over their dwellings! verily, in that are signs: do they not then hear?
Have they not seen that we drive the water to the sterile land, and bring forth thereby corn from which their cattle and themselves do eat ? do they not then see?
And they say, ‘When shall this decision come if ye do tell the truth ?’ Say, ‘On the day of the decision their faith shall not profit those who misbelieved, nor shall they be respited ;’ [30] turn then from them and wait ; verily, they are waiting too!
Tue CHAPTER OF THE CONFEDERATES}. (XXXII. Medinah.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
O thou prophet! fear God and obey not the misbelievers and hypocrites; verily, God is ever knowing, wise!
But follow what thou art inspired with from thy Lord; verily, God of what you do is ever well aware. And rely upon God, for God is guardian enough.
God has not made for any man two hearts in his inside; nor has He made your wives,—whom you back away from,—your real mothers?; nor has He
? When this sGrah was written Medinah was besieged by a confederation of the Jewish tribes with the Arabs of Mecca, Negd and Tehamah, at the instigation of the Jewish tribe of NadAftr, whom Mohammed had expelled from Mecca the year before. The event took place in the fifth year of the Higrah.
? The Arabs were in the habit of divorcing their wives on certain occasions with the words, ‘Thy back is to me as myp. 139 made your adopted sons your real sons. That is what ye speak with your mouths; but God speaks the truth and He guides to the path!
[5] Call them by their fathers’ names; that is more just in God’s sight; but if ye know not their fathers, then they are your brothers in religion and your clients. There is no crime against you for what mistakes ye make therein; but what your hearts do purposely—but God is ever forgiving and merciful.
The prophet is nearer of kin to the believers than themselves, and his wives are their mothers. And blood relations are nearer in kin to each other by the Book of God than the believers and those who fled’; only your doing kindness to your kindred, that is traced in the Book.
And when we took of the prophets their compact’, from thee and from Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus the son of Mary, and took of them a rigid compact, that He might ask the truth-tellers of their truth. But He has prepared for those who misbelieve a grievous woe.
O ye who believe! remember God’s favours towards you when hosts came to you and we sent against them a wind and hosts® that ye could not see ;—and God knew what ye were doing.
But He has prepared for those who misbelieve a grievous woe.
O ye who believe! remember God’s favours towards you when hosts came to you and we sent against them a wind and hosts® that ye could not see ;—and God knew what ye were doing.
mother’s back,’ after which they considered it as unnatural to approach them as though they were their real mothers. This practice Mohammed here forbids. They used also to consider their adopted children in the same light as real children of their body ; in forbidding this practice also, Mohammed legalised his marriage with Zainab, the divorced wife of his freedman ZAid, who was also his adopted son.
1 The Muhégerin. 7 See Part I, p. 57, note 1.
5 Of angels.
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[10] When they came upon you from above you and from below! you, and when your eyesights were distracted and your hearts came up into your throats, and ye suspected God with certain suspicions.
There were the believers tried and were made to quake with a severe quaking.
And when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts was sickness said, ‘God and His Apostle have only promised us deceitfully.. And when a party of them said, ‘O people of Yathreb?; there is no place for you (here) *, return then (to the city).’ And a part of them asked leave of the prophet (to return), saying, ‘ Verily, our houses are defenceless ;’ but they were not defenceless, they only wished for flight.
But had they been entered upon from its environs and then been asked to show treason they would have done so; but they would only have tarried there a little while‘.
* On the approach of the confederate army, to the number of 12,000, Mohammed, by the advice of Selman the Persian, ordered a deep trench to be dug round Medinah, and himself went out to defend it with 3,000 men. The two forces remained for nearly a month in their respective camps without coming to an actual conflict: until one night a piercing east wind blew so violently, and made such disorder in the camp of the besiegers, that a panic seized upon them, and they retired precipitately. Some of them had been encamped on the heights to the east of the town, the others in the lower part of the valley.
® The ancient name of the city; it was only called ’El Medtfnah, ‘the city,’ after it had become famous by giving shelter to Mohammed.
5 Jn the trenches.
‘ Ie. if the confederates had effected an entry, these half-hearted persons would have listened to their proposals, and have deserted the prophet.
XXNXIII,15-23. THE CHAPTER OF THE CONFEDERATES. I41
[15] They had covenanted with God before, that they would not turn their backs; and God’s covenant shall be enquired of.
Say, ‘Flight shall avail you naught; if ye fly from death or slaughter, even then ye shall be granted enjoyment only for a little!’
Say, ‘Who is it that can save you from God, if He wish you evil, or wish you mercy?’ but they will not find beside God a patron or a helper.
Say, ‘Flight shall avail you naught; if ye fly from death or slaughter, even then ye shall be granted enjoyment only for a little!’
Say, ‘Who is it that can save you from God, if He wish you evil, or wish you mercy?’ but they will not find beside God a patron or a helper.
Say, ‘God knows the hinderers amongst you, and those who say to their brethren, “Come along unto us,” and show but little valour ;—covetous towards you!” When fear comes thou wilt see them looking towards thee, their eyes rolling like one fainting with death ; but when the fear has passed away they will assail you with sharp tongues, covetous of the best?. These have never believed, and God will make vain their works, for that is easy with God.
[20] They reckoned that the confederates would never go away; and if the confederates should come they would fain be in the desert with the Arabs, asking for news of you! and if they were amongst you they would fight but little.
Ye had in the Apostle of God a good example for him who hopes for God and the last day, and who remembers God much.
And when the believers saw the confederates they said, ‘This is what God and His Apostle promised us; God and His Apostle are true!’ and it only increased them in faith and resignation.
Amongst the believers are men who have been
1 Je. chary of helping you, but greedy of the spoils. 2 J.e. the best share of the spoils.
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true to their covenant with God, and there are some who have fulfilled their vow1, and some who wait and have not changed ? with fickleness.
That God might reward the truthful for their truth, and punish the hypocrites if He please, or turn again towards them ;—verily, God is forgiving, merciful |
[25] And God drove back the misbelievers in their rage; they gat no advantage ;—God was enough for the believers in the fight, for God is strong, mighty!
