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CHAPTER LXXXII.

INTITI ED, THE CLEAVING IN SUNDER; REVEALED AT MECCA."

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

WHEN the heaven shall be cloven in sunder; and when the stars shall be scattered; and when the seas shall be suffered to join their waters ; and when the graves shall be turned upside down: every soul shall know what it hath committed, and what it hath omitted. O man, what hath seduced thee against thy gracious LORD, who hath created thee, and put thee together, and rightly disposed thee? In what form he pleased hath he fashioned thee. Assuredly. But ye deny the last judgment as a falsehood. Verily there are appointed over you guardian angels,' honourable in the sight of God, writing down your actions; who know that which ye do. The just shall surely be in a place of delight: but the wicked shall surely be in hell; they shall be cast therein to be turned, on the day of judgment, and they shall not be absent therefrom for ever. What shall cause thee to

understand what the day of judgment is? Again, What shall cause thee to understand what the day of judgment is? It is a day whereon one soul shall not be able to obtain any thing in behalf of another soul: and the command, on that day, shall be God's.

CHAPTER LXXXIII.

INTITLED, THOSE WHO GIVE SHORT MEASURE OR WEIGHT; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

WOE be unto those who give short measure or weight: who, when they receive by measure from other men, take the full; but when they measure unto them, or weigh unto them, defraud! Do not these think they shall be raised again, at the great day, the day whereon mankind shall stand before the LORD of all creatures? By no means. Verily the register of the actions of the wicked is surely in Sejjîn." And what shall make thee

* (Zamakhshari says, that the believer who shall read this chapter shall receive a divine favour for every drop of water which falls from the clouds, and another for each grave upon the face of the earth.)-Savary.

'See chap. 50, p. 421; and the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv. p. 51.

113

"Thou canst not doubt of it."-Savary.

Seijin is the name of the general register, wherein the actions of all the wicked, both men and genii, are distinctly entered. Sejn signifies a prison; and this book, as some think, derives its name from thence, because it will occasion those whose deeds are there recorded to be imprisoned in hell. Sejjîn or Sajin is also the name of the dungeon beneath the seventh earth, the residence of Eblis and his host; where it is supposed, by some, that this book is kept, and where the souls of the wicked will be detained till the resurrection. If the latter explication be admitted, the words, And what shall make thee to understand what Sejjin is should be enclosed within a parenthesis.

Jallalo'ddin, al Beidâwi. See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv. pp. 55, 56.

to understand what Sejjîn is? It is a book distinctly written. Woe be on .hat day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture; who denied the day of judgment as a falsehood! And none denieth the same as a falsehood, except every unjust and flagitious person who, when our signs are rehearsed unto him, saith, They are fables of the ancients. By no means but rather their lusts have cast a veil over their hearts. By no means. Verily they shall be shut out from their LORD on that day; and they shall be sent into hell to be burned: then shall it be said unto them by the infernal guards, This is what ye denied as a falsehood.* Assuredly. But the register of the actions of the righteous is Illiyyun:" and what shall cause thee to understand what Illiyyun is? It is a book distinctly written: those who approach near unto God are witnesses thereto. Verily the righteous shall dwell among delights: seated on couches they shall behold objects of pleasure; thou shalt see in their faces the brightness of joy They shall be given to drink of pure wine, sealed; the seal whereof shall be musk:P and to this let those aspire, who aspire to happiness :† and the water mixed therewith shall be of Tasnim, a fountain whereof those shall drink who approach near unto the divine presence. They who act wickedly laugh the true believers to scorn: and when they pass by them, they wink at one another: and when they turn aside to their people, they turn aside making scurrilous jests; and when they see them, they say, Verily these are mistaken men. But they are not sent to be keepers over them. Wherefore one day the true believers, in their turn, shall laugh the infidels to scorn: lying on couches they shall look down upon them in hell. Shall not the infidels be rewarded for that which they have done 2

"At the day of judgment, God shall envelope them in a veil, and shall plunge them into hell. Behold, will he say unto them, the torments which you treated as a chimera!" -Savary.

The word is a plural, and signifies high places. Some say it is the general register wherein the actions of the righteous, whether angels, men, or genii, are distinctly recorded. Others will have it to be a place in the seventh heaven, under the throne of God; where this book is kept, and where the souls of the just, as many think, will remain to the last day. If we prefer the latter opinion, the words, And what shall make thee to understand what Illyyun is? should likewise be enclosed in a parenthesis.

