tradition and study, to know the time when each passage was revealed,
its circumstances, state, and history, and the reasons or particular
emergencies for the sake of which it was revealed. Or, more
explicitly, whether the passage was revealed at Mekka or at Medina;
whether it be abrogated, or does itself abrogate any other passage;
whether it be anticipated in order of time or postponed; whether it be
distinct from the context or depend thereon; whether it be particular
or general; and lastly, whether it be implicit by intention, or
explicit in words.
‘By what has been said, the reader may easily believe that this book
is held by the Muslims in the greatest reverence and esteem. The more
strict among them dare not touch it without being first washed or
legally purified; which lest they should do by inadvertence, they
sometimes write these words of the book itself on the cover or label,
“None shall touch it but they who are purified.” They read it with
great care and respect, never holding it below their girdles. They
swear by it, consult it in their weighty occasions, carry it with them
to war, inscribe sentences from it on their banners, sometimes adorn
it with gold and precious stones, and knowingly suffer it not to be in
the possession of any person of a different persuasion. It is the
foundation of their education; and the children in the schools are
taught to chant it, and commit the whole of it to memory.’
BOOKS.
In reading a large number of works bearing upon the subjects of this
Introduction, I have remarked a curious freedom of quotation in most
of the writers. I find the same sentence, or at least the same
thought, repeated in several books without any reference to the author
who first put it forth. Each writer seems to have studied his
predecessors with such minuteness that he can quote their very words,
but he does not appear to remember whence the words came. When a
thought has once been perfectly expressed, it were a ridiculous vanity
to seek to frame it in different words, and so far it is undoubtedly
wise to make use of the best of what has preceded us; nevertheless, it
is well to acknowledge our debt. Yet thoughts, and even phrases,
impress themselves on the memory till one unconsciously comes to
appropriate them as his own; and this, I doubt not, is the cause of
much of the plagiarism I have noticed. It is extremely probable that I
have been guilty of the same sin. I have crowded my pages with marks
of quotation, sometimes with foot references, sometimes without (for
the student of the subject will know where to look for them), but it
is quite likely that I have often unconsciously used another’s phrase
or metaphor without rendering thanks. So I now append a list of the
principal European books I have used, and beg once and for all to
record my indebtedness to their writers. The original Arabic
authorities will dispense with my acknowledgments, and the catalogue
of them would not assist the English reader who wishes to proceed
further in the study of the subject, for whom this list may prove
useful.
BURCKHARDT, J. L. _Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys._ 2 vols.
1831.
DEUTSCH, EMANUEL. _Literary Remains._ 1874.
DOZY, R. _Essai sur l´Histoire de l´Islamisme_, trad. par V.
Chauvin. 1879.
FRESNEL, F. _Lettres sur l´Histoire des Arabes avant
l´Islamisme._ 1836-38.
HUGHES, REV. T. P. _Notes on Muhammadanism._ 2d ed. 1877.
KREMER, A. VON. _Geschichte der herrschenden Ideen des
Isláms._ 1868.
—— _Culturgeschichte des Orients unter den Chalifen._ 2 vols.
1876, 1877.
LANE, E. W. _The Modern Egyptians._ 5th ed. 1 vol. 1860.
—— _The Thousand and One Nights_ (notes). 2d ed. 3 vols.
1859, 1860.
—— _Selections from the Kur-án._ 1st ed. 1843.
—— _Arabic-English Lexicon_, Preface, &c. 1863.
LYALL, C. J. _Translations from the Hamâseh and the Aghânî; The
Mo´allaqah of Zuheyr._ (Journal As. Soc. of Bengal, 1878.)
MUIR, SIR W. _The Life of Mahomet._ 4 vols. New edition.[25]
1867.
NÖLDEKE, TH. _Geschichte des Qorâns._ 1860.
—— _Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber._
1864.
PALGRAVE, W. GIFFORD. _Central and Eastern Arabia._ 6th ed.
1871.
PERCEVAL, A.-P. CAUSSIN DE. _Essai sur l´Histoire des Arabes
avant l´Islamisme._ 3 vols. 1847, 1848.
POOLE, R. STUART. _Pagan and Muslim Arabs._ (Fortnightly
Review, October 15, 1865.)
RODWELL, J. M. _El-Korân._ 2d ed. 1876.
SALE, G. _The Koran._ 1836.
SÉDILLOT, L.-A. _Histoire Générale des Arabes._ 2d ed. 2 vols.
1877.
SMITH, R. BOSWORTH. _Mohammed and Mohammedanism._ 2d ed. 1876.
SPRENGER, A. _Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohammad._ 2d ed. 3
vols. 1869.
ST. HILAIRE, T.-BARTHÉLEMY. _Mahomet et le Coran._ 2d ed.
1865.
TIELE, C. P. _Outlines of the History of Religion_, translated
by J. E. Carpenter. (Trübner’s Philosophical Library. Vol.
vii. 1877.)
WEIL, G. _Das Leben Mohammed’s nach Ibn Ishak_ bearbeitet von
Ibn Hischam. 2 vols. 1864.
SELECTIONS FROM THE ḲUR-ÁN.
_PART THE FIRST._
NOTE.
The following extracts were all translated by Mr. Lane, with the
exception of those to which an obelus (†) is prefixed, for
which I alone am responsible. In the text, the words in italics are
inserted from the commentary of the Jeláleyn; words in square brackets
[] are Mr. Lane’s additions, inserted where the difference between the
Arabic and English idioms required them.
In the foot-notes, words in italics are from the commentary of the
Jeláleyn; notes followed by the initial S., from Sale’s _Koran_; the
letters B., Z., and A. F., following S. in parenthesis, point to the
authorities from which Sale’s note was derived, the great commentaries
of El-Beydáwee and Ez-Zamakhsharee, and Abu-l-Fidá’s Life of Moḥammad,
respectively. The other notes are Mr. Lane’s, either from the original
edition or extracted from his _Modern Egyptians_ (5th 1 vol. ed.
1860), or his notes to the _Thousand and One Nights_ (2d ed. 1859);
except those enclosed in square brackets, which are due to myself.
The numbers at the end of each extract refer to the chapter (soorah)
and verse in Flügel’s text of the Ḳur-án (Lipsiæ, 1869).
S. L. P.
_PART THE FIRST._
_THE OPENING PRAYER._[26]
_EL-FÁTIḤAH._
I.
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds,[27]
The Compassionate, the Merciful,
The King of the day of judgment.
Thee do we worship, and of Thee seek we help.[28]
Guide us in the right way,
The way of those to whom Thou hast been gracious,
Not of those with whom Thou art wroth, nor of the erring.
(i.)
_PREMONITION._
II.
A.L.M.[29] Respecting this Book there is no doubt;[30] _it is_ a
guidance for them that fear Him,
Who believe in the unseen,[31] and perform the prayer, and of what We
have bestowed on them expend,
And who believe in that which hath been sent down to thee,[32] and
what hath been sent down before thee,[33] and have firm assurance of
the life to come.
Those follow a right direction from their Lord, and those are they who
shall prosper.
As for those who have disbelieved, it will be equal to them whether
thou admonish them or admonish them not: they will not believe.
God hath sealed their hearts and their ears, and over their eyes is a
covering, and for them is [ordained] a great punishment.
(ii. 1-6.)
_GOD._
III.
SAY, He is God, One [God];
God, the Eternal.
He begetteth not nor is begotten,
And there is none equal unto Him.
(cxii.)[34]
IV.
_The Throne-Verse._[35]
God! There is no God but He, the _Ever_-Living, the Ever-Subsisting.
Slumber seizeth Him not, nor sleep. To Him belongeth whatsoever is in
the Heavens and whatsoever is in the Earth. Who is he that shall
intercede with Him, unless by His permission? He knoweth what [hath
been] before them and what [shall be] after them, and they shall not
compass aught of His knowledge save what He willeth. His Throne
comprehendeth the Heavens and the Earth,[36] and the care of them
burdeneth Him not. And He is the High, the Great.
(ii. 256.)
V.
†SAY, O God, to whom belongeth dominion, Thou givest dominion
to whom Thou wilt, and from whom Thou wilt Thou takest it away; Thou
exaltest whom Thou wilt, and whom Thou wilt Thou humblest. In Thy hand
is good. Verily Thou art all-powerful.
Thou causest the night to pass into the day, and Thou causest the day
to pass into the night; and Thou bringest forth the living from the
dead, and Thou bringest forth the dead from the living; and thou
givest sustenance to whom Thou wilt without measure.
(iii. 25, 26.)
VI.
Blessed be He in whose hand is the dominion and who is
all-powerful;[37]
Who hath created death and life, that He may prove you, which of you
[will be] best in works: and He is the Mighty, the Very-Forgiving:
Who hath created seven heavens, one above another. Thou seest not any
fault in the creation of the Compassionate. But lift up the eyes again
_to heaven_. Dost thou see any fissures?
Then lift up the eyes again twice; the sight shall return unto thee
dull and dim.
(lxvii. 1-4.)
VII.
Verily your Lord is God, who created the heavens and the earth in six
days: then He ascended the throne. He causeth the night to cover the
day; it followeth it swiftly: and _He created_ the sun and the moon
and the stars, made subject utterly to His command. Do not the _whole_
creation and command belong to Him? Blessed be God, the Lord of the
Worlds.
(vii. 52.)
VIII.
We have placed in heaven _the twelve_ signs _of the Zodiac_, and
adorned them for the beholders _with the constellations_;
And We have guarded them (_by means of shooting stars_) from every
accursed devil,[38]
Excepting him who listeneth by stealth, whom a manifest shooting star
pursueth.
We have also spread forth the earth, and thrown thereon firm
_mountains_,[39] and We have caused to spring forth in it every kind
[of green thing] weighed.[40]
And We have provided for you therein necessaries of life, and _for_
him whom ye do not sustain;[41]
And there is not a thing but the storehouses thereof are with Us, and
We send it not down save in determined quantities.
We also send the fertilizing winds,[42] and We send down water from
heaven, and give you to drink thereof; and ye are not the storers of
it.
And verily We give life and death, and We are the heirs _of all the
creation_.
We also know those who have gone before you, and We know those who
follow after [you].
And verily thy Lord will assemble them together: for He is Wise,
Knowing.
(xv. 16-25.)
IX.
And your God is One God: there is no god but He, the Compassionate,
the Merciful.
Verily in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the varying
of night and day, and the ships that course upon the sea _laden_ with
what is profitable to mankind, and the water that God hath sent down
from heaven, quickening the earth thereby after its death, and
scattering about it all kinds of beasts; and in the changing of the
winds, and the clouds that are compelled to do service between heaven
and earth, are signs unto a people who understand.
Yet among men are those who take to themselves, beside God, idols,
which they love as _with_ the love for God: but those who have
believed are more loving towards God _than these towards their idols_.
(ii. 158-160.)
X.
Verily God causeth the grain to come forth, and the date-stone: He
bringeth forth the living from the dead,[43] and He bringeth forth the
dead from the living:[44] This is God; then wherefore are ye turned
away?
He causeth the dawn to appear, and hath ordained the night for rest,
and the sun and the moon for reckoning _time_: this is the appointment
of the Mighty, the Wise.
And it is He who hath ordained for you the stars, that ye may be
guided by them in the darknesses of the land and of the sea: We have
clearly shown the signs _of Our power_ unto the people who know.[45]
And it is He who hath produced you from one soul, and _there is_ a
place of rest and of storing:[46] We have clearly shown the signs to
the people who understand.
And it is He who hath sent down water from heaven, and We have
produced thereby the germs of everything, and We have caused the
green thing to come forth therefrom, from which We draw forth grains
massed; and from the palm-tree, from its fruit-branch, clusters of
dates heaped together:[47] and gardens of grapes, and the olive and
the pomegranate, like one another[48] and not like.[49] Look ye at
their fruits when they bear fruit, and their ripening. Verily therein
are signs unto the people who believe.
Yet they have set up the Jinn[50] as partners of God, though He hath
created them, and without knowledge have they falsely attributed to
Him sons and daughters. Extolled be His purity, and high be He exalted
above that which they attribute [to Him]!
_He is_ the Author of the heavens and the earth. How then should He
have offspring, when He hath no consort, and hath created everything
and knoweth everything?
This is God your Lord. There is no God but He, the Creator of
everything: therefore worship ye Him;[51] and He is guardian over
everything.
The eyes see Him not, but He seeth the eyes: and He is the Gracious,
the Knowing.
(vi. 95-103.)
XI.
It is He who maketh the lightning to appear unto you, [causing] fear
and hope _of rain_, and formeth the pregnant clouds.
And the thunder proclaimeth His perfection with His praise; and
[likewise] the angels, in fear of Him. And He sendeth the
thunderbolts, and striketh with them whom He pleaseth, whilst they
dispute concerning God; for He is mighty in power.[52]
(xiii. 13, 14.)
XII.
With Him are the keys of the hidden things: none knoweth them but He:
and He knoweth whatsoever is on the land and in the sea, and there
falleth not a leaf but He knoweth it, nor a grain in the dark parts of
the earth, nor a moist thing nor a dry thing, but [it is noted] in a
distinct writing.[53]
And it is He who taketh your souls at night, and knoweth what ye have
gained in the day; then He reviveth you therein,[54] that an appointed
time[55] may be fulfilled. Then unto Him shall ye return: then will He
declare unto you what ye have done.
And He is the Supreme[56] over His servants, and He sendeth watchers
over you,[57] until when death cometh unto any one of you, Our
messengers take his soul, and they fail not.
Then are they[58] returned unto God their Lord, the True.[59] Doth not
judgment belong to Him? And He is the most quick of reckoners.
SAY,[60] Who delivereth you from the darknesses of the land and of the
sea, _when_ ye supplicate Him humbly and in secret, _saying_, ‘If Thou
deliver us from these _dangers_, we will assuredly be of [the number
of] the thankful’?
SAY, God delivereth you from them and from every affliction.
(vi. 59-64.)
XIII.
Verily God will not forgive the associating with Him [any other being
as a god], but will forgive other _sins_ unto whom He pleaseth; and
whoso associateth [another] with God hath wrought a great wickedness.
(iv. 51.)
XIV.
They[61] say, ‘The Compassionate hath gotten offspring:’ Ye have done
an impious thing.
It wanteth little but that the heavens be rent thereat, and that the
earth cleave asunder, and that the mountains fall down in pieces.[62]
_For_ that they have attributed offspring to the Compassionate, when
it beseemeth not the Compassionate to get offspring.
There is none of all that are in the heavens and the earth but he
shall come unto the Compassionate as a servant.[63] He hath known them
and numbered them with an _exact_ numbering.
And each of them shall come unto Him on the day of resurrection,
alone.[64]
†Verily those who have believed and have done the things that
are right, on them the Compassionate will bestow [His] love.
(xix. 91-96.)
XV.
O men _of Mekkeh_, a parable is propounded, wherefore hearken unto it.
Verily, those _idols_ which ye invoke beside God can never create a
fly, although they assembled for it: and if the fly carry off from
them aught,[65] they cannot recover the same from it. Weak are the
seeker and the sought!
(xxii. 72.)
XVI.
The likeness of those who take to themselves Tutelars[66] instead of
God is as the likeness of the spider, which maketh for herself a
dwelling; and the frailest of dwellings surely is the dwelling of the
spider! If they knew[67]——!
Verily God knoweth whatever thing they invoke in His stead; and He is
the Mighty, the Wise.
And these parables[68] we propound unto men; but none understand them
except the wise.
God hath created the heavens and the earth in truth: verily therein is
a sign unto the believers.
(xxix. 40-43.)
_MOḤAMMAD AND THE ḲUR-ÁN._
XVII.
†O thou enwrapped _in thy mantle_,[69]
Arise and warn!
And thy Lord—magnify Him!
And thy raiment—purify it!
And the abomination[70]—flee it!
And bestow not favours that thou mayest receive again with increase.
And for thy Lord wait thou patiently.[71]
(lxxiv. 1-7.)
XVIII.
†By the morning-brightness,
And by the still of night,[72]
Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither hath He hated thee.
And surely the Future will be better for thee than the Present,
And thy Lord will give to thee, and thou wilt be well-pleased.
Did He not find thee an orphan, and sheltered thee?
And He found thee erring, and guided thee,
And found thee needy, and enriched thee.
Then, as to the orphan, oppress him not;
And as to him that asketh of thee, chide him not away;
And as for the bounty of thy Lord, tell it then [abroad].
(xciii.)
XIX.
SAY, I do not say unto you, ‘With me[73] are the treasures of God,’
nor, ‘I know what is unseen,’ nor do I say unto you, ‘Verily I am an
angel.’ I follow not [aught] but what is revealed unto me.
(vi. 50.)
XX.
†SAY, I am only a man like unto you. It is only revealed unto
me that your God is One God. He then that hopeth to meet his Lord, let
him work a righteous work, and in the worship of his Lord let him not
associate any [other god].
(xviii. 110.)
XXI.
†SAY, If I err, only against myself shall I err, but if I am
rightly-guided, it [is] of what my Lord hath revealed to me. Verily,
He is the Hearer, the Near-at-hand!
(xxxiv. 49.)
XXII.
Moḥammad is nought but a Messenger.[74] The Messengers have passed
away before him. If then he die or be slain, will ye turn round upon
your heels?[75] But he who turneth round upon his heels will not
injure God a whit;[76] and God will reward the thankful.
(iii. 138.)
XXIII.
Verily We have revealed unto thee as we revealed unto Noah and the
prophets after him, and _as_ We revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael,
and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and Jesus, and Job, and Jonah,
and Aaron, and Solomon; and We gave unto David the Psalms.
(iv. 161.)
XXIV.
[77] SAY _unto them_, Do ye argue with us concerning God, when
He is our Lord and your Lord,[78] and when we have our works and ye
have your works, and when we are sincere towards Him?
Nay, do ye say that Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the
tribes were Jews or Christians? SAY _unto them_, Are ye the more
knowing, or is God?[79] And who is more unrighteous than they who
conceal a testimony that they have from God?[80] But God is not
heedless of that which ye do.
(ii. 133, 134.)
XXV.
_Remember_, when Jesus the son of Mary said, ‘O children of Israel,
Verily I am the Messenger of God unto you, confirming the Law which
[was] before me, and giving good tidings of a Messenger who shall come
after me, whose name [shall be] Aḥmad.’[81] But when he (_Aḥmad_) came
unto them with evident proofs, they said, ‘This is manifest magic!’
And who is more unrighteous than he who forgeth falsehood against God,
when he is invited unto El-Islám? And God directeth not the
unrighteous people.
They desire to put out the light of God with their mouths: but God
will perfect His light, though the unbelievers be loth _thereto_.
It is He who hath sent His messenger with the direction and the
religion of truth, that He may exalt above every religion, though the
polytheists be loth _thereto_.
(lxi. 6-9.)
XXVI.
Those to whom We have given the Scripture know him (_Moḥammad_) as
they know their children.[82] But a party of them do conceal the
truth[83] while they know.
(ii. 141.)
XXVII.
_The Jews said unto Moḥammad_, ‘Verily God hath enjoined us[84] that
we should not believe an apostle until he bring us a sacrifice which
fire shall devour.’
SAY, Apostles have come unto you before me with manifest proofs,[85]
and with that ye have mentioned:[86] then wherefore did ye slay them,
if ye be speakers of truth?
(iii. 179, 180.)
XXVIII.
_The unbelievers of Mekkeh_ have sworn by God, with the mightiest of
their oaths, that if a sign come unto them they will assuredly believe
therein. SAY, Signs are only with God. And what will make you to
know?[87] Verily if they come they will not believe.
And We will turn away their hearts and their eyes,[88] as they
believed not therein the first time; and We will leave them in their
transgression, wandering about in perplexity.
And though We had sent down unto them the angels, and the dead had
spoken unto them, and We had gathered together about them everything
in tribes, they had not believed unless God had pleased; but the
greater number of them know not.
(vi. 109-111.)
XXIX.
And they have said, ‘O thou unto whom the Admonition[89] hath been
sent down, thou art certainly possessed by a Jinnee.[90]
Why dost thou not come unto us with the angels, if thou be of those
that speak truth?’
We send not down the angels save with justice,[91] nor would they then
be respited.
Verily, We have sent down the Admonition, and We will surely preserve
it.
And We have sent _Messengers_ before thee among the sects of the
former generations;
And there came not unto them any Messenger but they had him in
derision:
In like manner will We put it into the hearts of the sinners _of
Mekkeh to do so_;
They shall not believe in him, and the punishment of the former
generations hath passed.
And if We should open above them a gate in heaven, and they should
pass the day mounting up to it,
They would say, ‘Our eyes are only intoxicated, or rather we are a
people enchanted.’
(xv. 6-15.)
XXX.
†Verily, it is the excellent Ḳur-án,
Written in the Preserved Book.[92]
None shall touch it but they who are purified.[93]
It is a revelation from the Lord of the Worlds.
(lvi. 76-79.)
XXXI.
SAY, Verily if mankind and the Jinn assembled together for the purpose
of producing the like of this Ḳur-án,[94] they could not produce the
like thereof, although they helped one another.[95]
And We have explained unto men in this Ḳur-án every _kind of_
parable,[96] but the greater number of men have refused [all else]
save unbelief,
And have said, ‘We will by no means believe in thee until thou cause a
fountain to gush forth for us from the earth,
_Or_ thou have a garden of palm-trees and grapes, and thou cause
rivers to spring forth in the midst thereof in abundance,
_Or_ thou cause heaven to fall down upon us, as thou hast pretended,
in pieces, or thou bring God and the angels before _us_,
_Or_ thou have a house of gold, or thou ascend into heaven, and we
will not believe thy ascending until thou cause a book to descend unto
us which we may read.’ SAY, Extolled be the perfection of my Lord! Am
I [aught] save a man, [sent] as a Messenger?
And nothing hath hindered men from believing when the direction hath
come unto them, but their saying, ‘Hath God sent a man as a
Messenger?’[97]
SAY, If there were upon the earth angels walking at ease,[98] We had
sent down unto them from heaven an angel as a Messenger.[99]
SAY, God is a sufficient witness between me and you: for He knoweth
and seeth His servants.
(xvii. 90-98.)
XXXII.
And this Ḳur-án is not an invention[100] of one who is not God, but
_it hath been sent down_ as a confirmation of those _books which have
been_ before it, and an explanation of the Scripture—there is no doubt
thereof—from the Lord of the Worlds.
Do they say, ‘He[101] hath forged it?’ SAY, Then bring ye a
Soorah[102] like unto it and call whom ye can,[103] other than God, if
ye speak truth.
Nay they have charged with falsehood that which they comprehend not,
and the explanation thereof[104] hath not yet come unto them. In like
manner did those who were before them charge _their Messengers_ with
falsehood; but see how was the end of the offenders!
(x. 38-40.)
XXXIII.
If ye be in doubt concerning that which We have sent down unto Our
servant _Moḥammad_,[105] bring ye a Soorah like unto it,[106] and
invoke your witnesses,[107] other than God, if ye be speakers of
truth.
But if ye do _it_ not (and do _it_ ye shall not), fear the fire whose
fuel is men and stones: it is prepared for the unbelievers.
(ii. 21, 22.)
XXXIV.
Whatsoever[108] verse We abrogate or cause _thee_ to forget, We will
produce one better than it or like unto it. Dost thou not know that
God is all-powerful?
Dost thou not know that to God _belongeth_ the dominion of the heavens
and the earth, and that beside God ye have no protector or defender?
(ii. 100, 101.)
XXXV.