ENTITLED, K; REVEALED AT MECCA.
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
K.q BY the glorious Koran:
verily they wonder that a preacher from among themselves is come unto
them; and the unbelievers say, This is a wonderful thing:
after we shall be dead, and become dust, shall we return to life?
This is a return remote from thought. Now we know what the earth
consumeth of them; and with us is a book which keepeth an account thereof.
But they charge falsehood on the truth, after it hath come unto them:
wherefore they are plunged in a confused business.r
Do they not look up to the heaven above them, and consider how we have
raised it and adorned it; and that there are no flaws therein?
We have also spread forth the earth, and thrown thereon mountains firmly
rooted:s and we caused every beautiful kind of vegetables to spring up
therein;
for a subject of meditation, and an admonition unto every man who turneth
unto us.
And we send down rain as a blessing from heaven, whereby we cause gardens
to spring forth, and the grain of harvest,
10 and tall palm-trees having branches laden with dates hanging one above
another,
as a provision for mankind; and we thereby quicken a dead country: so
shall be the coming forth of the dead from their graves.
o i.e., Will ye pretend to deceive him, by saying ye are true
believers?
p The obligation being not on GOD'S side, but on yours, for that he has
favoured you so far as to guide you into the true faith, if ye are sincere
believers.
q Some imagine that this letter is designed to express the mountain
Kâf, which several eastern writers fancy encompass the whole world.1 Others
say it stands for Kada al amr, i.e., The matter is decreed, viz., the
chastisement of the infidels.2 See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. III. p. 46, &c.
r Not knowing what certainly to affirm of the Korân; calling it
sometimes a piece of poetry, at other times a piece of sorcery, and at other
times a piece of divination, &c.
s See chapter 16, p. 196, and chapter 31, p. 307.
1 Vide D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Art. Caf. 2 Al Beidâwi.
Jallalo'ddin.
The people of Noah, and those who dwelt at Al Rass,t and Thamud,
and Ad, and Pharaoh, accused the prophets of imposture before the
Meccans; and also the brethren of Lot, and the inhabitants of the wood near
Midian, and the people of Tobba:u all these accused the apostles of imposture;
wherefore the judgments which I threatened were justly inflicted on them.
Is our power exhausted by the first creation? Yea; they are in a
perplexity, because of a new creation which is foretold them, namely the
raising of the dead.
We created man, and we know what his soul whispereth within him; and we
are nearer unto him than his jugular vein.
When the two angels deputed to take account of a man's behavior, take an
account thereof; one sitting on the right hand, and the other on the left:
he uttereth not a word, but there is with him a watcher, ready to note
it.x
And the agony of death shall come in truth: this, O man, is what thou
soughtest to avoid.
And the trumpet shall sound: this will be the day which hath been
threatened.
20 And every soul shall come; and therewith shall be a driver and a
witness.y
And the former shall say unto the unbeliever, Thou wast negligent
heretofore of this day: but we have removed thy veil from off thee; and thy
sight is become piercing this day.
And his companions shall say, This is what is ready with me to be
attested.
And God shall say, Cast into hell every unbeliever, and perverse person,
and every one who forbade good, and every transgressor, and doubter of
the faith,
who set up another god with the true GOD; and cast him into a grievous
torment.
His companionz shall say, O LORD, I did not seduce him; but he was in a
wide error.a
God shall say, Wrangle not in my presence: since I threatened you
beforehand with the torments which ye now see prepared for you.
The sentence is not changed with me: neither do I treat my servants
unjustly.
On that day we will say unto hell, Art thou full? and it shall answer, Is
there yet any addition?b
30 And paradise shall be brought near unto the pious;
and it shall be said unto them, This is what ye have been promised; unto
every one who turned himself unto God, and kept his commandments;
t See chapter 25, p. 273.
u See chapter 44, p. 368.
x The intent of the passage is to exalt the omniscience of GOD, who
wants not the information of the guardian angels, though he has thought fit,
in his wisdom, to give them that employment; for if they are so exact as to
write down every word which falls from a man's mouth, how can we hope to
escape the observation of him who sees our inmost thoughts?
The Mohammedans have a tradition that the angel who notes a man's good
actions has the command over him who notes his evil actions; and that when a
man does a good action, the angel of the right hand writes it down ten times,
and when he commits an ill action, the same angel says to the angel of the
left hand, Forbear setting it down for seven hours; peradventure he may pray,
or may ask pardon.1
y i.e., Two angels, one acting as a sergeant, to bring every person
before the tribunal; and the other prepared as a witness, to testify either
for or against him. Some say the former will be the guardian angel who took
down his evil actions, and the other the angel who took down his good
actions.2
z viz., The devil which shall be chained to him.
a This will be the answer of the devil, whom the wicked person will
accuse as his seducer; for the devil has no power over a man to cause him to
do evil, any otherwise than by suggesting what is agreeable to his corrupt
inclinations.3
b i.e., Are there yet any more condemned to this place, or is my space
to be enlarged and rendered more capacious to receive them?
The commentators suppose hell will be quite filled at the day of
judgment, according to that repeated expression in the Korân, Verily I will
fill hell with you, &c.
1 Al Beidâwi. 2 Idem. 3 See cap. 14, p. 188,
&c.
who feared the Merciful in secret, and came unto him with a converted
heart:
enter the same in peace: this is the day of eternity.
Therein shall they have whatever they shall desire; and there will be a
superabundant addition of bliss with us.c
How many generations have we destroyed before the Meccans, which were
more mighty than they in strength? Pass, therefore, through the regions of
the earth, and see whether there be any refuge from our vengeance.
Verily herein is an admonition unto him who hath a heart to understand,
or giveth ear, and is present with an attentive mind.
We created the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between them, in
six days, and no weariness affected us.d
Wherefore patiently suffer what they say;e and celebrate the praise of
thy LORD before sunrise, and before sunset,
and praise him in some part of the night: and perform the additional
parts of worship.f
40 And hearken unto the day whereon the crier shall call men to judgment
from a near place:g
the day whereon they shall hear the voice of the trumpet in truth: this
will be the day of men's coming forth from their graves:
we give life, and we cause to die; and unto us shall be the return of all
creatures:
the day whereon the earth shall suddenly cleave in sunder over them.
This will be an assembly easy for us to assemble.
We well know what the unbelievers say; and thou art not sent to compel
them forcibly to the faith.
Wherefore warn, by the Koran, him who feareth my threatening.
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