There is, however, another source of information about Mohammad’s teaching and practice which is largely responsible for the present form of the once simple creed of Mekka. Besides the public speeches which were held to be directly inspired by God, and indeed copied from a book supposed to exist in the handwriting of God,--the chapters of the Korān,--there were many sayings of Mohammad which were said in a private unofficial way in his circle of intimate friends, and which were almost as carefully treasured up as the others. These are the Traditions, or as I may call them, the Table-Talk of Mohammad, for they correspond more nearly to what we mean by table-talk than any other form of composition. The Table-Talk of Mohammad deals with the most minute and delicate circumstances of life, and is much more serviceable to the lawyer than the Korān itself. The sayings are very numerous and very detailed; but how far they are genuine it is not easy to determine. The Korān is known beyond any doubt to be at this moment, in all practical respects, identical with the prophet’s words as collected immediately after his death. How it was edited and collected may be read elsewhere. The only point to be here insisted on is that its genuineness is above suspicion. Unfortunately, as much cannot be said for the Traditions. They were collected at a late period, subjected to a totally useless and preposterous criticism, and thus reduced from 600,000 to 7275, without becoming in the least more trustworthy in the process. It is almost impossible now to sift them with any certainty. All we can go upon is internal evidence, and a few obvious contradictions in date--as when people relate things which they apparently heard before they were born. Beyond this, criticism is helpless, and all we can do is what I have done here--to collect those which strike the attention and do not seem peculiarly improbable, and accept them provisionally as possibly correct reports of Mohammad’s table-talk. There are six standard collections of orthodox traditions, but those on pp. 147-182 are taken from an abridgment, the Mishkāt-el-Masābīh, which Captain A. N. Matthews had the patience to translate and publish at Calcutta in 1809. In the midst of such doubt, they are sufficient for the purpose of illustration, without any pretence of completeness or critical precision.
In conclusion, let us banish from our minds any conception of the Korān as a code of law, or a systematic exposition of a creed. It is neither of these. Let us only think of a simple enthusiast confronted with many and varied difficulties, and trying to meet them as best he could by the inward light that guided him. The guidance was not perfect, we know, and there is much that is blameworthy in Mohammad; but whatever we believe of him, let it be granted that his errors were not the result of premeditated imposition, but were the mistakes of an ignorant, impressible, superstitious, but nevertheless noble and great man.
In the _Introduction_, pp. xviii.-xxv. and xliv.-xlviii., appeared before in my Introduction to Lane’s _Selections from the Kur-ān_, 2nd ed. (Trübner’s Oriental series, 1879), to which I must refer the reader for further information on Mohammad and Islām, and especially concerning the portions of the Korān dealing with the Jewish legends purposely omitted from the present work. Pp. xxxv.-xxxviii. reproduce a few paragraphs from the _Edinburgh Review_, No. 316, October 1881, p. 371, ff. The Arab poetry quoted in the Introduction is from the admirable versions contributed by Mr. C. J. Lyall to the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1877 and 1881. The description of Mohammad’s person and mode of life, pp. xxvii.-xxix., is from E. Deutsch, _Literary Remains_, p. 70, ff; and R. Bosworth Smith, _Mohammed and Mohammedanism_, 2d ed., p. 131; to which, and to the Rev. E. Sell’s _Faith of Islam_, in many respects the best treatise on the Mohammadan religion, as it now is, that has appeared in recent years, the reader is referred for much concerning modern and historical Mohammadanism which is beyond the design of the present volume.
In the text, I must acknowledge my general indebtedness to the versions of George Sale and the Rev. J. M. Rodwell for many valuable interpretations; but I wish especially to record my obligations to Prof. E. H. Palmer, in respect of some fine renderings which he has been the first to use in his translation of the Korān for the series of _Sacred Books of the East_, and which I have not hesitated to adopt.
