recompense of your works.

Surely this present life is only a play, and pastime! but if ye
believe, fear God; He will give you your rewards: but He will not
ask all your riches of you.

Should He ask them of you, and urge you, ye would shew yourself
niggards: and He would bring your grudges to light.

Lo! ye are they, who are called to expend for the cause of God:
and some of you are niggards: but whoso is niggardly shall be
niggard only to his own loss; for God is the Rich, and ye are the
poor: and if ye turn back, He will change you for another people,8
and they shall not be your like!

_______________________

1 This Sura was revealed at a period after the victory at Bedr,
when there was still some hesitation on the part of Muhammad's
followers to take decided steps for securing their position. See 37.

2 Lit. will He cause to wander, that is, from their proper aim and
end, the rewards of Paradise. See verse 5 ad f.

3 The Meccans and other unbelievers of Muhammad's time. The
Hanefites suppose this law to apply only to the battle of Bedr. The
Shiites take it as of universal obligation.

4 This verse is said (by Omar b. Muhammad, and Itq. 43) to be the
expression of Muhammad's feelings at the injuries inflicted on
Mecca. He is reported to have wept over it.

5 The first sign being the mission of Muhammad; the second, the
splitting of the moon; the third, the smoke mentioned in Sura xliv.
p. 89.

6 That is, commanding war against the infidels.

7 Unintelligible or affected words, applied to the new religion in
contempt. See Sura [xci.] ii. 56, p. 343.

8 Matt. xxi. 43.

SURA III. THE FAMILY OF IMRAN1 [XCVII.]

MEDINA. 200 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. MIM.2 God! there is no god but He, the Living, the
Merciful!

In truth hath He sent down to thee "the Book," which confirmeth
those which precede it: For He had sent down the Law, and the
Evangel aforetime, as man's Guidance; and now hath He sent
down the "Illumination."3 (Furkan.)

Verily for those who believe not in the signs of God, is a severe
chastisement! And God is Mighty, the Avenger!

God! nought that is in Earth or that is in Heaven, is hidden unto
Him. He it is who formeth you in your mothers' wombs. There is
no god but He; the Mighty, the Wise!

He it is who hath sent down to thee "the Book." Some of its signs
are of themselves perspicuous; these are the basis4 of the
Book and others are figurative. But they whose hearts are given
to err, follow its figures, craving discord, craving an
interpretation; yet none knoweth its interpretation but God. And
the stable in knowledge say, "We believe in it: it is all from our
Lord." But none will bear this in mind, save men endued with
understanding.

O our Lord! suffer not our hearts to go astray after that thou hast
once guided us, and give us mercy from before thee; for verily
thou art He who giveth.

O our Lord! For the day of whose coming there is not a doubt,
thou wilt surely gather mankind together. Verily, God will not fail
the promise.

As for the infidels, their wealth, and their children, shall avail
them nothing against God. They shall be fuel for the fire.

After the wont of the people of Pharaoh, and of those who went
before them, they treated our signs as falsehoods. Therefore God
laid hold of them in their sins; and God is severe in punishing!

Say to the infidels: ye shall be worsted, and to Hell shall ye be
gathered together; and wretched the couch!

Ye have already had a sign5 in the meeting of the two hosts. The
one host fought in the cause of God, and the other was infidel. To
their own eyesight, the infidels saw you twice as many as
themselves: And God aided with his succour whom He would: And
in this truly was a lesson for men endued with discernment.

Fair-seeming to men is the love of pleasures from women and
children, and the treasured treasures of gold and silver, and
horses of mark, and flocks, and cornfields! Such the enjoyment of
this world's life. But God! goodly the home with Him.

SAY: Shall I tell you of better things than these, prepared for those
who fear God, in His presence? Theirs shall be gardens, beneath
whose pavilions the rivers flow, and in which shall they abide for
aye: and wives of stainless purity, and acceptance with God: for
God regardeth his servants

Who say, "O our Lord! we have indeed believed; pardon us our
sins, and keep us from the torment of the fire;"

The patient, and the truthful, the lowly, and the charitable, and
they who seek pardon at each daybreak.

God witnesseth that there is no god but He: and the angels, and
men endued with knowledge, stablished in righteousness, proclaim
"There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise!"

The true religion with God is Islam: and they to whom the
Scriptures had been given, differed not till after "the knowledge"6
had come to them, and through mutual jealousy. But as for him
who shall not believe in the signs of God God will be prompt to
reckon with him!

If they shall dispute with thee, then SAY: I have surrendered
myself
to God, as have they who follow me.

SAY to those who have received the Book, and to the common
folk,
Do ye surrender yourselves unto God?7 If they become Muslims,
then are they guided aright: but if they turn away thy duty is only
preaching; and God's eye is on His servants.

But to those who believe not in the signs of God, and unjustly slay
the prophets, and slay those men who enjoin
uprightness, announce an afflictive chastisement.

These are they whose works come to nought in this world, and in
the next; and none shall they have to help them!

Hast thou not marked those who have received a portion of the
Scriptures, when they are summoned to the Book of God, that it
may settle their differences? Then did a part of them turn back,
and withdrew far off.

This because they said, "The fire shall by no means touch us, but
for certain days:" Their own devices have deceived them in their
religion.

But how, when we shall assemble them together for the day of
(which) whose coming there is no doubt, and when every soul
shall
be paid what it hath earned, and they shall not be wronged?

SAY: O God, possessor of all power,8 thou givest power to whom
thou wilt, and from whom thou wilt, thou takest it away! Thou
raisest up whom thou wilt, and whom thou wilt thou dost abase! In
thy hand is good; for thou art over all things potent.

Thou causest the night to pass into the day, and thou causest the
day to pass into the night. Thou bringest the living out of the dead,
and thou bringest the dead out of the living; and thou givest
sustenance to whom thou wilt, without measure.

Let not believers take infidels for their friends rather than
believers: whoso shall do this hath nothing to hope from God
unless, indeed, ye fear a fear from them: But God would have
you beware of Himself; for to God ye return. SAY: Whether ye
hide
what is in your breasts, or whether ye publish it abroad, God
knoweth it: He knoweth what is in the heavens and what is in the
earth; and over all things is God potent.

On that day shall every soul find present to it, whatever it hath
wrought of good: and as to what it hath wrought of evil, it will
wish that wide were the space between itself and it! But God
would
have you beware of Himself; for God is kind to His servants.

SAY: If ye love God, then follow me: God will love you, and
forgive your sins, for God is Forgiving, Merciful. SAY: Obey God
and the Apostle; but if ye turn away, then verily, God loveth not
the unbelievers.

Verily above all human beings did God choose Adam, and Noah,
and the family of Abraham, and the family of IMRAN, the one the
posterity of the other: And God Heareth, Knoweth.

Remember when the wife of Imran9 said, "O my Lord! I vow to
thee what is in my womb, for thy special service. Accept it from
me, for thou Hearest, Knowest!" And when she had given birth to
it, she said, "O my Lord! Verily I have brought forth a
female," God knew what she had brought forth; a male is not as
a female10 "and I have named her Mary, and I take refuge with
thee for her and for her offspring, from Satan the stoned."11

So with goodly acceptance did her Lord accept her, and with
goodly growth did he make her grow.12 Zacharias reared her. So
oft as Zacharias went in to Mary at the sanctuary, he found her
supplied with food.13 "Oh, Mary!" said he, "whence hast thou
this?" She said, "It is from God; for God supplieth whom He will,
without reckoning!"

There did Zacharias call upon his Lord: "O my Lord!" said he,
"vouchsafe me from thyself good descendants,14 for thou art the
hearer of prayer." Then did the angels call to him, as he stood
praying in the sanctuary:15

"God announceth John (Yahia) to thee, who shall be a verifier of
the word from God, and a great one, chaste, and a prophet of the
number of the just."

He said, "O my Lord! how shall I have a son, now that old age
hath come upon me, and my wife is barren?" He said, "Thus will
God do His pleasure."

He said, "Lord! give me a token." He said, "Thy token shall be,
that for three days thou shalt speak to no man but by signs: But
remember thy Lord often, and praise him at even and at morn:"

And remember when the angels said, "O Mary! verily hath God
chosen thee,16 and purified thee, and chosen thee above the
women
of the worlds!

O Mary! be devout towards thy Lord,17 and prostrate thyself, and
bow down with those who bow."

This is one of the announcements of things unseen by thee: To
thee, O Muhammad! do we reveal it; for thou wast not with them
when they cast lots with reeds18 which of them should rear Mary;
nor wast thou with them when they disputed about it.

Remember when the angel said, "O Mary! Verily God announceth
to thee the Word from Him: His name shall be, Messiah Jesus the
son of Mary,19 illustrious in this world, and in the next, and one of
those who have near access to God;

And He shall speak to men alike when in the cradle and when
grown up; And he shall be one of the just."

She said, "How, O my Lord! shall I have a son, when man hath not
touched me?" He said, "Thus: God will create what He will;
When He decreeth a thing, He only saith, 'Be,' and it is."

And he will teach him the Book, and the Wisdom, and the Law,
and
the Evangel; and he shall be an apostle to the children of Israel.
"Now have I come," he will say, "to you with a sign from your
Lord: Out of clay will I make for you, as it were, the figure of a
bird: and I will breathe into it, and it shall become, by God's
leave, a bird.20 And I will heal the blind, and the leper; and by
God's leave will I quicken the dead; and I will tell you what ye
eat, and what ye store up in your houses! Truly in this will be a
sign for you, if ye are believers.

And I have come to attest the law which was before me; and to
allow you part of that which had been forbidden you; and I come
to you with a sign from your Lord: Fear God, then, and obey me;
of a truth God is my Lord, and your Lord: Therefore worship Him.
This is a right way."

And when Jesus perceived unbelief on their part, He said, "Who
my helpers with God?" The apostles21 said, "We will be God's
helpers! We believe in God, and bear thou witness that we are
Muslims.

O our Lord! we believe in what thou hast sent down, and we
follow
the apostle; write us up, then, with those who bear witness to
him."

And the Jews plotted, and God plotted: But of those who plot is
God the best.

Remember when God said, "O Jesus! verily I will cause thee to
die,22 and will take thee up to myself and deliver thee from those
who believe not; and I will place those who follow thee above
those who believe not, until the day of resurrection. Then, to me is
your return, and wherein ye differ will I decide between you.

And as to those who believe not, I will chastise them with a
terrible chastisement in this world and in the next; and none shall
they have to help them."

But as to those who believe, and do the things that are right, He
will pay them their recompense. God loveth not the doers of evil.

These signs, and this wise warning do we rehearse to thee.

Verily, Jesus is as Adam in the sight of God.23 He created him of
dust: He then said to him, "Be" and he was.

The truth from thy Lord! Be not thou, therefore, of those who
doubt.

As for those 24 who dispute with thee about Him, after
"theknowledge" hath come to thee, SAY: Come,25 let us summon
our sons and your sons, our wives and your wives, and ourselves
and yourselves. Then will we invoke and lay the malison of God
on
those that lie!

This recital is very truth, and there is no god but God; and verily
God is the Mighty, the Wise.

But if they turn away, then verily God hath knowledge of the
corrupt doers.

SAY: O people of the Book! come ye to a just judgment between
us
and you That we worship not aught but God, and that we join no
other god with Him, and that the one of us take not the other for
lords,26 beside God. Then if they turn their backs, SAY: Bear ye
witness that we are Muslims.

O people of the Book! Why dispute about Abraham,27 when the
Law and the Evangel were not sent down till after him? Do ye not
then understand?

Lo! ye are they who dispute about that in which ye have
knowledge; 28 but why dispute ye about that of which ye have no
knowledge? God hath knowledge, but ye know nothing.

Abraham was neither Jew nor Christian; but he was sound in the
faith,29 a Muslim; and not of those who add gods to God.

They among men, who are nearest of kin to Abraham, are surely
those who follow him, and this prophet Muhammad, and they who
believe on him. And God is the protector of the faithful.

A party among the people of the Book would fain mislead you: but
they only mislead themselves, and perceive it not.

O people of the Book! why disbelieve the signs of God, of which
yourselves have been witnesses?

O people of the Book! why clothe ye the truth with falsehood?
Why
wittingly hide the truth?

Others of the people of the Book say: "Believe in what hath been
sent down to the believers, at daybreak, and deny it at its
close" Thus do they go back

"And believe in those only who follow your Religion." SAY: True
guidance is guidance from God that to others may be imparted
the like of what hath been imparted to you. Will they wrangle then
with you in the presence of their Lord? SAY: Plenteous gifts are in
the hands of God: He imparteth them unto whom He will, and God
is Bounteous, Wise.

He will vouchsafe His mercy to whom He will, for God is of great
bounteousness.

Among the people of the Book are some, to one of whom if thou
entrust a thousand dinars, he will restore them to thee: And there
is of them to whom if thou entrust a dinar, he will not restore it to
thee, unless thou be ever instant with him.

This because they say, "We are not bound to keep faith with the
ignorant (Pagan) folk, and they utter a lie against God, and know
they do so:"

But whoso is true to his engagement, and feareth God, verily
God loveth those that fear Him.

Verily they who barter their engagement with God, and their
oaths, for some paltry price These! no portion for them in the
world to come! and God will not speak to them, and will not look
on them, on the day of resurrection, and will not assoil them! for
them, a grievous chastisement!

And some truly are there among them who torture the Scriptures
with their tongues, in order that ye may suppose it to be from the
Scripture, yet it is not from the Scripture. And they say, "This is
from God;" yet it is not from God: and they utter a lie against
God, and they know they do so.

It beseemeth not a man, that God should give him the Scriptures
and the Wisdom, and the gift of prophecy, and that then he should
say to his followers, "Be ye worshippers of me, as well as of
God;" 30 but rather, "Be ye perfect in things pertaining to God,
since ye know the Scriptures, and have studied deep."

God doth not command you to take the angels or the prophets as
lords.31 What! would he command you to become infidels after ye
have been Muslims?

When God entered into covenant with the prophets,32 he said,
"This is the Book and the Wisdom which I give you. Hereafter
shall a prophet came unto you to confirm the Scriptures already
with you. Ye shall surely believe on him, and ye shall surely aid
him. Are ye resolved?" said he, "and do ye accept the covenant on
these terms?" They said, "We are resolved;" "Be ye then the
witnesses," said he, "and I will be a witness as well as you.

And whoever turneth back after this, these are surely the
perverse."

Other religion than that of God desire they? To him doth
everything that is in the Heavens and in the Earth submit, in
willing or forced obedience! and to Him do they return.

SAY: We believe in God, and in what hath been sent down to us,
and what hath been sent down to Abraham, and Ismael, and Isaac,
and Jacob, and the tribes, and in what was given to Moses, and
Jesus, and the Prophets, from their Lord. We make no difference
between them. And to Him are we resigned (Muslims).

Whoso desireth any other religion than Islam, that religion shall
never be accepted from him, and in the next world he shall be
among the lost.

How shall God guide a people who, after they had believed and
bore witness that the apostle was true, and after that clear proofs
of his mission had reached them, disbelieved? God guideth not the
people who transgress.

These! their recompense, that the curse of God, and of angels, and
of all men, is on them!

Under it shall they abide for ever; their torment shall not be
assuaged! nor shall God even look upon them!

Save those who after this repent and amend; for verily God is
Gracious, Merciful!

As for those who become infidels, after having believed, and then
increase their infidelity their repentance shall never be accepted.
These! they are the erring ones.

As for those who are infidels, and die infidels, from no one of
them
shall as much gold as the earth could contain be accepted, though
he should offer it in ransom. These! a grievous punishment
awaiteth them; and they shall have none to help them.

Ye shall never attain to goodness till ye give alms of that which ye
love; and whatever ye give, of a truth God knoweth it.

All food was allowed to the children of Israel, except what Jacob
forbad himself, ere the law was sent down; SAY: Bring ye then the
law and read it, if ye be men of truth.

And whoso after this inventeth the lie about God: These are evil
doers.

SAY: God speaketh truth. Follow, therefore, the religion of
Abraham, the sound in faith, who was not one of those who joined
other gods to God.

The first temple that was founded for mankind, was that in
Becca,33 Blessed, and a guidance to human beings.

In it are evident signs, even the standing-place34 of Abraham: and
he who entereth it is safe. And the pilgrimage to the temple, is a
service due to God from those who are able to journey thither.

And as to him who believeth not verily God can afford to
dispense with all creatures!

SAY: O people of the Book! why disbelieve ye the signs of God?
But God is witness of your doings.

SAY: O people of the Book! why repel believers from the way of
God? Ye fain would make it crooked, and yet ye are its witnesses!
But God is not regardless of what ye do.

O believers! if ye obey some amongst those who have received the
Scripture, after your very Faith will they make you infidels!

But how can ye become infidels, when the signs of God are recited
to you, and his prophet is among you? Whoever holdeth fast by
God, is already guided to a straight path.

O ye believers! fear God as He deserveth to be feared! and die not
till ye have become Muslims.

And hold ye fast by the cord 35 of God, all of you, and break not
loose from it; and remember God's goodness towards you, how
that when ye were enemies, He united your hearts, and by his
favour ye became brethren;

And when ye were on the brink of the pit of fire, he drew you back
from it. Thus God clearly sheweth you his signs that ye may be
guided;

And that there may be among you a people who invite to the Good,
and enjoin the Just, and forbid the Wrong. These are they with
whom it shall be well.

And be ye not like those who have formed divisions, and fallen to
variance after the clear proofs have come to them. These! a
terrible chastisement doth await them,

On THE DAY when faces shall turn white, and faces shall turn
black! And as to those whose faces shall have turned black
" What! after your belief have ye become infidels? Taste then the
chastisement, for that ye have been unbelievers."

And as to those whose faces shall have become white, they shall
be
within the mercy of God: therein shall they abide for ever.

These are the signs of God: we recite them to thee in truth: And
God willeth not injustice to mankind.

Whatever is in the Heavens, and whatever is on the Earth, is
God's. And to God shall all things return.

Ye are the best folk that hath been raised up unto mankind. Ye
enjoin the Just, and ye forbid the Evil, and ye believe in God: And
if the people of the Book had believed, it had surely been better for
them! Believers there are among them, but most of them are
perverse.

They will never inflict on you but a trifling damage; and if they do
battle with you, they shall turn their backs to you: then they shall
not be succoured.

Shame shall be stamped upon them36 wherever found, unless they
ally them with God and men! And the wrath of God will they
incur,
and poverty shall be stamped upon them! This for that they
believed not in the signs of God, and slew the prophets unjustly:
This because they rebelled, and became transgressors.

Yet all are not alike: Among the people of the Book is an upright
folk, who recite the signs of God in the night-season, and adore:

They believe in God and in the latter day, and enjoin justice, and
forbid evil, and speed on in good works. These are of the
righteous.

And of whatever good ye do, ye shall not be denied the meed. God
knoweth those who fear Him.

But as for the infidels, their wealth, and their children shall avail
them nothing against God. They shall be the inmates of the fire, to
abide therein eternally.

The alms which they bestow in this present life, are like a freezing
wind, which falleth upon and destroyeth the cornfields of a people
who have been to themselves unjust. God doeth them no injustice,
but to themselves are they unjust.

O ye who have believed! form not intimacies among others than
yourselves. They will not fail to corrupt you. They long for your
ruin. Hatred hath already shewn itself out of their mouths, but
more grievous is what their breasts conceal. The tokens thereof we
have already made plain to you, if ye will comprehend.

See now! ye love them, but they love not you. Ye believe the entire
Book. And when they meet you, they say, "We believe;" but when
they are apart, they bite their fingers' ends at you, out of wrath.
SAY: "Die in your wrath!" God truly knoweth the very recesses of
your breasts.

If good befalleth you it grieveth them, and when ill lighteth on
you,
they rejoice in it. But if ye be steadfast and fear God, their craft
shall in no way harm you. For God is round about their doings.

And remember when thou didst leave thy household at early morn,
that thou mightest prepare the faithful a camp for the war;37 God
heard, knew it

When two troops of you became full of anxious thoughts, and lost
heart, and when God became the protector of both! In God, then,
let the faithful trust.

God had already succoured you at Bedr, when ye were the
weaker! Fear God, then, that ye may be thankful.

Then thou didst say to the faithful, "Is it not enough for you that
your Lord aideth you with three thousand angels sent down from
on high?"

Aye: but ye if be steadfast and fear God, and the foe come upon
you in hot haste, your Lord will help you with five thousand angels
in their cognisances!38

This, as pure good tidings for you, did God appoint, that your
hearts might be assured for only from God, the Mighty, the Wise,
cometh the Victory and that He might cut off the uttermost part
of those who believed not, or cast them down so that they should
be overthrown, defeated without resource.

It is none of thy concern whether He be turned unto them in
kindness or chastise them: for verily they are wrongful doers.

Whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth is God's! He forgiveth
whom He will, and whom He will, chastiseth: for God is
Forgiving, Merciful.

O ye who believe! devour not usury, doubling it again and again!
But fear God, that ye may prosper.

And fear the fire which is prepared for them that believe not; and
obey God and the apostle, that ye may find mercy:

And vie in haste for pardon from your Lord, and a Paradise, vast
as the Heavens and the Earth, prepared for the God-fearing.

Who give alms, alike in prosperity and in success, and who master
their anger, and forgive others! God loveth the doers of good.

They who, after they have done a base deed or committed a wrong
against their own selves, remember God and implore forgiveness
of their sins and who will forgive sins but God only? and
persevere not in what they have wittingly done amiss.

As for these! Pardon from their Lord shall be their recompense,
and gardens 'neath which the rivers flow; for ever shall they abide
therein: And goodly the reward of those who labour!

Already, before your time, have examples been made! Traverse the
earth, then, and see what hath been the end of those who treat
prophets as liars.

This Koran is a manifest to man, and a guidance, and a warning to
the God-fearing!

And be not fainthearted, and be not sorrowful: For ye shall gain
the upper hand if ye be believers.39

If a wound hath befallen you, a wound like it hath already befallen
others: we alternate these days of successes and reverses among
men, that God may know those who have believed, and that He
may take martyrs from among you, but God loveth not the
wrongful doers

And that God may test those who believe, and destroy the infidels.

Thought ye that ye should enter Paradise ere God had taken
knowledge of those among you who did valiantly, and of those
who
steadfastly endure?

Ye had desired death ere ye met it. But ye have now seen it and
ye have beheld it and fled from it!

Muhammad is no more than an apostle; other apostles have
already passed away before him: if he die, therefore,40 or be slain,
will ye turn upon your heels?41 But he who turneth on his heels
shall not injure God at all: And God will certainly reward the
thankful!

No one can die except by God's permission, according to the Book
that fixeth the term of life.42 He who desireth the recompense of
this world, we will give him thereof; And he who desireth the
recompense of the next life, we will give him thereof! And we will
certainly reward the thankful.

How many a prophet hath combated those who had with them
many myriads! Yet were they not daunted at what befel them on
the
path of God, nor were they weakened, nor did they basely submit!
God loveth those who endure with steadfastness,

Nor said they more than this:43 "O our Lord! forgive us our sins
and our mistakes in this our work; and set our feet firm; and help
us against the unbelieving people." And God gave them the
recompense of this world, and the excellence of the recompense of
the next. For God loveth the doers of what is excellent.

O ye who have believed! if ye obey the infidels, they will cause
you
to turn upon your heels,44 and ye will fall back into perdition:

But God is your liege lord, and He is the best of helpers.

We will cast a dread into hearts of the infidels because they have
joined gods with God without warranty sent down; their abode
shall be the fire; and wretched shall be the mansion of the evil
doers.

Already had God made good to you His promise, when by His
permission ye destroyed your foes, until your courage failed you,
and ye disputed about the order,45 and disobeyed, after that the
Prophet had brought you within view of that for which ye
longed.46

Some of you were for this world, and some for the next.47 Then,
in
order to make trial of you, He turned you to flight from them, yet
hath He now forgiven you; for all-bounteous is God to the
faithful

When ye came up the height48 and took no heed of any one, while
the Prophet in your rear was calling you to the fight! God hath
rewarded you with trouble upon trouble, that ye might learn not to
be chagrined at your loss of booty, or at what befel you! God is
acquainted with your actions.

Then after the trouble God sent down security upon you. Slumber
fell upon a part of you: as to the other part their own passions
stirred them up to think unjustly of God with thoughts of
ignorance! They said What gain we by this affair? SAY: Verily
the affair resteth wholly with God. They hid in their minds what
they did not speak out to thee, saying, "Were we to have gained
aught in this affair, none of us had been slain at this place." SAY:
Had ye remained in your homes, they who were decreed to be slain
would have gone forth to the places where they lie: in order that
God might make trial of what was in your breasts, and might
discover what was in your hearts, for God knoweth the very
secrets of the breast.

Of a truth it was Satan alone who caused those of you to fail in
duty who turned back on the day when the hosts met, for some of
their doings! But now hath God pardoned them; For God is
Forgiving, Gracious.

O ye who believe! be not like the infidels, who said of their
brethren when they had travelled by land or had gone forth to war,
"Had they kept with us, they had not died, and had not been
slain!" God purposed that this affair should cause them heart
sorrow! God maketh alive and killeth; and God beholdeth your
actions.

And if ye shall be slain or die on the path of God, then pardon
from God and mercy is better than all your amassings;

For if ye die or be slain, verily unto God shall ye be gathered.

Of the mercy of God thou hast spoken to them in gentle terms.
Hadst thou been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have
broken away from thee. Therefore, forgive and ask for pardon for
them, and consult them in the affair of war, and when thou art
resolved, then put thou thy trust in God, for God loveth those who
trust in Him.

If God help you, none shall overcome you; but if He abandon you,
who is he that shall help you when He is gone? In God, then, let
the faithful trust.

It is not the Prophet who will defraud you;49 But he who shall
defraud, shall come forth with his defraudings on the day of the
resurrection: then shall every soul be paid what it hath merited,
and they shall not be treated with injustice.

Shall he who hath followed the good pleasure of God be as he who
hath brought on himself wrath from God, and whose abode shall
be Hell? and wretched the journey thither!

There are varying grades with God: and God beholdeth what ye
do.

Now hath God been gracious to the faithful, when he raised up
among them an apostle out of their own people, to rehearse unto
them his signs, and to cleanse them, and to give them knowledge
of
the Book and of Wisdom: for before they were in manifest error.

When a reverse hath befallen you,50 the like of which ye had
before
inflicted, say ye, "Whence is this?" SAY: It is from yourselves. For
God hath power over all things.

And that which befel you on the day when the armies met, was
certainly by the will of God, and that he might know the faithful,
and that he might know the hypocrites! And when the word was
"Advance, fight on the path of God, or drive back the foe," they
said, "Had we known how to fight, we would have followed you."
Nearer were some of them on that day to unbelief, than to faith:

They said with their lips what was not in their hearts! But God
knew what they concealed,

Who said of their brethren while themselves sat at home,

"Had they obeyed us, they had not been slain." SAY: Keep back
death from yourselves if ye speak truth.

And repute not those slain on God's path to be dead.51 Nay, alive
with their Lord, are they richly sustained;

Rejoicing in what God of his bounty hath vouchsafed them, filled
with joy for those who follow after them, but have not yet
overtaken them, that on them nor fear shall come, nor grief;

Filled with joy at the favours of God, and at his bounty: and that
God suffereth not the reward of the faithful to perish.

As to those who after the reverse52which befel them, respond to
God and the Apostle such of them as do good works and fear
God, shall have a great reward:

Who, when men said to them, "Now are the Meccans mustering
against you; therefore fear them!" it only increased their faith,
and they said, "Our sufficiency is God, and He is an excellent
protector."

They returned, therefore, with the favour of God, enriched by Him,
and untouched by harm; and they followed what was well pleasing
to God. And God is of great Munificence.

Only would that Satan 53 instil the fear of his adherents: Fear them
not, but fear me if ye are believers.

Let not those who vie in haste after infidelity grieve thee: Verily
not one whit shall they injure God! God will refuse them all part in
the life to come: a severe chastisement shall be their lot.

They truly who purchase infidelity at the price of their faith, shall
not injure God one whit! and a grievous chastisement shall be
their lot.

Let not the infidels deem that the length of days we give them is
good for them! We only give them length of days that they may
increase their sins! and a shameful chastisement shall be their lot.

