ENTITLED, KOREISH; REVEALED AT MECCA.
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
FOR the uniting of the tribe of Koreish;q
their uniting in sending forth the caravan of merchants and purveyorsr in
winter and summer;
p These stones were of the same kind with those by which the Sodomites
were destroyed,5 and were no bigger than vetches, though they fell with such
force as to pierce the helmet and the man through, passing out at his
fundament. It is said also that on each stone was written the name of him who
was to be slain by it.
q Some connect these words with the following, and suppose the natural
order to be, Let them serve the Lord of this house, for the uniting, &c.
Others connect them with the last words of the preceding chapter, and take the
meaning to be, that GOD had so destroyed the army of Abraha for the uniting of
the Koreish, &c. And the last opinion is confirmed by one copy, mentioned by
al Beidâwi, wherein this and the preceding make but one chapter. It may not
be amiss to observe, that the tribe of Koreish, the most noble among all the
Arabians, and of which was Mohammed himself, were the posterity of Fehr,
surnamed Koreish, the son of Malec, the son of al Nadr, who was descended in a
right line from Ismael. Some writers say that al Nadr bore the surname of
Koreish, but the more received opinion is that it was his grandson Fehr, who
was so called because of his intrepid boldness, the word being a diminutive of
Karsh, which is the name of a sea monster, very strong and daring; though
there be other reasons given for its imposition.6
r It was Hâshem, the great-grandfather of Mohammed, who first appointed
the two yearly caravans here mentioned;7 one of which set out in the winter
for Yaman, and the other in summer for Syria.8
5 See cap. 11, p. 166. 6 Vide Gagnier, Vie de Mah. t. I, p. 44
and 46. 7 See the Prelim. Disc. p. 3.
8 Al Zamakh., Jallal., al Beidâwi.
let them serve the LORD of this house; who supplieth them with food
against hunger,s
and hath rendered them secure from fear.t
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