shall be made bare; and they shall be called upon to worship, but they shall not be able. Their looks shall be cast down: ignominy shall attend them, for that they were invited to the worship of God, while they were in safety, but would not hear. Let me alone, therefore, with him who accuseth this new revelation of imposture. We will lead them gradually to destruction, by ways which they know not: and I will bear with them for a long time; for my stratagem is effectual. Dost thou ask them any reward for thy preaching? But they are laden with debts. Are the secrets of futurity with them; and do they transcribe the same from the table of God's decrees? Wherefore patiently wait the judgment of thy LoRD: and be not like him who was swallowed by the fish; when he cried unto God, being inwardly vexed. Had not grace from his LORD reached him, he had surely been cast forth on the naked shore, covered with shame: but his LORD chose him, and made him one of the righteous. It wanteth little but that the unbelievers strike thee down with their malicious looks, when they hear the admonition of the Korán; and they say, He is certainly distracted: but it is no other than an admonition unto all creatures. e CHAPTER LXIX. INTITLED, THE INFALLIBLE; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. THE infallible! What is the infallible? And what shall cause thee to understand what the infallible is? The tribes of Thamud and Ad denied as a falsehood the day which shall strike men's hearts with terror. But Thamud were destroyed by a terrible noise and Ad were destroyed by a "The wicked shall one day be unmasked."-Savary. This expression is used to signify a grievous and terrible calamity: thus they say War has made bare the leg, when they would express the fury and rage of battle.' с Because the time of acceptance shall be past. Al Beidâwi is uncertain whether the words respect the day of judgment, or the article of death: but Jallalo'ddin supposes them to relate to the former, and adds that the infidels shall not be able to perform the act of adoration, because their backs shall become stiff and inflexible. d i. e. By granting them long life and prosperity in this world; which will deceive them to their ruin. + If I prolong their days, it is but a snare which I spread for them."-Savary. ⚫ See chap. 52, p. 425. "Know they the mysteries of nature? Nevertheless, they write!"—Savary. That is, Be not impatient and pettish, as Jonas was. See chap. 21, p. 271. The original word al Hâkkat is one of the names or epithets of the day of judgment. As the root from which it is derived signifies not only to be or come to pass of necessity, but also to verify, some rather think that day to be so called because it will verify, and show the truth of what men doubt of in this life; viz. the resurrection of the dead, their being brought to account, and the consequent rewards and punishments.' “The inevitable day! How terrible will be that day! who can depict it unto thee?' -Savary. Arab. al Kâriât, or the striking; which is another name or epithe of the 'ast day : roaring and furious wind; which God caused to assail them for seven nights and eight days successively thou mightest have seen people during the same, lying prostrate, as though they had been the roots of hollow palm trees; and couldest thou have seen any of them remaining?* Pharaoh also, and those who were before him, and the cities which were overthrown,* were guilty of sin: and they severally were disobedient to the apostle of their LORD; wherefore he chastised them with an abundant chastisement. When the water of the deluge arose, we carried you in the ark which swam theren; that we might make the same a memorial unto you, and the retaining ear might retain it. And when one blast shall sound the trumpet, and the earth shall be moved from its place, and the mountains also, and shall be dashed in pieces at one stroke: on that day the inevitable hour of judgment shall suddenly come; and the heavens shall cleave in sunder, and shall fall in pieces, on that day: and the angels shall be on the sides thereof;1‡ and eight shall bear the throne of thy LORD above them, on that day. On that day ye shall be presented before the judgment seat of God; and none of your secret actions shall be hidden. And he who shall have his book delivered into his right hand shall say, Take ye, read this my book; verily I thought that I should be brought to this my account: he shall lead a pleasing life, in a lofty garden, the fruits whereof shall be near to gather. Eat and drink with easy digestion; because of the good works which ye sent before you, in the days which are past. But he who shall have his book deli vered into his left hand shall say, O that I had not received this book; and that I had not known what this my account was! O that death had made an end of me! My riches have not profited me; and my power is passed from me. And God shall say to the keepers of hell, Take him, and bind him, and cast him into hell to be burned: then put him into a chain of the length of seventy cubits:" because he believed not in the great God; and was not solicitous to feed the poor: wherefore this day he shall have no friend here; nor any food, but the filthy corruption flowing from the bodies of the damned, which none shall eat but the sinners. I swear by that which ye see, and that which ye see not, that this is the discourse of an honourable apostle, and not the discourse of a poet: how little do ye See chap. 54, p. 430. "The guilty were overthrown on the earth, like unto uprooted palm-trees. The Scourge spared not one of them."