S. L.-P.
ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE INTRODUCTION v The Korān is capable of adequate representation in small compass and approximately chronological order. The original audience of Mohammad’s speeches: Arabian characteristics in desert-life and town-life, poetry and religion. Mohammad’s early life, person and habits, call to preach, and work at Mekka. The three periods of Mekka speeches. Change of position at Medina, and consequent change in oratory. The Medina speeches. Incompleteness of the law of the Korān. The Traditions or Table-talk. References lvi Analytical Table of Contents lvii THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA I.--_THE POETIC PERIOD._ Aet. 40-44, A.D. 609-613 1 THE NIGHT (xcii.) 3 The difference between the good and the wicked in their lives and their future states; warning of hell and promise of heaven. THE COUNTRY (xc) 5 The steep road to the life to come is by charity and faith. THE SMITING (ci.) 7 The terrors of the Judgment Day and the Bottomless Pit. THE QUAKING (xcix.) 8 Signs of the Last Day, when all secrets shall be revealed. THE RENDING ASUNDER (lxxxii.) 9 Signs of the Last Day; man’s unbelief; angels record his actions, by which his fate shall be decided. THE CHARGERS (c.) 11 Man’s ingratitude towards God will be exposed on the Last Day. SUPPORT (cvii.) 12 Uncharitable hypocrites denounced. THE BACKBITER (civ.) 13 The covetous slanderer shall be cast into Blasting Hell. THE SPLENDOUR OF MORNING (xciii.) 14 The goodness of God towards Mohammad must be imitated towards others. THE MOST HIGH (lxxxvii.) 15 God the Creator is to be magnified. Mohammad is enjoined to admonish the people; the opposite fates of those who hearken and those who turn away; the message is the same as that delivered by Abraham and Moses. THE WRAPPING (lxxxi.) 17 Signs of the Last Day. Authenticity of the Korān: Mohammad neither mad nor possessed. The Korān a reminder, but man is powerless to follow it except by God’s decree. THE NEWS (lxxviii.) 19 Men dispute about the Last Day: yet it shall come as surely as God created all things. The last trump and the gathering of mankind to judgment. Description of the torments of Hell and the delights of Paradise. THE FACT (lvi.) 22 Signs of the Last Day. The three kinds of men--prophets, righteous, and wicked--and the future state of each. The power of God shown in creation. The Korān true and sacred. The state after death. THE MERCIFUL (lv.) 27 A _Benedicite_ reciting the works of God, and the Judgment and Paradise and Hell, with a refrain challenging genii and mankind to deny His signs. THE UNITY (cxii.) 32 A profession of faith in one God. THE FĀTIHAH (i.) 33 A prayer for guidance and help: the Muslim _Paternoster_.
THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA II.--_THE RHETORICAL PERIOD._ Aet. 44-46, A.D. 613-615 35 THE KINGDOM (lxvii.) 37 The power of God shown in creation; Hell the reward of those who disbelieve in God’s messengers and discredit His signs. None but God knows when the Last Day will be. THE MOON (liv.) 41 The Judgment approaches, but men will not heed the warning, and call it a lie and magic. Even so did former generations reject their apostles: the people of Noah, Ad, Thamūd, Lot, Pharaoh; and there came upon all of them a grievous punishment. Neither shall the men of Mekka escape. Refrain: the certainty of punishment and the heedlessness of man. K. (l.) 45 Why is the Resurrection so incredible? Does not God continually create and re-create? Former generations were equally incredulous, but they all found the threat of punishment was true. So shall it be again. The recording angels shall bear witness, and hell shall be filled. Who can escape God, who created all things, and to whom all things must one day return? Y.S. (xxxvi.) 49 Mohammad a true messenger from God to warn the people, whose ancestors would not be warned. God hardens their hearts so that they cannot believe. Everything is written down in the Book of God. Just so did the people of Antioch reject the apostles of Jesus, and stoned the only convert among themselves; and there came a shout from heaven and exterminated them. Why do not men reflect on such warnings? Signs of the Resurrection are seen in the revival of spring and the growth of plants, and the alternations of night and day, and the changes of the sun and moon, and the ships that sail on the sea. Yet they are not convinced! The Last Day shall come upon them suddenly. Paradise and Hell. The Korān not a poem, but a plain warning of God’s might and judgment to come. Their idols need protection instead of giving it. God who first made life can quicken it again: his “Fiat” is instantly carried out. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL (xvii.) 57 The dream of the journey to Jerusalem. The two sins of the children of Israel and their punishments. The Korān gives promise of a great reward for righteousness and an aching torment for disbelief. Each man shall be judged by his own deeds, and none shall be punished for another’s sin; nor was any folk destroyed without warning. Kindness and respect to parents, and duty to kinsfolk and travellers and the poor; hospitality, yet without waste; faithfulness in engagements, and honesty in trading, enjoined. Idolatry, infanticide, inchastity, homicide (except in a just cause and in fair retaliation), and abusing orphans’ trust, and pride, forbidden. The angels are not the daughters of God: He has no partner, and the whole creation worships Him. But God hardens people’s hearts so that they turn away from the Korān. The Resurrection is nearer than they think. The faithful must speak pleasantly and not wrangle. Mohammad has no power to compel belief. The false gods themselves dread God’s torment. The power of working miracles was not given to Mohammad, because the people of yore always disbelieved in them: so Thamūd with the miraculous camel. The story of the devil’s original enmity to Adam; but the devil cannot protect his followers against God, to whom belongs all power on land and sea, and whose is the Judgment.
