He only forbids you to make patrons of those who have fought against you for religion’s sake, and driven you forth from your homes, or have aided in your expulsion; and whoever makes patrons of them, they. are the unjust!
[10] O ye who believe! when there come believing women who have fled, then try them: God knows their faith. If ye know them to be believers do not send them back to the misbelievers ;—they are not lawful for them, nor are the men lawful for these ;—but give them? what they have expended’, and it shall be no crime against you that ye marry them, when ye have given them their hire. And do not ye retain a right over misbelieving women; but ask for what ye "have spent, and let them ask for what they have spent. That is God’s judgment: He judges between you, for God is knowing, wise !
And if any of your wives escape from you to the
1 Le. by their becoming converted to Isl4m. 2 T.e. to their infidel husbands. § The dowries.
p. 3
misbelievers, and your turn comes, then give to those whose wives have gone away the like of what they have spent; and fear God, in whom it is that ye believe.
O thou prophet! when believing women come to thee and engage with thee that they will not associate aught with God, and will not steal, and will not fornicate, and will not kill their children, and will not bring a calumny which they have forged between their hands and feet!, and that they will not rebel against thee in what is reasonable, then engage with them and ask forgiveness for them of God ;—verily, God is forgiving, compassionate.
O ye who believe! take not for patrons a people whom God is wrath against; they despair of the hereafter, as the misbelievers despair of the fellows of the tombs?!
Tue CHAPTER OF THE RANKS,
(LXI. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
What is in the heavens and what is in the earth celebrates the praises of God, for He is the mighty, the wise!
O ye who believe! say not what ye do not. It is most hateful to God that ye say what ye do not.
1 This is said by some commentators to mean foisting spurious children on to their husbands. * Te. of the resurrection of the dead.
p. 281
Verily, God loves those who fight in His cause in ranks as though they were a compact building ?.
[5] When Moses said to his people, ‘O my people! why do ye hurt me, when ye know that I am the apostle of God to you?’ and when they swerved, God made their hearts to swerve; for God guides not the people who work abomination !
And when Jesus the son of Mary said, ‘ O children of Israel! verily, 1 am the apostle of God to you, verifying the law that was before me and giving you glad tidings of an apostle who shall come after me, whose name shall be A‘hmed *!’—but when he did come to them with manifest signs, they said, ‘ This is manifest sorcery !’
verily, 1 am the apostle of God to you, verifying the law that was before me and giving you glad tidings of an apostle who shall come after me, whose name shall be A‘hmed *!’—but when he did come to them with manifest signs, they said, ‘ This is manifest sorcery !’
And who is more unjust than he who forges against God a lie when called unto Islam? but God guides not the unjust people.
They desire to put out the light of God with their mouths ; but God will perfect His light, averse although the misbeliever be !
He it is who sent His Apostle with guidance and the religion of truth to set it above all religion; averse although the idolaters may be.
[10] O ye who believe! shall I lead you to a merchandise which will save you from grievous woe?
To believe in God and His Apostle, and to fight strenuously in God’s cause with your property and
1 Who fight in close and unbroken lines.
? A‘hmed is equivalent in meaning to Mohammed, and means ‘Praised,’ ‘Laudable.’ The allusion is to the promise of the Paraclete in John xvi. 7, the Muslims declaring that the word mapdxAnros has been substituted in the Greek for mepixAurés, which would mean the same as A‘hmed. See Introduction, p. xlix.
p. 2
your persons; that is better for you if ye did but know !
He will pardon you your sins, and bring you into gardens beneath which rivers flow, and goodly dwellings in gardens of Eden ; — that is the mighty bliss ! .
And other things which ye love,—help from God and victory nigh! — so do thou give the glad tidings unto the believers!
O ye who believe! be ye the helpers! of God! as Jesus son of Mary said to the apostles, ‘Who are my helpers for God?’ Said the apostles, ‘We are God's helpers ?!’
And a party of the children of Israel believed, and a party misbelieved. And we aided those who believed against their enemies, and they were on the morrow superior !
THE CHAPTER OF THE CONGREGATION. (LXII. Medinah.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
What is in the heavens and what is in the earth celebrates the praises of God the King, the holy, the mighty, the wise!
He it is who sent unto the Gentiles* a prophet amongst themselves to recite to them His signs and to purify them, and to teach them the Book and
1 Ansér. 8 See Part I, p. 53 (Chapter III, verse 45). 5 See Introduction, p. xlvii, and Part I, p. 156, note.
p. 283
the wisdom, although they were before in obvious error.
And others of them have not yet overtaken them'!; but He is the mighty, the wise!
That is God’s grace, He gives it to whomsoever He will; for God is Lord of mighty grace.
[5] The likeness of those who were charged with the law and then bore it not is as the likeness of an ass bearing books: sorry is the likeness of the people who say God’s signs are lies! but God guides not an unjust people.
[5] The likeness of those who were charged with the law and then bore it not is as the likeness of an ass bearing books: sorry is the likeness of the people who say God’s signs are lies! but God guides not an unjust people.
Say, ‘O ye who are Jews! if ye pretend that ye are the clients of God, beyond other people; then wish for death if ye do speak the truth!’
But they never wish for it, through what their hands have sent before! but God knows the unjust.
Say, ‘Verily, the death from which ye flee will surely meet you ; then shall ye be sent back to Him who knows the unseen and the visible, and He will inform you of that which ye have done!’
O ye who believe! when the call to prayer is made upon the Congregation Day, then hasten to the remembrance of God, and leave off traffic; that is better for you, if ye did but know!
[10] And when prayer is performed, then disperse abroad in the land, and crave of God’s grace; and remember God much; haply ye may prosper!
But when they see merchandise or sport they flock to it and leave thee standing?! Say, ‘What is
1 T.e. by embracing Islam.
3 Friday, called before this’Harfibah. It was the day on which Mohammed entered Medinah for the first time.
* It is said that one Friday a caravan entered the town while Mohammed was conducting the public prayers, and the congregap. 4with God is better than sport and than merchandise, for God is the best of providers!’
