ENTITLED, THE POETS;g REVEALED AT MECCA.h
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
T. S. M.i THESE are the signs of the perspicuous book.
Peradventure thou afflictest thyself unto death, lest the Meccans become
not believers.
If we pleased, we could send down unto them a convincing sign from
heaven, unto which their necks would humbly submit.
But there cometh unto them no admonition from the Merciful, being newly
revealed as occasions require, but they turn aside from the same;
and they have charged it with falsehood: but a message shall come unto
them, which they shall not laugh to scorn.
Do they not behold the earth, how many vegetables we cause to spring up
therein, of every noble species?
Verily herein is a sign: but the greater part of them do not believe.
Verily thy LORD is the mighty, the merciful God.
Remember when thy LORD called Moses, saying, Go to the unjust people,
10 the people of Pharaoh; will they not dread me?
Moses answered, O LORD, verily I fear lest they accuse me of falsehood,
and lest my breast become straitened, and my tongue be not ready in
speaking:k send therefore unto Aaron, to be my assistant.
Also they have a crime to object against me:l and I fear they will put me
to death.
God said, They shall by no means put thee to death: wherefore go ye with
our signs; for we will be with you, and will hear what passes between you and
them.
Go ye therefore unto Pharaoh, and say, Verily we are the apostlem of the
LORD of all creatures:
send away with us the children of Israel.
And when they had delivered their message, Pharaoh answered, Have we not
brought thee up, among us,
when a child; and hast thou not dwelt among us for several years of thy
life?n Yet hast thou done thy deed which thou hast done, and thou art an
ungrateful person.
g The chapter bears this inscription because at the conclusion of it
the Arabian poets are severely censured.
h The five last verses, beginning at these words, And those who err
follow the poets, &c., some take to have been revealed at Medina.
i See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. III. p. 46, &c.
k See chap. 20, p. 257.
l viz., The having killed an Egyptian.1
m The word is in the singular number in the original; for which the
commentators give several reasons.
n It is said that Moses dwelt among the Egyptians thirty years, and
then went to Midian, where he stayed ten years; after which he returned to
Egypt, and spent thirty years in endeavouring to convert them; and that he
lived after the drowning of Pharaoh fifty years.2
1 See cap. 28. 2 Al Beidâwi.
Moses replied, I did it indeed, and I was one of those who erred;o
20 wherefore I fled from you, because I feared you: but my LORD hath
bestowed on me wisdom, and hath appointed me one of his apostles.
And this is the favor which thou hast bestowed on me, that thou hast
enslaved the children of Israel.
Pharaoh said, And who is the LORD of all creatures?
Moses answered, The LORD of heaven and earth, and whatever is between
them: if ye are men of sagacity.
Pharaoh said unto those who were about him, Do ye not hear?
Moses said, Your LORD, and the LORD of your forefathers.
Pharaoh said unto those who were present, Your apostle, who is sent unto
you, is certainly distracted.p
Moses said, The LORD of the east, and of the west, and of whatever is
between them; if ye are men of understanding.
Pharaoh said unto him, Verily if thou take any god besides me,q I will
make thee one of those who are imprisoned.r
Moses answered, What, although I come unto you with a convincing miracle?
30 Pharaoh replied, Produce it therefore, if thou speakest truth.
And he cast down his rod, and behold, it became a visible serpent:
and he drew forth his hand out of his bosom; and behold, it appeared
white unto the spectators.
Pharaoh said unto the princes who were about him, Verily this man is a
skilful magician:
he seeketh to dispossess you of your land by his sorcery; what therefore
do ye direct?
They answered , Delay him and his brother by good words for a time; and
send through the cities men to assemble
and bring unto thee every skilful magician.
So the magicians were assembled at an appointed time, on a solemn day.
And it was said unto the people, Are ye assembled together?
Perhaps we may follow the magicians, if they do get the victory.
40 And when the magicians were come, they said unto Pharaoh, Shall we
certainly receive a reward, if we do get the victory?
He answered, Yea; and ye shall surely be of those who approach my person.
Moses said unto them, Cast down what ye are about to cast down.
Wherefore they cast down their ropes and their rods, and said, By the
might of Pharaoh, verily we shall be the conquerors.
And Moses cast down his rod, and behold, it swallowed up that which they
had caused falsely to appear changed into serpents.
Whereupon the magicians prostrated themselves, worshipping,
and said, We believe in the LORD of all creatures,
the LORD of Moses and of Aaron.
Pharaoh said unto them, Have ye believed on him, before I have given you
permission? Verily he is your chief who hath taught you magic:s but hereafter
ye shall surely know my power.
o Having killed the Egyptian undesignedly.
p Pharaoh, it seems, thought Moses had given but wild answers to his
question; for he wanted to know the person and true nature of the GOD whose
messenger Moses pretended to be; whereas he spoke of his works only. And
because this answer gave so little satisfaction to the king, he is therefore
supposed by some to have been a Dahrite, or one who believed the eternity of
the world.3
q From this and a parallel expression in the twenty-eighth chapter, it
is inferred that Pharaoh claimed the worship of his subjects, as due to his
supreme power.
r These words, says al Beidâwi, were a more terrible menace than if he
had said I will imprison thee; and gave Moses to understand that he must
expect to keep company with those wretches whom the tyrant had thrown, as was
his custom, into a deep dungeon, where they remained till they died.
s But has reserved the most efficacious secrets to himself.4
3 Idem. 4 Idem.
I will cut off your hands and your feet, on the opposite sides, and I
will crucify you all.
50 They answered, It will be no harm unto us; for we shall return unto our
LORD.
We hope that our LORD will forgive us our sins, since we are the first
who have believed.t
And we spake by revelation unto Moses, saying, March forth with my
servants by night; for ye will be pursued.
And Pharaoh sent officers through the cities to assemble forces, saying,
Verily these are a small company;
and they are enraged against us:
but we are a multitude well provided.
So we caused them to quit their gardens, and fountains,
and treasures, and fair dwellings:
thus did we do; and we made the children of Israel to inherit the same.u
60 And they pursued them at sunrise.
And when the two armies were come in sight of each other, the companions
of Moses said, We shall surely be overtaken.
Moses answered, By no means; for my LORD is with me, who will surely
direct me.
And we commanded Moses by revelation, saying, Smite the sea with thy rod.
And when he had smitten it, it became divided into twelve parts, between which
were as many paths, and every part was like a vast mountain.
And we drew thither the others;
and we delivered Moses and all those who were with him:
then we drowned the others.
Verily herein was a sign; but the greater part of them did not believe.
Verily thy LORD is the mighty and the merciful.
And rehearse unto them the story of Abraham:
70 when he said unto his father, and his people, What do ye worship?
They answered, We worship idols; and we constantly serve them all the day
long.
Abraham said, Do they hear you, when ye invoke them?
Or do they either profit you, or hurt you?
They answered, But we found our fathers do the same.
He said, What think ye? The gods which ye worship,
and your forefathers worshipped,
are my enemy: except only the LORD of all creatures,
who hath created me, and directeth me;
and who giveth me to eat, and to drink,
80 and when I am sick, healeth me;
and who will cause me to die, and will afterwards restore me to life;
and who, I hope, will forgive my sins on the day of judgment.
O LORD, grant me wisdom; and join me with the righteous:
and grant that I may be spoken of with honourx among the latest
posterity;
and make me an heir of the garden of delight:
and forgive my father, for that he hath been one of those who go astray.y
And cover me not with shame on the day of resurrection;
on the day in which neither riches nor children shall avail,
unless unto him who shall come unto GOD with a sincere heart:
90 when paradise shall be brought near to the view of the pious,
and hell shall appear plainly to those who shall have erred:
t See chapter 7, p. 116, &c.
u Hence some suppose the Israelites, after the destruction of Pharaoh
and his host, returned to Egypt, and possessed themselves of the riches of
that country.5 But others are of opinion that the meaning is no more than
that GOD gave them the like possessions and dwellings in another country.6
x Literally, Grant me a tongue of truth, that is, a high encomium. The
same expression is used in c. 19, p. 252.
y By disposing him to repentance, and the receiving of the true faith.
Some suppose Abraham pronounced this prayer after his father's death, thinking
that possibly he might have been inwardly a true believer, but have concealed
his conversion for fear of Nimrod, and before he was forbidden to pray for
him.7
5 Jallalo'ddin, Yahya. 6 Al Zamakh. See cap. 7, p. 118.
7 See cap. 9, p. 148, and c. 14, p. 209.
and it shall be said unto them, Where are your deities which ye served
besides GOD? will they deliver you from punishment, or will they deliver
themselves?
And they shall be cast into the same, both they,z and those who have been
seduced to their worship;
and all the host of Eblis.
The seduced shall dispute therein with their false gods,
saying, By GOD, we were in a manifest error,
when we equalled you with the LORD of all creatures:
and none seduced us but the wicked.
100 We have now no intercessors,
nor any friend who careth for us.
If we were allowed to return once more into the world, we would certainly
become true believers.
Verily herein was a sign; but the greater part of them believed not.
The LORD is the mighty, the merciful.
The people of Noah accused God's messengers of imposture:
when their brother Noah said unto them, Will ye not fear God?
Verily I am a faithful messenger unto you;
110 wherefore fear GOD, and obey me.
I ask no reward of you for my preaching unto you; I expect my reward from
no other than the LORD of all creatures:
wherefore fear GOD, and obey me.
They answered, Shall we believe on thee, when only the most abject
persons have followed thee?
Noah said, I have no knowledge of that which they did;a
it appertaineth unto my LORD alone to bring them to account, if ye
understand;
wherefore I will not drive away the believers:b
I am no more than a public preacher.
They replied, Assuredly, unless thou desist, O Noah, thou shalt be
stoned.
He said, O LORD, verily my people take me for a liar;
wherefore judge publicly between me and them; and deliver me and the true
believers who are with me.
Wherefore we delivered him, and those who were with him, in the ark
filled with men and animals;
120 and afterwards we drowned the rest.
Verily herein was a sign; but the greater part of them believed not.
Thy LORD is the mighty, the merciful.
The tribe of Ad charged God's messengers with falsehood:
when their brother Hud said unto them, Will ye not fear God?
Verily I am a faithful messenger unto you;
wherefore fear GOD, and obey me.
I demand not of you any reward for my preaching unto you: I expect my
reward from no other than the LORD of all creatures.
Do ye build a landmark on every high place, to divert yourselves?c
And do ye erect magnificent works, hoping that ye may continue in their
possession forever?
130 And when ye exercise your power, do ye exercise it with cruelty and
rigour?d
Fear GOD, by leaving these things; and obey me.
And fear him who hath bestowed on you that which ye know:
he hath bestowed on you cattle, and children,
and gardens, and springs of water.
Verily I fear for you the punishment of a grievous day.
They answered, It is equal unto us whether thou admonish us, or dost not
admonish us:
this which thou preachest is only a device of the ancients;
z See chapter 21, p. 273.
a i.e., Whether they have embraced the faith which I have preached, out
of the sincerity of their hearts, or in prospect of some worldly advantage.
b See chapter 11, p. 161.
c Or to mock the passengers; who direct themselves in their journeys by
the stars, and have no need of such buildings?1
d Putting to death, and inflicting other corporal punishments without
mercy, and rather for the satisfaction of your passion than the amendment of
the sufferer.2
1 Al Beidâwi. 2 Idem.
neither shall we be punished for what we have done.
And they accused him of imposture: wherefore we destroyed them. Verily
herein was a sign: but the greater part of them believed not.
140 Thy LORD is the mighty, the merciful.
The tribe of Thamud also charged the messengers of God with falsehood.
When their brother Saleh said unto them, Will ye not fear God?
Verily I am a faithful messenger unto you:
wherefore fear GOD, and obey me.
I demand no reward of you for my preaching unto you: I expect my reward
from no other than the LORD of all creatures.
Shall ye be left forever secure in the possession of the things which are
here;
among gardens, and fountains,
and corn, and palm-trees, whose branches sheathe their flowers.
And will ye continue to cut habitations for yourselves out of the
mountains, behaving with insolence?e
150 Fear GOD, and obey me;
and obey not the command of the transgressors,
who act corruptly in the earth, and reform not the same.
They answered, Verily thou art distracted:
thou art no other than a man like unto us: produce now some sign, if thou
speakest truth.
Saleh said, This she-camel shall be a sign unto you: she shall have her
portion of water, and ye shall have your portion of water alternately, on a
several day appointed for you;f
and do her no hurt, lest the punishment of a terrible day be inflicted on
you.
But they slew her; and were made to repent of their impiety:
for the punishment which had been threatened overtook them. Verily
herein was a sign; but the greater part of them did not believe.
Thy LORD is the mighty, the merciful.
160 The people of Lot likewise accused God's messengers of imposture.
When their brother Lot said unto them, Will ye not fear God?
Verily I am a faithful messenger unto you:
wherefore fear GOD, and obey me.
I demand no reward of you for my preaching: I expect my reward from no
other than the LORD of all creatures.
Do ye approach unto the males among mankind,
and leave your wives which your LORD hath created for you. Surely ye are
people who transgress.
They answered, Unless thou desist, O Lot, thou shalt certainly be
expelled our city.
He said, Verily I am one of those who abhor your doings:
O LORD, deliver me, and my family, from that which they act.
170 Wherefore we delivered him, and all his family,
except an old woman, his wife, who perished among those who remained
behind;
then we destroyed the rest;
and we rained on them a shower of stones; and terrible was the shower
which fell on those who had been warned in vain.
Verily herein was a sign; but the greater part of them did not believe.
Thy LORD is the mighty, the merciful.
The inhabitants of the woodg also accused GOD'S messengers of imposture.
When Shoaib said unto him, Will ye not fear God?
Verily I am a faithful messenger unto you:
e Or, as the original word may also be rendered, showing art and
ingenuity in your work.
f That is, they were to have the use of the water by turns, the camel
drinking one day, and the Thamudites drawing the other day; for when this
camel drank, she emptied the wells or brooks for that day. See chapter 7, p.
112.
g See chapter 15, p. 213. Shoaib being not called the brother of these
people, which would have preserved the conformity between this passage and the
preceding, it has been thought they were not Midianites, but of another race;
however, we find the prophet taxes them with the same crimes as he did those
of Midian.1
1 See cap. 7, p. 113.
wherefore fear GOD, and obey me.
180 I ask no reward of you for my preaching: I expect my reward from no
other than the LORD of all creatures.
Give just measure, and be not defrauders;
and weigh with an equal balance;
and diminish not unto men aught of their matters; neither commit violence
in the earth, acting corruptly.
And fear him who hath created you, and also the former generations.
They answered, Certainly thou art distracted;
thou art no more than a man, like unto us; and we do surely esteem thee
to be a liar.
Cause now a part of the heaven to fall upon us, if thou speakest truth.
Shoaib said, My LORD best knoweth that which ye do.
And they charged him with falsehood: wherefore the punishment of the day
of the shadowing cloudh overtook them; and this was the punishment of a
grievous day.
190 Verily herein was a sign; but the greater part of them did not believe.
Thy LORD is the mighty, the merciful.
This book is certainly a revelation from the LORD of all creatures,
which the faithful spiriti hath caused to descend
upon thy heart, that thou mightest be a preacher to thy people,
in the perspicuous Arabic tongue;
and it is borne witness to in the scriptures of former ages.
Was it not a sign unto them, that the wise men among the children of
Israel knew it?
Had we revealed it unto any of the foreigners,
and he had read the same unto them, yet they would not have believed
therein.
200 Thus have we caused obstinate infidelity to enter the hearts of the
wicked:
they shall not believe therein, until they see a painful punishment.
It shall come suddenly upon them, and they shall not foresee it:
and they shall say, Shall we be respited?
Do they therefore desire our punishment to be hastened?k
What thinkest thou? If we suffer them to enjoy the advantage of this
life for several years,
and afterwards that with which they are threatened come upon them;
what will that which they have enjoyed profit them?
We have destroyed no city, but preachers were first sent unto it,
to admonish the inhabitants thereof; neither did we treat them unjustly.
210 The devils did not descend with the Koran, as the infidels give out:
it is not for their purpose, neither are they able to produce such a
book;
for they are far removed from hearing the discourse of the angels in
heaven.l
Invoke no other god with the true GOD, lest thou become one of those who
are doomed to punishment.
And admonish thy more near relations.m
And behave thyself with meeknessn towards the true believers who follow
thee:
h GOD first plagued them with such intolerable heat for seven days that
all their waters were dried up, and then brought a cloud over them, under
whose shade they ran, and were all destroyed by a hot wind and fire which
proceeded from it.2
i i.e., Gabriel, who is entrusted with the divine secrets and
revelations.
k The infidels were continually defying Mohammed to bring some signal
and miraculous destruction on them, as a shower of stones, &c.
l See chapter 15, p. 211.
m The commentators suppose the same command to have been virtually
contained in the 74th chapter, which is prior to this in point of time.3 It
is said that Mohammed, on receiving the passage before us, went up immediately
to Mount Safâ, and having called the several families to him, one by one, when
they were all assembled, asked them whether, if he should tell them that
mountain would bring forth a smaller mountain, they would believe him; to
which they answering in the affirmative, Verily, says he, I am a warner sent
unto you, before a severe chastisement.4
n Literally, lower thy wing.
2 Al Beidâwi. 3 See the notes thereon, and the Prelim. Disc.
Sect. II. p. 34. 4 Al Beidâwi.
and if they be disobedient unto thee, say, Verily, I am clear of that
which ye do.
And trust in the most mighty, the merciful God;
who seeth thee when thou risest up,
and thy behavior among those who worship;o
220 for he both heareth and knoweth.
Shall I declare unto you upon whom the devils descend?
They descend upon every lying and wicked person:p
they learn what is heard;q but the greater part of them are liars.
And those who err follow the steps of the poets:
dost thou not see that they rove as bereft of their senses through every
valley;
and that they say that which they do not?r
except those who believe, and do good works, and remember GOD frequently;
and who defend themselves, after they have been unjustly treated.s And
they who act unjustly shall know hereafter with what treatment they shall be
treated.
o i.e., Who seeth thee when thou risest up to watch and spend the night
in religious exercises, and observeth thy anxious care for the Moslems' exact
performance of their duty. It is said that the night on which the precept of
watching was abrogated. Mohammed went privately from one house to another, to
see how his companions spent the time; and that he found them so intent in
reading the Korân, and repeating their prayers, that their houses, by reason
of the humming noise they made, seemed to be so many nests of hornets.5 Some
commentators, however, suppose that by the prophet's behaviour, in this place,
are meant the various postures he used in praying at the head of his
companions; as standing, bowing, prostration, and sitting.6
p The prophet, having vindicated himself from the charge of having
communication with the devils, by the opposition between his doctrine and
their designs, and their inability to compose so consistent a book as the
Korân, proceeds to show that the persons most likely to a correspondence with
those evil spirits were liars and slanderers, that is, his enemies and
opposers.
q i.e., They are taught by the secret inspiration of the devils, and
receive their idle and inconsistent suggestions for truth. It being uncertain
whether the slanderers or the devils be the nominative case to the verb, the
words may also be rendered, They impart what they hear; that is, The devils
acquaint their correspondents on earth with such incoherent scraps of the
angels' discourse as they can hear by stealth.7
r Their compositions being as wild as the actions of a distracted man:
for most of the ancient poetry was full of vain imaginations; as fabulous
stories and descriptions, love verses, flattery, excessive commendations of
their patrons, and as excessive reproaches of their enemies, incitements to
vicious actions, vainglorious vauntings, and the like.8
s That is, such poets as had embraced Mohammedism; whose works, free
from the profaneness of the former, run chiefly on the praises of GOD, and the
establishing his unity, and contain exhortations to obedience and other
religious and moral virtues, without any satirical invectives, unless against
such as have given just provocations, by having first attacked them, or some
others of the true believers, with the same weapons. In this last case
Mohammed saw it was necessary for him to borrow assistance from the poets of
his party, to defend himself and religion from the insults and ridicule of the
others, for which purpose he employed the pens of Labid Ebn Rabîa,1 Abda'llah
Ebn Rawâha, Hassân Ebn Thabet, and the two Caabs. It is related that Mohammed
once said to Caab Ebn Malec, Ply them with satires; for, by him in whose hand
my soul is, they wound more deeply than arrows.2
5 Idem. 6 Idem, Jallalo'ddin. 7 Idem. 8
Idem. 1 See the Prelim. Disc. p. 47.
2 Al Beidâwi.