ENTITLED, ARE DISTINCTLY EXPLAINED;h REVEALED AT MECCA.
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
H. M.i This is a revelation from the most Merciful;
a book, the verses whereof are distinctly explained,k an Arabic Koran,
for the instruction of people who understand;
bearing good tidings, and denouncing threats: but the greater part of
them turn aside, and hearken not thereto.
And they say, Our hearts are veiled from the doctrine to which thou
invitest us; and there is a deafness in our ears, and a curtain between us and
thee: wherefore act thou as thou shalt think fit; for we shall act according
to our own sentiments.
Say, Verily I am only a man like you. It is revealed unto me, that your
GOD is one GOD: wherefore direct your way straight unto him; and ask pardon of
him for what is past. And woe be to the idolaters:
who give not the appointed alms, and believe not in the life to come!
But as to those who believe and work righteousness, they shall receive an
everlasting reward.
Say, Do ye indeed disbelieve in him who created the earth in two days;l
and do ye set up equals unto him? He is the LORD of all creatures.
And he placed in the earth mountains firmly rooted,m rising above the
same: and he blessed it; and provided therein the food of the creatures
designed to be the inhabitants thereof, in four days;n equally, for those who
ask.o
g Being prejudiced in favour of their own erroneous doctrines, and
despising the instructions of the prophets.
h Some entitle this chapter Worship, or Adoration, because the infidels
are herein commanded to forsake the worship of idols, and to worship GOD: but
the thirty-second chapter bearing the same title, that which we have here
prefixed is, for distinction, generally used.
i See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. III. p. 46, &c.
k See chapter 11, p. 158, note y.
l viz., The two first days of the week.1
m See chapter 16, p. 196.
n That is, including the two former days wherein the earth was created.
o i.e., For all, in proportion to the necessity of each, and as their
several appetites require. Some refer the word sawâan, here translated
equally, and which also signifies completely, to the four days; and suppose
the meaning to be that GOD created these things in just so many entire and
complete days.2
1 Jallalo'ddin. 2 Idem, al Beidâwi.
10 Then he set his mind to the creation of heaven, and it was smoke;p and
he said unto it, and to the earth, Come, either obediently, or against your
will. They answered, We come, obedient to thy command.
And he formed them into seven heavens, in two days;q and revealed unto
every heaven its office. And we adorned the lower heaven with lights, and
placed therein, a guard of angels.r This is the disposition of the mighty,
the wise God.
If the Meccans withdraw from these instructions, say, I denounce unto you
a sudden destruction, like the destruction of Ad and Thamud.
When the apostles came unto them before them and behind them,s saying,
Worship GOD alone; they answered, If our LORD had been pleased to send
messengers, he had surely sent angels; and we believe not the message with
which ye are sent.
As to the tribe of Ad, they behaved insolently in the earth, without
reason, and said, Who is more mighty than we in strength? Did they not see
that GOD, who had created them, was more mighty than they in strength? And
they knowingly rejected our signs.
Wherefore we sent against them a piercing wind, on days of ill luck,t
that we might make them taste the punishment of shame in this world: but the
punishment of the life to come will be more shameful; and they shall not be
protected therefrom.
And as to Thamud, we directed them; but they loved blindness better than
the true direction: wherefore the terrible noise of an ignominious punishment
assailed them, for that which they had deserved;
but we delivered those who believed, and feared God.u
And warn them of the day, on which the enemies of GOD shall be gathered
together unto hell fire, and shall march in distinct bands;
until, when they shall arrive thereat, their ears, and their eyes, and
their skins, shall bear witness against them of that which they shall have
wrought.
20 And they shall say unto their skins, Wherefore do ye bear witness
against us? They shall answer, GOD hath caused us to speak, who giveth speech
unto all things: he created you the first time; and unto him are ye returned.
Ye did not hide yourselves, while ye sinned, so that your ears, and your
eyes, and your skins could not bear witness against you:x but ye thought that
GOD was ignorant of many things which ye did.
This was your opinion, which ye imagined of your LORD: it hath ruined
you; and ye are become lost people.
p Or darkness. Al Zamakhshari says this smoke proceeded from the
waters under the throne of GOD (which throne was one of the things created
before the heavens and the earth), and rose above the water; that the water
being dried up, the earth was formed out of it, and the heavens out of the
smoke which had mounted aloft.
q viz., On the fifth and sixth days of the week. It is said the
heavens were created on Thursday, and the sun, moon, and stars on Friday; in
the evening of which last day Adam was made.3
r See chapter 15.
s That is, on every side; persuading and urging them continually, and
by arguments drawn from past examples, and the expectation of future rewards
or punishments.
t It is said that this wind continued from Wednesday to Wednesday
inclusive, being the latter end of the month Shawâl; and that a Wednesday is
the day whereon GOD sends down his judgments on a wicked people.4
u See chapter 7, p. 112, &c.
x i.e., Ye hid your crimes from men, little thinking that your very
members, from which ye could not hide them, would rise up as witnesses against
you.
3 Idem. 4 Idem.
Whether they bear their torment, hell fire shall be their abode; or
whether they beg for favor, they shall not obtain favor.
And we will give them the devils to be their companions; for they dressed
up for them the false notions which they entertained of this present world,
and of that which is to come; and the sentence justly fitteth them, which was
formerly pronounced on the nations of genii and men who were before them; for
they perished.
The unbelievers say, Hearken not unto this Koran: but use vain discoursey
during the reading thereof; that ye may overcome the voice of the reader by
your scoffs and laughter.
