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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1kind, and if asked to which of his national saints the camel belonged you will find that he has never even thought of the question at all. There is no point in attributing the mysterious footprint to the camel of Mohammed, for the celebrated “ night journey ” to heaven, the Prophet's only recorded aeronautic trip, was performed on Bordk, a creature with the feet of a mule. But Mohammed has a legend in the Qur'an of a certain “ Nebi Saleh,” who was sent as a prophet to the people of Thamfd, and whose divine mission was attested by the production of a she-camel from the rock. The author of “ El Isl4m ” certainly did visit the Sinaitic mountains, and may in all probability have taken the story from the national traditions of the Peninsula. The origin and history of Nebi Saleh is quite unknown to the present Bedawin inhabitants, but they nevertheless regard him with more national veneration than even, Moses himself. I should therefore conclude that the Nebi Sdéleh of the tomb in Wady es Sheikl, the prophet of the camel’s footprint, and the Sdleh of the Qur’4n are identical, and that the “people of Thamfid” are the Saracen inhabitants of Sinai, who preceded the Mohammedan invasion. Who then was Nebi S4leh? Looking at the veneration in which his memory is held, and at the character of the miracle attributed to him—the rock smitten with a rod, and a live camel, the greatest of Bedawin blessings, miraculously produced therefrom—with the subsequent rebellion of the people for whom the Prophet worked the sign, I fancy we may recognise in the tradition a distorted reminiscence of the Israelitish lawgiver himself.’ VII, 83-88. THE CHAPTER OF AL AARAF. 149
2THE CHAPTER OF AL AARAF. 149 Sho’haib’, who said, ‘O my people! serve God, ye have no god save Him. There has come to you a manifest sign from your Lord; then give good weight and measure, and be not niggardly of your gifts to men, and do not evil in the earth after it has been righted. That is better for you if ye are believers; and sit not down in every path, threatening and turning from the path of God those who believe in Him, and craving to make it crooked. Remember when ye were few and He multiplied you; and see what was the end of the evildoers! [85] And if there be a party of you who believe in what I am sent with, and a party who believe not, then wait patiently until God judges between us, for He is the best of judges.’ Said the crowd of those who were big with pride amongst His people, ‘We will of a surety turn thee out, O Sho’haib! and those who believe with thee, from our village; or else thou shalt return unto our faith.’ Said he, ‘What even if we be averse therefrom? We shall have devised a lie against God if we return unto your faith, after God has saved us from it; and what should ail us that we should return thereto, unless that God our Lord should please ? our Lord embraces everything in His knowledge ;—on God do we rely. O our Lord! open between us and between our people in truth, for Thou art the best of those who open?’ And the chiefs of those who disbelieved amongst } The Jethro of the Bible. * That is, ‘give us a chance,’ the idiom is still current in modern parlance. A shopkeeper, for instance, who has not sold anything all day, or who refuses a bargain, always says yefta‘h’allah, ‘never - mind ! God will give me a chance of selling it.’ 150 THE QUR'AN, VII, 88-98. his people said, ‘If ye follow Sho’hdib, verily, ye shall be the losers;’ then there took them the earthquake, and in the morning they lay in their dwellings prone. [90] Those who called Sho’hdib a liar, (were) as though they had not dwelt therein !—Those who called Sho’haib a liar, they were the losers then! And he turned away from them and said, ‘O my people! I preached to you the messages of my Lord, and I gave you good advice; how should I be vexed for a people who do misbelieve ?’ We have not sent unto a city any prophet except we overtook the people thereof with trouble and distress, that haply they might humble themselves; and then did we give them, in exchange for evil, good, until they increased and said, ‘ Distress and joy both touched our fathers ;’ then we overtook them suddenly ere they could perceive-—Had the people of the town but believed and feared, we would have opened up for them blessings from the heavens and from the earth; but they said it was a lie, so we overtook them for that which they had earned.
