ENTITLED, THE NIGHT JOURNEY;n REVEALED AT MECCA.
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
PRAISE be unto him who transported his servant by night, from the sacred
temple of Mecca to the farther temple of Jerusalem,p the circuit of which we
have blessed, that we might show some of our signs; for God is he who heareth,
and seeth.
k These were the Jews; who being ordered by Moses to set apart Friday
(the day now observed by the Mohammedans) for the exercise of divine worship,
refused it, and chose the sabbath-day, because on that day GOD rested from his
works of creation: for which reason they were commanded to keep the day they
had chosen in the strictest manner.1
l This passage is supposed to have been revealed at Medina, on occasion
of Hamza, Mohammed's uncle, being slain at the battle of Ohod. For the
infidels having abused his dead body, by taking out his bowels, and cutting
off his ears and his nose, when Mohammed saw it, he swore that if God granted
him success, he would retaliate those cruelties on seventy of the Koreish; but
he was by these words forbidden to execute what he had sworn, and he
accordingly made void his oath.2 Abu'lfeda makes the number on which Mohammed
swore to reek his vengeance to be but thirty:3 but it may be observed, by the
way, that the translator renders the passage in that author, GOD hath revealed
unto me that I shall retaliate, &c., instead of, If GOD grant me victory over
the Koreish, I will retaliate, &c., reading Laïn adhharni, for adhfarni; GOD,
far from putting this design into the prophet's head by a revelation,
expressly forbidding him to put it in execution.
m Here, says al Beidâwi, the Korân principally points at Mohammed, who
was of all men the most conspicuous for meekness and clemency.
n The reason of this inscription appears in the first words. Some
entitle the chapter, The children of Israel.
o Some except eight verses, beginning at these words, It wanted little
but that the infidels had seduced thee, &c.
p From whence he was carried through the seven heavens to the presence
of GOD, and brought back again to Mecca the same night.
This journey of Mohammed to heaven is so well known that I may be
pardoned if I omit the description of it. The English reader may find it in
Dr. Prideaux's Life of Mahomet,1 and the learned in Abu'lfeda,2 whose
annotator has corrected several mistakes in the relation of Dr. Prideaux, and
in other writers.
It is a dispute among the Mohammedan divines, whether their prophet's
night-journey was really performed by him corporally, or whether it was only a
dream or vision. Some think the whole was no more than a vision; and allege
and express tradition of Moâwiyoh,3 one of Mohammed's successors, to that
purpose. Others suppose he was carried bodily to Jerusalem, but no farther;
and that he ascended thence to heaven in spirit only. But the received
opinion is, that it was no vision, but that he was actually transported in the
body to his journey's end; and if any impossibility be objected, they think it
a sufficient answer to say, that it might easily be effected by an omnipotent
agent.4
1 Idem, Jallalo'ddin. 2 Iidem. 3 Abu'lf. Vit. Moh. n.
68. 1 Page 43, &c. See also Morgan's Mahometism Explained, vol. 2
2 Vit. Moham. cap. 19. 3 Vide ibid, c. 18. 4 Al
Beidâwi.
And we gave unto Moses the book of the law, and appointed the same to be
a direction unto the children of Israel, commanding them, saying, Beware that
ye take not any other patron besides me.
O posterity of those whom we carried in the ark with Noah:q verily he was
a grateful servant.
And we expressly declared unto the children of Israel in the book of the
law, saying, Ye will surely commit evil in the earth twice,r and ye will be
elated with great insolence.
And when the punishment threatened for the first of those transgressions
came to be executed, we sent against you our servants,s endued with exceeding
strength in war, and they searched the inner apartments of your houses; and
the prediction became accomplished.
Afterwards we gave you the victory over them,t in your turn, and we
granted you increase of wealth and children, and we made you a more numerous
people,
saying, If ye do well, ye will do well to your own souls; and if ye do
evil, ye will do it unto the same. And when the punishment threatened for
your latter transgression came to be executed, we sent enemies against you to
afflict you,u and to enter the temple, as they entered it the first time, and
utterly to destroy that which they had conquered.
q The commentators are put to it to find out the connection of these
words with the foregoing. Some think the accusative case is here put for the
vocative, as I have translated it: and others interpret the words thus, Take
not for your patrons besides me, the posterity of those, &c., meaning, mortal
men.