It is not in God to leave the faithful in the State in which they are,
until he sever the bad from the good:

Nor is God minded to lay open the secret things to you, but God
chooseth whom he will of his apostles to know them.54 Believe,
therefore, in God and his apostles: and if ye believe and fear God,
a great reward awaiteth you.

And let not those who are niggard of what God hath vouchsafed
them in his bounty, think that this will be good for them Nay, it
will be bad for them

That of which they have been niggard shall be their collar on the
day of the resurrection. God's, the heritage of the Heavens and of
the Earth! And God is well-informed of all ye do.

Now hath God heard the saying of those who said: "Aye, God is
poor and we are rich."55 We will surely write down their sayings,
and their unjust slaughter of the prophets; and and we will say,
"Taste ye the torment of the burning.

This, for what your hands have sent before you; and because God
will not inflict a wrong upon his servants!"

To those who say, "Verily, God hath enjoined us that we are not to
credit an apostle until he present us a sacrifice which fire out of
Heaven shall devour,"

SAY: Already have apostles before me come to you with miracles,
and with that of which ye speak. Wherefore slew ye them? Tell
me,
if ye are men of truth.

And if they treat thee as a liar, then verily apostles have been
treated as liars before thee, though they came with clear proofs of
their mission, and with Scriptures, and with the light-giving Book.

Every soul shall taste of death: and ye shall only receive your
recompenses on the day of resurrection. And whoso shall scape the
fire, and be brought into Paradise, shall be happy. And the life of
this world is but a cheating fruition!

Ye shall assuredly be tried in your possessions and in yourselves.
And many hurtful things shall ye assuredly hear from those to
whom the Scriptures were given before you, and from those who
join other gods with God. But if ye be steadfast, and fear
God this verily is needed in the affairs of life.

Moreover, when God entered into a convenant with those to whom
the Scriptures had been given, and said, "Ye shall surely make it
known to mankind and not hide it," they cast it behind their backs,
and sold it for a sorry price! But vile is that for which they have
sold it.

Suppose not that they who rejoice in what they have brought to
pass, and love to be praised for what they have not
done56 suppose not they shall escape the chastisement. An
afflictive chastisement doth await them,

For the Kingdom of the Heavens and the Earth is God's, and God
hath power over all things.

Verily, in the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth, and in the
succession of the night and of the day, are signs for men of
understanding heart;

Who standing, and sitting, and reclining, bear God in mind, and
muse on the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth. "O our
Lord!" say they, "thou hast not created this in vain. No. Glory be
to Thee! Keep us, then, from the torment of the fire.

O our Lord! surely thou wilt put him to shame whom thou shalt
cause to enter into the Fire, and the wrong-doers shall have none
to help them.

O our Lord! we have indeed heard the voice of one that called. He
called us to the ye on your Lord' and we have believed.

O our Lord! forgive us then our sin, and hide away from us our
evil deeds, and cause us to die with the righteous.

O our Lord! and give us what thou hast promised us by thine
apostles, and put us not to shame on the day of the resurrection.
Verily, Thou wilt not fail thy promise."

And their Lord answereth them, "I will not suffer the work of him
among you that worketh, whether of male or female, to be lost.
The
one of you is the issue of the other.57

And they who have fled their country and quitted their homes and
suffered in my cause, and have fought and fallen, I will blot out
their sins from them, and I will bring them into gardens beneath
which the streams do flow."

A recompense from God! and God! with His is the perfection of
recompense!

Let not prosperity in the land 58 on the part of those who believe
not, deceive thee. 'Tis but a brief enjoyment! Then shall Hell be
their abode; and wretched the bed!

But as to those who fear their Lord for them are the gardens
'neath which the rivers flow: therein shall they abide for aye. Such
their reception with God and that which is with God is best for
the righteous.

Among the people of the Book are those who believe in God, and
in what He hath sent down to you, and in what He hath sent down
to them, humbling themselves before God. They barter not the
signs of God for a mean price.

These! their recompense awaiteth them with their Lord: aye! God
is swift to take account.

O ye who believe! be patient, and vie in patience, and be firm, and
fear God, that it may be well with you.

_______________________

1 Verses 1 87 probably belong to the period between the battle of
Bedr and Hej. 6. Muhammad supposed Imran or Amran to be the
father of the Virgin Mary (Sura [cix.] lxvi. 12) Mary and
Elizabeth to be sisters; who, with Jesus, John, and Zacharias,
make up the family of Imran. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion
that Muhammad is guilty of the anachronism of confounding
Miriam with the Virgin Mary. On the other hand is the difficulty of
conceiving that as the sequence of time and fact is observed with
tolerable accuracy in regard to the main features of Jewish and
Christian History, he should have fallen into so serious an error,
or have so inadvertently adopted, as Mr. Muir supposes, the
phraseology of his Jewish informants (amongst whom the only
well-known Mary (Miriam) was the daughter of Imran and the
sister of Moses) as to have overlooked the discrepancy in their
respective dates. But it is possible that Muhammad believed, as
some Muslim writers assert, that Miriam's soul and body were
miraculously preserved till the time of Jesus in order to become
Mary his mother. Certainly the Talmudists fabled that the Angel of
Death and the worm of corruption had no power over Miriam.
Comp. Babha Bathra, 17. Jos. Ant. iv. 4, 6.

2 See note, p. 32.

3 See Sura xxi. 49, p. 154, n.

4 Lit. mother.

5 In the battle of Bedr, Muhammad, with 319 followers routed
1000 Meccans, A.H. 2.

6 That is, knowledge, or revelation, became the cause of
disputings.

7 That is, will ye receive Islam? The Ummiin, or common folk, the
heathen Arabians destitute of Revelation. In the earliest extant
biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq, we find these words
addressed by Zaid, previous to the assumption of the prophetic
office by Muhammad, to the Koreisch. This is one of the facts
which shew that the way was to a great extent prepared for Islam.
This whole address of Zaid's which contains not less than six
passages afterwards repeated in the Koran may be seen in Dr.
Sprenger's Life of M. p. 42. The instances of others who had
learned to disbelieve in idolatry, and had either become Jews or
Christians, or held their minds in suspense, might easily be
multiplied. Comp. Sharastani, p. 437. Masudi, ch. 6.

8 The King of the Kingdom, or, Lord of Might. This verse and the
following are either fragments of some lost Sura, or belonging to
one of the Meccan Suras. At any rate, they are misplaced,
interrupting as they do the connection of the preceding and
subsequent verses.

9 The wife of Imran is Hannah or Anne. Comp. Protev. Jac. iv.
[greek text]. Evang. de Nat. Mar. 1: Voverunt tamen (Mari‘
parentes) si forte donaret eis Deus sobolem, eam se Dni servitio
mancipaturos. Although Muhammad had no direct access to the
Apocryphal Gospels, yet these may have influenced, or at any rate,
contained much in common with, the ordinary traditions of S.
Syria. And of this, the Immaculate Conception of the B. V. Mary,
supposed by Gibbon (ch. 50) to have been "borrowed from the
Koran," probably formed a part.

10 That is, the female could not become a priest.

11 See note, p. 114.

12 According to a tradition of Muhammad every new-born child is
touched by Satan, with the exception of Mary and her Son,
between whom and Satan God interposed a veil. (Djelal. Beidh.)
Hence this passage may imply the Immaculate Conception of the
B. V. Mary. See v. 37 below.

13 Evang. de Nat. Mar. 7: Quotidie ab angelis frequentabatur,
quotidie divinƒ visione fruebatur, qu‘ eam a malis omnibus
custodiebat et bonis omnibus redundare faciebat. Protev. Jac. 8:
[greek text]. Hist. Nativ. Mar. 6: Quotidie escƒ, quam de manu
angeli accipiebat, ipsƒ tantum reficiebatur.

14 The word rendered descendants is a collective noun. Gerock (p.
20) thinks that Zacharias' prayer was not for a son of his own, but
for an adopted son as, for instance, the future husband of Mary
who might become his heir, and hence accounts for his surprise
and unbelief at the announcement of John.

15 Lit. chamber. By this may be meant an [greek text] of the
Temple Comp. Luke i. 21.

16 Luke i. 28.

17 Hist. de Nativ. Mar. 6: Abierunt simul Joachim et Anna uxor
ejus ad templum domini, et tradiderunt Mariam in
contubernio virginum qu‘ die noctuque in Dei laudibus manebant.

18 These reeds, say the commentators, were written over with
passages from the law, and cast into Jordan. That of Zacharias
alone swam, and was the token that the charge of Mary was to
devolve on him. Others render, their divining arrows. See a
detailed account of the manner in which this matter was settled by
[greek text], virgae, in Protev. Jac. Thilo. p. 204. Hist. Nat. Mar.
ib. p. 359 sqq.

19 Ar. El-Mesich Isa ben Mariam, illustrious in this world as a
Prophet, in the next as an Intercessor. Beidh.

20 Evang. Thom‘, ch. 2 (Thilo. p. 281) and Evang. Infanti‘ Arab.
ch. 36, 46. (Thilo. p. 111, 123.)

21 See Sura [cxiv.] v. 111.

22 Muhammad probably believed that God took the dead body of
Jesus to Heaven for three hours according to some while the
Jews crucified a man who resembled him. Sura [c.] iv. 156. The
word motewaffika (comp. Sura [lxxx.] xxxix. 156) means, in
speaking of God, to cause to die, take to himself. It would also
seem from Sura [lviii.] xix. 34, that Muhammad supposed Jesus to
have died a natural death, though it is nowhere said how long he
continued in that state. The Muhammadans believe that Jesus on
his return to earth at the end of the world will slay the Antichrist,
die, and be raised again. A vacant place is reserved for his body in
the Prophet's tomb at Medina. See Lieut. Burton's Pilgrimage,
vol. ii.

23 Lit. verily the similitude or analogy of Isa is as the similitude or
analogy of Adam, i.e. neither of them had a human father.

24 This refers to an embassy from the Christians in Nedjran in
Arabia, with their Bishop, Abu Hareth, at their head, to
Muhammad at Medina, who had now acquired political power.
The embassy declined to be parties to the strange mode of settling
the dispute here proposed, but consented to pay tribute on
condition of not being molested in their religion or lands.

25 If this be not a mere figure of speech, it must mean let us call
over and curse the names, the persons being at a distance.

26 As the Christians do their Bishops and Priests.

27 Whether he were a Jew or Christian.

28 About Moses and Jesus, and their respective faiths.

29 See Sura xvi. 121, p. 209, note.

30 Muhammad insinuates that the claim to be equal with God
could never have been made by Jesus himself, but by his followers,
in ignorance of the Scriptures and of his true nature.

31 That is, to call them rabb a title due only to God.

32 Assembled on Mount Sinai. Compare the Jewish legend, that
all
the prophets, even those who were not yet born, were present on
Mount Sinai, when God gave the law to Moses. See Shemoth
Rabba. Parashah 28, according to which, not only the Prophets
but the Rabbis of every generation, were present at the giving of
the Law.

33 Becca, place of crowding, i.e. Mecca. This sentence, together
with other Suras the Cave, Mary, Imran, Repentance, T, H, are
woven into the Kiswah or covering of the Caaba, which is renewed
annually.

34 The Makam Ibrahim (praying place of Abraham) is a small
building supported by six pillars about 8 ft. high, four of which are
surrounded from top to bottom by a fine iron railing, while they
leave the space between the two hind pillars open; within the
railing is a frame about 5 ft. square, said to contain the sacred
stone on which Ibrahim stood when he built the Caaba.
Burckhardt. Lieut. Burton (Pilgrimage, iii. 336) says that as the
Arab tradition speaks clearly and consistently as to the fact of
Abraham having visited Mecca to build the Caaba, it may be
considered an open question. Thus also Dr. G. W. Freytag (Einl.).

35 The Koran.

36 Or, they are smitten with. Sale. S'etendra comme une tente.
Kas.

37 This probably refers to the battle of Ohod.

38 The Arabic word occurs at verse 13 of horses as known by
certain marks. So here these angels would be known by their
accoutrements, etc.

39 This and the following verses to 154 were probably revealed
shortly after the reverse of Ohod.

40 This verse and xxxix. 31 (p.257) were recited at Muhammad's
death by Abu Bekr, in order to convince Omar and the other
Muslims of the possibility of that event. It has been supposed that
these passages were invented by Abu Bekr on this occasion, and
inserted into the Koran. But this is more than doubtful. See
N”ldeke, pp. 199 201.

41 That is, return to idolatry. A report had been spread in the
battle of Ohod that Muhammad had been slain.

42 Lit. according to a writing (i.e. of God) definite. The Rabbins
also teach (Com. Tract. Rosch. Haschanah) that there are books in
which God has written down the lifetime of every individual. Lit.
No soul can die.

43 Lit. and their saying was no other than that they said.

44 To relapse into infidelity. The Koreisch attempted to seduce the
Muslims to renounce their faith after the battle of Ohod.

45 The command to abstain from taking the spoils. This
disobedience turned the scale of victory against the Muslims.

46 Victory and plunder.

47 Some took to flight, others stood firm, and were not careful of
their lives.

48 That is, in confused rout.

49 Muhammad had been accused of having secretly appropriated
a portion of the spoil.

50 At Ohod.

51 See Sura [xci.] ii. 149.

52 At Ohod; lit. wound.

53 Lit. that Satan. Said to refer to Noaim, or Abu Sofian, the
leader of the Koreisch.

54 This is an answer to the taunt that Muhammad could not
distinguish true believers from hypocrites.

55 This was the taunt of the Jews of the tribe of Kainoka, when
Muhammad demanded tribute of them in the name of God.

56 That is, who rejoice in their successful corruptions of their own
sacred books, especially the testimony of Moses to Muhammad,
and in their own fancied righteousness. Thus some of the
commentators.

57 Lit. some of you are from others. These words were occasioned
by one of the Prophet's wives having told him that God often
praised the men, but not the women, who had fled their country for
the faith. Beidh.

58 Lit. their movements, their comings and goings. Hence, the
success of the Meccans in their trading journeys. This may point to
the comparative freedom from trade and general independence of
the Meccans after the affair at Ohod.

SURA LXI. BATTLE ARRAY [XCVIII.]

MEDINA. 14 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ALL that is in the Heavens and all that is on the Earth praiseth
God. He is the Mighty, the Wise!

Believers! why profess ye that which ye practise not?1

Most hateful is it to God that ye say that which ye do not.

Verily God loveth those who, as though they were a solid wall, do
battle for his cause in serried lines!

And bear in mind when Moses said to his people, "Why grieve ye
me, O my people, when ye know that I am God's apostle unto
you?" And when they went astray, God led their hearts astray; for
God guideth not a perverse people:

And remember when Jesus the son of Mary said, "O children of
Israel! of a truth I am God's apostle to you to confirm the law
which was given before me, and to announce an apostle that shall
come after me whose name shall be Ahmad!"2 But when he
(Ahmad) presented himself with clear proofs of his mission, they
said, "This is manifest sorcery!"

But who more impious than he who when called to Islam deviseth
a falsehood concerning God? God guideth not the wicked!

Fain would they put out the light of God with their mouths! but
though the Infidels hate it, God will perfect his light.

He it is who hath sent his apostle with guidance and the religion of
truth, that, though they hate it who join other gods with God, He
may make it victorious over every other religion.

O ye who believe! shall I shew you a merchandise that shall
deliver you from the sore torment?

Believe in God and his apostle, and do valiantly in the cause of
God with your wealth and with your persons! This, did ye but
know it, will be best for you.

Your sins will He forgive you, and He will bring you into gardens
beneath whose shades the rivers flow into charming abodes in
the gardens of Eden: This shall be the great bliss.

And other things which ye desire will he bestow, Help from God
and speedy conquest!3 Bear thou these tidings to the faithful.

O ye who believe! be helpers (ansars) of God; as said Jesus the son
of Mary to his apostles, "Who will come to the help of God?"
"We," said the apostles, "will be helpers of God." And a part of
the children of Israel believed, and a part believed not. But to those
who believed gave we the upperhand over their foes, and soon did
they prove victorious.

_______________________

1 Addressed to the Muslims who had turned their backs to the
enemy at Ohod.

2 Muhammad had no doubt heard that Jesus had promised a
Paracletos, John xvi. 7. This title, understood by him, probably
from the similarity of sound, as equivalent to Periclytos, he
applied to himself with reference to his own name Muhammad
(i.e. praised, glorified) from the same root and of the same
meaning as Ahmad, also one of the Prophet's names. It may be
here remarked that the name Muhammad, if pronounced
Muhammed, "might be understood by an Arab in an active instead
of a passive sense." (Lane, Kor. p. 52.) Other passages of Scripture
understood by Muslims of their Prophet are Deut. xxxiii. 2, where
Paran is said to mean Islam; Isai. xxi. 6, where the "rider on the
ass" is Jesus, the "rider on the camel" Muhammad; Matt. xx. 1-16,
where the morning, noon, and even are Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam; John iv. 21; 1 John iv. 2, 3, where Muhammad is said to be
"the spirit that is of God," because he proclaimed that Jesus was a
true man and not God.

3 If this allude to a meditated attack on the Banu Nadir (see Sura
[cii.] lix.) we have a clue to the probable date of the Sura. The
promise, however, may be general. But the tone of verse 9
evidently points to a period when, as at Medina, the prospects of
Islam were becoming hopeful.

SURA LVII. IRON [XCIX.]

MEDINA.1 29 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ALL that is in the Heavens and in the Earth praiseth God, and He
is the Mighty, the Wise!

His the Kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth; He maketh alive
and killeth; and He hath power over all things!

He is the first and the last; the Seen and the Hidden;2 and He
knoweth all things!

It is He who in six days created the Heavens and the Earth, then
ascended His throne. He knoweth that which entereth the earth,
and that which goeth forth from it, and what cometh down from
Heaven, and what mounteth up to it; and wherever ye are, He is
with you; and God beholdeth all your actions!

His the kingdom of the Heavens and the Earth; and to God shall all
things return!

He causeth the night to pass into the day, and He causeth the day to
pass into the night: and He knoweth the very secrets of the bosom!

Believe in God and his apostle, and bestow in alms of that whereof
God hath made you heirs: for whoever among you believe and give
alms their's shall be a great recompense.

What hath come to you that ye believe not in God, although the
apostle exhorteth you to believe in your Lord, and He hath
accepted your alliance if ye are true believers?

He it is who hath sent down clear tokens upon His servant, that He
may bring you out of darkness into light; and truly, Kind, Merciful
to you is God.

And what hath come to you that ye expend not for the cause of
God? since the heritage of the Heavens and of the Earth is God's
only! Those among you who contributed before the victory, and
fought, shall be differently treated from certain others among you!
Such shall have a nobler grade than those who contributed and
fought after it. But a goodly recompense hath God promised to all;
and God is fully informed of your actions.

Who is he that will lend a generous loan to God? So will He
double it to him, and he shall have a noble reward.

One day thou shalt see the believers, men and women, with their
light running before them, and on their right hand.3 The angels
shall say to them, "Good tidings for you this day of gardens
beneath whose shades the rivers flow, in which ye shall abide for
ever!" This the great bliss!

On that day the hypocrites, both men and women, shall say to
those who believe, "Tarry for us, that we may kindle our light at
yours." It shall be said, "Return ye back, and seek light for
yourselves." But between them shall be set a wall with a gateway,
within which shall be the Mercy, and in front, without it, the
Torment. They shall cry to them, "Were we not with you?" They
shall say, "Yes! but ye led yourselves into temptation, and ye
delayed, and ye doubted, and the good things ye craved deceived
you, till the doom of God arrived: and the deceiver deceived you
in regard to God."

On that day, therefore, no ransom shall be taken from you or from
those who believe not: your abode the fire! This shall be your
master!4 and wretched the journey thither!

Hath not the time come, for those who believe, to humble their
hearts at the warning of God and at the truth which he hath sent
down? and that they be not as those to whom the Scriptures were
given heretofore, whose lifetime was prolonged, but whose hearts
were hardened, and many of them were perverse?

Know that God quickeneth the earth after its death! Now have we
made these signs clear to you, that ye may understand.

Verily, they who give alms, both men and women, and they who
lend a generous loan to God, doubled shall it be to them and
they shall have a noble recompense.

And they who believed in God and his apostle are the men of truth,
and the witnesses in the presence of their Lord;5 They shall have
their recompense and their light: But as for the infidels, and those
who give the lie to our signs, these shall be the inmates of Hell.

Know ye that this world's life is only a sport, and pastime, and
show, and a cause of vainglory among you! And the multiplying of
riches and children is like the plants which spring up after
rain Their growth rejoiceth the husband-man; then they wither
away, and thou seest them all yellow; then they become stubble.
And in the next life is a severe chastisement,

Or else pardon from God and His satisfaction: and this world's
life is but a cheating fruition.6

Vie in hasting after pardon from your Lord, and Paradise whose
outspread is as the outspread of the Heaven and of the Earth:
Prepared is it for those who believe in God and His apostles: Such
is the bounty of God: to whom He will He giveth it: and of
immense bounty is God!

No mischance chanceth either on earth or in your own persons, but
ere we created them, it was in the Book;7 for easy is this to
God

Lest ye distress yourselves if good things escape you, and be over
joyous for what falleth to your share. God loveth not the
presumptuous, the boaster,

Who are covetous themselves and incite others to covetousness.
But whose turneth away from almsgiving Ah! God is the Rich,
the Praiseworthy.

We have sent our apostles with the clear tokens, and we have
caused the Book and the balance8 to descend with them, that men
might observe fairness. And we have sent down IRON. Dire evil9
resideth in it, as well as advantage, to mankind! God would know
who will assist Him and his apostle in secret. Verily, God is
Powerful, Strong.

And of old sent we Noah and Abraham, and on their seed
conferred the gift of prophecy, and the Book; and some of them we
guided aright; but many were evil doers.

Then we caused our apostles to follow in their footsteps; and we
caused Jesus the son of Mary to follow them; and we gave him the
Evangel,10 and we put into the hearts of those who followed him
kindness and compassion: but as to the monastic life, they invented
it themselves. The desire only of pleasing God did we prescribe to
them, and this they observed not as it ought to have been observed:
but to such of them as believed gave we their reward, though many
of them were perverse.

O ye who believe! fear God and believe in his apostle: two
portions of his mercy will He give you. He will bestow on you
light to walk in, and He will forgive you: for God is Forgiving,
Merciful;

That the people of the Book may know that they have no control
over aught of the favours of God, and that these gifts of grace11 are
in the hands of God, and that He vouchsafeth them to whom he
will; for God is of immense bounty.

_______________________

1 The general tone of this Sura shews it to have been revealed at
Medina, and from verse 22 it may be inferred that its true date lies
between the battle of Ohod and the battle of the Ditch.

2 Lit. the exterior and the interior.

3 To guide them on their route to paradise.

4 Patronus. Mar. Beschutzer. Ullm. Or, what ye have deserved.

5 Against the infidels.

6 Supellex deceptionis. Mar.

7 Of our eternal decrees.

8 Brought by Gabriel to Noah, who imparted its use to his
posterity. So say the commentators. But the expression seems
rather to be figurative. Comp. Sura lv. 6, p. 74.

9 Or, mighty warlike strength, but the antithesis requires the
rendering given in the text. Comp. Gen. iv. 22, and Michna Tr.
Aboth, 5, 9.

10 We are not to understand by the word Evangel the actual
volume of the New Testament, or any one of its component parts,
but rather the revelation made to Jesus by God himself, which
Muhammad may have imagined to have been committed to writing
subsequently, in the same way as his own Koran.

11 The word in the original is the same for favours, gifts of grace,
bounty. The reference is to the gift of prophecy (Beidh.) mentioned
verse 27.

SURA IV. WOMEN1 [C.]

MEDINA. 175 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O MEN! fear your Lord, who hath created you of one man (nafs,
soul), and of him created his wife, and from these twain hath
spread abroad so many men and WOMEN. And fear ye God, in
whose name ye ask mutual favours, and reverence the wombs
that bare you. Verily is God watching over you!

And give to the orphans their property; substitute not worthless
things of your own for their valuable ones, and devour not their
property after adding it to your own; for this is a great crime.

And if ye are apprehensive that ye shall not deal fairly with
orphans, then, of other women who seem good in your eyes, marry
but two, or three, or four;2 and if ye still fear that ye shall not act
equitably, then one only; or the slaves whom ye have acquired: this
will make justice on your part easier. Give women their dowry
freely; but if of themselves they give up aught thereof to you, then
enjoy it as convenient, and profitable:

And entrust not to the incapable the substance which God hath
placed with you for their support; but maintain them therewith,
and clothe them, and speak to them with kindly speech.

And make trial of orphans until they reach the age of marriage;
and if ye perceive in them a sound judgment, then hand over their
substance to them; but consume ye it not wastefully, or by hastily
entrusting it to them;

Because they are growing up. And let the rich guardian not even
touch it; and let him who is poor use it for his support (eat of it)
with discretion.

And when ye make over their substance to them, then take
witnesses in their presence: God also maketh a sufficient account.

Men ought to have a part of what their parents and kindred leave;
and women3 a part of what their parents and kindred leave:
whether it be little or much, let them have a stated portion.

And when they who are of kin are present at the division, and the
orphans and the poor, let them too have a share; and speak to them
with kindly speech.

And let those be afraid to wrong the orphans, who, should they
leave behind them weakly offspring, would be solicitous on their
account. Let them, therefore, fear God, and let them propose what
is right.

Verily they who swallow the substance of the orphan wrongfully,
shall swallow down only fire into their bellies, and shall burn in
the flame!

With regard to your children, God commandeth you to give the
male the portion of two females; and if they be females more than
two, then they shall have two-thirds of that which their fatherhath
left: but if she be an only daughter, she shall have the half; and the
father and mother of the deceased shall each of them have a sixth
part of what he hath left, if he have a child; but if he have no child,
and his parents be his heirs, then his mother shall have the third:
and if he have brethren, his mother shall have the sixth, after
paying the bequests he shall have bequeathed, and his debts. As to
your fathers, or your children, ye know not which of them is the
most advantageous to you. This is the law of God. Verily, God is
Knowing, Wise!

Half of what your wives leave shall be your's, if they have no
issue; but if they have issue, then a fourth of what they leave shall
be your's, after paying the bequests they shall bequeath, and debts.

And your wives shall have a fourth part of what ye leave, if ye
have no issue; but if ye have issue, then they shall have an eighth
part of what ye leave, after paying the bequests ye shall bequeath,
and debts.

If a man or a woman make a distant relation their heir, and he or
she have a brother or a sister, each of these two shall have a sixth;
but if there are more than this, then shall they be sharers in a third,
after payment of the bequests he shall have bequeathed, and debts,

Without loss to any one. This is the ordinance of God, and God is
Knowing, Gracious!

These are the precepts of God; and whoso obeyeth God and his
prophet, him shall God bring into gardens beneath whose shades
the rivers flow, therein to abide for ever: and this, the great
blessedness!

And whoso shall rebel against God and his apostle, and shall break
His bounds, him shall God place in the fire to abide therein for
ever; and his shall be a shameful torment.

If any of your women be guilty of whoredom, then bring four
witnesses against them from among yourselves; and if they bear
witness to the fact, shut them up within their houses till death
release them,4 or God make some way for them.

And if two men among you commit the same crime, then punish
them both; but if they turn and amend, then let them be: for God is
He who turneth, Merciful!

With God himself will the repentance of those who have done evil
ignorantly, and then turn speedily unto Him, be accepted. These!
God will turn unto them:for God is Knowing, Wise!

But no place of repentance shall there be for those who do evil,
until, when death is close to one of them, he saith, "Now verily am
I turned to God;" nor to those who die unbelievers. These! we have
made ready for them a grievous torment!

O believers! it is not allowed you to be heirs of your wives against
their will; nor to hinder them from marrying, in order to take from
them part of the dowry you had given them, unless they have been
guilty of undoubted lewdness; but associate kindly with them: for
if ye are estranged from them, haply ye are estranged from that in
which God hath placed abundant good.

And if ye be desirous to exchange one wife for another, and have
given one of them a talent, make no deduction from it. Would ye
take it by slandering her, and with manifest wrong?

How, moreover, could ye take it, when one of you hath gone in
unto the other, and they have received from you a strict bond of
union?

And marry not women whom your fathers have married: for this is
a shame, and hateful, and an evil way: though what is past5 may
be allowed.

