And the magicians discussed their plan, and spake apart in secret:
They said, "These two are surely sorcerers: fain would they drive you from your land by their sorceries, and lead away in their paths your chiefest men:
So muster your craft: then come in order: well this day shall it be for him, who shall gain the upper hand."
They said, "O Moses, wilt thou first cast down thy rod, or shall we be the first who cast?"
He said, "Yes, cast ye down first." And lo! by their enchantment their cords and rods seemed to him as if they ran.
And Moses conceived a secret fear within him.
We said, "Fear not, for thou shalt be the uppermost:
Cast forth then what is in thy right hand: it shall swallow up what they have produced: they have only produced the deceit of an enchanter: and come where he may, ill shall an enchanter fare."
And the magicians fell down and worshipped. They said,
"We believe in the Lord of Aaron and of Moses."
Said Pharaoh, "Believe ye on him ere I give you leave? He, in sooth, is your Master who hath taught you magic. I will therefore cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you on trunks of the palm, and assuredly shall ye learn which of us is severest in punishing, and who is the more abiding."14
They said, "We will not have more regard to thee than to the clear tokens which have come to us, or than to Him who hath made us: doom the doom thou wilt: Thou canst only doom as to this present life: of a truth we have believed on our Lord that he may pardon us our sins and the sorcery to which thou hast forced us, for God is better, and more abiding than thou.15
As for him who shall come before his Lord laden with crime-for him verily isHell: he shall not die in it and he shall not live.
But he who shall come before Him, a believer, with righteous works,-these! the loftiest grades await them:
Gardens of Eden, beneath whose trees16 the rivers flow: therein shall they abide for ever. This, the reward of him who hath been pure."
Then revealed we to Moses, "Go forth by night with my servants and cleave for them a dry path in the sea;
Fear not thou to be overtaken, neither be thou afraid."
And Pharaoh followed them with his hosts, and the whelming billows of the sea overwhelmed them,17 for Pharaoh misled his people, and did not guide them.
O children of Israel! we rescued you from your foes; and We appointed a meeting with you on the right side of the mountain; and We caused the manna and the quail to descend upon you:
"Eat," said We, "of the good things with which we have supplied you; but without excess, lest my wrath fall upon you; for on whom my wrath doth fall, he perisheth outright.
Surely however will I forgive him who turneth to God and believeth, and worketh righteousness, and then yieldeth to guidance.
But what hath hastened thee on apart from thy people,18 O Moses?"
He said, "They are hard on my footsteps: but to thee, O Lord, have I hastened, that thou mightest be well pleased with me."
He said, "Of a truth now have we proved thy people since thou didst leave them, and Samiri19 had led them astray."
And Moses returned to his people, angered, sorrowful.
He said, "O my people! did not your Lord promise you a good promise? Was the time of my absence long to you? or desired ye that wrath from your Lord should light upon you, that ye failed in your promise to me?"
They said, "Not of our own accord have we failed in the promise to thee, but we were made to bring loads of the people's trinkets, and we threw them into the fire and Samiri likewise cast them in, and brought forth to them a corporeal lowing20 calf: and they said, "This is your God and the God of Moses, whom he hath forgotten."'
What! saw they not that it returned them no answer, and could neither hurt nor help them?
And Aaron had before said to them, "O my people! by this calf are ye only proved: surely your Lord is the God of Mercy: follow me therefore and obey my bidding."
They said, "We will not cease devotion to it, till Moses come back to us."
He said, "O Aaron! when thou sawest that they had gone astray, what hindered thee from following me? Hast thou then disobeyed my command?"
He said, "O Son of my mother! seize me not by my beard, nor by my head: indeed I feared lest thou shouldst say,
Thou hast rent the children of Isreal asunder, and hast not observed my orders."'
He said, "And what was thy motive, O Samiri?" He said, "I saw what they saw not: so I took a handful of dust from the track21 of the messenger of God, and flung it into the calf, for so my soul prompted me."
He said, "Begone then: verily thy doom even in this life shall be to say, 'Touch me not.'22 And there is a threat against thee, which thou shalt not escape hereafter. Now look at thy god to which thou hast continued so devoted: we will surely burn it and reduce it to ashes, which we will cast into the sea.
Your God is God, beside whom there is no God: In his knowledge he embraceth all things."
Thus do We recite to thee histories of what passed of old; and from ourself have we given thee admonition.
Whoso shall turn aside from it shall verily carry a burden on the day ofResurrection:
Under it shall they remain: and grievous, in the day of Resurrection, shall it be to them to bear.
On that day there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and We will gather the wicked together on that day with leaden23 eyes:
They shall say in a low voice, one to another,-"Ye tarried but ten days on earth."
We are most knowing with respect to that which they will say when the most veracious24 of them will say. "Ye have not tarried above a day."
And they will ask thee of the mountains: SAY: scattering my Lord will scatter them in dust;
And he will leave them a level plain: thou shalt see in it no hollows or jutting hills.
On that day shall men follow their summoner25-he marcheth straight on: and low shall be their voices before the God of Mercy, nor shalt thou hear aught but the light footfall.
No intercession shall avail on that day, save his whom the God of Mercy shall allow to intercede, and whose words he shall approve.
He knoweth their future and their past; but in their own knowledge they comprehend it not:-
And humble shall be their faces before Him that Liveth, the Self-subsisting: and undone he, who shall bear the burden of iniquity;
But he who shall have done the things that are right and is a believer, shall fear neither wrong nor loss.
Thus have We sent down to thee an Arabic Koran, and have set forth menaces therein diversely, that haply they may fear God, or that it may give birth to reflection in them.
