covered it unto me. If ye both be turned unto God (for your hearts have swerved) it is well: but if ye join against him, verily God is his patron; and Gabriel, and the good man among the faithful, and the angels also are his assistants.** If he divorce you, his LORD can easily give him in exchange other wives better than you, women resigned unto God, true believers, devout, penitent, obedient, given to fasting, both such as have been known by other men, and virgins. O true believers, save your souls, and those of your families, from the fire whose fuel is men and stones, over which are set angels fierce and terrible; who disobey not God in what he hath commanded them, but perform what they are commanded. O unbelievers, excuse not yourselves this day; ye shall surely be rewarded for what ye have done. O true believers, turn unto GoD with a sincere repentance: peradventure your LORD will do away from you your evil deeds, and will admit you into gardens, through which rivers flow; on the day whereon GOD will not put to shame the prophet, or those who believe with him their light shall run before them, and on their right hands, and they shall say, LORD, make our light perfect, and forgive us: for thou art almighty. O prophet, attack the infidels with arms, and the hypocrites with arguments; and treat them with severity: their abode shall be hell, and an ill journey shall it be thither. GOD propoundeth as a similitude unto the unbelievers, the wife of Noah, and the wife of Lot: they were under two of our righteous servants, and they deceived them both: wherefore their husbands were of no advantage unto them at all, in the sight of God; and it shall be said unto them, at the last day, Enter ye into • When Mohammed found that Hafsa knew of his having injured her, or Ayesha, by lying with his concubine Mary on the day due to one of them, he desired her to keep the affair secret, promising, at the same time, that he would not meddle with Mary any more and foretold her, as a piece of news which might soothe her vanity, that Abu Beer and Omar should succeed him in the government of his people. Hafsa, however, could not conceal this from Ayesha, with whom she lived in strict friendship, but acquainted her with the whole matter: whereupon the prophet, perceiving, probably by Ayesha's beha viour, that his secret had been discovered, upbraided Hafsa with her betraying him, telling her that God had revealed it to him; and not only divorced her, but separated him from all his other wives for a whole month, which time he spent in the apartment of Mary. In a short time, notwithstanding, he took Hafsa again, by the direction, as he gave out of the angel Gabriel, who commended her for her frequent fasting and other exercises of religion, assuring him likewise that she should be one of his wives in paradise." "If ye are rebellious unto the prophet, his protectors are the Lord, Gabriel, and the true believers, and the angels will avenge him."-Savary. This sentence is directed to Hafsa and Ayesha, the pronouns and verbs of the second person being in the dual number. 7 See chap. 74; and the Prelim. Disc., sect. iv. p. 66. • These words will be spoken to the infidels at the last day. See chap. 57, p. 439. Who were both unbelieving women, but deceived their respective husbands by their hypocrisy. Noah's wife, named Wâila, endeavoured to persuade the people her husband was distracted; and Lot's wife, whose name was Wâhela (though some writers give this name to the other, and that of Wâila to the latter), was in confederacy with the men of Sodom, and used to give them notice when any strangers came to lodge with him, by a sign of smoke by day, and of fire by night. For they both met with a disastrous end in this world, and will be doomed to eternal misery in the next. In like manner, as Mohammed would insinuate, the infidels of his time 1 Al Beidâwi, ai Zamakh, &c. 179 and 183. Jallalo'ddin, al Zamakh • Seu chap. il, d hell fire, with those who enter therein. GOD also propoundeth as a similitude unto those who believe, the wife of Pharaoh; when she said, LORD, build me a house with thee in paradise; and deliver me from Pharaoh and his doings, and deliver me from the unjust people: and Mary the daughter of Imran; who preserved her chastity, and into whose womb we breathed of our spirit, and who believed in the words of her LORD, and his scriptures, and was a devout and obedient person.' CHAPTER LXVII. INTITLED, THE KINGDOM; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. [XXIX] BLESSED be he in whose hand is the kingdom, for he is almighty! Who hath created death and life, that he might prove you, which of you is most righteous in his actions: and he is mighty, and ready to forgive. Who hath created seven heavens, one above another: thou canst not see in a creature of the most Merciful any unfitness or disproportion. Lift up thine eyes again to heaven, and look whether thou seest any flaw: then take two other views; and thy sight shall return unto thee dull and fatigued. Moreover we have adorned the lowest heaven with lamps, and have appointed them to be darted at the devils, for whom we have prepared the torment of burning fire: and for those who believe not in their LORD is also prepared the torment of hell; an ill journey shall it be thither. When they shall be thrown thereinto, they shall hear it bray like an ass;' and it had no reason to expect any mitigation of their punishment, on account of their relation to himself and the rest of the true believers. dviz. Asia the daughter of Mozâhem. The commentators relate, that because she believed in Moses, her husband cruelly tormented her, fastening her hands and feet to four stakes, and laying a large millstone on her breast, her face, at the same time, being exposed to the scorching beams of the sun: these pains, however, were alleviated by the angels shading her with their wings, and the view of the mansion prepared for her in paradise, which was exhibited to her on her pronouncing the prayer in the text: at length God received her soul; or, as some say, she was taken up alive into paradise, where she eats and drinks.10 "Who preserved her virginity. Gabriel transmitted unto her the breath of the Lord."