The Chapter The Chapter The Chapter The Chapter The Chapter
(Medinah) The Chapter The Chapter The Chapter
’ The Chapter
The Chapter The Chapter The Chapter The Chapter The Chapter The Chapter The Chapter The Chapter The Chapter The Chapter
of Gilding (Mecca)
of Smoke (Mecca)
of the Kneeling (Mecca)
of El Athqaf (Mecca) . of Mohammed, also called ‘Fight’
of Victory (Medinah) of the Inner Chambers (Medinah)
of Q. (Mecca)
of the Scatterers (Mecca)
of the Mount (Mecca) .
of the Star (Mecca)
of the Moon (Mecca) .
of the Merciful (Mecca)
of the Inevitable (Mecca)
of Iron (Medinah) . of the Wrangler (Medinah) . of the Emigration (Medinah) of the Tried (Medinah)
of the Ranks (Mecca) .
(Mecca)
of the Scatterers (Mecca)
of the Mount (Mecca) .
of the Star (Mecca)
of the Moon (Mecca) .
of the Merciful (Mecca)
of the Inevitable (Mecca)
of Iron (Medinah) . of the Wrangler (Medinah) . of the Emigration (Medinah) of the Tried (Medinah)
of the Ranks (Mecca) .
The Chapter of the Congregation (Medinah) The Chapter of the Hypocrites (Medinah) The Chapter of Cheating (place of origin doubtful) The Chapter of Divorce (Medinah) .
The Chapter of Prohibition (Medinah)
The Chapter of the Kingdom (Mecca) . The Chapter of the Pen, also called N&n (Mecca) The Chapter of the Infallible (Mecca)
The Chapter of the Ascents (Mecca)
The Chapter of Noah (Mecca) .
The Chapter of the Ginn (Mecca) . The Chapter of the Enwrapped (Mecca) . The Chapter of the Covered (Mecca)
CVII. The Chapter of ‘Necessaries’ (Place of origin doubtful) . 8
CVIII. The Chapter of El K&urnar (Mecca)
CIX. The Chapter of the Misbelievers (Mecca)
CX. The Chapter of Help (Mecca)
CXI. The Chapter of Abu Laheb (Mecca) .
CXII. The Chapter of Unity (place of origin doubtful) .
CXIII. The Chapter of the Daybreak (Place of origin doubtful) . .
‘CXIV. The Chapter of Men (place of origin doubtful).
Index . . . .
The Chapter of Help (Mecca)
CXI. The Chapter of Abu Laheb (Mecca) .
CXII. The Chapter of Unity (place of origin doubtful) .
CXIII. The Chapter of the Daybreak (Place of origin doubtful) . .
‘CXIV. The Chapter of Men (place of origin doubtful).
Index . . . .
Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the Translations of the Sacred Books of the East
PAGE 340 341 341 342
342 342 343 343 343 344
344 345
p. 347
p. 359
THE QURAN.
Tue CuHapTeR OF THE NIGHT JOURNEY}.
(XVII. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God. .
Celebrated be the praises of Him who took His servant a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque? to the Remote Mosque, the precinct of which we have blessed, to show him of our signs! verily, He both hears and looks.
And we gave Moses the Book and made it a guidance to the children of Israel: ‘Take ye to no guardian but me.’
Seed of those we bore with Noah (in the ark)! verily, he was a thankful servant!
And we decreed to the children of Israel in the Book, ‘Ye shall verily do evil in the earth twice‘, and ye shall rise to a great height (of pride).’
1 Also called ‘ The Children of Israel.’ The subject of Mohammed’s miraculous journey in one night from Mecca to Jerusalem, and his ascent into heaven, will be found discussed in the Introduction.
® The Kaabah at Mecca. 5 The Temple at Jerusalem.
‘ The Mohammedan commentators interpret this as referring the first to either Goliath, Sennacherib, or Nebuchadnezzar, and the latter to a second Persian invasion. The two sins committed by_ the Jews, and for which these punishments were threatened and executed, were, first, the murder of Isaiah and the imprisonment of Jeremiah, dnd the second, the murder of John the Baptist. Mohammedan views of ancient history are, however, vague. _
[9] B
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[5] And when the threat for the first (sin) of the two came, we sent over them servants of ours, endued with violence, and they searched inside your houses ; and it was an accomplished threat.
Then we rallied you once more against them, and aided you with wealth and sons, and made you a numerous band. ~
‘If ye do well, ye will do well to your own souls; and if ye do ill, it is against them !
‘And when the threat for the last came '—to harm your faces and to enter the mosque as they entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had got the upper-hand over with utter destruction.’
It may be that thy Lord will have mercy on you;—but if ye return we will return, and we have made hell a prison for the misbelievers.
Verily, this Qur’4n guides to the straightest path, and gives the glad tidings to the believers [10] who do aright that for them is a great hire; and that for those who believe not in the hereafter, we have prepared a mighty woe.
Man prays for evil as he prays for good; and man was ever hasty.
Verily, this Qur’4n guides to the straightest path, and gives the glad tidings to the believers [10] who do aright that for them is a great hire; and that for those who believe not in the hereafter, we have prepared a mighty woe.
Man prays for evil as he prays for good; and man was ever hasty.
We made the night and the day two signs; and we blot out the sign of the night and make the sign of the day visible, that ye may seek after plenty from your Lord, and that ye may number the years and the reckoning; and we have detailed everything in detail.
And every man’s augury? have we fastened on
1 Supply, ‘we sent foes.’
* T.e. ‘fortune’ or ‘fate,’ literally, ‘bird;’ the Arabs, like the ancient Romans, having been used to practise divination from the flight of birds,p. 3 his neck; and we will bring forth for him on the resurrection day a book offered to him wide open. [15] ‘Read thy book, thou art accountant enough against thyself to-day !’