Exalted then be God, the King, the Truth! Be not hasty in its recital26 while the revelation of it to thee is incomplete. Say rather, "O my Lord, increase knowledge unto me."
And of old We made a covenant with Adam; but he forgat it; and we found no firmness of purpose in him.
And when We said to the angels, "Fall down and worship Adam," they worshipped all, save Eblis, who refused: and We said, "O Adam! this truly is a foe to thee and to thy wife. Let him not therefore drive you out of the garden, and ye become wretched;
For to thee is it granted that thou shalt not hunger therein, neither shalt thou be naked;
But Satan whispered him: said he, "O Adam! shall I shew thee the tree ofEternity,27 and the Kingdom that faileth not?"
And they both ate thereof, and their nakedness appeared to them, and they began to sew of the leaves of the Garden to cover them, and Adam disobeyed his Lord and went astray.
Afterwards his Lord chose him for himself, and was turned towards him, and guided him.
And God said, "Get ye all down hence, the one of you a foe unto the other.Hereafter shall guidance come unto you from me;
And whoso followeth my guidance shall not err, and shall not be wretched:
But whoso turneth away from my monition, his truly shall be a life of misery:
And We will assemble him with others on the day of Resurrection, blind."28
He will say, "O my Lord! why hast thou assembled me with others, blind? whereas I was endowed with sight."
He will answer, "Thus is it, because our signs came unto thee and thou didst forget them, and thus shalt thou be forgotten this day."
Even thus will We recompense him who hath transgressed and hath not believed in the signs of his Lord; and assuredly the chastisement of the next world will be more severe and more lasting.
Are not they, who walk the very places where they dwelt, aware how many generations we have destroyed before them? Verily in this are signs to men of insight.
And had not a decree of respite from thy Lord first gone forth, their chastisement had at once ensued. Yet the time is fixed.
Put up then with what they say; and celebrate the praise of thy Lord before the sunrise, and before its setting; and some time in the night do thou praise him, and in the extremes29 of the day, that thou haply mayest please Him.
And strain not thine eye after what We have bestowed on divers of them-the braveries of this world-that we may thereby prove them. The portion which thy Lord will give, is better and more lasting.
Enjoin prayer on thy family, and persevere therein. We ask not of thee to find thine own provision-we will provide for thee, and a happy issue shall there be to piety.
But they say, "If he come not to us with a sign from his Lord . . .!"30 But have not clear proofs for the Koran come to them, in what is in the Books of old?
And had We destroyed them by a chastisement before its time, they would surely have said, "O our Lord! How could we believe if thou didst not send unto us an Apostle that we might follow thy signs ere that we were humbled and disgraced."
SAY: Each one of us awaiteth the end. Wait ye then, and ye shall know which of us have been followers of the even way, and who hath been the rightly guided.
_______________________
1 The first 14 or 16 verses of this Sura are said to have induced Omar to embrace Islam (His. 226. Ibn Sâd, i. and v. Comp. Weil, p. 60. Causs. i. 396 ff.) in the sixth year before the Hejira.
2 Freytag supposes these letters to mean, Hush! but see Sura lxviii. 1, p. 32.
3 Lit. if thou raise thy voice.
4 Lit. guidance. Moses had lost his way, say the Commentators, when journeying to Egypt to visit his mother.
5 The Muhammadan Commentators tell how Moses when a child burnt his tongue with a live coal. The same story is found in Midr. Jalkut on Ex. c. 166, and in Shalsheleth Hakabalah, p. 5, b. Ed. Amsterd.
6 Lit vizir.
7 Or, strengthen my back.
8 The form of the word in the original is not the pure Hebraic, but the later Rabbinic form.
9 See Sura [lxxix.] xxviii. 11, 12.
10 What is their condition after their death as to happiness or misery. Beidh. whom Sale follows. But the word state, which Mar. renders mens, refers rather to their creed. "How," enquires Pharaoh, "do you explain the fact that the generations of men have always practised a different worship?"
11 Lit. pairs.
12 The Midrasch Tanchumah on Ex. vii. gives a very similar dialogue between Pharaoh and Moses.
13 Lit. the day of ornament.
14 In punishing. Beidh.
15 To recompense. Beidh.
16 As the garden is said in Sura lxxxviii. to be lofty in point of situation, this frequently recurring phrase may mean that rivers run at its base. The Commentators, however, generally understand it to imply that the rivers flow beneath its shades or pavilions.
17 Lit. and there overwhelmed them of the sea that which overwhelmed them.
18 The 70 elders who were to have accompanied him.
19 That is, the Samaritan. This rendering, which is probably the true explanation of the word Samiri, involves a grievous ignorance of history on the part of Muhammad. Selden (de diis Syr. Syn. i. ch. 4) supposes that Samiri is Aaron himself, the Shomeer, or keeper of Israel during the absence of Moses. Many Arabians identify him with the Micha of Judges xvii. who is said to have assisted in making the calf (Raschi, Sanhedr. 102, 2 Hottinger Hist. Orient. p. 84). Geiger suggests that Samiri may be a corruption of Samael. See next note. But it is probable that the name and its application in the present instance, is to be traced to the old national feud between the Jews and Samaritans. See De Sacy, Chrestom. i. p. 189, who quotes Abu Rihan Muhammad as stating that the Samaritans were called Al-limsahsit, the people who say, "Touch me not" (v. 97, below), and Juynboll Chron. Sam. (Leid. 1848) p. 113. Sale also mentions a similar circumstance of a tribe of Samaritan Jews dwelling on one of the islands in the Red Sea.