Forbidden to you are your mothers, and your daughters, and your
sisters, and your aunts, both on the father and mother's side, and
your nieces on the brother and sister's side, and your
foster-mothers, and your foster-sisters, and the mothers of your
wives, and your step-daughters who are your wards, born of your
wives to whom ye have gone in: (but if ye have not gone in unto
them, it shall be no sin in you to marry them;) and the wives of
your sons who proceed out of your loins; and ye may not have two
sisters; except where it is already done. Verily, God is Indulgent,
Merciful!

Forbidden to you also are married women, except those who are in
your hands as slaves: This is the law of God for you. And it is
allowed you, beside this, to seek out wives by means of your
wealth, with modest conduct, and without fornication. And give
those with whom ye have cohabited their dowry. This is the law.
But it shall be no crime in you to make agreements over and above
the law. Verily, God is Knowing, Wise!

And whoever of you is not rich enough to marry free believing
women, then let him marry such of your believing maidens as have
fallen into your hands as slaves; God well knoweth your faith. Ye
are sprung the one from the other. Marry them, then, with the leave
of their masters, and give them a fair dower: but let them be chaste
and free from fornication, and not entertainers of lovers.

If after marriage they commit adultery, then inflict upon them half
the penalty enacted for free married women. This law is for him
among you who is afraid of doing wrong:6 but if ye abstain,7 it will
be better for you. And God is Lenient, Merciful.

God desireth to make this known to you, and to guide you into the
ways of those who have been before you, and to turn Him unto you
in mercy. And God is Knowing, Wise!

God desireth thus to turn him unto you: but they who follow their
own lusts, desire that with great swerving should ye swerve! God
desireth to make your burden light: for man hath been created
weak.

O believers! devour not each other's substance in mutual
frivolities;8 unless there be a trafficking among you by your own
consent: and commit not suicide: of a truth God is merciful to
you.

And whoever shall do this maliciously and wrongfully, we will in
the end cast him into the fire; for this is easy with God.

If ye avoid the great sins which ye are forbidden, we will blot out
your faults, and we will cause you to enter Paradise with
honourable entry.

Covet not the gifts by which God hath raised some of you above
others. The men shall have a portion according to their deserts, and
the women a portion according to their deserts. Of God, therefore,
ask his gifts. Verily, God hath knowledge of all things.

To every one have we appointed kindred, as heirs of what parents
and relatives, and those with whom ye have joined right hands in
contract, leave. Give therefore, to each their portion. Verily, God
witnesseth all things.

Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which
God hath gifted the one above the other, and on account of the
outlay they make from their substance for them. Virtuous women
are obedient, careful, during the husband's absence, because God
hath of them been careful.9 But chide those for whose
refractoriness ye have cause to fear; remove them into beds apart,
and scourage them: but if they are obedient to you, then seek not
occasion against them: verily, God is High, Great!

And if ye fear a breach between man and wife, then send a judge
chosen from his family, and a judge chosen from her family: if
they are desirous of agreement, God will effect a reconciliation
between them; verily, God is knowing, apprised of all!

Worship God, and join not aught with Him in worship. Be good to
parents,10 and to kindred, and to orphans, and to the poor, and to a
neighbour, whether kinsman or new-comer, and to a fellow
traveller, and to the wayfarer, and to the slaves whom your right
hands hold; verily, God loveth not the proud, the vain boaster,

Who are niggardly themselves, and bid others be niggards, and
hide away what God of his bounty hath given them. We have made
ready a shameful chastisement for the unbelievers,

And for those who bestow their substance in alms to be seen of
men, and believe not in God and in the last day. Whoever hath
Satan for his companion, an evil companion hath he!

But what blessedness would be theirs, if they should believe in
God and in the last day, and bestow alms out of what God hath
vouchsafed them; for God taketh knowledge of them!

God truly will not wrong any one of the weight of a mote; and if
there be any good deed, he will repay it doubly; and from his
presence shall be given a great recompense.

How! when we shall bring up against them witnesses from all
peoples, and when we shall bring thee up as witness against these?
On that day they who were Infidels and rebelled against the
prophet, shall wish that the earth were levelled with them! But
nothing shall they hide from God.

O ye true believers,11 come not to prayer when ye are drunken, but
wait till ye can understand what ye utter; nor when ye are polluted,
unless ye be travelling on the road, until ye have washed you. If ye
be sick, or on a journey, or have come from the unclean place, or
have touched a woman, and ye find not water, then rub pure sand,
and bathe your face and your hands with it: verily, God is Lenient,
Merciful.

Hast thou not remarked those12 to whom a part of the Scriptures
hath been given? Vendors are they of error, and are desirous that
ye go astray from the way. But God knoweth your enemies; and
God is a sufficient patron, and God is a sufficient helper!

Among the Jews are those who displace the words of their
Scriptures, and say, "We have heard, and we have not obeyed.
Hear thou, but as one that heareth not; and LOOK AT US;"13
perplexing with their tongues, and wounding the Faith by their
revilings.

But if they would say, "We have heard, and we obey; hear thou,
and REGARD US;" it were better for them, and more right. But
God hath cursed them for their unbelief. Few only of them are
believers!

O ye to whom the Scriptures have been given! believe in what we
have sent down confirmatory of the Scripture which is in your
hands, ere we efface your features, and twist your head round
backward, or curse you as we cursed the sabbath-breakers:14 and
the command of God was carried into effect.

Verily, God will not forgive the union of other gods with Himself!
But other than this will forgive to whom He pleaseth. And He who
uniteth gods with God hath devised a great wickedness.

Hast thou not marked those who hold themselves to be righteous?
But God holdeth righteous whom He will; and they shall not be
wronged the husk of a date stone.

Behold how they devise a lie of God! Therein is wickedness
manifest enough!

Hast thou not observed those to whom a part of the Scriptures hath
been given?15 They believe in Djibt and Thagout, and say of the
infidels, "These are guided in a batter path than those who hold the
faith."

These are they whom God hath cursed: and for him whom God
hath cursed, thou shalt by on means find a helper.

Shall they have a share in the kingdom who would not bestow on
their fellow men even the speck in a date stone?a

Envy they other men what God of his bounty hath given them? We
gave of old the Scriptures and wisdom to the line of Abraham, and
we gave them a grand kingdom:

Some of them believe on the prophet and some turn aside from
him: the flame of Hell is their sufficing punishment!

Those who disbelieve our signs we will in the end cast into the
fire: so oft as their skins shall be well burnt,16 we will change them
for fresh skins, that they may taste the torment. Verily God is
Mighty, Wise!

But as for those who have believed, and done the things that are
right, we will bring being them into gardens 'neath which the
rivers flow therein to abide eternally; therein shall they have
wives of stainless purity: and we will bring them into
aye-shadowing shades.

Verily, God enjoineth you to give back your trusts to their owners,
and when ye judge between men, to judge with fairness. Excellent
is the practice to which God exhorteth you. God Heareth,
Beholdeth!

O ye who believe! obey God and obey the apostle, and those
among you invested with authority; and if in aught ye differ, bring
it before God and the apostle, if ye believe in God and in the latter
day. This is the best and fairest way of settlement.

Hast thou not marked those who profess that they believe in what
hath been sent down to thee, and what hath been sent down before
thee? Fain would they be judged before Thagout, though
commanded not to believe in him; and fain would Satan make
them wander with wanderings wide of truth.

And when it is said to them, "Accede to that which God hath sent
down, and to the apostle," thou seest the hypocrites avert them
from thee with utter aversion.

But how, when some misfortune shall fortune them, for their
previous handywork? Then will they come to thee, swearing by
God, "We desire nothing but to promote good and concord!"

These are they whose hearts God knoweth. Therefore break off
from them, and warn them, speak words that may penetrate their
souls.

We have not sent any apostle but to be obeyed, it God so will: but
if they, after they have sinned to their own hurt by unbelief, come
to thee and ask pardon of God, and the apostle ask pardon for
them, they shall surely find that God is He who turneth unto man,
Merciful.

And they will not I swear by thy Lord they will not believe,
until they have set thee up as judge between them on points where
they differ. Then shall they not find in their own minds any
difficulty in thy decisions, and shall submit with entire submission.

Had we laid down such a law for them as "Kill yourselves, or
abandon your dwellings," but few of them would have done it. But
had they done that to which they were exhorted, better and it been
for them, and stronger for the confirmation of their faith.

In that case we had surely given them from ourself a great
recompense, and on the straight path should we surely have guided
them.

And whoever shall obey God and the Apostle, these shall be with
those of the Prophets, and of the Sincere, and of the Martyrs, and
of the Just, to whom God hath been gracious. These are a goodly
band!

This is the bounty of God; and in knowledge doth God suffice.

O ye who believe! make use of precautions; and advance in
detachments, or , advance in a body.

There is of you who will be a laggard: and if a reverse befall you
he saith, "Now hath God dealt graciously with me, since I was not
with you in the fight:"

But if a success from God betide you, he will say, as if there had
never been any friendship between you and him, "Would I had
been with them! a rich prize should I have won!"

Let those then fight on the path of God, who barter this present life
for that which is to come; for whoever fighteth on God's path,
whether he be slain or conquer, we will in the end give him a great
reward.

But what hath come to you that ye fight not on the path of God,
and for the weak among men, women and children, who say, "O
our Lord! bring us forth from this city17 whose inhabitants are
oppressors; give us a champion from thy presence; and give us
from thy presence a defender."

They who believe, fight on the path of God; and they who believe
not, fight on the path of Thagout: Fight therefore against the
friends of Satan. Verily craft of Satan shall be powerless!

Hast thou not marked those to whom it was said, "Withhold your
hands awhile from war; and observe prayer, and pay the stated
alms." But when war is commanded them, lo! a portion of them
fear men as with the fear of God, or with a yet greater fear, and
say: "O our Lord! why hast thou commanded us war? Couldst thou
not have given us respite till our not distant end?" SAY: Small the
fruition of this world; but the next life is the true good for him
who feareth God! and ye shall not be wronged so much as the skin
of a date stone.

Wherever ye be, death will overtake you although ye be in lofty
towers! If good fortune betide them, they say, "This is from God;"
and if evil betide them, they say, "This is from thee." SAY: All is
from God: But what hath come to these people that they are not
near to understanding what is told them?

Whatever good betideth thee is from God, and whatever betideth
thee of evil is from thyself; and we have sent thee to mankind as
an apostle: God is thy sufficing witness.

Whoso obeyeth the Apostle, in so doing obeyeth God: and as to
those who turn back from thee, we have not sent thee to be their
keeper.

Moreover, they say: "Obedience!" but when they come forth from
thy presence, a party of them brood by night over other than thy
words; but God writeth down what they brood over: therefore
separate thyself from them, and put thou thy trust in God. is a
sufficient protector!

Can they not consider the Koran? Were it from any other than
God, they would surely have found in it many contradictions.

And when tidings, either of security or alarm, reach them, they tell
them abroad; but if they would report them to the apostle, and to
those who are in authority among them, those who desire
information would learn it from them. But for the goodness and
mercy of God towards you, ye would have followed Satan except a
few!

Fight, therefore, on God's path: lay not burdens on any but thyself;
and stir up the faithful. The might of the infidels haply will god
restrain, for God is the stronger in prowess, and the stronger to
punish.

He who shall mediate between men for a good purpose shall be the
gainer by it. But he who shall mediate with an evil mediation shall
reap the fruit of it. And God keepeth watch over everything.

If ye are greeted with a greeting, then greet ye with a better
greeting, or at least return it: God taketh count of all things.

God! there is no god but He! He will certainly assemble you on the
day of resurrection. There is no doubt of it. And whose word is
more true than God's?

Why are ye two parties on the subject of the hypocrites, when God
hath cast them off for their doings? Desire ye to guide those whom
god hath led astray? But for him whom God leadeth astray, thou
shalt by no means find a pathway.

They desire that ye should be infidels as they are infidels, and that
ye should be alike. Take therefore none of them for friends, till
they have fled their homes for the cause of God. If they turn back,
then seize them, and slay them wherever ye find them; but take
none of them as friends or helpers,

Except those who shall seek and asylum among your allies, and
those who come over to you their hearts forbidding them to
make war on you, or to make war on their own people. Had God
pleased, he would have given them power against you, and they
would have made war upon you! But, if they depart from you, and
make not war against you and offer you peace, the God alloweth
you no occasion against them.

Ye will find others who seek to gain your confidence as well as
that of their own people: So oft as they return to sedition, they
shall be overthrown in it: But if they leave you not, nor propose
terms or peace to you nor withhold their hands, then seize them,
and slay them, wherever ye find them. Over these have we given
you undoubted power.

A believer killeth not a believer but by mischance: and whoso
killeth a believer by mischance shall be bound to free a believer
from slavery; and the blood-money shall be paid to the family of
the slain, unless they convert it into alms. But if the slain believer
be of a hostile people, then let him confer freedom on a slave who
is a believer; and if he be of a people between whom and
yourselves there is an alliance, then let the blood-money be paid to
his family, and let him set free a slave who is a believer: and let
him who hath not the means, fast two consecutive months. This is
the penance enjoined by God; and God is Knowing, Wise!

But whoever shall kill a believer of set purpose, his recompense
shall be hell; for ever shall he abide in it; God shall be wrathful
with him, and shall curse him, and shall get ready for him a great
torment.

O believers! when ye go forth to the fight for the cause of God, be
discerning, and say not to every one who meeteth you with a
greeting, "Thou art not a believer"18 in your greed after the chance
good things of this present life! With God are abundant spoils.
Such hath been your wont in times past; but god hath been
gracious to you. Be discerning, then, for God well knoweth what
ye do.

Those believers who sit at home free from trouble, and those who
do valiantly in the cause of God with their substance and their
persons, shall not be treated alike. God hath assigned to those who
contend earnestly with their persons and with their substance, a
rank above those who sit at home. Goodly promises hath He made
to all. But God hath assigned to the strenuous a rich recompense,
above those who sit still at home,

Rank of his own bestowal, and forgiveness, and mercy; for God is
Indulgent, Merciful.

The angels,19 when they took the souls of those who had been
unjust to their own weal, demanded, "What hath been your
state?"20 They said, "We were the weak ones21 of the earth." They
replied, "Was not God's earth broad enough for you to flee away
in?" These! their home shall be Hell, and evil the passage to it

Except the men and women and children who were not able,
through their weakness, to find the means of escape, and were not
guided on their way. These haply God will forgive: for God is
Forgiving, Gracious.

Whoever flieth his country for the cause of God, will find in the
earth many under like compulsion, and abundant resources; and if
any one shall quit his home and fly to God and his apostle, and
then death overtake him, his reward from God is sure: for God is
Gracious, Merciful!

And when ye go forth to war in the land, it shall be no crime in you
to cut short your prayers,22 if ye fear lest the infidels come upon
you; Verily, the infidels are your undoubted enemies!

And when thou, O apostle! shalt be among them, and shalt pray
with them, then let a party of them rise up with thee, but let them
take their arms; and when they shall have made their prostrations,
let them retire to your rear: then let another party that hath not
prayed come forward, and let them pray with you; but let them
take their precautions and their arms. Pleased would the infidels be
for you to neglect your arms and your baggage, that they might
turn upon you at once! And it shall be no crime in you to lay down
your arms if rain annoy you, or if ye be sick. But take your
precautions.23 Verily, God hath made ready a shameful torment for
the infidels.

And when ye shall have ended the prayer, make mention of God,
standing, and sitting, and reclining: and as soon as ye are secure,
observe prayer; for to the faithful, prayer is a prescribed duty, and
for stated hours.

Slacken not in pursuit of the foe. If ye suffer, assuredly they suffer
also as ye suffer; but ye hope from God for what they cannot hope!
And God is Knowing, Wise!

Verily, we have sent down the Book to thee with the truth, thou
that mayest judge between men according as God hath given thee
insight: But with the deceitful ones dispute not: and implore
pardon of God. Verily, God is Forgiving, Merciful.24

And plead not with us for those who are self-deceivers; for God
loveth not him who is deceitful, criminal.

From men they hide themselves; but they cannot hide themselves
from God: and when they hold nightly discourses which please
Him not, He is with them. God is round about their doings!

Oh! ye are they who plead in their favour in this present life; but
who shall plead with God for them on the day of the resurrection?
Who will be the guardian over them?

Yet he who doth evil, or shall have acted against his own weal, and
then shall ask pardon of God, will find God Forgiving, Merciful:

And whoever committeth a crime, committeth it to his own hurt.
And God is Knowing, Wise!

And whoever committeth an involuntary fault or a crime, and then
layeth it on the innocent, shall surely bear the guilt of calumny and
of a manifest crime.

But for the grace and mercy of God upon thee, a party among them
had resolved to mislead thee, but they shall only mislead
themselves; nor in aught shall they harm thee. God hath caused the
Book and the wisdom to descend upon thee: and what thou
knowest not He hath caused thee to know: and the grace of God
toward thee hath been great.

In most of their secret talk is nothing good; but only in his who
enjoineth almsgiving, or that which is right, or concord among
men. Whoso doth this, out of desire to please God, we will give
him at the last a great reward:

But whoso shall sever himself from the prophet after that "the
guidance" hath been manifested to him, and shall follow any other
path than that of the faithful, we will turn our back on him as he
hath turned his back on us, and we will cast him into Hell; an
evil journey thither!

God truly will not forgive the joining other gods with Himself.
Other sins He will forgive to whom He will: but he who joineth
gods with God, hath erred with far-gone error.

They call, beside Him, upon mere goddesses! they invoke a rebel
Satan!

On them is the malison of God. For he said, "A portion of thy
servants will I surely take, and will lead them astray, and will stir
desires within them, and will command them and they shall cut the
ears of animals;25 and I will command them, and they shall alter
the creation of God."26 He who taketh Satan rather than God for
his patron, is ruined with palpable ruin:

He hath made them promises, and he hath stirred desires within
them; but Satan promiseth, only to beguile!

These! their dwelling Hell! no escape shall they find from it!

But they who believe and do the things that are right, we will bring
them into gardens beneath which the rivers flow; For ever shall
they abide therein. Truly it is the promise of God: And whose word
is more sure than God's?

Not according to your wishes, or the wishes of the people of the
Book, shall these things be. He who doth evil shall be
recompensed for it. Patron or helper, beside God, shall he find
none.

But whoso doth the things that are right, whether male or female,
and he or she a believer, these shall enter Paradise, nor shall they
be wronged the skin of a date stone.

And who hath a better religion than he who resigneth himself to
God, who doth what is good, and followeth the faith of Abraham
in all sincerity? And God took Abraham for his friend.

All that is in the Heavens and all that is on the Earth is God's: and
God encompasseth all things!

Moreover, they will consult thee in regard to women: SAY: God
hath instructed you about them; and His will is rehearsed to you, in
the Book, concerning female orphans to whom ye give not their
legal due, and whom ye refuse to marry; also with regard to weak
children; and that ye deal with fairness towards orphans. Ye
cannot do a good action, but verily God knoweth it.

And if a wife fear ill usage or aversion on the part of her husband,
then shall it be no fault in them if they can agree with mutual
agreement, for agreement is best. Men's souls are prone to avarice;
but if ye act kindly and fear God, then, verily, your actions are not
unnoticed by God!

And ye will not have it at all in your power to treat your wives
alike, even though you fain would do so; but yield not wholly to
disinclination, so that ye leave one of them as it were in suspense;
if ye come to an understanding, and fear God, then, verily, God is
Forgiving, Merciful;

But if they separate, God can compensate both out of His
abundance; for God is Vast, Wise;

And whatever is in the Heavens and in the Earth is God's! We
have already enjoined those to whom the Scriptures were given
before you, and yourselves, to fear God. But if ye become
unbelievers, yet know that whatever is in the Heavens and in the
Earth is God's: and God is Rich, Praiseworthy.

All that is in Heaven and all that is in Earth is God's! God is a
sufficient protector!

If he pleased, he could cause you to pass away, O mankind! and
create others in your stead: for this hath God power.

If any one desire the reward of this world, yet with God is the
reward of this world and of the next! And God Heareth, Beholdeth.

O ye who believe! stand fast to justice, when ye bear witness
before God, though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or
your kindred, whether the party be rich or poor. God is nearer than
you to both. Therefore follow not passion, lest ye swerve from
truth. And if ye wrest your testimony or stand aloof, God verily is
well aware of what ye do.

O ye who believe! believe in God and his Apostle, and the Book
which he hath sent down to his Apostle, and the Book which he
hath sent down aforetime. Whoever believeth not on God and his
Angels and his Books and his Apostles, and in the last day, he
verily hath erred with far-gone error.

Verily, they who believed, then became unbelievers, then believed,
and again became unbelievers, and then increased their
unbelief it is not God who will forgive them or guide them into
the way.

Announce27 to the hypocrites that a dolorous torment doth await
them.

Those who take the unbelievers for friends besides the
faithful do they seek honour at their hands? Verily, all honour
belongeth unto God!

And already hath He sent this down to you in the Book28 "WHEN
YE SHALL HEAR THE SIGNS OF GOD THEY SHALL NOT BE
BELIEVED BUT SHALL BE MOCKED AT." Sit ye not therefore
with such, until they engage in other discourse; otherwise, ye will
become like them. Verily God will gather the hypocrites and the
infidels all together in Hell.

They watch you narrowly. Then if God grant you a victory, they
say, "Are we not with you?" and if the infidels meet with a
success, they say to them, "Were we not superior to you: and did
we not defend you from those believers?" God shall judge betwixt
ye on the day of the resurrection, and God will by no means make
a way for the infidels over the believers.

The hypocrites would deceive God, but He will deceive them!
When they stand up for prayer, they stand carelessly, to be seen of
men, and they remember God but little:

Wavering between the one and the other belonging neither to
these nor those! and by no means shalt thou find a path for him
whom God misleadeth.

O believers! take not infidels for friends rather than believers.
Would ye furnish God with clear right to punish you?

Verily the hypocrites shall be in the lowest abyss of the fire: and,
by no means shalt thou find a helper for them;

Save for those who turn and amend, and lay fast hold on God, and
approve the sincerity of their religion to God; these shall be
numbered with the faithful, and God will at last bestow on the
faithful a great reward.

Why should God inflict a chastisement upon you, if ye are grateful,
and believe? God is Grateful, Wise!

God loveth not that evil be matter of public talk, unless any one
hath been wronged: God it is who Heareth, Knoweth!

Whether ye publish what is good, or conceal it, or pardon evil,
verily God is Pardoning, Powerful!

Of a truth they who believe not on God and his Apostles, and seek
to separate God from his Apostles, and say, "Some we believe, and
some we believe not," and desire to take a middle way;

These! they are veritable infidels! and for the infidels have we
prepared a shameful punishment.

And they who believe on God and his Apostles, and make no
difference between them these! we will bestow on them their
reward at last. God is Gracious, Merciful!

The people of the Book will ask of thee to cause a Book to come
down unto them out of Heaven. But a greater thing than this did
they ask of Moses! for they said, "Shew us God plainly!" and for
this their wickedness did the fire-storm lay hold on them. Then
took they the calf as the object of their worship, after that our clear
tokens had come to them; but we forgave them this, and conferred
on Moses undoubted power.

And we uplifted the mountain 29 over them when we made a
covenant with them, and we said to them, "Enter the gate
adoring:"and we said to them, "Transgress not on the Sabbath,"
and we received from them a strict covenant.

So, for that they have broken their covenant, and have rejected the
signs of God, and have put the prophets to death unjustly, saying
the while, "Our hearts are uncircumcised," Nay, but God hath
sealed them up for their unbelief, so that but few believe.

And for their unbelief, and for their having spoken against Mary
a grievous calumny,

And for their saying, "Verily we have slain the Messiah, Jesus the
son of Mary, an Apostle of God." Yet they slew him not, and they
crucified him not, but they had only his likeness.30 And they who
differed about him were in doubt concerning him: No sure
knowledge had they about him, but followed only an opinion, and
they did not really slay him, but God took him up to Himself. And
God is Mighty, Wise!

There shall not be one of the people of the Book but shall believe
in Him before his death, and in the day of resurrection, He will be
a witness against them.

For the wickedness of certain Jews, and because they turn many
from the way of God, we have forbidden them goodly viands
which had been before allowed them.

And because they have taken usury, though they were forbidden it,
and have devoured men's substance in frivolity, we have got ready
for the infidels among them a grievous torment.

But their men of solid knowledge, and the believers who believe in
that which hath been sent down to thee, and in what hath been sent
down before thee, and who observe prayer, and pay the alms of
obligation, and believe in God and the latter day, these! we will
give them a great reward.

Verily we have revealed to thee as we revealed to Noah and the
Prophets after him, and as we revealed to Abraham, and Isma‰l,
and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and Jesus, and Job, and Jonah,
and Aaron, and Solomon; and to David gave we Psalms.

Of some apostles we have told thee before: of other apostles we
have not told thee And discoursing did God discourse with
Moses

Apostles charged to announce and to warn, that men, after those
apostles, might have no plea against God. And God is Mighty,
Wise!

But God is himself witness of what He hath sent down to thee: In
His knowledge hath He sent it down to thee. The angels are also its
witnesses: but God is a sufficient witness!

Verily, they who believe not and pervert from the way of God,
have indeed erred with error wide of truth.

Verily, those who believe not, and act wrongfully, God will never
pardon, and never will he guide them on path,

Than the path to Hell, in which they shall abide for ever! And this
is easy for God.

O men! now hath an apostle come to you with truth from your
Lord. Believe then, it will be better for you. But if ye believe not,
then, all that is in the Heavens and the Earth is God's; and God is
Knowing, Wise!

O ye people of the Book! overstep not bounds in your religion;31
and of God, speak only truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is
only an apostle of God, and his Word which he conveyed into
Mary, and a Spirit32 proceeding from himself. Believe therefore in
God and his apostles, and say not, "Three:" (there is a
Trinity) Forbear it will be better for you. God is only one God!
Far be it from His glory that He should have a son! His, whatever
is in the Heavens, and whatever is in the Earth! And God is a
sufficient Guardian.

The Messiah disdaineth not to be a servant of God, nor do the
angels who are nigh unto Him.

And whoso disdaineth His service, and is filled with pride, God
will gather them all to Himself.

And to those who believe and do the things that are right, will He
pay them their due recompense, and out of His bounty will He
increase them: but as for those who are disdainful and proud, with
a grievous chastisement will He chastise them;

And none beside God shall they find to protect or to help them.

O men! now hath a proof come to you from your Lord, and we
have sent down to you a clear light. As to those who believe in
God and lay fast hold on Him, these will He cause to enter into his
mercy and grace, and along the straight way unto Himself will He
guide them.

They will consult thee. SAY: God instructeth you as to distant
kindred. If a man die childless, but have a sister, half what he shall
have shall be her's; and if she die childless he shall be her heir.
But if there be two sisters, two-third parts of what he shall have
shall be theirs; and if there be both brothers and sisters, the male
shall have the portion of two females. God teacheth you plainly,
that ye err not! God knoweth all things.

_______________________

1 Most of the events alluded to in this Sura fall between the end of
the third and the close of the fifth year after the Flight to Medina.

2 Muhammad assumed to himself the privilege of having a yet
greater number of wives. But in doing so, he was probably
actuated by a desire for male offspring. Chadijah was his only wife
until quite a late period of his career. Comp. Arbah Turim. Ev.
Hazaer 1, "A man may marry many wives, for Rabba saith it is
lawful to do so, if he can provide for them. Nevertheless, the wise
men have given good advice, that a man should not marry more
than four wives." See also Yad Hachazakah Hilchoth Ishuth. 14, 3.

3 Verses 8 and 12 are said by the commentators to have been
revealed in consequence of the complaints of Omm Kuhha that, in
accordance with the ante-Islamitic custom, she had been excluded
from any portion of her deceased husband's property. The
unsatisfactory nature of the Muhammadan traditions may be
inferred from the fact, that no less than six different names are
assigned to him. It is, however, probable that these and similar
laws relative to inheritances were given at a time when many
heads of families had fallen, as at Ohod, in battle. This remark
applies to verses 33 45.

4 Women found guilty of adultery and fornication were punished
at the first rise of Islam, by being literally immured. But this was
exchanged, in the case of a maiden, for one year's banishment and
100 stripes; and in the case of a married woman, for stoning.