He who accepts guidance, accepts it only for his own soul: and he who errs, errs only against it; nor shall one burdened soul bear the burden of another.
Nor would we punish until we had sent an apostle. And when we desired to destroy a city we bade?! the opulent ones thereof; and they wrought abomination therein; and its due sentence was pronounced ; and we destroyed it with utter destruction.
How many generations have we destroyed after Noah! but thy Lord of the sins of his servant is well aware, and sees enough.
Whoso is desirous of this life that hastens away, we will hasten on for him therein what we please, —for whom we please. Then we will make hell for him to broil in—despised and outcast.
[20] But whoso desires the next life, and strives for it and is a believer—these, their striving shall be gratefully received.
To all—these and those—will we extend the gifts of thy Lord; for the gifts of thy Lord are not restricted.
See how we have preferred some of them over others, but in the next life are greater degrees and greater preference.
Put not with God other gods, or thou wilt sit despised and forsaken.
Thy Lord has decreed that ye shall not serve other than Him; and kindness to one’s parents, whether one or both of them reach old age with thee; and say not to them, ‘Fie!’ and do not grumble at them, but speak to them a generous speech. [25] And lower to them the wing of humility out of compassion, and say, ‘O Lord! have compassion on them as they brought me up when I was little!’ Your Lord knows best what is in your souls if ye be righteous, and, verily, He is forgiving unto those who come back penitent.
1 Bade them obey the Apostle. B2
4 THE QUR’AN. XVII, 24-35.
And give thy kinsman his due and the poor and the son of the road; and waste not wastefully, for the wasteful were ever the devil’s brothers; and the devil is ever ungrateful to his Lord.
And give thy kinsman his due and the poor and the son of the road; and waste not wastefully, for the wasteful were ever the devil’s brothers; and the devil is ever ungrateful to his Lord.
[30] But if thou dost turn away from them to seek after mercy from thy Lord!, which thou hopest for, then speak to them an easy speech.
Make not thy hand fettered to thy neck, nor yet spread it out quite open, lest thou shouldst have to sit down blamed and straitened in means. Verily, thy Lord spreads out provision to whomsoever He will or He doles it out. Verily, He is ever well aware of and sees his servants.
And slay not your children? for fear of poverty ; we will provide for them; beware! for to slay them is ever a great sin!
And draw not near to fornication ; verily, it is ever an abomination, and evil is the way thereof.
[35] And slay not the soul that God has forbidden you, except for just cause; for he who is slain unjustly we have given his next of kin authority; yet
* Ie. if you are compelled to leave them in order to seek your livelihood ; or if your present means are insufficient to enable you to relieve others.
* See Part I, p. 256, note 2.
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let him not exceed in slaying; verily, he is ever helped.
And draw not near to the wealth of the orphan, save to improve it, until he reaches the age of puberty, and fulfil your compacts; verily, a compact is ever enquired of.
And give full measure when ye measure out, and weigh with a right balance; that is better and a fairer determination.
And do not pursue that of which thou hast no knowledge; verily, the hearing, the sight, and the heart, all of these shall be enquired of.
And walk not on the earth proudly; verily, thou canst not cleave the earth, and thou shalt not reach the mountains in height.
[40] All this is ever evil in the sight of your Lord and abhorred.
That is something of what thy Lord has inspired thee with of wisdom; do not then put with God other gods, or thou wilt be thrown into hell reproached and outcast. What! has your Lord chosen to give you sons, and shall He take for Himself females from among the angels? verily, ye are speaking a mighty speech.
Now have we turned it in various ways in this Qur’4n, so let them bear in mind; but it will only increase them in aversion.
Say, ‘Were there with Him other gods, as ye say, then would they seek a way against the Lord of the throne.’
[45] Celebrated be His praises, and exalted be He above what they say with a great exaltation!
The seven heavens and the earth celebrate His praises, and all who therein are; nor is there aughtp. 56 but what celebrates His praise: but ye cannot understand their celebration ;—verily, He is clement and forgiving.
And when thou readest the Qur’dn we place between thee and those who believe not in the hereafter a covering veil. And we place covers upon their hearts, lest they should understand, and dulness in their ears.
And when thou readest the Qur’dn we place between thee and those who believe not in the hereafter a covering veil. And we place covers upon their hearts, lest they should understand, and dulness in their ears.
And when thou dost mention in the Qur’4n thy Lord by Himself they turn their backs in aversion.
[50] We know best for what they listen when they listen to thee; and when they whisper apart —when the wrong-doers say, ‘ Ye only follow a man enchanted.’
Behold, how they strike out for you parables, and err, and cannot find the way! -
They say, ‘What! when we have become bones and rubbish are we to be raised up a new creature ?’ Say, ‘Be ye stones, or iron, or a creature, the greatest your breasts can conceive—!’ Then they shall say, ‘Who is to restore us?’ Say, ‘He who originated you at first;’ and they will wag their heads and say, ‘When will that be?’ Say, ‘It may, perhaps, be nigh.’
- The day when He shall call on you and ye shall answer with praise to Him, and they will think that they have tarried but a little.
[55] And say to my servants that they speak in a kind way!; verily, Satan makes ill-will between them ; verily, Satan was ever unto man an open foe.
Your Lord knows you best; if He please He will have mercy upon you, or if He please He will
1 T.e..they are not to provoke the idolaters by speaking too roughly to them so as to exasperate them.
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torment you: but we have not sent thee to take charge of them.
And thy Lord best knows who is in the heavens and the earth; we did prefer some of the prophets over the others, and to David did we give the Psalms.
Say, ‘Call on those whom ye pretend other than God ;’ but they shall not have the power to remove distress from you, nor to turn it off.
Those on whom they call1, seek themselves for a means of approaching their Lord, (to see) which of them is nearest: and they hope for His mercy and they fear His torment; verily, the torment of thy Lord is a thing to beware of.