20 "The calf came forth (Ex. xxxii. 24) lowing and the Israelites beheld it. R. Jehuda saith, Samuel entered into it and lowed in order to mislead Israel." Pirke R. Eliezer, § 45.
21 From the track of Gabriel's horse, or of Gabriel himself.
22 Lit. no touch.
23 I have adopted the word leaden as expressive of the idea implied in the original word, viz. grey or greyish blue; hence, dulled, dimmed. The Arabians have a great aversion to blue and grey eyes as characteristic of their enemies the Greeks. The word, however, may also mean blind. Comp. v. 124, 5.
24 Lit. the most excellent or just of them in his way: dignitate, Mar. But Kam. in Freyt. (iii. 150) justissimus eorum, simillimus veracibus. The sense of the last clause is, "Yes have not tarried even so much as ten days, such, now that we look back upon it, is the brevity of life." See Sura [lxiv.] xxiii. 115.
25 The angel Israfil.
26 Compare Sura lxxv. 16-19, p. 56.
27 It should be observed that here and in Sura vii. 19, Muhammad seems unaware of the distinction between the tree of knowledge, and the tree of life, as given in Gen. ii. 9, and iii. 5.
28 From the intensity of the light, mentioned Sura [1xxx.] xxxix. 69.
29 In order to reconcile this passage with the prescribed hours, some understand the extremes to mean the mid-day, when the day is as it were divided.
30 Supply, we will not believe.
MECCA.-228 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Ta. Sin. Mim.2 These are the signs of the lucid Book.
Haply thou wearest thyself away with grief because they will not believe.
Were it our will we could send down to them a sign from Heaven, before which they would humbly bow.3
But from each fresh warning that cometh to them from the God of Mercy they have only turned aside,
And treated it as a lie: But tidings shall reach them which they shall not laugh to scorn.
Have they not beheld the earth-how we have caused every kind of noble plant to spring up therein?
Verily, in this is a sign: but most of them believe not.
And assuredly, thy Lord!-He is the Mighty, the Merciful.
And remember when thy Lord called to Moses, "Go to the wicked people,
The people of Pharaoh. What! will they not fear me?"
He said, "My Lord, in sooth I fear lest they treat me as a liar:
And my breast is straitened, and I am slow of speech:4 send therefore toAaron to be my helpmate.
For they have a charge5 against me, and I fear lest they put me to death."
He said, "Surely not. Go ye therefore with our signs: we will be with you and will hearken.
And go to Pharaoh and say: 'Verily we are the messengers of the Lord of the worlds-
Send forth with us the children of Israel."'
He said, "Did we not rear thee among us when a child? And hast thou not passed years of thy life among us?
And yet what a deed is that which thou hast done!6 Thou art one of the ungrateful."
He said, "I did it indeed, and I was one of those who erred: And I fled from you because I feared you; but my Lord hath given me wisdom and hath made me one of his Apostles.
And is this the favour thou hast conferred on me, that thou hast enslaved the children of Israel?"
Said Pharaoh, "Who then is the Lord of the Worlds?"
He said, "The Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth and of all that is between them, if only ye believe it."
Said Pharaoh to those around him, "Hear ye this?"
"Your Lord," said Moses, "and the Lord of your sires of old."
"In sooth, your Apostle whom He hath sent to you," said Pharaoh, "is certainly possessed."
He said, "Lord is He of the East and of the West, and of all that is between them, if ye can understand."
He said, "If ye take any God beside me, I will surely put thee in ward."
Said Moses, "What! if I shew thee that which shall be a proof of my mission?"
He said, "Forth with it then, if thou speakest truth."
Then threw he down his staff, and lo! an undoubted serpent:
And he drew out his hand, and lo! it was white7 to the beholders.
He said to his nobles around him. "This truly is a right cunning sorcerer:
Fain would he drive you out of your land by his Sorcery. But what do ye suggest?"
They said, "Put him and his brother off awhile, and send summoners to all the cities,
Who shall bring to thee every cunning magician."
So the magicians were mustered at a set time, on a solemn day:
And it was said to the people, "Are ye all assembled?"
-"Yes! and we will follow the magicians if they gain the day."
And when the magicians were arrived they said to Pharaoh, "Shall we have a reward if we gain the day?"
He said, "Yes. And verily in that case ye shall be of those who are near my person."
Moses said to them, "Throw down what ye have to throw."
So they cast down their ropes and rods, and said, "By Pharaoh's might we shall surely win."
Then Moses threw down his rod, and lo! it swallowed up their cheating wonders.
Then the magicians threw themselves down in worship:
They said, "We believe on the Lord of the Worlds,
The Lord of Moses and of Aaron."
Said Pharaoh, "Have ye then believed on him ere I gave you leave? He truly is your master who hath taught you magic.8 But bye and bye ye shall surely know my power.
I will cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will have you all crucified."
They said, "It cannot harm us, for to our Lord shall we return:
Assuredly we trust that our Lord will forgive us our sins, since we are of the first who believe."
Then revealed we this order to Moses: "Go forth by night with my servants, for ye will be pursued."
And Pharaoh sent summoners through the cities:-
"These Israelites," said they, "are a scanty band;
Yet are they enraged against us-
But we truly are numerous, wary."
Thus we caused them to quit gardens and fountains,
And treasures and splendid dwellings;
So was it; and we gave them to the children of Israel for an heritage.9
Then at sunrise the Egyptians followed them:
And when the hosts came in view of one another, the comrades of Moses said,"We are surely overtaken."
He said, "By no means:-for my Lord is with me-He will guide me."
And we revealed this order to Moses, "Strike the sea with thy rod." And it clave asunder, and each part became like a huge mountain.
Then made we the others to draw on;
And we saved Moses, and those who were with him, all;
But we drowned the others.
Truly in this was a sign; but most of them did not believe.
But verily thy Lord,-He is the Mighty, the Merciful!
And recite to them the story of Abraham
When he said to his Father and to his people, "What worship ye?"
They said, "We worship idols, and constant is our devotion to them."
He said, "Can they hear you when ye cry to them?
Or help you or do you harm?"
They said, "But we found our Fathers do the like."
He said, "How think ye? They whom ye worship,
Ye and your fathers of early days,
Are my foes: but not so10 the Lord of the Worlds,
Who hath created me, and guideth me,
Who giveth me food and drink;
And when I am sick, he healeth me,
And who will cause me to die and again quicken me,
And who, I hope, will forgive me my sins in the day of reckoning.
My Lord! bestow on me wisdom and join me to the just,
And give me a good name11 among posterity,
And make me one of the heirs of the garden of delight,
And forgive my father, for he was one of the erring,
And put me not to shame on the day when mankind shall be raised up,
The day when neither wealth nor children shall avail,
Save to him who shall come to God with a sound heart:
When Paradise shall be brought near the pious,
And Hell shall lay open for those who have gone astray.
And it shall be said to them, 'Where are they whom ye worshipped
Beside God? Can they harm you or help themselves?'
And they shall be cast into it-the seducers and the seduced,
And all the host of Eblis.
They shall say, as they wrangle therein together,
'By God, we were in a plain error,
When we equalled you with the Lord of the Worlds:
And none misled us but the wicked,
And we have none to plead for us,
Nor friend who careth for us.
Could we but return, we would be of the believers."'
Verily, in this was a sign: but most of them believed not.
And truly thy Lord!-He is the Mighty, the Merciful!
The people of Noah gainsaid the Apostles,
When their brother Noah said to them, "Will ye not fear God?
Of a truth am I your faithful Apostle;
Fear God then and obey me.
I ask of you no reward for this, for my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone:
Fear God then and obey me."
They said, "Shall we believe on thee when the meanest only are thy followers?"
He said, "But I have no knowledge of that they did:12
To my Lord only must their account be given: would that ye understood this!
And I will not thrust away those who believe,
For I am only one charged with plain warnings."
They said, "Now unless thou desist, O Noah, one of the stoned shalt thou surely be."
He said, "Lord! my people treat me as a liar:
Decide thou therefore a decision between me and them, and rescue me and the faithful who are with me."
So we saved him and those who were with him in the fully-laden ark,
And afterwards we drowned the rest.
Herein truly was a sign, but most of them believed not.
But thy Lord!-He is the Mighty, the Merciful.
The Adites13 treated their Apostles as liars,
When their brother Houd said to them, "Will ye not fear God?
I am your Apostle, worthy of all credit;
Fear God then and obey me:
I ask for no reward for this; for my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone.
What! build ye landmarks on all heights in mere pastime?
And raise ye structures to be your lasting abodes?14
And when ye put forth your power do ye put it forth with harshness?
Fear ye God then and obey me;
And fear ye Him who hath plenteously betowed on you ye well know what:
Plenteously bestowed on you flocks and children,
And gardens and fountains;
Indeed I fear for you the punishment of a tremendous day."
They said, "It is the same to us whether thou warn or warn us not.
This is but a tale of the ancients,
And we are not they who shall be punished."
And they charged him with imposture; and we destroyed them. In this was a sign: but most of them believed not.
But thy Lord!-He is the Mighty, the Merciful!
The Themoudites also treated their Apostles as liars,
When their brother Saleh said to them, "Will ye not fear God?
I am your Apostle worthy of all credit:
Fear God, then, and obey me.
I ask of you no reward for this: my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone.
Shall ye be left secure amid these things here?
Amid gardens and fountains,
And corn-fields and palm-trees, with flower-sheathing branches?
And, insolent that ye are, will ye hew out your dwellings in the mountains?
But fear God and obey me,
And obey not the bidding of those who commit excess,
Who act disorderly on the earth and reform it not."
They said, "Certainly thou art a person bewitched;
Thou art only a man like us: produce now a sign if thou art a man of truth."
He said, "This she-camel, then-drink shall there be for her, and drink shall there be for you, on a several day for each.
But harm her not, lest the punishment of a tremendous day overtake you."
But they ham-strung her, and repented of it on the morrow;
For the punishment overtook them. In this truly was a sign, but most of them believed not.
But thy Lord!-He is the Powerful, the Merciful!
The people of Lot treated their apostles as liars,
When their brother Lot said to them, "Will ye not fear God?
I am your Apostle worthy of all credit:
Fear God, then, and obey me.
For this I ask you no reward: my reward is of the Lord of the worlds alone.
What! with men, of all creatures, will ye have commerce?
And leave ye your wives whom your Lord hath created for you? Ah! ye are an erring people!"
They said, "O Lot, if thou desist not, one of the banished shalt thou surely be."
He said, "I utterly abhor your doings:
My Lord! deliver me and my family from what they do."
So we delivered him and his whole family-
Save an aged one among those who tarried-
Then we destroyed the rest-
And we rained a rain upon them, and fatal was the rain to those whom we had warned.
In this truly was a sign; but most of them did not believe.
But thy Lord! He is the Powerful, the Merciful!