5 What took place in the times of ignorance, previous to the
revelation of the Koran. See Freytag's Einl. p. 201, as to the
incestuous nature of the ante-Islamitic Arabian marriages.

6 By marrying without means adequate to the support of a free
wife, or by remaining single.

7 From marrying slaves.

8 Games of chance, usury, etc.

9 By providing for them a home and the protection of a husband.
Or, of that which God would have them care for.

10 An undutiful child is very seldom heard of among the
Egyptians, or the Arabs in general. Sons scarcely ever sit, or sit, or
eat, or smoke, in the presence of the father unless bidden to do so;
and they often wait upon him and upon his guests at meals and on
other occasions: they do not cease to act thus when they have
become men. Lane's Mod. Egypt. vol. i. p. 69.

11 The Koranic precepts as to prayer savour of Jewish origin.
Thus, "Prayer should be said standing" is a Rabbinic
precept. Comp. Sura [xci.] ii. 240. Misch.Berachoth 10 may
be shortened in dangerous places, ib. iv. 10 is forbidden to the
drunken, ib. 31, 2. Erubin, 64 and to the polluted; Berachoth iii.
4 and is to be preceded, in this case, by washings with water or
sand. See Sura xvii. 110, note 2, p. 173. 1 Cor. xi. 21.

12 The Jews and their Rabbis.

13 See Sura [xci.] ii. 98.

14 Lit. the companions of the sabbath. See [xci.] ii. 61.

15 This refers to certain renegade Jews, who out of hatred against
Muhammad, went over to the Koreisch. See N”ldeke. p. 149.

16 Lit. ripened.

17 Mecca.

18 And therefore a fit subject for plunder.

19 Some of the Meccans after embracing Islam did not thoroughly
break with the infidels and fly their country. These persons were
miraculously slain by angels at Bedr. Others suppose the angels to
be Nakir and Monkir, who examine the dead in the grave.

20 That is, to what religion did ye belong?

21 And therefore could not resist the unbelievers.

22 Thus the Rabbins Tr. Berachoth, iv. 4, "He that goeth in a
dangerous place may pray a short prayer."

23 See Mischna Tr. Berachoth, 10.

24 This verse is said to have been revealed when Muhammad was
about to acquit a Muslim who had committed theft, and laid the
guilt at the door of a Jew. But the particulars are given in a very
contradictory manner. See Noldeke, p. 151.

25 In allusion to an idolatrous and superstitious custom of the old
Arabians.

26 By the mutilation of slaves, branding their bodies, filing the
teeth, etc.

27 See Sura lxxxiv. 24, p. 47, note.

28 Sura vi.

29 See Sura [xci.] ii.7.

30 Lit.one was made to appear to them like (Jesus). Comp. [xcvii.]
iii.48. Photius, Bibl. Cod. cxiv.says that the Apocr. Book, [Greek
text] This individual according to the Basilidans was-Simon of
Cyrene; according to the Evang. Barnab‘, Judas. Mani, Ep.
Fund. ap. Evodium: "Princeps itaque tenebrarum cruci est affixus,
idemque coronam spineam portavit."

31 By believing too much, like the Christians who regarded Jesus
as God; or too little, like the Jews who would not believe on
Muhammad.

32 That is, a Being possessing a Spirit.

SURA LXV. DIVORCE1 [CI.]

MECCA. 12 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O PROPHET! when ye divorce women, divorce them at their
special times. And reckon those times exactly, and fear God your
Lord. Put them not forth from their houses, nor allow them to
depart, unless they have committed a proven adultery. This is the
precept of God; and whoso transgresseth the precept of God,
assuredly imperilleth his own self. Thou knowest not whether,
after this, God may not cause something new to occur which may
bring you together again.

And when they have reached their set time, then either keep them
with kindness, or in kindness part from them. And take upright
witnesses from among you, and bear witness as unto God. This is a
caution for him who believeth in God and in the latter day. And
whoso feareth God, to him will He grant a prosperous issue, and
will provide for him whence he reckoned not upon it.

And for him who putteth his trust in Him will God be
all-sufficient. God truly will attain his purpose. For everything hath
God assigned a period.

As to such of your wives as have no hope of the recurrence of their
times, if ye have doubts in regard to them, then reckon three
months, and let the same be the term of those who have not yet
had them. And as to those who are with child, their period shall be
until they are delivered of their burden. God will make His
command easy to him who feareth Him.

This is God's command which He hath sent down to you: Whoso
feareth God, his evil deeds will He cancel and will increase his
reward.

Lodge the divorced wherever ye lodge, according to your means;
and distress them not by putting them to straits. And if they are
pregnant, then be at charges for the them till they are delivered of
their burden; and if they suckle your children, then pay them their
hire and consult among yourselves, and act generously: And if
herin ye meet with obstacles, then let another female suckle for
him.

Let him who hath abundance of his abundance; let him, too, whose
store is scanty, give of what God hath vouchsafed to him. God
imposeth burdens only according to the means which He hath
given. God will cause ease to succeed difficulties.

How many cities have turned aside from the command of their
Lord and of his apostles! Therefore did we reckon with them in a
severe reckoning, and chastised them with a stern chastisement;

And they tasted the harmfulness of their own conduct: and the end
of their conduct was ruin.

A vehement chastisement hath God prepared for them! Fear God,
then, O ye men of understanding!2

Believers! Now hath God sent down to you a warning! a prophet,
who reciteth to you the clear signs of God, that he may bring those
who believe, and do the things that are right, out of the darkness
into the light. And-whoso believeth in God, and doeth the things
that are right, God will cause them to enter the gardens beneath
which the rivers flow, to remain therein for aye! A goodly
provision now hath God made for him.

It is God who hath created seven heavens and as many earths.3 The
Divine command cometh down through them all, that ye may
know that God hath power over all things, and that God in his
knowledge embraceth all things!

_______________________

1 Comp. Sura [xci.] ii. 228, which this Sura is perhaps intended to
supplement. Wahidi and Beidhawi state that it was revealed on
account of Ibn Omar who had divorced his wife at improper time,
and was obliged to take her again.

2 In order to make good the rhyme, verse 10 ought to be continued
to the end of the first clause of verse II.

3 Lit. and of the earth, their likes. The style of this verse resembles
that of the Meccan Suras. Hence, probably; a tradition in Omar
ben Muhammad makes the whole Sura Meccan.

SURA LIX. THE EMIGRATION [CII.]

MEDINA. 24 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ALL that is in the Heavens and all that is on the Earth praiseth
God! He, the Mighty, the Wise!

He it is who caused the unbelievers among the people of the Book
to quit their homes and join those who had EMIGRATED
previously.1 Ye did not think that they would quit them; and they
on their part thought that their fortresses would protect them
against God: But God came upon them whence they looked not for
Him, and cast such fear into their hearts that by their own hands as
well as by the hands of the victorious believers they demolished
their houses! Profit by this example ye who are men of insight!

And were it not that God had decreed their exile, surely in this
world would he have chastised them: but in the world to come the
chastisement of the fire awaiteth them.

This because they set them against God and his apostle; and whoso
setteth him against God. ! God truly is vehement in punishing.

Your cutting down some of their palm trees and sparing others was
by God's permission, and to put the wicked to shame.

After the spoils of these Jews which God hath assigned to his
apostle, ye pressed not with horse or camel.2 But God giveth his
apostles power over what he will. God is Almighty.

The spoil taken from the people of the towns and assigned by God
to his apostle, belongeth to God, and to the apostle, and to his
kindred, and to the orphan, and to the poor, and to the wayfarer,
that none of it may circulate among such of you only as are rich:
What the apostle hath given you, take: What he hath refused you,
refuse: And fear ye God, for God is severe in punishing.

To the poor refugees (Mohadjerin) also doth a part belong, who
have been driven from their homes and their substance, and who
seek favour from God and his goodwill, and aid God and his
apostle. These are the men of genuine virtue.

They of Medina who had been in possession of their abodes and
embraced the faith before them, cherish those who take refuge
with them; and they find not in their breasts any desire for what
hath fallen to their share: they prefer them before themselves,
though poverty be their own lot. And with such as are preserved
from their own covetousness shall it be well.

And they who have come after them into the faith say, "O our
Lord! forgive us and our brethren who have preceded us in the
faith, and put not into our hearts ill-will against those who believe.
O our Lord! thou verily art Kind, Merciful."

Hast thou not observed the disaffected saying to their unbelieving
brethren3 among the people of the Book, "If ye be driven forth, we
will go forth with you; and in what concerneth you, never will we
obey any one; and if ye be attacked we will certainly come to your
help." But God is witness that they are liars.

No! if they were driven forth, they would not share their
banishment; if they were attacked they would not help them, or if
they help them they will surely turn their backs: then would they
remain unhelped.

Assuredly the fear of you is more intense in their hearts than the
fear of God! This because they are a people devoid of discernment.

They (the Jews) will not fight against you in a body except in
fenced towns or from behind walls. Mighty is their valour among
themselves! thou thinkest them united but their hearts are
divided. This for that they are a people who understand not.

They act like those who lately preceded them,4 who also tasted the
result of their doings; and a grievous chastisement awaiteth
them

Like Satan when he saith to a man, "Be an infidel:" and when he
hath become an infidel, he saith, "I share not thy guilt:5 verily, I
fear God the Lord of the Worlds."

Of both, therefore, shall the end be that they dwell for ever in the
fire: This is the recompense of the evil doers.

O ye who believe! fear God. And let every soul look well to what it
sendeth on before for the morrow. And fear ye God: Verily, God is
cognisant of what ye do.

And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom He hath
therefore caused to forget their proper selves. Such men are the
evil doers.

The inmates of the Fire and the inmates of Paradise are not to be
held equal. The inmates of Paradise only shall be the blissful.

Had we sent down this Koran on some mountain, thou wouldst
certainly have seen it humbling itself6 and cleaving asunder for the
fear of God. Such are the parables we propose to men in order that
they may reflect.

He is God beside whom there is no god. He knoweth things visible
and invisible: He is the Compassionate, the Merciful.

He is God beside whom there is no god: He is the King, the Holy,
the Peaceful, the Faithful, the Guardian, the Mighty, the Strong,
the Most High! Far be the Glory of God from that which they unite
with Him!

He is God, the Producer, the Maker, the Fashioner! To Him are
ascribed excellent titles. Whatever is in the Heavens and in the
Earth praiseth Him. He is the Mighty, the Wise!

_______________________

1 The Jews of Nadhir, three miles from Medina, had broken a
treaty made with Muhammad, and in the month RabŒ of the fourth
year of the Hejira were besieged by him and driven first to the
Jews of Kainoka, who had emigrated previously, under
compulsion, after the battle of Bedr, and subsequently out of
Arabia. Weil, Life of M. p.137.n.

2 On which account these spoils were entirely assigned to
Muhammad, and not divided in the usual manner. See Sura [xcv.]
viii. 42. Weil, p. 138, 184.

3 To the Jews of the tribe of Nadhir.

4 The idolaters slain at Bedr (Djal.) or the Jews of Kainoka, who
had been plundered previously to those of Nadhir.

5 Lit. I am clear of thee.

6 This may be derived from the Rabbinical idea that Mount Sinai
was chosen, on account of its lowness, to be the scene of the
revelation to Moses, in order to shew that God loves the humble.

SURA XXXIII. THE CONFEDERATES1 [CIII.]

MEDINA. 73 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O PROPHET, fear thou God, and obey not the unbelievers and the
hypocrites; Truly God is Knowing, Wise:

But follow what is revealed to thee from thy Lord: Cognisant truly
is He of all your actions

And put thou thy trust in God, for a sufficient guardian is God.

God hath not given a man two hearts within him; neither hath he
made your wives whom ye divorce2 to be as your mothers; nor hath
he made your adopted sons to be as your own sons. Such words are
indeed in your mouths; but God speaketh the truth, and in the right
way He guideth.

Name them after their fathers: this will be more right before God.
But if ye know not who their fathers are, then let them be your
brethren in the faith, and your comrades. And unless made with
intent of heart, mistakes in this matter shall be no crime in you: for
God is Lenient, Merciful.

Nearer of kin to the faithful is the Prophet, than they are to their
own selves. His wives are their mothers. According to the Book of
God, they who are related by blood, are nearer the one to the other
than other believers, and than those who have fled their country3
for the cause of God: but whatever kindness ye shew to your
kindred, shall be noted down in the Book.

And remember that we have entered into covenant with the
Prophets, and with thee, and with Noah, and Abraham, and Moses,
and Jesus, Son of Mary: and we formed with them a strict
covenant,

That God may question the men of truth as to their truth.4 But a
sore torment hath He prepared for the unbelievers.

O believers!5 remember the goodness of God towards you, when
the armies came against you, and we sent against them a blast, and
hosts that ye saw not; for the eye of God was upon your doings:

When they assailed you from above you, and from below you,6 and
when your eyes became distracted, and your hearts came up into
your throat, and ye thought divers thoughts of God:

Then were the faithful tried, and with strong quaking did they
quake:

And when the disaffected and the diseased7 of heart said, "God and
his Apostle have made us but a cheating promise:"

And when a party of them said, "O people of Yathrib!8 there is no
place of safety for you here;9 therefore return into the city." And
another party of you asked the prophet's leave to return, saying,
"Our houses are left defenceless." No! they were not left
defenceless: but their sole thought was to flee away.

If the enemy had effected an entry at all points, and they (the
disaffected) had been asked to promote confusion, they would
have done so; but only a short time would they have remained in
it. (Medina).10

They had before pledged themselves to God that they would not
turn their backs; and a pledge given to God must be enquired of.

SAY: Flight shall not profit you; if ye have fled the death or the
slaughter, yet even then, but a little while shall ye enjoy your good
things!

SAY: Who is he that will screen you from God, whether He choose
to bring evil on you, or to shew you mercy? None beside God shall
they find to be their patron or helper.

God well knoweth those among you who cause hindrances, and
those who say to their brethren, "Come hither to us;" and who
come not to the fight except a little.

It is out of covetousness in your regard: for when an alarm cometh,
thou mayest see them look to thee, and roll their eyes like him on
whom the shadows of death have fallen! Yet, when the alarm is
passed, with sharp tongues will they assail you, covetous of the
best of the spoil. No faith have these! God will make their doings
of no avail! And easy is this with God.

They thought that the CONFEDERATES would never retire:11 and
were the confederates to come again, they would fain be dwelling
among the Arabs of the desert, and there ask news about you! for
though they were with you, they fought not except a little.

A noble pattern had ye in God's Apostle, for all who hope in God,
and in the latter day, and oft remember God!

And when the faithful saw the confederates, they said, "This is
what God and His Apostle promised us,12 and God and His Apostle
spoke truly:" and it only increased their faith and self-devotion.

Some were there among the faithful who made good what they had
promised to God. Some have fulfilled their course, and others
await its fulfilment, and have not been changelings who change

That God may reward the faithful for their faithfulness, and may
punish the hypocrites, if He so please, or be turned unto them: for
God is Forgiving, Merciful.

And God drove back the infidels in their wrath; they won no
advantage; God sufficed the faithful in the fight: for God is Strong,
Mighty!

And He caused those of the people of the Book (the Jews), who
had aided the confederates, to come down out of their fortresses,
and cast dismay into their hearts: some ye slew, others ye took
prisoners.13

And He gave you their land, and their dwellings, and their wealth,
for an heritage even a land on which ye had never set foot: for
the might of God is equal to all things.

O Prophet! say to thy wives,14 If ye desire this present life and its
braveries, come then, I will provide for you, and dismiss you with
an honourable dismissal.

But if ye desire God and His Apostle, and a home in the next life,
then, truly, hath God prepared for those of you who are virtuous, a
great reward.

O wives of the Prophet! should any of you be guilty of a proven
lewdness, doubly shall her chastisement be doubled: and with God
this is easy.

But whoever of you shall obey God and His Apostle, and shall do
that which is right, twice over will we give her her reward, and we
have prepared for her a noble provision.

O wives of the Prophet! ye are not as other women. If ye fear God,
be not too complaisant of speech, lest the man of unhealthy heart
should lust after you, but speak with discreet speech.

And abide still in your houses, and go not in public decked as in
the days of your former ignorance,15 but observe prayer, and pay
the impost, and obey God and the Apostle: for God only desireth to
put away filthiness from you16 as his household, and with cleansing
to cleanse you.

And recollect what is rehearsed to you in your houses of the Book
of God, and of wisdom: for God is keen-sighted, cognisant of all.

Truly the men who resign themselves to God (Muslims), and the
women who resign themselves, and the believing men and the
believing women, and the devout men and the devout women, and
the men of truth, and the women of truth, and the patient men and
the patient women, and the humble men and the humble women,
and the men who give alms and the women who give alms, and the
men who fast and the women who fast, and the chaste men and the
chaste women, and the men and the women who oft remember
God: for them hath God prepared forgiveness and a rich
recompense.

And it is not for a believer, man or woman, to have any choice in
their affairs, when God and His Apostle have decreed a matter: and
whoever disobeyeth God and His Apostle, erreth with palpable
error.

And, remember, when thou saidst to him unto whom God had
shewn favour,17 and to whom thou also hadst shewn favour, "Keep
thy wife to thyself, and fear God;" and thou didst hide in thy mind
what God would bring to light.18 and thou didst fear man; but more
right had it been to fear God. And when Zaid had settled
concerning her to divorce her, we married her to thee, that it might
not be a crime in the faithful to marry the wives of their adopted
sons, when they have settled the affair concerning them. And the
behest of God is to be performed.

No blame attacheth to the prophet where God hath given him a
permission. Such was the way of God with those prophets who
flourished before thee; for God's behest is a fixed decree

Who fulfilled the mission with which God had charged them,19 and
feared Him, and feared none but God. And God taketh a sufficient
account.

Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the
Apostle of God, and the seal of the prophets: and God knoweth all
things.

O Believers! remember God with frequent remembrance, and
praise Him morning and evening.

He blesseth you, and His angels intercede for you, that He may
bring you forth out of darkness into light: and Merciful is He to the
Believers.

Their greeting on the day when they shall meet Him shall be
"Peace!" And He hath got ready for them a noble recompense.

O Prophet ! we have sent thee to be a witness, and a herald of glad
tidings, and a warner;

And one who, through His own permission, summoneth to God,
and a light-giving torch.

Announce, therefore, to believers, that great boons do await them
from God;

And obey not the Infidels and Hypocrites yet abstain from
injuring them: and put thou thy trust in God, for God is a sufficient
guardian.

O Believers! when ye marry believing women, and then divorce
them before ye have consummated the marriage, ye have no term
prescribed you, which ye must fulfil towards them: provide for
them, and dismiss them with a reputable dismissal.

O Prophet! we allow thee thy wives whom thou hast dowered, and
the slaves whom thy right hand possesseth out of the booty which
God hath granted thee, and the daughters of thy uncle, and of thy
paternal and maternal aunts who fled with thee to Medina, and any
believing woman who hath given herself up to the Prophet, if the
Prophet desired to wed her a Privilege for thee above the rest of
the Faithful.

We well know what we have settled for them, in regard to their
wives and to the slaves whom their right hands hold, that there
may be no fault on thy part:20 and God is Indulgent, Merciful!

Thou mayst decline for the present whom thou wilt of them, and
thou mayest take to thy bed her whom thou wilt, and whomsoever
thou shalt long for of those thou shalt have before neglected; and
this shall not be a crime in thee. Thus will it be easier to give them
the desire of their eyes, and not to put them to grief, and to satisfy
them with what thou shalt accord to each of them. God knoweth
what is in your hearts, and God is Knowing, Gracious.

It is not permitted thee to take other wives hereafter,21 nor to
change thy present wives for other women, though their beauty
charm thee, except slaves whom thy right hand shall possess.22
And God watcheth all things.

O Believers! enter not into the houses of the Prophet,23 save by his
leave, for a meal, without waiting his time. When ye are invited
then enter, and when ye have eaten then disperse at once.24 And
engage not in familiar talk, for this would cause the Prophet
trouble, and he would be ashamed to bid you go; but God is not
ashamed to say the truth. And when ye would ask any gift of his
wives, ask it from behind a veil. Purer will this be for your hearts
and for their hearts. And ye must not trouble the Apostle of God,
nor marry his wives, after him, for ever. This would be a grave
offence with God.

Whether ye bring a matter to the light or hide it, God truly hath
knowledge of all things.

No blame shall attach to them (your wives) for speaking to their
fathers unveiled, or to their sons, or to their brothers, or to their
brothers' sons, or to their sisters' sons, or to their women, or to the
slaves whom their right hands hold. And fear ye God: for God
witnesseth all things.

Verily, God and His Angels bless the Prophet! Bless ye Him, O
Believers, and salute Him with salutations of Peace.

Verily, they who affront God and His Apostle, the curse of God is
on them in this world, and in the world to come: and He hath
prepared for them a shameful chastisement.

And they who shall affront believing men and believing women,
for no fault of theirs, they shall surely bear the guilt of slander, and
of a clear wrong.

O Prophet! speak to thy wives and to thy daughters,25 and to the
wives of the Faithful, that they let their veils fall low. Thus will
they more easily be known, and they will not be affronted. God is
Indulgent, Merciful!

If the Hypocrites, and the men of tainted heart, and the stirrers of
sedition in Medina desist not, we will surely stir thee up against
them. Then shall they not be suffered to dwell near thee therein,
but a little while:

Cursed wherever they are found; they shall be seized and slain
with slaughter!

Such hath been the way of God with those who lived before them;
and no change canst thou find in the way of God.

Men will ask thee of "the Hour." SAY: The knowledge of it is with
God alone: and who can tell thee whether haply the Hour be not
nigh at hand?

Verily, God hath cursed the Infidels, and hath got ready for them
the flame:

For aye shall they abide therein; none to befriend them, no helper
shall they find!

On the day when their faces shall be rolled in the fire, they shall
cry: "Oh! would that we had obeyed God, and obeyed the
Apostle!"

And they shall say: "Oh our Lord! indeed we obeyed our chiefs and
our great ones, and they misled us from the way of God

O our Lord! give them a double chastisement, and curse them with
a heavy curse."

O Believers! be not like those who affronted Moses.26 But God
cleared him from what they said of him, and of God was he highly
esteemed.

O Believers! fear God, and speak with well-guided speech.

That God may bless your doings for you, and forgive you your sins.
And whoso obeyeth God and His Apostle with great bliss shall be
blessed.

Verily, we proposed to the Heavens, and to the Earth, and to the
Mountains to receive the Faith, but they refused the burden, and
they feared to receive it. Man undertook to bear it, but hath proved
unjust, senseless!

Therefore will God punish the hypocritical men and the
hypocritical women, and the men and the women who join gods
with God; but to the believing men and women will God turn him:
for God is Indulgent, Merciful!

_______________________

1 Medina was besieged, when this Sura was revealed, by certain
confederate tribes at the instigation of the Jews, an. Hej. 5. The
first nine verses, however, have no immediate reference to this
event, but to Muhammad's cotemporary marriage with Zeinab. See
below, verse 37.

2 The Arabians had been accustomed, before the time of
Muhammad, to divorce their wives with the words, thy back be
to me as the back of my mother. The drift and motive of this
passage is explained by verse 37 below. It had also been the
custom to hold adopted sons to be as nearly related to them as their
natural ones. See Sura lviii. 2, p. 451.

3 The Mohadjers those who had emigrated with Muhammad
from Mecca. This verse abrogates Sura [xcv.] viii. 73.

4 How they have discharged their prophetic functions.

5 Verses 9 33 have reference to the events of the year Hej. 5,
towards the close. See next note. His. 688; Waq. 4 f.

6 In the engagement which took place under the walls of Medina,
some of the enemy were posted on a height to the east of the city,
others in a valley on the west. The besiegers were 12,000, the
Muslims 3,000 strong, when a violent storm, which upset the tents,
put out the camp fires, and blinded the eyes of the confederates
with sand, turned the scale of victory against them. Muhammad
ascribes the storm to angelic agency.

7 That is, with infidelity.

8 The ancient name of El-Medina.

9 In the trenches which had been dug around the city by the advice
of Salmƒn, the Persian.

10 They would speedily have quitted the city to attack the faithful
in the trenches.

11 That is, raise the siege.

12 That is, that through trials we should attain to Paradise, v. 29.

13 After the siege of Medina had been raised, Muhammad made a
successful expedition against the Jews of Koreidha, for their
treason and violation of treaties.

14 Muhammad's wives having caused him much annoyance by
demands of rich dresses, etc., he gave them the choice of
continuing with him as before, or of divorce. They chose the
former. See Abulfeda's Hist. Moh. p. 77, and Gagnier's Vie de
Moh. i. 4, chap. ii.

15 That is, Idolatry. Acts xvii. 30. Freytag (Einl. p. 453) thinks that
previous to Islam, the Arabian women went in public unveiled.

16 The pronoun is in the pl. masc., whereas the pl. fem. is used in
the previous part of the verse. The partisans of Ali quote this
passage to prove the intimate union of Ali and his posterity with
the Prophet.

17 That is, to Zaid. The favour of God to Zaid consisted in having
caused him to become a Muslim: the favour of Muhammad in
adopting him as his son. Zaid and Abu Lahab (Sura cxi. p. 29) are
the only contemporaries of Muhammad mentioned by name in the
Koran.

18 Thy plan to obtain Zeinab, or Zenobia, Zaid's wife, as thy wife.

19 Lit, who brought the messages of God.

20 If thou makest use of the special prerogative (conferred in verse
49).

21 He had nine wives at this period, beside slaves. The number of
wives allowed to the faithful is four. See note, p. 411.
22 The first slave whom Muhammad took to wife was Raihana, at
the conquest of the Banu Koreidha. His. 693. Weil, 170.

23 Verses 53 55 refer to the conduct of the guests at Muhammad's
house after his marriage with Zeinab. Albuhari passim. Muslim i.
824 ff. Wah. Comp. Caussir, iii. 151.

24 Ullmann, p. 263, quotes a similar precept from the Talmud,
"Do all that the master of the house biddeth, but wait not to be
asked to depart."

25 This verse cannot be of later date than 8, when Muhammad's
daughter Omm Kulthum died. leaving only Fatima.

26 This may refer to the charge of adultery said by the Rabbins to
have been brought by Korah against Moses. Comp. Tr. Sanhedrin,
fol. 110a. and Numbers xii. 1. The verse is said to have been
revealed on account of aspersions thrown on Muhammad for
unfairly dividing spoils, whereupon he said, "God be merciful to
my brother Moses. He was wronged more than this, and bore it
with patience."

SURA LXIII.1 THE HYPOCRITES [CIV.]

MEDINA. ii Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHEN the Hypocrites come to thee, they say, "We bear witness
that thou art the Sent One of God." God knoweth that thou art His
Sent One: but God beareth witness that the HYPOCRITES do
surely lie.

Their faith2 have they used as a cloak, and they turn aside others
from the way of God! Evil are all their doings.

This, for that they believed, then became unbelievers!Therefore
hath a seal been set upon their hearts, and they understand not.

When thou seest them, their persons make thee marvel; and if they
speak, thou listenest with pleasure to their discourse. Like timbers
are they leaning against a wall!3 They think that every shout is
against them. They are enemies Beware of them then God do
battle with them! How false are they!

And when it is said to them, "Come, the Apostle of God will ask
pardon for you," they turn their heads aside, and thou seest them
withdraw in their pride.

Alike shall it be to them whether thou ask forgiveness for them, or
ask it not. By no means will God forgive them: God hath no
guidance for a perverse people.

These are they who say to you of Medina, "Spend not aught upon
those who are with the Apostle of God, and they will be forced to
quit him." Yet the treasures of the Heavens and of the Earth are
God's! But the Hypocrites have no understanding.

They say: "If we return to the city, the mightier will assuredly
drive out the weaker from it." But might is with God, and with the
Apostle, and with the Faithful! Yet the Hypocrites understand not.

O ye who believe! let not your wealth and your children delude
you into forgetfulness of God. Whoever shall act thus, shall surely
suffer loss.

And expend in the cause of God out of that with which we have
supplied you, ere death surprise each one of you, and he say, "O
Lord! wilt thou not respite me to a term not far distant, that I may
give alms, and become one of the just?"

And by no means will God respite a soul when its hour hath come!
And God is fully cognisant of what ye do.

_______________________

1 Revealed shortly after the expedition against the Banu 'l
Mustaliq in Hej. 6. See N”ld. p. 156 n. The "Hypocrites"
mentioned in the later Suras are the disaffected portion of the
population of Medina, who covertly opposed the claims of
Muhammad to temporal authority over that city. They were
gradually absorbed, as the authority of Islam increased.

2 Or, in accordance with another reading, oaths. Comp. Ps. cix. 18.

3 Like timbers or joists supported in a wall or leaned against it,
i.e., their persons are bulky, but their hearts so hypocritical and
cowardly that they are afraid of the slightest noise. In the original,
saykat is perhaps an allusion to the shout of Gabriel, that is to
exterminate the wicked.

SURA XXIV. LIGHT [CV.]

MEDINA. 64 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

A SURA which we have sent down and sanctioned! Clear signs
have we sent down therein, that ye may take warning.

The whore and the whoremonger scourge each of them with an
hundred stripes; and let not compassion keep you from carrying
out the sentence of God, if ye believe in God and the last day: And
let some of the faithful witness their chastisement.1

The whoremonger shall not marry other than a whore or an
idolatress; and the whore shall not marry other than a
whoremonger or an idolater. Such alliances are forbidden to the
faithful.

They who defame virtuous women,2 and bring not four witnesses,
scourge them with fourscore stripes, and receive ye not their
testimony for ever, for these are perverse persons

Save those who afterwards repent and live virtuously; for truly
God is Lenient, Merciful!

And they who shall accuse their wives, and have no witnesses but
themselves, the testimony of each of them shall be a testimony by
God four times repeated, that he is indeed of them that speak the
truth.3

And the fifth time that the malison of God be upon him, if he be of
them that lie.

But it shall avert the chastisement from her if she testify a
testimony four times repeated, by God, that he is of them that lie;

And a fifth time to call down the wrath of God on her, if he have
spoken the truth.

And but for the goodness and mercy of God towards you, and that
God is He who loveth to turn, Wise. !

Of a truth, they who advanced that lie4 were a large number of
you; but regard it not as an evil to you. No, it is an advantage to
you.5 To every man among them shall it be done according to the
offence he hath committed; and as to that person6 among them
who took on himself to aggravate it, a sore punishment doth await
him.

Did not the faithful of both sexes, when ye heard of this, form a
favourable judgment in their own minds, and say,

"This is a manifest lie?"

Have they brought four witnesses of the fact? If they cannot
produce the witnesses, they are the liars in the sight of God.

And but for the goodness of God towards you, and His mercy in
this world and in the next, a severe punishment had come upon
you for that which ye spread abroad, when ye uttered with your
tongues, and spake with your mouths that of which ye had no
knowledge. Ye deemed it to be a light matter, but with God it was
a grave one.

And did ye say when ye heard it, "It is not for us to talk of this
affair! O God! By thy Glory, this is a gross calumny?"

God hath warned you that ye go not back to the like of this for
ever, if ye be believers:

And God maketh His signs clear to you: for God is Knowing,
Wise.

But as for those who love that foul calumnies should go forth
against those who believe, a grievous chastisement awaits them

In this world and in the next. And God hath knowledge, but ye
have not.

And but for the goodness of God towards you and His Mercy, and
that God is Kind, Merciful !

O ye who believe! follow not the steps of Satan, for whosoever
shall follow the steps of Satan, he will enjoin on him what is base
and blameworthy; and but for the goodness of God towards you,7
and His mercy, no one of you had been cleansed for ever: but God
maketh whom He will to be clean, and God Heareth, Knoweth.

And let not persons of wealth and means among you swear that
they will not give to their kindred, to the poor, and to those who
have fled their homes in the cause of God; let them rather pardon
and pass over the offence.8 Desire ye not that God should forgive
you? And God is Gracious, Merciful!

Verily, they who throw out charges against virtuous but careless
women, who yet are believers, shall be cursed in this world and in
the world to come; and a terrible punishment doth await them.

Their own tongues, and hands, and feet, shall one day bear witness
against them of their own doings.9

On that day will God pay them their just due, and they shall know
that God is the clear Truth itself.

Bad women for bad men, and bad men for bad women; but
virtuous women for virtuous men, and virtuous men for virtuous
women! These shall be cleared from calumnies; theirs shall be
forgiveness and an honourable provision.

O ye who believe! enter not into other houses10 than your own,
until ye have asked leave, and have saluted its inmates. This will
be best for you: haply ye will bear this in mind.

And if ye find no one therein, then enter it not till leave be given
you; and if it be said to you, "Go ye back," then go ye back. This
will be more blameless in you, and God knoweth what ye do.

There shall be no harm in your entering houses in which no one
dwelleth, for the supply of your needs: and God knoweth what ye
do openly and what ye hide.

Speak unto the believers that they restrain their eyes and observe
continence. Thus will they be more pure. God is well aware of
what they do.

And speak to the believing women that they refrain their eyes, and
observe continence; and that they display not their ornaments,
except those which are external; and that they throw their veils
over their bosoms, and display not their ornaments, except to their
husbands or their fathers, or their husbands' fathers, or their sons,
or their husbands' sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or
their sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male
domestics who have no natural force, or to children who note not
women's nakedness. And let them not strike their feet together, so
as to discover their hidden ornaments.11 And be ye all turned to
God, O ye Believers! that it may be well with you.

And marry those among you who are single, and your good
servants, and the handmaidens. If they are poor, God of His bounty
will enrich them. God is all-bounteous, Knowing.

And let those who cannot find a match12 live in continence till God
of His bounty shall enrich them. And to those of your slaves who
desire a deed of manumission, execute it for them, if ye know
good in them, and give them a portion of the wealth of God which
He hath given you.13 Force not your female slaves into sin, in order
that ye may gain the casual fruitions of this world, if they wish to
preserve their modesty. Yet if any one compel them, then Verily to
them, after their compulsion, will God be Forgiving, Merciful.

And now have we sent down to you clear signs, and an instance
from among those who flourished before you, and a caution for the
God-fearing.14

God is the LIGHT of the Heavens and of the Earth. His Light is
like a niche in which is a lamp the lamp encased in glass the
glass, as it were, a glistening star. From a blessed tree is it lighted,
the olive neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil would well
nigh shine out, even though fire touched it not! It is light upon
light. God guideth whom He will to His light, and God setteth
forth parables to men, for God knoweth all things.

In the temples which God hath allowed to be reared, that His name
may therein be remembered, do men praise Him morn and even.

Men whom neither merchandise nor traffic beguile from the
remembrance of God, and from the observance of prayer, and the
payment of the stated alms, through fear of the day when hearts
shall throb and eyes shall roll:

That for their most excellent works may God recompense them,
and of His bounty increase it to them more and more: for God
maketh provision for whom He pleaseth without measure.

But as to the infidels, their works are like the vapour in a plain
which the thirsty dreameth to be water, until when he cometh unto
it, he findeth it not aught, but findeth that God is with him; and He
fully payeth him his account: for swift to take account is God:

Or like the darkness on the deep sea when covered by billows
riding upon billows, above which are clouds: darkness upon
darkness. When a man reacheth forth his hand, he cannot nearly
see it! He to whom God shall not give light, no light at all hath he!

Hast thou not seen how all in the Heavens and in the Earth uttereth
the praise of God? the very birds as they spread their wings?
Every creature knoweth its prayer and its praise! and God knoweth
what they do.

God's, the Kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth: and unto
God the final return!

Hast thou not seen that God driveth clouds lightly forward, then
gathereth them together, then pileth them in masses? And then
thou seest the rain forthcoming from their midst; and He causeth
clouds like mountains charged with hail, to descend from the
heaven, and He maketh it to fall on whom He will, and from whom
He will He turneth it aside. The brightness of His lightning all
but taketh away the sight!

God causeth the day and the night to take their turn. Verily in this
is teaching for men of insight. And God hath created every animal
of water.15 Some go upon the belly; some go upon two feet; some
go upon four feet. God hath created what He pleased. Aye, God
hath power over all things.

Now have we sent down distinct signs. And God guideth whom
He will into the right path:

For there are who say "We believe on God and on the Apostle, and
we obey;" yet, after this, a part of them turn back.16 But these are
not of the faithful.

And when they are summoned before God and His Apostle that He
may judge between them, lo! a part of them withdraw:

But had the truth been on their side, they would have come to Him,
obedient.

What! are they diseased of heart? Do they doubt? Are they afraid
that God and His Apostles will deal unfairly with them? Nay,
themselves are the unjust doers.

The words of the believers, when called to God and His Apostle
that He may judge between them, are only to say, "We have heard,
and we obey:" these are they with whom it shall be well.

And whoso shall obey God, and His Apostle, and shall dread God
and fear Him, these are they that shall be the blissful.

And they have sworn by God, with a most solemn oath, that if thou
give them the word, they will certainly march forth. Say: swear ye
not: of more worth is obedience. Verily, God is well aware of what
ye do.

Say: Obey God and obey the Apostle. Suppose that ye turn back,
still the burden of his duty is on him only, and the burden of your
duty rests on you. If ye obey Him, ye shall have guidance: but plain
preaching is all that devolves upon the Apostle.

God hath promised to those of you who believe and do the things
that are right, that He will cause them to succeed others in the
land, as He gave succession to those who were before them, and
that He will establish for them that religion which they delight in,
and that after their fears He will give them security in exchange.
They shall worship Me: nought shall they join with Me: And
whoso, after this, believe not, they will be the impious.

But observe prayer, and pay the stated alms, and obey the Apostle,
that haply ye may find mercy.

Let not the Infidels think that they can weaken God on His own
Earth: their dwelling place shall be the Fire! and right wretched the
journey!

O ye who believe! let your slaves, and those of you who have not
come of age, ask leave of you, three times a day, ere they come
into your presence; before the morning prayer, and when ye lay
aside your garments at mid-day, and after the evening prayer.
These are your three times of privacy. No blame shall attach to you
or to them, if after these times, when ye go your rounds of
attendance on one another, they come in without permission. Thus
doth God make clear to you His signs: and God is Knowing, Wise!

And when your children come of age, let them ask leave to come
into your presence, as they who were before them asked it. Thus
doth God make clear to you his signs: and God is Knowing, Wise.

As to women who are past childbearing, and have no hope of
marriage, no blame shall attach to them if they lay aside their outer
garments, but so as not to shew their ornaments. Yet if they abstain
from this, it will be better for them: and God Heareth, Knoweth.

No crime17 shall it be in the blind, or in the lame, or in the sick, to
eat at your tables: or in yourselves, if ye eat in your own houses, or
in the houses of your fathers, or of your mothers, or of your
brothers, or of your sisters, or of your uncles on the father's side,
or of your aunts on the father's side, or of your uncles on the
mother's side, or of your aunts on the mother's side, or in those of
which ye possess the keys, or in the house of your friend. No
blame shall attach to you whether ye eat together or apart.

And when ye enter houses, salute one another with a good and
blessed greeting as from God. Thus doth God make clear to you
His signs, that haply ye may comprehend them.

Verily, they only are believers who believe in God and His
Apostle, and who, when they are with him upon any affair of
common interest, depart not until they have sought his leave. Yes,
they who ask leave of thee, are those who believe in God and His
Apostle. And when they ask leave of Thee on account of any
affairs of their own, then grant it to those of them whom thou wilt,
and ask indulgence for them of God: for God is Indulgent,
Merciful.

Address not the Apostle as ye address one another.18 God knoweth
those of you who withdraw quietly from the assemblies, screening
themselves behind others. And let those who transgress his
command beware, lest some present trouble befall them, or a
grievous chastisement befall them, hereafter.

Is not whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth God's? He
knoweth your state; and one day shall men be assembled before
Him, and He will tell them of what they have done: for God
knoweth all things.

_______________________

1 With this verse commences the reference to the scandal against
Ayesha, to which verses 6 9 read like a later addition. See His.
731 ff. Albuhari, passim. Muslim ii. 628 ff. Tirm. 524. Tabari and
Weil, p. 151.

2 Said to refer to Hilal ben Umaiya (Muslim i. 886. Tirm. 523.
Annasai, 409 f. Assamarq.) who had accused his wife of adultery.
Two of these commentators, however, give the name of another
Muslim as the person intended.

3 Comp. Numb. v. ii, 31, with which Muhammad must have been
acquainted.

4 The rumour of improper intimacy between Ayesha and Safwan
Ibn El Moattal, during Muhammad's return from the expedition
against the tribe of Mostaliq (an. Hej. 9), in which he was
separated from her for an entire day, which she passed in the
company of Safwan, who had found her when accidentally left
behind. Verses 4 26 were revealed shortly after the return.

5 Whose characters are cleared.

6 Abdallah Ibn Obba. (Abulf. p. 83.)

7 Comp. verse 10, 11 (n.).

8 Abubekr had been desirous to punish one of his relatives,
Mestah, who had propagated the scandal against Ayesha, by
refusing him gifts or alms.

9 "The very members of a man shall testify against him, for thus
we read (Jer. xliii. 12), Ye are yourselves my witnesses saith the
Lord." Chagiga, 16. Thaanith, 11a.

10 It was the custom in Arabia, before Islam, to enter houses
without permission. Freyt. Einl. p. 216.

11 That is, the anklets. Comp. Isai. iii. 16, 18

12 On account of poverty.

13 Comp. Deut. xv. 12 15.

14 The meaning probably is, that the scandal raised against Ayesha
resembled the scandal in the case of Joseph in Egypt, and of the
Virgin Mary, detailed in previous suras.

15 An idea perhaps derived from Gen. i. 20, 21. Comp. Tr. Cholin,
fol. 27a.

16 Verses 46-56 obviously refer to a period, perhaps that between
the battle of Ohod and the end of the war of the Ditch, when
Muhammad's prospects were overclouded and the confidence of
his followers shaken.

17 This verse was intended to relieve the scruples of the Muslims,
who. following the superstitious customs of the Arabs, thought that
they ought not to admit the blind, etc. to their tables, to eat alone,
or in a house of which they were entrusted with the key, etc.

18 Lit. make not the calling of the Apostle among you, like the
calling of some of you to others, i.e., address him by some
respectful and honourable title. Thus in the Talmud, "It is
forbidden to a disciple to call his Rabbi by name even when he is
not in his presence;" and again: "Neither is he to salute his Rabbi,
nor to return his salutation, in the same way that salutations are
given and returned among friends." "Whoever despises the wise
men hath no portion in the world to come." See Hilchoth Torah,
c.5.

SURA LVIII. SHE WHO PLEADED [CVI.]

Medina. 22 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

God hath heard the words of HER1 WHO PLEADED with thee
against her husband, and made her plaint to God; and God hath
heard your mutual intercourse: for God Heareth, Beholdeth.

As to those of you who put away their wives by saying, "Be thou
to me as my mother's back" their mothers2 they are not; they
only are their mothers who gave them birth! they certainly say a
blameworthy thing and an untruth:

But truly, God is Forgiving, Indulgent.

And those who thus put away their wives, and afterwards would
recall their words, must free a captive before they can come
together again. To this are ye warned to conform: and God is
aware of what ye do.

And he who findeth not a captive to set free, shall fast two months
in succession before they two come together. And he who shall not
be able to do so, shall feed sixty poor men. This, that he may
believe in God and His Apostle. These are the statutes of God: and
for the unbelievers is an afflictive chastisement!

Truly they who oppose God and His Apostle shall be brought low,
as those who were before them were brought low. And now have
we sent down demonstrative signs: and, for the Infidels is a
shameful chastisement.

On the day when God shall raise them all to life, and shall tell
them of their doings. God hath taken count of them, though they
have forgotten them! and God is witness over all things.

Dost thou not see that God knoweth all that is in the Heavens and
all that is in the Earth? Three persons speak not privately together,
but He is their fourth; nor five, but He is their sixth; nor fewer nor
more, but wherever they be He is with them. Then on the day of
resurrection He will tell them of their deeds: for God knoweth all
things.

Hast thou not marked those who have been forbidden secret talk,
and return to what they have been forbidden, and talk privately
together with wickedness, and hate, and disobedience towards the
Apostle? And when they come to thee, they greet thee not as God
greeteth thee:3 and they say among themselves, "Why doth not God
punish us for what we say?" Hell shall be their meed:4 they shall be
burned at its fire: and a wretched passage thither!

O Believers! when ye hold private converse together, let it not be
with wickedness, and hate, and disobedience towards the Apostle;
but let your private talk be with justice and the fear of God: aye,
fear ye God unto whom ye shall be gathered!

Only of Satan is this clandestine talk, that he may bring the faithful
to grief: but, unless by God's permission, not aught shall he harm
them! in God then let the faithful trust.

O ye who believe! when it is said to you, "Make room in your
assemblies," then make ye room. God will make room for you in
Paradise! And when it is said to you, "Rise up," then rise ye up.
God will uplift those of you who believe, and those to whom "the
Knowledge" is given, to lofty grades! and God is cognisant of your
actions.

O ye who believe! when ye go to confer in private with the
Apostle, give alms before such conference. Better will this be for
you, and more pure. But if ye have not the means, then truly God is
Lenient, Merciful.

Do ye hesitate to give alms previously to your private conference?
Then if ye do it not (and God will excuse it in you), at least
observe prayer, and pay the stated impost, and obey God and His
Apostle: for God is cognisant of your actions.

Hast thou not remarked those who make friends of that people
with whom God is angered? They are neither of your party nor of
theirs; and they swear to a lie,5 knowing it to be such.

God hath got ready for them a severe torment: for, evil is that they
do.

They make a cloak of their faith, and turn others aside from the
way of God: wherefore a shameful torment awaiteth them.

Not at all shall their wealth or their children avail them aught
against God. Companions shall they be of the fire: they shall abide
therein for ever.

On the day when God shall raise them all, they will swear to Him
as they now swear to you, deeming that it will avail them. Are they
not yes they the liars?

Satan hath gotten mastery over them, and made them forget the
remembrance of God. These are Satan's party. What! shall not
verily the party of Satan be for ever lost.

Verily, they who oppose God and His Apostle shall be among the
most vile. God hath written this decree: "I will surely prevail, and
my Apostles also." Truly God is Strong, Mighty.

Thou shalt not find that any of those who believe in God, and in
the last day, love him who opposeth God and His Apostle, even
though they be their fathers, or their sons, or their brethren, or their
nearest kin. On the hearts of these hath God graven the Faith, and
with His own Spirit hath He strengthened them; and He will bring
them into gardens, beneath whose shades the rivers flow, to
remain therein eternally. God is well pleased in them, and they in
Him. These are God's party! Shall not, of a truth, a party of God be
for ever blessed?

_______________________

1 Khaula, daughter of Thalaba, who had been divorced by the
formula in verse 2, which was understood among the Arabs to
imply perpetual separation. This Muhammad had asserted in her
case; but in consequence of the woman's prayers, etc., a relaxation
of the law, on fulfilment of the conditions mentioned in verses 4,
5, was hereby allowed. None of the earlier traditions fix any date
for this Sura, though later authorities (Weil, 184) fix the end of
Hej. 6, or the beginning of Hej. 7. The subject matter is in part
similar to that of Sura xxiv.

2 See Sura [ciii.] xxxiii. 4.

3 Instead of saying, Es-salam aleika, "Peace be on thee," the
Infidels and Jews said, Es-sam aleika, "a plague, or poison on
thee." See Geiger, p. 18.

4 Lit. sufficiency.

5 The Jews swear that they are Muslims.

SURA XXII. THE PILGRIMAGE [CVII.]

Medina.1 78 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O Men of Mecca, fear your Lord. Verily, the earthquake of the last
Hour will be a tremendous thing!

On the day when ye shall behold it, every suckling woman shall
forsake her sucking babe; and every woman that hath a burden in
her womb shall cast her burden; and thou shalt see men drunken,
yet are they not drunken: but it is the mighty chastisement of God!

There is a man 2 who, without knowledge, wrangleth about God,
and followeth every rebellious Satan;

Concerning whom it is decreed, that he shall surely beguile and
guide into the torment of the Flame, whoever shall take him for his
Lord.

O men! if ye doubt as to the resurrection, yet, of a truth, have We
created you of dust, then of the moist germs of life, then of clots of
blood, then of pieces of flesh shapen and unshapen, that We might
give you proofs of our power! And We cause one sex or the other,
at our pleasure, to abide in the womb until the appointed time;
then We bring you forth infants; then permit you to reach your age
of strength; and one of you dieth, and another of you liveth on to
an age so abject that all his former knowledge is clean forgotten!3
And thou hast seen the earth dried up and barren: but when We
send down the rain upon it, it stirreth and swelleth, and groweth
every kind of luxuriant herb.

This, for that God is the Truth, and that it is He who quickeneth
the dead,-and that He hath power over everything:

And that "the Hour" will indeed come there is no doubt of
it and that God will wake up to life those who are in the tombs.

A man there is who disputeth about God without knowledge or
guidance or enlightening Book,

Turning aside in scorn to mislead others from the way of God!
Disgrace shall be his in this world; and on the day of the
resurrection, We will make him taste the torment of the burning:

"This, for thy handywork of old! for God is not unjust to His
servants."

There are some who serve God in a single point. If good come
upon one of them, he resteth in it; but if trial come upon him, he
turneth him round (to infidelity) with the loss both of this world
and of the next! This same is the clear ruin!

He calleth upon that beside God which can neither hurt him nor
profit him. This same is the far-gone error!

He calleth on him who would sooner hurt than profit him. Surely,
bad the lord, and, surely, bad the vassal!

But God will bring in those who shall believe and do the things
that are right, into gardens 'neath which the rivers flow: for God
doth that which He pleaseth.

Let him who thinketh that God will not help His Apostle in this
world and in the next, stretch a cord aloft as if to destroy himself;
then let him cut it, and see whether his devices can bring that 4 to
nought at which he was angry!

Thus send we down the Koran with its clear signs (verses): and
because God guideth whom He pleaseth.

As to those who believe, and the Jews, and the Sabeites,5 and the
Christians, and the Magians, and those who join other gods with
God, of a truth, God shall decide between them on the day of
resurrection: for God is witness of all things.

Seest thou not that all in the Heavens and all on the Earth adoreth
God? the sun and the moon and the stars, and the mountains, and
the trees, and the beasts, and many men? But of many is
chastisement the due:

And whom God shall disgrace there shall be none to honour: God
doth that which pleaseth Him.

These, the Faithful and the Infidels, are the two disputants who
dispute concerning their Lord: but for those who have disbelieved,
garments of fire shall be cut out; the boiling water shall be poured
down upon their heads:

All that is in their bowels, and their skins, shall be dissolved: and
there are maces of iron for them!

So oft as they, for very anguish, would fain come forth thence,
back shall they be turned into it: and "Taste ye the torment of the
burning."

But God will bring in those who shall have believed, and done the
things that are right, into gardens 'neath which the rivers flow.
Adorned shall they be therein with golden bracelets and with
pearls, and their raiment therein shall be of silk;

For they were guided to the best of words; guided to the glorious
path!

But those who believe not, and seduce others from the way of God,
and from the Holy Mosque which we have appointed to all men,
alike for those who abide therein, and for the stranger;

And those who seek impiously to profane it, we will cause to taste
a grievous punishment.

And call to mind when we assigned the site of the House 6 to
Abraham and said: "Unite not aught with Me in worship, and
cleanse My House for those who go in procession round it, and
who stand or bow in worship:"

And proclaim to the peoples a PILGRIMAGE: Let them come to
thee on foot and on every fleet7 camel, arriving by every deep
defile:

That they may bear witness of its benefits to them, and may make
mention of God's name on the appointed days,8 over the brute
beasts with which He hath supplied them for sustenance: Therefore
eat thereof yourselves, and feed the needy, the poor:

Then let them bring the neglect of their persons to a close,9 and let
them pay their vows, and circuit the ancient House.

This do. And he that respecteth the sacred ordinances of God, this
will be best for him with his Lord. The flesh of cattle is allowed
you, save of those already specified to you. Shun ye, therefore, the
pollutions of idols; and shun ye the word of falsehood;

Sound in faith Godward, uniting no god with Him; for whoever
uniteth gods with God, is like that which falleth from on high, and
the birds snatch it away, or the wind wafteth it to a distant place.

This do. And they who respect the rites of God, perform an action
which proceedeth from piety of heart.

Ye may obtain advantages from the cattle up to the set time for
slaying them: then, the place for sacrificing them is at the ancient
House.

And to every people have we appointed rites, that they may
commemorate the name of God over the brute beasts which He
hath provided for them. And your God is the one God. To Him,
therefore, surrender yourselves: and bear thou good tidings to
those who humble them,

Whose hearts, when mention is made of God, thrill with awe; and
to those who remain steadfast under all that be-falleth them, and
observe prayer, and give alms of that with which we have supplied
them.

And the camels have we appointed you for the sacrifice to God:
much good have ye in them. Make mention, therefore, of the name
of God over them when ye slay them, as they stand in a row; and
when they are fallen over on their sides, eat of them, and feed him
who is content and asketh not, and him who asketh. Thus have We
subjected them to you, to the intent ye should be thankful.10

By no means can their flesh reach unto God, neither their blood;
but piety on your part reacheth Him. Thus hath He subjected them
to you, that ye might magnify God for His guidance: moreover,
announce to those who do good deeds

That God will ward off mischief from believers: for God loveth not
the false, the Infidel.

A sanction is given to those who, because they have suffered
outrages, have taken up arms; and verily, God is well able to
succour them:

Those who have been driven forth from their homes wrongfully,
only because they say "Our Lord is the God." And if God had not
repelled some men by others, cloisters, and churches, and
oratories, and mosques, wherein the name of God is ever
commemorated, would surely have been destroyed. And him who
helpeth God will God surely help:11 for God is right Strong,
Mighty:

Those who, if we establish them in this land, will observe prayer,
and pay the alms of obligation, and enjoin what is right, and forbid
what is evil. And the final issue of all things is unto God.

Moreover, if they charge thee with imposture, then already, before
them, the people of Noah, and Ad and Themoud, and the people of
Abraham, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers in Madian, have
charged their prophets with imposture! Moses, too, was charged
with imposture! And I bore long with the unbelievers; then seize
on them: and how great was the change I wrought!

And how many cities which had been ungodly, and whose roofs
are now laid low in ruin, have We destroyed! And wells have been
abandoned and lofty castles!

Have they not journeyed through the land? Have they not hearts to
understand with, or ears to hear with? It is not that to these sights
their eyes are blind, but the hearts in their breasts are blind!

And they will bid thee to hasten the chastisement. But God cannot
fail His threat. And verily, a day with thy Lord is as a thousand
years,12 as ye reckon them!

How many cities have I long borne with, wicked though they were,
yet then laid hold on them to chastise them! Unto Me shall all
return.

Say: O men! I am only your open warner:

And they who believe and do the things that are right, shall have
forgiveness and an honourable provision;

But those who strive to invalidate our signs shall be inmates of
Hell.

We have not sent any apostle or prophet before thee, among whose
desires Satan injected not some wrong desire, but God shall bring
to nought that which Satan had suggested. Thus shall God affirm
His revelations13 for God is Knowing, Wise!

That He may make that which Satan hath injected, a trial to those
in whose hearts is a disease, and whose hearts are
hardened. Verily, the wicked are in a far-gone severance from
the truth!

And that they to whom "the Knowledge" hath been given, may
know that the Koran is the truth from thy Lord, and may believe in
it, and their hearts may acquiesce in it: for God is surely the guider
of those who believe, into the straight path.

But the Infidels will not cease to doubt concerning it, until "the
Hour" come suddenly upon them, or until the chastisement of the
day of desolation come upon them.

On that day the Kingdom shall be God's: He shall judge between
them: and they who shall have believed and done the things that
are right, shall be in gardens of delight:

But they who were Infidels and treated our signs as lies these
then their's a shameful chastisement!

And as to those who fled their country for the cause of God, and
were afterwards slain, or died, surely with goodly provision will
God provide for them! for verily, God! He, surely, is the best of
providers!

He will assuredly bring them in with an in-bringing that shall
please them well: for verily, God is right Knowing, Gracious.

So shall it be. And whoever in making exact reprisal for injury
done him, shall again be wronged, God will assuredly aid him: for
God is most Merciful, Gracious.