[60] There is no city but we will destroy it before the day of judgment, or torment it with keen torment ;—that is in the Book inscribed.
Naught hindered us from sending thee with signs, save that those of yore said they were lies; so we gave Thamdd the visible she-camel, but they treated her unjustly! for we do not send (any one) with signs save to make men fear.
And when we said to thee, ‘ Verily, thy Lord encompasses men!’ and we made the vision which we showed thee only a cause of sedition unto men, and the cursed tree ? as well; for we will frighten them, but it will only increase them in great rebellion.
And when we said to thee, ‘ Verily, thy Lord encompasses men!’ and we made the vision which we showed thee only a cause of sedition unto men, and the cursed tree ? as well; for we will frighten them, but it will only increase them in great rebellion.
' 1 Sale interprets this to mean ‘the angels and prophets.’ Rodwell remarks that it is an ‘obvious allusion to the saint worship of the Christians.’ As, however, precisely the same expression is used elsewhere in the Qur'an for the false gods of the Arabs, and the existence of those ginns and angels whom they associated with God is constantly recognised, their divinity only being denied, I prefer to follow the Moslem commentators, and refer the passage to the gods of the Arabian pantheon at Mecca; cf. Part I, p. 127, note 2.
2 The Zaqqiim; see Chapter XXXVII, verse 60. The vision
p. 71
And when we said to the angels, ‘Adore Adam;’ and they adored, save Iblis, who said, ‘Am I to adore one whom Thou hast created out of clay ?’
Said he, ‘Dost thou see now? this one whom Thou hast honoured above me, verily, if Thou shouldst respite me until the resurrection day, I will of a surety utterly destroy his seed except a few.’
[65] Said He, ‘Begone! and whoso of them follows thee—verily, hell is your recompense, an ample recompense. Entice away whomsoever of them thou canst with thy voice; and bear down upon them ‘with thy horse and with thy foot; and share with them in their wealth and their children ; and promise them,—but Satan promises them naught but deceit. Verily, my servants, thou hast no authority over them; thy Lord is guardian enough over them!’
It is your Lord who drives the ships for you in the sea that ye may seek after plenty from Him ; verily, He is ever merciful to you. And when distress touches you in the sea, those whom ye call on, except Him, stray away from you; but when He has brought you safe to shore, ye turn away; for man is ever ungrateful.
[7o] Are ye sure that He will not cleave with you the side of the shore, or send against you a heavy sand-storm? then ye will find no guardian for yourselves.
Or are ye sure that He will not send you back therein another time, and send against you a violent wind, and drown you for your misbelief? then ye will find for yourselves no protector against us.
referred to is the night journey to heaven, although those commentators who believe this to have been an actual fact suppose another vision to account for this passage.
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But we have been gracious to the children of Adam, and we have borne them by land and sea, and have provided them with good things, and have preferred them over many that we have created.
J. The day when we will call all men by their high priest; and he whose book is given in his right hand—these shall read their book, nor shall they be wronged a straw. But he who in this life is blind shall be blind in the next too, and err farther from the way.__]|
J. The day when we will call all men by their high priest; and he whose book is given in his right hand—these shall read their book, nor shall they be wronged a straw. But he who in this life is blind shall be blind in the next too, and err farther from the way.__]|
[75] They had well-nigh beguiled thee from what we inspired thee with, that thou shouldst forge against us something else, and then they would have taken thee for a friend; and had it not been that we stablished thee, thou wouldst have well-nigh leant towards them a little: then would we have made thee taste of torment both of life and death, then thou wouldst not have found against us any helper’.
And they well-nigh enticed thee away from the land, to turn thee out therefrom; but then—they should not have tarried after thee except a little.
[This is] the course of those of our prophets whom we have sent before thee; and thou shalt find no change in our course.
[80] Be thou steadfast in prayer from the declining of the sun until the dusk of the night, and the reading of the dawn; verily, the reading of the dawn is ever testified to.
* The commentators say that this refers to a treaty proposed by the tribe of 7Haqif, who insisted, as a condition of their submission, that they should be exempt from the more irksome duties of Muslims, and should be allowed to retain their idol Allat for a certain time, and that their territory should be considered sacred, like that of Mecca.
p. 91
And for the night, watch thou therein as an extra service. It may be that thy Lord will raise thee to a laudable station.
And say, ‘O my Lord! make me enter with a ‘just entry; and make me come forth with a just. coming forth; and grant me from Thee authority to aid,’
And say, ‘Truth has come, and falsehood has vanished ! verily, falsehood is transient.’
And we will send down of the Qur’4n that which is a healing and a mercy to the believers, but it will only increase the wrong-doers in loss.
[85] And when we favour man he turns away and retires aside, but when evil touches him he is ever in despair. Say, ‘Every one acts after his own manner, but your Lord knows best who is most guided in the way.’
They will ask thee of the spirit'. Say, ‘The spirit comes at the bidding of my Lord, and ye are given but a little knowledge thereof.’
If we had wished we would have taken away that with which we have inspired thee ; then thou wouldst have found no guardian against us, unless by a mercy from thy Lord; verily, His grace towards thee is great!
[90] Say, ‘If mankind and ginns united together to bring the like of this Qur’4n, they could not bring the like, though they should back each other up!’
We have turned about for men.in this Qur’4n every parable; but most men refuse to accept it, save ungratefully.
1 According to some, the soul generally; but according to others, and more probably, the angel Gabriel as the agent of revelation.
1 According to some, the soul generally; but according to others, and more probably, the angel Gabriel as the agent of revelation.
XVII, 92-101. THE CHAPTER OF THE NIGHT JOURNEY. II
And they say, ‘ We will by no means believe in thee, until there gush forth for thee a fountain from the earth ; or there be made for thee a garden of palms and grapes, and rivers come gushing out amidst them; or thou make the sky to fall down upon us in pieces; or thou bring us God and the angels before us; [95] or there be made for thee a house of gold; or thou climb up into the heaven; and even then we will not believe in thy climbing there, until thou send down on us a book that we may read!’