r Their first transgression was their rejecting the decisions of the
law, their putting Isaiah to death,5 and their imprisoning of Jeremiah:6 and
the second, was their slaying of Zachariah and John the Baptist, and their
imagining the death of JESUS.7
s These were Jalût, or Goliah, and his forces;8 or Sennacherib the
Assyrian; or else Nebuchadnezzar, whom the eastern writers called Bakhtnasr
(which was however only his surname, his true name being Gudarz, or Raham),
the governor of Babylon under Lohorasp, king of Persia,9 who took Jerusalem,
and destroyed the temple.
t By permitting David to kill Goliah; or by the miraculous defeat of
Sennacherib's army; or for that GOD put it into the heart of Bahman the son of
Isfandiyar, when he succeeded his grandfather Lohorasp, to order Kiresh, or
Cyrus, then governor of Babylon, to send home the Jews from their captivity,
under the conduct of Daniel; which he accordingly did, and they prevailed
against those whom Bakhtnasr had left in the land.10
u Some imagine the army meant in this place was that of Bakhtnasr;11
but others say the Persians conquered the Jews this second time, by the arms
of Gudarz (by whom they seem to intend Antiochus Epiphanes), one of the
successors of Alexander at Babylon. It is related that the general in this
expedition, entering the temple, saw blood bubbling up on the great altar, and
asking the reason of it, the Jews told him it was the blood of a sacrifice
which had not been accepted of GOD; to which he replied, that they had not
told him the truth, and ordered a thousand of them to be slain on the altar;
but the blood not ceasing, he told them that if they would not confess the
truth, he would not spare one of them; whereupon they acknowledged it was the
blood of John: and the general said, Thus hath your Lord taken vengeance on
you; and then cried out, O John, my LORD and thy LORD knoweth what hath
befallen thy people for thy sake; wherefore let thy blood stop, by GOD'S
permission, lest I leave not one of them alive; upon which the blood
immediately stopped.12
These are the explications of the commentators, wherein their ignorance
in ancient history is sufficiently manifest; though perhaps Mohammed himself,
in this latter passage, intended the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.
5 Id. m. 6 Jallalo'ddin. 7 Iidem. 8
Jallalo'ddin, Yahya. 9 Al Zamakhshari, Al Beidâwi. 10
Iidem. 11 Yahya, Jallalo'ddin 12 Al Beidâwi.
Peradventure your LORD will have mercy on you hereafter: but if ye return
to transgress a third time, we also will return to chastise you;x and we have
appointed hell to be the prison of the unbelievers.
Verily this Koran directeth unto the way which is most right, and
declareth unto the faithful,
10 who do good works, that they shall receive a great reward;
and that for those who believe not in the life to come, we have prepared
a grievous punishment.
Man prayeth for evil, as he prayeth for good;y for man is hasty.z
We have ordained the night and the day for two signs of our power:
afterwards we blot out the sign of the night, and we cause the sign of the day
to shine forth, that ye may endeavor to obtain plenty from your LORD by doing
your business therein, and that ye may know the number of years, and the
computation of time; and everything necessary have we explained by a
perspicuous explication.
The fatea of every man have we bound about his neck;b and we will produce
unto him, on the day of resurrection, a book wherein his actions shall be
recorded: it shall be offered him open,
and the angels shall say unto him, Read thy book; thine own soul will be
a sufficient accountant against thee, this day.c
He who shall be rightly directed, shall be directed to the advantage only
of his own soul; and he who shall err shall err only against the same: neither
shall any laden soul be charged with the burden of another. We did not punish
any people, until we had first sent an apostle to warn them.
And when we resolved to destroy a city, we commanded the inhabitants
thereof, who lived in affluence, to obey our apostle; but they acted corruptly
therein: wherefore the sentence was justly pronounced against that city; and
we destroyed it with an utter destruction.
And how many generations have we consumed since Noah? for thy LORD
sufficiently knoweth and seeth the sins of his servants.
Whosoever chooseth this transitory life, we will bestow on him therein
beforehand that which we please; on him, namely, whom we please: afterwards
will we appoint him hell for his abode; he shall be thrown into the same to be
scorched, covered with ignominy, and utterly rejected from mercy.
x And this came accordingly to pass; for the Jews being again so wicked
as to reject Mohammed, and conspire against his life, God delivered them into
his hands; and he exterminated the tribe of Koreidha, and slew the chiefs of
al Nadîr, and obliged the rest of the Jewish tribes to pay tribute.1
y Out of ignorance, mistaking evil for good; or making wicked
imprecations on himself and others, out of passion and impatience.
z Or inconsiderate, not weighing the consequence of what he asks.
It is said that the person here meant is Adam, who, when the breath of
life was breathed into his nostrils, and had reached so far as his navel,
though the lower part of his body was, as yet, but a piece of clay, must needs
try to rise up, and got an ugly fall by the bargain. But others pretend the
passage was revealed on the following occasion. Mohammed committed a certain
captive to the charge of his wife, Sawda bint Zamáa, who, moved with
compassion at the man's groans, unbound him, and let him escape: upon which
the prophet, in the first motions of his anger, wished her hand might fall
off; but immediately composing himself, said aloud, O God, I am but a man:
therefore turn my curse into a blessing.2
a Literally, the bird, which is here used to signify a man's fortune or
success; the Arabs, as well as the Greeks and Romans, taking omens from the
flight of birds, which they supposed to portend good luck, if they flew from
the left to the right, but if from the right to the left, the contrary; the
like judgment they also made when certain beasts passed before them.
b Like a collar, which he cannot by any means get off. See the Prelim.
Disc. Sect. IV p. 80.
c See ibid. p. 20.
1 Idem. 2 Jallalo'ddin
20 But whosoever chooseth the life to come, and directeth his endeavor
towards the same, being also a true believer; the endeavor of these shall be
acceptable unto God.
On all will we bestow the blessings of this life, both on these and on
those, of the gift of thy LORD; for the gift of thy LORD shall not be denied
unto any.
Behold, how we have caused some of them to surpass others in wealth and
dignity: but the next life shall be more considerable in degrees of honour,
and greater in excellence.
Set not up another god with the true GOD, lest thou sit down in disgrace,
and destitute.
Thy LORD hath commanded that ye worship none besides him; and that ye
show kindness unto your parents, whether the one of them, or both of them
attain to old age with thee.d Wherefore, say not unto them, Fie on you!e
neither reproach them, but speak respectfully unto them
and submit to behave humblye towards them, out of tender affection and
say, O LORD, have mercy on them both, as they nursed me when I was little.
Your LORD well knoweth that which is in your souls; whether ye be men of
integrity:
and he will be gracious unto those who sincerely return unto him.
And give unto him who is of kin to you his due,f and also unto the poor,
and the traveller. And waste not thy substance profusely:
for the profuse are brethren of the devils:g and the devil was ungrateful
unto his LORD.
30 But if thou turn from them, in expectation of the mercy which thou
hopest from thy LORD;h at least, speak kindly unto them.
And let not thy hand be tied up to thy neck; neither open it with an
unbounded expansion,i lest thou become worthy of reprehension, and be reduced
to poverty.
Verily thy LORD will enlarge the store of whom he pleaseth, and will be
sparing unto whom he pleaseth; for he knoweth and regardeth his servants.
Kill not your children for fear of being brought to want; we will provide
for them and for you; verily the killing them is a great sin.
Draw not near unto fornication; for it is wickedness, and an evil way.
Neither slay the soul which GOD hath forbidden you to slay, unless for a
just cause;k and whosoever shall be slain unjustly, we have given his heir
power to demand satisfaction;l but let him not exceed the bounds of moderation
in putting to death the murderer in too cruel a manner, or by revenging his
friend's blood on any other than the person who killed him; since he is
assisted by this law.m
d That is, receiving their support and maintenance from thee.
e Literally, Lower the wing of humility, &c.
f That is, friendship and affection, and assistance in time of need.
g Prodigality, and squandering away one's substance in folly or luxury,
being a very great sin. The Arabs were particularly guilty of extravagance in
killing camels, and distributing them by lot, merely out of vanity and
ostentation; which they are forbidden by this passage, and commanded to bestow
what they could spare on their poor relations, and other indigent people.1
h That is, If thy present circumstances will not permit thee to assist
others, defer thy charity till GOD shall grant thee better ability.
i i.e., Be neither niggardly nor profuse, but observe the mean between
the two extremes, wherein consists true liberality.2
j See chapter 6, p. 101 and 103, and chapter 81.
k The crimes for which a man may justly be put to death are these:
apostasy, adultery and murder.3
l It being at the election of the heir, or next of kin, either to take
the life of the murderer or to accept of a fine in lieu of it.4
m Some refer the pronoun he to the person slain, for the avenging whose
death this law was made; some to the heir, who has a right granted him to
demand satisfaction for his friend's blood;1 and others to him who shall be
slain by the heir, if he carry his vengeance too far.2
1 Al Beidâwi. 2 Idem. 3 Idem. 4 See
chapter 2, p. 19. 1 Yahya.
