ENTITLED, THOSE WHO RANK THEMSELVES IN ORDER;
REVEALED AT MECCA.
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
BY the angels who rank themselves in order;c
and by those who drive forward and dispel the clouds;d
and by those who read the Koran for an admonition;
verily your GOD is one:
the LORD of heaven and earth, and of whatever is between them, and the
LORD of the east.e
We have adorned the lower heaven with the ornament of the stars:
and we have placed therein a guard against every rebellious devil;
that they may not listen to the discourse of the exalted princes (for
they are darted at from every side,
to repel them, and a lasting torment is prepared for them);
10 except him who catcheth a word by stealth, and is pursued by a shining
flame.f
Ask the Meccans, therefore, whether they be stronger by nature, or the
angels, whom we have created? We have surely created them of stiff clay.
Thou wonderest at God's power and their obstinacy; but they mock at the
arguments urged to convince them:
a See chapter 16, p. 195, note
b The usual way of striking fire in the east is by rubbing together two
pieces of wood, one of which is commonly of the tree called Markh, and the
other of that called Afâr: and it will succeed even though the wood be green
and wet.1
c Some understand by these words the souls of men who range themselves
in obedience to GOD'S laws, and put away from them all infidelity and corrupt
doings; or the souls of those who rank themselves in battle array, to fight
for the true religion, and push on their horses to charge the infidels, &c.2
d Or, who put in motion all bodies, in the upper and lower world,
according to the divine command; or, who keep off men from disobedience to
GOD, by inspiring them with good thoughts and inclinations; or, who drive away
the devils from them, &c.3
e The original word, being in the plural number, is supposed to signify
the different points of the horizon from whence the sun rises in the course of
the year, which are in number 360 (equal to the number of days in the old
civil year), and have as many corresponding points where it successively sets,
during that space.4 Marracci groundlessly imagines this interpretation to be
built on the error of the plurality of worlds.5
f See chapter 15, p. 192.
1 Vide Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. c. 25, p. 333, &c. 2 Al
Beidâwi. 3 Idem. 4 Idem, Yahya.
5 Marracc. in Alc. p. 589.
when they are warned, they do not take warning;
and when they see any sign, they scoff thereat,
and say, This is no other than manifest sorcery:
after we shall be dead, and become dust and bones, shall we really be
raised to life,
and our forefathers also?
Answer, Yea: and ye shall then be despicable.
There shall be but one blast of the trumpet, and they shall see
themselves raised:
20 and they shall say, Alas for us! this is the day of judgment,
this is the day of distinction between the righteous and the wicked,
which ye rejected as a falsehood.
Gather together those who have acted unjustly, and their comrades, and
the idols which they worshipped
besides GOD, and direct them in the way to hell;
and set them before God's tribunal; for they shall be called to account.
What aileth you that ye defend not one another?
But on this day they shall submit themselves to the judgment of God:
and they shall draw nigh unto one another, and shall dispute among
themselves.
And the seduced shall say unto those who seduced them, Verily ye came
unto us with presages of prosperity;g
and the seducers shall answer, Nay, rather ye were not true believers:
for we had no power over you to compel you; but ye were people who voluntarily
transgressed:
30 wherefore the sentence of our LORD hath been justly pronounced against
us, and we shall surely taste his vengeance.
We seduced you; but we also erred ourselves.
They shall both therefore be made partakers of the same punishment on
that day.
Thus will we deal with the wicked:
because, when it is said unto them, There is no god besides the true GOD,
they swell with arrogance,
and say, Shall we abandon our gods for a distracted poet?
Nay: he cometh with the truth, and beareth witness to the former
apostles.
Ye shall surely taste the painful torment of hell;
and ye shall not be rewarded, but according to your works.
But as for the sincere servants of GOD,
40 they shall have a certain provision in paradise,
namely, delicious fruits: and they shall be honoured:
they shall be placed in gardens of pleasure,
leaning on couches, opposite to one another:h
a cup shall be carried round unto them, filled from a limpid fountain,
for the delight of those who drink:
it shall not oppress the understanding, neither shall they be inebriated
therewith.
And near them shall lie the virgins of paradise, refraining their looks
from beholding any besides their spouses, having large black eyes, and
resembling the eggs of an ostrich covered with feathers from the dust.i
And they shall turn the one unto the other, and shall ask one another
questions.
And one of them shall say, Verily I had an intimate friend while I lived
in the world,
50 who said unto me, Art thou one of those who assertest the truth of the
resurrection?
After we shall be dead, and reduced to dust and bones, shall we surely be
judged?
Then he shall say to his companions, Will ye look down?