Naught prohibited men from believing when the guidance came to them, save their saying, ‘God has sent a mortal for an apostle.’
‘Say, ‘Were there angels on the earth walking in quiet, we had surely sent them an angel as an apostle.’
Say, ‘God is witness enough between me and you; verily, He is ever of His servants well aware, and sees.’
He whom God guides, he is guided indeed ; and he whom God leads astray, thou shalt never find patrons for them beside Him; and we will gather them upon the resurrection day upon their faces, ‘ blind, and dumb, and deaf; their resort is hell ; whenever it grows dull we will give them another blaze !
[100] That is their reward for that they disbelieved in our signs, and said, ‘What! when we are bones and rubbish, shall we then be raised up a new creation ?’
Could they not see that God who created the
12 THE QuR’AN. XVII, 101-108.
heavens and the earth is able to create the like of them, and to set for them an appointed time ; there is no doubt therein, yet the wrong-doers refuse to accept it, save ungratefully !
Say, ‘Did ye control the treasuries of the mercy of my Lord, then ye would hold them through fear of expending ; for man is ever niggardly !’
And we did bring Moses nine manifest signs ; then ask the children of Israel (about) when he came to them, and Pharaoh said to him, ‘Verily, I think thee,
O Moses! enchanted.’ ’ He said, ‘Well didst thou know that none sent down these save the Lord of the heavens and the earth as visible signs; and, verily, I think thee, O Pharaoh! ruined.’
[105] And he desired to drive them out of the land ; but we drowned him and those with him, one and all.
And after him we said to the children of Israel, ‘ Dwell ye in the land; and when the promise of the hereafter comes to pass, we will bring you in a mixed crowd (to judgment).
‘In truth have we sent it down, and in ‘truth has it come down; and we have not sent thee as aught but a herald of glad tidings and a warner.
‘And a Qur’4n which we have divided, that thou mayst read it to mankind leisurely, and we sent it down, sending it down?’
‘In truth have we sent it down, and in ‘truth has it come down; and we have not sent thee as aught but a herald of glad tidings and a warner.
‘And a Qur’4n which we have divided, that thou mayst read it to mankind leisurely, and we sent it down, sending it down?’
Say, ‘Believe ye therein, or believe not; verily, those who were given the knowledge before it, when it is read to them fall down upon their beards adoring! and they say, “Celebrated be the praises
- 1 As occasion required.
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of our Lord! verily, the promise of our Lord is ever fulfilled”—they fall down upon their beards weeping, and it increases their humility.’
[110] Say, ‘ Call on God, or call on the Merciful One, whichever ye may call on Him by ; for His are the best of names?’
And do not say thy prayers openly, nor yet murmur them, but seek a way between these.
“And say, ‘Praise belongs to God, who has not taken to Himself a son, and has not had a partner in His kingdom, nor had a patron against (such) abasement.’ And magnify Him greatly?!
Tue CHAPTER OF THE (XVIII. Mecca.) a veel
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
Praise belongs to God, who sent down to His servant the Book, and put no crookedness therein, —straight, to give warning of keen violence from Him; and to give the glad tidings to the believers, who do what is right, that for them is a goodly reward wherein they shall abide for ever and for
1 The Arabs whom Mohammed addressed seem to have imagined that he meant by Allah and Ar-ra‘hmén (the Merciful One) two separate deities. The various epithets which are applied to God in the Qur’4n, such as ‘kind,’ ‘seeing,’ ‘knowing,’ &c., are called by the Muslims al ’asm4’u Thusné, ‘the best of names,’ and are repeated in telling the beads of their rosary.
? This command is obeyed by the Muslims frequently pronouncing the phrase Allahu akbar, especially as an expression of astonishment. It is the same expression as that used by the Egyptian women concerning Joseph, in Chapter XII, verse 31.
14 THE QuR’AN. XVIII, 2-13.
aye; and to give warning to those who say, ‘God hath taken to Himself a son.’
They have no knowledge thereof, nor their fathers; a serious word it is that comes forth from their mouths! verily, they only speak a lie!
[5] Haply thou wilt grieve thyself to death for sorrow after them, if they believe not in this new revelation. Verily, we have made what is on the earth an ornament thereof, to try them, which of them is best in works; but, verily, we are going to make what is thereon bare soil.
Hast thou reckoned that the Fellows of the Cave and Er-raqim were a wonder amongst our signs?! ?’
When the youths resorted to the cave and said, ‘O our Lord! bring us mercy from Thee, and dispose for us our affair aright!’
Hast thou reckoned that the Fellows of the Cave and Er-raqim were a wonder amongst our signs?! ?’
When the youths resorted to the cave and said, ‘O our Lord! bring us mercy from Thee, and dispose for us our affair aright!’
[10] And we struck their ears (with deafness) in the cave for a number of years. Then we raised them up again, that we might know which of the two crews? could best calculate the time of their tarrying. We will narrate to thee their story in truth. Verily, they were youths who believed in their Lord, and we added to their guidance, and we braced up their hearts, when they stood up and said, ‘Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, we will not call upon any god beside Him, for then we should have said an extravagant thing.
1 This is the well-known story of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. What is meant by Er-raqim no one knows. The most generally accepted Mohammedan theory is that it was a dog belonging to the party; though some commentators take it to be the name of the valley or mountain in which the cave was situated ; others again say that it was a metal plate inscribed with the name of the Sleepers.
* That is, the youths themselves or the people they met on their awakening.
