(_His name was El-Iskender, and he was not a prophet._) Answer, I will
recite unto you an account of him. We gave him ability in the earth,
_by facilitating his journeying therein_, and gave him a way to
_attain_ everything _that he required_. And he followed a way _towards
a place where the sun setteth_, until, when he came to the place where
the sun setteth, he found that it set in a spring of black mud, _as it
appeared to the eye; but really that spring was greater than the
world_; and he found near it a people _who were unbelievers_.[209] We
said, _by inspiration_, O Dhu-l-Ḳarneyn, either punish _the people by
slaughter_, or proceed against them gently, _taking them captive_. He
said, As to him who offendeth _by polytheism_, we will punish him _by
slaughter_: then he shall be taken back to his Lord, and He will
punish him with a severe punishment, _in the fire of hell_. But as
to him who believeth, and doeth that which is right, he shall have as
a reward paradise, and We will say unto him, in Our command, _that
which will be_ easy _unto him_.—Then he followed a way _towards the
place where the sun riseth_, until, when he came to the place where
the sun riseth, he found that it rose upon a people (_namely, the
Zenj_) unto whom We had not given anything wherewith to shelter
themselves therefrom, _neither clothing nor roof; for their land bore
no building; but they had subterranean dwellings, into which they
retired at sunrise, and they came forth when the sun was high_. Thus
_was the case_; and We comprehended with Our knowledge what were with
him (_namely, Dhu-l-Ḳarneyn_), _of weapons and forces and other
things_.—Then he followed a way until, when he came between the two
barriers (_or mountains, at the confines of the country of the Turks,
between which is the barrier of El-Iskender, as will be related
presently_), he found before them a people who could scarce understand
speech. They said, O Dhu-l-Ḳarneyn, verily Yájooj and Májooj [Gog and
Magog[210]] are corrupting in the earth, _by plunder and tyranny, when
they came forth unto us_. Shall we therefore pay thee tribute, on the
condition that thou make a barrier between us and them?—He answered,
The ability which my Lord hath given me, _by wealth and other things_,
is better _than your tribute, which I need not. I will make the
barrier for you gratuitously_: but assist me strenuously _by doing
that which I desire_: I will make between you and them a strong
barrier. Bring me pieces of iron _of the size of the blocks of stone
used in building.—And he built with them, and placed amid them
firewood and charcoal_, until, when it [the mass] filled up the space
between the upper parts of the two mountains, _and he had put the
bellows and fire around that mass_, he said, Blow ye [with the
bellows]. _So they blew_ until, when he had made it (_that is, the
iron_) _like_ fire, he said, Bring me molten brass, that I may pour
upon it. _And he poured the molten brass upon the heated iron, so that
it entered between its pieces and the whole became one mass._ And they
(_namely, Yájooj and Májooj_) were not able to ascend to its top _by
reason of its height and smoothness_; nor were they able to perforate
it _by reason of its hardness and thickness_. _Dhu-l-Ḳarneyn_ said,
This (_namely, the barrier, or the gift of the ability to construct
it_) is a mercy from my Lord: but when the promise of my Lord, _as to
the eruption of Yájooj and Májooj shortly before the resurrection_,
shall come _to be fulfilled_, He will reduce it (_namely, the
barrier_) to dust; and the promise of my Lord concerning _their
eruption and other events_ is true. And We will suffer some of them,
on that day (_the day of their eruption_), to pour tumultuously among
others: and the trumpet shall be blown _for the resurrection_, and We
will gather them (_namely, all creatures_) together in a body, _in one
place_. And We will set hell, on that day, _near_ before the
unbelievers, whose eyes have been veiled from my admonition (_the
Ḳur-án_), _and who, being blind, have not been directed by it_, and
who could not hear _what the prophet recited unto them, by reason of
their hatred of him; wherefore they believed not in him_.
(xviii. 82-101.)