Tue Cyapter or THE HypocritEs?. (LXIII. Medinah.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
When the hypocrites come to thee, they say, ‘We bear witness that thou art surely the Apostle of God ;’ but God knows that thou art His Apostle: and God bears witness that the hypocrites are liars!
They take their faith? for a cloak, and then they turn folks from God’s way :—evil is that which they have done! That is because they believed and then disbelieved, wherefore is a stamp set on their hearts so that they do not understand!
And when thou seest them, their persons please thee*; but if they speak, thou listenest to their speech: they are like timber propped up‘: they reckon every noise against them! They are the foe, so beware of them!—God fight against them, how they lie!
tion hearing the drums beat rushed out to see the sight, with the exception of about twelve of them.
* The disaffected portion of the inhabitants of Medfnah. See Introduction, p. xxxiv.
2 Or, by a various reading, ‘their oaths.’
5 Abdallah ibn Ubai, the leader of the ‘Hypocrites’ (see Introduction, p. xxxv), was a man of fine presence and eloquent address.
* I.e. though of tall and imposing presence, they are really like mere logs.
p. 285
[5] And when it is said to them, ‘ Come, and the Apostle of God will ask forgiveness for you!’ they turn away their heads, and thou mayest see them turning away since they are so big with pride!
p. 285
[5] And when it is said to them, ‘ Come, and the Apostle of God will ask forgiveness for you!’ they turn away their heads, and thou mayest see them turning away since they are so big with pride!
It is the same to them whether thou dost ask forgiveness for them, or whether thou dost not ask forgiveness for them,—God will not forgive them; verily, God guides not a people who work abomination!
They it is who say, ‘Expend not in alms upon those who are with the Apostle of God, in order that they may desert him !’— but God’s are the treasures of the heavens and the earth; but the hypocrites have no sense!
They say, ‘If we return to el Medinah, the mightier will surely drive out the meaner there- _ from;’ but to God belongs the might, and to His Apostle and to the believers; but the hypocrites do not know!
O ye who believe! let not your property nor your children divert you from the remembrance of God,—for whosoever does that, they are those who lose!
[10] But expend in alms of what we have bestowed upon you before death come on any one of you, and he says, ‘My Lord! wouldst thou but have respited me till an appointed time nigh at hand, then would I surely give in charity and be among the righteous!’ But God will never respite a soul when its appointed time has come: and God of what ye do is well aware!
286 THE QurR’AN. LXIV, 1-9.
Tue CHAPTER OF CHEATING.
(LXIV. Place of origin doubtful.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
What is in the heavens and what is in the earth celebrates God’s praises; His is the kingdom, and His is the praise, and He is mighty over all!
He it is who created you, and of you is (one) a misbeliever and (one) a believer ; and God on what ye do does look.
He created the heavens and the earth in truth; and has formed you and made excellent your forms ; and unto Him the j journey is!
He knows what is in the heavens and the earth, and knows what ye conceal and what ye display; for God knows the nature of men’s breasts!
[5] Has there not come to you the story of those who misbelieved before, and tasted the evil result of their affair, and for them was grievous woe?
That is because their apostles came to them with manifest signs, and they said, ‘Shall mortals guide us ?’ and they misbelieved and turned their backs. But God was independent of them; for God is rich and to be praised !
Those who misbelieve pretend that they shall surely not be raised: say,‘ Yea! by my Lord! ye shall surely be raised: then ye shall be informed of that which ye have done;’ for that is easy unto God.
So believe in God and His Apostle and the light which we have sent down; for God of what ye do is well aware!
On the day when he shall gather you to the day
p. 287
So believe in God and His Apostle and the light which we have sent down; for God of what ye do is well aware!
On the day when he shall gather you to the dayp. 287 of gathering, that is the day of cheating!! but whoso believes in God and acts aright, He will cover for him his offences, and will bring him into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for aye! that is the mighty bliss!
[10] But those who misbelieve and say our signs are lies, they are the fellows of the Fire, to dwell therein for aye! and evil shall the journey be!
No calamity befalls but by the permission of God: and whoso believes in God, He will guide his heart ; for God all things doth know!
So obey God and obey the Apostle?: but if ye turn your backs—our Apostle has only his plain message to preach!
God, there is no god but He; and upon Him let the believers rely !
O ye who believe! verily, among your wives and children are foes of yours: so beware of them! But if ye pardon, and overlook it, and forgive,—verily, God is forgiving, compassionate !
[15] Your property and your children are but a trial; and God, with Him is mighty hire!
Then fear God as much as ye can! and hear, and . obey, and expend in alms: it is better for yourselves. But whosoever is saved from his own covetousness— these are the prosperous!
If ye lend to God a goodly loan, He will double it for you, and will forgive you ; for God is grateful, clement !
1 T.e. both the righteous and the wicked will disappoint each other by reversing their positions, the wicked being punished while the righteous are in bliss.
3 This expression seems to indicate that this verse at least was revealed at Medinah.
p. 4
He knows the unseen and the visible ; the mighty, the wise !
THe CuapTer oF Divorce.
(LXV. Medinah.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
O thou prophet! when ye divorce women, then divorce them at their term ?, and calculate the term and fear God your Lord. Do not drive them out of their houses unless they have committed manifest adultery. These are God’s bounds, and whoso transgresses God’s bounds has wronged himself. Thou knowest not whether haply God may cause something fresh to happen after that 2.
And when they have reached their appointed time, then retain them with kindness, or separate from them with kindness; and bring as witnesses men of equity from among you; and give upright testimony to God. That is what He admonishes him who believes in God and the last day; and whosoever fears God, He will make for him a (happy) issue, and will provide for him from whence he reckoned not.
And whosoever relies on God, He is sufficient for him: verily, God will attain His purpose :—God has set for everything a period.
And such of your women as despair of menstrua-
And whosoever relies on God, He is sufficient for him: verily, God will attain His purpose :—God has set for everything a period.
And such of your women as despair of menstrua-
1 When they have had three periods of menstruation ; or, if they prove with child, after their delivery. See Part I, p. 34. * J.e. whether God may not reconcile them again.
p. 289
tion,—if ye doubt, then their term is three months; and such as have not menstruated too.
