their faces and their backs, and-"Taste ye the torture of the burning:
This, for what your hands have sent on before you:"-and God is not unjust to
his servants.
Their state is like that of the people of Pharaoh and of those before them
who believed not in the signs of God: therefore God seized upon them in their
sin! God is Mighty, severe in punishing.
This, because God changeth not the favour with which he favoureth a people,
so long as they change not what is in their hearts; and for that God Heareth,
Knoweth.
Their state is like that of the people of Pharaoh, and of those before them
who treated their Lord's signs as lies. We therefore destroyed them in their
sins, and we drowned the people of Pharaoh; for they were all doers of wrong.
The worst beasts truly in the sight of God are the thankless who will not
believe;
They with whom thou hast leagued, and who are ever breaking their league, and
who fear not God!
If thou take them in war, then, by the example of their fate, scatter those
who shall follow them-that they may be warned:
Or if thou fear treachery from any people, throw back their treaty to them as
thou fairly mayest,18 for God loveth not the treacherous.
And think not that the infidels shall escape Us! They shall not weaken God.
Make ready then against them what force ye can, and strong squadrons whereby
ye may strike terror into the enemy of God and your enemy, and into others
beside them whom ye know not, but whom God knoweth. All that you shall expend
for the cause of God shall be repaid you; and ye shall not be wronged.
And if they lean to peace, lean thou also to it; and put thy trust in God:
for He is the Hearing, the Knowing.
But if they seek to betray thee, God will be all-sufficient for thee. He it
is who hath strengthened thee with His help, and with the faithful, and hath
made their hearts one. Hadst thou spent all the riches of the earth, thou
couldst not have united their hearts; but God hath united them, for He is
Mighty, Wise.
O prophet! God, and such of the faithful as follow thee, will be all-
sufficient for thee.
O prophet! stir up the faithful to the fight. Twenty of you who stand firm
shall vanquish two hundred: and if there be a hundred of you they shall
vanquish a thousand of the infidels, for they are a people devoid of
understanding.
Now hath God made your work easy, for he knoweth how weak ye are. If there be
an hundred of you who endure resolutely, they shall vanquish two hundred; and
if there be a thousand of you, they shall vanquish two thousand19 by God's
permission; for God is with those who are resolute to endure.
No prophet hath been enabled to take captives until he had made great
slaughter in the earth. Ye desire the passing fruitions of this world, but
God desireth the next life for you. And God is Mighty, Wise.
Had there not been a previous ordinance20 from God, a severe chastisement had
befallen you, for the ransom which ye took.
Eat therefore of the spoils ye have taken what is lawful and good; and fear
God: God is Gracious, Merciful.
O prophet! say to the captives who are in your hands, "If God shall know
good21 to be in your hearts, He will give you good beyond all that hath been
taken from you, and will forgive you: for God is Forgiving, Merciful."
But if they seek to deal treacherously with you-they have already dealt
treacherously22 with God before! Therefore hath He given you power over them.
God is Knowing, Wise.
Verily, they who have believed and fled their homes and spent their substance
for the cause of God, and they who have taken in the prophet and been helpful
to him, shall be near of kin the one to the other. And they who have
believed, but have not fled their homes, shall have no rights of kindred with
you at all, until they too fly their country. Yet if they seek aid from you
on account of the faith, your part it is to give them aid, except against a
people between whom and yourselves there shall be a treaty. And God beholdeth
your actions.
The infidels lend one another mutual help. Unless ye do the same, there will
be discord in the land and great corruption.
But as for those who have believed and fled their country, and fought on the
path of God, and given the prophet an asylum, and been helpful to him, these
are the faithful; Mercy is their due and a noble provision.
And they who have believed and fled their country since, and have fought at
your side, these also are of you. Those who are united by ties of blood23 are
the nearest of kin to each other. This is in the Book of God. Verily, God
knoweth all things.
_______________________
1 On this Sura, which relates mainly to the battle of Bedr, see Weil's M. der
Prophet, p. 268.
2 At Medina.
3 The necessity for the combat and its probable result.
4 Muhammad had conceived the design of attacking an unarmed caravan belonging
to the Koreisch on its way from Syria to Mecca. Abu Sofian, who had charge of
it, sent to Mecca for succour, whence a body of nearly 1000 armed men at once
set out to his assistance. Some of the Muslims were anxious to attack the
caravan: others, notwithstanding the disparity of numbers, proposed to throw
themselves upon the succours.