• Or, Are present with, and keep the same.

i. e. The vessels containing the same shall be sealed with musk, instead of clay. Some understand by the seal of this wine, its farewell, or the flavour it will leave in the mouth after it is drunk.

Let those who aspire to this happiness exert themecives to merit it."—Savary. Tasnîm is the name of a fountain in paradise, so called from its being conveyed to the highest apartments.

For they shall drink the water of Tasnim pure and unmixed, being continually and wholly employed in the contemplation of God; but the other inhabitants of paradise shall drink it mixed with their wine."

i. e. The infidels are not commissioned by God to call the believers to account, or to judge of their actions.

When they shall see them ignominiously driven into hell. It is also said that a door saall be shown the damned, opening into paradise, and they shall be bidden to go in but when they come near the door, it shall suddenly shut; and the believers within shall augh at them.

'Jallalo'ddin. See the Prelim. Disc. abi sup.

• Al Berdawi.

•Idem.

CHAPTER LXXXIV.

INTITLED, THE RENDING IN SUNDER; REVEALED AT MECCA."

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

WHEN the heaven shall be rent in sunder, and shall obey its LORD, and shall be capable thereof; and when the earth shall be stretched out,▾ and shall cast forth that which is therein, and shall remain empty, and shall obey its LORD, and shall be capable thereof: O man, verily labouring thou labourest to meet thy LORD, and thou shalt meet him. And he who shall have his book given into his right hand shall be called to an easy account, and shall turn unto his family with joy: but he who shall have his book given him behind his back shall invoke destruction to fall upon him, and he shall be sent into hell to be burned; because he rejoiced insolently amidst his family on earth. Verily he thought he should never return unto God: yea verily, but his LORD beheld him. Wherefore I swear by the redness of the sky after sun-set, and by the night, and the animals which it driveth together, and by the moon when she is in the full; ye shall surely be transferred successively from state to state." What aileth them, therefore, that they believe not the resurrection; and that, when the Koran is read unto them, they worship not? Yea: the unbelievers accuse the same of imposture: but God well knoweth the malice which they keep hidden in their breasts. Wherefore denounce unto them a grievous punishment, except those who believe and do good works: for them is prepared a never failing reward.

There are some who take this chapter to have been revealed at Medina.
Like a skin: every mountain and hill being levelled.

As the treasures hidden in its bowels, and the bodies which lie in their graves.

* Or, And thou shalt meet thy labour, whether thy works be good, or whether they be evil.

i. e. His relations or friends, who are true believers; or rather, to his wives and servants, of the damsels and youths of paradise, who wait to receive him.10

That is, into his left hand; for the wicked shall have that hand bound behind their back, and their right hand to their neck.

a

Or, I will not swear. See chap. 56, p. 437, note d. (Savary adopts this reading.) "By the night, and that which it enfoldeth in its shades.”—Savary.

i. e. From the state of the living, to that of the dead; and from the state of the dead, to a new state of life in another world.

• Or, hums no' themselves.

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CHAPTER LXXXV.

INTITLED, THE CELESTIAL SIGNS; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

d

By the heaven adorned with signs; by the promised day of judgment, by the witness, and the witnessed; cursed were the contrivers of the pit, of fire supplied with fuel; when they sat around the same, and were witnesses of what they did against the true believers and they afflicted them for no other reason, but because they believed in the mighty, the glorious God, unto whom belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth: and GOD is witness of all things. Verily for those who persecute the true believers of either sex, and afterwards repent not, is prepared the torment of hell; and they shall suffer the pain of burning.† But for those who believe, and do that which is right, are destined gardens beneath which rivers flow this shall be great felicity. Verily the vengeance of thy LoRD is severe. He createth, and he restoreth to life: he is inclined to forgive, and gracious; the possessor of the glorious throne, who effecteth that which he pleaseth. Hath not the story of the hosts of Pharaoh and

The original word properly signifies towers, which some interpret of real towers,' wherein it is supposed the angels keep guard; and others, of the stars of the first magni. tude but the generality of expositors understand thereby the twelve signs of the zodiac, wherein the planets make their several stations."