And those who are heavy with child their appointed time is when they have laid down their burden; and whosoever fears God, He will make for him an easy affair.
[5] That is God’s command, He has sent it down to you; and whosoever fears God He will cover for him his offences and will make grand for him his hire. ;
Let them! dwell where ye dwell, according to your means, and do not harm them, to reduce them to straits; and if they be heavy with child, then pay for them until they lay down their burdens; and if they suckle (the child) for you, then give them their hire, and consult among yourselves in reason; but if ye be in difficulties, and another woman shall suckle the child for him, let him who has plenty expend of his plenty; but he whose provision is doled out, let him expend of what God has given him; God will not compel any soul beyond what He has given it ;—God will make after difficulty ease !
How many a city has turned away from the bidding of its Lord and His apostles; and we called them to a severe account, and we tormented them with an unheard-of torment !
And they tasted the evil results of their conduct ; and the end of their conduct was loss !
[10] God prepared for them severe torment ;— then fear God, ye who are endowed with minds!
Ye who believe! God has sent down to you a
1 The divorced women. [9] U
290 THE QuR’AN. LXV, 11-LXVI, 2.
reminder ;—an apostle to recite to you God’s manifest signs ;—to bring forth those who believe and act aright from darkness into light! and whoso believes in God and acts right He will bring him into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever and for aye! God has made goodly for him his provision!
God it is who created seven heavens, and of the earth the like thereof. The bidding descends between them, that ye may know that God is mighty over all, and that God has encompassed all things with His knowledge!
Tue CuarterR oF PRo#rBiTIon}, (LXVI. Medinah.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
O thou prophet! wherefore dost thou prohibit what God has made lawful to thee, craving to please thy wives? but God is forgiving, compassionate!
God has allowed you to expiate your oaths ; for
Tue CuarterR oF PRo#rBiTIon}, (LXVI. Medinah.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
O thou prophet! wherefore dost thou prohibit what God has made lawful to thee, craving to please thy wives? but God is forgiving, compassionate!
God has allowed you to expiate your oaths ; for
1 This chapter was occasioned by Mohammed’s liaison with the Coptic girl Mary (see Introduction, p. xl), with whom he lay on the day due to‘Ayeshah or‘Hafsah. The latter was greatly enraged, and Mohammed to pacify her swore never to touch the girl again, and enjoined “Hafsah to keep the matter secret from the rest of his wives. She, however, revealed it in confidence to ‘Ayeshah 3 when Mohammed, annoyed at finding his confidence betrayed, not only divorced her, but separated himself from his other wives for the space of a month, which time he passed in Mary’s apartment. The chapter is intended to free him from his oath respecting Mary, and to reprove his wives for their conduct.
p. 291
God is your sovereign, and He is the knowing, the wise !
And when the prophet told as a secret to one of his wives a recent event, and when she gave information thereof and exposed it, he acquainted her with some of it and avoided part of it. But when he informed her of it, she said, ‘Who told thee this?’ he said, ‘ The wise one, the well-aware informed me.
‘If ye both turn repentant unto God,—for your hearts have swerved !—but if ye back each other up against him,—verily, God, He is the sovereign; and Gabriel and the righteous of the believers, and the angels after that, will back him up.
‘[5] It may be that his Lord if he divorce you will give him in exchange wives better than you, Muslims, believers, devout, repentant, worshipping, giving to fasting—such as have known men and virgins too.’
O ye who believe! save yourselves and your families from the fire, whose fuel is men and stones; —over it are angels stout and stern; they disobey not God in what He bids them, but they do what they are bidden!
O ye who disbelieve! excuse not yourselves today;—ye shall only be rewarded for that which ye have done.
O ye who believe! turn repentant to God with sincere repentance; it may be that thy Lord will cover for you your offences and will bring you into gardens beneath which rivers flow!—the day God will not disgrace the Prophet nor those who believe with him ; their light shall run on before them, and at their right hands! they shall say, ‘Our Lord! perfect for us our light and forgive us; verily, Thou art mighty over all!’
U2
p. 4
O thou prophet! fight strenuously against the misbelievers and hypocrites and be stern towards them; for their resort is hell, and an evil journey shall it be!
perfect for us our light and forgive us; verily, Thou art mighty over all!’
U2
p. 4
O thou prophet! fight strenuously against the misbelievers and hypocrites and be stern towards them; for their resort is hell, and an evil journey shall it be!
[10] God strikes out a parable to those who misbelieve: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot; they were under two of our righteous servants, but they betrayed them : and they availed them nothing against God; and it was said, ‘ Enter the fire with those who enter.’
And God strikes out a parable for those who believe: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, ‘My Lord, build for me a house with Thee in Paradise, and save me from Pharaoh and his works, and save me from the unjust people!’
And Mary, daughter of Imr4n, who guarded her private parts, and we breathed therein of our spirit and she verified the words of her Lord and His books, and was of the devout.
Tue CHAPTER OF THE KINGDOM. (LXVII. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
Blessed be He in whose hand is the kingdom, for He is mighty over all!
Who created death and life, to try you, which of you does best; for He is the mighty, the forgiving!
Who created seven heavens in stories; thou canst not see any discordance in the creation of the Merciful !
Why, look again! canst thou see a flaw? Thenp. 293 look again twice !—thy look shall return to thee driven back and dulled!
[5] And we have adorned the lower heaven with lamps; and set them to pelt the devils with’; and we have prepared for them the torment of the blaze !
And for those who disbelieve in their Lord is the torment of hell, and an evil journey shall it be!
When they shall be cast therein they shall hear its braying? as it boils—it will well-nigh burst for rage!
Whenever a troop of them is thrown in, its treasurers shall ask them, ‘Did not a warner come to you ?’
They shall say, ‘Yea! a warner came to us, and we called him liar, and said, “God has not sent down aught ; ye are but in great error!”
[10] And they shall say, ‘Had we but listened or had sense we had not been amongst the fellows of the blaze!’
And théy will confess their sins; but ‘Avaunt to the fellows of the blaze!’
Verily, those who fear their Lord in seeret, for them is forgiveness and a great hire!