5 Idolatry.
6 In Sura [xcvii.] iii. the angels are said to be 3000.
7 Lit. thou didst not cast when thou didst cast, but God cast. This is
explained of the miracle of the gravelstones and sand cast by God into the
eyes of the Meccans at Bedr.
8 That is, by our victory over you.
9 Muhammad specially addresses the Mohadjers in this verse, i.e. those who
had fled with him to Medin.
10 Twelve of the Koreisch had given camels and a large sum of money in aid of
the Meccan succours.
11 Lit. hath preceded.
12 Before Islam it had been the custom among the Arabians to assign a fourth
part of the booty to the leader of an expedition. See Freyt. Einl. p. 266.
13 That is, on the day of the battle of Bedr. See Sura xxi. 49, p. 154.
14 The mission of Gabriel to Muhammad with the promise of victory.
15 Compare the different account in Sura [xcvii.] iii. II. The commentators,
however, get over the discropancy by explaining the apparent diminution of
the Muslims at the commencement only of the battle, which had the effect of
drawing on the enemy in self-confidence.
16 The angels fighting for the Muslims.
17 By inducing them to attack so greatly superior a force.
18 Thus Beidh. Or, more simply, render them the like.
19 Comp. Lev. xxvi. 8; Josh. xxiii. 10.
20 Authorising the ransom of captives.
21 That is, a disposition to become Muslims.
22 That is, on account of their infidelity.
23 See Weil. Life of M. p. 84, n.
SURA1 XLVII.-MUHAMMAD [XCVI.]
MEDINA.-40 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
WHOSO believe not, and prevent others from the way of God-their works will He
cause to miscarry;2
But whoso believe, and do things that are right, and believe in what hath
been sent down to MUHAMMAD-for it is the truth from their Lord-their sins
will He cancel, and dispose their hearts aright.
This-because the infidels followed vanity, while those who believe, followed
the truth from their Lord. Thus to men doth God set forth their likenesses.
When ye encounter the infidels,3 strike off their heads till ye have made a
great slaughter among them, and of the rest make fast the fetters.
And afterwards let there either be free dismissals or ransomings, till the
war hath laid down its burdens. Thus do. Were such the pleasure of God, he
could himself take vengeance upon them: but He would rather prove the one of
you by the other. And whoso fight for the cause of God, their works he will
not suffer to miscarry;
He will vouchsafe them guidance, and dispose their hearts aright;
And he will bring them into the Paradise, of which he hath told them.
Believers! if ye help God, God will help you, and will set your feet firm:
But as for the infidels, let them perish: and their works shall God bring to
nought:
This-because they were averse from the command which God sent down;
Fruitless, therefore, shall their works become!
Have they not journeyed through the land, and seen what hath been the end of
those who flourished before them? God brought destruction on them: and the
like of this doth await the infidels.
This-because God is the protector of those who believe, and because the
infidels have no protector.
Verily God will bring those who believe, and do the things that are right,
into the Gardens, beneath whose shades the rivers flow: but they who believe
not, take their fill, and eat as the beasts eat! And their dwelling-place the
fire!
And how many cities were mightier in strength than thy city, which hath
thrust thee forth!4 We destroyed them, and there was none to help them.
Shall he who followeth the clear teaching of his Lord be as he, the evil of
whose doings hath been made to seem good to him, or like those who follow
their own lusts?
A picture of the Paradise which is promised to the God-fearing! Therein are
rivers of water, which corrupt not: rivers of milk, whose taste changeth not:
and rivers of wine, delicious to those who quaff it;
And rivers of honey clarified: and therein are all kinds of fruit for them
from their Lord! Is this like the lot of those who must dwell for ever in the
fire? and shall have draughts of boiling water forced on them which will rend
their bowels asunder?
Some of them indeed hearken to thee, until when they go out from thee, they
say with sneers to those to whom "the knowledge" hath been given, "What is
this he said?" These are they whose hearts God hath sealed up, and who follow
their own lusts.
But as to those who have the guidance, He will increase their guidance, and
He will teach them what to fear.
For what do the infidels wait, but that the Hour come suddenly on them?
Already are its signs come,5 and when it hath come on them indeed, how can
they be warned then?
Know, then, that there is no god but God: and ask pardon for thy sin, and for
believers, both men and women. God knoweth your busy movements, and your
final resting-places.
The believers say, "Oh, would that a Sura were sent down!"6 but when a
peremptory Sura is revealed, whose burden is war, thou mayest see the
diseased of heart look toward thee, with a look of one on whom the shadows of
death have fallen! But better in them would be obedience and becoming
language.
And if, when the command for war is issued, they are true to God, it will be
assuredly best for them.
Were ye not ready, if ye had turned back from Him, to spread disorder in the
land, and violate the ties of blood?
These are they whom God hath cursed, and made deaf, and blinded their eyes!
Will they not then meditate on the Koran? Are locks upon their hearts?
But as to those who return to their errors after "the guidance" hath been
made plain to them, Satan shall beguile them, and fill them with his
suggestions.
This-because they say to those who abhor what God hath sent down, "We will
comply with you in part of what ye enjoin." But God knoweth their secret
reservations.
But how? When the angels, in causing them to die, shall smite them on the
face and back!
This because they follow that which angereth God, and abhor what pleaseth
Him: therefore will He make their works fruitless.
Think these men of diseased hearts, that God will not bring out their malice
to light?
If such were our pleasure, we could point them out to thee, and thou surely
know them by their tokens: and know them thou shalt, by the strangeness of
their words.7 God knoweth your doings.
And we will surely test you, until we know the valiant and the steadfast
among you: and we will test the reports of your conduct.
Verily they who believe not, and turn others from the way of God, and
separate from the Apostle after that "the guidance" hath been clearly shewn
them, shall in no way injure God: but their works shall he bring to nought.
Believers! obey God and the Apostle: and render not your works vain.
Verily those who believe not, and who pervert others from the way of God, and
then die in unbelief, God will not forgive.
Be not fainthearted then; and invite not the infidels to peace when ye have
the upper hand: for God is with you, and will not defraud you of the
recompense of your works.
Surely this present life is only a play, and pastime! but if ye believe, fear
God; He will give you your rewards: but He will not ask all your riches of
you.
Should He ask them of you, and urge you, ye would shew yourself niggards: and
He would bring your grudges to light.
Lo! ye are they, who are called to expend for the cause of God: and some of
you are niggards: but whoso is niggardly shall be niggard only to his own
loss; for God is the Rich, and ye are the poor: and if ye turn back, He will
change you for another people,8 and they shall not be your like!
_______________________
1 This Sura was revealed at a period after the victory at Bedr, when there
was still some hesitation on the part of Muhammad's followers to take decided
steps for securing their position. See 37.
2 Lit. will He cause to wander, that is, from their proper aim and end, the
rewards of Paradise. See verse 5 ad f.
3 The Meccans and other unbelievers of Muhammad's time. The Hanefites suppose
this law to apply only to the battle of Bedr. The Shiites take it as of
universal obligation.
4 This verse is said (by Omar b. Muhammad, and Itq. 43) to be the expression
of Muhammad's feelings at the injuries inflicted on Mecca. He is reported to
have wept over it.
5 The first sign being the mission of Muhammad; the second, the splitting of
the moon; the third, the smoke mentioned in Sura xliv. p. 89.
6 That is, commanding war against the infidels.
7 Unintelligible or affected words, applied to the new religion in contempt.
See Sura [xci.] ii. 56, p. 343.
8 Matt. xxi. 43.
SURA III.-THE FAMILY OF IMRAN1 [XCVII.]
MEDINA.-200 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
ELIF. LAM. MIM.2 God! there is no god but He, the Living, the Merciful!
In truth hath He sent down to thee "the Book," which confirmeth those which
precede it: For He had sent down the Law, and the Evangel aforetime, as man's
Guidance; and now hath He sent down the "Illumination."3 (Furkan.)
Verily for those who believe not in the signs of God, is a severe
chastisement! And God is Mighty, the Avenger!
God! nought that is in Earth or that is in Heaven, is hidden unto Him. He it
is who formeth you in your mothers' wombs. There is no god but He; the
Mighty, the Wise!
He it is who hath sent down to thee "the Book." Some of its signs are of
themselves perspicuous;-these are the basis4 of the Book-and others are
figurative. But they whose hearts are given to err, follow its figures,
craving discord, craving an interpretation; yet none knoweth its
interpretation but God. And the stable in knowledge say, "We believe in it:
it is all from our Lord." But none will bear this in mind, save men endued
with understanding.
