in them, and they have been well pleased in him. This shall be great felicity. (120) Unto GOD belongeth the kingdom of heaven and of earth, and of whatever therein is; and he is almighty. die; but as it is a dispute among the Muhammadans whether Christ actually died or not before his assumption, and the original may be translated either way, I have chosen the former expression, which leaves the matter undecided." - Sale. See notes on chap. iii. 54, and chap. iv. 156. (120) Thus the Quran ends as it begins, with a declaration of the sovereignty of God-the cardinal doctrine of Islám. CHAPTER VI. ENTITLED SURAT AL ANÁM (CATTLE). Revealed at Makkah. INTRODUCTION. THIS chapter owes its title to the frequent mention of certain cattle in connection with the idolatrous rites of the people of Makkah. It relates to the controversy of Muhammad with the inhabitants of his native city during the period immediately preceding his flight to Madína. This is evident from the tone of the revelations. Everywhere the Quraish are spoken of as hopelessly infidel, as given over to unbelief, abandoned of God, and doomed to perdition. Having rejected the signs of the Quran, they will not hear though an angel were to speak audibly to them, though a written book were to descend to them from heaven, or though the Prophet were to ascend into the heavens or delve into the earth to bring them a sign to their own liking. Other passages contain commands addressed to the Prophet to withdraw from the idolaters and to have no fellowship with them. From all this it is clear that Muhammad had matured his plan of leaving Makkah and of retiring to Madína. Probable Date of the Revelations. From what has been said above, and relying especially upon the command of ver. 106, to retire from the idolaters, which all authorities agree in referring to the Hijra, we may fairly conclude that most of the revelations of this chapter were rehearsed in public for the first time during the year immediately preceding that event. There are, however, a few verses which belong to the number of Madina revelations. These are vers. 92-94 and 151-153. Noëldeke thinks the latter three are referred to Madina without good reason. requirements of ver. 152 certainly fit in best with the circum The stances of Islám after the Hijra. Their date may be considered as doubtful. This is, in our opinion, true also of vers. 118-121, 145, 146, and 159-165. The command to abstain from certain kinds of meat is said, on the authority of tradition, to have been delivered after the Night Journey, and might therefore have been delivered before the Hijra. But the requirements of the law of permitted and forbidden meats are so certainly an imitation of the Jewish law on the same subject, as to lead us to think that all passages referring to this law of Islám belong to Madina though found in chapters belonging to Makkah. As Muir has already pointed out, the habit was formed soon after the Hijra "of throwing into a former Sura newly-revealed passages connected with its subject."* Wherefore many passages like these, relating to rites borrowed from the Jews, may belong to Madína, though recited in a Makkan chapter. Why God did not grant the signs asked by unbelievers 36 Animals and birds to be brought into judgment 37 Infidels are deaf and dumb. Idolaters will call upon God in their distress Adversity and prosperity alike unmeaning to infidels Unbelievers, if impenitent, sure to perish Muhammad unacquainted with the secrets of God There shall be no intercessor on the judgment-day * Life of Mahomet, vol. ii. p. 268, note. 38 39, 40 41-44 45 46-48 49 50 VERSES The motives of professing Muslims not to be judged God the Omniscient and Sovereign Ruler God the Almighty Deliverer 51-54 55-57 58-61 62-64 Idolaters deserted by their gods on the judgment-day 95 Wicked leaders of the people-conduct and punishment 122-125 God's threatenings against unbelieving men and genii 126, 127 128-130 131 132, 133 God will punish those who accuse the prophets of impos R IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. || (1) PRAISE be unto GOD, who hath created the heavens and the earth, and hath ordained the darkness and the light: nevertheless they who believe not in the LORD equalise other gods with him. (2) It is he who hath created you of clay, and then decreed the term of your lives; and the prefixed term is with him: yet do ye doubt thereof. (3) He is God in heaven and in earth; he knoweth what ye keep secret and what ye publish, and knoweth what ye deserve. (4) There came not unto them any sign of the signs of their LORD, but they retired from the same; (5) and they have gainsaid the truth after that it hath come unto them; but a message shall come unto them concern (1) Darkness and the light. Literally, darknesses and the light, from which form some commentators infer that by darknesses is intended the many false religions, and by light the one true faith of Islám. These make God to be the author of evil as well as good. See the Tafsir-i-Raufi in loco. Abdul Qadir thinks the passage is directed against the eternal duality of the Magian religion. This also makes God the author of both good and evil. Equalise, i.e., they regard their idols as equal with God. (2) The term, &c. "By the last term some understand the time of the resurrection. Others think that by the first term is intended the space between creation and death, and by the latter that between death and the resurrection."-Sale. (3) He knoweth, &c. The omniscience of God is here very forcibly expressed. The speaker is, according to Muslim faith, God, and the passage should be introduced by Say (see note on chap. i.) These words are addressed to the unbelievers mentioned in ver. 1. (5) A message shall come. Coming destruction, either in this |