ENTITLED, THE ORNAMENTS OF GOLD;t REVEALED AT MECCA.u
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
H. M.x BY the perspicuous book;
verily we have ordained the same an Arabic Koran that ye may understand:
and it is certainly written in the original book,y kept with us, being
sublime and full of wisdom.
s Or, as the words may be also translated, Thus have we sent the spirit
Gabriel unto thee with a revelation.
t The words chosen for the title of this chapter occurs p. 364.
u Some except the verse beginning with these words, And ask our
apostles whom we have sent before thee, &c.
x See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. III. p. 46, &c.
y i.e., The preserved table; which is the original of all the
scriptures in general.
Shall we therefore turn away from you the admonition, and deprive you
thereof, because ye are a people who transgress?
And how many prophets have we sent among those of old?
and no prophet came unto them, out they laughed him to scorn:
wherefore we destroyed nations who were more mighty than these in
strength; and the example of those who were of old hath been already set
before them.
If thou ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will
certainly answer, The mighty, the wise God created them:
who hath spread the earth as a bed for you, and hath made you paths
therein, that ye may be directed:
10 and who sendeth down rain from heaven by measure, whereby we quicken a
dead country; (so shall ye be brought forth from your graves:)
and who hath created all the various species of things, and hath given
you ships and cattle, whereon ye are carried;
that ye may sit firmly on the backs thereof, and may remember the favor
of your LORD, when ye sit thereon, and may say, Praise be unto him, who hath
subjected these unto our service! for we could not have mastered them by our
own power:
and unto our LORD shall we surely return.
Yet have they attributed unto him some of his servants as his offspring:
verily man is openly ungrateful.
Hath God taken daughters out of those beings which he hath created; and
hath he chosen sons for you?
But when one of them hath the news brought of the birth of a child of
that sex which they attribute unto the Merciful, as his similitude, his face
becometh black, and he is oppressed with sorrow.z
Do they therefore attribute unto God female issue, which are brought up
among ornaments, and are contentious without cause?
And do they make the angels, who are the servants of the Merciful,
females? Were they present at their creation? Their testimony shall be
written down, and they shall be examined concerning the same, on the day of
judgment.
And they say, If the Merciful had pleased, we had not worshipped them.
They have no knowledge herein: they only utter a vain lie.
20 Have we given them a book of revelations before this; and do they keep
the same in their custody?
But they say, Verily we found our fathers practising a religion; and we
are guided in their footsteps.
Thus we sent no preacher before thee, unto any city, but the inhabitants
thereof who lived in affluence, said, Verily we found our fathers practising a
religion: and we tread in their footsteps.
And the preacher answered, What, although I bring you a more right
religion than that which ye found your fathers to practise? And they replied,
Verily we believe not that which ye are sent to preach.
Wherefore we took vengeance on them: and behold what hath been the end of
those who accused our apostles of imposture.
Remember when Abraham said unto his father, and his people, Verily I am
clear of the gods which ye worship,
except him who hath created me; for he will direct me aright.
And he ordained this to be a constant doctrine among his posterity; that
they should be turned from idolatry to the worship of the only true God.
Verily I have permitted these Meccans and their fathers to live in
prosperity, until the truth should come unto them, and a manifest apostle:
but now the truth is come unto them, they say, This is a piece of
sorcery; and we believe not therein.
30 And they say, Had this Korân been sent down unto some great man of
either of the two cities,a we would have received it.
z See chapter 16, p. 100, &c.
a i.e., To one of the principal inhabitants of Mecca, or of Tâyef, such
as al Walid Ebn al Mogheira, or Erwa Ebn Masud, the Thakifite.1
1 Al Beidâwi.
Do they distribute the mercy of thy LORD?b We distribute the necessary
provision among them, in this present life, and we raise some of them several
degrees above the others, that the one of them may take the other to serve
him: and the mercy of thy LORD is more valuable than the riches which they
gather together.
If it were not that mankind would have become one sect of infidels,
verily we had given unto those who believe not in the Merciful, roofs of
silver to their houses, and stairs of silver, by which they might ascend
thereto,
and doors of silver to their houses, and couches of silver, for them to
lean on;
and ornaments of gold: for all this is the provision of the present life;
but the next life with thy LORD shall be for those who fear him.