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These people of ours have taken to other gods beside Him. Though they do not bring any manifest authority for them. And who is more unjust than he who forges against God a lie? [15] ‘So when ye have gone apart from them and what they serve other than God, then resort ye to the cave. Our Lord will unfold His mercy to you, and will dispose for you your affair advantageously.’ And thou mightst have seen the sun when it rose decline from their cave towards the right hand, and when it set leave them on the left hand, while they were in the spacious part thereof. That is one of the signs of God. Whom God guides he is guided indeed, and whom He leads astray thou shalt surely find for him no patron to guide aright. Thou mightst have reckoned them waking though they were sleeping, as we turned them towards the right and towards the left; and their dog spreading out his fore-paws on the threshold. Hadst thou come suddenly upon them thou wouldst surely have turned and fled away from them, and wouldst surely have been filled by them with dread. Thus did we raise them up that they might question each other. Spake a speaker amongst them, ‘How long have ye tarried?’ They said, ‘We have tarried a day or part of a day.’ They said, ‘Your Lord knows best your tarrying; so send one of you with this coin of yours to the city, and let him look which of them has purest food, and let him bring you provision thereof; and let him be subtle and not let any one perceive you. Verily, they—should they perceive -you— would stone you, or would force you back again unto their faith, and ye would never prosper then.’ _
16 THE QuR’AN. ‘XVIII, 20-25.
Verily, they—should they perceive -you— would stone you, or would force you back again unto their faith, and ye would never prosper then.’ _
16 THE QuR’AN. ‘XVIII, 20-25.
[20] Thus did we make their people acquainted with their story, that they might know that God's promise is true; and that the Hour, there is no doubt concerning it. When they disputed amongst themselves concerning their affair, and said, ‘ Build a building over them, their Lord knows best about them ;” and those who prevailed in their affair said, ‘We will surely make a mosque over them.’
They will say, ‘Three, and the fourth of them was their dog:’ and they will say, ‘Five, and the sixth of them was their dog:’ guessing at the unseen: and they will say, ‘Seven, and the eighth of them was their dog. Say, ‘My Lord knows best the number of them; none knows them but a few.’
Dispute not therefore concerning them save with a plain disputation, and ask not any one of them? concerning them. .
And never say of anything, ‘Verily, I am going to do that to-morrow, except ‘if God please ;’ and remember thy Lord when thou hast forgotten, and say, ‘It may be that my Lord will guide me to what is nearer to the right than this *.’
They tarried in their cave three hundred years and nine more. [25] Say, ‘God knows best of their tarrying. His are the unseen things of the heavens and the earth—He can see! and hear?!’
1 That is, the Christians.
2? Mohammed being asked by the Jews concerning the number of the Seven Sleepers, had promised to bring them a revelation upon the subject on the morrow: this verse is a rebuke for his presumption.
8 This expression Sale takes to be ironical, and translates,‘ make thou him to see and hear ;’ Rodwell renders it, ‘look thou and hearken unto him:’ both translators having missed both the force
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They have no patron beside Him, nor does He let any one share in His judgment. So, recite what thou art inspired with of the Book of thy Lord; there is no changing His words; nor shalt thou ever find a refuge beside Him; and keep thyself patient, with those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, desiring His face; nor let thine eyes be turned from them, desiring the adornment of the life of this world; and obey not him?! whose heart we have made heedless of remembrance of us, and who follows his lusts, for his affair is ever in advance (of the truth).
But say, ‘The truth is from your Lord, so let him who will, believe; and let him who will, disbelieve.’ Verily, we have prepared for the evildoers a fire, sheets of which shall encompass them; and if they cry for help, they shall be helped with water like molten brass, which shall roast their faces :—an ill drink and an evil couch !
Verily, those who believe and act aright,—verily, we will not waste the hire of him who does good works.
Verily, those who believe and act aright,—verily, we will not waste the hire of him who does good works.
[30] These, for them are gardens of Eden; beneath them rivers flow; they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold, and shall wear green robes of silk, and of brocade; reclining therein on of the idiom and the explanation given by the commentators Al Baidhavi and Jalalain, to whom Sale refers. The meaning is that which I have given, and the idiom is equivalent to that which occurs in a passage of Hariri, Maq4mah 3 (p. 30, De Sacy’s first edition), akrim bihi, ‘how noble it is!’ abzar bihi being equivalent to m4 abzarahu, ‘how observant He is!’
1 Said to refer to Ommiaiyet ibn ‘Half, who had requested Mohammed to give up his poorer followers to please the Qurdis; see Chapter VI, verse 52.
[9] cp. 40 thrones ;—pleasant is the reward, and goodly the couch !
Strike out for them a parable: Two men, for one of whom we made two gardens of grapes, and surrounded them with palms, and put corn between the two. Each of the two gardens brought forth its food and did not fail in aught. And we caused a river to gush forth amidst them; and he had fruit, and said unto his fellow, who was his next-door neighbour, ‘I am more wealthy than thee, and mightier of household.’
And he went in unto his garden, having wronged himself: said he, ‘I do not think that this will ever disappear; and I do not think that the hour is imminent; and if even I be sent back unto my Lord, I shall find a better one than it in exchange.’
[35] Said unto him his fellow, who was his nextdoor neighbour, ‘Thou hast disbelieved in Him who created thee from earth, and then from a clot, then fashioned thee a man; but God, He is my Lord; nor will I associate any one with my Lord. Why couldst thou not have said, when thou didst go into thy garden, “ What God pleases!! there is no power save in God,”—to look at, I am less than thee in wealth and children; but haply my Lord will give me something better than thy garden, and will send upon it thunder-claps from the sky, and it shall be on the morrow bare slippery soil; or on the morrow its water may be deeply sunk, so that thou canst not get thereat!’
[40] And his fruits were encompassed, and on the
1 In the original M4 s4’ allah; this is the usual formula for expressing admiration among Muslims.
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morrow he turned down the palms of his hands! for what he had spent thereon, for it was fallen down upon its trellises. And he said, ‘ Would that I had never associated any one with my Lord!’ And he had not any party to help him beside God, nor was he helped. In such a case the patronage is God’s, the true; He is best at rewarding and best at bringing to an issue.
