unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! This shall be a day whereon they shall not speak to any purpose; neither shall they be permitted to excuse themselves. Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! This shall be the day of separation. we will assemble both you and your predecessors. Wherefore, if ye have any cunning stratagem, employ stratagems against me. Woe be, on tha day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! But the pious shall dwell amidst shades and fountains, and fruits of the kinds which they shall desire and it shal' be said unto them, Eat and drink with easy digestion, in recompense for that which ye have wrought; for thus do we reward the righteous doers.* Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! Eat, O unbelievers, and enjoy the pleasures of this life, for a little while: verily ye are wicked men. Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! unto them, Bow down; they do not bow down. unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! In what new revelation will they believe, after this And when it is said Woe be, on that day, CHAPTER IXXVIII. INTITLED, THE NEWS; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. [XXX.] CONCERNING what do the unbelievers ask questions of one another? Concerning the great news of the resurrection, about which they disagree. Assuredly they shall hereafter know the truth thereof. Again, Assuredly they shall hereafter know the truth thereof. Have we not made the earth for a bed, and the mountains for stakes to fix the same? And have we not created you of two sexes; and appointed your sleep for rest; and made the night a garment to cover you; and destined the day to the gaining your livelihood; and built over you seven solid heavens; and placed therein a burning lamp? And do we not send down from the clouds pressing forth rain, water pouring down in abundance, that we may thereby produce corn, and herbs, and gardens planted thick with trees? Verily the day of separation is a fixed period: the day whereon the trumpet shall sound, and ye shall come in troops to judgment; and the heaven shall be opened, and shall be full of gates for the angels to pass through; and the mountains shall pass away, and become as a vapour; verily hell shall be a place of ambush, a receptacle for the transgressors, who shall remain therein for ages: they shall not taste any refreshment therein, or any drink, except Doiling water, and filthy corruption: § a fit recompense for their deeds! For *Eat and drink at pleasure. Enjoy the reward of your virtues."-Savary. "Have we not spread out the earth like unto a carpet? Have we not raised the mountains to serve for a support unto it."-Savary. See chap. 16, p. 215, and chap. 31, p. 335. "We have drawn man and woman from nothing."-Savary. "Boiling and Dutrid water shall be their only drink."-Savary. they hoped that they should not be brought to an account, and they disbelieved our signs, accusing them of falsehood. But every thing have we computed, and written down. Taste, therefore: we will not add unto you any other than torment." But for the pious is prepared a place of bliss: gardens planted with trees, and vineyards, and damsels with swelling breasts, of equal age with themselves, and a full cup. They shall hear no vain discourse there, nor any falsehood. This shall be their recompense from thy LORD; a gift fully sufficient: from the LORD of heaven and earth, and of whatever is between them; the Merciful. The inhabitants of heaven or of earth shall not dare to demand audience of him: the day whereon the spirit Gabriel and the other angels shall stand in order, they shall not speak in behalf of themselves or others, except he only to whom the Merciful shall grant permission, and who shall say that which is right. This is the inCallible day. Whoso, therefore, willeth, let him return unto his LORD. Verily we threaten you with a punishment nigh at hand: the day whereon a man shall behold the good or evil deeds which his hands have sent before him; and the unbeliever shall say, Would to God I were dust! CHAPTER LXXIX. INTITLED, THOSE WHO TEAR FORTH; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. By the angels who tear forth the souls of some with violence; and by those who draw forth the souls of others with gentleness; by those who glide swimmingly through the air with the commands of God; and those who precede and usher the righteous to paradise; and those who subordinately govern the affairs of this world: on a certain day, the disturbing blast of the trumpet shall disturb the universe; and the subsequent blast shall follow it. On that day men's hearts shall tremble: their looks shall be cast down. The infidels say, Shall we surely be made to return whence we came? After we shall have become rotten bones, shall we be again raised to life? They This, say the commentators, is the most severe and terrible sentence in the whole Korân, pronounced against the inhabitants of hell; they being hereby assured that every change in their torments will be for the worse. In that day Gabriel shall remain standing, the angels shall keep their ranks. They shall speak to no one without the permission of the Highest, and they shall say only that which is fitting."