Whoever shall withdraw from the admonition of the Merciful, we will chain
a devil unto him; and he shall be his inseparable companion:
(and the devils shall turn them aside from the way of truth; yet they
shall imagine themselves to be rightly directed:)
until, when he shall appear before us at the last day, he shall say unto
the devil,c Would to GOD that between me and thee there was the distance of
the east from the west! Oh how wretched a companion art thou!
But wishes shall not avail you on this day, since ye have been unjust;
for ye shall be partakers of the same punishment.
Canst thou, O prophet, make the deaf to hear, or canst thou direct the
blind, and him who is in a manifest error?
40 Whether we take thee away, we will surely take vengeance on them;
or whether we cause thee to see the punishment with which we have
threatened them executed, we will certainly prevail over them.
Wherefore hold fast the doctrine which hath been revealed unto thee; for
thou art in a right way:
and it is a memorial unto thee and thy people, and hereafter shall ye be
examined concerning your observance thereof.
And ask our apostles whom we have sent before thee,d whether we have
appointed gods for them to worship, besides the Merciful.
We formerly sent Moses with our signs unto Pharaoh and his princes, and
he said, Verily I am the apostle of the LORD of all creatures.
And when he came unto them with our signs, behold, they laughed him to
scorn;
although we showed them no sign, but it was greater than the other:e and
we inflicted a punishmentf on them, that peradventure they might be converted.
And they said unto Moses, O magician, pray unto thy LORD for us,
according to the covenant which he hath made with thee; for we will certainly
be directed.
But when we took the plague from off them, behold, they brake their
promise.
50 And Pharaoh made proclamation among his people, saying, O my people, is
not the kingdom of Egypt mine, and these rivers,g which flow beneath me? Do
ye not see?
Am not I better than this Moses, who is a contemptible person,
b By this expression the prophetic office is here particularly
intended.
c See chapter 19.
d That is, ask those who profess the religions which they taught, and
their learned men.2
e Literally, Than its sister. The meaning is that the miracles were
all very great and considerable, or, as the French may express it, by a phrase
nearly the same, les uns plus grands que les autres.
f viz., The successive plagues which they suffered, previous to their
final destruction in the Red Sea.
g To wit, the Nile and its branches.3
2 Idem, Jallal., &c. 3 Idem.
and can scarce express himself intelligibly?h
Have bracelets of gold, therefore, been put upon him;i or do the angels
attend him in orderly procession?
And Pharaoh persuaded his people to light behavior; and they obeyed him:
for they were a wicked people.
And when they had provoked us to wrath, we took vengeance on them: and we
drowned them all:
and we made them a precedent, and an example unto others.
And when the son of Mary was proposed for an example, behold, thy people
cried out through excess of joy thereat;k
and they said, Are our gods better, or he? They have proposed this
instance unto thee no otherwise than for an occasion of dispute: yea, they are
contentious men.
Jesus is no other than a servant, whom we favored with the gift of
prophecy; and we appointed him for an examplel unto the children of Israel:
60 (if we pleased, verily we could from ourselves produce angels, to
succeed you in the earth):m
and he shall be a sign of the approach of the last hour;n wherefore doubt
not thereof. And follow me: this is the right way.
And let not Satan cause you to turn aside: for he is your open enemy.
And when Jesus came with evident miracles, he said, Now am I come unto
you with wisdom,o and to explain unto you part of those things concerning
which ye disagree; wherefore fear GOD, and obey me.
Verily GOD is my LORD, and your LORD; wherefore worship him: this is the
right way.
And the confederated sects among them fell to variance:p but woe unto
those who have acted unjustly, because of the punishment of a grievous day.
Do the unbelievers wait for any other than the hour of judgment; that it
may come upon them suddenly, while they foresee it not?