And He drove down those of the people of the Book who had helped them ® from their fortresses 4 and hurled dread into their hearts; a part ye slew and ye took captive a part: and He gave you their land, and their dwellings, and their property for an inheritance, and a land ye had not trodden, for God is ever mighty over all.
O thou prophet! say to thy wives, ‘If ye be desirous of the life of this world and its adornments, come, I will give you them to enjoy and I will let you range handsomely at large! But if ye be desirous of God and His Apostle and of the abode of the hereafter, verily, God has prepared for those of you who do good a mighty hire 5!’
1 T.e. their vow to fight till they obtained martyrdom.
® T.e. changed their mind.
8 T.e. who had helped the confederates.
* The Quraishah Jews, whom Mohammed attacked after the siege of Medinah had been raised, and punished for their treachery in having joined the confederates although in league with him at the time.
® T.e. changed their mind.
8 T.e. who had helped the confederates.
* The Quraishah Jews, whom Mohammed attacked after the siege of Medinah had been raised, and punished for their treachery in having joined the confederates although in league with him at the time.
5 Mohammed being annoyed by the demands made by his wives for costly dresses and the like, offered them the choice of divorce or of being content with their usual mode of living. They chose the latter.
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[30] O ye women of the prophet! whosoever of you commits manifest fornication, doubled shall be her torment twice; and that is easy unto God!
But that one of you who is devoted to God and His Apostle and does right we will give her her hire twice over, and we have prepared for her a noble provision.
O ye women of the prophet! ye are not like any other women ; if ye fear God then be not too complaisant in speech, or he in whose heart is sickness will lust after you; but speak a reasonable speech.
And stay still in your houses and show not yourselves with the ostentation of the ignorance of yore; and be steadfast in prayer, and give alms, and obey God and his Apostle;—God only wishes to take ~ away from you! the horror as people of His House and to purify you thoroughly.
And remember what is recited in your houses of the signs of God and of wisdom; verily, God is subtle and aware!
[35] Verily, men resigned and women resigned %, and believing men and believing women, and devout men and devout women, and truthful men and truthful women, and patient men and patient women, and humble men and humble women, and almsgiving men and almsgiving women, and fasting men and fasting women, and men who guard their private parts and women who guard their private parts, and
1 Here the pronoun is changed from feminine to masculine, and the passage is appealed to by the Shiahs as showing the intimate relations that existed between Mohammed and ‘Alt, for they say that by ‘his household’ are particularly meant Fa/imah and ‘Alf. Tn the next paragraph the feminine is again used.
* T.e. Muslims; see Part I, p. 15, note 1.
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men who remember God much, and women who remember Him,—God has prepared for them forgiveness and a mighty hire.
It is not for a believing man or for a believing woman, when God and His Apostle have decided an affair, to have the choice in that affair; and whoso rebels against God and His Apostle has erred with an obvious error.
It is not for a believing man or for a believing woman, when God and His Apostle have decided an affair, to have the choice in that affair; and whoso rebels against God and His Apostle has erred with an obvious error.
And when thou didst say to him God had shown favour to and thou hadst shown favour to, ‘Keep thy wife to thyself and fear God;’ and thou didst conceal in thy soul what God was about to display; and didst fear men, though God is more deserving that thou shouldst fear Him; and when ZAid had fulfilled his desire of her! we did wed thee to her that there should be no hindrance to the believers ~ in the matter of the wives of their adopted sons when they have fulfilled their desire of them: and so God’s bidding to be done *
There is no hindrance to the prophet about what God has ordained for him ;—(such was) the course of God with those who have passed away before,— and God’s bidding is a decreed decree! Those who
1 T.e. divorced her.
2 Zaid was Mohammed’s freedman and adopted son. Mohammed had seen and admired Zaid’s wife Zainab, and her husband at once offered to divorce her: this Mohammed dissuaded him from until the transaction was sanctioned by the verse. The relations of the Arabs to their adopted children were, as has been remarked before, p. 138, note 2, very strict; and Mohammed’s marriage with Zainab occasioned much scandal among his contemporaries. This passage and those at the commencement of the chapter abrogate all these inconvenient restrictions. Zaid and Abu Laheb, Sfrah CXI, are the only two persons of Mohammed's acquaintance who are mentioned in the Qur’an by name.
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preach God’s messages and fear Him and fear not any one except God,—but God is good enough at reckoning up.
[40] Mohammed is not the father of any of your men, but the Apostle of God, and the Seal of the Prophets; for God all things doth know! .
O ye who believe! remember God with frequent remembrance, and celebrate His praises morning and evening.
He it is who prays! for you and His angels too, to bring you forth out of the darkness into the light, for He is merciful to the believers.
Their salutation on the day they meet Him shall be ‘ Peace!’ and He has prepared for them a noble hire.
O thou prophet! verily, we have sent thee as a witness and a herald of glad tidings and a warner, [45] and to call (men) unto God by His permission, and as an illuminating lamp.
Give glad tidings then to the believers, that for them is great grace from God. And follow not the unbelievers and the hypocrites; but let alone their illtreatment’, and rely upon God, for God is guardian enough. |
O ye who believe! when ye wed believing women, and then divorce them before ye have touche 1 them,
And follow not the unbelievers and the hypocrites; but let alone their illtreatment’, and rely upon God, for God is guardian enough. |
O ye who believe! when ye wed believing women, and then divorce them before ye have touche 1 them,
1 The same word is used as is rendered ‘pray’ in all the other passages in the Qur'an, though the commentators interpret it here as meaning ‘bless.’ So, too, in the formula which is always used after Mohammed’s name, zalla llahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, ‘may God bless and preserve. him!’ is literally, ‘may God pray for him and salute him!’
2 Either, ‘do not ill-treat them,’ or, ‘take no notice of their illtreating thee.’
[9] L
146 THE QUR'AN. XXXII, 48-g2.
ye have no term that ye need observe; so make them some provision, and let them go-handsomely at large.