_ABRAHAM, ISHMAEL, ISAAC._
_Remember_ when Abraham [Ibráheem] said to his father A´zar (_this was
the surname of Terah_), Dost thou take images as deities?[211] Verily
I see thee and thy people to be in a manifest error.—(And thus, _as We
showed him the error of his father and his people_, did We show
Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and [We did so] that
he might be of [the number of] those who firmly believe.) And when the
night overshadowed him, he saw a star (_it is said that it was
Venus_), [and] he said _unto his people, who were astrologers_, This
is my Lord, _according to your assertion_.—But when it set, he said, I
like not those that set, _to take them as Lords, since it is not meet
for a Lord to experience alteration and change of place, as they are
of the nature of accidents_. _Yet this had no effect upon them._ And
when he saw the moon rising, he said _unto them_, This is my Lord.—But
when it set, he said, Verily if my Lord direct me not (_if He confirm
me not in the right way_), I shall assuredly be of the erring
people.—_This was a hint to his people that they were in error; but it
had no effect upon them._ And when he saw the sun rising, he said,
This is my Lord. This is greater _than the star and the moon_.—But
when it set, _and the proof had been rendered more strong to them, yet
they desisted not_, he said, O my people, verily I am clear of the
[things] which ye associate _with God; namely, the images and the
heavenly bodies_. _So they said unto him, What dost thou worship? He
answered_, Verily I direct my face unto Him who hath created the
heavens and the earth, following the right religion, and I am not of
the polytheists.—And his people argued with him; [but] he said, Do ye
argue with me respecting God, when He hath directed me, and I fear not
what ye associate with Him, unless my Lord will _that_ aught
_displeasing should befall me_? My Lord comprehendeth everything by
_His_ knowledge. Will ye not therefore consider? And wherefore should
I fear what ye have associated _with God_, when ye fear not for your
having associated with God that of which He hath not sent down unto
you a proof? Then which of the two parties is the more worthy of
safety? _Are we, or you?_ If ye know _who is the more worthy of it,
follow him_.—_God saith_, They who have believed, and not mixed their
belief with injustice (_that is, polytheism_), for these shall be
safety _from punishment_, and they are rightly directed.
(vi. 74-82.)
Relate _unto them_, in the book (_that is, the Ḳur-án_), _the history
of_ Abraham. Verily he was a person of great veracity, a prophet. When
he said unto his father _A´zar, who worshipped idols_, O my father,
wherefore dost thou worship that which heareth not, nor seeth, nor
averteth from thee aught, _whether of advantage or of injury_? O my
father, verily [a degree] of knowledge hath come unto me, that hath
not come unto thee: therefore follow me: I will direct thee into a
right way. O my father, serve not the devil, _by obeying him in
serving idols_; for the devil is very rebellious unto the
Compassionate. O my father, verily I fear that a punishment will
betide thee from the Compassionate, _if thou repent not_, and that
thou wilt be unto the devil an aider, _and a companion in
hell-fire_.—He replied, Art thou a rejector of my Gods, O Abraham,
_and dost thou revile them_? If thou abstain not, I will assuredly
assail thee _with stones or with ill words; therefore beware of me_,
and leave me for a long time.—_Abraham_ said, Peace _from me_ be on
thee! I will ask pardon for thee of my Lord; for He is gracious unto
me: and I will separate myself from you and from what ye invoke
instead of God; and I will call upon my Lord: perhaps I shall not be
unsuccessful in calling upon my Lord, _as ye are in calling upon
idols_.—And when he had separated himself from them, and from what
they worshipped instead of God, _by going to the Holy Land_, We gave
him _two sons, that he might cheer himself thereby, namely_, Isaac and
Jacob; and each [of them] We made a prophet; and We bestowed upon them
(_namely, the three_), of our mercy, _wealth and children_; and We
caused them to receive high commendation.
(xix. 42-51.)
We gave unto Abraham his direction formerly, _before he had attained
to manhood_; and We knew him _to be worthy of it_. When he said unto
his father and his people, What are these images, to _the worship of_
which ye are devoted?—they answered, We found our fathers worshipping
them, _and we have followed their example_. He said _unto them_,
Verily ye and your fathers have been in a manifest error. They said,
Hast thou come unto us with truth _in saying this_, or art thou of
those who jest? He answered, Nay, your Lord (_the being who deserveth
to be worshipped_) is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, who
created them, _not after the similitude of anything pre-existing_; and
I am of those who bear witness thereof. And, by God, I will assuredly
devise a plot against your idols after ye shall have retired, turning
your backs.—So, _after they had gone to their place of assembly, on a
day when they held a festival_, he brake them in pieces _with an axe_,
except the chief of them, _upon whose neck he hung the axe_; that they
might return unto it (_namely, the chief_) _and see what he had done
with the others_. They said, _after they had returned and seen what he
had done_, Who hath done this unto our gods? Verily he is of the
unjust.—_And some of them_ said, We heard a young man mention them
_reproachfully_: he is called Abraham. They said, Then bring him
before the eyes of the people, that they may bear witness _against him
of his having done it_. They said _unto him, when he had been
brought_, Hast thou done this unto our gods, O Abraham? He answered,
Nay, this their chief did it: and ask ye them, if they [can] speak.
And they returned unto themselves, _upon reflection_, and said _unto
themselves_, Verily ye are the unjust, _in worshipping that which
speaketh not_. Then they reverted to their obstinacy, _and said_,
Verily thou knowest that these speak not: _then wherefore dost thou
order us to ask them?_ He said, Do ye then worship, instead of God,
that which doth not profit you at all, nor injure you _if ye worship
it not_? Fy on you, and on that which ye worship instead of God! Do ye
not then understand?—They said, Burn ye him, and avenge your gods, if
ye will do _so_. _So they collected abundance of firewood for him, and
set fire to it; and they bound Abraham, and put him into an engine,
and cast him into the fire. But, saith God_, We said, O fire, be
thou cold, and a security unto Abraham! _So nought of him was burned
save his bonds: the heat of the fire ceased, but its light remained;
and by God’s saying, Security,—Abraham was saved from dying, by reason
of its cold._ And they intended against him a plot; but he caused them
to be the sufferers.[212] And We delivered him and Lot, _the son of_
_his brother Haran, from El-´Eráḳ_, [bringing them] unto the land
which we blessed for the peoples, _by the abundance of its rivers and
trees, namely, Syria. Abraham took up his abode in Palestine, and Lot
in El-Mu-tekifeh, between which is a day’s journey._ And _when Abraham
had asked a son_, We gave unto him Isaac, and Jacob as an additional
gift, _beyond what he had asked, being a son’s son_; and all of them
We made righteous persons _and prophets_. And We made them models of
religion who directed _men_ by Our command _unto Our religion_; and We
commanded them by inspiration to do good works and to perform prayer
and to give the appointed alms; and they served Us. And unto Lot We
gave judgment and knowledge; and We delivered him from the city which
committed filthy actions; for they were a people of evil, shameful
doers; and We admitted him into our mercy; for he was [one] of the
righteous.
(xxi. 52-75.)
Hast thou not considered him who disputed with Abraham concerning his
Lord, because God had given him the kingdom? _And he was Nimrod._ When
Abraham said, (_upon his saying unto him, Who is thy Lord, unto whom
thou invitest us?_), My Lord is He who giveth life and causeth to
die,—he replied, I give life and cause to die.—_And he summoned two
men, and slew one of them, and left the other. So when he saw that he
understood not_, Abraham said, And verily God bringeth the sun from
the east: now do thou bring it from the west.—And he who disbelieved
was confounded; and God directeth not the offending people.
(ii. 260.)
And Our messengers came formerly unto Abraham with good tidings _of
Isaac and Jacob, who should be after him_. They said, Peace. He
replied, _Peace be on you_. And he tarried not, but brought a roasted
calf. And when he saw that their hands touched it not, he disliked
them and conceived a fear of them. They said, Fear not: for we are
sent unto the people of Lot, _that we may destroy them_. And his wife
_Sarah_ was standing _serving them_, and she laughed, _rejoicing at
the tidings of their destruction_. And we gave her good tidings of
Isaac [Isḥáḳ]; and after Isaac, Jacob [Yaạḳoob]. She said, Alas! shall
I bear a child when I am an old woman, _of nine and ninety years_, and
when this my husband is an old man, _of a hundred or a hundred and
twenty years_? Verily this [would be] a wonderful thing.—They said,
Dost thou wonder at the command of God? The mercy of God and His
blessings be on you, O people of the house (_of Abraham_)! for He is
praiseworthy, glorious.—And when the terror had departed from Abraham,
and the good tidings had come unto him, he disputed with Us (_that is,
with Our messengers_) respecting the people of Lot; for Abraham was
gentle, compassionate, repentant. _And he said unto them, Will ye
destroy a city wherein are three hundred believers? They answered, No.
He said, And will ye destroy a city wherein are two hundred believers?
They answered, No. He said, And will ye destroy a city wherein are
forty believers? They answered, No. He said, And will ye destroy a
city wherein are fourteen believers? They answered, No. He said, And
tell me, if there be in it one believer? They answered, No. He said,
Verily in it is Lot. They replied, We know best who is in it. And when
their dispute had become tedious, they said_, O Abraham, abstain from
this _disputation_; for the command of thy Lord hath come _for their
destruction_, and a punishment not [to be] averted is coming upon
them.
(xi. 72-78.)
And when Our decree for _the destruction of the people of Lot_ came
[to be executed], We turned them (_that is, their cities_)
upside-down; _for Gabriel raised them to heaven, and let them fall
upside-down to the earth_;[213] and We rained upon them stones of
baked clay, sent one after another, marked with thy Lord, _each with
the name of him upon whom it should be cast_: and they [are] not far
distant from the offenders; _that is, the stones are not, or the
cities of the people of Lot were not, far distant from the people of
Mekkeh_.
(xi. 84.)
And [Abraham] said [after his escape from Nimrod], Verily I am going
unto my Lord, who will direct me _unto the place whither He hath
commanded me to go, namely, Syria. And when he had arrived at the Holy
Land, he said_, O my Lord, give me _a son_ [who shall be one] of the
righteous. Whereupon We gave him the glad tidings of a mild youth. And
when he had attained to the age when he could work with him (_as some
say, seven years; and some, thirteen_), he said, O my child, verily I
have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice thee (_and the dreams of
prophets are true; and their actions, by the command of God_);
therefore consider what thou seest advisable _for me to do_. He
replied, O my father, do what thou art commanded: thou shalt find me,
if God please, [of the number] of the patient. And when they had
resigned themselves, and he had laid him down on his temple, _in_ [the
valley of] _Mind, and had drawn the knife across his throat_ (_but it
produced no effect, by reason of an obstacle interposed by the divine
power_), We called unto him, O Abraham, thou hast verified the vision.
Verily thus do We reward the well-doers. Verily this was the manifest
trial. And We ransomed him _whom he had been commanded to sacrifice_
(_and he was Ishmȧel_ [Ismá´eel] _or Isaac; for there are two
opinions_)[214] with an excellent victim, _a ram from Paradise, the
same that Abel had offered: Gabriel_ (_on whom be peace!_) _brought
it, and the lord Abraham sacrificed it, saying, God is most great!_
And We left _this salutation_ [to be bestowed] on him by the latter
generations, Peace [be] on Abraham! Thus do We reward the well-doers:
for he was of our believing servants.
(xxxvii. 97-111.)
_Remember_ when Abraham said, O my Lord, show me how Thou will raise
to life the dead.[215]—He said, Hast thou not believed? He answered,
Yea: but _I have asked Thee_ that my heart may be at ease. He replied,
Then take four birds and draw them towards thee, _and cut them in
pieces and mingle together their flesh and their feathers_; then place
upon each mountain _of thy land_ a portion of them, then call them
_unto thee_: they shall come unto thee quickly: and know thou that God
is mighty [and] wise.—_And he took a peacock and a vulture and a raven
and a cock, and did with them as hath been described, and kept their
heads with him, and called them; whereupon the portions flew about,
one to another, until they became complete: then they came to their
heads._
(ii. 262.)
_Remember_ when his Lord had tried Abraham by [certain] words,
_commands and prohibitions_, and he fulfilled them, _God_ said _unto
him_, I constitute thee a model of religion unto men.[216] He replied,
And of my offspring _constitute models of religion_. [God] said, My
covenant doth not apply to the offenders, _the unbelievers among
them_.—And when We appointed the house (_that is, the Kaạbeh_) to be a
place for the resort of men, and a place of security (_a man would
meet the slayer of his father there and he would not provoke him_ [to
revenge],) and [said], Take, _O men_, the station of Abraham (_the
stone upon which he stood at the time of building the House_) as a
place of prayer, _that ye may perform behind it the prayers of the two
rek´ahs_[217] [which are ordained to be performed after the ceremony]
_of the circuiting_ [of the Kaạbeh].—And We commanded Abraham and
Ishmael, [saying], Purify my House (_rid it of the idols_) for those
who shall compass [it], and those who shall abide _there_, and those
who shall bow down and prostrate themselves.—And when Abraham said, O
my Lord, make this _place_ a secure territory (_and God hath answered
his prayer, and made it a sacred place, wherein the blood of man is
not shed, nor is any one oppressed in it, nor is its game hunted_ [or
shot], _nor are its plants cut or pulled up_), and supply its
inhabitants with fruits _which hath been done by the transporting of
Eṭ-Ṭáïf from Syria thither, when it_ [that is, the territory of
Mekkeh] _was desert, without sown land or water_,[218] such of them as
shall believe in God and the last day.—_He mentioned them peculiarly
in the prayer agreeably with the saying of God, My covenant doth not
apply to the offenders._—_God_ replied, And _I will supply_ him who
disbelieveth: I will make him to enjoy _a supply of food in this
world_, a little _while_: then I will force him, _in the world to
come_, to the punishment of the fire; and evil shall be the transit.
(ii. 118-120.)
And _remember_ when Abraham was raising the foundations of the
House[219] (_that is, building it_), together with Ishmael, _and they
said_, O our Lord, accept of us _our building_; for Thou art the
Hearer _of what is said_, the Knower _of what is done_. O our Lord,
also make us resigned[220] unto Thee, and _make_ from among our
offspring a people resigned unto Thee, and show us our rites (_the
ordinances of our worship, or our pilgrimage_), and be propitious
towards us; for Thou art the Very Propitious, the Merciful. (_They
begged Him to be propitious to them, notwithstanding their honesty,
from a motive of humility, and by way of instruction to their
offspring._) O our Lord, also send unto them (_that is, the people of
the House_) an apostle from among them (_and God hath answered their
prayer by sending Moḥammad_), who shall recite unto them Thy signs
(the Ḳur-án), and shall teach them the book (_the Ḳur-án_), and the
knowledge _that it containeth_, and shall purify them _from
polytheism_; for Thou art the Mighty, the Wise.—And who will be averse
from the religion of Abraham but he who maketh his soul foolish, _who
is ignorant that it is God’s creation, and that the worship of Him is
incumbent on it; or who lightly esteemeth it and applieth it to vile
purposes_; when We have chosen him in this world _as an apostle and a
friend_, and he shall be in the world to come one of the righteous
_for whom are high ranks?—And remember_ when his lord said unto
him, Resign thyself:—he replied, I resign myself unto the Lord of the
worlds.—And Abraham commanded his children to follow it (_namely, the
religion_); and Jacob,_ his children; saying_, O my children, verily
God hath chosen for you the religion _of El-Islám_;[221] therefore die
not without your being Muslims.—_It was a prohibition from abandoning
El-Islám and a command to persevere therein unto death._
(ii. 121-126.)
_When the Jews said, Abraham was a Jew, and we are of his
religion,—and the Christians said the like_, [the following] _was
revealed_:—O people of the Scripture, wherefore do ye argue respecting
Abraham, _asserting that he was of your religion_, when the Pentateuch
and the Gospel were not sent down but after him _a long time_? Do ye
not then understand the _falsity of your saying_? So ye, O people,
have argued respecting that of which ye have knowledge, _concerning
Moses and Jesus, and have asserted that ye are of their religion_:
then wherefore do ye argue respecting that of which ye have no
knowledge, _concerning Abraham_? But God knoweth _his case_, and ye
know _it_ not. Abraham was not a Jew nor a Christian: but he was
orthodox, a Muslim [or one resigned], _a unitarian_, and he was not of
the polytheists.
(iii. 58-60.)
_JACOB, JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN._