To the Sun it is not given to overtake the Moon, nor doth the night outstrip the day; but each in its own sphere doth journey on.
It is also a sign to them that we bare their posterity in the full-laden Ark; And that we have made for them vessels like it on which they embark; And if we please, we drown them, and there is none to help them, and they are not rescued, Unless through our mercy, and that they may enjoy themselves for yet awhile.
And when it is said to them, Fear what is before you and what is behind you,11 that ye may obtain mercy...Aye, not one sign from among the signs of their Lord dost thou bring them, but they turn away from it!
And when it is said to them, Give alms of what God hath bestowed on you,12 they who believe not say to the believers, "Shall we feed him whom God can feed if He will? Truly ye are in no other than a plain error."
And they say, "When will this promise be fulfilled, if what ye say be true?"
They await but a single blast: as they are wrangling shall it assail them: And not a bequest shall they be able to make, nor to their families shall they return.
And the trumpet shall be blown, and, lo! they shall speed out of their sepulchres to their Lord: They shall say, "Oh! woe to us! who hath roused us from our sleeping place? 'Tis what the God of Mercy promised; and the Apostles spake the truth."
But one blast shall there be,13 and, lo! they shall be assembled before us, all together.
And on that day shall no soul be wronged in the least: neither shall ye be rewarded but as ye shall have wrought.
But joyous on that day shall be the inmates of Paradise, in their employ; In shades, on bridal couches reclining, they and their spouses: Therein shall they have fruits, and shall have whatever they require- "Peace!" shall be the word on the part of a merciful Lord.
"But be ye separated this day, O ye sinners!
Did I not enjoin on you, O sons of Adam, 'Worship not Satan, for that he is your declared foe,' But 'Worship Me: this is a right path'?
But now hath he led a vast host of you astray. Did ye not then comprehend?
This is Hell with which ye were threatened: Endure its heat this day, for that ye believed not."
On that day will we set a seal upon their mouths; yet shall their hands speak unto us, and their feet14 shall bear witness of that which they shall have done.
And, if we pleased, we would surely put out their eyes: yet even then would they speed on with rivalry in their path: but how should they see?
And, if we pleased, we would surely transform them as they stand,15 and they would not be able to move onward, or to return.
Him cause we to stoop through age whose days we lengthen. Will they not understand?
We have not taught him (Muhammad) poetry,16 nor would it beseem him. This Book is no other than a warning and a clear Koran, To warn whoever liveth; and, that against the Infidels sentence may be justly given.
See they not that we have created for them among the things which our hands have wrought, the animals of which they are masters?
And that we have subjected them unto them? And on some they ride, and of others they eat; And they find in them profitable uses and beverages: Yet have they taken other gods beside God that they might be helpful to them.
No power have they to succour them: yet are their votaries an army at their service.
Let not their speech grieve thee: We know what they hide and what they bring to light.
Doth not man perceive that we have created him of the moist germs of life? Yet lo! is he an open caviller.
And he meeteth us with arguments,17 and forgetteth his creation: "Who," saith he, "shall give life to bones when they are rotten?"
SAY: He shall give life to them who gave them being at first, for in all creation is he skilled: Who even out of the green tree hath given you fire18, and lo! ye kindle flame from it.
What! must not He who hath created the Heavens and the Earth be mighty enough to create your likes? Yes! and He is the skilful creator.
His command when He willeth aught, is but to say to it, BE, and IT IS.
So glory be to Him in whose hand is sway over all things! And to Him shall ye be brought back.
1 This Sura is said to have been termed by Muhammad "the heart of the Koran." It is recited in all Muhammadan countries to the dying, at the tombs of saints, etc. On Ya. Sin, see Sura lxviii. p. 32.
3 Lit. in the clear prototype, that is, in the Preserved Table, on which all the actions of mankind are written down.
4 Antioch, to which Jesus is said to have sent two disciples to preach the unity of God, and subsequently Simon Peter. This vague story, and that of the seven sleepers in Sura xviii. are the only traces to be found in the Koran of any knowledge, on the part of Muhammad, of the history of the Church subsequent to the day of Pentecost, or of the spread of the Christian religion.
5 Comp. Sura xxvii. 48; vii. 128, where, as in this passage, the word augur refers to the mode of divination practised previous to Islam, by the flight of birds.
6 Lit. if ye have been warned (will ye still disbelieve?).
7 Habib, the carpenter, who, as implied at verse 25, was martyred, and whose tomb at Antioch is still an object of veneration to the Muhammadans.
8 Ullm. following Wahl, renders, Als sie (die stadtlente) darauf ihn schändlich behandleten. The verb in the original is thus used in the 4th conj. Nöldeke supposes that words to this effect have been lost from the text. But of this there is no trace in the Commentators.