Speak ye secretly or openly, verily, He knows the nature of men’s breasts !
Ay! He knows who created! for He is the subtle, the well-aware !
[15] He it is who made the earth flat for you; so walk in the spacious sides thereof and eat of His provision ; for unto Him the resurrection is!
1 See Part I, pp. 50, 51, note 2. 2 Cf. Chapters XXV, verse 12, and XXXI, verse 18.
p. 28
Are ye sure that He who is in the heaven will not cleave the earth with you, and that it then shall quake ?
1 See Part I, pp. 50, 51, note 2. 2 Cf. Chapters XXV, verse 12, and XXXI, verse 18.
p. 28
Are ye sure that He who is in the heaven will not cleave the earth with you, and that it then shall quake ?
Or are ye sure that He who is in the heaven will not send against you a heavy sand storm, and that ye then shall know how the warning was ?
But those before them did call the apostles liars, and what a change it was!
Or have they not looked at the birds above them expanding their wings or closing them ?—none holds them in except the Merciful One ; for He on everything doth look.
[20] Or who is this who will be a host for you, to help you against the Merciful ?—the misbelievers are only in delusion!
Or who is this who will provide you if He hold back His provision ?— Nay, but they persist in perverseness and aversion!
Is he who walks prone upon his face more guided than he who walks upright upon a straight path ?
Say, ‘It is He who produced you and made for you hearing and sight and hearts’—little is it that ye give thanks.
Say, ‘It is He who sowed you in the earth, and unto Him shall ye be gathered!’
[25] They say, ‘When shall this threat be, if ye do speak the truth ?’
Say, ‘The knowledge is only with God; and I am but a plain warner!’
And when they see it nigh, sorry shall be the faces of those who misbelieve ; and it shall be said, ‘This is that for which ye used to call!’
Say, ‘Have ye considered, whether God destroy me and those with me, or whether we obtain mercy,p. 295 yet who will protect the misbelievers from grievous torment ?’
Say, ‘ He is the Merciful; we believe in Him, and upon Him do we rely; and ye shall shortly know who it is that is in obvious error !’
[30] Say, ‘Have ye considered if your waters on the morrow should have sunk, who is to bring you flowing water ?’
THe CHAPTER OF THE PEN. (LXVIII. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate
God.
__N.! By the pen, and what they write, thou art not, by God's grace, mad! and, verily, thine is a hire that is not grudged! [5] and, verily, thou art of a grand nature? !
But thou shalt see and they shall see which of you is the infatuated.
Verily, thy Lord He knows best who errs from His way; and He knows best those who are guided.
Then obey not those who call thee liar; they would fain that thou shouldst be smooth with them, then would they be smooth with thee!
[10] And obey not any mean swearer®, a back-
1 The Arabic name of the letter nfin signifies both ‘a fish’ and ‘an inkstand ;’ the symbol is by some supposed to refer to Jonah, mentioned in verse 48, and by others to writing on the eternal tablets (see Part I, p. 2, note 2), to which the first words of the chapter apply.
2 For bearing so meekly the insults of the misbelievers.
5 The person meant is, probably, Walid ibn MugAdirah, the inveterate enemy of the prophet.
296 THE QuR’AN. LXVIII, 11-32.
2, note 2), to which the first words of the chapter apply.
2 For bearing so meekly the insults of the misbelievers.
5 The person meant is, probably, Walid ibn MugAdirah, the inveterate enemy of the prophet.
296 THE QuR’AN. LXVIII, 11-32.
biter, a walker about with slander; a forbidder of good, a transgressor, a sinner; rude, and base-born too; though he have wealth and sons !
[15] When our signs are recited to him he says, ‘Old folks’ tales !’
We will brand him on the snout !
Verily, we have tried them as we tried the fellows of the garden when they swore, ‘We will cut its fruit at morn!’
But they made not the exception’; and there came round about it an encompassing calamity from thy Lord the while they slept; [20] and on the morrow it was as one the fruit of which is cut.
And they cried to each other in the morning, ‘Go early to your tilth if ye would cut it!’
So they set off, saying privily to each other, ‘There shall surely enter it to-day unto you no poor person!’
[25] And they went early deciding to be stingy”.
And when they saw it they said, ‘ Verily, we have erred! Nay, we are forbidden (its fruit) !’
Said the most moderate of them, ‘Said I not to you, “unless ye celebrate God’s praises!”’
Said they, ‘Celebrated be the praises of our Lord! verily, we were unjust!’
[30] And they approached each other with mutual blame.
Said they, ‘O woe to us! verily, we have been outrageous! Haply our Lord may give us instead a _ better than it; verily, we unto our Lord do yearn.’
1 T.e. they did not add, ‘If God please !’ ? Or, according to another interpretation, ‘with a determined purpose.’
p. 297
Thus is the torment, but, verily, the torment of the hereafter is greater, if ye did but know!
Verily, for the pious with their Lord are gardens of pleasure !
[35] Shall we then make the Muslims like the sinners ? What ails you? how ye judge!
Or have ye a book in which ye can study, that ye are surely to have what ye may choose ?
Or have ye oaths binding on us until the judgment day that ye are surely to have what ye may judge?
[40] Ask them, which of them will vouch for this ?
Or have they partners, then let them bring their partners if they do speak the truth ?
On the day when the leg shall be bared’; and they shall be called to adore and shall not be able!
Lowering their looks, abasement shall attack them, for they were called to adore while yet they were safe! .
But let me alone with him who calls this new discourse a lie. We will surely bring them down by degrées from whence they do not know.
[45] And I will let them have their way! for my device is sure.
Or dost thou ask them a hire for it while they are burdened with debts ?
Or have they the knowledge of the unseen, so that they write ?
But wait patiently for the judgment of thy Lord, and be not like the fellow of the fish 2, when he cried out as he was choking with rage.
Or dost thou ask them a hire for it while they are burdened with debts ?
Or have they the knowledge of the unseen, so that they write ?
But wait patiently for the judgment of thy Lord, and be not like the fellow of the fish 2, when he cried out as he was choking with rage.