-Savary. On occasion of the honourable mention here made of these two extraordinary women, the commentators introduce a saying of their prophet, That among men there had been many perfect, but no more than four of the other sex had attained perfection; to wit, Asia the wife of Pharaoh, Mary the daughter of Imrân, Khadijah the daughter of Khowailed (the prophet's first wife), and Fâtema the daughter of Mohammed. It is also entitled by some The Saving, or The Delivering, because, say they, it will save him who reads it from the torture of the sepulchre. "Blessed is he who holdeth the reins of the universe, and whose power hath no bounds."-Savary. See chap. 15, p. 210. See chap. 31, p. 337. so Jallalo'ddin, al Zamakh. shall boil, and almost burst for fury. So often as a company of them shall be thrown therein, the keepers thereof shall ask them, saying, Did not ▲ warner come unto you? They shall answer, Yea, a warner came unto us: but we accused him of imposture, and said, God hath not revealed anv thing; ye are in no other than a great error: and they shall say, If we had hearkened, or had rightly considered, we should not have been among the inhabitants of burning fire: and they shall confess their sins; but far be the inhabitants of burning fire from obtaining mercy! Verily they who fear their LORD in secret shall receive pardon and a great reward. Either conceal your discourse, or make it public; he knoweth the innermost parts of your breasts: shall not he know all things who hath created them ; since he is the sagacious, the knowing? It is he who hath levelled the earth for you: therefore walk through the regions thereof, and eat of his provision; unto him shall be the resurrection. Are ye secure that he who dwelleth in heaven will not cause the earth to swallow you up? and behold, it shall shake. Or are you secure that he who dwelleth in heaven will not send against you an impetuous whirlwind, driving the sands to overwhelm you? then shall ye know how important my warning was. Those also who were before you disbelieved; and how grievous was my displeasure! Do they not behold the birds above them, extending and drawing back their wings? None sustaineth them, except the Merciful; for he regardeth all things. Or who is he that will be as an army unto you, to defend you against the Merciful? Verily the unbelievers are in no other than a mistake. Or who is he that will give you food, if he withholdeth his provision ? yet they persist in perverseness, and flying from the truth. Is he, therefore, who goeth grovelling upon his face, better directed than he who walketh upright in a straight way? Say, It is he who hath given you being, and endued you with hearing, and sight, and understanding; yet how little gratitude have ye!† Say, It is he who hath sown you in the earth, and unto him shall ye be gathered together. They say, When shall this menace be put in execution, if ye speak truth? Answer, The knowledge of this matter is with God alone: for I am only a public warner. But when they shall see the same nigh at hand, the countenance of the infidels shall grow sad and it shall be said unto them, This is what ye have been demanding. Say, What think ye? Whether God destroy me and those who are with me, or have mercy on us; who will protect the unbelievers from a painful punishment? Say, He is the Merciful; in him do we believe, and in him do we put our trust. Ye shall hereafter know who is in a manifest error. Say, What think ye? If your water be in the morning swallowed up by the earth, who will give you clear and running water? They shall hear the cries of despair. The fire shall but burn with greater fury Could they be destroyed, its fury would destroy them.”—Savary. This comparison is applied by the expositors to the infidel and the true believer. ↑ "How few are there who thank him for these benefits !"-Savary. CHAPTER LXVIII. INTITLED, THE PEN; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. Thou N. By the pen, and what they write, thou, O Mohammed, through the grace of thy LORD, art not distracted.* Verily there is prepared for thee an everlasting reward: for thou art of a noble disposition." shalt see, and the infidels shall see, which of you are bereaved of your senses. Verily thy LORD well knoweth him who wandereth from his path; and he well knoweth those who are rightly directed: wherefore obey not those who charge thee with imposture. They desire that thou shouldest be easy with them, and they will be easy with thee. But obey not any who is a common swearer, a despicable fellow, a defamer, going about with slander, who forbiddeth that which is good, who is also a transgressor, a wicked person, cruel, and besides this, of spurious birth;" although he be possessed of wealth and many children when our signs are rehearsed unto him, he saith, They are fables of the ancients. We will stigmatize him on the nose. Verily we have tried the Meccans, as we formerly tried the This letter is sometimes made the title of the chapter, but its meaning is confessedly uncertain. They who suppose it stands for the word Nûn, are not agreed as to its signi fication in this place; for it is not only the name of the letter N in Arabic, but signifies also an inkhern, and a fish: some are of opinion the former signification is the most proper here, as consonant to what is immediately mentioned of the pen, and writing, and, considering that the blood of certain fish is good ink, not inconsistent with the latter signification; which is, however, preferred by others, saying that either the whole species of fish in general is thereby intended, or the fish which swallowed Jonas (who is inentioned in this chapter), or else that vast one called Behemoth, fancied to support the earth, in particular. Those who acquiesce in none of the foregoing explications have invented others of their own, and imagine this character stands for the table of God's decrees, or one of the rivers in paradise, &c.' Some understand these words generally, and others of the pen with which God's decrees are written on the preserved table, and of the angels who register the saine. "I swear by the pen, and that which the angels write, it is not Satan, it is Heaven which inspireth thee."-Savary. In that thou hast borne with so much patience and resignation the wrongs and insults of thy people, which have been greater than those offered to any apostle before thee.' +"Thou professest the sublime religion."-Savary. * i. e. If thou wilt let them alone in their idolatry and other wicked practices, they will cease to revile and persecute thee. The person at whom this passage was particularly levelled is generally supposed to have been Mohammed's inveterate enemy al Walid Ebn al Mogheira, whom, to complete is character, he calls bastard, because al Mogheira did not own him for his son till he was eighteen years of age. Some, however, think it was al Akhnas Ebn Shoraik, who was really of the tribe of Thakîf, though reputed to be of that of Zahra.' "We will imprint a fiery mark upon his nose."-Savary. Which being the most conspicuous part of the face, a mark set thereon is attended with the utmost ignominy. It is said that this prophetical menace was actually made good, al Walid having his nose slit by a sword, at the battle of Bedr, the mark of which wound he carried with him to his grave.' By afflicting them with a grievous famine. See chap. 23, p. 284. 2 Al Zamakh., al Beidâwi, Yahya. "Ai Beidâwi. ⚫liden. Idem, Jallalo'ddin. ⚫liden owners of the garden; when they swore that they would gather the fruit thereof in the morning, and added not the exception, if it please God. wherefore a surrounding destruction from thy LORD encompassed it, while they slept; and in the morning it became like a garden whose fruits had been gathered. And they called the one to the other as they rose in the morning, saying, Go out early to your plantation, if ye intend to gather the fruit thereof: so they went on, whispering to one another, No poor man shall enter the garden upon you, this day. And they went forth early, with a determined purpose.† And when they saw the garden blasted and destroyed, they said, We have certainly mistaken our way: but when they found it to be their own garden, they cried, Verily we are not permitted to reap the fruit thereof. The worthier of them said, Did I not say unto you, Will ye not give praise unto God? They answered, Praise be unto our LORD! Verily we have been unjust doers. And, they began to blame one another, and they said, Woe be unto us! verily we have been trans gressors: peradventure our LORD will give us in exchange a better garden than this and we earnestly beseech our LORD to pardon us. Thus is the chastisement of this life: but the chastisement of the next shall be more grievous: if they had known it, they would have taken heed. Verily for the pious are prepared, with their LORD, gardens of delight. Shall we deal with the Moslems, as with the wicked? What aileth you that ye judge thus? Have ye a book from heaven, wherein ye read that ye are therein promised that which ye shall choose? Or have ye received oaths which shall be binding upon us to the day of resurrection, that ye shall enjoy what ye imagine? Ask them, which of them will be the voucher of this. Or have they companions who will vouch for them? Let them produce their companions, therefore, if they speak truth. On a certain day the leg This garden was a plantation of palm-trees, about two parasangs from Sanaa, belonging to a certain charitable man, who, when he gathered his dates, used to give public notice to the poor, and to leave them such of the fruit as the knife missed, or was blown down by the wind, or fell beside the cloth spread under the tree to receive it: after death, his sons, who were then become masters of the garden, apprehending they should come to want if they followed their father's example, agreed to gather the fruit early in the morning, when the poor could have no notice of the matter: but when they came to execute their purpose, they found, to their great grief and surprise, that their plantation had been destroyed in the night We have punished the Meccans, like unto the owners of the garden."-Savary. Literally, that they would cut it; the manner of gathering dates being to cut the clusters off with a knife. Marracci supposes they intended to cut down the trees, and destroy the plantation; which, as he observes, renders the story ridiculous and absurd. Or, as the original may also be rendered, like a dark night; it being burnt up and black. "Already they reckoned upon an assured harvest."-Savary. * The same expression is used, chap. 56, p. 437. For one advised this expedition, another approved of it, a third gave consent by his silence, but the fourth was absolutely against it. This passage was revealed in answer to the infidels, who said, If we shall be raised gain, as Mohammed and his followers imagine, they will not excel us; but we shall certainly be in a better condition than they in the next world, as we are in this." Or, as some interpret the word, idols; which can make their condition in the next life equal to that of the Moslems? • Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin. 'Al Beidâwi • Idein. |