from the sack of his brother he drew it out. This stratagem did we suggest to
Joseph. By the King's law he had no power to seize his brother, had not God
pleased. We uplift into grades of wisdom whom we will. And there is one
knowing above every one else endued with knowledge.
They said, "If he steal, a brother of his hath stolen heretofore."21 But
Joseph kept his secret, and did not discover it to them. Said he, aside, "Ye
are in the worse condition. And God well knoweth what ye state."
They said, "O Prince! Verily he hath a very aged father; in his stead,
therefore, take one of us, for we see that thou art a generous person."
He said, "God forbid that we should take but him with whom our property was
found, for then should we act unjustly."
And when they despaired of Benjamin, they went apart for counsel. The eldest
of them said, "Know ye not how that your father hath taken a pledge from you
before God, and how formerly ye failed in duty with regard to Joseph? I will
not quit the land till my father give me leave, or God decide for me; for of
those who decide is He the best.
Return ye to your father and say, 'O our father! Verily, thy son hath stolen:
we bear witness only of what we know: we could not guard against the
unforeseen.
Enquire for thyself in the city where we have been, and of the caravan with
which we have arrived; and we are surely speakers of the truth.'
He said, "Nay, ye have arranged all this among yourselves: But patience is
seemly: God, may be, will bring them back to me together; for he is the
Knowing, the Wise."
And he turned away from them and said, "Oh! how I am grieved for Joseph!" and
his eyes became white with grief, for he bore a silent sorrow.
They said, "By God thou wilt only cease to think of Joseph when thou art at
the point of death, or dead."
He said, "I only plead my grief and my sorrow to God: but I know from God
what ye know not:22
Go, my sons, and seek tidings of Joseph and his brother, and despair not of
God's mercy, for none but the unbelieving despair of the mercy of God."
And when they came in to Joseph, they said, "O Prince, distress hath reached
us and our family, and little is the money that we have brought. But give us
full measure, and bestow it as alms, for God will recompense the almsgivers."
He said, "Know ye what ye did to Joseph and his brother in your ignorance?"
They said, "Canst thou indeed be Joseph?" He said, "I am Joseph, and this is
my brother. Now hath God been gracious to us. For whoso feareth God and
endureth. . . . God verily will not suffer the reward of the righteous to
perish!"
They said, "By God! now hath God chosen thee above us, and we have indeed
been sinners!"
He said, "No blame be on you this day. God will forgive you, for He is the
most merciful of those who shew mercy.
Go ye with this my shirt and throw it on my father's face, and he shall
recover his sight: and bring me all your family."
And when the caravan was departed, their father said, "I surely perceive the
smell of Joseph:23 think ye that I dote?"
They said, "By God, it is thy old mistake."
And when the bearer of good tidings came, he cast it on his face, and Jacob's
eyesight returned."
Then he said, "Did I not tell you that I knew from God what ye knew not?"
They said, "Our father, ask pardon for our crimes for us, for we have indeed
been sinners."
He said, "I will ask your pardon of my Lord, for he is Gracious, Merciful."
And when they came into Joseph he took his parents24 to him, and said, "Enter
ye Egypt, if God will, secure."
And he raised his parents to the seat of state, and they fell down bowing
themselves unto him. Then said he, "O my father, this is the meaning of my
dream of old. My Lord hath now made it true, and he hath surely been gracious
to me, since he took me forth from the prison, and hath brought you up out of
the desert, after that Satan had stirred up strife between me and my
brethren; for my Lord is gracious to whom He will; for He is the Knowing, the
Wise.
O my Lord, thou hast given me dominion, and hast taught me to expound dark
sayings. Maker of the Heavens and of the Earth! My guardian art thou in this
world and in the next! Cause thou me to die a Muslim, and join me with the
just."
This is one of the secret histories25 which we reveal unto thee. Thou wast
not present with Joseph's brethren when they conceived their design and laid
their plot: but the greater part of men, though thou long for it, will not
believe.
Thou shalt not ask of them any recompense for this message. It is simply an
instruction for all mankind.
And many as are the signs in the Heavens and on the Earth, yet they will pass
them by, and turn aside from them:
And most of them believe not in God, without also joining other deities with
Him.
What! Are they sure that the overwhelming chastisement of God shall not come
upon them, or that that Hour shall not come upon them suddenly, while they
are unaware?
SAY: This is my way: resting on a clear proof, I call you to God, I and whoso
followeth me: and glory be to God! I am not one of those who add other
deities to Him.
