are plunged in darkness;
And the Sun hasteneth to her place of rest. This, the ordinance of the
Mighty, the Knowing!
And as for the Moon, We have decreed stations for it, till it change like an
old and crooked palm branch.
To the Sun it is not given to overtake the Moon, nor doth the night outstrip
the day; but each in its own sphere doth journey on.
It is also a sign to them that we bare their posterity in the full-laden Ark;
And that we have made for them vessels like it on which they embark;
And if we please, we drown them, and there is none to help them, and they are
not rescued,
Unless through our mercy, and that they may enjoy themselves for yet awhile.
And when it is said to them, Fear what is before you and what is behind
you,11 that ye may obtain mercy. . . .
Aye, not one sign from among the signs of their Lord dost thou bring them,
but they turn away from it!
And when it is said to them, Give alms of what God hath bestowed on you,12
they who believe not say to the believers, "Shall we feed him whom God can
feed if He will? Truly ye are in no other than a plain error."
And they say, "When will this promise be fulfilled, if what ye say be true?"
They await but a single blast: as they are wrangling shall it assail them:
And not a bequest shall they be able to make, nor to their families shall
they return.
And the trumpet shall be blown, and, lo! they shall speed out of their
sepulchres to their Lord:
They shall say, "Oh! woe to us! who hath roused us from our sleeping place?
'Tis what the God of Mercy promised; and the Apostles spake the truth."
But one blast shall there be,13 and, lo! they shall be assembled before us,
all together.
And on that day shall no soul be wronged in the least: neither shall ye be
rewarded but as ye shall have wrought.
But joyous on that day shall be the inmates of Paradise, in their employ;
In shades, on bridal couches reclining, they and their spouses:
Therein shall they have fruits, and shall have whatever they require-
"Peace!" shall be the word on the part of a merciful Lord.
"But be ye separated this day, O ye sinners!
Did I not enjoin on you, O sons of Adam, 'Worship not Satan, for that he is
your declared foe,'
But 'Worship Me: this is a right path'?
But now hath he led a vast host of you astray. Did ye not then comprehend?
This is Hell with which ye were threatened:
Endure its heat this day, for that ye believed not."
On that day will we set a seal upon their mouths; yet shall their hands speak
unto us, and their feet14 shall bear witness of that which they shall have
done.
And, if we pleased, we would surely put out their eyes: yet even then would
they speed on with rivalry in their path: but how should they see?
And, if we pleased, we would surely transform them as they stand,15 and they
would not be able to move onward, or to return.
Him cause we to stoop through age whose days we lengthen. Will they not
understand?
We have not taught him (Muhammad) poetry,16 nor would it beseem him. This
Book is no other than a warning and a clear Koran,
To warn whoever liveth; and, that against the Infidels sentence may be justly
given.
See they not that we have created for them among the things which our hands
have wrought, the animals of which they are masters?
And that we have subjected them unto them? And on some they ride, and of
others they eat;
And they find in them profitable uses and beverages:
Yet have they taken other gods beside God that they might be helpful to them.
No power have they to succour them: yet are their votaries an army at their
service.
Let not their speech grieve thee: We know what they hide and what they bring
to light.
Doth not man perceive that we have created him of the moist germs of life?
Yet lo! is he an open caviller.
And he meeteth us with arguments,17 and forgetteth his creation: "Who," saith
he, "shall give life to bones when they are rotten?"
SAY: He shall give life to them who gave them being at first, for in all
creation is he skilled:
Who even out of the green tree hath given you fire18, and lo! ye kindle flame
from it.
What! must not He who hath created the Heavens and the Earth be mighty enough
to create your likes? Yes! and He is the skilful creator.
His command when He willeth aught, is but to say to it, BE, and IT IS.
So glory be to Him in whose hand is sway over all things! And to Him shall ye
be brought back.
_______________________
1 This Sura is said to have been termed by Muhammad "the heart of the Koran."
It is recited in all Muhammadan countries to the dying, at the tombs of
saints, etc. On Ya. Sin, see Sura lxviii. p. 32.
2 Sura xxxviii. 85, p. 129.
3 Lit. in the clear prototype, that is, in the Preserved Table, on which all
the actions of mankind are written down.
4 Antioch, to which Jesus is said to have sent two disciples to preach the
unity of God, and subsequently Simon Peter. This vague story, and that of the
seven sleepers in Sura xviii. are the only traces to be found in the Koran of
any knowledge, on the part of Muhammad, of the history of the Church
subsequent to the day of Pentecost, or of the spread of the Christian
religion.
5 Comp. Sura xxvii. 48; vii. 128, where, as in this passage, the word augur
refers to the mode of divination practised previous to Islam, by the flight
of birds.
6 Lit. if ye have been warned (will ye still disbelieve?).
7 Habib, the carpenter, who, as implied at verse 25, was martyred, and whose
tomb at Antioch is still an object of veneration to the Muhammadans.
8 Ullm. following Wahl, renders, Als sie (die stadtlente) darauf ihn
schändlich behandleten. The verb in the original is thus used in the 4th
conj. Nöldeke supposes that words to this effect have been lost from the
text. But of this there is no trace in the Commentators.
9 Or, the Apostles shall not return to them again. Ullm.
10 For instance, date trees, the female blossoms of which were carefully
impregnated, when requisite, by branches of the male plant. See Freyt. Einl.
p. 271.
11 The chastisements of this world and of the next.
12 On account of this precept, Itq. 35, and Omar b. Muhammad suppose the
verse to have originated at Medina.
13 The Muhammadans affirm that a space of forty years will intervene between
two blasts of the Trumpet. Maracci suggests that the idea of the two blasts
is derived from 1 Thess. iv. 16, "the voice of the archangel and . . . the
trump of God."
14 Thus Chagiga, 16; Taanith, 11. "The very members of a man bear witness
against him, for thus is it written (Is. xliii. 12), Ye yourselves are my
witnesses, saith the Lord." See also Sura [lxxi.] xli. 19, 20.
15 Lit. in their place.
16 See Sura xxvi. 225, p. III.
17 Lit. he setteth forth to us comparisons.
18 The form of the Arabic word is Rabbinic Hebrew.
SURA XLIII.-ORNAMENTS OF GOLD [LXI.]
MECCA.-89 Verses.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Ha. Mim.1 By the Luminous Book!
We have made it an Arabic Koran that ye may understand:
And it is a transcript of the archetypal Book,2 kept by us; it is lofty,
filled with wisdom,
Shall we then turn aside this warning from you because ye are a people who
transgress?
Yet how many prophets sent we among those of old!
But no prophet came to them whom they made not the object of their scorn:
Wherefore we destroyed nations mightier than these Meccans in strength; and
the example of those of old hath gone before!
And if thou ask them who created the Heavens and the Earth, they will say:
"The Mighty, the Sage, created them both,"
Who hath made the Earth as a couch for you, and hath traced out routes
therein for your guidance;
And who sendeth down out of Heaven the rain in due degree, by which we
quicken a dead land; thus shall ye be brought forth from the grave:
And who hath created the sexual couples, all of them, and hath made for you
the ships and beasts whereon ye ride:
That ye may sit balanced on their backs and remember the goodness of your
Lord as ye sit so evenly thereon, and say: "Glory to Him who hath subjected
these to us! We could not have attained to it of ourselves:
And truly unto our Lord shall we return."
Yet do they assign to him some of his own servants for offspring! Verily man
is an open ingrate!
Hath God adopted daughters from among those whom he hath created, and chosen
sons for you?
But when that3 is announced to any one of them, which he affirmeth to be the
case with the God of Mercy,4 his face settleth into darkness and he is
silent-sad.
What! make they a being to be the offspring of God who is brought up among
trinkets, and is ever contentious without reason?
And they make the angels who are the servants of God of Mercy, females. What!
did they witness their creation? Their witness shall be taken down, and they
shall hereafter be enquired at.
And they say: "Had the God of Mercy so willed it we should never have
worshipped them." No knowledge have they in this: they only lie.
Have we ere this given them a Book?5 and do they possess it still?
But say they: "Verily we found our fathers of that persuasion, and verily, by
their footsteps do we guide ourselves."
And thus never before thy time did we send a warner to any city but its
wealthy ones said: "Verily we found our fathers with a religion, and in their
tracks we tread."
SAY,-such was our command to that apostle-"What! even if I bring you a
religion more right than that ye found your fathers following?" And they
said, "Verily we believe not in your message."
Wherefore we took vengeance on them, and behold what hath been the end of
those who treated our messengers as liars!
And bear in mind when Abraham said to his father and to his people, "Verily I
am clear of what ye worship,
Save Him who hath created me; for he will vouchsafe me guidance."
And this he established as a doctrine that should abide among his posterity,
that to God might they be turned.
In sooth to these idolatrous Arabians and to their fathers did I allow their
full enjoyments, till the truth should come to them, and an undoubted
apostle:
But now that the truth hath come to them, they say, "'Tis sorcery, and we
believe it not."
And they say, "Had but this Koran been sent down to some great one of the two
cities6 . . .!"
Are they then the distributors of thy Lord's Mercy?7 It is we who distribute
their subsistence among them in this world's life; and we raise some of them
by grades above others, that the one may take the other to serve him: but
better is the mercy of thy Lord than all their hoards.
But for fear that all mankind would have become a single people of
unbelievers, verily we would certainly have given to those who believe not in
the God of Mercy roofs of silver to their houses, and silver stairs to ascend
by;
And doors of silver to their houses, and couches of silver to recline on;
And ORNAMENTS OF GOLD: for all these are merely the good things of the
present life; but the next life doth thy Lord reserve for those who fear Him.
And whoso shall withdraw from the Warning of the God of Mercy, we will chain
a Satan to him, and he shall be his fast companion:
For the Satans will turn men aside from the Way, who yet shall deem
themselves rightly guided;
Until when man shall come before us, he shall say, "O Satan, would that
between me and thee were the distance of the East and West."8 And a wretched
companion is a Satan.
But it shall not avail you on that day, because ye were unjust: partners
shall ye be in the torment.
What! Canst thou then make the deaf to hear, or guide the blind and him who
is in palpable error?
Whether therefore we take thee off by death, surely will we avenge ourselves
on them;
Or whether we make thee a witness of the accomplishment of that with which we
threatened them, we will surely gain the mastery over them.9
Hold thou fast therefore what hath been revealed to thee, for thou art on a
right path:
For truly to thee and to thy people it is an admonition; and ye shall have an
account to render for it at last.10
And ask our Sent Ones whom we have sent before thee,
"Appointed we gods beside the God of Mercy whom they should worship?"11
Of old sent we Moses with our signs to Pharaoh and his nobles: and he said,
"I truly am the Apostle of the Lord of the worlds."
And when he presented himself before them with our signs, lo! they laughed at
them,
Though we shewed them no sign that was not greater than its fellow:12 and
therefore did we lay hold on them with chastisement, to the intent that they
might be turned to God.
Then they said, "O Magician! call on thy Lord on our behalf to do as he hath
engaged with thee, for truly we would fain be guided."
But when we relieved them from the chastisement, lo! they broke their pledge.
And Pharaoh made proclamation among his people. Said he, "O my people! is not
the kingdom of Egypt mine, and these rivers which flow at my feet?13 Do ye
not behold?
Am I not mightier than this despicable fellow,
And who scarce can speak distinctly?
Have bracelets of gold14 then been put upon him, or come there with him a
train of Angels?"
And he inspired his people with levity, and they obeyed him; for they were a
perverse people:
And when they had angered us, we took vengeance on them, and we drowned them
all.
And we made them a precedent and instance of divine judgments to those who
came after them.
And when the Son of Mary was set forth as an instance of divine power, lo!
thy people cried out for joy thereat:
And they said, "Are our gods or is he the better?"15 They put this forth to
thee only in the spirit of dispute. Yea, they are a contentious people.
Jesus is no more than a servant whom we favoured, and proposed as an instance
of divine power to the children of Israel.
(And if we pleased, we could from yourselves bring forth Angels to succeed
you on earth:)16
And he shall be a sign of the last hour;17 doubt not then of it, and follow
ye me: this is the right way;
And let not Satan turn you aside from it, for he is your manifest foe.
And when Jesus came with manifest proofs, he said, "Now am I come to you with
wisdom; and a part of those things about which ye are at variance I will
clear up to you; fear ye God therefore and obey me.
Verily, God is my Lord and your Lord; wherefore worship ye him: this is a
right way."
But the different parties18 fell into disputes among themselves; but woe to
those who thus transgressed, because of the punishment of an afflictive day!
For what wait they but for the hour "to come suddenly on them, while they
expect it not?"
Friends on that day shall become foes to one another, except the God-
fearing:-
"O my servants! on this day shall no fear come upon you, neither shall ye be
put to grief,
Who have believed in our signs and become Muslims:
Enter ye and your wives into Paradise, delighted."
Dishes and bowls of gold shall go round unto them: there shall they enjoy
whatever their souls desire, and whatever their eyes delight in; and therein
shall ye abide for ever.
