ENTITLED, IRON;r REVEALED AT MECCA, OR AT MEDINA.s
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
WHATEVER is in heaven and earth singeth praise unto GOD; and he is mighty
and wise.
His is the kingdom of heaven and earth; he giveth life, and he putteth to
death; and he is almighty.
He is the first, and the last; the manifest and the hidden: and he
knoweth all things.
It is he who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then
ascended his throne. He knoweth that which entereth into the earth, and that
which issueth out of the same, and that which descendeth from heaven, and that
which ascendeth thereto; and he is with you, wheresoever ye be: for GOD seeth
that which ye do.
His is the kingdom of heavens and earth; and unto GOD shall all things
return.
He causeth the night to succeed the day, and he causeth the day to
succeed the night; and he knowest the innermost part of men's breasts.
Believe in GOD and his apostle, and lay out in alms a part of the wealth
whereof GOD hath made you inheritors: for unto such of you as believe, and
bestow alms, shall be given a great reward.
o By ascribing the rains, which fertilize your lands, to the influence
of the stars.5
Some copies instead of rizkacom, i.e., your food, read shocracom, i.e.,
your gratitude; and then the passage may be rendered thus, And do ye make this
return of gratitude, for GOD'S revealing the Korân, that ye reject the same as
a fiction?
p The meaning of this obscure passage is, if ye shall not be obliged to
give an account of your actions at the last day, as by your denying the
resurrection ye seem to believe, cause the soul of the dying person to return
into his body; for ye may as easily do that as avoid the general judgment.6
q That is, of the leaders, or first professors of the faith.
r The word occurs toward the end of the chapter.
s It is uncertain which of the two places was the scene of revelation
of this chapter.
35
5 See ibid. Sect. I. p. 25. 6 Jallal., al Beidâwi.
And what aileth you, that ye believe not in GOD, when the apostle
inviteth you to believe in your LORD; and he hath received your covenantt
concerning this matter, if ye believe any proposition?
It is he who hath sent down unto his servant evident signs, that he may
lead you out of darkness into light; for GOD is compassionate and merciful
unto you.
10 And what aileth you, that ye contribute not of your substance for the
defence of GOD'S true religion? Since unto GOD appertaineth the inheritance
of heaven and earth. Those among you who shall have contributed and fought in
defence of the faith, before the taking of Mecca, shall not be held equal with
those who shall contribute and fight for the same afterwards.u These shall be
superior in degree unto those who shall contribute and fight for the
propagation of the faith, after the above-mentioned success; but unto all hath
GOD promised a most excellent reward; and GOD well knoweth that which ye do.
Who is he that will lend unto GOD an acceptable loan? for he will double
the same unto him, and he shall receive moreover an honourable reward.
On a certain day, thou shalt see the true believers of both sexes: their
light shall run before them, and on their right hands;x and it shall be said
unto them, Good tidings unto you this day: gardens through which rivers flow;
ye shall remain therein forever. This will be great felicity.
On that day the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women shall say
unto those who believe, Stay for us,y what we may borrow some of your light.
It shall be answered, Return back into the world, and seek light. And a high
wall shall be set betwixt them, wherein shall be a gate, within which shall be
mercy; and without it, over against the same, the torment of hell. The
hypocrites shall call out unto the true believers, saying, Were we not with
you? They shall answer, Yea; but ye seduced your own souls by your hypocrisy;
and ye waited our ruin; and ye doubted concerning the faith; and your wishes
deceived you, until the decree of GOD came, and ye died: and the deceiver
deceived you concerning GOD.
This day, therefore, a ransom shall not be accepted of you, nor of those
who have been unbelievers. Your abode shall be hell fire: this is what ye
have deserved; and an unhappy journey shall it be thither!
Is not the time yet come unto those who believe, that their hearts should
humbly submit to the admonition of GOD, and to that truth which hath been
revealed; and that they be not as those unto whom the scripture was given
heretofore, and to whom the time of forbearance was prolonged, but their
hearts were hardened, and many of them were wicked doers?
Know that GOD quickeneth the earth, after it hath been dead. Now have we
distinctly declared our signs unto you, that ye may understand.
Verily as to the almsgivers, both men and women, and those who lend unto
GOD an acceptable loan, he will double the same unto them; and they shall
moreover receive an honourable reward.