Mohammad nearly tempted to temporize. Prayer at sunset and dawn and night vigils commended. Man’s insincerity. The spirit sent from God. The Korān inimitable. The demand for miracles and for angelic messengers repudiated. The fate of those who disbelieve in the resurrection. Moses and Pharaoh: the consequences of unbelief. The Korān divided for convenience. The solace of the faithful. God and the Merciful the same deity.
THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA III.--_THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD._ Aet. 46-53, A.D. 615-622 73 THE BELIEVER (xl.) 75 The revelation is from God. Former generations rejected their apostles and were punished. The angels praise God. The despair of the damned. The great tryst: the judgment of God is unerring. The generations of yore were greater than those of to-day: yet nothing could save them from God. The history of Moses and Pharaoh and the Egyptian convert, and the evil fate of the infidels. The proud shall not win in the end. Praise of God in His attributes. Hell is the goal of idolaters and polytheists. Patience enjoined upon Mohammad. The signs of God’s might and the dire consequences of doubting it. JONAH (x.) 87 Repudiation of sorcery. Signs of God’s power, and the consequences of believing and disbelieving them. Insincerity of man: but former generations were destroyed for unbelief. Mohammad has no power to speak the Korān save as God reveals it. Idolatry ridiculed. Miracles disclaimed. Man believes when he is in danger, and disbelieves when he is rescued. The life of this world like grass that will be mown to-morrow. The reward of well and evil doing and the judgment of idolaters. God’s might in creation. The Korān no forgery, as will be plainly seen one day. Every nation has its apostle and its appointed term, which cannot be hastened or retarded. Now the people are warned, and all they do is seen of God. God’s power: He has no Son. The story of Noah and the ark, and Moses and the magicians, and the passage of the Red Sea, and the establishing of the Children of Israel. The people of Jonah. God compels unbelief or belief as He pleases, and none can believe without His permission. The signs of God are in the heavens and the earth. True worship. THUNDER (xiii.) 104 The mighty works of God. The punishment of unbelief. Miracles disclaimed. The omniscience and unvariableness of God, the hurler of thunder and lightning and the giver of rain. The reward of the faithful; the torment of apostates. God misleads whom He will, and, if He pleased, could guide all mankind aright. Apostles have been mocked at before: and the mockers were punished. Paradise. Mohammad’s task is only to warn: it is God’s business to punish.
SPEECHES OF MEDINA _THE PERIOD OF HARANGUE._ Aet. 53-63, A.D. 622-632 113 DECEPTION (lxiv.) 115 God’s power in creation. Former apostles were rejected. The resurrection, though disbelieved, is a fact--a day when people shall find their hopes are deceptive. Paradise and Hell. All things are ordained by God. Obedience to God and the apostle enjoined. The pleasures of this world are to be distrusted, but the fear of God and almsgiving commendable. IRON (lvii.) 118 Praise of God and exhortation to belief and almsgiving and fighting for the faith. The future state of the faithful and of the hypocrites. The charitable shall be doubly rewarded. The present life only a pastime and delusion. Everything predestined. The sending of the apostles, of Noah, Abraham, and Jesus. Asceticism repudiated. Exhortation to faith and fear. THE VICTORY (xlviii.) 124 A victory was given to encourage the faithful. Commendation of those who pledged themselves to support Mohammad and rebuke to the desert Arabs who held aloof (on the occasion of the expedition to Hudeybia); they shall not share in the spoil (of Khaibar). Promise of booty. The truce (of Hudeybia). The opposition to Mohammad’s pilgrimage to Mekka shall be withdrawn; and a victory shall soon be won. The devotion of the faithful and their likeness. HELP (cx.) 130 Exhortation to praise God in the hour of triumph.