2 Vide Al Beidâwi.
And meddle not with the substance of the orphan, unless it be to improve
it, until he attain his age of strength:n and perform your covenant; for the
performance of your covenant shall be inquired into hereafter.
And give full measure, when you measure aught; and weigh with a just
balance. This will be better, and more easy for determining every man's due.o
And follow not that whereof thou hast no knowledge;p for the hearing, and
the sight, and the heart, every of these shall be examined at the last day.
Walk not proudly in the land, for thou canst not cleave the earth,
neither shalt thou equal the mountains in stature.
40 All this is evil, and abominable in the sight of thy LORD.
These precepts are a part of the wisdom which they LORD hath revealed
unto thee. Set not up any other god as equal unto GOD, lest thou be cast into
hell, reproved and rejected.
Hath your LORD preferably granted unto you sons, and taken for himself
daughters from among the angels?q Verily in asserting this ye utter a
grievous saying.
And now have we used various arguments and repetitions in this Koran,
that they may be warned: yet it only rendereth them more disposed to fly from
the truth.
Say unto the idolaters, If there were other gods with him, as ye say,
they would surely seek an occasion of making some attempt against the
possessor of the throne:r
GOD forbid! and far, very far, be that from him which they utter!
The seven heavens praise him, and the earth, and all who are therein:
neither is there anything which doth not celebrate his praise; but ye
understand not their celebration thereof: he is gracious and merciful.
When thou readest the Koran, we place between thee and those who believe
not in the life to come a dark veil;
and we put coverings over their hearts, lest they should understand it,
and in their ears thickness of hearing.
And when thou makest mention, in repeating the Koran, of thy LORD only,s
they turn their backs, flying the doctrine of his unity.
50 We well know with what design they hearken, when they hearken unto thee,
and when they privately discourse together: when the ungodly say, Ye follow no
other than a madman.
Behold! what epithets they bestow on thee. But they are deceived;
neither can they find any just occasion to reproach thee.
They also say, After we shall have become bones and dust, shall we surely
be raised a new creature?
n See chapter 4, p. 53, 54.
o Or, more advantageous in the end.3
p i.e., Vain and uncertain opinions, which thou hast not good reason to
believe true, or at least probable. Some interpret the words, Accuse not
another of a crime whereof thou hast no knowledge; supposing they forbid the
bearing false witness, or the spreading or giving credit to idle reports of
others.4
q See chapter 16, p. 199.
r i.e., They would in all probability contend with GOD for superiority,
and endeavour to dethrone him, in the same manner as princes act with one
another on earth.
s Not allowing their gods to be his associates, nor praying their
intercession with him.
3 Idem. Al Zamakh. 4 Iidem.
Answer, Be ye stones, or iron, or some creature more improbable in your
opinions to be raised to life. But they will say, Who shall restore us to
life? Answer, He who created you the first time: and they will wag their
heads at thee, saying, When shall this be? Answer, Peradventure it is nigh.
On that day shall GOD call you forth from your sepulchres, and ye shall
obey, with celebration of his praise;t and ye shall think that ye tarriedu but
a little while.
Speak unto my servants, that they speak mildly unto the unbelievers, lest
ye exasperate them; for Satan soweth discord among them, and Satan is a
declared enemy unto man.
your LORD well knoweth you; if he pleaseth, he will have mercy on you,
or, if he pleaseth, he will punish you:x and we have not sent thee to be a
steward over them.
Thy LORD well knoweth all persons in heaven and on earth.y We have
bestowed peculiar favors on some of the prophets, preferably to others; and we
gave unto David the psalms.z
Say, Call upon those whom ye imagine to be gods besides him; yet they
will not be able to free you from harm, or to turn it on others.
Those whom ye invoke,a do themselves desire to be admitted to a near
conjunction with their LORD; striving which of them shall approach nearest
unto him: they also hope for his mercy, and dread his punishment; for the
punishment of thy LORD is terrible.
60 There is no city but we will destroy the same before the day of
resurrection, or we will punish it with a grievous punishment. This is
written in the book of our eternal decrees.