And he shall look down, and shall see him in the midst of hell:
and he shall say unto him, By GOD, it wanted little but thou hadst drawn
me into ruin:
and had it not been for the grace of my LORD, I had surely been one of
those who have been delivered up to eternal torment.
g Literally, from the right hand. The words may also be rendered, with
force, to compel us; or with an oath, swearing that ye were in the right.
h See chapter 15, p. 193, note
i This may seem an odd comparison to an European; but the orientals
think nothing comes so near the colour of a fine woman's skin as that of an
ostrich's egg when kept perfectly clean.
31
Shall we die
any other than our first death; or do we suffer any punishment?
Verily this is great felicity:
for the obtaining a felicity like this let the laborers labor.
60 Is this a better entertainment, or the tree of al Zakkum?k
Verily we have designed the same for an occasion of dispute unto the
unjust.l
It is a tree which issueth from the bottom of hell:
the fruit thereof resembleth the heads of devils;m
and the damned shall eat of the same, and shall fill their bellies
therewith;
and there shall be given them thereon a mixture of filthy and boiling
water to drink:
afterwards shall they return into hell.n
They found their fathers going astray,
and they trod hastily in their footsteps:
for the greater part of the ancients erred before them.
70 And we sent warners unto them heretofore:
and see how miserable was the end of those who were warned;
except the sincere servants of GOD.
Noah called on us in former days: and we heard him graciously:
and we delivered him and his family out of the great distress;
and we caused his offspring to be those who survived to people the earth:
and we left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest
posterity,
namely, Peace be on Noah among all creatures!
Thus do we reward the righteous;
for he was one of our servants the true believers.
80 Afterwards we drowned the others.
Abraham also was of his religion:o
when he came unto his LORD with a perfect heart.
When he said unto his father and his people, What do ye worship?
Do ye choose false gods preferably to the true GOD?
What therefore is your opinion of the LORD of all creatures?
And he looked and observed the stars,
and said, Verily I shall be sick,p and shall not assist at your
sacrifices:
and they turned their backs and departed from him.q
And Abraham went privately to their gods, and said, scoffingly unto them,
Do ye not eat of the meat which is set before you?
90 What aileth you that ye speak not?
And he turned upon them, and struck them with his right hand, and
demolished them.
And the people came hastily unto him:
and he said, Do ye worship the images which ye carve?
whereas GOD hath created you, and also that which ye make.
They said, Build a pile for him, and cast him into the glowing fire.
And they devised a plot against him; but we made them the inferior, and
delivered him.r
And Abraham said, Verily I am going unto my LORD,s who will direct me.
O LORD, grant me a righteous issue.
Wherefore we acquainted him that he should have a son, who should be a
meek youth.
k There is a thorny tree so called, which grows in Tehâma, and bears
fruit like an almond, but extremely bitter; and therefore the same name is
given to this infernal tree.
l The infidels not conceiving how a tree could grow in hell, where the
stones themselves serve for fuel.
m Or of serpents ugly to behold; the original word signifies both.
n Some suppose that the entertainment mentioned will be the welcome
given the damned before they enter that place; and others, that they will be
suffered to come out of hell from time to time, to drink their scalding
liquor.
o For Noah and he agreed in the fundamental points both of faith and
practice; though the space between them was no less than 2640 years.1
p He made as if he gathered so much from the aspect of the heavens-the
people being greatly addicted to the superstitions of astrology-and made it
his excuse for being absent from their festival, to which they had invited
him.
q Fearing he had some contagious distemper.2
r See chapter 21, p. 246, &c.
s Whither he hath commanded me.
1 Al Beidâwi. 2 Idem.
100 And when he had attained to years of discretion,t and could join in acts
of religion with him,
Abraham said unto him, O my son, verily I saw in a dream that I should
offer thee in sacrifice:u consider therefore what thou art of opinion I should
do.
He answered, O my father, do what thou art commanded: thou shalt find me,
if GOD please, a patient person.
And when they had submitted themselves to the divine will, and Abraham
had laid his son prostrate on his face,x
we cried unto him, O Abraham,
now hast thou verified the vision. Thus do we reward the righteous.
Verily this was a manifest trial.
And we ransomed him with a noble victim.y
And we left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest
posterity,
namely, Peace be on Abraham!
110 Thus do we reward the righteous:
for he was one of our faithful servants.
And we rejoiced him with the promise of Isaac:
and of their offspring were some righteous doers, and others who
manifestly injured their own souls.
We were also gracious unto Moses and Aaron, heretofore:
and we delivered them and their people from a great distress.
And we assisted them against the Egyptians; and they became the
conquerors.