O thou prophet! verily, we make lawful for thee thy wives to whom thou hast given their hire}, and what thy right hand possesses? out of the booty that God has granted thee, and the daughters of thy paternal uncle and the daughters of thy paternal aunts, and the daughters of thy maternal uncle and the daughters of thy maternal aunts, provided they have fled with thee, and any believing woman if she give herself to the prophet, if the prophet desire to marry her ;—a special privilege this for thee, above the other believers.
[50] We knew what we ordained for them concerning their wives and what their right hands possess, that there should be no hindrance to thee; and God is forgiving, merciful.
Put off* whomsoever thou wilt of them and take to thyself whomsoever thou wilt, or whomsoever thou cravest of those whom thou hast deposed‘, and it shall be no crime against thee. That is nigher to cheering their eyes and that they should not grieve, and should be satisfied with what thou dost bring them all; but God knows best what is in their hearts ; and God is knowing, clement.
It is not lawful to thee to take women after (this), nor to change them for (other) wives, even though their beauty please thee; except what thy right hand possesses, for God is ever watchful over all.
1 Le. dowry. 2 Slave girls. ° T.e. from her turn of conjugal rights. * Ie. divorced.
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O ye who believe! do not enter the houses of the prophet, unless leave be given you, for a meal,—not watching till it is cooked! But when ye are invited, then enter ; and when ye have fed, disperse, not en-
‘gaging in familiar discourse. Verily, that would annoy the prophet and he would be ashamed for your sake’, but God is not ashamed of the truth 2.
And when ye ask them ® for an article, ask them from behind a curtain‘; that is purer for your hearts and for theirs. It is not right for you to annoy the prophet of God, nor to wed his wives after him ever; verily, that is with God a serious thing.
If ye display a thing or conceal it, verily, God all things doth know.
[55] There is no crime against them® (if they
It is not right for you to annoy the prophet of God, nor to wed his wives after him ever; verily, that is with God a serious thing.
If ye display a thing or conceal it, verily, God all things doth know.
[55] There is no crime against them® (if they
1 He would be reluctantly obliged to ask you to leave.
* The tent of an Arab chief is looked upon as a place of general entertainment, and is always besieged by visitors. The advent of a stranger, or indeed any occasion that demands the preparation of food or any form of entertainment, is the signal for every adult male of the encampment to sit round it, and wait for an invitation to partake of the meal. This becomes a very serious tax upon the sheikh, as the laws of Arab hospitality imperatively require every person present to be invited to join in the repast. The translator “has often witnessed scenes—especially among the Arabs of Edom and Moab—which gave a very living significance to these words of the Qur'an. Mohammed’s exceptionally prominent position exposed him in a peculiar manner to these irruptions of unbidden guests. Another saying bearing upon the point is traditionally ascribed to him, zur ghibban tazd4d ‘hubban, ‘visit seldom and you will get more love.’
8 The prophet’s wives,
* The women to the present day always remain behind a curtain which screens off their part of the tent from the rest, but freely converse with their husband and his guests, and hand over the dishes and any other articles that may be required by the company.
® The prophet’s wives.
L2
148 THE QuR’AN, XXXII, 55-63.
speak unveiled) to their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or what their right hands possess; but let them fear God,—verily, God is witness over all.
Verily, God and His angels pray for the prophet. O ye who believe! pray for him and salute him with a salutation?!
Verily, those who annoy God and His Apostle, God will curse them in this world and the next, and prepare for them shameful woe!
And those who annoy the believers for what they have not earned, such have to bear (the guilt of) calumny and obvious sin.
O thou prophet! tell thy wives and thy daughters, and the women of the believers, to let down over them their outer wrappers; that is nearer for them to be known and that they should not be annoyed; but God is forgiving, merciful.
[60] Surely if the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a sickness and the insurrectionists in Medinah do not desist, we will surely incite thee against them. Then they shall not dwell near thee therein save for a little while. Cursed wherever they are found,—taken and slain with slaughter!
God’s course with those who have passed away before: and thou shalt never find in God’s course any alteration.
The folk will ask thee about the Hour; say, ‘The knowledge thereof is only with God, and what is to make thee perceive that the Hour is haply nigh ?’
1 See p. 145, note 1.
God’s course with those who have passed away before: and thou shalt never find in God’s course any alteration.
The folk will ask thee about the Hour; say, ‘The knowledge thereof is only with God, and what is to make thee perceive that the Hour is haply nigh ?’
1 See p. 145, note 1.
p. 149
Verily, God has cursed the misbelievers and has prepared for them a blaze!
[65] To dwell therein for ever and for aye; they shall not find a patron or a helper! .
On the day when their faces shall writhe in the fire they shall say, ‘O, would that we had obeyed God and obeyed the Apostle!’
And they shall say, ‘Our Lord! verily, we obeyed our chiefs and our great men and they led us astray from the path! Our Lord! give them double torment and curse them with a great curse!’
O ye who believe! be not like those who annoyed Moses ; but God cleared him of what they said, and he was regarded in the sight of God}.
[70] O ye who believe! fear God and speak a straightforward speech. He will correct for you your works, and pardon you your sins; for he who obeys God and His Apostle has attained a mighty happiness.
Verily, we offered the trust? to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to bear it, and shrank from it; but man bore it: verily, he is ever unjust and igriorant. That God may torment the hypocritical men and hypocritical women, and the idolaters and idolatresses; and that God may turn relenting towards the believing men and believing women; verily, God is ever forgiving, merciful.
1 The occasion of the revelation of this verse is said to have been that Mohammed being accused of unfairly dividing certain spoils, said, ‘God, have mercy on my brother Moses; he was wronged more than this, and bore it patiently.’
? That is, ‘the faith.’
p. 7
Tue CwHapter oF SEBA}. (XXXIV. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
Praise belongs to God, whose is whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth; His is the praise in the next world, and He is the wise and well aware!
He knows what goes into the earth, and what comes forth therefrom, and what comes down from the sky, and what ascends thereto; for He is the merciful, forgiving.