1 An expression signifying any great calamity or battle, because the non-combatants gird up their loins to be ready for flight. 2 Jonah.
p. 11
Had it not been that grace from his Lord reached him, he would have been cast out on the naked (shore) and blamed the while!
[50] But his Lord elected him, and made him of the pious.
The misbelievers well-nigh upset thee with their looks when they hear the reminder, and they say, ‘Surely he is mad!’
And yet it is but a reminder to the worlds!
THe CHAPTER OF THE INFALLIBLE. (LXIX. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
The Infallible, what is the Infallible 2? and what should make thee know what the Infallible is ?
Thamdd and ‘Ad called the Striking’ Day a lie; [5] but as for Thamdd they perished by the shock ; and as for ‘Ad they perished with the violent cold blast of wind, which He subjected against them for seven nights and eight days consecutively. Thou mightest see the people therein prostrate as though they were palm stumps thrown down, and canst thou see any of them left?
And Pharaoh and those before him of the overturned cities ? committed sins, [10] and they rebelled against the apostle of their Lord, and He seized them with an excessive punishment.
Verily, we, when the water surged, bore you on
1 Cf. Chapter XIII, verse 31, Part I, p. 236. ? Sodom and Gomorrah; cf. Part I, p. 183, note 1.
p. 299
it in a sailing ship, to make it a memorial for you, and that the retentive ear might hold it.
im And when the trumpet shall be blown with one blast, and the earth shall be borne away, and the mountains too, and both be crushed with one crushing ; [15] on that day shall the inevitable happen ; and the heaven on that day shall be cleft asunder, for on that day shall it wane! and the angels upon the sides thereof; and above them on that day shall eight bear the throne of thy Lord!
On the day when ye shall be set forth no hidden ‘thing of yours shall be concealed.
And as for him who is given his book in his right hand, he shall say, ‘Here! take and read my book. [20] Verily, I thought that I should meet my reckoning ;’ and he shall be in a pleasing life, in a lofty garden, whose fruits are nigh to cull—‘ Eat ye and drink with good digestion, for what ye did aforetime in the days that have gone by!’
take and read my book. [20] Verily, I thought that I should meet my reckoning ;’ and he shall be in a pleasing life, in a lofty garden, whose fruits are nigh to cull—‘ Eat ye and drink with good digestion, for what ye did aforetime in the days that have gone by!’
[25] But as for him who is given his book in his left hand he shall say, ‘O, would that I had not received my book! I did not know what my account would be. O, would that it! had been an end of me! my wealth availed me not! my authority has perished from me!’ [30] ‘ Take him and fetter him, then in hell broil him! then into a chain whose length is seventy cubits force him! verily, he believed not in the mighty God, nor was he particular to feed the poor : [35] therefore he has not here to-day any warm friend, nor any food except foul ichor, which none save sinners shall eat!’ ) I need not swear by what ye see or what ye do
1 T.e. death.
p. 4
not see, [40] verily, it is the speech of a noble apostle; and it is not the speech of a poet :—little is it ye believe!
And it is not the speech of a soothsayer,—little is it that ye mind!—a revelation from the Lord of the worlds.
Why if he had invented against us any sayings, [45] we would have seized him by the right hand, ' then we would have cut his jugular vein; nor could any one of you have kept us off from him.
Verily, it is a memorial to the pious; and, verily, we know that there are amongst you those who say it is a lie; [50] and, verily, it is a source of sighing to the misbelievers ; and, verily, it is certain truth!
Therefore celebrate the name of thy mighty Lord!
Tue CHAPTER OF THE ASCENTS.
(LXX. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
An asker ! asked for torment that must befall, for the unbelievers ; there is no repelling it ; from God the Lord of the ascents *, whereby ascend the angels
1 The person referred to is said to have been either Abu Gahl, who challenged Mohammed to cause a portion of the heaven to fall on them, see Chapter XXVI, verse 187, p. 97, or one Nad&r ibn el ‘H4reth, who said of Isl4m, ‘If this be the truth from Thee, then’rain down on us stones from heaven!’
2 Fither steps by which the prayers of the righteous or the angels ascend to heaven; or the word may refer to the vatious degrees of the angels, or to the seven heavens themselves. See Introduction, p. lxx.
p. 301
and the Spirit unto Him in a day whose length is fifty thousand years’. .
[5] Wherefore be patient with fair patience; verily, they see it as afar off, but we see it nigh !
The day when the heaven shall be as molten brass, and the mountains shall be like flocks of wool; [10] when no warm friend shall question friend ; they shall gaze on each other, and the sinner would fain give as a ransom from the torment of that day his sons and his mate, and his brother and his kin who stand by him, and all who are in the earth, that yet it might rescue him!
[15] Nay, verily, it is a flame,—dragging by the scalp! it shall call those who retreated and turned their backs and who amassed and hoarded !
Verily, man is by nature rash #! [20] when evil touches him, very impatient; when good touches him, niggardly; all save those who pray, who remain at their prayers, and in whose wealth is a reasonable due (set aside) [25] for him who asks and him who is kept from asking, and those who believe in a day of judgment, and those who shrink in terror from the torment of their Lord ;—verily, the torment of their Lord is not safe;—and those who guard their private parts, [30] except for their wives or the (slave girls) whom their right hands possess, for they are not to be blamed; but whoso craves beyond this, they are the transgressors; and those who observe their trusts and their compacts, and those who are upright in their testimonies, and those who keep their prayers, [35] these shall dwell in gardens honoured.
1 Cf. Chapter XXXII, verse 4, p. 135. 2 Cf. Chapter XVII, verse 12, p. 2.
p. 4
What ails the misbelievers that they hurry on before thee, crowding together on the right and on the left!? Does every man of them wish to enter the garden of pleasure ?
Nay, we created them of what they know!
[40] And I need not swear by the Lord of the easts and the wests?; verily, we are able to change them for others better, nor are we prevented !
So leave them to plunge in discussion, and to play until they meet that day of theirs which they are threatened with, the day when they shall come forth in haste from the graves, as though they flock to a standard! with their looks abashed; meanness shall cover them! That is the day which they were promised !