And we gave them the perspicuous book of the law,
and we directed them into the right way,
and we left the following salutation to be bestowed on them by the latest
posterity,
120 namely, Peace be on Moses and Aaron!
Thus do we reward the righteous;
for they were two of our faithful servants.
And Eliasz was also one of those who were sent by us.
t He was then thirteen years old.3
u The commentators say, that Abraham was ordered in a vision, which he
saw on the eighth night of the month Dhu'lhajja, to sacrifice his son; and to
assure him that this was not from the devil, as he was inclined to suspect,
the same vision was repeated a second time the next night, when he knew it to
be from GOD, and also a third time the night following, when he resolved to
obey it, and to sacrifice his son; and hence some think the eighth, ninth, and
tenth days of Dhu'lhajja are called Yawm altarwiya, yawm ar afat, and yawm
alnehr, that is, the day of the vision, the day of knowledge, and the day of
the sacrifice.
It is the most received opinion among the Mohammedans that the son whom
Abraham offered was Ismael, and not Isaac, Ismael being his only son at that
time: for the promise of Isaac's birth is mentioned lower, as subsequent in
time to this transaction. They also allege the testimony of their prophet,
who is reported to have said, I am the son of the two who were offered in
sacrifice; meaning his great ancestor, Ismael, and his own father Abd'allah:
for Abd'almotalleb had made a vow that if GOD would permit him to find out and
open the well Zemzem, and should give him ten sons, he would sacrifice one of
them. Accordingly, when he had obtained his desire in both respects, he cast
lots on his sons, and the lot falling on Abd'allah, he redeemed him by
offering a hundred camels, which was therefore ordered to be the price of a
man's blood in the Sonna.1
x The commentators add, that Abraham went so far as to draw the knife
with all his strength across the lad's throat, but was miraculously hindered
from hurting him.2
y The epithet of great or noble is here added, either because it was
large and fat, or because it was accepted as the ransom of a prophet. Some
suppose this victim was a ram, and, if we may believe a common tradition, the
very same which Abel sacrificed, having been brought to Abraham out of
paradise; others fancy it was a wild goat, which came down from Mount Thabîr,
near Mecca, for the Mohammedans lay the scene of this transaction in the
valley of Mina; as a proof of which they tell us that the horns of the victim
were hung upon the spout of the Caaba, where they remained till they were
burnt, together with that building, in the days of Abda'llah Ebn Zobeir;3
though others assure us that they had been before taken down by Mohammed
himself, to remove all occasion of idolatry.4
z This prophet the Mohammedans generally suppose to be the same with al
Khedr, and confound him with Phineas,5 and sometimes with Edris, or Enoch.
Some say he was the son of Yasin, and nearly related to Aaron; and others
suppose him to have been a different person. He was sent to the inhabitants
of Baalbec, in Syria, the Heliopolis of the Greeks, to reclaim them from the
worship of their idol Baal, or the sun, whose name makes part of that of the
city, which was anciently called Becc.6
3 Idem. 1 Idem, Jallalo'ddin, al Zamakh. 2 Idem,
Jallalo'ddin. 3 Idem. 4 Vide D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Art.
Ismail. 5 See cap. 18, p. 223, note 6 Jallalo'ddin, al
Beidâwi.
When he said unto his people, Do ye not fear God?
Do ye invoke Baal, and forsake the most excellent Creator?
GOD is your LORD, and the LORD of your forefathers.
But they accused him of imposture: wherefore they shall be delivered up
to eternal punishment;
except the sincere servants of GOD.
And we left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest
posterity,
130 namely, Peace be on Ilyâsin!a
Thus do we reward the righteous:
for he was one of our faithful servants.
And Lot was also one of those who were sent by us.
When we delivered him and his whole family,
except an old woman, his wife, who perished, among those that remained
behind:
afterwards we destroyed the others.b
And ye, O people of Mecca, pass by the places where they once dwelt, as
ye journey in the morning,
and by night; will ye not therefore understand?
Jonas was also one of those who were sent by us.c
140 When he fledd into the loaded ship;
and those who were on board cast lots among themselves,e and he was
condemned:f
and the fish swallowed him;g for he was worthy of reprehension.
And if he had not been one those who praised GOD,h
verily he had remained in the belly thereof until the day of
resurrection.
And we cast him on the naked shore, and he was sick:i
and we caused a plant of a gourdk to grow up over him;
and we went him to an hundred thousand persons, or they were a greater
number,
and they believed: wherefore we granted them to enjoy this life for a
season.