Never before thee have we sent any but men, chosen out of the people of the
cities, to whom we made revelations. Will they not journey through the land,
and see what hath been the end of those who were before them? But the
mansions of the next life shall be better for those who fear God. Will they
not then comprehend?
When at last the Apostles lost all hope, and deemed that they were reckoned
as liars, our aid reached them, and we delivered whom we would; but our
vengeance was not averted from the wicked.
Certainly in their histories is an example for men of understanding. This is
no new tale of fiction, but a confirmation of previous scriptures, and an
explanation of all things, and guidance and mercy to those who believe.
_______________________
1 See Sura lxviii. p. 32. In no other Sura beside this is one subject treated
of throughout. It was recited to the first eight of the Ansars who were
converted, and clearly proves that Muhammad must have been in confidential
intercourse with learned Jews.
2 The word Koran is here used in the same sense as Sura.
3 Muhammad was either unaware of the previous dream mentioned, Gen. xxxvii.
7, or passes it by in silence.
4 The captious and unbelieving Koreisch.
5 Wir mussten denn zuerst das Leben einbüssen. Wahl. Ullm. Maracci.
6 Lit. your minds have made a thing seem pleasant to you.
7 According to Gen. xxxvii. 24, the well or pit had "no water in it.
8 Some take the Arabic Boshra as the proper name of the person who
accompanied the drawer of water.
9 The apparition of his father, who said, "Hereafter shall the names of thy
brethren, engraven on precious stones, shine on the breast of the High
Priest. Shall thine be blotted out?" Tr. Sotah, fol. 36. Comp. Weil,
Legenden, p. 109, n.
10 Lit. that he be imprisoned.
11 An infant in the cradle. Sepher Hadjascher, as below on v. 31.
12 Instead of their food, through surprise at his beauty. Seph. Hadj. in
Midr. Jalkut. See also Midr. Abkhir, ib. ch. 146.
13 It is curious to observe how Muhammad, in this and the following verse,
puts his own doctrine and convictions into the mouth of Joseph.
14 Satan induced Joseph to place his confidence in man, rather than in God
alone, in punishment of which sin the imprisonment was continued. Thus Midr.
Rabba. Gen. Par. 89. Midr. Jalkut, ib. ch. 147.
15 In Gen. xli. 14, Joseph is released from prison before the interpretation
of the dreams. But the Koran makes him decline to quit it till his character
is cleared.
16 According to Gen. xli. 39, Pharaoh of his own accord sets Joseph over his
house and land.
17 For the king to bestow.
18 Thus we read in Mid. Rab. on Gen. Par. 91, "Jacob said to them, Enter ye
not all by one gate." See also Midr. Jalkut, ch. 148.
19 Thus also, in the Sepher Hadjaschar, Joseph first discovers himself to
Benjamin, in opposition to Gen. xlv. 1.
20 Comp. Gen. xlii. 9.
21 Joseph is said by the Muhammadan commentators to have stolen an idol of
gold belonging to his mother's father, which he broke, that he might not
worship it. But this comment, as well as the text of the Koran, is probably
based upon some such tradition as that of Midr. Rabba, Par. 92, "He is a
thief and the son of a thief" (Comp. Gen. xxxi. 19)-spoken of Benjamin.
22 That is, that Joseph was still alive. Thus Midr. Tanchumah on Gen. xlii.
1.
23 Comp. Gen. xxvii. 27.
24 Joseph's mother had long been dead. See Gen. xxxv. 19. But the object of
Muhammad was probably to bring the event into strict accordance with the
prediction of the dream. Gen. xxxvii. 10. Some, however, suppose that Bilhah
is here meant, and her appearance before Joseph is also asserted to be the
fulfilment of the dream by some of the Rabbins. Comp. Raschi on Gen. xxxvii.
10.
25 Lit. This is of the announcements of the things unseen (by thee,
Muhammad). Compare the manner in which the story of the Creation and of Moses
in the mount is introduced. Sura xxxviii. 70; xxviii. 45. Mr. Muir thinks
that Muhammad must at this period, while recasting and working up these
materials, have entered upon a course of wilful dissimulation and deceit
(although the end would justify to him the means employed) in claiming
inspiration for them.
SURA XL.-THE BELIEVER [LXXVIII.]
MECCA.-85 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
HA. MIM. The Revelation (sending down) of the Book is from God the Almighty,
the All-knowing,1
Forgiver of sin, and receiver of penitence,-vehement in chastisement,
Long-suffering! There is no God but He: to Him shall be the final gathering.