This is Paradise, which ye have received as your heritage in recompense for
your works;
Therein shall ye have fruits in abundance, of which ye shall eat.
But in the torment of Hell shall the wicked remain for ever:
It shall not be mitigated to them, and they shall be mute for despair
therein,
For it is not we who have treated them unjustly, but it was they who were
unjust to themselves.
And they shall cry: "O Malec!19 would that thy Lord would make an end of us!"
He saith: "Here must ye remain."
We have come to you with the truth (O Meccans), but most of you abhor the
truth.
Have they drawn tight their toils for thee?20 We too will tighten ours.
Think they that we hear not their secrets and their private talk? Yes, and
our angels who are at their sides write them down.
SAY: If the God of Mercy had a son, the first would I be to worship him:
But far be the Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, the Lord of the Throne,
from that which they impute to Him!
Wherefore let them alone, to plunge on, and sport, until they meet the day
with which they are menaced.
He who is God in the Heavens is God in earth also: and He is the Wise, the
Knowing.
And Blessed be He whose is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth and of
all that is between them; for with Him is the knowledge of the Hour, and to
Him shall ye be brought back.
The gods whom they call upon beside Him shall not be able to intercede for
others: they only shall be able who bore witness to the truth and21 knew it."
If thou ask them who hath created them, they will be sure to say, "God." How
then hold they false opinions?
And one22 saith, "O Lord! verily these are people who believe not."
Turn thou then from them, and say, "Peace:" In the end they shall know their
folly.
_______________________
1 See Sura lxviii. I, p. 32.
2 Lit. it is in the Mother of the Book, i.e. the original of the Koran,
preserved before God.
3 That is, of the birth of a female.
4 Lit. which he imputeth to the God of Mercy, as his likeness.
5 To authorise angel-worship.
6 Supply, Mecca and Taief, we would have received it.
7 Lit. mercy, i.e. the gift and office of prophecy.
8 Lit. the two Easts, by which some understand the distance between the two
solstices.
9 Comp. Suras xl. 77; xxiii. 97; x. 47; xxix. 53; xxxvii. 179; xiii. 42.
These passages clearly show that Muhammad had at this period-towards the
close of his Meccan period-full faith in his ultimate success, and in the
fulfilment of his menaces against the unbelievers.
10 Lit. ye shall be examined in the end.
11 This verse is said (see Nöld. p. 100, n.) to have been revealed in the
temple at Jerusalem on the occasion of the night journey thither. See also
Weil's Muhammed der Prophet, p. 374.
12 Lit. sister.
13 See Sura [lxxix.] xxviii. 39, n.
14 Comp. Gen. xli. 42.
15 This was a captious objection made to Muhammad by the idolaters of Mecca
when he condemned their gods (Sura xxi. 98), as if they had said, "Jesus is
worshipped as a God by the Christians: does he come under your anathema
equally with our idols? we shall be content for our gods to be with him."
16 That is, as we caused Jesus to be born without a human father.
17 At his return to this earth. Some refer this to the Koran as revealing the
last Hour. Lit. He (or It) is for knowledge of the Hour.
18 Jewish and Christian sects.
19 Malec is one of the keepers of Hell, who specially presides over the
torments of the damned.
20 Lit. if they have twisted tight or set firmly the affair, i.e. their plots
against thee and the truth.
21 Or, and they (the Infidels). The Commentators say that Jesus, Ezra, and
the angels, will be allowed to intercede.
22 Muhammad.
SURA LXXII.-DJINN [LXII.]
MECCA.-28 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
SAY: It hath been revealed to me that a company of
DJINN1 listened, and said,-"Verily, we have heard a marvellous discourse
(Koran);
It guideth to the truth; wherefore we believed in it, and we will not
henceforth join any being with our Lord;
And He,-may the majesty of our Lord be exalted!-hath taken no spouse neither
hath he any offspring.
But the foolish among us hath spoken of God that which is unjust:
And we verily thought that no one amongst men or Djinn would have uttered a
lie against God.
There are indeed people among men, who have sought for refuge unto people
among Djinn: but they only increased their folly:
And they thought, as ye think, that God would not raise any from the dead.
And the Heavens did we essay, but found them filled with a mighty garrison,
and with flaming darts;
And we sat on some of the seats to listen, but whoever listeneth findeth an
ambush ready for him of flaming darts.
And truly we know not whether evil be meant for them that are on earth, or
whether their Lord meaneth guidance for them.