And they who believe in GOD and his apostles, these are the men of
veracity, and the witnesses in the presence of their LORD: they shall have
their reward, and their light. But as to those who believe not, and accuse
our signs of falsehood, they shall be the companions of hell.
t That is, ye are obliged to believe in him by the strongest arguments
and motives.
u Because afterwards there was not so great necessity for either, the
Mohammedan religion being firmly established by that great success.
x One light leading them the right way to paradise, and the other
proceeding from the book wherein their actions are recorded, which they will
hold in their right hand.
y For the righteous will hasten to paradise swift as lightning.
Know that this present life is only a toy and a vain amusement: and
worldly pomp, and the affectation of glory among you, and the multiplying of
riches and children, are as the plants nourished by the rain, the springing up
whereof delighteth the husbandmen; afterwards they wither, so that thou seest
the same turned yellow, and at length they become dry stubble. And in the
life to come will be a severe punishment for those who covet worldly grandeur;
20 and pardon from GOD, and favor for those who renounce it: for this
present life is no other than a deceitful provision.
Hasten with emulation to obtain pardon from your LORD, and paradise, the
extent whereof equalleth the extent of heaven and earth, prepared for those
who believe in GOD and his apostles. This is the bounty of GOD: he will give
the same unto whom he pleaseth; and GOD is endued with great bounty.
No accident happeneth in the earth, nor in your persons, but the same was
entered in the book of our decrees, before we created it: verily this is easy
with GOD:
and this is written lest ye immoderately grieve for the good which
escapeth you, or rejoice for that which happened unto you; for GOD loveth no
proud or vain-glorious person,
or those who are covetous, and command men covetousness. And whoso
turneth aside from giving alms; verily GOD is self-sufficient, worthy to be
praised.
We formerly sent our apostles with evident miracles and arguments; and we
sent down with them the scriptures and the balance,z that men might observe
justice: and we sent them down iron,a wherein is mighty strength for war,b and
various advantages unto mankind: that GOD may know who assisteth him and his
apostles in secret;c for GOD is strong and mighty.
We formerly sent Noah and Abraham, and we established in their posterity
the gift of prophecy, and the scripture: and of them some were directed, but
many of them were evil-doers.
Afterwards we caused our apostles to succeed in their footsteps; and we
caused Jesus the son of Mary to succeed them, and we gave him the gospel: and
we put in the hearts of those that followed him compassion and mercy: but as
to the monastic state, they instituted the same (we did not prescribe it to
them) only out of a desire to please GOD; yet they observed not the same as it
ought truly to have been observed. And we gave unto such of them as believed
their reward: but many of them were wicked doers.
O ye who believe in the former prophets,d fear GOD, and believe in his
apostle Mohammed: he will give you two portions of his mercy,e and he will
ordain a light wherein ye may walk, and he will forgive you; for GOD is ready
to forgive, and merciful:
that those who have received the scriptures may know that they have not
power over any of the favours of GOD,f and that good is in the hand of GOD; he
bestoweth the same on whom he pleaseth; for GOD is endued with great
beneficence.
z i.e., A rule of justice. Some think that a balance was actually
brought down from heaven by the angel Gabriel to Noah, the use of which he was
ordered to introduce among his people.
a That is, we taught them how to dig the same from mines. Al
Zamakhshari adds, that Adam is said to have brought down with him from
paradise five things made of iron, viz., an anvil, a pair of tongs, two
hammers, a greater and a lesser, and a needle.
b Warlike instruments and weapons being generally made of iron.
c That is, sincerely and heartily.
d These words are directed to the Jews and Christians, or rather to the
latter only.
e One as a recompence for their believing in Mohammed, and the other as
a recompense for their believing in the prophets who preceded him; for they
will not lose the reward of their former religion, though it be now abrogated
by the promulgation of Islâm.1
f i.e., That they cannot expect to receive any of the favours above
mentioned, because they believe not in his apostle, and those favours are
annexed to faith in him; or, that they have not power to dispose of GOD'S
favours, particularly of the greatest of them, the gift of prophecy, so as to
appropriate the same to whom they please.1
1 Al Beidâwi. 1 Idem.