The dwellers in the forest of Madian15 treated the Apostles as liars.
When Shoaib their brother said to them, "Will ye not fear God?
I truly am your trustworthy Apostle.
Fear God, then, and obey me:
No reward ask I of you for this: my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone.
Fill the measure, and be not of those who minish:
Weigh with exact balance:
And defraud not men in their substance, and do no wrong on the earth by deeds of licence;
And fear Him who made you and the races of old."
They said, "Certainly thou art a person bewitched.
Thou art but a man like us, and we deem thee liar-
Make now a part of the heaven to fall down upon us, if thou art a man of truth."
He said, "My Lord best knoweth your doings."
And when they treated him as a liar, the chastisement of the day of cloud overtook them. This truly was the chastisement of a dreadful day!
In this was a sign, but most of them believed not.
But thy Lord!-He is the Mighty, the Merciful!
Verily from the Lord of the Worlds hath this Book come down;
The faithful spirit16 hath come down with it
Upon thy heart, that thou mightest become a warner-
In the clear Arabic tongue:
And truly it is foretold in the Scriptures of them of yore.17
Was it not a sign to them18 that the learned among the children of Israel recognised it?
If we had sent it down unto any foreigner,
And he had recited it to them, they had not believed.
In such sort have we influenced19 the heart of the wicked ones,
That they will not believe it till they see the grievous chastisement?
And it shall come upon them on a sudden when they look not for it:
And they will say, "Can we be respited?"
What! will they seek to hasten on our chastisement?
How thinkest thou? If after we have given them their fill for years,
That with which they are menaced come upon them at last,
Of what avail will their enjoyments be to them?
We never destroyed a city which had not first its warners
With admonition; nor did we deal unjustly.
The Satans were not sent down with this Koran:
It beseemed them not, and they had not the power,
For they are far removed from hearing it.20
Call not thou on any other god but God, lest thou be of those consigned to torment:
But warn thy relatives of nearer kin,21
And kindly lower thy wing over the faithful who follow thee.
And if they disobey thee, then say: "I will not be answerable for your doings;"-
And put thy trust in Him that is the Mighty, the Merciful,
Who seeth thee when thou standest in prayer,
And thy demeanour amongst those who worship;
For He heareth, knoweth all.
Shall I tell you on whom Satan descend?
They descend on every lying, wicked person:
They impart what they have heard;22-but most of them are liars.
It is the POETS23 whom the erring follow:
Seest thou not how they rove distraught in every valley?
And that they say that which they do not?
Save those who believe and do good works, and oft remember God;
And who defend themselves when unjustly treated. But they who treat them unjustly shall find out what a lot awaiteth them.
_______________________
1 This Sura belongs to about the seventh year of Muhammad's prophetic life.
2 See Sura 1xviii. I, p. 32.
3 Lit. to which their necks would humble themselves.
4 Lit. my tongue is not free. This verse appears to be a studied simplification of Ex. iv. 10-13.
5 The murder of the Egyptian. See Geiger, 159.
6 Lit. and thou hast done thy deed which thou hast done. See xxviii. 15.
7 Thus Pirke R. Elieser § 48. "He placed his hand in his bosom, and drew it forth, white as snow with leprosy."
8 "The Pharaoh who lived in the days of Moses was a great magician." Mid. Jalkut, c. 182. Comp. Sura xxviii. 38, where, in accordance with the Rabbinic traditions Pharaoh claims to be a God.
9 See ii. 58, and Midr. Jalkut on Ex. xii. c. 208.
10 Lit. except.
11 Lit. a tongue of truth, i.e. high repute. Or, grant that my words may be believed among posterity. See [lviii.] xix. 47.
12 Of their motives in embracing Islam.
13 The Adites are mentioned in vii. and xi.
14 This is to be understood of the small forts erected by the nomades of the Hejaz along the route of the caravans to guarantee their safety. Comp. Gen. xi. 1-10, and Sura lxxxix. 6, p. 54.
15 The Madian and the El-Aika of other Suras are unquestionably one and the same place, as they have the same prophet Shoaib (or Sho'eyb), the Jethro of Scripture-a name perhaps altered from Hobab (Numb. x. 29)-and because the same sin is laid to the charge of both. See Winer's Realw”rterbuch on Jethro. The Midr. Rabbah on Ex. ii. I6, Par. I, makes Jethro renounce idolatry, and his office of Priest, and undergo banishment from the Midianites.
16 Gabriel. See Sura lxxxi. 19, p. 46.
17 See Sura xiii. 36. This verse is said to have been revealed at Medina by Itq. 34.
18 The unbelieving Meccans. Lit. that the knowing (Doctors, Uhlemas) knew it.
19 Lit. have introduced it, i.e. infidelity; or, the Koran. Beidh. The latter interpretation seems most accordant with the context.
20 Comp. Sura xxxvii. 7, 8, p. 79.
21 It is probable that within three or four years from his entry upon the prophetic office, Muhammad had made about 40 converts. Some biographers refer to this passage, and not to Sura lxiv. I, as the first call to preach. But this Sura is itself late, and bears evidence of the opposition to which the prophet had become exposed, and of adherents to his cause, now become numerous. The diffuseness and feeblenss of the style clearly point to a late origin.
22 They impart to their votaries on earth what they have learned by stealth and partially, in heaven.
23 Muhammad found it necessary to employ the pens of certain poets to defend himself and his religion from the ridicule and satire of other poets, whose productions were recited at the great annual fair held at Okatz, the Olympus of the Hejaz. The poems which were judged the best were written up in letters of gold, or suspended (hence called Moallakat) in the Caaba. These poetical contests were subsequently suppressed by Muhammad, as offering openings for discussions which might prove inconvenient, and dangerous to his rising claims.
MECCA.-99 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
ELIF. LAM. RA.2 These are the signs of the Book, and of a lucid recital[Koran].
Many a time will the infidels wish that they had been Muslims.
Let them feast and enjoy themselves, and let hope beguile them: but they shall know the truth at last.
We never destroyed a city whose term was not perfixed:3
No people can forestall or retard its destiny.
They say: "O thou to whom the warning hath been sent down, thou art surely possessed by a djinn:
Wouldst thou not have come to us with the angels, if thou wert of those who assert the truth?"
-We will not send down the angels without due cause.4 The Infidels would not in that case have been respited.
Verily, We have sent down the warning, and verily, We will be its guardian;
And already have We sent Apostles, before thee, among the sects of the ancients;
But never came Apostles to them whom they did not deride.
In like manner will We put it into the hearts of the sinners of Mecca to do the same:
They will not believe on him though the example of those of old hath gone before.
Even were We to open above them a gate in Heaven, yet all the while they were mounting up to it,
They would surely say: It is only that our eyes are drunken: nay, we are a people enchanted.
We have set the signs of the zodiac5 in the Heavens, and adorned and decked them forth for the beholders,
And We guard them from every stoned6 Satan,
Save such as steal a hearing:7 and him doth a visible flame pursue.
And the Earth have We spread forth, and thrown thereon the mountains, and caused everything to spring forth in it in balanced measure:
And We have provided therein sustenance for you, and for the creatures which not ye sustain:
And no one thing is there, but with Us are its storehouses; and We send it not down but in settled measure:
And We send forth the fertilising winds, and cause the rain to come down from the heaven, and give you to drink of it; and it is not ye who are its storers:
And We cause to live and We cause to die,8 and We are the heir of all things:
We know those of you who flourish first and We know those who come later:
And truly thy Lord will gather them together again, for He is Wise, Knowing.
We created man of dried clay, of dark loam moulded;
And the djinn had We before created of subtle fire.
Remember when thy Lord said to the Angels, "I create man of dried clay, of dark loam moulded:
And when I shall have fashioned him and breathed of my spirit into him, then fall ye down and worship him."
And the Angels bowed down in worship, all of them, all together,
Save Eblis: he refused to be with those who bowed in worship.
"O Eblis,"9 said God, "wherefore art thou not with those who bow down in worship?"
He said, "It beseemeth not me to bow in worship to man whom thou hast created of clay, of moulded loam."
He said, "Begone then hence; thou art a stoned one,10
And the curse shall be on thee till the day of reckoning."
He said, "O my Lord! respite me till the day when man shall be raised from the dead."
He said, "One then of the respited shalt thou be
Till the day of the predestined time."
He said, "O my Lord! because thou hast beguiled me, I will surely make all fair seeming to them11 on the earth; I will surely beguile them all;
Except such of them as shall be thy sincere servants."
He said, "This is the right way with me;
For over none of my servants shalt thou have power, save those beguiled ones who shall follow thee."
And verily, Hell is the promise for them one and all.
It hath seven Portals;12 at each Portal is a separate band of them;
But 'mid gardens and fountains shall the pious dwell:
"Enter ye therein in peace, secure-"
And all rancour will We remove from their bosoms: they shall sit as brethren, face to face, on couches:
Therein no weariness shall reach them, nor forth from it shall they be cast for ever.
Announce to my servants that I am the Gracious, the Merciful,
And that my chastisement is the grievous chastisement.
And tell them of Abraham's guests.
When they entered in unto him, and said, "Peace."
"Verily," said he, "We fear you."
They said, "Fear not, for of a sage son we bring thee tidings."
He said, "Bring ye me such tidings now that old age hath come upon me? What, therefore, are your tidings really?"
They said, "We announce them to thee in very truth. Be not then one of the despairing."
"And who," said he, "despaireth of the mercy of his Lord, but they who err?"
He said, "What is your business then, O ye Sent Ones?"
They said, "We are sent unto a people who are sinners,
Except the family of Lot, whom verily we will rescue all,
Except his wife. We have decreed that she shall be of those who linger."
And when the Sent Ones came to the family of Lot
He said, "Yes; are persons unknown to me."
They said, "Yes; but we have come to thee for a purpose about which thy people doubt:
We have come to thee with very truth, and we are truthful envoys.
Lead forth therefore thy family in the dead of the night; follow thou on their rear: and let no one of you turn round, but pass ye on whither ye are bidden."
And this command we gave him because to the last man should these people be cut off at morning.
Then came the people of the city rejoicing at the news13-
He said, "These are my guests: therefore disgrace me not.
And fear God and put me not to shame."
They said, "Have we not forbidden thee to entertain any one whatever?"14
He said, "Here are my daughters, if ye will thus act."
As thou livest, O Muhammad, they were bewildered in the drunkenness of their lust.
So a tempest overtook them at their sunrise,
And we turned the city upside down, and we rained stones of baked clay upon them.
Verily, in this are signs for those who scan heedfully;
And these cities lay on the high road.15
Verily, in this are signs for the faithful.
The inhabitants also of El Aika16 were sinners:
So we took vengeance on them, and they both became a plain example.
And the people of HEDJR treated God's messengers as liars.
And we brought forth our signs to them, but they drew back from them:
And they hewed them out abodes in the mountains to secure them:
But a tempest surprised them at early morn,
And their labours availed them nothing.