THE LAW GIVEN AT MEDINA 131 RELIGIOUS LAW 133 Creed and good works. Prayer. Alms. Fast. Pilgrimage. Fighting for the faith. Sacred month. Forbidden food. Oaths. Wine. Gambling. Statues. Divination. CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW 139 Homicide; the blood-wit; murder; retaliation. Fighting against the faith. Theft. Usury. Marriage; adultery; divorce; slander. Testaments and heirs. Maintenance for widows. Testimony. Freeing slaves. Asylum. Small offences and great.
THE TABLE-TALK OF MOHAMMAD 145 Concerning prayer 149 Of charity 151 Of fasting 153 Of reading the Korān 154 Of labour and profit 155 Of fighting for the faith 159 Of judgments 160 Of women and slaves 161 Of dumb animals 164 Of hospitality 165 Of government 166 Of vanities and sundry matters 168 Of death 172 Of the state after death 175 Of destiny 180 NOTES 183 NOTES 183 THE MEKKA SPEECHES, I--THE POETIC PERIOD 183 THE MEKKA SPEECHES, II--THE RHETORICAL PERIOD 187 THE MEKKA SPEECHES, III--THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD 190 THE MEDINA SPEECHES, THE PERIOD OF HARANGUE 192 THE LAW GIVEN AT MEDINA 193 TABLE-TALK OF MOHAMMAD 195 INDEX OF CHAPTERS OF THE KORĀN TRANSLATED IN THIS VOLUME 196 THE GOLDEN TREASURY SERIES 1 THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA I. THE POETIC PERIOD THE NIGHT.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ By the NIGHT when she spreadeth her veil, By the DAY when it is manifested, By what made the male and the female: Verily your aims are diverse.
Then as for him who giveth alms and feareth God, And putteth his faith in the Best, We will speed him onward to ease. And as for him who is covetous and desirous of riches, And denieth the Best, We will speed him onward to trouble; And his riches shall not avail him when he falleth down into Hell. Verily ours is the guiding, And ours the latter and the former life.
And I have warned you of a flaming fire: None shall be burned in it but the wretch, Who hath called it a lie and turned his back. But the righteous shall be guided away from it-- He that giveth his substance in charity, And doeth no man a kindness in hope of reward, But only in seeking the face of his Lord the Most High; And in the end he shall surely be well pleased.
(xcii.)
THE COUNTRY.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ I swear by this COUNTRY-- And thou art a dweller in this country-- And by father and child! Verily we have created man amid trouble:-- Doth he think that no one shall prevail against him? He saith “I have squandered riches in abundance:” Doth he think that no one seeth him? Have we not made him two eyes, And a tongue and two lips, And pointed him out the two highways? Yet he doth not attempt the steep one. And what shall teach thee what the steep one is? The ransoming of captives, Or feeding on the day of famine The orphan of thy kindred Or the poor that lieth in the dust; Finally, to be of those who believe, and enjoin steadfastness on each other, and enjoin mercy on each other:-- These are the people of the right hand. And those who disbelieve in our signs, they are the people of the left: Over them a Fire closeth.
(xc.)
THE SMITING.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ THE SMITING! what is the Smiting? And what shall teach thee what the Smiting is? The Day when men shall be like scattered moths, And the mountains like carded wool! Then as for him whose scales are heavy--his shall be a life well-pleasing. And as for him whose scales are light--his abode shall be the Bottomless Pit. And what shall teach thee what that is? A Raging Fire!
(ci.)
THE QUAKING.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ When the earth shall quake with her QUAKING, And when the earth hath cast forth her burdens, And man shall say, “What aileth her?” On that day shall she tell out her tidings, Because thy Lord doth inspire her. On that day shall men come in companies to behold their works, And whosoever hath wrought an ant’s weight of good shall behold it, And whosoever hath wrought an ant’s weight of evil shall behold it.
(xcix.)
THE RENDING ASUNDER.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ When the Heaven is RENT ASUNDER, And when the stars are scattered, And when the seas are let loose, And when the tombs are turned upside-down, The soul shall know what it hath done and left undone. O man! what hath deceived thee respecting thy Lord, the Generous; Who created thee, and fashioned thee, and moulded thee aright? In what form it pleased him He builded thee. Nay! but ye take the Judgment for a lie! But verily there are watchers over you-- Worthy reporters-- Knowing what ye do. Verily the righteous shall be in delight, And the wicked in Hell-Fire: They shall be burnt at it on the day of doom, And they shall not be hidden from it. What shall teach thee what is the Day of Judgment? Again, what shall teach thee what is the Day of Judgment? A day when no soul can avail aught for another soul, for the ordering on that day is with God.