3[95] Were the people of these cities then secure that our violence would not come on them by night, while they slept? were the people of these cities secure that our violence would not come on them in the morning whilst they played ? were they secure from the craft of God? none feel secure from the craft of God except a people that shall lose. Is it not shown to those who inherit the earth after its (former) people, that, did we please, we would smite? them in their sins, and would set a stamp upon their hearts, and then they should not hear ? 1 The word is used of an arrow that hits a mark, and hence of any sudden calamity that falls on a man, VII, 99-113. THE CHAPTER OF AL AARAF. 151 These cities, we do relate to thee their stories. There came to them our apostles with manifest signs; but they did not at all believe in what they called a lie before——Thus doth God set a stamp upon the hearts of those who misbelieve. [100] Nor did we find in most of them a covenant; but we did find most of them workers of abomination. Then we raised up after them Moses with our signs to Pharaoh and his chiefs; but they dealt unjustly therewith, and see what was the end of the evildoers ! Moses said, ‘O Pharaoh ! verily, I am an apostle from the Lord of the worlds ; it is not right for me to speak against God aught but the truth. I have come to you with a manifest sign from my Lord; send then the children of Israel‘with me.’ Said ‘he, ‘If thou hast come with a sign, then bring it, if thou art of those who speak the truth.’ Then he threw his rod down, and lo! it was an obvious snake; [105] and he drew out his hand, and lo! it was white to the beholders. Said the chiefs of Pharaoh’s people, ‘Verily, this is surely a knowing magician ; he desires to turn you out of your land ;—what is it then ye bid?’ They said, ‘Give him and his brother some hope ; and send into the cities to collect and bring you every knowing magician.’ [110] And the magician came to Pharaoh and said, ‘Is there indeed a reward for us if we are conquerors?’ He said, ‘ Yea! and ye shall be of those who draw nigh unto me.’ They said, ‘O Moses! wilt thou cast down (thy rod) or shall we be (first) to throw?’ Said he, ‘Throw down;’ and when they threw down, they did enchant the people’s eyes, and made them dread, and brought a 152 THE QUR'AN. VI, 113-126.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1kind, and if asked to which of his national saints the camel belonged you will find that he has never even thought of the question at all. There is no point in attributing the mysterious footprint to the camel of Mohammed, for the celebrated “ night journey ” to heaven, the Prophet's only recorded aeronautic trip, was performed on Bordk, a creature with the feet of a mule. But Mohammed has a legend in the Qur'an of a certain “ Nebi Saleh,” who was sent as a prophet to the people of Thamfd, and whose divine mission was attested by the production of a she-camel from the rock. The author of “ El Isl4m ” certainly did visit the Sinaitic mountains, and may in all probability have taken the story from the national traditions of the Peninsula. The origin and history of Nebi Saleh is quite unknown to the present Bedawin inhabitants, but they nevertheless regard him with more national veneration than even, Moses himself. I should therefore conclude that the Nebi Sdéleh of the tomb in Wady es Sheikl, the prophet of the camel’s footprint, and the Sdleh of the Qur’4n are identical, and that the “people of Thamfid” are the Saracen inhabitants of Sinai, who preceded the Mohammedan invasion. Who then was Nebi S4leh? Looking at the veneration in which his memory is held, and at the character of the miracle attributed to him—the rock smitten with a rod, and a live camel, the greatest of Bedawin blessings, miraculously produced therefrom—with the subsequent rebellion of the people for whom the Prophet worked the sign, I fancy we may recognise in the tradition a distorted reminiscence of the Israelitish lawgiver himself.’ VII, 83-88. THE CHAPTER OF AL AARAF. 149