Those who misbelieve say, ‘The Hour shall not come to us;’ say, ‘Yea, by my Lord it shall surely come to you! by Him who knows the unseen! nor shall there escape from it the weight of an atom, in the heavens or in the earth, or even less than that, or greater, save in the perspicuous Book ;’ and that He may reward those who believe and do right; these,—for them is forgiveness and a noble provision.
[5] But those who strive concerning our signs to frustrate them ; these,—for them is the torment of a grievous plague.
And those to whom knowledge has been given see that what is sent down to thee from thy Lord is the truth, and guides unto the way of the mighty, the praiseworthy.
[5] But those who strive concerning our signs to frustrate them ; these,—for them is the torment of a grievous plague.
And those to whom knowledge has been given see that what is sent down to thee from thy Lord is the truth, and guides unto the way of the mighty, the praiseworthy.
And those who misbelieve say, ‘Shall we guide
1 A city of Yemen was also called Méarab; it was about three days’ journey from San4’h. The bursting of the dyke of Marab and the destruction of the city by a flood are historical facts, and happened in about the first or second century of our era.
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you to a man who will inform you that when ye are torn all to pieces, then ye shall be a new creation? he has forged against God a lie, or there is a ginn in him ;’—nay, those who believe not in the hereafter are in the torment and in the remote error !
Have they not looked at what is before them and what is behind them of the heaven and the earth ? if we pleased we would cleave the earth open with them, or we would make to fall upon them a portion of the heaven; verily, in that is a sign to every repentant servant.
[10] And we did give David grace from us, ‘O ye mountains! echo (God’s praises) with him, and ye birds!’ and we softened for him iron: ‘Make thou coats of mail and adapt the rings thereof, and do right; verily, I at what ye do do look.’ And to Solomon the wind; its morning journey was a month, and its evening journey was a month; and we made to flow for him a fountain of molten brass; and of the ginns some to work before him by the permission of his Lord; and whoso swerves amongst them from our bidding we will give him to taste the torment and the blaze; and they made for him what he pleased of chambers, and images, and dishes like troughs, and firm pots; —work, O ye family of David! thankfully; few is it of my servants who are thankful.
And when we decreed for him death, naught guided them to his death save a reptile of the earth that ate his staff; and when he fell down it was made manifest to the ginns that, had they but known the unseen, they need not have tarried in the shameful torment 1.
1 The Mohammedan legend is that Solomon had employed the
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Seba had in their dwellings a sign; two gardens, on the right hand and on the left, ‘Eat from the provision of your Lord; and give thanks to Him! a good country and a forgiving Lord!’ [15] but they turned away, and we sent against them the flood of the dyke; and we changed for them their two gardens into two gardens that grew bitter fruit and tamarisk, and some few lote trees?.
This did we reward them with, for that they misbelieved; and do we so reward any but misbelievers ?
This did we reward them with, for that they misbelieved; and do we so reward any but misbelievers ?
And we made between them and the cities which we had blessed:(other) cities which were evident ; and we measured out the journey: ‘Journey ye thereto nights and days in safety!’ And they said, ‘Our Lord! make a greater distance between our journeys;’ and they wronged themselves, and we made them legends ; and we tore them all to pieces; verily, in that are signs to every patient, grateful person. And. Iblis verified his suspicion concerning them, ginns to construct the temple of Jerusalem for him, and perceiving that he must die before it was completed, he prayed God to conceal his death from them lest they should relinquish the work when no longer compelled to keep to it by fear of his presence. This prayer was heard, and Solomon, who died while resting on his staff, remained in this position for a. year without his death being suspected, until a worm having eaten away his staff it broke, and the corpse fell to the ground, thus revealing the fact of his death. The shameful torment which the ginns might have avoided is their forced labour in: building: the temple.
1 The Rhamnus Nabeca of Forshal, the Rhamnus Nabeca Spina Christi of Linnzus, its fruit, which is called Nebuk, is a small round berry, in taste something like the jargonelle pear, and is a great favourite with the Bedawin. It grows freely in the Sinaitic peninsula.
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and they followed him, save a. party of the believers }.
[20] Yet had he no authority over them, save that we might know who it was that believed in the hereafter from him who amongst them was in doubt; for thy Lord guards everything.
Say, ‘Call on those whom ye pretend beside God;’ they cannot control the weight of an atom in the heavens or in the earth; nor have they any partnership in either; nor has He amongst them any supporter; nor is intercession of any avail with Him, except for him whom He permits; so that when fright is removed from their hearts they say, ‘What is it that your Lord says?’ they say, ‘The truth; for He is the high, the great.’
Say, ‘Who provides from the heavens and the earth?’ Say, ‘God.’ And, verily, we or ye are surely in guidance or in an obvious error.
Say, ‘Ye shall not be asked about what we have sent, nor shall we be asked about what ye do.
[25] ‘Our Lord shall assemble us together; then He shall open between us in truth, for He is the opener who knows.’
Say, ‘Show me those whom ye have added to Him as partners; not so! nay, but He is God, the mighty, the wise!’
[25] ‘Our Lord shall assemble us together; then He shall open between us in truth, for He is the opener who knows.’
Say, ‘Show me those whom ye have added to Him as partners; not so! nay, but He is God, the mighty, the wise!’
1 A great trade used formerly to exist between Seba and Syria. The Mohammedan commentators suppose that the cessation of traffic, which naturally caused the gradual ruin of the intermediate towns, and the subsequent destruction of Seba or M4reb itself by the flood, was a punishment for the covetous wish of the people of the city, that the distances which traders had to pass over were longer, so that they themselves might earn more money by providing them with camels and escorts.
154 THE QuR’AN, XXXIV, 27-36.
We have only sent thee to men generally as a herald of glad tidings and a warner; but most men do not know.
And they say, ‘When shall this promise be, if ye do speak the truth ?’ say, ‘For you is the appointment of a day of which ye shall not keep back an hour, nor shall ye bring it on!’
[30] And those who misbelieve say, ‘We will never believe in this Qur’4n or in what is before t;’ but couldst thou see when the unjust are set before their Lord, they shall rebut each other in speech.