And he said, ‘ Would that I had never associated any one with my Lord!’ And he had not any party to help him beside God, nor was he helped. In such a case the patronage is God’s, the true; He is best at rewarding and best at bringing to an issue.
Strike out for them, too, a parable of the life of this world; like water which we send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth is mingled therewith ;—and on the morrow it is dried up, and the winds scatter it ; for God is powerful over all.
Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of this world; but enduring good works are better with thy Lord, as a recompense, and better as a hope.
VY [45] And the day when we will move the mountains, and thou shalt see the (whole) earth stalking forth ; and we will gather them, and will not leave one of them behind. Then shall they be presented to thy Lord in ranks.—Now have ye come to us as we created you at first! nay, but ye thought that we would never make our promise good}
And the Book shall be placed*, and thou shalt see the sinners in fear of what is in it; and they will say, ‘ Alas, for us! what ails this Book, it leaves neither small nor great things alone, without numbering them ?’ and they shall find present what they have done; and thy Lord will not wrong any one.
And when we said to the angels, ‘Adore Adam,’
1 Le. wrung his hands. 2 In the hand of each. C2
20 THE Qur’AN. XVIII, 48-ss.
they adored him, save only Iblis, who was of the ginn, who revolted from the bidding of his Lord. ‘What! will ye then take him and his seed as patrons, rather than me, when they are foes of yours ? bad for the wrong-doers is the exchange!’
I did not make them witnesses of the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor of the creation of themselves, nor did I take those who lead astray for my supporters.
[50] On the day when He shall say, ‘Call ye my partners whom ye pretend :’ and they shall call on them, but they shall not answer them; and we will set the vale of perdition between them; and the sinners shall see the fire, and shall think that they are going to fall therein, and shall find no escape therefrom. We have turned about in this Qur’4n for men every parable; but man is ever at most things a caviller.
Naught prevented men from believing when the guidance came to them, or from asking pardon of their Lord, except the coming on them of the course of those of yore, or the coming of the torment before their eyes}.
We sent not prophets save as heralds of glad tidings and as warners; but those who misbelieve wrangle with vain speech to make void the truth therewith ; and they take my signs and the warnings given them as a jest.
[55] Who is more unjust than he who, being
1 This passage is aimed at the Qurais. The ‘course of those of yore’ is the punishment inflicted on the ‘people of Noah, Lot,’ &c. for similar acts of misbelief, and ‘the torment’ is said to refer to their losses at the battle of Bedr.
[55] Who is more unjust than he who, being
1 This passage is aimed at the Qurais. The ‘course of those of yore’ is the punishment inflicted on the ‘people of Noah, Lot,’ &c. for similar acts of misbelief, and ‘the torment’ is said to refer to their losses at the battle of Bedr.
XVIII, s5-63. THE CHAPTER OF THE CAVE. 2I reminded of the signs of his Lord, turns away therefrom, and forgets what his hands have done before ? verily, we will place veils upon their hearts lest they should understand, and dulness in their ears |
And if thou shouldst call them to the guidance, they will not be guided then for ever.
But thy Lord is forgiving, endowed with mercy ; were He to punish them for what they have earned He would have hastened for them the torment. Nay rather, they have their appointed time, and shall never find a refuge beside Him.
These cities, we destroyed them when they were unjust; and for their destruction we set an appointed time.
And when Moses said to his servant, ‘I will not cease until I reach the confluence of the two seas, or else I will go on for years}.’
[60] But when they reached the confluence of the two? they forgot their fish, and it took its way in the sea with a free course.
And when they had passed by, he said to his servant, ‘Bring us our dinners, for we have met with toil from this journey of ours.’ Said he, ‘What thinkest thou? when we resorted to the rock, then, verily, I forgot the fish, but it was only Satan who made me forget it, lest I should remember it; and it took its way in the sea wondrously!’
Said he, ‘This is what we were searching for *’ So they turned back upon their footsteps, following them up.
1 The word used signifies a space of eighty years and upwards. 3 Literally, ‘of their intermediate space.’ > See Part II, note 3, p. 23.
22 THE QuR’AN. XVIII, 64-46.
Then they found a servant of our servants, to whom we had given mercy from ourselves, and had taught him knowledge from before us. [65] Said Moses to him, ‘Shall I follow thee, so that thou mayest teach me, from what thou hast been taught, the right way ?’ said he, ‘ Verily, thou canst never have patience with me. How canst thou be patient in what thou comprehendest no knowledge of?’ He said, ‘Thou wilt find me, if God will, patient; nor will I rebel against thy bidding.’ He said, ‘ Then, if thou followest me, ask me not about anything until I begin for them the mention of it.’
[70] So they set out until when they rode? in the bark, he scuttled it.
Said he, ‘ Hast thou scuttled it to drown its crew ? Thou hast produced a strange thing.’
Said he, ‘ Did I not tell thee, verily, thou canst never have patience with me ?’
Said he, ‘Rebuke me not for forgetting, and impose not on me a difficult command.’ So they set out until they met a boy, and he killed him. And he (Moses) said, ‘Hast thou killed a pure person without (his killing) a person? thou hast produced an unheard-of thing.’
And he (Moses) said, ‘Hast thou killed a pure person without (his killing) a person? thou hast produced an unheard-of thing.’
Said he, ‘Did I not tell thee, verily, thou canst not have patience with me?’
[75] Said he, ‘If I ask thee about anything after it, then do not accompany me. Now hast thou arrived at my excuse.’ So they set out until when they came to the people of a city; and they asked
1 That is, embarked. All nautical metaphors in Arabic being taken from camel riding. The Arabs do not call the camel ‘the ship of the desert,’ but they call a ship ‘the riding camel of the sea.