None but infidels gainsay the signs of God: but let not their prosperity in
the land deceive thee.
The people of Noah, and the confederates after them, have brought the charge
of imposture before these Meccans: each nation schemed against their apostle
to lay violent hold on him, and disputed with vain words to refute the truth.
Therefore did I lay violent hold on them; and how great was my chastisement!
Thus is it that thy Lord's sentence, that inmates shall they be of the fire,
was accomplished upon the infidels.
They who bear the throne2 and they who encircle it, celebrate the praise of
their Lord and believe in Him, and implore forgiveness for the believers:-"O
our Lord! thou embracest all things in mercy and knowledge; forgive,
therefore, those who turn to thee and follow thy path; keep them from the
pains of hell:
O our Lord! and bring them into the Gardens of Eden which thou hast promised
to them, and to the righteous ones of their fathers and their wives and their
children; for thou art the All-mighty, the All-wise:
And keep them from evil: for on him hast thou mercy whom on that day thou
shalt keep from evil;" and this will be the great felicity.
But to the infidels shall a voice cry, "Surely the hatred of God is more
grievous than your hatred of yourselves, when ye were called to the faith,
and remained unbelievers."
They shall say, "Twice, O our Lord, hast thou given us death, and twice hast
thou given us life:3 and we acknowledge our sins: is there no way to escape?"
"This hath befallen you, for that when One God was proclaimed to you, ye
believed not: but when partners had been united with him, ye believed: But
judgment belongeth unto God, the High, the Great."
It is He who sheweth you his signs, and sendeth down supplies to you from
Heaven: but none will receive warning save he who turneth to God.
Call then on God, offering him a pure worship, though the infidels abhor it.
Of exalted grade, of the throne possessed, He sendeth forth the Spirit at His
own behest on whomsoever of His servants He pleaseth, that He may warn of the
day of meeting,
The day when they shall come forth from their graves, when nought that
concerneth them shall be hidden from God. With whom shall be the power
supreme on that day? With God, the One, the Almighty.
On that day shall every soul be recompensed as it hath deserved: no injustice
on that day! Verily, God will be swift to reckon.
Warn them, then, of the approaching day, when men's hearts shall rise up,
choking them, into their throats.
The evil-doers shall have no friend or intercessor who shall prevail.
God knoweth the deceitful of eye, and what men's breasts conceal.
And everything will God decide with truth: But nothing shall those gods whom
men call on beside him, decide. Verily, God! the Hearer, the Beholder, He!
Have they never journeyed in this land, and seen what hath been the end of
those who flourished before them? Mightier were they in strength than these
Meccans, and their traces remain in the land: Yet God took them in their
sins, and there was none to defend them against God.
This, because their apostles had come to them with proofs of their mission,
and they believed not: so God took them in hand; for He is mighty, vehement
in punishing.
Moreover we had sent Moses of old with our signs and with clear authority.
To Pharaoh, and Haman, and Karun:4 and they said, "Sorcerer, impostor."
And when he came to them from our presence with the truth, they said, "Slay
the sons of those who believe as he doth, and save their females alive;" but
the stratagem of the unbelievers issued only in failure.
And Pharaoh said, "Let me alone, that I may kill Moses; and let him call upon
his Lord: I fear lest he change your religion, or cause disorder to shew
itself in the land."
And Moses said, "I take refuge with my Lord and your Lord from every proud
one who believeth not in the day of reckoning."
And a man of the family of Pharaoh, who was a BELIEVER,5 but hid his faith,
said, "Will ye slay a man because he saith my Lord is God, when he hath
already come to you with proofs of his mission from your Lord? and if he be a
liar, on him will be his lie:6 but if he be a man of truth, part at least of
what he threateneth will fall upon you. Truly God guideth not him who is a
transgressor, a liar.
O my people! this day is the kingdom yours, the eminent of the earth! but who
shall defend us from the vengeance of God if it come on us?" Pharaoh said, "I
would have you see only what I see; and in a right way only will I guide
you."
Then said he who believed, "O my people! truly I fear for you the like of the
day of the allies,7
The like of the state of the people of Noah and Ad and Themoud,
And of those who came after them; yet God willeth not injustice to his
servants.
And, O my people! I indeed fear for you the day of mutual outcry-
The day when ye shall be turned back from the Judgment into hell. No
protector shall ye have then against God. And he whom God shall mislead no
guide shall there be for him.
Moreover, Joseph had come to you before with clear tokens, but ye ceased not
to doubt of the message with which he came to you, until when he died, ye
said, 'God will by no means raise up an apostle after him.' " Thus God
misleadeth him who is the transgressor, the doubter.
They who gainsay the signs of God without authority having come to them, are
greatly hated by God and by those who believe. Thus God sealeth up every
proud, contumacious heart.
And Pharaoh said, "O Haman,8 Build for me a tower that I may reach the
avenues,
The avenues of the heavens, and may mount to the God of Moses, for I verily
deem him a liar."
And thus the evil of his doings was made fair-seeming to Pharaoh, and he
turned away from the path of truth; but the artifice of Pharaoh ended only in
his ruin.
And he who believed said, "O my people! follow me: into the right way will I
guide you.
O my people! this present life is only a passing joy, but the life to come is
the mansion that abideth.
Whoso shall have wrought evil shall not be recompensed but with its like; but
whoso shall have done the things that are right, whether male or female, and
is a believer-these shall enter paradise: good things unreckoned shall they
enjoy therein.
And, O my people! how is it that I bid you to salvation, but that ye bid me
to the fire?
Ye invite me to deny God, and to join with him gods of whom I know nothing;
but I invite you to the Mighty, the Forgiving.
No doubt is there that they to whom ye invite me are not to be invoked either
in this world or in the world to come: and that unto God is our return, and
that the transgressors shall be the inmates of the fire.
Then shall ye remember what I am saying unto you: and to God commit I my
case: Verily, God beholdeth his servants."
So God preserved him from the evils which they had planned, and the woe of
the punishment encompassed the people of Pharaoh.
It is the fire to which they shall be exposed morning and evening, and on the
day when "the Hour" shall arrive-"Bring in the people of Pharaoh into the
severest punishment."
And when they shall wrangle together in the fire, the weak shall say to those
who had borne themselves so proudly, "It is you we followed: will ye
therefore relieve us from aught of the fire?"
And those proud ones shall say, "Verily we are all in it; for now hath God
judged between his servants."
And they who are in the fire shall say to the keepers of Hell, "Implore your
Lord that he would give us ease but for one day from this torment."
They shall say, "Came not your apostles to you with the tokens?" They shall
say, "Yes." They shall say, "Cry ye then aloud for help:" but the cry of the
unbelievers shall be only in vain.
Assuredly, in this present life will we succour our apostles and those who
shall have believed, and on the day when the witnesses shall stand forth;
A day whereon the plea of the evil doers shall not avail them; but theirs
shall be a curse, and theirs the woe of the abode in Hell.
And of old gave we Moses the guidance, and we made the children of Israel the
heritors of the Book,-a guidance and warning to men endued with
understanding.
Therefore be steadfast thou and patient; for true is the promise of God: and
seek pardon for thy fault,9 and celebrate the praise of thy Lord at evening
and at morning.
As to those who cavil at the signs of God without authority having reached
them, nought is there but pride in their breasts: but they shall not succeed.
Fly thou for refuge then to God, for He is the Hearer, the Beholder.
Greater surely than the creation of man is the creation of the heavens and of
the earth: but most men know it not.
Moreover, the blind and the seeing, and the evil doer and they who believe
and do the things that are right, shall not be deemed equal. How few ponder
this!
Aye, "the Hour" will surely come: there is no doubt of it: but most men
believe it not.
And your Lord saith, "Call upon me-I will hearken unto you: but they who turn
in disdain from my service shall enter Hell with shame."
It is God who hath ordained the night for your rest, and the day to give you
light: verily God is rich in bounties to men: but most men render not the
tribute of thanks.
This is God your Lord, Creator of all things: no god is there but He: why
then do ye turn away from Him?
Yet thus are they turned aside who gainsay the signs of God.
It is God who hath given you the earth as a sure foundation, and over it
built up the Heaven, and formed you, and made your forms beautiful, and
feedeth you with good things. This is God your Lord. Blessed then be God the
Lord of the Worlds!
He is the Living One. No God is there but He. Call then upon Him and offer
Him a pure worship. Praise be to God the Lord of the Worlds!
SAY: Verily I am forbidden to worship what ye call on beside God, after that
the clear tokens have come to me from my Lord, and I am bidden to surrender
myself to the Lord of the Worlds.