We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that between them is, but for a worthy end.17 And verily, "the hour" shall surely come. Wherefore do thou, Muhammad, forgive with kindly forgiveness,
For thy Lord! He is the Creator, the Wise.
We have already given thee the seven verses of repetition18 and the gloriousKoran.
Strain not thine eyes after the good things we have bestowed on some of the unbelievers: afflict not thyself on their account, and lower thy wing to the faithful.19
And SAY: I am the only plain-spoken warner.
We will punish those who foster divisions,20
Who break up the Koran into parts:
By thy Lord! we will surely take account from them one and all,
Concerning that which they have done.
Profess publicly then what thou hast been bidden,21 and withdraw from those who join gods to God.
Verily, We will maintain thy cause against those who deride thee,
Who set up gods with God: and at last shall they know their folly.
Now know We that thy heart is distressed22 at what they say:
But do thou celebrate the praise of thy Lord, and be of those who bow down in worship;
And serve thy Lord till the certainty23 o'ertake thee.
_______________________
1 Hedjr, a valley in the route between Medina and Syria, originally the country of the Themoudites.
2 See Sura lxviii. p. 32.
3 Lit. which had not a known writing.
4 That is, not merely to gratify the curiosity of the doubting, but to execute prompt punishment. It might also be rendered, save with justice
5 Ar. bourdj, Gr. [greek text], towers, i.e. Signs of the Zodiac.
6 See Sura xv. 34; and note p. 114.
7 Comp. Sura xxxvii. 6, p. 79. In Chagiga 16, 1, the Demons (schedim) are said to learn the secrets of the future by listening behind the veil (pargôd).
8 Compare precisely a similar association of subjects, the Rain, Food, God, as Lord of life and death in Tr. Taanith, fol. 1 a.
9 Comp. Sura [xci.] ii. 32. There is much in this dialogue between Eblis and Allah which reminds of the dialogue between Jehovah and Satan in the opening of the Book of Job.
10 That is, accursed. According to the Muhammadan tradition, Abraham drove Satan away with stones when he would have hindered him from sacrificing Ismael. Hence the custom during the pilgrimage of throwing a certain number of stones-the Shafeis, 49; the Hanafis, 70-as if at Satan, in the valley of Mina, near Mecca. The spot where the apparition of Satan to Abraham took place is marked by three small pillars, at which the stones are now thrown. Comp. Gen. xv. II.
11 Lit. I will embellish, prepare.
12 Thus, in Sota, 10, David is said to have rescued Absalom from "the seven dwellings of Hell;" in Midr. on Ps. xi. "There are seven houses of abode for the wicked in Hell;" and in Sohar ii. 150, "Hell hath seven gates."
13 At the arrival of strangers.
14 Comp. Midr. Rabbah on Gen. Par. 50.
15 From Arabia to Syria. The pronoun in the fem. sing. may refer to the Pentapolis as to a single city, or to Sodom alone.
16 See Sura [lvi.] xxvi. 176.
17 See Sura [lxxiii.] xvi. 3.
18 That is, the seven verses of Sura 1, p. 28. Others understand, the seven long Suras; or, the fifteen Suras which make a seventh of the whole; or, this Sura (Hedjr) as originally the seventh. Mathani is an allusion, according to some, to the frequency with which the fatthah is to be repeated; or, to the frequent repetitions of great truths, etc., in order to impress them on the memory of the hearer and reader; or, to the manner in which waid and wa'd, promises and threatenings, alternate and balance each other in the same or subsequent verses and Suras, in pairs. This verse and Sura x. 10 shew that a part at least of the Koran was known under that name and existed as a whole in the time of Muhammad. Geiger's interpretations at pp. 59, 60 (and in the note) seem very forced.
19 Comp. Sura [lvi.] xxvi. 215, i.e. demean thyself gently.
20 Lit. as we sent down upon the dividers, i.e. the Jews and Christians, who receive part of the Scriptures and reject part. Others render obstructors and explain the passage of twelve idolaters, who in order to intimidate the Meccans, seized upon the public revenues of Mecca during the pilgrimage.
21 In this, the fourth year of his mission, Muhammad is said to have hazarded the step of mounting the Safa, a slight eminence in one of the streets of Mecca, and publicly preached to the Koreisch. The authorities are given in Sprenger (Life of M. p. 177, 8).
22 Lit. contracted.
23 Death.
MECCA.-98 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
KAF. HA. YA. AIN. SAD.2 A recital of thy Lord's mercy to his servantZachariah;
When he called upon his Lord with secret calling,
And said: "O Lord, verily my bones are weakened, and the hoar hairs glisten on my head,
And never, Lord, have I prayed to thee with ill success.
But now I have fears for my kindred after me;3 and my wife is barren:
Give me, then, a successor as thy special gift, who shall be my heir and an heir of the family of Jacob: and make him, Lord, well pleasing to thee."
-"O Zachariah! verily we announce to thee a son,-his name John:
That name We have given to none before him."4
He said: "O my Lord! how when my wife is barren shall I have a son, and whenI have now reached old age, failing in my powers?"
He said: So shall it be. Thy Lord hath said, Easy is this to me, for I created thee aforetime when thou wast nothing."
He said: "Vouchsafe me, O my Lord! a sign." He said: "Thy sign shall be that for three nights, though sound in health, thou speakest not to man."
And he came forth from the sanctuary to his people, and made signs to them to sing praises morn and even.
We said: "O John! receive the Book with purpose of heart:"5-and We bestowed on him wisdom while yet a child;
And mercifulness from Ourself, and purity; and pious was he, and duteous to his parents; and not proud, rebellious.