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the people thereof for food; but they refused to entertain them. And they found therein a wall which wanted! to fall to pieces, and he set it upright. Said (Moses), ‘ Hadst thou pleased thou mightst certainly have had a hire for this.’
Said he, ‘This is the parting between me and thee. I will give thee the interpretation of that with which thou couldst not have patience. As for the bark it belonged to poor people, who toiled on the sea, and I wished to damage it, for behind it was a king who seized on every bark? by force. And as for the youth, his parents were believers, and we feared lest he should impose upon them rebellion and misbelief. [80] So we desired that their Lord would give them in exchange a better one than him in purity, and nearer in filial affection. And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan youths in the city, and beneath it was a treasure belonging to them both, and their father was a righteous man, and their Lord desired that they should reach puberty, and then take out their treasure as a mercy from thy Lord; and I did it not on my own bidding. That is the interpretation of what thou couldst not have patience with %.’
' The expression wanted to fall is colloquial in Arabic as well asin English. BaidfAvt says, ‘the expression wanting to is in this case figuratively used for being on the point of.’
3 That is, every whole or sound ship.
* For this legend there appears to be no ancient authority whatever; the Mohammedan commentators merely expand it, and say that El ‘Hidsr (a mythical personage, who is identified with the prophet Elias, St. George, and the prime minister of Alexander the Great) had disappeared in search of the water of immortality. Moses was inspired to search for him, and told that he would find him by a rock where two seas met, and where he should lose a fish
24 ' THE Qur’An., XVIII, 82-92.
And they will ask thee about Duu ’] Qarn4in}, say, ‘I will recite to you a mention of him; verily, we stablished for him in the earth, and we gave him a way to everything; and he followed a way until when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it setting in a black muddy spring ?, and he found thereat a people.’
[85] We said, ‘O Dau ’] Qarnain! thou mayest either torment these people, or treat them well.’ Said he, ‘As for him who does wrong, I will torment him, then shall he be sent back to his Lord, and He will torment him with an unheard-of torment ; but as for him who believes and acts aright, for him is an excellent reward, and we will tell him our easy bidding.’
Then he followed a way until when he reached the rising of the sun, he found it rise upon a people to whom we had given no shelter therefrom.
[90] So! And we comprehended the knowledge of what (forces) he had with him.
Then he followed a way until when he ‘reached the point between the two mountains, he found below them both a people who could scarcely underwhich he was directed to take with him. Moses’ servant in the legend is Joshua, and the mysterious young man who guided him is generally supposed to be El ‘Hidfr himself, rendered immortal and supernaturally wise by having found and drunk of the water of life.
1 Literally, ‘the two horned;’ this personage is generally supposed to be Alexander the Great, who is so represented on his coins. The Mohammedan histories of him, however, contain so many gross anachronisms, making him, for instance, a contemporary with Moses, Abraham, &c., that it is probable they may have confused him with some much more ancient traditional conqueror.
2 Probably, as Baidhavi suggests, the ocean, which, with its dark waters, would remind an Arab of such a pool. .
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stand speech. They said, ‘O Dxu 11 Qarndin! verily, Yaghg and Magtg? are doing evil in the land. Shall we then pay thee tribute, on condition that thou set between us and them a rampart ?’ He said, ‘What my Lord hath established me in is better ; so help me with strength, and I will set between you and them a barrier.
[95] ‘ Bring me pigs of iron until they fill up the space between the two mountain sides.’ Said he, ‘Blow until it makes it a fire.’ Said he, ‘ Bring me, that I may pour over it, molten brass?,’
So they? could not scale it, and they could not tunnel it.
Said he, ‘This is a mercy from my Lord; but when the promise of my Lord comes to pass, He will make it as dust, for the promise of my Lord is true.’
And we left some of them to surge on that day‘ over others, and the trumpet will be blown, and we will gather them together.
1 Gog and Magog. The people referred to appear to be tribes of the Turkomans, and the rampart itself has been identified with some ancient fortifications extending from the west coast of the Caspian to the Pontus Euxinus. The word translated mountains is the same as that translated rampart a little further on. I have, in rendering it mountains, followed the Mohammedan commentators, whose view is borne out by the subsequent mention of mountain sides.
The word translated mountains is the same as that translated rampart a little further on. I have, in rendering it mountains, followed the Mohammedan commentators, whose view is borne out by the subsequent mention of mountain sides.
* The process here described for repressing the incursions of Gog and Magog is the building of a wall of pig iron across the opening between the two mountains, fusing this into a compact mass of metal, and strengthening it by pouring molten brass over the whole.
’ Gog and Magog.
* On the day of judgment, or, as some think, a little before it.
p. 110
[100] And we will set forth hell on that day before the misbelievers, whose eyes were veiled from my Reminder, and who were unable to hear. What! did those who misbelieve reckon that they could take my servants for patrons beside me? Verily, we have prepared hell for the misbelievers to alight in!
Say, ‘Shall we inform you of those who lose most by their works ? those who erred in their endeavours after the life of this world, and who think they are doing good deeds.’
[105] Those who misbelieve in the signs of their Lord and in meeting Him, vain are their works; and we will not give them right weight on the - resurrection day. That is their reward,—hell! for . that they misbelieved and took my signs and my apostles as a mockery.
Verily, those who believe and act aright, for them are gardens of Paradise? to alight in, to dwell therein for aye, and they shall crave no change therefrom.
Say, ‘Were the sea ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would surely fail before the words of my Lord fail; aye, though we brought as much ink again!’
[110] Say, ‘I am only a mortal like yourselves; I am inspired that your God is only one God. Then let him who hopes to meet his Lord act righteous acts, and join none in the service of his. Lord.’
’ Here the Persian word Firdaus is used, which has supplied the name to the abode of the blessed in so many languages.