Inquire of the Meccans whether thy LORD hath daughters, and they sons?l
150 Have we created the angels of the female sex? and were they witnesses
thereof?
a The commentators do not well know what to make of this word. Some
think it is the plural of Elias, or, as the Arabs write it, Ilyâs, and that
both that prophet and his followers, or those who resembled him, are meant
thereby; others divide the word, and read âl Yasîn, i.e., the family of Yasin,
who was the father of Elias according to an opinion mentioned above; and
others imagine it signifies Mohammed, or the Korân, or some other book of
scripture. But the most probable conjecture is that Ilyâs and Ilyâsin are the
same name, or design one and the same person, as Sinai and Sinin denote one
and the same mountain; the last syllable being added here, to keep up the
rhyme or cadence, at the close of the verse.
b See chapter 7, p. 113, &c., and chapter 11, p. 166, &c.
c See chapter 10, p. 157.
d See chapter 21, p. 248.
e Al Beidâwi says the ship stood stock-still, wherefore they concluded
that they had a fugitive servant on board, and cast lots to find him out.
f i.e., He was taken by the lot.
g When the lot fell on Jonas he cried out, I am the fugitive; and
immediately threw himself into the sea.7
h The words seem to relate particularly to Jonas's supplication while
in the whale's belly.8
i By reason of what he had suffered; his body becoming like that of a
new-born child.9 It is said that the fish, after it had swallowed Jonas, swam
after the ship with its head above water, that the prophet might breathe, who
continued to praise GOD till the fish came to land and vomited him out.
The opinions of the Mohammedan writers as to the time Jonas continued in
the fish's belly differ very much: some suppose it was part of a day, others
three days, others seven, others twenty, and others forty.10
k The original word signifies a plant which spreads itself upon the
ground, having no erect stalk or stem to support it, and particularly a gourd;
though some imagine Jonas's plant to have been a fig, and others the small
tree or shrub called Mauz,1 which bears very large leaves, and excellent
fruit.2 The commentators add, that this plant withered the next morning, and
that Jonas being much concerned at it, GOD made a remonstrance to him in
behalf of the Ninivites, agreeable to what is recorded in scripture.
l See chapter 16, p. 199.
7 Idem. 8 See cap. 21, p. 248. 9 Al Beidâwi.
10 Idem. 1 Idem.
2 Vide J Leon. Descr. Afric. lib. 9. Gab. Sionit. de Urb. Orient. ad calcem
Geogr. Nub. p. 32, et Hottinger. Hist. Orient. p. 78, &c.
Do they not say of their own false invention,
GOD hath begotten issue? and are they not really liars?
Hath he chosen daughters preferably to sons?
Ye have no reason to judge thus.
Will ye therefore not be admonished?
Or have ye a manifest proof of what ye say?
Produce now your book of revelations, if ye speak truth.
And they make him to be of kin unto the genii;m whereas the genii know
that they who affirm such things shall be delivered up to eternal punishment;
(far be that from GOD, which they affirm of him!)
160 except the sincere servants of GOD.
Moreover ye and that which ye worship
shall not seduce any concerning God,
except him who is destined to be burned in hell.
There is none of us but hath an appointed place:
we range ourselves in order, attending the commands of God;
and we celebrate the divine praise.n
The infidels said,
If we had been favored with a book of divine revelations, of those which
were delivered to the ancients,
we had surely been sincere servants of GOD:
170 yet now the Koran is revealed, they believe not therein; but hereafter
shall they know the consequence of their unbelief.
Our word hath formerly been given unto our servants the apostles;
that they shall certainly be assisted against the infidels,
and that our armies should surely be the conquerors.
Turn aside therefore from them, for a season:
and see the calamities which shall afflict them; for they shall see thy
future success and prosperity.
Do they therefore seek to hasten our vengeance?
Verily when it shall descend into their courts, an evil morning shall it
be unto those who were warned in vain.
Turn aside from them therefore for a season,
and see: hereafter shall they see thy success and their punishment.
180 Praise be unto thy LORD, the LORD who is far exalted above what they
affirm of him!
And peace be on his apostles!
And praise be unto GOD, the LORD of all creatures!
m That is, the angels, who are also comprehended under the name of
genii, being a species of them. Some say that the infidels went so far as to
assert that GOD and the devil were brothers,3 which blasphemous expression may
have been occasioned by the magian notions.
n These words are supposed to be spoken by the angels, disclaiming the
worship paid to them by the idolaters, and declaring that they have each their
station and office appointed them by GOD, whose commands they are at all times
ready to execute, and whose praises they continually sing. There are some
expositors, however, who think they are the words of Mohammed and his
followers; the meaning being, that each of them has a place destined for him
in paradise, and that they are the men who range themselves in order before
GOD, to worship and pray to him, and who celebrate his praise by rejecting
every false notion derogatory to the divine wisdom and power.
3 Al Beidâwi.
________