rapid motion; and by those which disperse his commands, by divulging them through the earth; and by those which separate truth from falsehood, by distinguishing the same; and by those which communicate the divine admonitions, to excuse, or to threaten: verily that which ye are promised is inevitable. When the stars, therefore, shall be put out, and when the heaven shall be cloven in sunder, and when the mountains shall be winnowed, and when the apostles shall have a time assigned to them to appear and bear testimony against their respective people; to what a day shall that appointment be deferred! to the day of separation: and wha、 shall cause thee to understand what the day of separation is? On that day, woe be unto them who accused the prophets of imposture! Have we not destroyed the obstinate unbelievers of old? We will also cause those of the latter times to follow them. Thus do we deal with the wicked. Woe be, on that day, unto them who accused the prophets of imposture! Have we not created you of a contemptible drop of seed, which we placed in a sure repository, until the fixed term of delivery? And we were able to do this: for we are most powerful. On that day, woe be unto those who accused the prophets of imposture: Have we not made the earth to contain the living and the dead, and placed therein stable and lofty mountains, and given you fresh water to drink? Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! It shall be said unto them, Go ye to the punishment which ye denied as a falsehood: go ye into the shadow of the smoke of hell, which shall ascend in three columns, and shall not shade you from the heat, neither shall it be of service against the flame; but it shall cast forth sparks as big as towers, resembling yellow camels in color. Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! This shall be a day whereon they shall not speak to any pur pose; 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 that 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 shall be said unto them, Eat and drink with easy diges tion, 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! And when it is said unto them, Bow down; they do not bow down. Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! In what new revelation will they believe, after this. CHAPTER LXXVIII. INTITLED, THE NEWS; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. 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 vapor; 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 boiling water, and filthy corruption: a fit recompense for their deeds! For they hoped that they should not be brought to an account, and they disbelieved our signs, accusing them of falsehood. But everything 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 infallible 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 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 from his sins, or whether he shall be admonished, and the admonition shall 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 Koran is an admonition (and he who is willing retaineth the same;) written in volumes honorable, exalted, and pure; by the hands of scribes honored, 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. |