-Savary. These are the angel of death. and his assistants; who will take the souls of the wicked in a rough and cruel manner, from the inmost part of their bodies, as a man drags up a thing from the bottom of the sea; but will take the souls of the good in a gentle and easy manner, from their lips, as when a man draws a bucket of water at one pull.' There are several other interpretations of this whole passage; some expounding all the five parts of the oath of the stars, others of the souls of men, others of the souls of warriors in particular, and others of war-horses: a detail of which, I apprehend, would rather tire than please. i. e. Shall we be restored to our former condition? 1Al Beidawi. say, This then will be a return to loss.* Verily it will be but one sounding of the trumpet, and, behold, they shall appear alive on the face of the earth." Hath not the story of Moses reached thee? When his LORD called unto him in the holy valley Towa, saying, Go unto Pharaoh; for he is insolently wicked: and say, Hast thou a desire to become just and holy; and I will direct thee unto thy LORD, that thou mayest fear to transgress. And he showed him the very great sign of the rod turned into a serpent: but he charged Moses with imposture, and rebelled against God. Then he turned back hastily; and he assembled the magicians, and cried aloud, saying, I am your supreme LORD. Wherefore GOD chastised him with the punishment of the life to come, and also of this present life. Verily herein is an example unto him who feareth to rebel. Are ye more difficult to create, or the heaven which God hath built? He hath raised the height thereof, and hath perfectly formed the same: and he hath made the night thereof dark, and hath produced the light thereof. After this, he stretched out the earth, whence he caused to spring forth the water thereof, and the pasture thereof; and he established the mountains, for the use of yourselves, and of your cattle. When the prevailing, the great day shall come, on that day shall a man call to remembrance what he hath purposely done: and hell shall be exposed to the view of the spectator. And whoso shall have transgressed, and shall have chosen this present life; verily hell shall be his abode; but whoso shall have dreaded the appearing before his LORD, and shall have refrained his soul from lust, verily paradise shall be his abode. They will ask thee concerning the last hour, when will be the fixed time thereof? By what means canst thou give any information of the same? Unto thy LORD belongeth the knowledge of the period thereof: and thou art only a warner, who fearest the same. The day whereon they shall see the same, it shall seem to them as though they had not tarried in the world longer than an evening, or a morning thereof.† CHAPTER LXXX. INTITLED, HE FROWNED; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. The prophet frowned, and turned aside, because the blind man came unto him: and how dost thou know whether he shall peradventure be cleansed "Assuredly this resurrection is chimerical."-Savary. viz. The second or third blast, according to different opinions. Or, They shall appear at the place of judgment. The original word al Sâbira is also one of the names of hell. See chap. 20, p. 256. Which had been created before the heavens, but without expansion." "It shall seem unto men, as if that they had abode but an evening, or a morning, in the tomb."-Savary. This passage was revealed on the following occasion. A certain blind man, named • Jallalo'ddin. from his sins, or whether he shall be admonished, and the admonition shal! profit him? The man who is wealthy, thou receivest respectfully; whereas it is not to be charged on thee, that he is not cleansed: but him who cometh unto thee earnestly, seeking his salvation, and who feareth God, dost thou neglect. By no means shouldst thou act thus. Verily the Korân is an admonition (and he who is willing retaineth the same;) written in volumes honourable, exalted, and pure; by the hands of scribes honoured, and just. May man be cursed! What hath seduced him to infidelity?