O our Lord! suffer not our hearts to go astray after that thou hast once
guided us, and give us mercy from before thee; for verily thou art He who
giveth.
O our Lord! For the day of whose coming there is not a doubt, thou wilt
surely gather mankind together. Verily, God will not fail the promise.
As for the infidels, their wealth, and their children, shall avail them
nothing against God. They shall be fuel for the fire.
After the wont of the people of Pharaoh, and of those who went before them,
they treated our signs as falsehoods. Therefore God laid hold of them in
their sins; and God is severe in punishing!
Say to the infidels: ye shall be worsted, and to Hell shall ye be gathered
together; and wretched the couch!
Ye have already had a sign5 in the meeting of the two hosts. The one host
fought in the cause of God, and the other was infidel. To their own eyesight,
the infidels saw you twice as many as themselves: And God aided with his
succour whom He would: And in this truly was a lesson for men endued with
discernment.
Fair-seeming to men is the love of pleasures from women and children, and the
treasured treasures of gold and silver, and horses of mark, and flocks, and
cornfields! Such the enjoyment of this world's life. But God! goodly the home
with Him.
SAY: Shall I tell you of better things than these, prepared for those who
fear God, in His presence? Theirs shall be gardens, beneath whose pavilions
the rivers flow, and in which shall they abide for aye: and wives of
stainless purity, and acceptance with God: for God regardeth his servants-
Who say, "O our Lord! we have indeed believed; pardon us our sins, and keep
us from the torment of the fire;"-
The patient, and the truthful, the lowly, and the charitable, and they who
seek pardon at each daybreak.
God witnesseth that there is no god but He: and the angels, and men endued
with knowledge, stablished in righteousness, proclaim "There is no god but
He, the Mighty, the Wise!"
The true religion with God is Islam: and they to whom the Scriptures had been
given, differed not till after "the knowledge"6 had come to them, and through
mutual jealousy. But as for him who shall not believe in the signs of God-God
will be prompt to reckon with him!
If they shall dispute with thee, then SAY: I have surrendered myself to God,
as have they who follow me.
SAY to those who have received the Book, and to the common folk, Do ye
surrender yourselves unto God?7 If they become Muslims, then are they guided
aright: but if they turn away-thy duty is only preaching; and God's eye is on
His servants.
But to those who believe not in the signs of God, and unjustly slay the
prophets, and slay those men who enjoin uprightness,-announce an afflictive
chastisement.
These are they whose works come to nought in this world, and in the next; and
none shall they have to help them!
Hast thou not marked those who have received a portion of the Scriptures,
when they are summoned to the Book of God, that it may settle their
differences? Then did a part of them turn back, and withdrew far off.
This-because they said, "The fire shall by no means touch us, but for certain
days:"-Their own devices have deceived them in their religion.
But how, when we shall assemble them together for the day of (which) whose
coming there is no doubt, and when every soul shall be paid what it hath
earned, and they shall not be wronged?
SAY: O God, possessor of all power,8 thou givest power to whom thou wilt, and
from whom thou wilt, thou takest it away! Thou raisest up whom thou wilt, and
whom thou wilt thou dost abase! In thy hand is good; for thou art over all
things potent.
Thou causest the night to pass into the day, and thou causest the day to pass
into the night. Thou bringest the living out of the dead, and thou bringest
the dead out of the living; and thou givest sustenance to whom thou wilt,
without measure.
Let not believers take infidels for their friends rather than believers:
whoso shall do this hath nothing to hope from God-unless, indeed, ye fear a
fear from them: But God would have you beware of Himself; for to God ye
return. SAY: Whether ye hide what is in your breasts, or whether ye publish
it abroad, God knoweth it: He knoweth what is in the heavens and what is in
the earth; and over all things is God potent.
On that day shall every soul find present to it, whatever it hath wrought of
good: and as to what it hath wrought of evil, it will wish that wide were the
space between itself and it! But God would have you beware of Himself; for
God is kind to His servants.
SAY: If ye love God, then follow me: God will love you, and forgive your
sins, for God is Forgiving, Merciful. SAY: Obey God and the Apostle; but if
ye turn away, then verily, God loveth not the unbelievers.