And peace was on him on the day he was born, and the day of his death, and shall be on the day when he shall be raised to life!
And make mention in the Book, of Mary, when she went apart from her family, eastward,6
And took a veil to shroud herself from them:7 and we sent our spirit8 to her, and he took before her the form of a perfect man.9
She said: "I fly for refuge from thee to the God of Mercy! If thou fearestHim, begone from me."
He said: "I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a holy son."
She said: "How shall I have a son, when man hath never touched me? and I am not unchaste."
He said: "So shall it be. Thy Lord hath said: 'Easy is this with me;' and we will make him a sign to mankind, and a mercy from us. For it is a thing decreed."
And she conceived him,10 and retired with him to a far-off place.
And the throes came upon her11 by the trunk of a palm. She said: "Oh, would that I had died ere this, and been a thing forgotten, forgotten quite!"
And one cried to her from below her:12 "Grieve not thou, thy Lord hath provided a streamlet at thy feet:-
And shake the trunk of the palm-tree toward thee:13 it will drop fresh ripe dates upon thee.
Eat then and drink, and be of cheerful eye:14 and shouldst thou see a man,
Say,-Verily, I have vowed abstinence to the God of mercy.-To no one will I speak this day."
Then came she with the babe to her people, bearing him. They said, "O Mary! now hast thou done a strange thing!
O sister of Aaron!15 Thy father was not a man of wickedness, nor unchaste thy mother."
And she made a sign to them, pointing towards the babe. They said, "How shall we speak with him who is in the cradle, an infant?"
It said,16 "Verily, I am the servant of God; He hath given me the Book, andHe hath made me a prophet;
And He hath made me blessed wherever I may be, and hath enjoined me prayer and almsgiving so long as I shall live;
And to be duteous to her that bare me: and he hath not made me proud, depraved.
And the peace of God was on me the day I was born, and will be the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised to life."
This is Jesus, the son of Mary; this is a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.
It beseemeth not God to beget a son. Glory be to Him! when he decreeth a thing, He only saith to it, Be, and it Is.17
And verily, God is my Lord and your Lord; adore Him then. This is the right way.
But the Sects have fallen to variance among themselves about Jesus: but woe, because of the assembly of a great day, to those who believe not!
Make them hear, make them behold the day when they shall come before us! But the offenders this day are in a manifest error.
Warn them of the day of sighing when the decree shall be accomplished, while they are sunk in heedlessness and while they believe not.
Verily, we will inherit the earth and all who are upon it. To us shall they be brought back.
Make mention also in the Book of Abraham; for he was a man of truth, aProphet.18
When he said to his Father, "O my Father! why dost thou worship that which neither seeth nor heareth, nor profiteth thee aught?
O my Father! verily now hath knowledge come to me which hath not come to thee. Follow me therefore-I will guide thee into an even path.
O my Father! worship not Satan, for Satan is a rebel against the God ofMercy.
O my Father! indeed I fear lest a chastisement from the God of Mercy light upon thee, and thou become Satan's vassal."
He said, "Castest thou off my Gods, O Abraham? If thou forbear not, I will surely stone thee. Begone from me for a length of time."
He said, "Peace be on thee! I will pray my Lord for thy forgiveness, for he is gracious to me:
But I will separate myself from you, and the gods ye call on beside God, and on my Lord will I call. Haply, my prayers to my Lord will not be with ill success."
And when he had separated himself from them and that which they worshipped beside God, we bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, and each of them we made a prophet:
And we bestowed gifts on them in our mercy, and gave them the lofty tongue of truth."19
And commemorate Moses in "the Book;" for he was a man of purity: moreover he was an Apostle, a Prophet:
From the right side of the mountain we called to him, and caused him to draw nigh to us for secret converse:
And we bestowed on him in our mercy his brother Aaron, a Prophet.
And commemorate Ismael in "the Book;" for he was true to his promise, and was an Apostle, a Prophet;
And he enjoined prayer and almsgiving on his people, and was well pleasing to his Lord.
And commemorate Edris20 in "the Book;" for he was a man of truth, a Prophet:
And we uplifted him to a place on high.21
These are they among the prophets of the posterity of Adam, and among those whom we bare with Noah, and among the posterity of Abraham and Israel, and among those whom we have guided and chosen, to whom God hath shewed favour. When the signs of the God of Mercy were rehearsed to them, they bowed them down worshipping and weeping.
But others have come in their place after them: they have made an end of prayer, and have gone after their own lusts; and in the end they shall meet with evil:-
Save those who turn and believe and do that which is right, these shall enter the Garden, and in nought shall they be wronged:
The Garden of Eden, which the God of Mercy hath promised to his servants, though yet unseen:22 for his promise shall come to pass:
No vain discourse shall they hear therein, but only "Peace;" and their food shall be given them at morn and even:
This is the Paradise which we will make the heritage of those our servants who fear us.
We23 come not down from Heaven but by thy Lord's command. His, whatever is before us and whatever is behind us, and whatever is between the two! And thy Lord is not forgetful,-
Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between them! Worship Him, then, and abide thou steadfast in his worship. Knowest thou any other of the same name?24
Man saith: "What! after I am dead, shall I in the end be brought forth alive?"
Doth not man bear in mind that we made him at first, when he was nought?
And I swear by thy Lord, we will surely gather together them and the Satans: then will we set them on their knees round Hell:
Then will we take forth from each band those of them who have been stoutest in rebellion against the God of Mercy:
Then shall we know right well to whom its burning is most due: