ENTITLED, Y. S.; REVEALED AT MECCA.
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
Y. S.u I SWEAR by the instructive Koran,
that thou art one of the messengers of God,
sent to show the right way.
This is a revelation of the most mighty, the merciful God:
that thou mayest warn a people whose fathers were not warned, and who
live in negligence.
Our sentencex hath justly been pronounced against the greater part of
them; wherefore they shall not believe.
We have put yokesy on their necks, which come up to their chins; and they
are forced to hold up their heads;
and we have set a bar before them, and a bar behind them;z and we have
covered them with darkness; wherefore they shall not see.a
It shall be equal unto them whether thou preach unto them, or do not
preach unto them; they shall not believe.
10 But thou shalt preach with effect unto him only who followeth the
admonition of the Koran, and feareth the Merciful in secret. Wherefore bear
good tidings unto him, of mercy, and an honourable reward.
Verily we will restore the dead to life, and will write down their works
which they shall have sent before them, and their footsteps which they shall
have left behind them: b and everything do we set down in a plain register.
Propound unto them as an example the inhabitants of the city of Antioch,
when the apostles of Jesus came thereto:c
u The meaning of these letters is unknown:1 some, however, from a
tradition of Ebn Abbas, pretend they stand for Ya insân, i.e., O man. This
chapter, it is said, had several other titles given it by Mohammed himself,
and particularly that of The heart of the Korân. The Mohammedans read it to
dying persons in their last agony.2
x viz., The sentence of damnation, which GOD pronounced against the
greater part of genii and men at the fall of Adam.3
y Or collars, such as are described p. 181, note t.
z That is, we have placed obstacles to prevent their looking either
forwards or backwards. The whole passage represents the blindness and
invincible obstinacy, with which GOD justly curses perverse and reprobate men.
a It is said that when the Koreish, in pursuance of a resolution they
had taken, had sent a select number to beset Mohammed's house, and to kill
him,4 the prophet, having caused Ali to lie down on his bed to deceive the
assassins, went out and threw a handful of dust at them, repeating the nine
first verses of this chapter, which end here; and they were thereupon stricken
with blindness, so that they could not see him.5
b As their good or evil example, doctrine, &c.
c To explain this passage, the commentators tell the following story:-
The people of Antioch being idolaters, Jesus sent two of his disciples
thither to preach to them; and when they drew near the city they found Habîb,
surnamed al Najjâr, or the carpenter, feeding sheep, and acqainted him with
their errand; whereupon he asked them what proof they had of their veracity,
and they told him they could cure the sick, and the blind, and the lepers; and
to demonstrate the truth of what they said, they laid their hands on a child
of his who was sick, and immediately restored him to health. Habîb was
convinced by this miracle, and believed; after which they went into the city
and preached the worship of one true GOD, curing a great number of people of
several infirmities; but at length, the affair coming to the prince's ear, he
ordered them to be imprisoned for endeavouring to seduce the people. When
Jesus heard of this, he sent another of his disciples, generally supposed to
have been Simon Peter, who, coming to Antioch, and appearing as a zealous
idolater, soon insinuated
1 See the Prelim. Disc. Sec. III. p. 46, &c. 2 Vide Bobov. De
Visit. Ægrot. p. 17. 3 See cap. 7, p. 106; c. II, p. 169, &c.
4 See the Prelim. Disc. p. 39. 5 Vide Abulf. Vit Moh. p. 50.
when we sent unto them two of the said apostles;d but they charged them
with imposture. Wherefore we strengthened them with a third.e And they said,
Verily we are sent unto you by God.
The inhabitants answered, Ye are no other than men, as we are; ye only
publish a lie.
The apostles replied, Our LORD knoweth that we are really sent unto you:
and our duty is only public preaching.
Those of Antioch said, Verily we presage evil from you: if ye desist not
from preaching, we will surely stone you, and a painful punishment shall be
inflicted on you by us.
The apostles answered, Your evil presage is with yourselves:f although ye
be warned, will ye persist in yours errors? Verily ye are a people who
transgress exceedingly.
And a certain mang came hastily from the farther parts of the city, and
said, O my people, follow the messengers of God;
20 follow him who demandeth not any reward of you: for these are rightly
directed.
What reason have I that I should not worship him who hath created me? for
unto him shall ye return.
Shall I take other gods besides him? If the Merciful be pleased to
afflict me, their intercession will not avail me at all, neither can they
deliver me:
then should I be in a manifest error.
Verily I believe in your LORD; wherefore hearken unto me.
But they stoned him: and as he died, it was said unto him, Enter thou
into paradise. And he said, O that my people knew
how merciful GOD hath been unto me! for he hath highly honoured me.
And we sent not down against his people, after they had slain him, an
army from heaven, nor the other instruments of destruction which we sent down
on unbelievers in former days:h
there was only one cry of Gabriel from heaven, and behold, they became
utterly extinct.
Oh the misery of men! No apostle cometh unto them, but they laugh him to
scorn.
30 Do they not consider how many generations we have destroyed before them?
Verily they shall not return unto them:
but all of them in general shall be assembled before us.
himself into the favour of the inhabitants and of their prince, and at length
took an opportunity to desire the prince would order the two persons who, as
he was informed, had been put in prison for broaching new opinions, to be
brought before him to be examined; and accordingly they were brought: when
Peter, having previously warned them to take no notice that they knew him,
asked them who sent them, to which they answered, GOD, who had created all
things, and had no companion. He then required some convincing proof of their
mission, upon which they restored a blind person to his sight and performed
some other miracles, with which Peter seemed not to be satisfied, for that,
according to some, he did the very same miracles himself, but declared that,
if their GOD could enable them to raise the dead, he would believe them; which
condition the two apostles accepting, a lad was brought who had been dead
seven days, and at their prayers he was raised to life; and thereupon Peter
acknowledged himself convinced, and ran and demolished the idols, a great many
of the people following him, and embracing the true faith; but those who
believed not were destroyed by the cry of the angel Gabriel.1
d Some say these two were John and Paul; but others name different
persons.
e viz., Simon Peter.
f i.e., If any evil befall you, it will be the consequence of your own
obstinacy and unbelief. See chapter 27, p. 287, note b.
g This was Habîb al Najjâr, whose martyrdom is here described. His
tomb is still shown near Antioch, and is much visited by the Mohammedans.2
h As a deluge, or a shower of stones, or a suffocating wind, &c. The
words may also be translated, Nor did we determine to send down such
executioners of our justice.
1 Al Zamakh., al Beidâwi, &c. Vide etiam Marracc. in Alc. p. 580.
2 Vide Schultens, Indic. Geogr. ad calcem Vitæ Saladini, voce
Antiochia.
One sign of the resurrection unto them is the dead earth:i we quicken the
same by the rain, and produce thereout various sorts of grain, of which they
eat.
And we make therein gardens of palm-trees, and vines; and we cause
springs to gush forth in the same:
that they may eat of the fruits thereof, and of the labor of their hands.
Will they not therefore give thanks?
Praise be unto him who hath created all the different kinds, both of
vegetables, which the earth bringeth forth, and of their own species, by
forming the two sexes, and also the various sorts of things which they know
not.
The night also is a sign unto them: we withdraw the day from the same,
and behold, they are covered with darkness:
and the sun hasteneth to his place of rest.k This is the disposition of
the mighty, the wise God.
and for the moon have we appointed certain mansions,l until she change
and return to be like the old branch of a palm-tree.m
40 It is not expedient that the sun should overtake the moon in her course:
neither doth the night outstrip the day: but each of these luminaries moving
in a peculiar orbit.
It is a sign also unto them, that they carry their offspring in the ship
filled with merchandise;n
and that we have made for them other conveniences like unto it,o whereon
they ride.
If we please, we drown them, and there is none to help them; neither are
they delivered,
unless through our mercy, and that they may enjoy life for a season.
When it is said unto them, Fear that which is before you, and that which
is behind you,p that ye may obtain mercy: they withdraw from thee:
and thou dost not bring them one sign, of the signs of their LORD, but
they turn aside from the same.
And when it is said unto them, Give alms of that which GOD hath bestowed
on you; the unbelievers say unto those who believe, by way of mockery, Shall
we feed him whom GOD can feed, if he pleaseth?q Verily ye are in no other
than a manifest error.
And they say, When will this promise of the resurrection be fulfilled, if
ye speak truth?
They only wait for one sounding of the trumpet,r which shall overtake
them while they are disputing together;
50 and they shall not have time to make any disposition of their effects,
neither shall they return to their family.
And the trumpet shall be sounded again;s and behold they shall come forth
from their graves, and hasten unto their LORD.
i See cap. 29, p. 298, note y.
k That is, he hasteneth to run his daily course, the setting of the sun
resembling a traveller's going to rest. Some copies vary in this place, and
instead of limostakarrin laha, read la mostakarra laha; according to which the
sentence should be rendered, The sun runneth his course without ceasing, and
hath not a place of rest.
l viz., These are twenty-eight constellations, through one of which the
moon passes every night, thence called the mansions or houses of the moon.1
m For when a palm-branch grows old, it shrinks, and becomes crooked and
yellow, not ill representing the appearance of the new moon.
n Some suppose that the deliverance of Noah and his companions in the
ark is here intended; and then the words should be translated, That we carried
their progeny in the ark filled with living creatures.
o As camels, which are the land-ships; or lesser vessels and boats.
p i.e., The punishment of this world and of the next.
q When the poor Moslems asked alms of the richer Koreish, they told
them that if GOD could provide for them, as they imagined, and did not, it was
an argument that they deserved not his favour so well as themselves: whereas
GOD permits some to be in want, to try the rich and exercise their charity.
r See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 64, 65, and the notes to chapter
39
s See ibid.
1 See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. I. p. 24.
They shall say, Alas for us! who hath awakened us from our bed?t This is
what the Merciful promised us; and his apostles spoke the truth.
It shall be but one sound of the trumpet, and behold, they shall be all
assembled before us.
On this day no soul shall be unjustly treated in the least; neither shall
ye be rewarded, but according to what ye shall have wrought.
On this day the inhabitants of paradise shall be wholly taken up with
joy:
they and their wives shall rest in shady groves, leaning on magnificent
couches.
There shall they have fruit, and they shall obtain whatever they shall
desire.
Peace shall be the word spoken unto the righteous, by a merciful LORD:
but he shall say unto the wicked, Be ye separated this day, O ye wicked,
from the righteous.
60 Did I not command you, O sons of Adam, that ye should not worship Satan;
because he was an open enemy unto you?
And did I not say, Worship me; this is the right way?
But now hath he seduced a great multitude of you: did ye not therefore
understand?
This is hell, with which ye were threatened:
be ye cast into the same this day to be burned; for that ye have been
unbelievers.
On this day we will seal up their mouths, that they shall not open them
in their own defence; and their hands shall speak unto us, and their feet
shall bear witness of that which they have committed.u
If we pleased we could put out their eyes, and they might run with
emulation in the way they use to take; and how should they see their error?
And if we pleased we could transform them into other shapes, in their
places when they should be found; and they should not be able to depart;
neither should they repent.x
Unto whomsoever we grant a long life, him do we cause to bow down his
body through age. Will they not therefore understand?
We have not taught Mohammed the art of poetry;y nor is it expedient for
him to be a poet. This book is no other than an admonition from God, and a
perspicuous Korân;
70 that he may warn him who is living:z and the sentence of condemnation
will be justly executed on the unbelievers.
Do they not consider that we have created for them, among the things
which our hands have wrought, cattle of several kinds, of which they are
possessors;
and that we have put the same in subjection under them? Some of them are
for their riding; and on some of them do they feed:
and they receive other advantages therefrom; and of their milk do they
drink. Will they not, therefore, be thankful?
They have taken other gods, besides GOD, in hopes that they may be
assisted by them;
but they are not able to give them any assistance: yet are they a party
of troops ready to defend them.
Let not their speech, therefore, grieve thee: we know that which they
privately conceal, and that which they publicly discover.
Doth not man know that we have created him of seed? yet behold, he is an
open disputer against the resurrection;
t For they shall sleep during the interval between these two blasts of
the trumpet, and shall feel no pain.1
u See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 69.
x That is, They deserve to be thus treated for their infidelity and
disobedience; but we bear with them out of mercy, and grant them respite.
y That is in answer to the infidels, who pretended the Korân was only a
poetical composition.
z i.e., Endued with understanding; the stupid and careless being like
dead persons.2
1 Jallalo'ddin. 2 Al Beidâwi.
and he propoundeth unto us a comparison, and forgetteth his creation. He
saith, Who shall restore bones to life, when they are rotten?a
Answer, He shall restore them to life, who produced them the first time:
for he is skilled in every kind of creation:
80 who giveth you fire out of the green tree,b and behold, ye kindle your
fuel from thence.
Is not he who hath created the heavens and the earth able to create new
creatures like unto them? Yea certainly: for he is the wise Creator.
His command, when he willeth a thing, is only that he saith unto it, Be;
and it is.
Wherefore praise be unto him, in whose hand is the kingdom of all things,
and unto whom ye shall return at the last day.
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