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Tue CuHapter oF Mary. (XIX. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
K. H. Y.‘#. Z. The mention of thy Lord’s mercy to His servant Zachariah, when he called on his Lord with a secret calling. Said he, ‘My Lord! verily, my bones are weak, and my head flares with hoariness ;—and I never was unfortunate in my prayers to Thee, my Lord! [5] But I fear my heirs after me, and my wife is barren; then grant me from Thee a successor, to be my heir and the heir of the family of Jacob, and make him, my Lord! acceptable.’
‘O Zachariah ! verily, we give thee glad tidings of a son, whose name shall be John. We never made a namesake of his before 1.’
Said he, ‘My Lord! how can I have a son, when my wife is barren, and I have reached through old age to decrepitude ?’
[10] He said, ‘Thus says thy Lord, It is easy for Me, for I created thee at first when yet thou wast nothing.’
We never made a namesake of his before 1.’
Said he, ‘My Lord! how can I have a son, when my wife is barren, and I have reached through old age to decrepitude ?’
[10] He said, ‘Thus says thy Lord, It is easy for Me, for I created thee at first when yet thou wast nothing.’
Said he, ‘O my Lord! make for me a sign.’ He said, ‘Thy sign is that thou shalt not speak to men for three nights (though) sound.’
Then he went forth unto his people from the
1 Cf. Luke i. 61, where, however, it is said that none of Zachariah’s kindred was ever before called by that name. Some commentators avoid the difficulty by interpreting the word samfyyun to mean ‘deserving of the name.’
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chamber, and he made signs to them: ‘Celebrate (God’s) praises morning and evening!’
‘O John! take the Book with strength ;’ and we gave him judgment when a boy, and grace from us, and purity ; and he was pious and righteous to his parents, and was not a rebellious tyrant.
[15] So peace upon him the day he was born, and the day he died, and the day he shall be raised up alive.
And mention, in the Book, Mary; when she retired from her family into an eastern place; and she took a veil (to screen herself) from them; and we sent unto her our spirit; and he took for her the semblance of a well-made man. Said she, ‘Verily, I take refuge in the Merciful One from thee, if thou art pious.’ Said he, ‘I am only a messenger of thy Lord to bestow on thee a pure boy.’
[20] Said she, ‘How can I have a boy when no man has touched me, and when I am no harlot?’ He said, ‘Thus says thy Lord, It is easy for Me! and we will make him a sign unto man, and a mercy from us ; for it is a decided matter.’
So she conceived him, and she retired with him into a remote place. And the labour pains came upon her at the trunk of a palm tree, and she said, ‘O that I had died before this, and been forgotten out of mind!’ and he called! to her from beneath her, ‘Grieve not, for thy Lord has placed a stream beneath thy feet ; [25] and shake towards thee the trunk of the palm tree, it will drop upon thee fresh dates fit to
1 Either the infant himself or the angel Gabriel; or the expression ‘beneath her’ may be rendered ‘beneath it,’ and may refer to the palm tree.
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gather; so eat, and drink, and cheer thine eye ; and if thou shouldst see any mortal say, “Verily, I have vowed to the Merciful One a fast, and I will not speak to-day with a human being.” ’
Then she brought it to her people, carrying it ; said they, ‘O Mary! thou hast done an extraordinary thing! O sister of Aaron?! thy father was not a bad man, nor was thy mother a harlot!’
thou hast done an extraordinary thing! O sister of Aaron?! thy father was not a bad man, nor was thy mother a harlot!’
[30] And she pointed to him, and they said, ‘ How are we to speak with one who is in the cradle a child?’ He said, ‘Verily, I am a servant of God; He has brought me the Book, and He has made me a prophet, and He has made me blessed wherever I be; and He has required of me prayer and almsgiving so long as I live, and piety towards my
- mother, and has not made me a miserable tyrant ; \\ and peace upon me the day I was born, and the
- day I die, and the day I shall be raised up alive?”
[35] That is, Jesus the son of Mary,—by the word of truth whereon ye do dispute! [
God could not take to himself any son! celebrated be His praise! when He decrees a matter He only says to it, ‘BE,’ and it is; and, verily, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is the right way.
And the parties have disagreed amongst themselves, but woe to those who disbelieve, from the witnessing of the mighty day! they can hear and they can see*, on the day when they shall come to us; but the evildoers are to-day in obvious error !
[40] And warn them of the day of sighing, when
1 See Part I, note 1, p. 50. 2 See Part II, note 3, p. 16.
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the matter is decreed while they are heedless, and while they do not believe.
_ Verily, we will inherit the earth and all who are upon it, and unto us shall they return!
And mention, in the Book, Abraham; verily, he was a confessor,—a prophet. When he said to his father, ‘O my sire! why dost thou worship what can neither hear nor see nor avail thee aught? O my sire! verily, to me has come knowledge which has not come to thee; then follow me, and I will guide thee to a level way.
[45] ‘O my sire! serve not Satan; verily, Satan is ever a rebel against the Merciful. O my sire! verily, I fear that there may touch thee torment from the Merciful, and that thou mayest be a client of Satan.’
Said he, ‘What! art thou averse from my gods, O Abraham ? verily, if thou dost not desist I will certainly stone thee; but get thee gone from me for a time!’
Said he, ‘ Peace be upon thee! I will ask forgiveness for thee from my Lord; verily, He is very gracious to me: but I will part from you and what ye call on beside God, and will pray my Lord that I be not unfortunate in my prayer to my Lord.’
[50] And when he had parted from them and what they served beside God, we granted him Isaac and Jacob, and each of them we made a prophet; and we granted them of our mercy, and we made the tongue of truth lofty for them 1.
And mention, in the Book, Moses; verily, he was sincere, and was an apostle,—a prophet. We called
1 That is, ‘gave them great renown.’
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him from the right side of the mountain; and we made him draw nigh unto us to commune with him, and we granted him, of our mercy, his brother Aaron as a prophet.