He it is who created you of the dust, then of the germs of life, then of
thick blood, then brought you forth infants: then he letteth you reach your
full strength, and then become old men (but some of you die first), and reach
the ordained term. And this that haply ye may understand.
It is He who giveth life and death; and when He decreeth a thing, He only
saith of it, "Be," and it is.
Seest thou not those who cavil at the signs of God? how are they turned
aside!
They who treat "the Book," and the message with which we have sent our Sent
Ones, as a lie, shall know the truth hereafter,
When the collars shall be on their necks and the chains to drag them into
Hell: then in the fire shall they be burned.
Then shall it be said to them, "Where are they whom ye made the objects of
joint worship with God?" They shall say, "They have vanished away from us.
Yea, it was nought on which we called heretofore." Thus God leadeth the
unbelievers astray.
-"This for you, because of your unrighteous insolence and immoderate joys on
earth.
Enter ye the portals of Hell to abide therein for ever. And, wretched the
abode of the haughty ones!"
Therefore be thou steadfast in patience: for the promise of God is truth: and
whether we shall make thee see part of the woes with which we threatened
them, or whether we cause thee first to die, unto us shall they be brought
back.
And we have already sent apostles before thee: of some we have told thee, and
of others we have told thee nothing:10 but no apostle had the power to work a
miracle unless by the leave of God. But when God's behest cometh, everything
will be decided with truth: and then they perish who treated it as a vain
thing.
It is God who hath given you the cattle that on some of them ye may ride, and
of some may eat:
(Other advantages too do ye derive from them)-and that by them ye may effect
the projects ye cherish in your breasts; for on them, and on ships are ye
borne:
And He sheweth you His signs: which, then, of the signs of God will ye deny?
Have they not journeyed in this land, and seen what hath been the end of
those who flourished before them? More were they than these in number and
mightier in strength, and greater are the traces of their power remaining in
the land:11 yet their labours availed them nothing.
And when their apostles had come to them with the tokens of their mission,
they exulted in what they possessed of knowledge; but that retribution at
which they scoffed, encompassed them.
And when they beheld our vengeance they said, "We believe in God alone, and
we disbelieve in the deities we once associated with Him."
But their faith, after they had witnessed our vengeance, profited them not.
Such the procedure of God with regard to his servants who flourished of old.
And then the unbelievers perished.
_______________________
1 See Sura 1xviii. 1, p. 32.
2 The Cherubic beings of Scripture are said to be above the throne of God
(Is. vi. 1), beneath it (Ezek. x.); and the mystical beasts in the
Revelations are said to be in the midst of the throne and round about it.
3 Probably the union of life and death in the womb, and the subsequent life
followed by death.
4 See Sura [lxxix.] xxviii. 76.
5 Thus Sura [lxxix.] xxviii 20, and Sura [lx.] xxxvi. 19, we have a similar
character introduced into the narrative.
6 Comp. Acts v. 38, 39.
7 These tribes no doubt constantly formed temporary alliances. Muhammad
implies that they were confederate against their prophets.
8 Haman, the favourite of Ahasuerus and the enemy of the Jews, is thus made
the vizier of Pharaoh. The Rabbins make this vizier to have been Korah,
Jethro, or Balaam. Midr. Jalkut on Ex. ch. 1, Sect. 162-168; and Tr. Solah,
fol. 11. See Sura [lxxix.] xxviii. 5.
9 Thy remissness in propagating Islam. Beidh.
10 It is possible that Muhammad, conscious of his ignorance of Jewish
history, intends in this verse to screen himself from the charge of passing
over the histories of many of their prophets.
11 The wealth of Mecca, although it still numbered about 12,000 inhabitants
(as well as of Arabia generally), had much declined at the time of Muhammad,
owing mainly to the navigation of the Red Sea, under the Roman dominion over
Egypt, which of course impoverished the tribes situated on the line of the
old mercantile route southward. Mecca, however, was still to a certain extent
prosperous. Comp. Sura [lxi.] xliii. 28.
SURA XXVIII.-THE STORY [LXXIX.]
MECCA.-88 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
TA. SIN. MIM.1 These are the signs of the lucid Book.
We will recite to thee portions of the History of Moses and Pharaoh with
truth, for the teaching of the faithful.
Now Pharaoh lifted himself up in the earth, and divided his people into
parties: one portion of them he brought low-He slew their male children, and
let their females only live; for he was one of those who wrought disorders.
And we were minded to shew favour to those who were brought low in the land,
and to make them spiritual chiefs,2 and to make them Pharaoh's heirs,