Tue CuHaptTer oF NOAH. (LXXI. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
Verily, we sent Noah to his people, ‘Warn thy people before there come to them a grievous torment!’
Said he, ‘O my people! verily, I am to you an obvious warner, that ye serve God and fear Him and obey me. He will pardon you your sins, and will defer you unto an appointed time ; verily, God’s
1 Cf. pp. 262, 263. ® T.e. of the east and the west; or of the various points of the horizon at which the sun rises and sets in the course of the year.
p. 303
appointed time when it comes will not be deferred, did ye but know!’
pp. 262, 263. ® T.e. of the east and the west; or of the various points of the horizon at which the sun rises and sets in the course of the year.
p. 303
appointed time when it comes will not be deferred, did ye but know!’
[5] Said he, ‘My Lord! verily, I have called my people by night and day, and my call did but increase them in flight; and, verily, every time I called them, that Thou mightest pardon them, they placed their fingers in their ears and tried to cover themselves with their garments and persisted, and were.very big with pride. Then I called them openly ; then I published to them and I spoke to them in secret, and I said, “ Ask forgiveness of your Lord, verily, He is very forgiving. [10] He will send the rain upon you in torrents, and will extend to you wealth and children, and will make for you gardens, and will make for you rivers. What ails you that ye hope not for something serious from God, when He has created you by steps!? Do ye not see how God has created the seven heavens in stories, [15] and has set the moon therein for a light, and set the sun for a lamp ? and God has made you grow out of the earth, and then He will make you return thereto, and will make you come forth therefrom ; and God has made for you the earth a carpet that ye may walk therein in broad paths.”’
[20] Said Noah, ‘My Lord! verily, they have rebelled against me, and followed him whose wealth and children have but added to his loss, and they have plotted a great plot, and said, “Ye shall surely not leave your gods: ye shall surely neither leave Wadd, nor Suwé’h, nor Yag#itu, nor Ya’dq, nor Nasr?, and they led astray many.”’ And thou
1 See Chapter XXII, verse 5, p. 56. ® For these five idols, see Introduction, p. xii.
p. 5
(Mohammed) wilt only increase the unjust in their error—{25] because of their sins they were drowned and made to enter into the fire, and they found no helpers against God !
And Noah said, ‘My Lord! leave not upon the earth one dweller of the misbelievers. Verily, Thou, if Thou shouldst leave them, they will lead astray Thy servants, and they will only bear for children Sinners and misbelievers. My Lord! pardon me and my two parents, and whomsoever enters my house believing, and (pardon) the believers men and women—but Thou shalt only increase the unjust in loss.’
Tue CHAPTER OF THE GINN. (LXXII. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
Say, ‘I have been inspired that there listened a company of the ginn', and they said, “We have heard a marvellous Qur’4n that guides to the right direction; and we believe therein, and we join no one with our Lord, for, verily, He—may the majesty of our Lord be exalted!—has taken to Himself neither consort nor son.
‘“ And, verily, a fool among us spake against God wide of the mark !
Ts] And we thought that men and ginn would never speak a lie against God.
‘“ And, verily, a fool among us spake against God wide of the mark !
Ts] And we thought that men and ginn would never speak a lie against God.
1 See Introduction, pp. xiii-xiv. The occasion of Mohammed’s preaching to the ginn was on his returning from his unsuccessful errand to 74’if; see Introduction, p. xxx.
p. 305
‘“And there are persons amongst men who seek for refuge with persons amongst the ginn!; but they increase them in their perverseness. And they thought, as ye thought, that God would not raise up any one from the dead.
‘“But we touched the heavens and found them filled with a mighty guard and shooting-stars; and we did sit in certain seats thereof to listen; but whoso of us listens now finds a shooting-star for him on guard.
‘“Tro] And, verily, we know not whether evil be meant for those who are in the earth, or if their Lord means right by them.
‘“ And of us are some who are pious, and of us are some who are otherwise: we are in separate bands.
‘“ And we thought that we could not frustrate God in the earth, and could not frustrate Him by flight.
‘“But, verily, when we heard the guidance we believed therein, and he who believes in his Lord shall fear neither diminution nor loss.
‘“ And, verily, of us are some who are Muslims, and of us some are trespassers; but those of us who are Muslims they strive after right direction ; [15] and as for the trespassers they are fuel for hell.”’
And if they? will go right upon the way, we will irrigate them with copious water to try them thereby; and whoso turns from the remembrance of his Lord He will drive him to severe torment.
And (say) that the mosques are God’s, and that ye
1 The pagan Arabs when they found themselves in a lonely place, such as they supposed the ginn to haunt, used to say, ‘I take refuge in the Lord of this valley from the foolish among his people !’
* The Meccans.
[9] xp. 4 should not call on any one with God, and that when God's servant! stood up to pray they? called out to him and well-nigh crowded upon him. [20] Say, ‘I only call upon my Lord, and I join no one with Him.’
Say, ‘ Verily, I cannot control for you either harm, or right direction.’
Say, ‘Verily, as for me none can protect me against God, nor do I find any refuge beside Him,— except delivering the message from God and His errands: and whoso rebels against God and His Apostle, verily, for him is the fire of hell for them to dwell therein for ever and for aye!’ :
[25] Until when they see what they are threatened with, then shall they surely know who is most weak at helping and fewest in numbers!
Say, ‘I know not if what ye are threatened with be nigh, or if my Lord will set for it a term. He knows the unseen, and He lets no one know His unseen, save such apostle as He is well pleased with : for, verily, He sends marching before him and behind him a guard!’
Say, ‘I know not if what ye are threatened with be nigh, or if my Lord will set for it a term. He knows the unseen, and He lets no one know His unseen, save such apostle as He is well pleased with : for, verily, He sends marching before him and behind him a guard!’
' That He may know that they have delivered the errands of their Lord, for He compasses. what they have, and reckons everything by number.
THe CHAPTER OF THE ENWRAPPED.
(LX XIII. Mecca.) In the name of the merciful and compassionate
God. O thou who art enwrapped! rise by night except a little—the half, or deduct therefrom a little, or
* Mohammed. 2 The ginn.
p. 307
add thereto, and chant the Qur’4n chanting. [5] Verily, we will cast on thee a heavy speech.