Those who were thought weak shall say to those who were big with pride, ‘Had it not been for you we should have been believers.’ Those who were big with pride shall say to those who were thought weak, ‘Was it we who turned you away from the guidance after it came to you? nay, ye were sinners.’
And those who were thought weak shall say to those who were big with pride, ‘ Nay, but it was the plotting by night and day, when ye did bid us to disbelieve in God, and to make peers for Him!’ and they shall display repentance when they see the torment; and we will put fetters on the necks of those who misbelieved. Shall they be rewarded except for that which they have done ?
We have not sent to any city a warner but the opulent thereof said, ‘We, in what ye are sent with, disbelieve.’
And they say, ‘We have more wealth and children, and we shall not be tormented.’
[35] Say, ‘Verily, my Lord extends provision to whom He pleases or doles it out, but most men do not know; but neither your wealth nor your childrenp. 155 is that which will bring you to a near approach to us, save him who believes and does right; these, for them is a double reward for what they have done, and they in upper rooms! shall be secure.’
And those who strive concerning our signs to frustrate them, these in the torment shall be arraigned. Verily, my Lord extends provision to whomsoever He will of His servants, or doles it out to him. And what ye expend in alms at all, He will repay it; for He is the best of providers.
And on the day He will gather them all together, then He will say:to the angels, ‘Are these those who used to worship you ?’
And what ye expend in alms at all, He will repay it; for He is the best of providers.
And on the day He will gather them all together, then He will say:to the angels, ‘Are these those who used to worship you ?’
[40] They shall say, ‘Celebrated be thy praises! thou art our patron instead of them. Nay, they used to worship the ginns, most of them believe in them* But to-day they cannot control for each other, either profit or harm;’ and we will say to those who have done wrong, ‘ Taste ye the torment of the fire wherein ye did disbelieve!’
And when our signs are recited to them they say, ‘This is only a man who wishes to turn you from what your fathers served ;’ and they say, ‘This is only a lie forged,’ and those who misbelieve will say of the truth when it comes to them, ‘It is only obvious sorcery !’
But we have not brought them any book which they may study, and we have not sent to them before thee a warner.
Those before them said it was a lie, and these ® have not reached a tithe of what we had given them.
In Paradise. ? See Part I, p. 127, note 2, 8 That is, the Meccans.
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And they said my apostles were liars, and how great a change was then!
[45] Say, ‘I only admonish you of one thing, that ye should stand up before God in twos or singly, and then that ye reflect that there is no ginn in your companion’, He is only a warner to you before the keen torment.’
Say, ‘I do not ask you for it a hire; that is for yourselves; my hire is only from God, and He is witness over all.’
Say, ‘Verily, my Lord hurls forth the truth; and He well knows the unseen.’
Say, ‘The truth has come, and falsehood shall vanish and shall not come back.’
Say, ‘If I err I only err against myself; and if I am guided it is all what my Lord inspires me; verily, He is the hearing, the nigh!’
[50] And couldst thou see when they are scared, and there shall be no escape, and they shall be taken from a place that is nigh. And they say, ‘We believe in it’ But how can they partake of it from a distant place? They misbelieved before, and conjectured about the unseen from a distant place. And there shall be a barrier between them and that | which they lust after; as we did with their fellow sectaries before; verily, they were in hesitating doubt.
1 That he, Mohammed, is not possessed by a ginn.
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Tue CHAPTER OF THE ANGELS}.
(XX XV. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
Praise belongs to God, the originator of the heavens and the earth; who makes the angels His messengers, endued with wings in pairs, or threes or fours; He adds to creation what He pleases; verily, God is mighty over all!
What God opens to men of His mercy there is none to withhold; and what He withholds, there is none can send it forth after Him; for He is the mighty, the wise.
What God opens to men of His mercy there is none to withhold; and what He withholds, there is none can send it forth after Him; for He is the mighty, the wise.
O ye folk! remember the favours of God towards you; is there a creator beside God, who provides you from the heavens and from the earth? There is no god but He; how then can ye lie?
And if they call thee liar, apostles were called liars before thee, and unto God affairs return.
[5] O ye folk! verily, God’s promise is true; then let not the life of this world beguile you, and let not the beguiler beguile you concerning God. Verily, the devil is to you a foe, so take him as a foe; he only calls his crew to be the fellows of the blaze.
Those who misbelieve, for them is keen torment.
But those who believe and do right, for them is forgiveness and a great hire.
What! is he whose evil act is made seemly for him, so that he looks upon it as good, — ?
1 Also called ‘of the Originator.’
158 THE Qur’AN. XXXV, 9-15.
Verily, God leads astray whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases; let not thy soul then be wasted in sighing for them; verily, God knows what they do!
[10] It is God who sends the winds, and they stir up a cloud, and we irrigate therewith a dead country, and we quicken therewith the earth after its death; so shall the resurrection be!
Whosoever desires honour—honour belongs wholely to God; to Him good words ascend, and a righteous deed He takes up; and those who plot evil deeds, for them is keen torment, and their plotting is in vain.
God created you from earth, then from a clot; then He made you pairs; and no female bears or is delivered, except by His knowledge; nor does he who is aged reach old age, or is aught diminished from his life, without it is in the Book; verily, that is easy unto God.
The two seas are not equal: one is sweet and fresh and pleasant to drink, and the other is salt and pungent; but from each do ye eat fresh flesh, and bring forth ornaments which ye wear; and thou mayest see the ships cleave through it, that ye may search after His grace, and haply ye may give thanks.
He turns the night into day, and He turns the day into night; and He subjects the sun and the moon, each of them runs on to an appointed goal; that is God, your Lord! His is the kingdom; but those ye call on beside Him possess not a straw}.
[15] If you call upon them they cannot hear your
' Literally, the husk of a date stone.
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call, and if they hear they cannot answer you; and on the resurrection day they will deny your associating them with God; but none can inform thee like the One who is aware.
O ye folk! ye are in need of God; but God, He is independent, praiseworthy.