So shall it be; for that God causeth the night to enter in upon the
day, and He causeth the day to enter in upon the night: and for that
God Heareth, Seeth.

So shall it be, for that God is the truth; and because what they call
on beside Him is vanity: and because God is the Lofty, the Mighty!

Seest thou not that God sendeth down water from Heaven, and that
on the morrow the earth is clad with verdure? for God is
benignant, cognisant of all.

His, all in the Heavens and all on Earth: and verily, God! He
assuredly is the Rich, the Praiseworthy!

Seest thou not that God hath put under you whatever is in the
earth; and the ships which traverse the sea at His bidding? And He
holdeth back the heaven that it fall not on the earth, unless He
permit it! for God is right Gracious to mankind, Merciful.

And He it is who hath given you life, then will cause you to die,
then will give you life of a truth man is all ungrateful.

To every people have we appointed observances which they
observe. Therefore, let them not dispute this matter with thee, but
bid them to thy Lord, for thou art on the right way:

But if they debate with thee, then Say: God best knoweth what ye
do!

God will judge between you on the day of resurrection, as to the
matters wherein ye differ.

Knowest thou not that God knoweth whatever is in the Heaven and
on the Earth? This truly is written in the Book: this truly is easy for
God.

They worship beside God, that for which He hath sent down no
warranty, and that of which they have no knowledge: but for those
who commit this wrong, no helper!

And when our clear signs are rehearsed to them, thou mayst
perceive disdain in the countenances of the Infidels. Scarce can
they refrain from rushing to attack those who rehearse our signs to
them! Say: Shall I tell you of worse than this? The fire which God
hath threatened to those who believe not! Wretched the passage
thither!

O men! a parable is set forth to you, wherefore hearken to it.
Verily, they on whom ye call beside God, cannot create a fly,
though they assemble for it; and if the fly carry off aught from
them, they cannot take it away from it! Weak the suppliant and the
supplicated!

Unworthy the estimate they form of God!14 for God is right
Powerful, Mighty!

God chooseth messengers from among the angels and from among
men: verily, God Heareth, Seeth.

He knoweth what is before them and what is behind them; and
unto God shall all things return.

Believers! bow down and prostrate yourselves and worship your
Lord, and work righteousness that you may fare well.

And do valiantly in the cause of God as it behoveth you to do for
Him. He hath elected you, and hath not laid on you any hardship in
religion, the Faith of your father Abraham. He hath named you the
Muslims

Heretofore and in this Book, that the Apostles may be a witness
against you, and that ye may be witnesses against the rest of
mankind. Therefore observe prayer, and pay the legal impost, and
cleave fast to God. He is your liege Lord a goodly Lord, and a
goodly Helper!

_______________________

1 This Sura is generally said to have been revealed at Mecca, but
this is probably only the case with verses 1-24; 43-56; 60-65;
67-75. Mr. Muir places it at the close of the Meccan Suras of the
fifth period. See N”ld, p. 158.

2 Said to be Abu Jahl. See Sura xcvi. p. 20, n. 2.

3 Lit. so that after knowledge he knoweth not aught.

4 The teachings and progress of Islam.

5 See Sura [xci.] ii. 59. The Sabeites were probably Hanyfs. See
Pref

6 The Kaaba. Sharastani informs us that there was an opinion
prevalent among the Arabs, that the walking round the Kaaba, and
other ceremonies, were symbolic of the motion of the planets and
of other astronomical facts. Watwat, Mabahij al Fikr., Lib. i., c. 2,
says that "most Arabic tribes were originally star-worshippers,
Sabeans. The people of Saba worshipped the Sun, the tribes of
Asad and Kaninah the Moon, etc. etc. At a later period they all
sunk into idolatry, and in the time of Muhammad, the idols round
the Kaaba amounted to 360."

7 Lit. thin, with the implied sense of fleet.

8 The ten first days of the Dhu'lhajja. For the ceremonies, see
Freytag's Einleitung, p. 418; Burton's Pilgrimage, vol. iii.; Sale's
Notes and Prelim. Disc.

9 That is, the uncut beards, nails, etc.

10 Offerings of animals are by no means confined to Mecca and
the Pilgrimage. "It is not uncommon," says Mr. Lane, "without any
definite view but that of obtaining general blessings, to make vows
(of animals): and sometimes a peasant vows that he will sacrifice,
for the sake of a saint, a calf which he possesses, as soon as it is
grown and fatted. It is let loose, by consent of all his neighbours, to
pasture where it will, even in fields of young wheat; and at last,
after it has been sacrificed, a public feast is made of its meat.
Many a large bull is thus given away." Modern Egyptians, i. 307.
Compare Dr. Gobat's Abyssinia, p. 294, 7, for similar customs
among Christians of probably Arabian extraction. Five or six
thousand animals are said to have been slain in the valley of Mina
by the pilgrims of the year 1854. (See Lieut. Burton's Pilgrimage,
iii. p. 313.) The victim is considered by the devout as an
expression of their conviction that death is their desert at the hands
of God.

11 See Ibn Batoutah, iv. 106. (Par. ed.)

12 Comp. Sur. xxxii. 4, p. 190.

13 The ayats, signs or verses of the Koran. It is said by tradition
that Muhammad was consoled by this revelation for the Satanic
suggestion mentioned Sur. liii. 20, p. 70 (n.). But in this view of
the text, for among whose desires, or affections, we should render
when he recited.

14 Lit. they measure not God with truth of His measurement.SURA XLVIII. THE VICTORY [CVIII.]

Medina. 29 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Verily, We have won for thee an undoubted VICTORY1 In
token that God forgiveth thy earlier and later faults, and fulfilleth
His goodness to thee, and guideth thee on the right way,

And that God succoureth thee with a mighty succour.

He it is who sendeth down a spirit of secure repose into the hearts
of the faithful that they might add faith to their faith; (for God's
are the armies of the Heavens and of the Earth: and God is
Knowing, Wise:)

And that He may bring the believing men and the believing women
into gardens 'neath whose trees the rivers flow, to dwell therein
for ever, and that He may cancel their evil deeds: for this is the
great bliss with God:

And that He may punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical
women, and the men and women who join other gods with God,
and think evil thoughts of Him. Theirs shall be a round of evil; and
God is angry with them and curseth them, and hath prepared Hell
for them: and, an evil journey thither!

The armies of the Heavens and of the Earth are God's, and God is
Mighty, Wise!

Verily, we have sent thee to be a witness and a herald of good (an
announcer), and a warner,

That ye may believe on God and on His Apostle; and may assist
Him, and honour Him, and praise him, morning and evening.

In truth, they who plighted fealty to thee, really plighted that fealty
to God: the hand of God was over their hands! Whoever, therefore,
shall break his oath shall only break it to his own hurt; but
whoever shall be true to his engagement with God, He will give
him a great reward.

The Arabs who took not the field with you,2 will say to thee,3 "We
were engaged with our property and our families; therefore ask
thou pardon for us." They speak with their tongues what is not in
their hearts. Say: And who can have any power over God in your
behalf, whether he will you some loss, or whether he will you an
advantage? Yes, God is acquainted with your doings.

But ye thought that the Apostle and the faithful could never more
come back to their families; and your hearts were pleased at this;
and ye thought an evil thought of this expedition, and ye became
an undone people:

For, whoso believeth not in God, and His Apostle. Verily, we
have got ready the flame for the Infidels!

And God's is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth: Whom
He will He forgiveth, and whom He will He punisheth: and God is
Gracious, Merciful!

They who took not the field with you will say, when ye go forth to
the spoil to take it, "Let us follow you." Fain would they change
the word of God.4 Say: Ye shall by no means follow us: thus hath
God said already. They will say, "Nay, ye are jealous of us." Nay!
they are men of little understanding.

Say to those Arabs of the desert, who took not the field, ye shall be
called forth against a people of mighty valour. Ye shall do battle
with them, or they shall profess Islam. If ye obey, a goodly
recompense will God give you; but if ye turn back, as ye turned
back aforetime, He will chastise you with a sore chastisement.

It shall be no crime on the part of the blind, the lame, or the sick, if
they go not to the fight. But whoso shall obey God and His
Apostle, he shall bring him into the gardens 'neath which the
rivers flow: but whoso shall turn back, He will punish him with a
sore punishment.

Well pleased now hath God been with the believers when they
plighted fealty to thee under the tree;5 and He knew what was in
their hearts: therefore did He send down upon them a spirit of
secure repose, and rewarded them with a speedy victory,

And with the rich booty which they took: for God is Mighty, Wise!

God promised you the taking of a rich booty6 and sped it to you;
and He withheld men's hands from you, for a sign to the faithful,
and that He might guide you along the right way:

And other booty, over which ye have not yet had power: but now
hath God compassed them for you; for God is over all things
Potent.

If the Infidels shall fight against you, they shall assuredly turn their
backs; then, neither protector nor helper shall they find!

Such is God's method carried into effect of old; no change canst
thou find in God's mode of dealing.

And He it was who held their hands from you and your hands from
them in the valley of Mecca,7 after that He had given you the
victory over them: for God saw what ye did.

These are they who believed not, and kept you away from the
sacred Mosque, as well as the offering which was prevented from
reaching the place of sacrifice. And had it not been that ye would
have trodden down believers, both men and women, whom ye
knew not, so that a crime might have lighted on you without your
knowledge on their account, and that God would bring whom He
will within His mercy, this would have been otherwise ordered.
Had they been apart,8 we had surely punished such of them as
believed not, with a sore punishment.

When the unbelievers had fostered rage in their hearts the rage of
ignorance (of heathens) God sent down His peace on His Apostle
and on the faithful, and stablished in them the word of piety, for
they were most worthy and deserving of it: and God knoweth all
things.

Now hath God in truth made good to His Apostle the dream9 in
which he said, "Ye shall surely enter the sacred Mosque, if God
will, in full security, having your heads shaved and your hair cut:
ye shall not fear; for He knoweth what ye know not; and He hath
ordained you, beside this, a speedy victory."

It is He who hath sent His Apostle with "the Guidance," and the
religion of truth, that He may exalt it above every religion. And
enough for thee is this testimony on the part of God.

Muhammad is the Apostle of God; and his comrades are vehement
against the infidels, but full of tenderness among themselves. Thou
mayst see them bowing down, prostrating themselves, imploring
favours from God, and His acceptance. Their tokens10 are on their
faces, the marks of their prostrations. This is their picture in the
Law, and their picture in the Evangel:11 they are as the seed which
putteth forth its stalk; then strengtheneth it, and it groweth stout,
and riseth upon its stem,12 rejoicing the husbandman that the
infidels may be wrathful at them. To such of them as believe and
do the things that are right, hath God promised forgiveness and a
noble recompense.

_______________________

1 This Sura was probably revealed shortly after the peace of
Hudaibiya. Ann. Hej. 6. Some commentators, however, understand
the Victory of the taking of Mecca two years later the preterite
being used in the prophetic style for the future others of the
taking of Chaibar, or MŠta, a town of the Roman empire.

2 Lit. were left behind.

3 On the return to Medina. See Weil's Leben M. p. 173 (n.).

4 The law relative to booty, viz. that those who were not at
Hudaibiya should have no share in the booty to be obtained from
the Jews at Chaibar. Muhammad marched against them in Hej. 7.

5 When the rumour reached Muhammad at Hudaibiya that Othman
Ibn Affan, whom he had sent to inform the Meccans that he was
merely coming to visit their temple, and with peaceable intentions,
had been slain by them.

6 At Chaibar.

7 The valley of Mecca may mean Hudaibiya. But the
commentators explain this verse of different events. It probably,
however, refers to the 50 (according to Djalalein 80) prisoners
whom Muhammad dismissed freely at Hudaibiya.

8 Had the believers been separate from the infidels.

9 This dream Muhammad had at Medina, before he set out for al
Hudaibiya. His followers expected its fulfilment within the year,
but when the truce frustrated their hopes, this verse was revealed
to pacify them.

10 Dust from the pavement. The Muhammadans who say their
prayers on carpets often place little bricks before them which they
touch in prostration with their forehead.

11 Comp. Mark iv. 28.

12 Lit. legs.

SURA LXVI. THE FORBIDDING [CIX.]

MEDINA. 12 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHY,1 O Prophet! dost thou hold that to be FORBIDDEN which
God hath made lawful to thee, from a desire to please thy wives,
since God is Lenient, Merciful?

God hath allowed you release from your oaths; and God is your
master: and He is the Knowing, Wise.

When the prophet told a recent occurrence as a secret to one of his
wives, and when she divulged it and God informed him of this, he
acquainted her with part and withheld part.2 And when he had told
her of it, she said, "Who told thee this?" He said, "The Knowing,
the Sage hath told it me.

"If ye both be turned to God in penitence, for now have your hearts
gone astray 3 but if ye conspire against the Prophet, then know
that God is his Protector, and Gabriel, and every just man among
the faithful; and the angels are his helpers besides.

"Haply if he put you both away, his Lord will give him in
exchange other wives better than you, Muslims, believers, devout,
penitent, obedient, observant of fasting, both known of men and
virgins."

O Believers! save yourselves and your families from the fire whose
fuel is men and stones, over which are set angels fierce and
mighty: they disobey not God in what He hath commanded them,
but execute His behests.

O ye Infidels! make no excuses for yourselves this day; ye shall
surely be recompensed according to your works.

O Believers! turn to God with the turning of true penitence; haply
your Lord will cancel your evil deeds, and will bring you into the
gardens 'neath which the rivers flow, on the day when God will
not shame the Prophet, nor those who have shared his faith: their
light shall run before them, and on their right hands! they shall say,
"Lord perfect our light, and pardon us: for thou hast power over all
things."

O Prophet! make war on the infidels and hypocrites, and deal
rigorously with them. Hell shall be their abode! and wretched the
passage to it!

God setteth forth as an example to unbelievers the wife of Noah
and the wife of Lot; they were under two of our righteous servants,
both of whom they deceived: but their husbands availed them
nought against God: and it shall be said "Enter ye into the fire with
those who enter."

God also holdeth forth to those who believe the example of the
wife of Pharaoh,4 when she said, "Lord, build me an house with
thee in Paradise, and deliver me from Pharaoh and his doings; and
deliver me from the wicked:"

And Mary, the daughter of Imran, who kept her maidenhood, and
into whose womb5 we breathed of our spirit, and who believed in
the words of her Lord and His Scriptures, and was one of the
devout.

_______________________

1 The first verses of this Sura were revealed (Hej. 7.) on occasion
of Muhammad's reviving affection for Mary, a Copt slave sent
him by the governor of Egypt, from whom he had recently (verse
3) sworn to his wife Hafsa to separate entirely. Hafsa, who had
been greatly incensed at their amour, of which Muhammad had
himself informed her, communicated the matter in confidence to
Ayesha, from whose altered manner, probably, the prophet found
that his secret had been betrayed. To free Muhammad from his
obligation to Hafsa was the object of this chapter.

2 Muhammad withheld the fact that Ayesha, as well as God, was
his informant, but taxed Hafsa with not having kept his secret.

3 Supply God will pardon you.

4 Asia, a name, perhaps, corrupted from that of Pharaoh's daughter
Bithiah. 1 Chron. iv.18.

5 See Sura xxi. 91. Lit. qua rimam suam tuita est, in quam (rimam)
inflavimus Spiritus nostri partem. Thus Beidh.

SURA1 LX. SHE WHO IS TRIED [CX.]

MEDINA. Versus

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O YE who believe! take not my foe2 and your foe for friends,
shewing them kindness, although they believe not that truth which
hath come to you: they drive forth the Apostles and yourselves
because ye believe in God your Lord! If ye go forth to fight on my
way, and from a desire to please me, and shew them kindness in
private, I well know what ye conceal, and what ye discover!
Whoso doth this hath already gone astray from the even way.

If they meet with you they will prove your foes: hand and tongue
will they put forth for your hurt, and will desire that you become
infidels again.

Neither your kindred nor your children shall at all avail you on the
day of the resurrection. A severance between you will it make! and
your actions doth God behold.

A good example had ye in Abraham,3 and in those who followed
him, when they said to their people, "Verily, we are clear of you,
and of what ye worship beside God: we renounce you: and
between us and hath hatred and enmity sprung up for ever, until ye
believe in God alone." Yet imitate not the language of Abraham to
his Father, "I will pray for thy forgiveness, but not aught shall I
obtain for thee from God."4 O our Lord! in thee do we trust! to
thee do we turn! to thee we shall come back at the last.

O our Lord! expose us not for trial to the unbelievers, and forgive
us: for thou art the Mighty, the Wise!

A good example had ye in them, for all who hope in God and in
the last day. But let who will turn back, God truly is the Rich, the
Praiseworthy!

God will, perhaps, establish good will between yourselves and
those of them whom ye take to be your enemies:5 God is Powerful:
and God is Gracious, Merciful.

God doth not forbid you to deal with kindness and fairness toward
those who have not made war upon you on account of your
religion, or driven you forth from your homes: for God loveth
those who act with fairness.>Only doth God
forbid you to make friends of those who, on account of your
religion, have warred against you, and have driven you forth from
your homes, and have aided those who drove you forth: and
whoever maketh friends of them are wrong-doers.

O Believers! 6 when believing women come over to you as
refugees (Mohadjers), then make TRIAL of them. God best
knoweth their faith; but if ye have also ascertained their faith, let
them not go back to the infidels; they are not lawful for them, nor
are the unbelievers lawful for these women. But give them back
what they have spent for their dowers. No crime shall it be in you
to marry them, provided ye give them their dowers. Do not retain
any right in the infidel women, but demand back what you have
spent for their dowers, and let the unbelievers demand back what
they have spent for their wives.7 This is the ordinance of God
which He ordaineth among you: and God is Knowing, Wise.

And if any of your wives escape from you to the Infidels from
whom ye afterwards take any spoil, then give to those whose wives
shall have fled away, the like of what they shall have spent for
their dowers; and fear God in whom ye believe.

O Prophet! when believing women come to thee, and pledge
themselves that they will not associate aught with God, and that
they will not steal or commit adultery, nor kill their children, nor
bring scandalous charges,8 nor disobey thee in what is right, then
plight thou thy faith to them, and ask pardon for them of God: for
God is Indulgent, Merciful!

O Believers! enter not into amity with those against whom God is
angered; they despair of the life to come, even as the Infidels
despair of the inmates of the tombs.

_______________________

1 Revealed probably as far as verse 9 (Ramadhan Hej. 8) shortly
before the taking of Mecca.

2 HalŠb Ben Abu Baltaa had informed the Koreisch of an intended
surprise of Mecca on the part of Muhammad, with the view of
making terms for his own family who had been left there. The
offence was pardoned, but the revelation was nevertheless
published with the view of preventing similar acts of treachery in
future.

3 Speaking of the representatives of the different religious systems
prevalent in the Roman Empire, as Orpheus, Abraham, Christ,
Apollonius of Tyana, enshrined among the household deities of
Alexander Severus, Mr. Milman remarks (Hist. of Christianity, ii.
p. 231) that "It is singular that Abraham, rather than Moses, was
placed at the head of Judaism: it is possible that the traditionary
sanctity which attached to the first parent of the Jewish people,
and of many of the Arab tribes, and which was afterwards
embodied in the Koran, was floating in the East, and would
comprehend, as it were, the opinions, not only of the Jews, but of a
much wider circle of the Syrian natives."

4 Sura [cxiii.] ix. 115.

5 That is, by their conversion hereafter.

6 Said (see N”ld. p. 163) to have been revealed at, or shortly after,
the peace of Hudaibiya. According to the terms then agreed upon,
a mutual restitution of property was to take place.

7 Who are converted to Islam.

8 Lit. with a calumny which they have devised between their hands
and their feet. Said to have been revealed at the taking of Mecca.
Tab. Beidh.

SURA1 CX. HELP [CXI.]

MEDINA. 3 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHEN the HELP of God and the victory arrive,
And thou seest men entering the religion of God by troops;
Then utter the praise of thy Lord, implore His pardon;
for He loveth to turn in mercy.

_______________________

1 This Sura was revealed at the taking of Mecca, and is supposed
to have given Muhammad warning of his death.

SURA XLIX. THE APARTMENTS [CXII.]

MEDINA. 18 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O BELIEVERS! enter not upon any affair ere God and His
Apostle1 permit you; and fear ye God: for God Heareth, Knoweth.2

O Believers! raise not your voices above the voice of the Prophet,
neither speak loud to him as ye speak loud one to another, lest
your works come to nought, and ye unaware of it.

They who lower their voices in the presence of the Apostle of God,
are the persons whose hearts God hath inclined to piety.
Forgiveness shall be theirs and a rich reward.

They who call out to thee while thou art within3 thine
APARTMENTS, have most of them no right perception of what is
due to thee.

But if they wait patiently till thou come forth to them, it were far
better for them. But God is Indulgent, Merciful.

O Believers! if any bad man4 come to you with news, clear it up at
once, lest through ignorance ye harm others, and speedily have to
repent of what ye have done.

And know that an Apostle of God is among you! should he give
way to you in many matters ye would certainly become guilty of a
crime. But God hath endeared the faith to you, and hath given it
favour in your hearts, and hath made unbelief, and wickedness,
and disobedience hateful to you. Such are they who pursue a right
course.

Through the bounty and grace which is from God: and God is
Knowing, Wise.

If two bodies of the faithful are at war, then make ye peace
between them:5 and if the one of them wrong the other, fight
against that party which doth the wrong, until they come back to
the precepts of God: if they come back, make peace between them
with fairness, and act impartially; God loveth those who act with
impartiality.

Only the faithful are brethren; wherefore make peace between
your brethren; and fear God, that ye may obtain mercy.

O Believers! let not men laugh men to scorn who haply may be
better than themselves; neither let women laugh women to scorn
who may haply be better than themselves!6 Neither defame one
another, nor call one another by nicknames. Bad is it to be called
wicked after having professed the faith:7 and whoso repent not of
this are doers of wrong.

O Believers! avoid frequent suspicions, for some suspicions are a
crime; and pry not: neither let the one of you traduce another in his
absence. Would any one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead
brother? Surely ye would loathe it. And fear ye God: for God is
Ready to turn, Merciful.

O men! verily, we have created you of a male and a female; and
we have divided you into peoples and tribes that ye might have
knowledge one of another. Truly, the most worthy of honour in the
sight of God is he who feareth Him most.8 Verily, God is Knowing,
Cognisant.

The Arabs of the desert9 say, "We believe." Say thou: Ye believe
not; but rather say, "We profess Islam;" for the faith hath not yet
found its way into your hearts. But if ye obey God and His Apostle,
he will not allow you to lose any of your actions: for God is
Indulgent, Merciful.

The true believers are those only who believe in God and His
Apostle, and afterwards doubt not; and who contend with their
substance and their persons on the path of God. These are the
sincere.

Say: Will ye teach God about your religion? when God knoweth
whatever is in the Heavens and on the Earth: yea, God hath
knowledge of all things.

They taunt thee with their having embraced Islam.10 Say: Taunt me
not with your having embraced Islam: God rather taunteth you
with His having guided you to the faith: acknowledge this if ye are
sincere.

Verily, God knoweth the secrets of the Heavens and of the Earth:
and God beholdeth what ye do.

_______________________

1 Or anticipate not, take not the lead of God and His Apostle.

2 All the ancient Interpreters (as His. 933 ff., Ibn Sa'd. 320, Tab.
Aganlt. 116 f. comp. also Weil 244 ff., Caussin, iii. 271) refer
from 1-5 to the disrespectful demeanour, in Muhammad's
presence, of the envoys of the Banu Tamim in Hej. 9 or 10.

3 Lit. from without.

4 The commentators mentioned in the last note, as well as others,
explain this verse of Al Walid ben Uqba, who had brought a false
report of the refusal of the Banu'lmustaliq to pay certain alms
which Muhammad had sent him to demand. This Al Walid became
governor of Kufa under Othman. He probably was never really
converted to Islam.

5 Upon this passage 91-2, die Muslimen, says N”ldeke,
verschiedene Geschichten erz„hlen, so dass sich Nichts sicher
bestimmen I„sst, p. 164. This remark applies to the great mass of
Muhammadan comment.

6 Said to refer to Safia, one of Muhammad's wives. who had been
taunted by his other wives with being a Jewess.

7 Lit. Bad the name, wickedness, after faith.

8 That is, not the most nobly born, like the Koreisch. This verse is
said to have been revealed in Mecca on the day of its conquest.
See Weil, Leben, p.372, and n.

9 The Ban– Asad had come to Medina in a year of famine to seek
support for themselves and families, and made profession of
Islamism. Beidh. Thus, also Ibn Sad. Tabari. Wah.

10 As if by so doing they had conferred a favour on the Prophet.

SURA IX.1 IMMUNITY [CXIII.]

Medina. 130 Verses

An IMMUNITY from God and His Apostle to those with whom ye
are in league, among the Polytheist Arabs! (those who join gods
with God).

Go ye, therefore, at large in the land four months: but know that
God ye shall not weaken;2 and that those who believe not, God
will put to shame

And a proclamation on the part of God and His Apostle to the
people on the day of the greater pilgrimage, that God is free from
any engagement with the votaries of other gods with God as is His
Apostle! If, therefore, ye turn to God it will be better for you; but if
ye turn back, then know that ye shall not weaken God: and to those
who believe not, announce thou a grievous punishment.

But this concerneth not those Polytheists with whom ye are in
league, and who shall have afterwards in no way failed you, nor
aided anyone against you. Observe, therefore, engagement with
them through the whole time of their treaty: for God loveth those
who fear Him.

And when the sacred months3 are passed, kill those who join other
gods with God wherever ye shall find them; and seize them,
besiege them, and lay wait for them with every kind of ambush:
but if they shall convert, and observe prayer, and pay the
obligatory alms, then let them go their way, for God is Gracious,
Merciful.

If any one of those who join gods with God ask an asylum of thee,
grant him an asylum, that he may hear the Word of God, and then
let him reach his place of safety. This, for that they are people
devoid of knowledge.

How shall they who add gods to God be in league with God and
with His Apostle, save those with whom ye made a league at the
sacred temple? So long as they are true to you, be ye true to them;
for God loveth those who fear Him.

How can they? since if they prevail against you, they will not
regard in you either ties of blood or faith. With their mouths will
they content you, but their hearts will be averse. The greater part
of them are perverse doers.

They sell the signs of God for a mean price, and turn others aside
from his way: evil is it that they do!

They regard not in a believer either ties of blood or faith; these are
the transgressors!

Yet if they turn to God and observe prayer, and pay the impost,
then are they your brethren in religion. We make clear our signs to
those who understand.

But if, after alliance made, they break their oaths and revile your
religion, then do battle with the ring-leaders of infidelity for no
oaths are binding with them that they may desist.

What! will ye not fight against those Meccans who have broken
their oaths and aimed to expel your Apostle, and attacked you
first? Will ye dread them? God is more worthy of your fear, if ye
are believers!

So make war on them: By your hands will God chastise them, and
will put them to shame, and will give you victory over them, and
will heal the bosoms of a people who believe;

And will take away the wrath of their hearts. God will be turned
unto whom He will: and God is Knowing, Wise.

Think ye that ye shall be forsaken as if God did not yet know those
among you who do valiantly, and take none for their friends beside
God, and His Apostle, and the faithful? God is well apprised of
your doings.

It is not for the votaries of other gods with God, witnesses against
themselves of infidelity, to visit the temples of God. These! vain
their works: and in the fire shall they abide for ever!

He only should visit the temples of God who believeth in God and
the last day, and observeth prayer, and payeth the legal alms, and
dreadeth none but God. These haply will be among the rightly
guided.

Do ye place the giving drink to the pilgrims, and the visitation of
the sacred temple,4 on the same level with him who believeth in
God and the last day, and fighteth on the way of God? They shall
not be held equal by God: and God guideth not the unrighteous.

They who have believed, and fled their homes, and striven with
their substance and with their persons on the path of God, shall be
of highest grade with God: and these are they who shall be happy!

Tidings of mercy from Himself, and of His good pleasure, doth
their Lord send them, and of gardens in which lasting pleasure
shall be theirs;

Therein shall they abide for ever; for God! with Him is a great
reward.

O Believers! make not friends of your fathers or your brethren if
they love unbelief above faith: and whoso of you shall make them
his friends, will be wrong doers.

Say: If your fathers, and your sons, and your brethren, and your
wives, and your kindred, and the wealth which ye have gained, and
merchandise which ye fear may be unsold, and dwellings wherein
ye delight, be dearer to you than God and His Apostle and efforts
on his Path, then wait until God shall Himself enter on His work:5
and God guideth not the impious.

Now hath God helped you in many battlefields, and, on the day of
Honein,6 when ye prided yourselves on your numbers; but it
availed you nothing; and the earth, with all its breadth, became too
straight for you:7 then turned ye your backs in flight:

Then did God send down His spirit of repose8 upon His Apostle,
and upon the faithful, and He sent down the hosts which ye saw
not, and He punished the Infidels: This, the Infidels' reward!

Yet, after this, will God be turned to whom He pleaseth; for God is
Gracious, Merciful!

O Believers! only they who join gods with God are unclean! Let
them not, therefore, after this their year, come near the sacred
Temple. And if ye fear want,9 God, if He please, will enrich you of
His abundance: for God is Knowing, Wise.

Make war upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been
given as believe not in God, or in the last day, and who forbid not
that which God and His Apostle have forbidden, and who profess
not the profession of the truth, until they pay tribute out of hand,10
and they be humbled.11

The Jews say, "Ezra (Ozair) is a son of God";12 and the Christians
say, "The Messiah is a son of God." Such the sayings in their
mouths! They resemble the saying of the Infidels of old! God do
battle with them! How are they misguided!

They take their teachers, and their monks, and the Messiah, son of
Mary, for Lords13 beside God, though bidden to worship one God
only. There is no God but He! Far from His glory be what they
associate with Him!

Fain would they put out God's light with their mouths: but God
only desireth to perfect His light, albeit the Infidels abhor it.

He it is who hath sent His Apostle with the Guidance and a
religion of the truth, that He may make it victorious14 over every
other religion, albeit they who assign partners to God be averse
from it.

O Believers! of a truth, many of the teachers and monks do devour
man's substance in vanity, and turn them from the Way of God.
But to those who treasure up gold and silver and expend it not in
the Way of God, announce tidings of a grievous torment.

On that day their treasures shall be heated in hell fire, and their
foreheads, and their sides, and their backs, shall be branded with
them. "This is what ye have treasured up for yourselves: taste,
therefore, your treasures!"

Twelve months is the number of months with God,15 according to
God's book, since the day when He created the Heavens and the
Earth: of these four are sacred: this is the right usage: But wrong
not yourselves therein; attack those who join gods with God in all,
as they attack you in all: and know that God is with those who fear
Him.

To carry over a sacred month to another, is only a growth of
infidelity. The Infidels are led into error by it. They allow it one
year, and forbid it another, that they may make good the number of
months which God hath hallowed, and they allow that which God
hath prohibited. The evil of their deeds hath been prepared for
them by Satan: for God guideth not the people who do not believe.

O Believers! what possessed you, that when it was said to you,
"March forth on the Way of God," ye sank heavily earthwards?
What! prefer ye the life of this world to the next? But the fruition
of this mundane life, in respect of that which is to come, is but
little.16

Unless ye march forth, with a grievous chastisement will He
chastise you; and He will place another people in your stead, and
ye shall in no way harm Him: for over everything is God potent.

If ye assist not your Prophet God assisted him formerly, when the
unbelievers drove him forth, in company with a second only!17
when they two were in the cave; when the Prophet said to his
companion, "Be not distressed; verily, God is with us." And God
sent down His tranquillity upon him, and strengthened him with
hosts ye saw not, and made the word of those who believed not the
abased, and the word of God was the exalted: for God is Mighty,
Wise.

March ye forth the light and heavy armed,18 and contend with
your substance and your persons on the Way of God. This, if ye
know it, will be better for you.

Had there been a near advantage and a short journey, they would
certainly have followed thee; but the way seemed long to them.19
Yet will they swear by God, "Had we been able, we had surely
gone forth with you:" they are self-destroyers! And God knoweth
that they are surely liars!

God forgive thee! Why didst thou give them leave to stay behind,
ere they who make true excuses had become known to thee, and
thou hadst known the liars?

They who believe in God and in the last day will not ask leave of
thee to be exempt from contending with their substance and their
persons. But God knoweth those who fear Him!

They only will ask thy leave who believe not in God and the last
day, and whose hearts are full of doubts, and who are tossed up
and down in their doubtings.

Moreover, had they been desirous to take the field, they would
have got ready for that purpose the munitions of war.20 But God
was averse to their marching forth, and made them laggards; and it
was said, "Sit ye at home with those who sit."

Had they taken the field with you, they would only have added a
burden to you, and have hurried about among you, stirring you up
to sedition; and some there are among you who would have
listened to them: and God knoweth the evil doers.

Of old aimed they at sedition, and deranged thy affairs, until the
truth arrived, and the behest of God became apparent, averse from
it though they were.

Some of them say to thee, "Allow me to remain at home, and
expose me not to the trial." Have they not fallen into a trial
already? But verily, Hell shall environ the Infidels!

If a success betide thee, it annoyeth them: but if a reverse betide
thee, they say, "We took our own measures before:" and they turn
their backs and are glad.

Say: Nothing can befall us but what God hath destined21 for us.
Our liege-lord is He; and on God let the faithful trust!

Say: Await ye for us, other than one of the two best things?22 But
we await for you the infliction of a chastisement by God, from
himself, or at our hands. Wait ye then; we verily will wait with
you.

Say: Make ye your offerings willingly or by constraint; it cannot be
accepted from you, because ye are a wicked people:

And nothing hindreth the acceptance of their offerings, but that
they believe not in God and His Apostle, and discharge not the
duty of prayer but with sluggishness, and make not offerings but
with reluctance.

Let not, therefore, their riches or their children amaze thee. God is
only minded to punish them by means of these, in this life present,
and that their souls may depart while they are unbelievers.23

And they swear by God that they are indeed of you, yet they are
not of you, but they are people who are afraid of you:

If they find a place of refuge, or caves, or a hiding place, they
assuredly turn towards it and haste thereto.

Some of them also defame thee in regard to the alms; yet if a part
be given them, they are content, but if no part be given them,
behold, they are angry!

Would that they were satisfied with that which God and His
Apostle had given them, and would say "God sufficeth us! God
will vouchsafe unto us of His favour, and s will His Apostle: verily
unto God do we make our suit!"

But alms are only to be given to the poor and the needy,24 and
those who collect them, and to those25 whose hearts are won to
Islam, and for ransoms, and for debtors, and for the cause of God,
and the wayfarer. This is an ordinance from God: and God is
Knowing, Wise.

There are some of them who injure26 the Prophet and say, "He is
all ear." Say: An ear of good to you! He believeth in God, and
believeth the believers: and is a mercy to such of you as believe:

But they who injure the Apostle of God, shall suffer a dolorous
chastisement.

They swear to you by God to please you; but worthier is God, and
His Apostle, that they should please Him, if they are believers.

Know they not, that for him who opposeth God and His Apostle, is
surely the fire of Hell, in which he shall remain for ever? This is
the great ignominy!

The hypocrites are afraid lest a Sura should be sent down
concerning them, to tell them plainly what is in their hearts. Say:
Scoff ye; but God will bring to light that which ye are afraid of.

And if thou question them, they will surely say, "We were only
discoursing and jesting." Say: What! do ye scoff at God, and His
signs, and His Apostle?

Make no excuse: from faith ye have passed to infidelity! If we
forgive some of you, we will punish others: for that they have been
evil doers.

Hypocritical men and women imitate one another.27 They enjoin
what is evil, and forbid what is just, and shut up their hands.28
They have forgotten God, and He hath forgotten them. Verily, the
hypocrites are the perverse doers.

God promiseth the hypocritical men and women, and the
unbelievers, the fire of Hell therein shall they abide this their
sufficing portion! And God hath cursed them, and a lasting
torment shall be theirs.

Ye act like those who flourished before you. Mightier were they
than you in prowess, and more abundant in wealth and children,
and they enjoyed their portion: so ye also enjoy your portion, as
they who were before you enjoyed theirs; and ye hold discourses
like their discourses. These! vain their works both for this world
and for that which is to come! These! they are the lost ones.

Hath not the history reached them of those who were before them?
of the people of Noah,29 and of Ad, and of Themoud, and of the
people of Abraham, and of the inhabitants of Madian, and of the
overthrown cities? Their apostles came to them with clear proofs
of their mission: God would not deal wrongly by them, but they
dealt wrongly by themselves.

The faithful of both sexes are mutual friends: they enjoin what is
just, and forbid what is evil; they observe prayer, and pay the legal
impost, and they obey God and His Apostle. On these will God
have mercy: verily, God is Mighty, Wise.

To the faithful, both men and women, God promiseth gardens
'neath which the rivers flow, in which they shall abide, and goodly
mansions in the gardens of Eden. But best of all will be God's good
pleasure in them. This will be the great bliss.

O Prophet! contend against the infidels and the hypocrites, and be
rigorous with them: Hell shall be their dwelling place! Wretched
the journey thither!

They swear by God that they said no such thing: yet spake they the
word of infidelity, and from Muslims became unbelievers! They
planned what they could not effect;30 and only disapproved of it
because God and His Apostle had enriched them by His bounty! If
they repent it will be better for them; but if they fall back into their
sin, with a grievous chastisement will God chastise them in this
world and the next, and on earth they shall have neither friend nor
protector!

Some there are of them who made this agreement with God "If
truly He give us of His bounties, we will surely give alms and
surely be of the righteous."

Yet when he had vouchsafed them of His bounty, they became
covetous thereof, and turned their backs, and withdrew afar off:

So He caused hypocrisy to take its turn in their hearts, until the day
on which they shall meet Him for that they failed their promise to
God, and that they were liars!

Know they not that God knoweth their secrets and their private
talk, and that God knoweth the secret things?

They who traduce such of the faithful as give their alms freely, and
those who find nothing to give but their earnings, and scoff at
them, God shall scoff at them; and there is a grievous torment in
store for them.

Ask thou forgiveness for them, or ask it not, it will be the same. If
thou ask forgiveness for them seventy times, God will by no means
forgive them. This, for that they believe not in God and His
Apostle! And God guideth not the ungodly people.

They who were left at home were delighted to stay behind God's
Apostle, and were averse from contending with their riches and
their persons for the cause of God, and said, "March not out in the
heat." Say: A fiercer heat will be the fire of Hell." Would that they
understood this.

Little, therefore, let them laugh, and much let them weep, as the
meed of their doings!

If God bring thee back from the fight to some of them, and they
ask thy leave to take the field, Say: By no means shall ye ever take
the field with me, and by no means shall ye fight an enemy with
me: ye were well pleased to sit at home at the first crisis: sit ye at
home, then, with those who lag behind.

Never pray thou over anyone of them who dieth, or stand at his
grave31 because they believed not in God and His Apostle, and
died in their wickedness.

Let not their riches or their children astonish thee: through these
God is fain only to punish them in this world, and that their souls
should depart while they are still infidels.

When a Sura was sent down with "Believe in God and go forth to
war with His Apostle," those of them who are possessed of riches
demanded exemption, and said, "Allow us to be with those who sit
at home.

Well content were they to be with those who stay behind: for a seal
hath been set on their hearts so that they understand not:

But the Apostle and those who share his faith, contend for the faith
with purse and person; and these! all good things await them: and
these are they who shall be happy.

God hath made ready for them gardens 'neath which the rivers
flow, wherein they shall remain for ever: this will be the great
bliss.

Some Arabs of the desert came with excuses, praying exemption;
and they who had gainsaid God and His Apostle sat at home: a
grievous punishment shall light on such of them as believe not.

It shall be no crime in the weak, and in the sick, and in those who
find not the means of contributing, to stay at home, provided they
are sincere with God and His Apostle. Against those who act
virtuously, there is no cause of blame: and God is Gracious,
Merciful:

Nor against those, to whom when they came to thee that thou
shouldst mount them, thou didst say "I find not wherewith to
mount you," and they turned away their eyes shedding floods of
tears for grief, because they found no means to contribute.

Only is there cause of blame against those who, though they are
rich, ask thee for exemption. They are pleased to be with those
who stay behind; and God hath set a seal upon their hearts: they
have no knowledge.

They will excuse themselves to you when ye come back to them.
Say: Excuse yourselves not; we cannot believe you: now hath God
informed us about you: God will behold your doings, and so will
His Apostle: to Him who knoweth alike things hidden and things
manifest shall ye hereafter be brought back: and He will tell you
what ye have done.

They will adjure you by God when ye are come back to them, to
withdraw from them: Withdraw from them, then, for they are
unclean: their dwelling shall be Hell, in recompense for their
deserts.

They will adjure you to take pleasure in them; but if ye take
pleasure in them, God truly will take no pleasure in those who act
corruptly.

The Arabs of the desert are most stout in unbelief and
dissimulation; and likelier it is that they should be unaware of the
laws which God hath sent down to His Apostle: and God is
Knowing, Wise.

Of the Arabs of the desert there are some who reckon what they
expend in the cause of God as tribute, and wait for some change of
fortune to befall you: a change for evil shall befall them! God is
the Hearer, the Knower.

And of the Arabs of the desert, some believe in God and in the last
day, and deem those alms an approach to God and to the Apostle's
prayers. Are they not their approach? Into His mercy shall God
lead them: yes, God is Indulgent, Merciful.

As for those who led the way, the first of the Mohadjers,32 and the
Ansars, and those who have followed their noble conduct, God is
well pleased with them, and they with Him: He hath made ready
for them gardens under whose trees the rivers flow: to abide
therein for aye: this shall be the great bliss:

And of the Arabs of the desert round about you, some are
hypocrites: and of the people of Medina, some are stubborn in
hypocrisy. Thou knowest them not, Muhammad: we know them:
twice33 will we chastise them: then shall they be given over to a
great chastisement.

Others have owned their faults, and with an action that is right they
have mixed another that is wrong. God will haply be turned to
them: for God is Forgiving, Merciful.

Take alms of their substance,34 that thou mayst cleanse and purify
them thereby, and pray for them; for thy prayers shall assure their
minds: and God Heareth, Knoweth.

Know they not that when his servants turn to Him with repentance,
God accepteth it, and that He accepteth alms, and that God is He
who turneth, the Merciful?

SAY: Work ye: but God will behold your work, and so will His
Apostle, and the faithful: and ye shall be brought before Him who
knoweth alike the Hidden and the Manifest, and He will tell you of
all your works.

And others await the decision of God; whether He will punish
them, or whether He will be turned unto them: but God is
Knowing, Wise.

There are some35 who have built a Mosque for mischief36 and for
infidelity, and to disunite the faithful, and in expectation of him37
who, in time past, warred against God and His Apostle. They will
surely swear, "Our aim was only good:" but God is witness that
they are liars.

Never set thou foot in it.38 There is a Mosque39 founded from its
first day in piety. More worthy is it that thou enter therein: therein
are men who aspire to purity, and God loveth the purified.

Which of the two is best? He who hath founded his building on the
fear of God and the desire to please Him, or he who hath founded
his building on the brink of an undermined bank washed away by
torrents, so that it rusheth with him into the fire of Hell? But God
guideth not the doers of wrong.

Their building which they40 have built will not cease to cause
uneasiness in their hearts, until their hearts are cut in pieces.41
God is Knowing, Wise.

Verily, of the faithful hath God bought their persons and their
substance, on condition of Paradise for them in return: on the path
of God shall they fight, and slay, and be slain: a Promise for this is
pledged in the Law, and in the Evangel, and in the Koran and who
more faithful, in to his engagement than God? Rejoice, therefore,
in the contract that ye have contracted: for this shall be the great
bliss.

Those who turn to God, and those who serve, who praise, who fast,
who bow down, who prostrate themselves, who enjoin what is just
and forbid what is evil, and keep to the bounds42 of God 43
Wherefore bear these good tidings to the faithful.

It is not for the prophet or the faithful to pray for the forgiveness of
those, even though they be of kin, who associate other beings with
God, after it hath been made clear to them that they are to be the
inmates of Hell.

For neither did Abraham ask forgiveness for his father, but in
pursuance of a promise which he had promised to him: but when it
was shewn him that he was an enemy to God, he declared himself
clear of him. Yet Abraham was pitiful, kind.

Nor is it for God to lead a people into error, after he hath guided
them aright, until that which they ought to dread hath been clearly
shewn them. Verily, God knoweth all things.

God! His the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! He maketh
alive and killeth! Ye have no patron or helper save God.

Now hath God turned Him unto the Prophet and unto the refugees
(Mohadjers), and unto the helpers (Ansars)44, who followed him
in the hour of distress, after that the hearts of a part of them had
well nigh failed them45. Then turned He unto them, for He was
Kind to them, Merciful.

He hath also turned Him unto the three46 who were left behind, so
that the earth, spacious as it is, became too strait for them; and
their souls became so straitened within them, that they bethought
them that there was no refuge from God but unto Himself. Then
was He turned to them, that they might be turned to Him, for God
is He that turneth, the Merciful.

Believers!47 fear God, and be with the sincere.

No cause had the people of Medina and the Arabs of the desert
around them, to abandon God's Apostle, or to prefer their own
lives to his; because neither thirst, nor the labour nor hunger, could
come upon them when on path of God;48 neither do they step a
step which may anger the unbelievers, neither do they receive from
the enemy any damage, but it is written down to them as a good
work. Verily, God suffereth not the reward of the righteous to
perish.

Nor give they alms either small or great, nor traverse they a
torrent, but it is thus reckoned to them; that God may reward them
with better than they have wrought.

The faithful must not march forth all together to the wars: and if a
party of every band of them march not out, it is that they may
instruct themselves in their religion, and may warn their people
when they come back to them, that they take heed to themselves.

Believers! wage war against such of the infidels as are your
neighbours, and let them find you rigorous: and know that God is
with those who fear him.

Whenever a Sura is sent down, there are some of them who say,
"Whose faith hath it increased?" It will increase the faith of those
who believe, and they shall rejoice.

But as to those in whose hearts is a disease, it will add doubt to
their doubt, and they shall die infidels.

Do they not see that they are proved every year once or twice? Yet
they turn not, neither are they warned.

And whenever a Sura is sent down, they look at one another.
"Doth any one see you?" then turn they aside. God shall turn their
hearts aside, because they are a people devoid of understanding.

Now hath an Apostle come unto you from among yourselves: your
iniquities press heavily upon him. He is careful over you, and
towards the faithful, compassionate, merciful.

If they turn away, SAY: God sufficeth me: there is no God but He.
In Him put I my trust. He is the possessor of the Glorious Throne!

_______________________

1 The "Immunity" is said by some commentators to have formed
originally one Sura with the eighth, p.375, and that on this account
the usual formula of invocation is not prefixed. The Caliph
Othman accounted for this omission of the Bismillah from the fact
of this Sura having been revealed, with the exception of a few
verses, shortly before the prophet's death, who left no instructions
on the subject. (Mishcat 1, p. 526.) The former verses from 1-12,
or, according to other traditions, from 1-40, were recited to the
pilgrims at Mecca by Ali, Ann. Hej. 9.

2 Lit. that ye cannot weaken God.

3 Shawƒl, Dhu'lkaada, Dhu'lhajja, Muharram. These months were
observed by the Arabians previous to the time of Muhammad.

4 Al Abbas, Muhammad's uncle, when taken prisoner, had
defended his unbelief, and declared that he had performed these
two important duties. Beidh.

5 Or, shall issue his behest.

6 At the battle of Honein, a valley three miles from Mecca (A.H.
8), the Muhammadans, presuming upon the great superiority of
their numbers, 12,000 men, over the enemy who were only 4000
strong, were seized with a panic throughout their ranks. Order was
restored and victory obtained through the bravery and presence of
mind of Muhammad and his kindred.

7 The enemy attacked and routed you on all sides.

8 See ii. 249, p. 365.

9 Through the breaking off commercial relations.

10 Or, by right of subjection, Sale; in cash, Wahl.; all without
exception, K. i.e. as if by counting hands.

11 Thus Hilchoth Melachim, vi. 4. The Jews are commanded, in
case of war with the Gentiles, to offer peace on two conditions:
that they become tributaries, and renounce idolatry. Thus also
chap. viii. 4.

12 The Muhammadan tradition is that Ezra was raised to life after
he had been 100 years dead, and dictated from memory the whole
Jewish law, which had been lost during the captivity, to the
scribes. That the Jews regarded Ezra as a son of God is due to
Muhammad's own invention. See Sonna, 462 v. H. v. Purgstall's
Fundgruben des Orients, i. 288. The Talmudists, however, use very
exaggerated language concerning him. Thus, Sanhedrin, 21, 22.
"Ezra would have been fully worthy to have been the lawgiver, if
Moses had not preceded him." Josephus, Ant. xi. 5, 5, speaks of his
high repute ([greek text]) with the people, and of his honourable
burial. Muhammad probably represents the Jews as having deified
Ezra with the view of showing that they, as well as the Christians,
had tampered with the doctrine of the Divine unity.

13 An allusion to the word Rabbi, used by Jews and Christians, of
their priests, etc., but in Arabic of God only. Comp. Matt. xxiii. 7,
8.

14 See Sur. [cxiv.] v. 85.

15 The intercalation of a month every third year, in order to reduce
the lunar to the solar years, is justified by the Muhammadans from
this passage.

16 See Sur. xiii. 26, p. 336 (n.).

17 With Abubekr. lit. second of two.

18 Wahk. reich oder arm. Savary, young or old. Ibn Hisam (924)
pronounces this to be the oldest verse of the Sura.

19 This refers to the expedition of Tabouk, a town half-way
between Medina and Damascus, against the Greeks, A.H. 9.
Muhammad was now at the head of an army of 30,000 men.
Verses 42-48 are said to have been revealed during the march.

20 Lit. prepared a preparation.

21 Lit. written.

22 That is, victory or martyrdom.

23 Compare Sura iii. 172. Geiger, p. 76, shews that this is
precisely the teaching of the Talmudists with regard to the wicked.

24 The poor, i.e. absolute paupers; the needy i.e. those in some
temporary distress.

25 The petty Arab chiefs with whom Muhammad made terms after
the battle of Honein, in order to secure their followers.

26 There seems to be a play, in the original, upon the similarity of
the words for injure and ear.

27 Lit. (are) the one from the other.

28 From giving alms.

29 Comp. Sura liv. 15, p. 77. The traditions as to the collection of
pitch from wood of the Ark, in the time of Berosus (B.C. 250?) for
amulets, and of the wood itself, in the time of Josephus (Ant. i. 3,
6, c. Apion, i. 19) must have reached Muhammad through his
Jewish informants. Fragments are said to have existed in the days
of Benjamin of Tudela, and to have been carried away by the
Chalif Omar, from the mountain al Djoudi to the mosque of
Gazyrat Ibn Omar.

30 To kill Muhammad. The circumstances are given in a tradition
preserved ap. Weil, p. 265, note. The meaning is, that the people of
Medina, who had become enriched by Muhammad's residence
among them, had no better motive for disapproving the attempt
upon his life. Lit. they had nothing to avenge but that, etc.

31 Prayers for the dead were customary among the Arabians
before Muhammad. See Freyt. Einl. p. 221.

32 The Mohadiers were those who fled with Muhammad from
Mecca to Medina, the Ansars his auxiliaries in Medina.

33 The commentators are not agreed as to the nature of this double
punishment.

34 The fine of a third part of all their substance was imposed upon
seven of those who had held back from the expedition to Tabouk.
This is the fault spoken of in the preceding verse.

35 The tribe of Beni Ganim had built a mosque, professedly from
religious motives, which they invited Muhammad on his way to
Tabouk to dedicate by a solemn act of prayer. Muhammad,
however, discovered that the real motive of the Beni Ganim was
jealousy of the tribe of Beni Amru Ibn Auf, and of the mosque at
Kuba, and that there existed and understanding between them and
his enemy the monk Abu Amir, who was then in Syria, for the
purpose of urging the Greeks to attack the Muslims and their
mosque. It is to him that the word irsddan refers.

36 To the dwellers at Kuba. Verses 108-111 were probably
promulged on the return from Tabouk previous to the entry into
Medina.

37 Abu Amir.

38 Or, never stand thou in it (to pray).

39 The mosque of Kuba, about three miles S.S.E. of Medina. The
spot where this verse was revealed is still pointed out, and called
"Makam el Ayat," or "the place of signs." Burton's "Pilgrimage," ii.
p. 214.Muhammad laid the first brick, and it was the first place of
public prayer in El Islam. Ib. p. 209.

40 The Beni Ganim.

41 That is, up to the time of their death they will never reflect on
what they have done without bitter pangs of conscience. See Weil's
M. der Prophet, pp. 268, 269, and note.

42 Lit. limits, i.e. laws.

43 Shall have their recompense.

44 See verse 101.

45 Lit. turned aside, swerved.

46 Three Ansars who did not accompany Muhammad to Tabouk,
and who on his return were put under interdict, and not released
from it till after fifty days of penance.

47 Verses 120-128 probably belong to the period after the return
from Tabouk to Medina.

48 While fighting for the cause of God.

SURA V. THE TABLE [CXIV.]

Medina. 120 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O BELIEVERS! be faithful to your engagements. You are allowed
the flesh of cattle other than what is hereinafter recited, except
game, which is not allowed you while ye are on pilgrimage. Verily,
God ordaineth what he pleaseth.

O Believers! violate neither the rites of God, nor the sacred month
Muharram, nor the offering, nor its ornaments1, nor those who
press on to the sacred house seeking favour from their Lord and his
good pleasure in them.

But when all is over2, then take to the chase: and let not ill will at
those3 who would have kept you from the sacred mosque lead you
to transgress4, but rather be helpful to one another according to
goodness and piety, but be not helpful for evil and malice: and fear
ye God. Verily, God is severe in punishing!

That which dieth of itself, and blood, and swine's flesh, and all
that hath been sacrificed under the invocation of any other name
than that of God, and the strangled, and the killed by a blow, or by
a fall, or by goring5, and that which hath been eaten by beasts of
prey, unless ye make it clean by giving the death-stroke
yourselves, and that which hath been sacrificed on the blocks of
stone6, is forbidden you: and to make division of the slain by
consulting the arrows,7 is impiety in you. Woe this day on those
who forsake your religion! And fear them not, but fear Me.

This day have I perfected your religion for you, and have filled up
the measure of my favours upon you: and it is my pleasure that
Islam be your religion; but whoso without wilful leanings to wrong
shall be forced by hunger to transgress, to him,verily, will God be
Indulgent, Merciful.

They will ask thee what is made lawful for them. Say: Those
things which are good8 are legalised to you, and the prey of beasts
of chase which ye have trained like dogs, teaching them as God
hath taught you. Eat, therefore, of what they shall catch for you,
and make mention of the name of God over it, and fear God:
Verily, Swift is God to reckon:

This day, things healthful are legalised to you, and the meats of
those who have received the Scriptures are allowed to you, as your
meats are to them. And you are permitted to marry virtuous
women who are believers, and virtuous women of those who have
received the Scriptures before you, when you shall have provided
them their portions, living chastely with them without fornication,
and without taking concubines. Vain the works of him who shall
renounce the faith! and in the next world he shall be of the lost.

O Believers! when ye address yourselves to prayer, wash your
faces, and your hands up to the elbow, and wipe your heads, and
your feet to the ankles.

And if ye have become unclean, then purify yourselves. But if ye
are sick, or on a journey, or if one of you come from the place of
retirement, or if ye have touched women, and ye find no water,
then take clean sand and rub your faces and your hands with it.9
God desireth not to lay a burden upon you, but he desireth to
purify you, and He would fill up the measure of His favour upon
you, that ye may be grateful.

And remember the favour of God upon you, and His covenant
which He hath covenanted with you, when ye said, "We have
heard and will obey;"10 and fear God; verily, God knoweth the
very secrets of the breast.

O Believers! stand up as witnesses for God by righteousness: and
let not ill-will at any, induce you not to act uprightly. Act
uprightly. Next will this be to the fear of God. And fear ye God:
verily, God is apprised of what ye do.

God hath promised to those who believe, and do the things that
are right, that for them is pardon and a great reward.

But they who are Infidels and treat our signs as lies these shall
be mated with Hell fire.

O Believers! recollect God's favour upon you, when11 certain folk
were minded to stretch forth their hands against you, but He kept
their hands from you. Fear God then: and on God let the faithful
trust.