-Savary. viz. Sodom and Gomorrah. See chap. 9, p. 157, note 1. "Let it be a memorial unto the earth; let your hearts preserve the remembrance of it."-Savary. These words seem tntimate the death of the angels, at the demolition of their nabitation: beside the .ns whereof they shall lie like dead bodies. "An angel shall guard the entrance thereof."-Savary. The number of those who bear it at present being generally supposed to be but four to whom four more will be added at the last day, for the grandeur of the occasion." "Satiate thyself with the pleasures which are offered unto thee. They are the reward of the good which thou hast done upon earth."-Savary. i. e. Wrap him round with it, so that he may not be able to stir. • Or, I will not swear. See chap. 56, p. 437, note d. (This is the reading adopted by Savary Al Beidawi, Jallalo'ddin. velieve! Neither is it the discourse of a soothsayer: how little are ye admonished! It is a revelation from the LORD of all creatures Y Mohammed had forged any part of these discourses concerning us, verily we had taken him by the right hand, and had cut in sunder the vein of his neart; neither would we have withheld any of you from chastising him And verily this book is an admonition unto the pious; and we well know that there are some of you who charge the same with imposture: but it shall surely be an occasion of grievous sighing unto the infidels; for it is the truth of a certainty. Wherefore praise the name of thy LORD, the great God. CHAPTER LXX. INTITLED, THE STEPS; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. ONE demanded and called for vengeance to fall on the unbelievers : P† there shall be none to avert the same from being inflicted by GoD, the possessor of the steps: by which the angels ascend unto him, and the spirit Gabriel also, in a day whose space is fifty thousand years: wherefore bear "We should have seized him on the spot, and should have cut the vein of the heart. No one should have had the power to suspend our vengeance."-Savary. The person here meant is generally supposed to have been al Nodar Ebn al Hareth, who said. O God. if what Mohammed preaches be the truth from thee, rain down upon us a shower of stones, or send some dreadful judgment to punish us. Others, however, think it was Abu Jahl, who challenged Mohammed to cause a fragment of heaven to fall on them.' "The prophet hath been questioned concerning the punishments which are to come." -Savary. By which prayers and righteous actions ascend to heaven; or by which the angels ascend to receive the divine commands, or the believers will ascend to paradise. Some understand thereby the different orders of angels; or the heavens, which rise gradually one above another. T This is supposed to be the space which would be required for their ascent from the lowest part of the creation to the throne of God, if it were to be measured; or the time which it would take a man to perform a journey: and this is not contradictory to what is said elsewhere; (if it be to be interpreted of the ascent of the angels) that the length of the day whereon they ascend is 1000 years; because that is meant only of their ascent from earth to the lower heaven, including also the time of their descent." But the commentators generally, taking the day spoken of in both these passages to be the day of judgment, have recourse to several expedients to reconcile them, some of which we have mentioned in another place and as both passages seem to contradict what Mohammedan doctors teach, that God will judge all creatures in the space of half a day,' they suppose those large numbers of years are designed to express the time of the previous attendance of those who are to be judged; or else to the space wherein God will judge the unbelieving nations, of which, they say, there will be fifty, the trial of each nation taking up 1000 years, though that of the true believers will be over in the short space above-mentioned. "God is the author of them. He possesseth the celestial steps. By them the angels and Gabriel will ascend towards his throne on the day of judgment, the duration of which shall be fifty thousand years."-Savary. 'Al Zamakh., al Beidâwi. Prelim. Disc. sect. 4, p. 60. Al Zamakh. Al Beidâwi. Chap. 32, p. 339. See ibid p. 61, 62 the insults of the Meccans with becoming patience; for they see their punishment afar off, but we see it nigh at hand. On a certain day the heaven shall become like molten brass,* and the mountains like wool o various colours, scattered abroad by the wind: and a friend shall not ask a friend concerning his condition, although they see one another. The wicked shall wish to redeem himself from the punishment of that day, by giving up his children, and his wife, and his brother, and his kindred who showed kindness unto him, and all who are in the earth; and that this might deliver him: by no means: for hell fire, dragging them by their scalps, shall call him who shall have turned his back, and fled from the faith, and shall have amassed riches, and covetously hoarded them. Verily man is created extremely impatient: when evil toucheth