Chapter I: SWEAR by the declining day! (5)

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?

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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."

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1 This Sura is said by Wahidi Intr, and by Assuyûti, 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 time5 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 whom21 we breathed of our spirit, and made her and her son a sign to all creatures.

Of a truth, this, your religion, is the one22 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.

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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 Æth. 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 or 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. Nöldeke 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.1-111 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: