said, O my people, worship God; _assert His unity_. Ye have no other
deity but Him. And give not short measure and weight. Verily I see you
[to be] in a state of prosperity _that placeth you above the need of
doing so_; and verily I fear for you, _if ye believe not_, the
punishment of a day that will encompass _you with destruction_. And, O
my people, give full measure and weight with equity; and diminish not
unto men _aught_ of their things nor commit injustice in the earth,
acting corruptly, _by murder or other offences_. The residue of God
(_His supply that remaineth to you after the completion of the
measure_) will be better for you _than diminution_, if ye be
believers. And I am not a guardian over you, _to recompense you for
your actions: I have only been sent as an admonisher_.—They replied,
_in mockery_, O Sho´eyb, do thy prayers command thee that we are to
leave what our fathers worshipped, or _cease_ to do with our riches
what we please? Verily thou art the mild, the right director. _This
they said in mockery._—He said, O my people, tell me, if I act
according to an evident proof from my Lord, and He hath supplied me
with a good _lawful_ provision, shall I mix it up with what is
forbidden, and shall I not desire to oppose you, _and shall I betake
myself_ to that which I forbid you? I desire not [aught] but _your_
reformation, as far as I am able [to effect it], and my help is not
[in any] but in God: on Him do I rely, and unto Him do I turn me. And,
O my people, let not the opposition of me procure for you the
befalling you of the like of that which befell the people of Noah or
the people of Hood or the people of Ṣáliḥ. And _the abodes of the_
people of Lot [are] not distant from you: (_or the time of their
destruction was not long ago:_) _therefore be admonished_. And ask ye
forgiveness of your Lord, and turn unto Him with repentance; for my
Lord is merciful _to the believers_, loving _to them_. They replied, O
Sho´eyb, we understand not much of what thou sayest, and verily we see
thee to be weak[254] among us; and were it not for thy family, we had
stoned thee; for thou art not, in our estimation, an honourable
person: _thy family only are the honourable_. He said, O my people,
are my family more honourable in your estimation than God, _and do ye
abstain from slaying me for their sake, and not preserve me for God_,
and have ye cast Him behind you as a thing neglected? Verily my Lord
comprehendeth that which ye do, _and He will recompense you_. And, O
my people, act ye according to your condition: verily I will act
_according to mine_. Ye shall know on whom shall come a punishment
that shall render him vile, and who is a liar: and await ye _the issue
of your case_: verily I await with you.—And when Our degree _for their
destruction_ came [to be executed], we delivered Sho´eyb and those who
believed with him, in our mercy, and the cry _of Gabriel_ assailed
those who had offended, so that in the morning they were in their
abodes prostrate _and dead_, as though they had not dwelt therein. Was
not Midian removed as Thamood had been removed?
(xi. 85-98.)
MOSES AND HIS PEOPLE.
We will rehearse unto thee, [O Moḥammad, somewhat] of the history of
Moses [Moosá] and Pharaoh [Fir´own or Far´oon],[255] with truth, for
_the sake of_ people who believe. Verily Pharaoh exalted himself in
the land _of Egypt_, and divided its inhabitants into parties _to
serve him_. He rendered weak one class of them, _namely the children
of Israel_, slaughtering their male children, and preserving alive
their females, _because one of the diviners said unto him, A child
will be born among the children of Israel, who will be the means of
the loss of thy kingdom;_—for he was [one] of the corrupt doers. And
We desired to be gracious unto those who had been deemed weak in the
land, and to make them models of religion, and to make them the heirs
_of the possessions of Pharaoh_, and to establish them in the land _of
Egypt, and in Syria_, and to show Pharaoh and Hámán[256] and their
forces what they feared from them. And We said, by revelation, unto
the mother of Moses, _the child above-mentioned, of whose birth none
knew save his sister_, Suckle him; and when thou fearest for him cast
him in the river _Nile_, and fear not _his being drowned_, nor mourn
_for his separation_; for We will restore him unto thee, and will make
him [one] of the apostles.[257] _So she suckled him three months,
during which he wept not; and then she feared for him, wherefore she
put him into an ark pitched within and furnished with a bed for him,
and she closed it and cast it in the river Nile by night._ And the
family (_or servants_) of Pharaoh lighted upon him _in the ark on the
morrow of that night_;[258] _so they put it before him, and it was
opened, and Moses was taken forth from it, sucking milk from his
thumb:_ [this happened] that he might be unto them _eventually_ an
enemy (_slaying their men_) and an affliction (_making slaves of their
women_); for Pharaoh and Hámán (_his Wezeer_) and their forces were
sinners; _wherefore they were punished by his hand_. And the wife of
Pharaoh said, _when he and his servants had proposed to kill him_, He
_is_ delight of the eye unto me and unto thee: do not ye kill him:
peradventure he may be serviceable unto us, or we may adopt him as a
son. _And they complied with her desire_; and they knew not _the
consequence_.
And the heart of the mother of Moses, _when she knew of his having
been lighted upon_, became disquieted; and she had almost made him
known _to be her son_, had We not fortified her heart with patience,
that she might be [one] of the believers _in Our promise_. And she
said unto his sister _Maryam_ [or Mary], Trace him, _that thou mayest
know his case_. And she watched him from a distance, while they knew
not _that she was his sister and that she was watching him_. And We
forbade him the breasts, _preventing him from taking the breast of any
nurse except his mother_, before _his restoration to her_: so _his
sister_ said, Shall I direct you unto the people of a house who will
nurse him for you, and who will be faithful unto him? _And her offer
was accepted; therefore she brought his mother, and he took her
breast: so she returned with him to her house, as God hath said_,—And
We restored him to his mother, that her eye might be cheerful and that
she might not grieve, and that she might know that the promise of God
_to restore him unto her_ was true: but the greater number of them
(_that is, of mankind_) know not _this_. _And it appeared not that
this was his sister and this his mother; and he remained with her
until she had weaned him; and her hire was paid her, for every day a
deenár, which she took_ [without scruple] _because it was the wealth
of a hostile person. She then brought him unto Pharaoh, and he was
brought up in his abode, as God hath related of him in the Chapter of
the Poets,_[259] [where Pharaoh said unto Moses,] _Have we not brought
thee up among us a child, and hast thou not dwelt among us_ [thirty]
_years of thy life?_
And when he had attained his age of strength (_thirty years or thirty
and three_), and had become of full age (_forty years_), We bestowed
on him wisdom and knowledge _in religion, before he was sent as a
prophet_; and thus do We reward the well-doers. And he entered the
city _of Pharaoh, which was Munf_ [or Memphis], _after he had been
absent from him a while_, at a time when its inhabitants were
inadvertent, _at the hour of the noon-sleep_, and he found therein two
men fighting; this [being] of his party (_namely an Israelite_), and
this of his enemies (_an Egyptian_), _who was compelling the Israelite
to carry firewood to the kitchen of Pharaoh without pay_: and he who
was of his party begged him to aid him against him who was of his
enemies. _So Moses said unto the latter, Let him go. And it is said
that he replied to Moses, I have a mind to put the burden upon thee._
And Moses struck him with his fist, and killed him. _But he intended
not to kill him; and he buried him in the sand._ He said, This is of
the work of the devil, _who hath excited my anger_; for he is an enemy
_unto the son of Adam_, a manifest misleader _of him_. He said, _in
repentance_, O my Lord, verily I have acted injuriously unto mine own
soul, _by killing him_; therefore forgive me. So He forgave him: for
He is the Very Forgiving, the Merciful.—He said, O my Lord, by the
favours with which Thou hast favoured me, _defend me_, and I will by
no means be an assistant to the sinners _after this_.—And the next
morning he was afraid in the city, watching _for what might happen
unto him on account of the slain man_; and lo, he who had begged his
assistance the day before was crying out to him for aid _against
another Egyptian_. Moses said unto him, Verily thou art a person
manifestly in error, _because of that which thou hast done yesterday
and to-day_. But when he was about to lay violent hands upon him who
was an enemy unto them both, (_namely unto Moses and him who begged
his aid_,) _the latter_ said, _imagining that he would lay violent
hands upon him, because of that which he had said unto him_, O Moses,
dost thou desire to kill me, as thou killedst a soul yesterday? Thou
desirest not [aught] but to be an oppressor in the land, and thou
desirest not to be [one] of the reconcilers.—_And the Egyptian heard
that: so he knew that the killer was Moses; wherefore he departed
unto Pharaoh and acquainted him therewith, and Pharaoh commanded the
executioners to slay Moses, and they betook themselves to seek him._
But a man _who was a believer of the family of Pharaoh_[260] came from
the furthest part of the city, running _by a way that was nearer than
the way by which they had come_: he said, O Moses, verily the chiefs
_of the people of Pharaoh_ are consulting respecting thee, to slay
thee; therefore go forth _from the city_: verily I am unto thee [one]
of the admonishers. So he went forth from it in fear, watching _in
fear of pursuer, or for the aid of God_. He said, O my Lord, deliver
me from the unjust people _of Pharaoh_![261]
And when he was journeying towards Medyen, _which was the city of
Sho´eyb, eight days’ journey from Miṣr (named after Medyen the son of
Abraham), and he knew not the way unto it_, he said, Peradventure my
Lord will direct me unto the right way, _or the middle way. And God
sent unto him an angel, having in his hand a short spear; and he went
with him thither._[262] And when he came unto the water (_or well_) of
Medyen, he found at it a company of men watering _their animals_; and
he found besides them two women keeping away _their sheep from the
water_. He said _unto them_ (_namely the two women_), What is the
matter with you _that ye water not_? They answered, We shall not water
until the pastors shall have driven away _their animals_; and our
father is a very old man, _who cannot water the sheep_. And he watered
for them _from another well near unto them, from which he lifted a
stone that none could lift but ten persons._ Then he retired to the
shade _of an Egyptian thorn-tree on account of the violence of the
heat of the sun; and he was hungry_, and he said, O my Lord, verily I
am in need of the good _provision_ which Thou shalt send down unto me.
_And the two women returned unto their father in less time than they
were accustomed to do: so he asked them the reason thereof; and they
informed him of the person who had watered for them; whereupon he said
unto one of them, Call him unto me._
And one of them[263] came unto him, walking bashfully, _with the
sleeve of her shift over her face, by reason of her abashment at him_:
she said, My father calleth thee, that he may recompense thee with the
reward of thy having watered for us. _And he assented to her call,
disliking in his mind the receiving of the reward: but it seemeth that
she intended the compensation if he were of such as desired it. And
she walked before him; and the wind blew her garment, and her legs
were discovered: so he said unto her, Walk behind me and direct me in
the way. And she did so, until she came unto her father, who was
Sho´eyb, on whom be peace! and with him was_ [prepared] _a supper. He
said unto him, Sit and sup. But he replied, I fear lest it be a
compensation for my having watered for them, and we are a family who
seek not a compensation for doing good. He said, Nay, it is my custom
and hath been the custom of my fathers to entertain the guest and to
give food. So he ate; and acquainted, him with his case._ And when he
had come unto him, and had related to him the story _of his having
killed the Egyptian and their intention to kill him and his fear of
Pharaoh_, he replied, Fear not: thou hast escaped from the unjust
people. (_For Pharaoh had no dominion over Medyen._) One of them
[namely of the women] said (_and she was the one who had been sent_),
O my father, hire him _to tend our sheep in our stead_; for the best
whom thou canst hire is the strong, the trustworthy. _So he asked her
respecting him, and she acquainted him with what hath been above
related, his lifting up the stone of the well, and his saying unto
her, Walk behind me;—and moreover, that when she had come unto him,
and he knew of her presence, he hung down his head and raised it not._
He _therefore_ said, Verily I desire to marry thee unto one of these
my two daughters, on the condition that thou shalt be a hired servant
to me, _to tend my sheep_, eight years; and if thou fulfil ten
_years_, it shall be of thine own will; and I desire not to lay a
difficulty upon thee _by imposing as a condition the ten years_: thou
shalt find me, if God please, [one] of the just, _who are faithful to
their covenants_. He replied, This [be the covenant] between me and
thee: whichever of the two terms I fulfil, there shall be no injustice
against me _by demanding an addition thereto_; and God is witness of
what we say. _And the marriage-contract was concluded according to
this; and Sho´eyb ordered his daughter to give unto Moses a rod
wherewith to drive away the wild beasts from his sheep: and the rods
of the prophets were in his possession; and the rod of Adam, of the
myrtle of paradise, fell into her hand; and Moses took it, with the
knowledge of Sho´eyb._
(xxviii. 21-28.)
Hath the history of Moses been related to thee? when he saw fire,[264]
_during his journey from Medyen, on his way to Egypt_, and said unto
his family, _or his wife_, Tarry ye _here_; for I have seen fire:
perhaps I may bring you a brand from it, or find at the fire a guide
_to direct me in the way. For he had missed the way in consequence of
the darkness of the night._ And when he came unto it (_and it was a
bramble-bush_), he was called to [by a voice saying], O Moses, verily
I am thy Lord; therefore pull off thy shoes;[265] for thou art in the
holy valley of Ṭuwa. And I have chosen thee _from among thy people_;
wherefore hearken attentively unto that which is revealed _unto thee
by Me_. Verily I am God: there is no Deity except Me; therefore
worship Me, and perform prayer in remembrance of Me. Verily the hour
is coming: I will manifest it _unto mankind, and its nearness shall
appear unto them by its signs_, that every soul may be recompensed
_therein_ for its good and evil work: therefore let not him who
believeth not in it, and followeth his lust, hinder thee from
_believing in_ it, lest thou perish. And what is that in thy right
hand, O Moses?—He answered, It is my rod, whereon I lean and wherewith
I beat down leaves for my sheep _that they may eat them_; and I have
other uses for it, _as the carrying of provision and the water-skin,
and the driving away of reptiles_. He said, Cast it down, O Moses. So
he cast it down; and lo, it was a serpent,[266] running along. _God_
said, Take it, and fear _it_ not:[267] we will restore it to its
former state. _And he put his hand into its mouth; whereupon it became
again a rod._ [And God said,] And put thy _right_ hand to thy _left_
arm-pit, _and take it forth_: it shall come forth white, without evil,
(_that is, without leprosy; shining like the rays of the sun, dazzling
the sight,_) as another sign, that We may show thee the greatest of
our signs _of thine apostleship_. (_And when he desired to restore his
hand to its first state, he put it as before described, and drew it
forth._) Go _as an apostle_ unto Pharaoh _and those who are with
him_; for he hath acted with exceeding impiety _by arrogating to
himself divinity_.—_Moses_ said, O my Lord, dilate my bosom, _that it
may hear the message_, and make my affair easy unto me, and loose the
knot of my tongue (_this had arisen from his having been burned in his
mouth by a live coal when he was a child_),[268] that they may
understand my speech _when I deliver the message_. And appoint unto me
a Wezeer of my family, _namely_ Aaron [Hároon] my brother. Strengthen
my back by him, and make him a colleague in my affair, that we may
glorify Thee much, and remember Thee much; for Thou knowest us.
God replied, Thou hast obtained thy petition, O Moses, and We have
been gracious unto thee another time: forasmuch as We revealed unto
thy mother what was revealed, _when she gave birth to thee and feared
that Pharaoh would kill thee among the others that were born_,
[saying,] Cast him into the ark, and then cast him, _in the ark_, into
the river _Nile_, and the river shall throw him on the shore; then an
enemy unto Me and an enemy unto him (_namely Pharaoh_) shall take him.
And I bestowed on thee, _after he had taken thee_, love from Me, _that
thou mightest be loved by men, so that Pharaoh and all that saw thee
loved thee_; and that thou mightest be bred up in Mine eye. [Also]
forasmuch as thy sister _Maryam_ went _that she might learn what
became of thee, after they had brought nurses and thou hadst refused
to take the breast of any one of them_, and she said, Shall I direct
you unto one who will nurse him? (_whereupon her proposal was_
_accepted, and she brought his mother_): so We restored thee to thy
mother, that her eye might become cheerful and that she might not
grieve. And thou slewest a soul, _namely the Copt in Egypt, and wast
sorry for his slaughter, on account of Pharaoh_, and We delivered thee
from sorrow; and We tried thee with _other_ trial, _and delivered thee
from it_.[269] And thou stayedst _ten_ years among the people of
Medyen, _after thou hadst come thither from Egypt, at the abode of
Sho´eyb the prophet, and he married thee to his daughter._ Then thou
camest according to _My_ decree, _as to the time of thy mission, when
thou hadst attained the age of forty years_, O Moses; and I have
chosen thee for Myself. Go thou and thy brother[270] _unto the
people_, with My _nine_ signs, and cease ye not to remember Me. Go ye
unto Pharaoh; for he hath acted with exceeding impiety, _by arrogating
to himself divinity_, and speak unto him with gentle speech,
_exhorting him to relinquish that conduct_: peradventure he will
consider, or will fear _God, and repent_. (_The_ [mere] _hope with
respect to the two_ [results is expressed] _because of God’s knowledge
that he would not repent._)—They replied, O our Lord, verily we fear
that he may be precipitately violent against us, _hastening to punish
us_, or that he may act with exceeding injustice _towards us_. He
said, Fear ye not; for I am with you: I will hear and will see.
Therefore go ye unto him, and say, Verily we are the apostles of thy
Lord: therefore send with us the children of Israel _unto Syria_, and
do not afflict them, _but cease to employ them in thy difficult works,
such as digging and building and carrying the heavy burden_. We have
come unto thee with a sign from thy Lord, _attesting our veracity in
asserting ourselves apostles_: and peace be on him who followeth the
right direction:—_that is, he shall be secure from punishment_. Verily
it hath been revealed unto us that punishment [shall be inflicted]
upon him who chargeth with falsehood _that wherewith we have come_,
and turneth away _from it_.
(xx. 8-50.)
Then We sent after them, _namely the apostles before mentioned_ [who
were Sho´eyb and his predecessors], Moses, with Our signs unto Pharaoh
and his nobles, and they acted unjustly with respect to them,
_disbelieving in the signs_: but see what was the end of the corrupt
doers. And Moses said, O Pharaoh, verily I am an apostle from the Lord
of the worlds _unto thee_. _But he charged him with falsehood: so he
said, I am_ right not to say of God aught but the truth. I have come
unto you with a proof from your Lord: therefore send with me _to
Syria_ the children of Israel.—_Pharaoh_ said _unto him_, If thou hast
come with a sign _confirmatory of thy pretension_, produce it, if thou
be of those who speak truth, So he cast down his rod; and lo, it was a
manifest serpent.[271] And he drew forth his hand _from his bosom_;
and lo, it was white _and radiant_ unto the beholders.[272] The nobles
of the people of Pharaoh said, Verily this is a knowing enchanter: he
desireth to expel you from your land. What then do ye command?—They
answered, Put off for a time him and his brother, and send unto the
cities collectors [of the inhabitants], that they may bring unto thee
every knowing enchanter. And the enchanters came unto Pharaoh. They
said, Shall we surely have a reward if we be the party who overcome?
He answered, Yea; and verily ye shall be of those who are admitted
near [unto my person]. They said, O Moses, either do thou cast down
_thy rod_, or we will cast down _what we have with us_. He replied,
Cast ye. And when they cast down _their cords and their rods_, they
enchanted the eyes of the men, _diverting them from the true
perception of them_; and they terrified them; _for they imagined them
to be serpents running_; and they performed a great enchantment.[273]
And We spake by revelation unto Moses, [saying,] Cast down thy rod.
And lo, it swallowed up what they had caused to appear changed.[274]
So the truth was confirmed, and that which they had wrought became
vain; and they were overcome there, and were rendered contemptible.
And the enchanters cast themselves down prostrate:[275] they said, We
believe in the Lord of the worlds, the Lord of Moses and Aaron.
Pharaoh said, Have ye believed in Him before I have given you
permission? Verily this is a plot that ye have contrived in the city,
that ye may cause its inhabitants to go forth from it. But ye shall
know _what shall happen unto you at my hand_. I will assuredly cut off
your hands and your feet on the opposite sides—_the right hand of each
and his left foot_: then I will crucify you all.—They replied. Verily
unto our Lord shall we return, _after our death, of whatever kind it
be_; and thou dost not take vengeance on us but because we believed in
the signs of our Lord when they came unto us. O our Lord, pour upon us
patience, and cause us to die Muslims![276]
(vii. 101-123.)