And there are among us good, and others among us of another kind;-we are of
various sorts:
And verily we thought that no one could weaken God on earth, neither could we
escape from him by flight:
Wherefore as soon as we had heard 'the guidance' we believed in it; and
whoever believeth in his Lord, need not fear either loss or wrong.
There are some among us who have resigned themselves to God (the Muslims);
and there are others of us who have gone astray. And whoso resigneth himself
to God pursueth the way of truth;
But they who go astray from it shall be fuel for Hell."
Moreover, if they (the Meccans) keep straight on in that way, we will surely
give them to drink of abundant waters,
That we may prove them thereby: but whoso withdraweth from the remembrance of
his Lord, him will He send into a severe torment.
It is unto God that the temples are set apart: call not then on any other
therein with God.
When the servant of God stood up to call upon Him, the djinn almost jostled
him by their crowds.
SAY: I call only upon my Lord, and I join no other being with Him.
SAY: No control have I over what may hurt or benefit you.
SAY: Verily none can protect me against God;
Neither shall I find any refuge beside Him.
My sole work is preaching from God, and His message: and for such as shall
rebel against God and his apostle is the fire of Hell! they shall remain
therein alway,-for ever!
Until they see their threatened vengeance they will be perverse! but then
shall they know which side was the weakest in a protector and the fewest in
number.
SAY: I know not whether that with which ye are threatened be nigh, or whether
my Lord hath assigned it to a distant day: He knoweth the secret, nor doth He
divulge his secret to any,
Except to that Apostle who pleaseth Him; and before him and behind him He
maketh a guard to march:
That He may know if his Apostles have verily delivered the messages of their
Lord: and He embraceth in his knowledge all their ways, and taketh count of
all that concerneth them.
_______________________
1 This interview with the Djinn took place at Nakhla, probably the "Wady
Mohram" of Burckhardt, midway between Mecca and Ta‹ef, when Muhammad was
driven from Mecca. A.D. 620.
SURA LXVII.-THE KINGDOM [LXIII.]
MECCA.- 30 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
BLESSED be He is whose hand is the KINGDOM! and over all things is He potent:
Who hath created death and life to prove which of you will be most righteous
in deed; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving!
Who hath created seven Heavens one above another: No defect canst thou see in
the creation of the God of Mercy: Repeat the gaze: seest thou a single flaw?
Then twice more repeat the gaze: thy gaze shall return to thee dulled and
weary.
Moreover we have decked the lowest heaven with lights, and have placed them
there to be hurled at the Satans, for whom we have prepared the torment of
the flaming fire.
And for those who believe not in their Lord is the torment of Hell; and
horrid the journey thither!
When they shall be thrown into it, they shall hear it braying:1 and it shall
boil-
Almost shall it burst for fury. So oft as a crowd shall be thrown into it,
its keepers shall ask them, "Came not the warner to you?"
They shall say, Yes! there came to us one charged with warnings; but we
treated him as a liar, and said, "Nothing hath God sent down: ye are in
nothing but a vast delusion."
And they shall say, "Had we but hearkened or understood, we had not been
among the dwellers in the flames;"
And their sin shall they acknowledge: but, "Avaunt, ye dwellers in the
flame."
But pardon and a great reward for those who fear their Lord in secret!
Be your converse hidden or open, He truly knoweth the inmost recess of your
breasts!
What! shall He not know who hath created? for He is the Subtil,2 the
Cognizant.
It is He who hath made the earth level for you: traverse then its broad
sides, and eat of what He hath provided.-Unto Him shall be the resurrection.
What! are ye sure that He who is in Heaven will not cleave the Earth beneath
you? And lo, it shall quake.
Or are ye sure that He who is in Heaven will not send against you a stone-
charged whirlwind? Then shall ye know what my warning meant!
And verily, those who flourish before you treated their prophets as liars:
and how grievous my wrath!
Behold they not the birds over their heads, outstretching and drawing in
their wings? None, save the God of Mercy, upholdeth them: for he regardeth
all things.
Who is he that can be as an army to you, to succour you, except the God of
Mercy? Truly, the infidels are in the merest delusion.
Or who is he that will furnish you supplies, if He withhold His supplies? Yet
do they persist in pride and in fleeing from Him!
Is he who goeth along grovelling on his face, better guided than he who goeth
upright on a straight path?
SAY: It is He who hath brought you forth, and gifted you with hearing and
sight and heart: yet how few are grateful!