Verily, the early part of the night is stronger in impressions and more upright in speech!
Verily, thou hast by day a long employment; but mention the name of thy Lord and devote thyself thoroughly to Him, the Lord of the east and the west; there is no god but He; then take Him for a guardian !
[10] And endure patiently what they say, and flee from them with a decorous flight.
And leave me and those who say it is a lie, who are possessed of comfort; and let them bide for a while.
Verily, with us are heavy fetters and hell-fire, and food that chokes, and mighty woe!
On the day when the earth and the mountains shall tremble and the earth shall be as a crumbling sand-hill!
[15] Verily, we have sent unto you an apostle bearing witness against you, as we sent an apostle unto Pharaoh.
But Pharaoh rebelled against the apostle, and we seized him with an overpowering punishment.
Then how will ye shield yourselves if ye misbelieve from the day which shall make children greyheaded, whereon the heaven cleavés—its promise shall be fulfilled !
Verily, this is a memorial, and whoso will, let him take unto his Lord a way?
1 From verse 20 the rest of the sftrah seems from its style to belong to the Medinah period ; and there is a tradition ascribed to ‘Ayeshah that it was revealed a year later thari the earlier’ part of the chapter.
X 2
p. 9
[20] Verily, thy Lord knows that thou dost stand up to pray nearly two-thirds of the night, or the half of it or the third of it, as do part of those who are with thee; for God measures the night and the day; He knows that ye cannot calculate it, and He turns relentant towards you.
So read what is easy of the Qur'an. He knows that there will be of you some who are sick and others who beat about in the earth craving the grace of God, and others who are fighting in the cause of God. Then read what is easy of it and be steadfast in prayer, and give alms, and lend to God a goodly loan, for what ye send forward for yourselves of good ye will find it with God. It is better and a greater hire; and ask ye pardon of God: verily, God is for- ‘ giving, merciful !
Tue CHAPTER OF THE ‘COVERED!’ (LXXIV. Mecca.)
It is better and a greater hire; and ask ye pardon of God: verily, God is for- ‘ giving, merciful !
Tue CHAPTER OF THE ‘COVERED!’ (LXXIV. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
O thou who art covered! rise up and warn! And thy Lord magnify!
[5] And thy garments purify!
And abomination shun!
And grant not favours to gain increase! And for thy Lord await!
And when the trump is blown,—for that day is a
The first five verses of this chapter form the second revelation by the angel Gabriel in person, and the first after the Fatrah, or period of ‘Intermission.’ See Introduction, p. xxii.
p. 309
difficult day! [10] for the misbelievers aught but easy !
Leave me alone with him I have created, and for whom I have made extensive wealth}, and sons that he may look upon, and for whom I have smoothed things down. [15] Then he desires that I should increase! nay, verily, he is hostile to our signs! I will drive him up a hill! Then he reflected and planned! May he be killed,—how he planned! [20] Again, may he be killed—how he planned! Then he looked; then he frowned and scowled; then he retreated and was big with pride and said, ‘This is only magic exhibited! [25] this is only mortal speech !’—I will broil him in hell-fire! and what shall make thee know what hell-fire is? It will not leave and will not let alone. It scorches the flesh ; [30] over it are nineteen (angels).
We have made only angels guardians of the fire, and we have only made their number a trial to those who misbelieve; that those who have been given the Book may be certain, and that those who believe may be increased in faith; and that those who have been given the Book and the believers may not doubt; and that those in whose hearts is sickness, and the misbelievers may say, ‘What does God mean by this as a parable ?’
Thus God leads astray whom He pleases, and guides him He pleases: and none knows the hosts of thy Lord save Himself; and it is only a reminder to mortals !
[35] Nay, by the moon!
And the night when it retires !
1 The person meant is generally supposed to be Walid ibn MugAidirah, one of the chiefs of the Qurais.
310 THE QUR'AN. LXXIV, 37-LXXV, t.
And the morning when it brightly dawns!
Verily, it is one of the greatest misfortunes; a warning to mortals; [40] for him amongst you who wishes to press forward or to tarry!
Every soul is pledged! for what it earns; except the fellows of the right: in gardens shall they ask each other about the sinners!—‘ What drove you into hell-fire ?’
They shall say, ‘We weren't? of those who prayed; {45] we didn’t feed the poor; but we did plunge into discussion with those who plunged, and we called the judgment day a lie until the certainty? did come to us!’
But there shall not profit them the intercession of the intercessors.
[50] What ailed them that they turned away from the memorial as though they were timid asses fleeing from a lion?
did come to us!’
But there shall not profit them the intercession of the intercessors.
[50] What ailed them that they turned away from the memorial as though they were timid asses fleeing from a lion?
Nay, every man of them wished that he might have given him books spread open!
Nay, but they did not fear the hereafter !
Nay, it is a memorial! and let him who will remember it ; [55] but none will remember it except God please. He is most worthy of fear; and he is most worthy to forgive!
THe CHAPTER OF THE RESURRECTION.
(LXXV. Mecca.) In the namz of the merciful and compassionate God.
I need not swear by the resurrection day!
1 See Chapter LII, verse 21, p. 249, note 1. * See Part I, p. 78, note 1. 5 T.e. death.
p. 311
Nor need I swear by the self-accusing soul!
Does man think that we shall not collect his bones? Able are we to arrange his finger tips!
[5] Nay, but man wishes to be wicked henceforward! he asks, When is the resurrection day ?
But when the sight shall be dazed, and the moon be eclipsed, and the sun and the moon be together, [10] and man shall say upon that day, ‘Where is a place to flee to ?’—nay, no refuge! and to thy Lord that day is the sure settlement: He will inform man on that day of what He has sent forward or delayed!
Nay, man is an evidence against himself, [15] and even if he thrusts forward his excuses—.
Do not move thy tongue thereby to hasten it’. It is for us to collect it and to read it; and when we read it then follow its reading. And again it is for us to explain it.