Wherefore we will surely cause the unbelievers to taste a grievous
punishment,
and we will certainly reward them for the evils which they shall have
wrought.
This shall be the reward of the enemies of GOD, namely, hell fire;
therein is prepared for them an everlasting abode, as a reward for that they
have wittingly rejected our signs.
And the infidels shall say in hell, O LORD, show us the two that seduced
us, of the genii and men,z and we will cast them under our feet, that they may
become most base and despicable.
30 As for those who say, Our LORD is GOD, and who behave uprightly; the
angels shall descend unto them,a and shall say, Fear not, neither be ye
grieved; but rejoice in the hopes of paradise which ye have been promised.
We are your friends in this life, and in that which is to come: therein
shall ye have that which your souls shall desire, and therein shall ye obtain
whatever ye shall ask for;
as a gift from a gracious and merciful God.
Who speaketh better than he who inviteth unto GOD, and worketh
righteousness, and saith, I am a Moslem?
Good and evil shall not be held equal. Turn away evil with that which is
better; and behold, the man between whom and thyself there was enmity shall
become, as it were, thy warmest friend:
but none shall attain to this perfection, except they who are patient;
nor shall any attain thereto, except he who is endued with a great happiness
of temper.
And if a malicious suggestion be offered unto thee from Satan, have
recourse unto GOD; for it is he who heareth and knoweth.
Among the signs of his power are the night, and the day, and the sun, and
the moon. Worship not the sun, neither the moon: but worship GOD, who hath
created them; if ye serve him.
But if they proudly disdain his service; verily the angels, who are with
thy LORD, praise him night and day, and are not wearied.
And among his signs another is, that thou seest the land waste; but when
we send down rain thereon, it is stirred and fermenteth. And he who
quickeneth the earth will surely quicken the dead; for he is almighty.
40 Verily those who impiously wrong our signs are not concealed from us.
Is he, therefore, better, who shall be cast into hell fire, or he who shall
appear secure on the day of resurrection? Work that which ye will: he
certainly beholdeth whatever ye do.
Verily they who believe not in the admonition of the Koran, after it hath
come unto them, shall one day be discovered. It is certainly a book of
infinite value:
y Or, talk aloud.
z i.e., Those of either species, who drew us into sin and ruin. Some
suppose that the two more particularly intended here are Eblis and Cain, the
two authors of infidelity and murder.1
a Either while they are living on earth to dispose their minds to good,
to preserve them from temptations, and to comfort them; or at the hour of
death to support them in their last agony; or at their coming forth from their
graves at the resurrection.2
1 Idem, Jallalo'ddin. 2 Idem.
vanity shall not approach it, either from before it, or from behind it:b
it is a revelation from a wise God, whose praise is justly to be celebrated.
No other is said unto thee by the infidels of Mecca than what hath been
formerly said unto the apostles before thee: verily thy LORD is inclined to
forgiveness, and is also able to chastise severely.
If we had revealed the Koran in a foreign language,c they had surely
said, Unless the signs thereof be distinctly explained, we will not receive
the same: is the book written in a foreign tongue, and the person unto whom it
is directed an Arabian? Answer, It is, unto those who believe, a sure guide,
and a remedy for doubt unto those who believe, a sure guide, and a remedy for
doubt and uncertainty: but unto those who believe not, it is a thickness of
hearing in their ears, and it is a darkness which covereth them; these are as
they who are called unto from a distant place.d
We heretofore gave the book of the law unto Moses; and a dispute arose
concerning the same: and if a previous decree had not proceeded from thy LORD,
to respite the opposers of that revelation, verily the matter had been decided
between them, by the destruction of the infidels; for they were in a very
great doubt as to the same.
He who doth right, doth it to the advantage of his own soul; and he who
doth evil, doth it against the same: for thy LORD is not unjust towards his
servants.
Unto him is reserved the knowledge of the hour of judgment: and no fruit
cometh forth from the knops which involve it; neither doth any female conceive
in her womb, nor is she delivered of her burden, but with his knowledge. On
the day whereon he shall call them to him, saying, Where are my companions
which ye ascribed unto me? they shall answer, We assure thee there is no
witness of this matter among us:e
and the idols which they called on before shall withdraw themselves from
them; and they shall perceive that there will be no way to escape.
Man is not wearied with asking good; but if evil befall him, he
despondeth, and despaireth.
50 And if we cause him to taste mercy from us, after affliction hath
touched him, he surely saith, This is due to me on account of my deserts: I do
not think the hour of judgment will ever come: and if I be brought before my
LORD, I shall surely attain, with him, the most excellent condition. But we
will then declare unto those who shall not have believed, that which they have
wrought; and we will surely cause them to taste a most severe punishment.
When we confer favors on man, he turneth aside, and departeth without
returning thanks: but when evil toucheth him, he is frequent at prayer.
Say, What think ye? if the Koran be from GOD, and ye believe not therein;
who will lie under a greater error, than he who dissenteth widely therefrom?
Hereafter we will show them our signs in the regions in the regions of
the earth, and in themselves;f until it become manifest unto them that this
book is the truth. Is it not sufficient for thee that thy LORD is witness of
all things?
Are they not in a doubt as to the meeting of their LORD at the
resurrection? Doth not he encompass all things?
b That is, it shall not be prevailed against, or frustrated by any
means or in any respect whatever.
c See chapter 16, p. 203, &c.
d Being so far off that they hear not, or understand not the voice of
him who calls to them.
e For they shall disclaim their idols at the resurrection.
f By the surprising victories and conquests of Mohammed and his
successors.1
1 Al Beidâwi.