Verily above all human beings did God choose Adam, and Noah, and the family
of Abraham, and the family of IMRAN, the one the posterity of the other: And
God Heareth, Knoweth.
Remember when the wife of Imran9 said, "O my Lord! I vow to thee what is in
my womb, for thy special service. Accept it from me, for thou Hearest,
Knowest!" And when she had given birth to it, she said, "O my Lord! Verily I
have brought forth a female,"-God knew what she had brought forth; a male is
not as a female10-"and I have named her Mary, and I take refuge with thee for
her and for her offspring, from Satan the stoned."11
So with goodly acceptance did her Lord accept her, and with goodly growth did
he make her grow.12 Zacharias reared her. So oft as Zacharias went in to Mary
at the sanctuary, he found her supplied with food.13 "Oh, Mary!" said he,
"whence hast thou this?" She said, "It is from God; for God supplieth whom He
will, without reckoning!"
There did Zacharias call upon his Lord: "O my Lord!" said he, "vouchsafe me
from thyself good descendants,14 for thou art the hearer of prayer." Then did
the angels call to him, as he stood praying in the sanctuary:15
"God announceth John (Yahia) to thee, who shall be a verifier of the word
from God, and a great one, chaste, and a prophet of the number of the just."
He said, "O my Lord! how shall I have a son, now that old age hath come upon
me, and my wife is barren?" He said, "Thus will God do His pleasure."
He said, "Lord! give me a token." He said, "Thy token shall be, that for
three days thou shalt speak to no man but by signs: But remember thy Lord
often, and praise him at even and at morn:"
And remember when the angels said, "O Mary! verily hath God chosen thee,16
and purified thee, and chosen thee above the women of the worlds!
O Mary! be devout towards thy Lord,17 and prostrate thyself, and bow down
with those who bow."
This is one of the announcements of things unseen by thee: To thee, O
Muhammad! do we reveal it; for thou wast not with them when they cast lots
with reeds18 which of them should rear Mary; nor wast thou with them when
they disputed about it.
Remember when the angel said, "O Mary! Verily God announceth to thee the Word
from Him: His name shall be, Messiah Jesus the son of Mary,19 illustrious in
this world, and in the next, and one of those who have near access to God;
And He shall speak to men alike when in the cradle and when grown up; And he
shall be one of the just."
She said, "How, O my Lord! shall I have a son, when man hath not touched me?"
He said, "Thus: God will create what He will; When He decreeth a thing, He
only saith, 'Be,' and it is."
And he will teach him the Book, and the Wisdom, and the Law, and the Evangel;
and he shall be an apostle to the children of Israel. "Now have I come," he
will say, "to you with a sign from your Lord: Out of clay will I make for
you, as it were, the figure of a bird: and I will breathe into it, and it
shall become, by God's leave, a bird.20 And I will heal the blind, and the
leper; and by God's leave will I quicken the dead; and I will tell you what
ye eat, and what ye store up in your houses! Truly in this will be a sign for
you, if ye are believers.
And I have come to attest the law which was before me; and to allow you part
of that which had been forbidden you; and I come to you with a sign from your
Lord: Fear God, then, and obey me; of a truth God is my Lord, and your Lord:
Therefore worship Him. This is a right way."
And when Jesus perceived unbelief on their part, He said, "Who my helpers
with God?"20-21 The apostles21 said, "We will be God's helpers! We believe in
God, and bear thou witness that we are Muslims.
O our Lord! we believe in what thou hast sent down, and we follow the
apostle; write us up, then, with those who bear witness to him."
And the Jews plotted, and God plotted: But of those who plot is God the best.
Remember when God said, "O Jesus! verily I will cause thee to die,22 and will
take thee up to myself and deliver thee from those who believe not; and I
will place those who follow thee above those who believe not, until the day
of resurrection. Then, to me is your return, and wherein ye differ will I
decide between you.
And as to those who believe not, I will chastise them with a terrible
chastisement in this world and in the next; and none shall they have to help
them."
But as to those who believe, and do the things that are right, He will pay
them their recompense. God loveth not the doers of evil.
These signs, and this wise warning do we rehearse to thee.
Verily, Jesus is as Adam in the sight of God.23 He created him of dust: He
then said to him, "Be"-and he was.
The truth from thy Lord! Be not thou, therefore, of those who doubt.