* Of what thing doth God create him? Of a drop of seed doth he create him; and he formeth him with proportion; and then facilitateth his passage out of the womb afterwards he causeth him to die, and layeth him in the grave; hereafter, when it shall please him, he shall raise him to life. Assuredly, He hath not hitherto fully performed what God hath commanded him. Let man consider his food; in what manner it is provided. We pour down water by showers; afterwards we cleave the earth in clefts, and we cause corn to spring forth therein, and grapes, and clover, and the olive, and the palm, and gardens planted thick with trees, and fruits, and grass, for the use of yourselves and of your cattle. When the stunning sound of the trumpet shall be heard; on that day shall a man fly from his brother, and his mother, and his father, and his wife, and his children. Every man of them, on that day, shall have business of his own sufficient to employ his thoughts. On that day the faces of some shall be bright, laughing, and joyful and upon the faces of others, on that day, shall there be dust; darkness shall cover them. These are the unbelievers, the wicked. CHAPTER LXXXI. INTITLED, THE FOLDING UP; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. WHEN the sun shall be folded up; † and when the stars shall fall; and when the mountains shall be made to pass away; and when the camels ten Abdallah Ebn Omm Mactûm, came and interrupted Mohammed while he was engaged in earnest discourse with some of the principal Koreish, whose conversion he had hopes of; but the prophet taking no notice of him, the blind man, not knowing he was other wise busied, raised his voice, and said, O apostle of God, teach me some part of what God hath taught thee; but Mohammed, vexed at this interruption, frowned and turned away from him; for which he is here reprehended. After this, whenever the prophet saw Ebn Omm Mactûm, he showed him great respect, saying, The man is welcome, on whose account my Lord hath reprimanded me; and he made him twice governor of Medina.❜ * Being transcribed from the preserved table, highly honoured in the sight of God, kept pure and uncorrupted from the hands of evil spirits, and touched only by the angels. Some understand hereby the books of the prophets, with which the Koran agrees in substance." (The Mohammedans are faithful to this precept: they transcribe the Korân with the greatest exactness, and preserve it with the profoundest veneration.)-Savary. * "Perish the wicked! Who hath had the power to render him unfaithful?" Savary. 'As a garment that is to be laid by. "When the sun shall be covered with darkness."—Savary. e b months gone with young shall be neglected; and when the wild beasts shall be gathered together; and when the seas shall boil; and when the souls shall be joined again to their bodies; and when the girl who hath been buried alive shall be asked for what crime she was put to death; and when the books shall be laid open; and when the heaven shall be removed; and when hell shall burn fiercely; and when paradise shall be brought near; every soul shall know what it hath wrought. Verily I swear by the stars which are retrograde, which move swiftly, and which hide themselves; and by the night, when it cometh on; and by the morning, when it appeareth; that these are the words of an honourable messenger, endued with strength, of established dignity in the sight of the possessor of the throne, obeyed by the angels under his authority, and faithful and your companion Mohammed is not distracted. He had already seen him in the clear horizon: and he suspected not the secrets revealed unto him. Neither are these the words of an accursed devil.* Whither, therefore, are you going? This is no other than an admonition unto all creatures; unto him among you who shall be willing to walk uprightly but ye shall not will, unless GOD willeth, the LORD of all creatures. : See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv. p. 59. See ibid. pp. 59 and 61. See ibid. p. 59. For it was customary among the ancient Arabs to bury their daughters alive, as soon as they were born, for fear they should be impoverished by providing for them, or should suffer disgrace on their account. See chap. 16, p. 218. Or plucked away from its place, as the skin is plucked off from a camel which is flaying; for that is the proper signification of the verb here used. Marracci fancies the passage alludes to that in the Psalms, where, according to the versions of the Septuagint and Vulgate, God is said to have stretched out the heaven like a skin. • Or, I will not swear, &c. See chap. 56, p. 437, note d. (Savary prefers this reading.) 'Some understand hereby the stars in general; but the more exact commentators five of the planets, viz. the two which accompany the sun, and the three superior planets, which have both a retrograde and a direct motion, and hide themselves in the rays of the sun, or when they set. "By the night, when it spreads its shades; by the dawn, when it expands in new-born fires."-Savary. i. e. Gabriel. See chap. 53, p. 427. Some copies, by a change of one letter only, instead of dhananîn, read danînin; and hen the words should be rendered, He is not tenacious of, or grudges not to communicate o you, the secret revelations which he has received. Who has overheard, by stealth, the discourse of the angels. The verse is an answer to a calumny of the infidels, who said the Koran was only a piece of divination, or magic: for the Arabs suppose the soothsayer, or magician, receives his intelligence from those evil spirits who are continually listening to learn what they can from the inhabitants of heaven. Psalm civ. 2. |