[20] Nay, indeed, but ye love the transient life, and ye neglect the hereafter !
Faces on that day shall be bright, gazing on their Lord!
And faces on that day shall be dismal!
[25] Thou wilt think that a back-breaking calamity has happened to them!
Nay, but when the [soul] comes up into the throat, and it is said, ‘Who will charm it back ?’ and he will think that it is his parting [hour] And leg shall be pressed on leg?; [30] unto thy Lord on that day shall the driving be.
For he did not believe® and did not pray ; but
1 T.e. the revelation; see p. 16, note 2, and p. 43, note 2. The words are addressed to Mohammed by the angel Gabriel.
2 T.e. in the death struggle.
5 Or did not give in charity.
p. 8
he said it was a lie, and turned his back! Then he went to his people haughtily—woe to thee, and woe to thee! again woe to thee, and woe to thee!
Does man think that he shall be left to himself ?
Wasn't! he a clot of emitted seed? Then he was -congealed blood, and (God) created him, and fashioned him, and made of him pairs, male and female.
[35] Is not He able to quicken the dead ? \
. Tue CuHapTer oF Man. (LXXVI. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
Does there not come on man a portion of time when he is nothing worth mentioning? ?
[35] Is not He able to quicken the dead ? \
. Tue CuHapTer oF Man. (LXXVI. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
Does there not come on man a portion of time when he is nothing worth mentioning? ?
Verily, we created man from a mingled clot, to try him ; and we gave him hearing and sight. Verily, we guided him in the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful.
Verily, we have prepared for those who misbelieve chains and fetters and a blaze!
[5] Verily, the righteous shall drink of a cup tempered with Kafar’, a spring from which God’s servants shall drink and make it gush out as they please!
They who fulfil their vows, and fear a day, the evil which shall fly abroad, and who give food for His
1 See Part I, p. 78, note 1.
2 While in the womb.
5 Name of a river in Paradise, so called because it is white, cool, and sweet-smelling, as camphor is.
p. 313
love to the poor and the orphan and the captive. ‘We only feed you for God’s sake; we desire not from you either reward or thanks ; [10] we fear from our Lord a frowning, calamitous day!’
And God will guard them from the evil of that day and will cast on them brightness and joy; and their reward for their patience shall be Paradise and silk! reclining therein upon couches they shall neither see therein sun nor piercing cold'; and close down upon them shall be its shadows ; and lowered over them its fruits to cull; [15] and they shall be served round with vessels of silver and goblets that are as flagons—flagons of silver which they shall mete out! and they shall drink therein a cup tempered with Zingabil?, a spring therein named Silsabil! and there shall go round about them eternal boys; when thou seest them thou wilt think them scattered pearls; [20] and when thou seest them thou shalt see pleasure and a great estate! On them shall be garments of green embroidered satin and brocade ; and they shall be adorned with bracelets of silver ; and their Lord shall give them to drink pure drink! Verily, this is a reward for you, and your efforts are thanked.
Verily, we have sent down upon thee the Qur'an. Wherefore wait patiently for the judgment of thy Lord, and obey not any sinner or misbeliever amongst them. [25] But remember the name of thy Lord morning, and evening, and through the
1 Zamharir, the word here rendered ‘piercing cold,’ is by some authorities interpreted to mean ‘the moon.’ 2 Zingabil signifies ‘ ginger.’
p. 11
night, and adore Him, and celebrate His praises the whole night long.
Verily, these love the transitory life, and leave behind them a heavy day!
We created them and strengthened their joints ; and if we please we can exchange for the likes of them in their stead. Verily, this is a memorial, and whoso will, let him take unto his Lord a way.
[30] But ye will not please except God please! Verily, God is knowing, wise.
We created them and strengthened their joints ; and if we please we can exchange for the likes of them in their stead. Verily, this is a memorial, and whoso will, let him take unto his Lord a way.
[30] But ye will not please except God please! Verily, God is knowing, wise.
He makes whomsoever He pleases to enter into His mercy; but the unjust He has prepared for them a grievous woe!
Tue CHAPTER OF THOSE SENT. (LXXVII. Mecca.)
In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
By those sent in a series?!
And by those who speed swiftly!
And by the dispensers abroad !
And by the separators apart!
[5] And by those who instil the reminder, as an excuse or warning!
Verily, what ye are threatened with shall surely happen!
And when the stars shall be erased!
And when the heaven shall be cleft!
[10] And when the mountains shall be winnowed!
And when the apostles shall have a time appointed for them!
1 Either angels or winds, or as some interpret the passage, the verses of the Qur'an.
p. 315
For what day is the appointment made ?
For the day of decision! and what shall make thee know what the decision is ?
‘[15] Woe on that day for those who say it is a lie!
Have we not destroyed those of yore, and then followed them up with those of the latter day? Thus do we with the sinners.
Woe on that day for those who say it is a lie!
[20] Did we not create you from contemptible water, and place it in a sure depository unto a certain decreed term ? for we are able and well able too!
Woe on that day for those who say it is a lie!
[25] Have we not made for them the earth to hold the living and the dead? and set thereon firm mountains reared aloft? and given you to drink water in streams ?
Woe on that day for those who say it is a lie!
Go off to that which ye did call a lie! [30] Go off to the shadow of three columns, that shall not shade nor avail against the flame! Verily, it throws off sparks like towers,—as though they were yellow camels!
Woe on that day for those who say it is a lie!
[35] This is the day when they may not speak,— when they are not permitted to excuse themselves!
Woe on that day for those who say it is a lie!
This is the day of decision! We have assembled you with those of yore; if ye have any stratagem employ it now!
[40] Woe on that day for those who say it is a lie! :
Verily, the pious are amid shades and springs andp. 15 fruit such as they love-—‘ Eat and drink with good digestion, for that which ye have done!’
Verily, thus do we reward those who do well.
[45] Woe on that day for those who say it is a lie!
‘Eat and enjoy yourselves for a little; verily, ye are sinners !’
Woe on that day for those who say it is a lie!
And when it is said to them bow down, they bow not down.
Woe on that day for those who say it is a lie!
[50] And in what new discourse after it will they believe ?