The intimate friends, on that day, shall be enemies unto one another;
except the pious.
h See chapter 20, p. 234, note
i Such bracelets were some of the insignia of royalty; for when the
Egyptians raised a person to the dignity of a prince, they put a collar or
chain of gold about his neck,1 and bracelets of gold on his wrists.2
k This passage is generally supposed to have been revealed on occasion
of an objection made by one Ebn al Zabári to those words in the 21st chapter,3
by which all in general, who were worshipped as deities, besides GOD, are
doomed to hell: whereupon the infidels cried out, We are contented that our
gods should be with Jesus; for he also is worshipped as GOD.4 Some, however,
are of opinion it might have been revealed in answer to certain idolaters, who
said that the Christians, who received the scriptures, worshipped Jesus,
supposing him to be the son of GOD; whereas the angels were more worthy of
that honour than he.5
l Or an instance of our power, by his miraculous birth.
m As easily as we produced Jesus without a father.6 The intent of the
words is to show how just and reasonable it is to think that the angels should
bear the relation of children to men, rather than to GOD; they being his
creatures, as well as men, and equally in his power.
n For some time before the resurrection Jesus is to descend on earth,
according to the Mohammedans, near Damascus,7 or, as some say, near a rock in
the holy land named Afik, with a lance in his hand, wherewith he is to kill
Antichrist, whom he will encounter at Ludd, or Lydda, a small town not far
from Joppa.8 They add that he will arrive at Jerusalem at the time of morning
prayer, that he shall perform his devotions after the Mohammedan institution,
and officiate instead of the Imâm, who shall give place to him; that he will
break down the cross, and destroy the churches of the Christians, of whom he
will make a general slaughter, excepting only such as shall profess Islâm,
etc.9
o That is, with a book of revelations, and an excellent system of
religion.
p This may be understood either of the Jews in the time of Jesus, who
opposed his doctrine, or of the Christians since, who have fallen into various
opinions concerning him; some making him to be GOD, others the Son of GOD, and
others, one of the persons of the Trinity, &c.10
1 See Gen. xli. 42. 2 Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin. 3 See
p. 249. 4 Jallalo'ddin, al Beidâwi. 5 Idem.
6 Idem. 7 See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 63. 8 See
ibid. p. 63. 9 Al Beidâwi. 10 Idem, Jallalo'ddin.
O my servants, there shall no fear come on you this day, neither shall ye
be grieved:
who have believed in our signs, and have been Moslems:
70 enter ye into paradise, ye and your wives, with great joy.
Dishes of gold shall be carried round unto them, and cups without
handles: and therein shall they enjoy whatever their souls shall desire, and
whatever their eyes shall delight in: and ye shall remain therein forever.
This is paradise, which ye have inherited as a reward for that which ye
have wrought.
Therein shall ye have fruits in abundance, of which ye shall eat.
But the wicked shall remain forever in the torment of hell:
it shall not be made lighter unto them; and they shall despair therein.
We deal not unjustly with them, but they deal unjustly with their own
souls.
And they shall call aloud, saying, O Malec,q intercede for us that thy
LORD would end us by annihilation. He shall answer,r Verily ye shall remain
here forever.
We brought you the truth heretofore, but the greater part of you abhorred
the truth.
Have the infidels fixed on a method to circumvent our apostle? Verily we
will fix on a method to circumvent them.
80 Do they imagine that we hear not their secrets, and their private
discourse? Yea; and our messengers who attend thems write down the same.
Say, If the Merciful had a son, verily I would be the first of those who
should worship him.
Far be the LORD of heaven and earth, the LORD of the throne, from that
which they affirm of him!
Wherefore let them wade in their vanity, and divert themselves until they
arrive at their day with which they have been threatened.
He who is GOD in heaven, is GOD on earth also: and he is the wise, the
knowing.
And blessed be he unto whom appertaineth the kingdom of heaven and earth,
and of whatever is between them; with whom is the knowledge of the last hour;
and before whom ye shall be assembled.
They whom they invoke besides him have not the privilege to intercede for
others; except those who bear witness to the truth, and know the same.t
If thou ask them who hath created them, they will surely answer, GOD.
How therefore are they turned away to the worship of others?
God also heareth the saying of the prophet, O LORD, verily these are
people who believe not:
and he answereth, Therefore turn aside from them; and say, Peace:u
hereafter shall they know their folly.
q This the Mohammedans suppose to be the name of the principal angel
who has the charge of hell.
r Some say that this answer will not be given till a thousand years
after.
s i.e., The guardian angels.
t That is, to the doctrine of GOD'S unity. The exception comprehends
Jesus, Ezra, and the angels; who will be admitted as intercessors, though they
have been worshipped as gods.1
u See chapter 25, p. 275, note d.
1 Idem.