2THE CHAPTER OF AL AARAF. 149 Sho’haib’, who said, ‘O my people! serve God, ye have no god save Him. There has come to you a manifest sign from your Lord; then give good weight and measure, and be not niggardly of your gifts to men, and do not evil in the earth after it has been righted. That is better for you if ye are believers; and sit not down in every path, threatening and turning from the path of God those who believe in Him, and craving to make it crooked. Remember when ye were few and He multiplied you; and see what was the end of the evildoers! [85] And if there be a party of you who believe in what I am sent with, and a party who believe not, then wait patiently until God judges between us, for He is the best of judges.’ Said the crowd of those who were big with pride amongst His people, ‘We will of a surety turn thee out, O Sho’haib! and those who believe with thee, from our village; or else thou shalt return unto our faith.’ Said he, ‘What even if we be averse therefrom? We shall have devised a lie against God if we return unto your faith, after God has saved us from it; and what should ail us that we should return thereto, unless that God our Lord should please ? our Lord embraces everything in His knowledge ;—on God do we rely. O our Lord! open between us and between our people in truth, for Thou art the best of those who open?’ And the chiefs of those who disbelieved amongst } The Jethro of the Bible. * That is, ‘give us a chance,’ the idiom is still current in modern parlance. A shopkeeper, for instance, who has not sold anything all day, or who refuses a bargain, always says yefta‘h’allah, ‘never - mind ! God will give me a chance of selling it.’ 150 THE QUR'AN, VII, 88-98. his people said, ‘If ye follow Sho’hdib, verily, ye shall be the losers;’ then there took them the earthquake, and in the morning they lay in their dwellings prone. [90] Those who called Sho’hdib a liar, (were) as though they had not dwelt therein !—Those who called Sho’haib a liar, they were the losers then! And he turned away from them and said, ‘O my people! I preached to you the messages of my Lord, and I gave you good advice; how should I be vexed for a people who do misbelieve ?’ We have not sent unto a city any prophet except we overtook the people thereof with trouble and distress, that haply they might humble themselves; and then did we give them, in exchange for evil, good, until they increased and said, ‘ Distress and joy both touched our fathers ;’ then we overtook them suddenly ere they could perceive-—Had the people of the town but believed and feared, we would have opened up for them blessings from the heavens and from the earth; but they said it was a lie, so we overtook them for that which they had earned.
3[95] Were the people of these cities then secure that our violence would not come on them by night, while they slept? were the people of these cities secure that our violence would not come on them in the morning whilst they played ? were they secure from the craft of God? none feel secure from the craft of God except a people that shall lose. Is it not shown to those who inherit the earth after its (former) people, that, did we please, we would smite? them in their sins, and would set a stamp upon their hearts, and then they should not hear ? 1 The word is used of an arrow that hits a mark, and hence of any sudden calamity that falls on a man, VII, 99-113. THE CHAPTER OF AL AARAF. 151 These cities, we do relate to thee their stories. There came to them our apostles with manifest signs; but they did not at all believe in what they called a lie before——Thus doth God set a stamp upon the hearts of those who misbelieve. [100] Nor did we find in most of them a covenant; but we did find most of them workers of abomination. Then we raised up after them Moses with our signs to Pharaoh and his chiefs; but they dealt unjustly therewith, and see what was the end of the evildoers ! Moses said, ‘O Pharaoh ! verily, I am an apostle from the Lord of the worlds ; it is not right for me to speak against God aught but the truth. I have come to you with a manifest sign from my Lord; send then the children of Israel‘with me.’ Said ‘he, ‘If thou hast come with a sign, then bring it, if thou art of those who speak the truth.’ Then he threw his rod down, and lo! it was an obvious snake; [105] and he drew out his hand, and lo! it was white to the beholders. Said the chiefs of Pharaoh’s people, ‘Verily, this is surely a knowing magician ; he desires to turn you out of your land ;—what is it then ye bid?’ They said, ‘Give him and his brother some hope ; and send into the cities to collect and bring you every knowing magician.’ [110] And the magician came to Pharaoh and said, ‘Is there indeed a reward for us if we are conquerors?’ He said, ‘ Yea! and ye shall be of those who draw nigh unto me.’ They said, ‘O Moses! wilt thou cast down (thy rod) or shall we be (first) to throw?’ Said he, ‘Throw down;’ and when they threw down, they did enchant the people’s eyes, and made them dread, and brought a 152 THE QUR'AN. VI, 113-126.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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