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The meaning of these words is very uncertain, and the explications of the commenta. tors consequently vary. One thinks the witness to be Mohammed, and that which is borne witness of to be the resurrection, or the professors of the Mohammedan faith; or else that these latter are the witness, and the professors of every other religion those who will be witnessed against by them. Another supposes the witness to be the guardian angel, and his charge the person witnessed against. Another expounds the words of the day of Arafat, the 9th Dhu'lhajja, and of the day of slaying the victims, which is the day fol lowing; or else of Friday, the day of the weekly assembling of the Mohammedans at their mosques, and of the people who are assembled on those days, &c.'

Literally, the lords of the pit. These were the ministers of the persecution raised by Dhu Nowas, king of Yaman, who was of the Jewish religion, against the inhabitants of Najrân: for they having embraced Christianity (at that time the true religion, by the confession of Mohammed himself), the bigoted tyrant commanded all those who would not renounce their faith to be cast into a pit, or trench, filled with fire, and there burnt to ashes. Others, however, tell the story with different circumstances.

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By the signs which are in the heavens, by the promised day, by the witness and the day of witnessing,' the dwellers of the cavern have perished. They kept up there a guilty fire while that they were seated around it, they devised plots against the be lievers "-Savary.

Or, as some choose to understand the words, And shall be witnesses against themselves. at the day of judgment, of their unjust treatment of the true believers.

Which pain, it is said, the persecutors of the Christian martyrs above-mentioned felt in this life; the fire bursting forth upon them from the pit, and consuming them. "Those who have burned the believers of both sexes, and who have not repented thereof, shall be plunged into the flames of hell.”—Savary.

See chap. 7, p. 127.

Yahya.

2 See chap. 15, p. 210, and chap. 72, p. 467. Yahya. • Iidem.

Jallalo'ddin, al Beidâwi,

Iidem. Vide Poc. Spec. p. 62. Ecchellens, Hist. Arab. part 1 e10; and Prid. Life of Mohammed, p. 61. Vide D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Art. Abou Navae. The day of resurrection.

Al Beidâwi, Yahya.

of Thamud reached thee? Yet the unbelievers cease not to accuse the divine revelations of falsehood: but GOD encompasseth them behind, that they cannot escape. Verily that which they reject is a glorious Korân; the original whereof is written in a table kept in heaven.'

CHAPTER LXXXVI.

INTITLED, THE STAR WHICH APPEARED BY NIGHT; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

By the heaven, and that which appeareth by night: but what shall cause thee to understand what that which appeareth by night is? it is the star of piercing brightness: every soul hath a guardian set over it. Let a man consider, therefore, of what he is created. He is created of seed

poured forth, issuing from the loins, and the breast bones." Verily God is able to restore him to life, the day whereon all secret thoughts and actions 'shall be examined into; and he shall have no power to defend himself, nor any protector. By the heaven which returneth the rain; and by the earth which openeth to let forth vegetables and springs: verily this is a discourse distinguishing good from evil; and it is not composed with lightness. Verily the infidels are laying a plot to frustrate my designs: but I will lay a plot for their ruin. Wherefore, O prophet, bear with the unbelievers let them alone a while.

CHAPTER LXXXVII.

INTITLED, THE MOST HIGH; REVEALED AT MECCA.t

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

PRAISE the name of thy LORD, the most high; who hath created, and completely formed his creatures: and who determineth them to various

See chap. 7, p. 123.

'And preserved from the least change or corruption. See the Prelim. Disc. sect. 3. p. 46, and sect. 4, p. 71.

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Some take the words to signify any bright star, without restriction: but others think some particular star or stars to be thereby intended; which one supposes to be the morning star, (peculiarly called al Târek, or the appearing by night;) another, Saturn, (that planet being by the Arabs surnamed al Thakeb, or the piercing, as it was by the Greeks, Phænon or the shining ;) and a third, the Pleiades.

By the heaven, and the nocturnal star: who shall depict unto thee this star, the fires of which are penetrating ?"-Savary.

i. e. From the loins of the man, and the breast bones of the woman.'

• Or, as some expound it, Which performeth its periodic motion, returning to the point from whence it began the same. The words seem designed to express the alternate returns of the different seasons of the year.

▸ Some take the first word of this chapter, viz. Praise, for its title.

↑ "The believer who shall read the chapter, intitled the Most High, shall receive ter

• Al Beidâwi, Yahya.

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