Nothing hindered us from sending thee with miracles, except that the
former nations have charged them with imposture. We gave unto the tribe of
Thamud, at their demand, the she-camel visible to their sight: yet they dealt
unjustly with her:b and we send not a prophet with miracles, but to strike
terror.
Remember when we said unto thee, Verily thy LORD encompasseth men by his
knowledge and power. We have appointed the vision which we showed thee,c and
also the treed cursed in the Koran, only for an occasion of dispute unto men,
and to strike them with terror; but it shall cause them to transgress only the
more enormously.
t The dead, says al Beidâwi, at his call shall immediately rise, and
shaking the dust off their heads, shall say, Praise be unto thee, O God.
u viz., In your graves; or in the world.
x These words are designed as a pattern for the Moslems to follow, in
discoursing with the idolaters; by which they are taught to use soft and
dubious expressions, and not to tell them directly that they are doomed to
hell fire; which, besides the presumption in offering to determine the
sentence of others, would only make them more irreconcilable enemies.1
y And may choose whom he pleases for his ambassador. This is an answer
to the objections of the Koreish, that Mohammed was the orphan pupil of Abu
Taleb, and followed by a parcel of naked and hungry fellows.2
z Which were a greater honour to him than his kingdom; and wherein
Mohammed and his people are foretold by these words, among others:3 The
righteous shall inherit the earth.4
a viz., The angels and prophets, who are the servants of GOD as well as
yourselves.
b See chapter 7, p. 112.
c Mohammed's journey to heaven is generally agreed to be intended in
this place; which occasioned great heats and debates among his followers, till
they were quieted by Abu Becr's bearing testimony to the truth of it.5 The
word vision, here used, is urged by those who take this journey to have been
no more than a dream, as a plain confirmation of their opinion. Some,
however, suppose the vision meant in this passage was not the night-journey,
but the dream Mohammed saw at al Hodeibiya, wherein he seemed to make his
entrance into Mecca;6 or that at Bedr;7 or else a vision he had relating to
the family of Ommeya, whom he saw mount his pulpit, and jump about in it like
monkeys; upon which he said, This is their portion in this world, which they
have gained by their profession of Islâm.1 But if any of these latter
expositions be true, the verse must have been revealed at Medina.
d Called al Zakkûm, which springs from the bottom of hell.2
1 Al Beidâwi. 2 Idem. 3 Vide Marracc. in Alc. p.
28, &c. Prid. Life of Mah. p. 122. 4 Psal. xxxvii. 28. Al Beid.
5 Vide Abulf. Vit. Moh. p. 39, and not. ibid Prideaux, Life of Mah. p.
50, and Prelim. Disc. Sect. II, p. 36.
6 See Kor. chapter 48. 7 See chapter 8, p. 129. 1 Al
Beidâwi. 2 See chapter 37.
And remember when we said unto the angels, Worship Adam; and they all
worshipped him except Eblis, who said, Shall I worship him whom thou hast
created of clay?
And he said, What thinkest thou, as to this man whom thou hast honoured
above me? verily, if thou grant me respite until the day of resurrection, I
will extirpate his offspring, except a few.
God answered, Begone, I grant thee respite: but whosoever of them shall
follow thee, hell shall surely be your reward; an ample reward for your
demerits!e
And entice to vanity such of them as thou canst, by thy voice; and
assault them on all sides with thy horsemen and thy footmen;f and partake with
them in their riches, and their children;g and make them promises; (but the
devil shall make them no other than deceitful promises:)
as to my servants, thou shalt have no power over them; for thy LORD is a
sufficient protector of those who trust in him.
It is your LORD who driveth forward the ships for you in the sea, that ye
may seek to enrich yourselves of his abundance by commerce; for he is merciful
towards you.
When a misfortune befalleth you at sea, the false deities whom ye invoke
are forgotten by you, except him alone: yet when he bringeth you safe to dry
land, ye retire afar off from him, and return to your idols; for man is
ungrateful.h
70 Are ye therefore secure that he will not cause the dry land to swallow
you up, or that he will not send against you a whirlwind driving the sands to
overwhelm you? Then shall ye find none to protect you.
Or are ye secure that he will not cause you again to commit yourselves to
the sea another time, and send against you a tempestuous wind, and drown you;
for that ye have been ungrateful? then shall ye find none to defend you
against us, in that distress.
And now have we honoured the children of Adam by sundry peculiar
privileges and endowments; and we have given them conveniences of carriage by
land and by sea, and have provided food for them of good things; and we have
preferred them before many of our creatures which we have created, by granting
them great prerogatives.