him, he is full of complaint; but when good befalleth him, he becometh niggardly: except those who are devoutly given, and who persevere in their prayers; and those of whose substance a due and certain portion is ready to be given unto him who asketh, and him who is forbidden by shame to ask and those who sincerely believe the day of judgment, and who dread the punishment of their LORD: (for there is none secure from the punishment of their LORD:) and who abstain from the carnal knowledge of women other than their wives, or the slaves which their right hands possess: (for as lo them they shall be blameless; but whoever coveteth any woman besides these, they are transgressors :) and those who faithfully keep what they are intrusted with, and their covenant; and who are upright in their testimonies, and who carefully observe the requisite rites in their prayers: these shall dwell amidst gardens, highly honoured. What aileth the unbelievers, that they run before thee in companies, on the right hand and on the left? Doth every man of them wish to enter into a garden of delight? By no means: verily we have created them of that which they know. I swear" by the LORD of the east and of the west, that we are able to destroy them, and to substitute better than them in their room; neither are we to be prevented, if we shall please so to do. Wherefore suffer them to wade in vain disputes, and to amuse themselves with sport: until they meet their day with which they have been threatened; † the day whereon they shall come forth hastily from their graves, as though they were troops hastening to their standard: their looks shall be downcast; ignominy shall attend them. This is the day with which they have been threatened. *"* Like molten silver."-Savary. See chap. 17, p. 228. viz. Of filthy seed, which bears no relation or resemblance to holy beings: wherefore t is necessary for him who would hope to be an inhabitant of paradise, to perfect himself in faith and spiritual virtues, to fit himself for that place. "Or, I will not swear, &c. See chap. 56, p. 437, note d. (Savary prefers this reading.) The original words are in the plural number, and signify the different points of the horizon at which the sun rises and sets in the course of the year. See chap. 37, p. 366, note i. ↑ Suffer them to waste their lives in frivolous disputes. The day with which they are threatened shall come on them unawares."-Savary. 'Al Beidâ wi. CHAPTER LXXI. INTITLED, NOAH;* REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. VERILY We sent Noah unto his people, saying, Warn thy people, before • grievous punishment overtake them. Noah said, O my people, verily I am a public warner unto you; wherefore serve GOD, and fear him, and obey me; he will forgive you part of your sins; and will grant you respite until a determined time: for God's determined time, when it cometh, shall not be deferred; if ye were men of understanding, ye would know this. He said, LORD, verily I have called my people night and day; but my calling only increaseth their aversion: and whensoever I call them to the true faith, that thou mayest forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears, and cover themselves with their garments, and persist in their infidelity, and proudly disdain my counsel. Moreover I invited them. openly, and I spake to them again in public; and I also secretly admonished them in private; and I said, Beg pardon of your LORD; for he is inclined to forgive: and he will cause the heaven to pour down rain plentifully upon you, and will give you increase of wealth and of children; and he will provide you gardens, and furnish you with rivers. What aileth you, that ye hope not for benevolence in GOD; since he hath created you variously? Do ye not see how God hath created the seven heavens, one above another; and hath placed the moon therein for a light, and hath appointed the sun for a taper? God hath also produced and caused you to spring forth from the earth: hereafter he will cause you to return into the same; and he will again take you thence, by bringing you forth from your graves. And God hath spread the earth as a carpet for you, that ye may walk therein through spacious paths. Noah said, LORD, verily they are disobedient unto me; and they follow him whose riches and children do no other than increase his perdition. And they devised a dangerous plot against Noah: and the chief men said "Peace be with him."-Savary. i. e. Your past sins; which are done away by the profession of the true faith. "They cover their faces with their garments. They persist in error. They manifest only pride and obstinacy."-Savary. It is said, that after Noah had for a long time preached to them in vain, God shut up the heaven for forty years, and rendered their women barren." i. e. That God will accept and amply reward those who serve him? For some sup pose Noah's people made him this answer, If what we now follow be the truth, we ought not to forsake it; but if it be false, how will God accept, or be favourable unto us, whe have rebelled against him?3 That is, as the commentators expound it, by various steps or changes, from the ori. ginal matter, till ye become perfect men.* "He hath hung the moon in the firmament to reflect the light, and the sun to im part it."-Savary. 2 Al Zamakh. ⚫ Idem. See chap. 22, p. 274, and chap. 23, p. 281, &c. |