If He please He will take you off, and will bring a fresh creation; for that is no hard matter unto God.
O ye folk! ye are in need of God; but God, He is independent, praiseworthy.
If He please He will take you off, and will bring a fresh creation; for that is no hard matter unto God.
And no burdened soul shall bear the burden of another; and if a heavily laden one shall call for its load (to be carried) it shall not be carried for it at all, even though it be a kinsman !—thou canst only warn those who fear their Lord in the unseen and who are steadfast in prayer; and he who is pure is only pure for himself ; and unto God the journey is.
[20] The blind is not equal with him who sees, nor the darkness with the night, nor the shade with the hot blast ; nor are the living equal with the dead ; verily, God causes whom He pleases to hear, and thou canst not make those who are in their graves hear; thou’art but a warner!
Verily, we have sent thee in truth a herald of glad tidings and a warner; and there is no nation but its warner has passed away with it.
And if they called thee liar, those before thee called: their apostles liars too, who came to them with manifest signs, and the Scriptures, and the illuminating Book.
Then I seized those who misbelieved, and what a change it was!
[25] Dost thou not see that God has sent down from the heaven water, and has brought forth therewith fruits varied in hue, and on the mountainsp. 33 dykes!, white and red, various in hue, and some intensely black, and men and beasts and cattle, various in hue? thus! none fear God but the wise among His servants; but, verily, God is mighty, forgiving.
Verily, those who recite the Book of God, and are steadfast in prayer, and give alms of what we have bestowed in secret and in public, hope for the merchandise that shall not come to naught; that He may pay them their hire, and give them increase of His grace; verily, He is forgiving, grateful.
What we have inspired thee with of the Book is true, verifying what was before it; verily, God of His servants is well aware and sees.
Then we gave the Book for an inheritance to those whom we chose of our servants, and of them are some who wrong themselves, and of them are some who take a middle course, and of them are some who vie in good works by the permission of their Lord; that is great grace.
[30] Gardens of Eden shall they enter, adorned therein with bracelets of gold and pearls; and their garments therein shall be silk; and they shall say, ‘Praise belongs to God, who has removed from us our grief; verily, our Lord is forgiving, grateful! who has made us alight in an enduring abode of His grace, wherein no toil shall touch us, and there shall touch us no fatigue.’
But those who misbelieve, for them is the fire of
1 The word is here used in its geological sense, and is applied to the various coloured streaks which are so plainly to be seen in the bare mountain sides of Arabia. The Arabs of the desert to this day call them by the same name as is here used in the Qur’an,
The Arabs of the desert to this day call them by the same name as is here used in the Qur’an,p. 161 hell; it shall not be decreed for them to die, nor shall aught of the torment be lightened from them ; thus do we reward every misbeliever; and they shall shriek therein, ‘O our Lord! bring us forth, and we will do right, not what we used to do!’—‘ Did we not let you grow old enough for every one who would be mindful to be mindful ? and there came to you a warner !—[35] So taste it, for the unjust shall have none to help!’ verily, God knows the unseen things of the heavens and of the earth; verily, He knows the nature of men’s breasts, He it is who made yeu vicegerents in the earth, and he who misbelieves, his misbelief is against himself; but their misbelief shall only increase the misbelievers in hatred with their Lord; and their misbelief shall only increase the misbelievers in loss.
Say, ‘Have ye considered your associates whom ye call on beside God ?’ show me what they created of the earth; have they a share in the heavens, or have we given them a book that they rest on a manifest sign.? nay, the unjust promise each other naught but guile.
Verily, God holds back the heavens and the earth lest they should decline; and if they should decline there is none to hold them back after Him; verily, He is clement, forgiving.
[40] They swore by God with their most strenuous oath, verily, if there come to them a warner they would be more guided than any one of the nations ; but when a warner comes to them, it only increases them in aversion, and in being big with pride in the earth, and in plotting evil; but the plotting of evil only entangles those who practise it; can they then expect aught but the course of those of yore? but
[9] Mp. 9 thou shalt not find any alteration in the course of God; and they shall not find any change in the course of God.
Have they not journeyed on in the land and seen what was the end of those before them who were stronger than they? but God, nothing can ever make Him helpless in the heavens or in the earth; verily, He is knowing, powerful.
Were God to catch men up for what they earn, He would not leave upon the back of it! a beast; but He respites them until an appointed time. [45] When their appointed time comes, verily, God looks upon His servants.
Tue CuapTer or Y.S. (XXXVI. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
Y.S. By the wise Qur'an, verily, thou art of the apostles upon a right way. The revelation of the mighty, the merciful! [5] That thou mayest warn a people whose fathers were not warned, and who themselves are heedless.
(XXXVI. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
Y.S. By the wise Qur'an, verily, thou art of the apostles upon a right way. The revelation of the mighty, the merciful! [5] That thou mayest warn a people whose fathers were not warned, and who themselves are heedless.
Now is the sentence due against most of them, for they will not believe. Verily, we will place upon their necks fetters, and they shall reach up to their chins, and they shall have their heads forced back ; and we will place before them a barrier, and behind them a barrier; and we will cover them and they shall not see; and it is all the same to them if thou
1 The earth.
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dost warn them or dost warn them not, they will not believe. [10] Thou canst only warn him who follows the reminder, and fears the Merciful in the unseen ; but give him glad tidings of forgiveness and a noble hire.
Strike out for them a parable: the fellows of the city when there came to it the apostles; when we sent those two and they called them both liars, and we strengthened them with a third; and they said, ‘Verily, we are sent to you.’
They said, ‘Ye are only mortals like ourselves, nor has the Merciful sent down aught; ye are naught but liars.’
[15] They said, ‘Our Lord knows that we are sent to you, and we have only our plain message to preach.’
They said, ‘Verily, we have augured concerning you, and if ye do not desist we will surely stone you, and there shall touch you from us a grievous woe.’
Said they, ‘Your augury is with you; what! if ye are reminded—? Nay, ye are an extravagant people!’
And there came from the remote part of the city a man hastening up. Said he, ‘O my people! fol- ” low the apostles ; [20] follow those who do not ask you a hire, and who are guided. What ails me that I should not worship Him who originated me, and unto whom I must return? Shall 1 take gods
1 The Umm al Kitab. See Part I, p. a, note 2. ° M2
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beside Him? If the Merciful One desires harm for me, their intercession cannot avail me at all, nor can they rescue me. Verily, I should then be in obvious error; verily, I believe in your Lord, then listen ye to me!’
[25] It was said, ‘Enter thou into Paradise!’ said he, ‘O, would that my people did but know! for that my Lord has forgiven me, and has made me of the honoured.’
And we did send down upon his people no hosts from heaven, nor yet what we were wont to send down; it was but a single noise, and lo! they were extinct}.
Alas for the servants! there comes to them no apostle but they mock at him!
[30] Have they not seen how many generations we have destroyed before them? verily, they shall not return to them; but all of them shall surely altogether be arraigned.
they were extinct}.
Alas for the servants! there comes to them no apostle but they mock at him!
[30] Have they not seen how many generations we have destroyed before them? verily, they shall not return to them; but all of them shall surely altogether be arraigned.
And a sign for them is the dead earth which we have quickened and brought forth therefrom seed, and from it do they eat; and we made therein gardens and palms and grapes, and we have caused fountains to gush forth therein, [35] that they may eat from the fruit thereof, and of what their hands have made; will they not then give thanks ?
Celebrated be the praises of Him who created
1 The legend is that Jesus sent two of His disciples to the city of Antioch, none believing them but one ‘Habfb en Naggar, that is, ‘‘Habib the carpenter,’ and all three were thrown into prison. Simon Peter was subsequently sent to their rescue; a great many were converted, and the rest were destroyed by a shout from the angel Gabriel. The shrine of ‘Habib en Nagg@r at Antioch is still a favourite place of pilgrimage for Mohammedans.
XXXVI, 36-g0. THE CHAPTER OF Y. S. 165 all kinds, of what the earth brings forth, and of themselves, and what they know not of!
And a sign to them is the night, from which we strip off the day, and lo! they are in the dark; and the sun runs on to a place of rest for it!; that is the ordinance of the mighty, the wise.
And the moon, we have ordered for it stations, until it comes again to be like an old dry palm branch.
[40] Neither is it proper for it to catch up the moon, nor for the night to outstrip the day, but each one floats on in its sky.
And a sign for them is that we bear their seed in a laden ship*, and we have created for them the like thereof whereon to ride; and if we please, we drown them, and there is none for them, to appeal to; nor are they rescued, save by mercy from us, as a provision for a season.
[45] And when it is said to them, ‘Fear what is before you and what is behind you, haply ye may obtain mercy®;’ and thou bringest them not any one of the signs of their Lord, but they turn away therefrom ; and when it is said to them, ‘Expend in alms of what God has bestowed upon you,’ those who misbelieve say to those who believe, ‘Shall we feed him whom, if God pleased, He would feed ? ye are only in an obvious error.’
They say, ‘When shall this promise come to pass, if ye do tell the truth?’ They await but a single noise, that shall seize them as they are contending. [50] And they shall not be able to
1 There is a various reading here, ‘and has no place of rest.’ ? Some take this to refer to Noah’s ark. & That is, the punishment of this world and the next,p. 68 make a bequest; nor to their people shall they return ; but the trumpet shall be blown, and, behold, from their graves unto their Lord shall they slip out! ;
Some take this to refer to Noah’s ark. & That is, the punishment of this world and the next,p. 68 make a bequest; nor to their people shall they return ; but the trumpet shall be blown, and, behold, from their graves unto their Lord shall they slip out! ;
They shall say, ‘O, woe is us! who has raised us up from our sleeping-place? this is what the Merciful promised, and the apostles told the truth!’ It shall be but a single noise, and lo! they are all arraigned before us.
And on that day no soul shall be wronged at all, nor shall ye be rewarded for aught but that which ye have done.
[55] Verily, the fellows of Paradise upon that day shall be employed in enjoyment; they and their wives, in shade upon thrones, reclining; therein shall they have fruits, and they shall have what they may call for. ‘Peace!’—a speech from the merciful Lord!
‘Separate yourselves to-day, O ye sinners! [60] Did I not covenant with you, O children of Adam! that ye should not serve Satan? verily, he is to you an open foe; but serve ye me, this is the right way. But he led astray a numerous race of you; what! had ye then no sense? this is hell,-which ye were threatened; broil therein to-day, for that ye misbelieved !’
[65] On that day we will seal their mouths, and their hands shall speak to us, and their feet shall bear witness of what they earned. And if we please we could put out their eyes, and they would race along the road; and then how could they see ? And if we pleased we would transform them in their places, and they should not be able to go on, nor yet to return. And him to whom we grant old age,p. 167 we bow him down in his form; have they then no sense ?
We have not taught him! poetry, nor was it proper for him; it is but a reminder and a plain Qur’an, [70] to warn him who is living; but the sentence is due against the misbelievers.
Have they not seen that we have created for them of what our hands have made for them, cattle, and they are owners thereof? and we have tamed them for them, and of them are some to ride, and of them are what they eat, and therein have they advantages and beverages; will they not then give thanks ?
But they take, beside God, gods that haply they may be helped. [75] They cannot help them; yet are they a host ready for them 2.
But let not their speech grieve thee: verily, we know what they conceal and what they display.
Has not man seen that we have created him from a clot? and lo! he is an open opponent; and he strikes out for us a likeness; and forgets his creation; and says, ‘Who shall quicken bones when they are rotten?’ Say, ‘He shall quicken them who produced them at first; for every creation does He know; [80] who has made for you fire out of a green tree, and lo! ye kindle therewith.’
ye kindle therewith.’
Is not He who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like thereof? yea! He is the knowing Creator; His bidding is only, when He desires anything to say to it, ‘BE,’ and itis. Then celebrated be the praises of Him in whose hands is
1 Mohammed. 2 T.e. they are ready to defend their false gods.
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the kingdom of everything! and unto Him shall ye return.
Fur CHAPTER OF THE ‘ RANGED.’ (XX XVII. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
By the (angels) ranged in ranks, and the drivers driving}, and the reciters of the reminder, ‘ Verily, your God is one, [5] the Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between the two, and the Lord of the sunrises!’.
Verily, we have adorned the lower heaven with the adornment of the stars, and to preserve it from every rebellious devil, that they may. not listen to the exalted chiefs; for they are hurled at from every side?, driven off, and for them is lasting woe; [10] save such as snatches off a word, and there follows him a darting flame!
Ask them * whether they are stronger by nature or (the angels) whom we have created? We have created them of sticky clay.
Nay, thou dost wonder and they jest! and when they are reminded they will not remember; and when they see a sign they make a jest thereof, [15] and say, ‘This is naught but obvious sorcery. What! when we are dead, and have become earth and bones, shall we then be raised? what! and our fathers of yore ?’
Say, ‘ Yes, and ye shall shrink up, and it shall only
1 Driving the clouds or ‘scaring the devils.’ 2 See Part I, p. 50, note 2. 8 The people of Mecca.
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what! and our fathers of yore ?’
Say, ‘ Yes, and ye shall shrink up, and it shall only
1 Driving the clouds or ‘scaring the devils.’ 2 See Part I, p. 50, note 2. 8 The people of Mecca.
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be one scare, and, behold, they shall look on, [20] and they shall say, ‘O, woe is us! this is the day of judgment, this is the day of decision, which ye did calla lie!’ Gather ye. together, ye who were unjust, with their mates and what they used to serve beside God, and guide them to the way of hell, and stop them; verily, they shall be questioned. [25] ‘Why do ye not help each other ?’ nay, on that day they shall resign themselves, and some shall draw near to others, to question each other, and they shall say, ‘Verily, ye came to us from the right.’ They shall say, ‘Nay, ye were not believers, nor had we any authority over you; nay, ye were an outrageous people. [30] And the sentence of our Lord shall be due for us; verily, we shall surely taste thereof ; we did seduce you—verily, we were erring too!’ therefore, verily, on that day they shall share the torment: thus it is that we will do with the sinners. Verily, when it is said to them, ‘There is no god but God,’ they get too big with pride, and say, [35] ‘What! shall we leave our gods for an infatuated poet?’ Nay, he came with the truth, and verified the apostles ; verily, ye are going to taste of grievous woe, nor shall ye be rewarded save for that which ye have done! Except God’s sincere servants,[4o]these shall have a stated provision of fruits, and they shall be honoured in the gardens of pleasure, upon couches facing each other?; they shall be served all round with a cup from a spring, [45] white and delicious to those who drink, wherein is no insidious spirit, nor shall)
1 That is, with a good omen. / 2 See Chapter XV, verse 47. //
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be drunk therewith; and with them damsels, restraining their looks, large eyed; as though they were a sheltered egg ; and some shall come forward to ask others; and a speaker amongst them shall say, ‘Verily, I had a mate, [50] who used to say, “Art thou verily of those who credit ? What! when we are dead, and have become earth and bones, shall we be surely judged ?”’ He will say, ‘Are ye looking down?’ and he shall look down and see him in the midst of hell. He shall say, ‘ By God, thou didst nearly ruin me! [55] And had it not been for the favour of my Lord, I should have been among the arraigned. —‘ What! shall we not die save our first death ? and shall we not be tormented ?—Verily, this is mighty bliss! for the like of this then let the -workers work.’
[55] And had it not been for the favour of my Lord, I should have been among the arraigned. —‘ What! shall we not die save our first death ? and shall we not be tormented ?—Verily, this is mighty bliss! for the like of this then let the -workers work.’
[60] Is that better as an entertainment, or the tree of Ez Zaqqim?? Verily, we have made it a trial to the unjust. Verily, it is a tree that comes forth from the bottom of hell; its spathe is as it were the heads of devils; verily, they shall eat therefrom, and fill their bellies therefrom. [65] Then shall they have upon it a mixture of boiling water ; then, verily, their return shall be to hell.
Verily, they found their fathers erring, and they hurried on in their tracks; but there had erred before them most of those of yore, [70] and we had sent warners amongst them. Behold, then, what was the end of those who were warned, save God's sincere servants !
1 Ez Zaqqim is a foreign tree with an exceedingly bitter fruit, the name of which is here used for the infernal tree.
2 The unbelievers objected that the tree could not grow in hell, where the very stones (see Part I, p. 4, note 1) were fuel for the fire.
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Noah did call upon us, and a gracious answer did we give; and we saved him and his people from a mighty trouble ; [75] and we made his seed to be the survivors; and we left for him amongst posterity ‘peace upon Noah in the worlds; verily, thus do we reward those who do well; verily, he was of our believing servants.’ [80] Then we drowned the others.
And, verily, of his sect was Abraham; when he came to his Lord with a sound heart; when he said to his father and his people, ‘What is it that ye serve? with a lie do ye desire gods beside God? [85] What then is your thought respecting the Lord of the worlds ?’
And he looked a look at the stars and said, ‘Verily, I am sick!’ and they turned their backs upon him fleeing?. And he went aside unto their gods and said, ‘ Will ye not eat? [90] What ails you that ye will not speak?’ And he went aside to them smiting with the right hand.
And they? rushed towards him. Said he, ‘Do ye serve what ye hew out, when God has created you, and what ye make?’
[95] Said they, ‘Build for him a pyre, and throw him into the flaming hell!’ They desired to plot against him, but we made them inferior. Said he, ‘Verily, I am going to my Lord, He will guide me. My Lord! grant me (a son), one of the
1 Mohammedan commentators say that he pretended to a knowledge of astrology and made as though he saw a presage of coming sickness for himself in the stars, whereupon the others fled for fear of contagion, and Abraham took the opportunity of absenting himself from the festival which was being held in honour of the idols.
2 The people of the city.
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righteous ;’ and we gave him glad tidings of a clement boy.