CHAPTER CXI. INTITLED, ABU LAHEB; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. THE hands of Abu Laheb shall perish, and he shall perish. riches shall not profit him, neither that which he hath gained." go down to be burned into flaming fire; and his wife also, wood, having on her neck a cord of twisted fibres of a palm-tree. His He shall bearing CHAPTER CXII. INTITLED, THE DECLARATION OF GOD'S UNITY;' WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. SAY, God is one God; the eternal GoD: he begetteth not, neither is he negutten: and there is not any one like unto him. Abu Laheb was the surname of Abd'al Uzza, one of the sons of Abd'almotalleb, and uncle to Mohammed. He was a most bitter enemy to his nephew, and opposed the estab lishment of his new religion to the utmost of his power. When that prophet, in obedience to the command he had received to admonish his relations, had called them all together, and told them that he was a warner sent unto them before a grievous chastisement, Abc Laheb cried out, Mayest thou perish! hast thou called us together for this? and took up a stone to cast at him. Whereupon this passage was revealed. By the hands of Abu Laheb some commentators, by a synecdoche, understand his per son; others, by a metonymy, his affairs in general, they being transacted with those members; or his hopes in this world, and the next. He died of grief and vexation at the defeat his friends had received at Bedr, surviving that misfortune but seven days. They add, that his corpse was left above ground three days, till it stank, and then some negroes were hired to bury him." * "The power of Abu Laheb hath vanished. He himself hath perished.”—Savary. And accordingly his great possessions, and the rank and esteem in which he lived a Mecca, were of no service to him, nor could protect him against the vengeance of God Al Beidawi mentions also the loss of his son Otba, who was torn to pieces by a lion, in the way to Syria, though surrounded by the whole caravan. • Arab. nâr dhâ: laheb; alluding to the surname of Abu Laheb, which signifies the father of flames. P Her name was Omm Jemîl; she was the daughter of Harb, and sister of Abu Sofiân. For fuel in hell; because she fomented the hatred which her husband bore to Mo hammed; or, bearing a bundle of thorns and brambles, because she carried such, and strewed them by night in the prophet's way." This chapter is held in particular veneration by the Mohammedans, and declared, by a tradition of their prophet, to be equal in value to a third part of the whole Koran. It is said to have been revealed in answer to the Koreish, who asked Mohammed concerning the distinguishing attributes of the God he invited them to worship. See the Prelim. Disc. sect. 2. p. 31. Vit. Mohammed, p. 57. 2 Al Beidâwi. Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin, &c. 1 Abuf 3 * Idem, Jallalo'ddin. • Iidem. CHAPTER CXIII. INTITLED, THE DAY-BREAK; WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. SAY, I fly for refuge unto the LORD of the day-break, that he may deliver me from the mischief of those things which he hath created; and from the mischief of the night, when it cometh on;"† and from the mischief of women blowing on knots; and from the mischief of the envious, when he envieth. CHAPTER CXIV. INTITLED, MEN; WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED.' IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. SAY, I fly for refuge unto the LORD of men, the king of men, the GOD of men, that he may deliver me from the mischief of the whisperer who slily withdraweth, who whispereth evil suggestions into the breasts of men; from genii and men. The original word properly signifies a cleaving, and denotes, says al Beidâwi, the production of all things in general from the darkness of privation to the light of existence, and especially of those things which proceed from others, as springs, rain, plants, children, &c. and hence it is used more particularly to signify the breaking forth of the light from darkness, which is a most wonderful instance of the divine power. *Say, I put my trust in the God of the morning."-Savary. i. e. From the mischiefs proceeding either from the perverseness and evil choice of those beings which have a power to choose, or the natural effects of necessary agents, as fire, poison, &c. the world being good in the whole, though evils may follow from those two causes.' "Or, as the words may be rendered, From the mischief of the moon when she is eclipsed. That he may deliver me from the evils with which the human race is surrounded; from the influence of the moon, shrouded in darkness."-Savary. * That is, of witches, who used to tie knots in a cord, and to blow on them, uttering at the same time certain magical words over them, in order to work on, or debilitate the person they had a mind to injure. This was a common practice in former days: what they call in France, Nouër l'eguillette, and the knots which the wizards in the northern parts tie, when they sell mariners a wind, (if the stories told of them be true,) are also relics of the same superstition. The commentators relate, the Lobeid, a Jew, with the assistance of his daughters, bewitched Mohammed, by tying eleven knots on a cord, which they hid in a well: where upon Mohammed falling ill, God revealed this chapter and the following, and Gabriel acquainted him with the use he was to make of them, and of the place where the cord was hidden: according to whose directions the prophet sent Ali to fetch the cord, and the same being brought, he repeated the two chapters over it, and at every verse (for they consist of eleven), a knot was loosed, till on finishing the last words, he was entirely freed from the charm." (The Mohammedans have an implicit faith in the efficacy of the words contained in these two chapters. They consider them as a sovereign specific against magic, lunar influences, and the temptations of the evil spirit. They never fail to repeat theni evening and morning.)-Savary. This chapter was revealed on the same occasion, and at the same time with the former. i. e. The devil; who withdraweth when a man mentioneth God, or hath recourse to his protection. "That he may deliver me from the temptations of Satan.”—Savary. • Al Beidâwi • Vide Virgil. in Pharmaceutria. 'Al Beidawi, Jallalo'ddin. AN INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS CONTAINED IN THE KORAN, AARON, vide Moses. Al Abbâs, one of Mohammed's uncles, Abdallah Dhu'lbajadîn, 161, n. Abdallah Ebn Omm Mactum, a blind Abdallah Ebn Rawâha, rebukes Ebn Abdallah Ebn Saad, one of Mohammed's amanuenses, imagines himselfinspired, Abdallah Ebn Salam. a Jew intimate with Mohammed, his honesty, 45, n.; Abd Menáf, a dispute between his de- Abel, vide Cain; his ram sacrificed by Abraha al Ashram, king of Yaman, his Abu Amer, vide Amer, &c. Ad, a potent tribe of Arabs, destroyed for their infidelity, 123, 282, 305, 390, Adam, traditions concerning his creation, Adultery, its punishment, 37, 63; what Adversaries, the dispute of two termi- Ahmed, the name under which Moham- Aila, or Elath, the sabbath-breakers there Al Akhnas, a hypocrite, 24, n., 460, n. Alms recommended, 6, 14, 23, 118, 438; Amena, Mohammed's mother, he is not Ammâr Ebn Yâser, tortured on account Amru Ebn Lohai, the great introducer Amru (Banu) builds a mosque at Koba, 162, n. Anam, the name of Lokmân's son, 336, n. Animals, irrational, will be raised at the Ans Ebn al Nadar, his behaviour at Ohod, Ansars, or helpers, who, 160, n.; three speech to them on the approach of Apostles were not believed who wrought Apparel, what kind ought to be worn by Arabians, their acuteness, 115; their cus Arafat, Mount, why so called, 5, n.; the Arbad, vide Amer. Al Arem, the inundation of, 353, n. Arrows for divination forbidden, 81. Asaf, Solomon's vizir, 312, n. Ashama, king of Ethiopia, embraces Mo- Astrology, hinted at, 57. Al Aswad al Ansi, the false prophet, 89, n. Ebn al Motalleb, two of Mohammed's Aws and Khazrai, their enmity, 48, n. nzer, the name given to Terah, Abra- Azrail, the angel of death, why appointed Ants, the valley of, 310; their queen's | Baar, the chief idol of the Chaldears, 268, |