Of old did God accept the covenant of the children of Israel,12 and
out of them we raised up twelve leaders, and God said, "Verily, I
will be with you. If ye observe prayer and pay the obligatory alms,
and believe in my Apostles and help them, and lend God a liberal
loan, I will surely put away from you your evil deeds, and I will
bring you into gardens 'neath which the rivers flow! But whoso of
you after this believeth not, hath gone astray from the even path."

But for their breaking their covenant we have cursed them, and
have hardened their hearts. They shift the words of Scripture from
their places, and have forgotten part of what they were taught.
Thou wilt not cease to discover deceit on their part, except in a
few of them. But forgive them, and pass it over: verily, God loveth
those who act generously!

And of those who say, "We are Christians," have we accepted the
covenant. But they too have forgotten a part of what they were
taught; wherefore we have stirred up enmity and hatred among
them that shall last till the day of the Resurrection; and in the end
will God tell them of their doings.

O people of the Scriptures! now is our Apostle come to you to
clear up to you much that ye concealed of those Scriptures, and to
pass over many things. Now hath a light and a clear Book come to
you from God, by which God will guide him who shall follow after
his good pleasure, to paths of peace, and will bring them out of the
darkness to the light, by his will: and to the straight path will he
guide them.

Infidels now are they who say, "Verily God is the Messiah Ibn
Maryam (son of Mary)! Say: And who could aught obtain from
God, if he chose to destroy the Messiah Ibn Maryam, and his
mother, and all who are on the earth together?

For with God is the sovereignty of the Heavens and of the Earth,
and of all that is between them! He createth what He will; and
over all things is God potent.

Say the Jews and Christians, "Sons are we of God and his
beloved." Say: Why then doth he chastise you for your sins? Nay!
ye are but a part of the men whom he hath created! He will pardon
whom he pleaseth, and chastise whom he pleaseth, and with God is
the sovereignty of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is
between them, and unto Him shall all things return.

O people of the Book! now hath our Apostle come to you to clear
up to you the cessation13 of Apostles, lest you should say, "There
hath come to us no bearer of good tidings, nor any warner." But
now hath a bearer of good tidings and a warner reached you. And
God is Almighty.

And remember when Moses said to his people, "O my people! call
to mind the goodness of God towards you when he appointed
Prophets among you, and appointed you kings, and gave you what
never had been given before to any human beings:

Enter, O my people! the holy land which God hath destined for
you. Turn not back, lest ye be overthrown to your ruin."

They said, "O Moses! Therein are men of might. And verily, we
can by no means enter it till they be gone forth. But if they go forth
from it, then verily will we enter in."

Then said two men of those who feared their Lord and to whom
God had been gracious, "Enter in upon them by the gate: and
when ye enter it, ye overcome! If ye be believers, put ye your trust
in God."

They said, "O Moses! never can we enter while they remain
therein. Go thou and thy Lord and fight; for here will we sit us
down."

He said, "O my Lord, Verily of none am I master but of myself and
my brother: put thou therefore a difference between us and this
ungodly people."

He said, "Verily the land shall be forbidden them forty years: they
shall wander in the earth perplexed. Fret not thyself therefore for
the ungodly people."

Relate to them exactly the story of the sons of Adam14 when they
each offered an offering; accepted from the one of them, and not
accepted from the other. The one said, "I will surely slay thee."
Said the other, "God only accepted from those that fear Him.

"Even if thou stretch forth thine hand against me to slay me, I will
not stretch forth my hand against thee to slay thee. Truly I fear
God the Lord of the Worlds.

"Yea, rather would I that thou shouldest bear my sin15 and thine
own sin, and that thou become an inmate of the Fire: for that is the
recompense of the unjust doers."

And his passion led him to slay his brother: and he slew him; and
he became one of those who perish.

And God sent a raven which scratched upon the ground, to shew
him16 how he might hide his brother's wrong.17 He said: "O woe is
me! am I too weak to become like this raven, and to hide away my
brother's wrong?" And he became one of the repentant.

For this cause have we ordained to the children of Israel that he
who slayeth any one, unless it be a person guilty of manslaughter,
or of spreading disorders in the land, shall be as though he had
slain all mankind; but that he who saveth a life, shall be as though
he had saved all mankind alive.18

Of old our Apostles came to them with the proofs of their mission;
then verily after this most of them committed excesses in the land.

Only, the recompense of those who war against God and his
Apostle, and go about to commit disorders on the earth, shall be
that they shall be slain or crucified, or have their alternate hands
and feet cut off, or be banished the land: This their disgrace in this
world, and in the next a great torment shall be theirs

Except those who, ere you have them in your power, shall repent;
for know that God is Forgiving, Merciful.

O ye who believe! fear God. Desire union with Him. Contend
earnestly on his path, that you may attain to happiness.

As to the infidels if that they had twice the riches of the earth to
be their ransom from torment on the day of resurrection, it should
not be accepted from them! And a dolorous torment shall be
their's.

Fain would they come forth from the Fire; but forth from it they
shall not come: and a lasting torment shall be their's.

As to the thief, whether man or woman, cut ye off their hands in
recompense for their doings.19 This is a penalty by way of warning
from God himself. And God is Mighty, Wise.

But whoever shall turn him to God after this his wickedness, and
amend, God truly will be turned to him: for God is Forgiving,
Merciful.

Knowest thou not that the sovereignty of the Heavens and of the
Earth is God's? He chastiseth whom He will, and whom He will
He forgiveth. And God hath power over all things.

O Apostle! let not those who vie with one another in speeding to
infidelity vex thee; of those who say with their mouths, "We
believe," but whose hearts believe not; or of the Jews listeners
to a lie listeners to others but who come not to thee. They shift
the words of the law from their places, and say, "If this be brought
to you, receive it; but if this be not brought to you, then beware of
it." For him whom God would mislead, thou canst in no wise
prevail with God! They whose hearts God shall not please to
cleanse, shall suffer disgrace in this world, and in the next a
grievous punishment;

Listeners to a falsehood and greedy devourers of the forbidden!20
If, therefore, they have recourse to thee, then judge between them,
or withdraw from them. If thou withdraw from them, then can they
have no power to injure thee. But if thou judge, then judge
between them with equity. Verily, God loveth those who deal
equitably.

But how shall they make thee their judge, since they possess
already the Law, in which are the behests of God, and have not
obeyed it? After this, they will turn their backs; but such are not
believers.

Verily, we have sent down the law (Towrat) wherein are guidance
and light. By it did the prophets who professed Islam judge the
Jews; and the doctors and the teachers judged by that portion of
the Book of God, of which they were the keepers and the witnesses.
Therefore, O Jews! fear not men but fear Me; and barter not away
my signs for a mean price! And whoso will not judge by what God
hath sent down such are the Infidels.

And therein21 have we enacted for them, "Life for life, and eye for
eye, and nose for nose, and ear for ear, and tooth for tooth, and
for wounds retaliation:" Whoso shall compromise it as alms
shall have therein the expiation of his sin; and whoso will not
judge by what God hath sent down such are the transgressors.

And in the footsteps of the prophets caused we Jesus, the son of
Mary, to follow, confirming the law which was before him: and we
gave him the Evangel with its guidance and light, confirmatory of
the preceding Law; a guidance and warning to those who fear
God;

And that the people of the Evangel may judge according to what
God hath sent down therein. And whoso will not judge by what
God hath sent down such are the perverse.

And to thee we have sent down the Book of the Koran with truth,
confirmatory of previous Scriptures, and their safeguard. Judge
therefore between them by what God hath sent down, and follow
not their desires by deserting the truth which hath come unto thee.
To every one of you have we given a rule and a beaten track.

And if God had pleased He had surely made you all one people;
but He would test you by what He hath given to each. Be emulous,
then, in good deeds. To God shall ye all return, and He will tell
you concerning the subjects of your disputes.

Wherefore do thou judge between them, by what God hath sent
down, and follow not their wishes! but be on thy guard against
them lest they beguile thee from any of those precepts which God
hath sent down to thee; and if they turn back, then know thou that
for some of their crimes doth God choose to punish them: for truly
most men are perverse.

Desire they, therefore, the judgments of the times of(pagan)
ignorance? But what better judge can there be than God for those
who believe firmly?

O Believers! take not the Jews or Christians22 as friends. They are
but one another's friends. If any one of you taketh them for his
friends, he surely is one of them! God will not guide the evil doers.

So shalt thou see the diseased at heart speed away to them, and
say, "We fear lest a change of fortune befall us." But haply God
will of himself bring about some victory or event of His own
ordering: then soon will they repent them of their secret
imaginings.

Then will the faithful say, "What! are these they who swore, by
their most solemn oath, that they were surely with you?" Vain
their works; and themselves shall come to ruin.

O ye who believe! should any of you desert His religion, God will
then raise up a people loved by Him, and loving Him, lowly
towards the faithful, haughty towards the Infidels. For the cause of
God will they contend, and not fear the blame of the blamer. This
is the Grace of God! On whom He will He bestoweth it! God is
Vast, Omniscient!

Verily, your protector is God and His Apostle, and those who
believe, who observe prayer, and pay the alms of obligation, and
who bow in worship.

And whoso take God and His Apostle, and those who believe for
friends, they truly are the people of God; they shall have the upper
hand.

O ye who believe! take not such of those who have received the
Scriptures before you, as scoff and jest at your religion, or the
Infidels, for your friends, but fear God if ye are believers:

Nor those who when ye call to prayer, make it an object of raillery
and derision. This they do because they are a people who
understand not.

Say:23 O people of the Book! do ye not disavow us only because we
believe in God, and in what He hath sent down to us, and in what
He hath sent down aforetime, and because most of you are doers
of ill?

Say: Can I announce to you any retribution worse than that which
awaiteth them with God? They whom God hath cursed and with
whom He hath been angry some of them hath He changed into
apes and swine; and they who worship Thagout are in evil plight,
and have gone far astray from the right path!

When they presented themselves to you they said, "We believe;"
but Infidels they came in unto you, and Infidels they went forth!
God well knew what they concealed.

Many of them shalt thou see hastening together to wickedness and
malice, and to eat unlawful things. Shame on them for what they
have done!

Had not their doctors and teachers forbidden their uttering
wickedness, and their eating unlawful food, bad indeed would
have been their doings!

"The hand of God," say the Jews, "is chained up." 24 Their own
hands shall be chained up and for that which they have said shall
they be cursed. Nay! outstretched are both His hands! At His own
pleasure does He bestow gifts. That which hath been sent down to
thee from thy Lord will surely increase the rebellion and unbelief
of many of them; and we have put enmity and hatred between them
that shall last till the day of the Resurrection. Oft as they kindle a
beacon fire for war shall God quench it! and their aim will be to
abet disorder on the earth: but God loveth not the abettors of
disorder.

But if the people of the Book believe and have the fear of God, we
will surely put away their sins from them, and will bring them into
gardens of delight: and if that they observe the law and the
Evangel, and what hath been sent down to them from their Lord,
they shall surely have their fill of good things from above them
and from beneath their feet. Some there are among them who act
aright; but many of them how evil are their doings!

O Apostle! proclaim all that hath been sent down to thee from thy
Lord: for if thou do it not, thou hast not proclaimed His message
at all. And God will protect thee from evil men: verily, God
guideth not the unbelievers.

Say: O people of the Book! ye have no ground to stand on, until ye
observe the Law and the Evangel, and that which hath been sent
down to you from your Lord.25 The Book which hath been sent
down to thee from thy Lord will certainly increase the rebellion
and unbelief of many of them; but, be not thou troubled for the
unbelievers.

Verily, they who believe, and the Jews, and the Sabeites,26 and the
Christians hoever of them believeth in God and in the last day,
and doth what is right, on them shall come no fear, neither shall
they be put to grief.

Of old we accepted the covenant of the children of Israel, and sent
Apostles to them. Oft as an Apostle came to them with that for
which they had no desire, some they treated as liars, and some
they slew;27

And they reckoned that no harm would come of it: but they
became blind and deaf! Then was God turned unto them: then
many of them again became blind and deaf! but God beheld what
they did.

Infidels now are they who say, "God is the Messiah, Son of
Mary;" for the Messiah said, "O children of Israel! worship God,
my Lord and your Lord." Whoever shall join other gods with God,
God shall forbid him the Garden, and his abode shall be the Fire;
and the wicked shall have no helpers.

They surely are Infidels who say, "God is the third of three:" for
there is no God but one God: and if they refrain not from what
they say, a grievous chastisement shall light on such of them as
are Infidels.

Will they not, therefore, be turned unto God, and ask pardon of
Him? since God is Forgiving, Merciful!

The Messiah, Son of Mary, is but an Apostle; other Apostles have
flourished before him; and his mother was a just28 person: they
both ate food.29 Behold! how we make clear to them the signs! then
behold how they turn aside!

Say: Will ye worship, beside God, that which can neither hurt nor
help? But God! He only Heareth, Knoweth.

Say: O people of the Book! outstep not bounds of truth in your
religion; neither follow the desires of those who have already gone
astray, and who have caused many to go astray, and have
themselves gone astray from the evenness of the way.

Those among the children of Israel who believed not were cursed
by the tongue of David,30 and of Jesus, Son of Mary. This, because
they were rebellious, and became transgressors: they forbade not
one another the iniquity which they wrought! detestable are their
actions!

Thou shalt see many of them make friends of the infidels. Evil the
actions which their own passions have sent on beforehand; for
God is angry with them, and in torment shall they abide for ever:

But, if they had believed in God, and the Prophet, and the Koran
which hath been sent down to him, they had not taken them for
their friends; but perverse are most of them.

Of all men thou wilt certainly find the Jews, and those who join
other gods with God, to be the most intense in hatred of those who
believe; and thou shalt certainly find those to be nearest in
affection to them who say, "We are Christians." This, because
some of them are priests and monks,31 and because they are free
from pride.

And when they hear that which hath been sent down to the Apostle,
thou seest their eyes overflow with tears at the truth they recognise
therein, saying, "O our Lord! we believe; write us down therefore
with those who bear witness to it.

And why should we not believe in God, and in the truth which hath
come down to us, and crave that our Lord would bring us into
Paradise with the Just?"

Therefore hath God rewarded them for these their words, with
gardens 'neath which the rivers flow; they shall abide therein for
ever: this the reward of the righteous! But they who believe not
and treat our signs as lies shall be the inmates of Hell-fire.

O ye who believe! interdict not the healthful viands which God
hath allowed you; go not beyond this limit. God loveth not those
who outstep it.32

And eat of what God hath given you for food, that which is lawful
and wholesome: and fear God, in whom ye believe.

God will not punish you for a mistaken word in your oaths: but he
will punish you in regard to an oath taken seriously.33 Its expiation
shall be to feed ten poor persons with such middling food as ye
feed your own families with, or to clothe them; or to set free a
captive. But he who cannot find means, shall fast three days. This
is the expiation of your oaths when ye shall have sworn. Keep then
your oaths. Thus God maketh his signs clear to you, that ye may
give thanks.

O believers! surely wine and games of chance,34 and statues, and
the divining arrows, are an abomination of Satan's work! Avoid
them, that ye may prosper.

Only would Satan sow hatred and strife among you, by wine and
games of chance, and turn you aside from the remembrance of
God, and from prayer: will ye not, therefore, abstain from them?
Obey God and obey the Apostle, and be on your guard: but if ye
turn back, know that our Apostle is only bound to deliver a plain
announcement.

No blame shall attach to those who believe and do good works, in
regard to any food they have taken, in case they fear God and
believe, and do the things that are right, and shall still fear God
and believe, and shall still fear him, and do good; for God loveth
those who do good.

O ye who believe! God will surely make trial of you with such
game as ye may take with your hands, or your lances, that God
may know who feareth him in secret: and whoever after this
transgresseth, shall suffer a grievous chastisement.

O believers!35 kill no game while ye are on pilgrimage. Whosoever
among you shall purposely kill it, shall comsent pensate for it in
domestic animals of equal value (according to the judgment of two
just persons among you), to be brought as an offering to the
Caaba; or in expiation thereof shall feed the poor; or as the
equivalent of this shall fast, that he may taste the ill consequence
of his deed. God forgiveth what is past; but whoever doth it again,
God will take vengeance on him; for God is mighty and vengeance
is His.

It is lawful for you to fish in the sea, and to eat fish, as provision
for you and for those who travel; but it is unlawful for you to hunt
by land while ye are still on pilgrimage: fear ye God, therefore,
before whom ye shall be assembled.

God hath appointed the Caaba,36 the sacred house, to be a station
for mankind, and the sacred month, and the offering, and its
ornaments. This, that ye may know that God knoweth all that is in
the heavens and on the earth, and that God hath knowledge of
everything. Know that God is severe in punishing, and that God is
Forgiving, Merciful.

The Apostle is only bound to preach: and God knoweth what ye
bring to light, and what ye conceal.

Say: The evil and the good shall not be valued alike, even though
the abundance of evil please thee; therefore fear God, O ye of
understanding! that it may be well with you.

O believers! ask us not of things which if they were told might only
pain you; but if ye ask of such things when the entire Koran shall
have been sent down, they will be declared to you: God will
pardon you for this, for God is Forgiving, Gracious. They who
were before you, asked concerning such things, and afterwards
quickly disbelieved therein

God hath not ordained anything on the subject. of Bahira, or
Saiba, or Wasila, or Hami;37 but the unbelievers have invented this
lie against God: and most of them had no understanding.

And when it was said to them, "Accede to that which God hath
sent down, and to the Apostle:" they said, "Sufficient for us is the
faith in which we found our fathers." What! though their fathers
knew nothing, and had no guidance?

O believers! take heed to yourselves.38 He who erreth shall not
hurt you when ye have the "guidance:" to God shall ye all return,
and He will tell you that which ye have done.

O believers! let there be witnesses between you, when death
draweth nigh to any of you, at the time of making the testament;
two witnesses just men from among yourselves, or two others of a
different tribe from yourselves if ye be journeying in the earth,
and the calamity of death surprise you. Ye shall shut them both up,
after the prayer; and if ye doubt them, they shall swear by God,
"We will not take a bribe though the party be of kin to us, neither
will we conceal the testimony of God, for then we should be among
the wicked."

But if it shall be made clear that both have been guilty of a
falsehood, two others of those who have convicted them thereof,
the two nearest in blood shall stand up in their place, and they
shall swear by God, "Verily our witness is more true than the
witness of these two; neither have we advanced anything untrue,
for then should we be of the unjust."

Thus will it be easier for men to bear a true39 witness, or fear lest
after their oath another oath be given. Therefore fear God and
hearken; for God guideth not the perverse.

One day will God assemble the Apostles, and say, "What reply
was made to you?" They shall say, "We have no knowledge, but
Thou art the Knower of Secrets."

When He shall say: O Jesus! Son of Mary! call to mind my favour
upon thee and upon thy mother, when I strengthened thee with the
Holy Spirit, that thou shouldest speak40 to men alike in the cradle,
and when grown up; And when I taught thee the Scripture, and
Wisdom, and the Law, and the Evangel: and thou didst create of
clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by my leave, and didst breathe
into it, and by my leave it became a bird; and thou didst heal the
blind and the leper, by my leave; and when, by my leave, thou
didst bring forth the dead; and when I withheld the children of
Israel from thee, when thou hadst come to them with clear tokens:
and such of them as believed not said, "This is nought but plain
sorcery;"41

And when I revealed unto the Apostles, "Believe on me and on my
Sent One," they said, "We believe; and bear thou witness that we
are Muslims."

Remember when the Apostles42 said "O Jesus, Son of Mary! is
thy Lord able to send down a furnished TABLE to us out of
Heaven?" He said "Fear God if ye be believers."

They said "We desire to eat therefrom, and to have our hearts
assured; and to know that thou hast indeed spoken truth to us, and
to be witnesses thereof."

Jesus, Son of Mary, said "O God, our Lord! send down a table to
us out of Heaven, that it may become a recurring festival to us, to
the first of us and to the last of us, and a sign from thee; and do
thou nourish us, for thou art the best of nourishers."

And God said Verily, I will cause it to descend unto you; but
whoever among you after that shall disbelieve, I will surely
chastise him with a chastisement, wherewith I will not chastise any
other creature.43

And when God shall say "O Jesus, Son of Mary: hast thou said
unto mankind 'Take me and my mother as two Gods, beside
God?"' He shall say "Glory be unto Thee! it is not for me to say
that which I know to be not the truth; had I said that, verily thou
wouldest have known it: Thou knowest what is in me, but I know
not what is in Thee; for Thou well knowest things unseen!

"I spake not to them aught but that which thou didst bid
me 'Worship God, my Lord and your Lord;' and I was a witness
of their actions while I stayed among them; but since thou hast
taken me to Thyself, Thou hast Thyself watched them, and Thou art
witness of all things: "If Thou punish them, they are Thy servants,
and if Thou forgive them .44 Thou, verily, art the Mighty, the
Wise!"

God will say This day shall their truth advantage the truthful.
Gardens shall they have 'neath which the rivers flow, and remain
therein for ever: God is well pleased with them and they with Him.
This shall be the great bliss.

Unto God belongeth the sovereignty of the Heavens and of the
Earth, and of all that they contain; and He hath power over all
things.

_______________________

1 The garlands, etc., attached to the victims offered at Mecca
2 When you have again returned to your common and everyday
life by laying aside the ihram, or pilgrim's robe. This generally
consists of two pieces of cotton, or linen, or woollen cloth, without
seam or ornament, one of which is wrapped round the loins, and
the other thrown over the shoulders. The instep, heel, and head
must be bare
3 The Koreisch sent to meet Muhammad, who was on his way to
visit the Caaba with 1400 men, at Hudaibiya (An. Hej. 6) to
prohibit his nearer approach. A truce for ten years was ultimately
concluded.

4 By making war in the holy month
5 Comp. Tract Cholin, c. 3
6 Lit. on blocks or shafts of stone. These were set up by the pagan
Arabs in front of their houses for the purpose of sacrificing
thereon. See Freytag's Einl. p. 462, and Tr. Cholin, p. 39, 40, 41.
7 It was the custom to draw lots for joints of a camel with arrows,
some feathered and others unfeathered, kept for this purpose in the
temple of Mecca. See Pocock, Spec. Hist. Ar., under the word
Hobal.
8 In the sense of sound, healthful.
9 Thus Talm. Tr. Berachoth, 46.
10 This refers to the oath of fidelity which Muhammad's followers
took at Al Akaba. Abulf. Vit.Moh.p.43.
11 It is quite uncertain to what events this refers. The
commentators narrate, and have doubtless invented, various
incidents as having occasioned it.

12 Verses 15-38 belong probably to the period shortly before the
taking of Chaibar in the beginning of Hej. 7. It is remarkable that
Muhammad, although he has invented these twelve leaders of
tribes, should nowhere mention the number of the Apostles. There
is no doubt, however, from the ancient biographies, that he chose
twelve assistants for the propagation of Islam. See Gagnier, Vie de
M. ii. xvi.

13 The space between the mission of different prophets.

14 Called by the Arabians Habeel and Kabeel. The dialogue
between Cain and Abel is slightly varied from that given in Targ.
Jerus. on Gen. iv. 8, and Jonath. Ben Uzziel.

15 Or, the sin against me, i.e. of slaying me.

16 In the Jewish tradition the raven shews the mode of burial to
Adam, not to Cain. Pirke R. Elieser, c. 21. Midr. fol. II ap. Weil
(Legenden, p. 39).

17 Or, corpse.

18 Thus Mischn. Sanhedr. iv. 5, "We find it said in the case of
Cain who murdered his brother 'The voice of thy brother's
bloods crieth' It is not said, blood of thy brother, but bloods, i.e.
his blood and the blood of his seed. Therefore was man created
single, in order to shew that to him who kills a single individual of
Israel it shall be reckoned as if he had slain the whole race, and
that he, etc." precisely as in the text. Comp. also the same form of
expression in Bab. Tal, Kidush, 1, "If one fulfil but one
commandment, he causes the scale of innocence to preponderate
for himself and the whole world; but if he commit one sin, he
causes the scale of guilt to preponderate for himself and the whole
world.

19 Muhammad is said by the early traditionists to have punished a
woman who had been guilty of theft in this manner while on the
route to Mecca previous to its capture. We are, therefore, able to
fix the date of verses 39-44.

20 Usury, bribes.

21 Ex. xxi. 23-27.

22 This may refer to proposals made to the Muslims to enter into
alliance with the Jews and Christians against the heathen, after
the reverse at Ohod. Lane observes (Mod. Egyptians, i. 358) with
regard to this precept, that "of the leading features of the
character of the Mooslims none is more remarkable than their
religious pride. They regard persons of every other faith as the
children of perdition; and such the Mooslim is early taught to
despise." They are, however, "as remarkable for their toleration
as for their contempt of unbelievers."

23 Weil suggests that verses 64-88 were revealed subsequently to
contests with the Jews, but before Muhammad had broken with the
Christians, i.e. between Hej. 4 and 8.

24 That is, God has ceased to be bounteous. The Muslims believe
that at the day of judgment all the Jews will appear with the right
hand tied to the neck.

25 That is, the Koran. The Jew was to retain a faith in the Towrƒt,
or Law; the Christian in the Injil, or Gospel; but both Jews and
Christians were to receive the Koran as the complement of both.

26 See Sura [xci.] ii. 59, p. 344.

27 I Thess. ii. 15.

28 Did not give herself out to be a goddess. Djelal.

29 That is, were human beings, and subject to the usual wants and
liabilities of ordinary persons.

30 See Sura ii. 61, p. 344. Mark viii. 30.

31 Geiger derives both the Arabic words from Syriac terms, and
renders elders and clerics, p. 51. But the root of the Arabic word
rendered monk is generally said to be rahaba, to fear.

32 Comp. Sura [cix.] 1xvi. 2. The date of verses 89-91 is therefore
probably Hej. 7.

33 If you violate it.

34 See verse 4. Tradition has expanded the word ansab, so as to
include all figures, and hence the strict observers of the letter of
the Koran forbid the game of chess. The Persians, however, and
Indians generally interpret this verse more liberally.

35 This and the two following verses are placed by the
commentators in the year of Hudaibiya, as also 98, 99, 100.

36 That is, Cube-House. Maison Carr‚e. It is also commonly
called the Bait Ullah, House of God. The Caaba is an oblong
massive structure 55 ft. in length, 45 in breadth, and the height
somewhat greater than the length. At the S.E. corner is the famous
Hajar El-Aswad, or Black Stone, according to Lieut. Burton, an
undoubted aerolite. It is figured in Mr. Muir's "Life of Mahomet."
The Caaba stands in an open parallelogram of about 500 ft. by
530 ft. and is surrounded by colonnades, the pillars of which,
made of various marbles, some Egyptian but mostly Meccan, stand
in a quadruple row on the east side, and three deep on the other
sides, and amount to 554. It has been rebuilt several times, but has
not been materially altered since A.H. 1040.

37 Names given to the sacred animals which were marked and
allowed to range for pasture at liberty. The dedicated
mother-camel was the Saiba; the Wasila included also goats or
ewes; the eleventh female offspring of the camel was Bahira; the
dedicated stallion was Hami. These forms of superstition grew up,
obviously, from a remote period, out of the intense affection of the
Bedouin for his flocks, especially his horses and camels.

38 Lit. on you your souls.

39 Lit. upon its face, i.e. according to its plain scope.

40 See Evang. Infant. c. 1, Invenimus in libro Josephi Pontificis
qui vixit tempore Christi, Jesum locutum esse, et quidem cum in
cunis jaceret, etc. The date of verse 108 to the end is uncertain.

41 Precisely the same expression is applied to our Lord in the
Arabic Evang. Infantiae, c. 36 at the end, which also relates the
story of the Birds.

42 Ar. El-hawariyin, a different word from that used for Jesus,
Hud, Saleh, and the other apostles par excellence. The root of the
word is the ‘thiopic hawyra, to go, send; hence the Church is
called in ‘thiopic the Beth chrestyan ant hawariyat, i.e. Apostolic.
See, however, the note on Thilo's Cod. Apoc. p. 152, who derives
from the root hur, to be white, pure; hence, friends, helpers.

43 Comp. 1 Cor. xi. 27, sqq. Muhammad obviously refers to the
Eucharist.

44 Thou hast a right to do so as their Lord.