On a certain day we will call all men to judgment with their respective
leader:i and whosoever shall have his book given him into his right hand, they
shall read their book with joy and satisfaction;j and they shall not be
wronged a hair.k
e See chapter 2, p. 5, and chapter 7, p. 106, &c.
f i.e., With all thy forces.
g Instigating them to get wealth by unlawful means, and to spend it in
supporting vice and superstition; and tempting them to incestuous mixtures,
and to give their children names in honour of their idols, as Abd Yaghuth,
Abd' al Uzza, &c.3
h See chapter 10, p. 152.
i Some interpret this of the prophet sent to every people; others, of
the heads of sects; others, of the various religions professed in the world;
others, of the books which shall be given to every man at the resurrection,
containing a register of their good and bad actions.
j See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 70.
k See chapter 4, p. 60, note o.
3 Al Beidâwi.
And whoever hath been blind in this life shall be also blind in the next,
and shall wander more widely from the path of salvation.
It wanted little but the unbelievers had tempted thee to swerve from the
instructions which we had revealed unto thee, that thou shouldest devise
concerning us a different thing;l and then would they have taken thee for
their friend:
and unless we had confirmed thee, thou hadst certainly been very near
inclining unto them a little.
Then would we surely have caused thee to taste the punishment of life,
and the punishment of death;m and thou shouldest not have found any to protect
thee against us.
The unbelievers had likewise almost caused thee to depart the land, that
they might have expelled thee thence:n but then should they not have tarried
therein after thee, except a little while.o
This is the method of dealing which we have prescribed ourselves in
respect to our apostles, whom we have already sent before thee: and thou shalt
not find any change in our prescribed method.
80 Regularly perform thy prayer at the declension of the sun, at the first
darkness of the night,q and the prayer of daybreak;r for the prayer of
daybreak is borne witness unto by the angels.s
l These are generally supposed to have been the tribe of Thakîf, the
inhabitants of al Tâyef, who insisted on Mohammed's granting them several very
extraordinary privileges, as the terms of their submission to him; for they
demanded that they might be free from the legal contribution of alms, and from
observing the appointed times of prayer; that they might be allowed to keep
their idol Allât for a certain time,1 and that their territory might be
declared a place of security and not be violated, like that of Mecca, &c. And
they added, that if the other Arabs asked him the reason of these concessions,
he should say, that GOD had commanded him so to do.2 According to which
explication it is plain this verse must have been revealed long after the
Hejra.
Some, however, will have the passage to have been revealed at Mecca, on
occasion of the Koreish; who told Mohammed they would not suffer him to kiss
the black stone in the wall of Caaba, unless he also visited their idols, and
touched them with his hand, to show his respect.
m i.e., Both of this life and the next. Some interpret the first of
the punishment in the next world, and the latter of the torture of the
sepulchre.3
n The commentators differ as to the place where this passage was
delivered, and the occasion of it. Some think it was revealed at Mecca, and
that it refers to the violent enmity which the Koreish bore Mohammed, and
their restless endeavours to make him leave Mecca;4 as he was at length
obliged to do. But as the persons here spoken of seem not to have prevailed
in their project, others suppose that the verse was revealed at Medina, on the
following occasion. The Jews, envious of Mohammed's good reception and stay
there, told him, by way of counsel, that Syria was the land of the prophets,
and that if he was really a prophet he ought to go thither. Mohammed
seriously reflecting on what they had said, began to think they had advised
him well; and actually set out, and proceeded a day's journey in his way to
Syria: whereupon GOD acquainted him with their design by the revelation of
this verse; and he returned to Medina.5
o This was fulfilled, according to the former of the above-mentioned
explications, by the loss of the Koreish at Bedr; and according to the latter,
by the great slaughter of the Jews of Koreidha and al Nadîr.6
p i.e., At the time of noon prayer, when the sun declines from the
meridian; or, as some choose to translate the words, at the setting of the
sun, which is the time of the first evening prayer.
q The time of the last evening prayer.
r Literally, the reading of the daybreak; whence some suppose the
reading of the Korân at that time is here meant.
s viz., The guardian angels, who, according to some, are relieved at
that time; or else the angels appointed to make the change of night into day,
&c.7
1 See the Prelim. Disc. p. 14. 2 Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin.
Vide Abulf. Vit. Moham. p. 126, &c. 3 Al Beidâwi.