(lxxxii.)
THE CHARGERS.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ By the CHARGERS that pant, And the hoofs that strike fire, And the scourers at dawn, Who stir up the dust with it, And cleave through a host with it!
Verily Man is thankless towards his Lord, And verily he is witness thereof, And verily in his love of weal he is grasping. Doth he not know?--when what is in the tombs shall be laid open, And what is in men’s breasts shall be laid bare; Verily on that day their Lord shall know them well!
(c.)
SUPPORT.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ What thinkest thou of him who calleth the Day of Judgment a lie? He it is who driveth away the orphan, And is not urgent for the feeding of the poor. Woe then to those who pray, Those who are careless in their prayers, Who make a pretence, But withhold SUPPORT.
(cvii.)
THE BACKBITER.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ Woe to every BACKBITER, slanderer! Who hath heaped up riches and counted them over! He thinketh that his riches have made him everlasting: Nay! he shall surely be cast into Blasting Hell. And what shall teach thee what Blasting Hell is? The fire of God kindled, Which reaches over the hearts; Verily it is closed over them [like a tent], With stays well-stretched.
(civ.)
THE SPLENDOUR OF MORNING.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ By the SPLENDOUR OF MORNING, And the still of night! Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee nor hated thee; And the future will surely be better for thee than the present, And thy Lord will surely give to thee and thou wilt be well pleased. Did He not find thee an orphan and sheltered thee, And found thee erring and guided thee, And found thee poor and enriched thee? Then as for the orphan, oppress him not, And as for him who asketh of thee, chide him not away, And as for the bounty of thy Lord, tell of it.
(xciii.)
THE MOST HIGH.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ Magnify the name of thy LORD, THE MOST HIGH, Who created, and fashioned, And decreed, and guided, Who bringeth forth the pasturage, Then turneth it dry and brown.
We will make thee cry aloud, and thou shalt not forget, Except what God pleaseth; verily He knoweth the plain and the hidden. And we will speed thee to ease. Admonish, therefore,--verily admonishing profiteth,-- Whoso feareth God will mind; And there will turn away from it only the wretch Who shall broil upon the mighty fire; And then shall neither die therein, nor live. Happy is he who purifieth himself, And remembereth the name of his Lord, and prayeth. But ye prefer the life of this world, Though the life to come is better and more enduring. Truly this is in the books of eld, The books of Abraham and Moses.
(lxxxvii.)
THE WRAPPING.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ When the sun shall be WRAPPED UP, And when the stars shall fall down, And when the mountains shall be removed, And when the ten-month camels shall be neglected, And when the wild beasts shall be huddled together, And when the seas shall boil over, And when souls shall be joined to their bodies, And when the child that was buried alive shall be asked For what crime she was slain; And when the Books shall be laid open, And when the sky shall be peeled off, And when Hell shall be set a-blaze, And when Paradise shall be brought near,-- The soul shall know what it hath wrought.
And I swear by the stars that hide, That move swiftly and hide, And by the darkening night, And by the breath of dawn,-- Verily this is the word of a noble messenger, Strong, firm in the favour of the Lord of the Throne, Obeyed and trusted. And your companion is not mad: Of a surety he saw [the Angel] on the clear horizon: And he is not mistrusted as to the unseen, Nor is his the speech of a pelted devil. Then whither go ye? Verily this is but a Reminder to the worlds, To whomsoever of you chooseth to walk aright: But ye shall not choose it, except God choose it, the Lord of the worlds.
(lxxxi.)
THE NEWS.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ Of what do they question together? Of the great NEWS, About which they dispute? Nay, but they shall know! Again,--Nay, but they shall know! Have we not made the earth as a bed? And the mountains as tent-pegs? And created you in pairs, And made your sleep for rest, And made the night for a mantle, And made the day for bread-winning, And built above you seven firmaments, And put therein a burning lamp, And sent down water pouring from the squeezed clouds To bring forth grain and herb withal, And gardens thick with trees?