4 Idem. 5 Idem, Jallalo'ddin. 6 Iidem. 7 Al
Beidâwi.
And watch some part of the night in the same exercise, as a work of
supererogation for thee: peradventure thy LORD will raise thee to an
honourable station.t
And say, O LORD, cause me to enter with a favorable entry, and cause me
to come forthu with a favorable coming forth; and grant me from thee an
assisting power.
And say, Truth is come, and falsehood is vanished: for falsehood is of
short continuance.x
We send down of the Koran that which is a medicine and mercy unto the
true believers; but it shall only increase the perdition of the unjust.
When we bestow favors on man, he retireth and withdraweth himself
ungratefully from us: but when evil toucheth him, he despaireth of our mercy.
Say, Every one acteth after his own manner:y but your LORD best knoweth
who is most truly directed in his way.
They will ask thee concerning the spirit:z answer, The spirit was created
at the command of my LORD:a but ye have no knowledge given unto you, except a
little.b
If we pleased, we should certainly take away that which we have revealed
unto thee;c in such case thou couldst not find any to assist thee therein
against us,
unless through mercy from thy LORD; for his favor towards thee hath been
great.
90 Say, Verily if men and genii were purposely assembled, that they might
produce a book like this Koran, they could not produce one like unto it,
although the one of them assisted the other.
And we have variously propounded unto men in this Koran every kind of
figurative argument; but the greater part of men refuse to receive it, merely
out of infidelity.
t According to a tradition of Abu Horeira, the honourable station here
intended is that of intercessor for others.1
u That is, Grant that I may enter my grave with peace, and come forth
from it, at the resurrection, with honour and satisfaction. In which sense
this petition is the same with that of Balaam, Let me die the death of the
righteous, and let my last end be like his.2
But as the person here spoken to is generally supposed to be Mohammed,
the commentators say he was commanded to pray in these words for a safe
departure from Mecca, and a good reception at Medina; or for a sure refuge in
the cave, where he hid himself when he fled from Mecca;3 or (which is the more
common opinion) for a victorious entrance into Mecca, and a safe return
thence.4
x These words Mohammed repeated, when he entered the temple of Mecca,
after the taking of that city, and cleansed it of the idols; a great number of
which are said to have fallen down on his touching them with the end of the
stick he held in his hand.5
y i.e., According to his judgment or opinion, be it true or false; or
according to the bent of his mind, and the natural constitution of his body.6
z Or the soul of man. Some interpret it of the angel Gabriel, or of
the divine revelation.7
a viz., By the word Kun, i.e., Be; consisting of an immaterial
substance, and not generated, like the body. But, according to a different
opinion, this passage should be translated, The spirit is of those things, the
knowledge of which thy Lord hath reserved to himself. For it is said that the
Jews bid the Koreish ask Mohammed to relate the history of those who slept in
the cave,8 and of Dhu'lkarnein,9 and to give them an account of the soul of
man; adding, that if he pretended to answer all the three questions, or could
answer none of them, they might be sure he was no prophet; but if he gave an
answer to one or two of the questions and was silent as to the other, he was
really a prophet. Accordingly, when they propounded the questions to him, he
told them the two histories, but acknowledged his ignorance as to the origin
of the human soul.10
b All your knowledge being acquired from the information of your
senses, which must necessarily fail you in spiritual speculations, without the
assistance of divine revelation.11
c viz., The Korân; by razing it both from the written copies, and the
memories of men.
1 Idem. 2 Numb. xxiii. 10. 3 See the Prelim. Disc.
Sect. II. p. 39. 4 Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin. 5 Iidem.
Vide Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. 2, p. 127. 6 Al Beidâwi.
7 Idem.
8 See the next chapter. 9 See ib. 10 Al Beidâwi.
11 Idem.
And they say, We will by no means believe on thee, until thou cause a
spring of water to gush forth for us out of the earth;d
or thou have a garden of palm-trees and vines, and thou cause rivers to
spring forth from the midst thereof in abundance;
or thou cause the heaven to fall down upon us, as thou hast given out, in
pieces; or thou bring down GOD and the angels to vouch for thee;
or thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend by a ladder to heaven:
neither will we believe thy ascending thither alone,e until thou cause a book
to descend unto us, bearing witness of thee, which we may read. Answer My
LORD be praised! Am I other than a man, sent as an apostle?
And nothing hindereth men from believing, when a direction is come unto
them, except that they say, Hath GOD sent a man for his apostle?
Answer, If the angels had walked on earth as familiar inhabitants
thereof, we had surely sent down unto them from heaven an angel for our
apostle.
Say, GOD is a sufficient witness between me and you: for he knoweth and
regardeth his servants.
Whom GOD shall direct, he shall be the rightly directed; and whom he
shall cause to err, thou shalt find none to assist, besides him. And we will
gather them together on the day of resurrection, creeping on their faces,
blind, and dumb, and deaf:f their abode shall be hell; so often as the fire
thereof shall be extinguished, we will rekindle a burning flame to torment
them.g
100 This shall be their reward, because they disbelieve in our signs, and
say, When we shall have been reduced to bones and dust, shall we surely be
raised new creatures?
Do they not perceive that GOD, who created the heavens and the earth, is
able to create other bodies, like their present? And he hath appointed them a
limited term;h there is no doubt thereof: but the ungodly reject the truth,
merely out of unbelief.
Say, If ye possessed the treasures of the mercy of my LORD, ye would
surely refrain from using them, for fear of spending them;i for man is
covetous.
We heretofore gave unto Moses the power of working nine evident signs.j
And do thou ask the children of Israel, as to the story of Moses;k when he
came unto them, and Pharaoh said unto him, Verily I esteemed thee, O Moses, to
be deluded by sorcery.
d This and the following miracles were demanded of Mohammed by the
Koreish, as proofs of his mission.
e As thou pretendest to have done in thy night-journey; but of which no
man was witness.
f See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 66.
g i.e., When the fire shall go out or abate for want of fuel, after the
consumption of the skins and flesh of the damned, we will add fresh vigour to
the flames by giving them new bodies.1
h Or life, or resurrection.
i That is, lest they should be exhausted.
j These were, the changing his rod into a serpent, the making his hand
white and shining, the producing locusts, lice, frogs, and blood, the dividing
of the Red Sea, the bringing water out of the rock, and the shaking of Mount
Sinai over the children of Israel. In lieu of the three last some reckon the
inundation of the Nile, the blasting of the corn, and scarcity of the fruits
of the earth.2 These words, however, are interpreted by others, not of nine
miracles, but of nine commandments, which Moses gave his people, and were thus
numbered up by Mohammed himself to a Jew, who asked him the question, viz.,
That they should not be guilty of idolatry, nor steal, nor commit adultery or
murder, nor practise sorcery or usury, nor accuse an innocent man to take away
his life, or a modest woman of whoredom, nor desert the army; to which he
added the observing of the sabbath, as a tenth commandment, but which
peculiarly regarded the Jews: upon which answer, it is said, the Jew kissed
the prophet's hands and feet.3
k Some think these words are directed to Moses, who is hereby commanded
to demand the children of Israel of Pharaoh, that he might let them go with
him.
1 Al Beidâwi. See chapter 4, p. 60. 2 Idem, Jallalo'ddin.
3 Al Beidâwi.
Moses answered, Thou well knowest that none hath sent down these evident
signs except the LORD of heaven and earth; and I surely esteem thee, O
Pharaoh, a lost man.
Wherefore Pharaoh sought to drive them out of the land; but we drowned
him and all those who were with him.
And we said unto the children of Israel, after his destruction, Dwell ye
in the land: and when the promise of the next life shall come to be fulfilled,
we will bring you both promiscuously to judgment. We have sent down the Koran
with truth, and it hath descended with truth: and we have not sent thee
otherwise than to be a bearer of good tidings, and a denouncer of threats.
And we have divided the Koran, revealing it by parcels, that thou
mightest read it unto men with deliberation: and we have sent it down, causing
it to descend as occasion required.l
Say, Whether ye believe therein, or do not believe, verily those who have
been favored with the knowledge of the scriptures which were revealed before
it, when the same is rehearsed unto them, fall down on their faces,m
worshipping, and say, Our LORD be praised, for that the promise of our LORD is
surely fulfilled!
and they fall down on their faces, weeping; and the hearing thereof
increaseth their humility.
110 Say, call upon GOD, or call on the Merciful: by whichsoever of the two
names ye invoke him, it is equal; for he hath most excellent names.n
Pronounce not thy prayer aloud, neither pronounce it with too low a voice,o
but follow a middle way between these:
and say, Praise be unto GOD, who hath not begotten any child; who hath no
partner in the kingdom, nor hath any to protect him from contempt: and magnify
him by proclaiming his greatness.
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