9 Or, the Apostles shall not return to them again. Ullm.
10 For instance, date trees, the female blossoms of which were carefully impregnated, when requisite, by branches of the male plant. See Freyt. Einl. p. 271.
11 The chastisements of this world and of the next.
12 On account of this precept, Itq. 35, and Omar b. Muhammad suppose the verse to have originated at Medina.
13 The Muhammadans affirm that a space of forty years will intervene between two blasts of the Trumpet. Maracci suggests that the idea of the two blasts is derived from 1 Thess. iv. 16, "the voice of the archangel and...the trump of God."
14 Thus Chagiga, 16; Taanith, 11. "The very members of a man bear witness against him, for thus is it written (Is. xliii. 12), Ye yourselves are my witnesses, saith the Lord." See also Sura [lxxi.] xli. 19, 20.
15 Lit. in their place.
16 See Sura xxvi. 225, p. III.
17 Lit. he setteth forth to us comparisons.
18 The form of the Arabic word is Rabbinic Hebrew.
SURA XLIII.-ORNAMENTS OF GOLD [LXI.]
MECCA.-89 Verses.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Ha. Mim.1 By the Luminous Book!
We have made it an Arabic Koran that ye may understand: And it is a transcript of the archetypal Book,2 kept by us; it is lofty, filled with wisdom, Shall we then turn aside this warning from you because ye are a people who transgress?
Yet how many prophets sent we among those of old!
But no prophet came to them whom they made not the object of their scorn: Wherefore we destroyed nations mightier than these Meccans in strength; and the example of those of old hath gone before!
And if thou ask them who created the Heavens and the Earth, they will say: "The Mighty, the Sage, created them both," Who hath made the Earth as a couch for you, and hath traced out routes therein for your guidance; And who sendeth down out of Heaven the rain in due degree, by which we quicken a dead land; thus shall ye be brought forth from the grave: And who hath created the sexual couples, all of them, and hath made for you the ships and beasts whereon ye ride: That ye may sit balanced on their backs and remember the goodness of your Lord as ye sit so evenly thereon, and say: "Glory to Him who hath subjected these to us! We could not have attained to it of ourselves: And truly unto our Lord shall we return."
Yet do they assign to him some of his own servants for offspring! Verily man is an open ingrate!
Hath God adopted daughters from among those whom he hath created, and chosen sons for you?
But when that3 is announced to any one of them, which he affirmeth to be the case with the God of Mercy,4 his face settleth into darkness and he is silent-sad.
What! make they a being to be the offspring of God who is brought up among trinkets, and is ever contentious without reason?
And they make the angels who are the servants of God of Mercy, females. What! did they witness their creation? Their witness shall be taken down, and they shall hereafter be enquired at.
And they say: "Had the God of Mercy so willed it we should never have worshipped them." No knowledge have they in this: they only lie.
Have we ere this given them a Book?5 and do they possess it still?
But say they: "Verily we found our fathers of that persuasion, and verily, by their footsteps do we guide ourselves."
And thus never before thy time did we send a warner to any city but its wealthy ones said: "Verily we found our fathers with a religion, and in their tracks we tread."
SAY,-such was our command to that apostle-"What! even if I bring you a religion more right than that ye found your fathers following?" And they said, "Verily we believe not in your message."
Wherefore we took vengeance on them, and behold what hath been the end of those who treated our messengers as liars!
And bear in mind when Abraham said to his father and to his people, "Verily I am clear of what ye worship, Save Him who hath created me; for he will vouchsafe me guidance."
And this he established as a doctrine that should abide among his posterity, that to God might they be turned.
In sooth to these idolatrous Arabians and to their fathers did I allow their full enjoyments, till the truth should come to them, and an undoubted apostle: But now that the truth hath come to them, they say, "'Tis sorcery, and we believe it not."
And they say, "Had but this Koran been sent down to some great one of the two cities6...!"
Are they then the distributors of thy Lord's Mercy?7 It is we who distribute their subsistence among them in this world's life; and we raise some of them by grades above others, that the one may take the other to serve him: but better is the mercy of thy Lord than all their hoards.
But for fear that all mankind would have become a single people of unbelievers, verily we would certainly have given to those who believe not in the God of Mercy roofs of silver to their houses, and silver stairs to ascend by; And doors of silver to their houses, and couches of silver to recline on; And ORNAMENTS OF GOLD: for all these are merely the good things of the present life; but the next life doth thy Lord reserve for those who fear Him.
And whoso shall withdraw from the Warning of the God of Mercy, we will chain a Satan to him, and he shall be his fast companion: For the Satans will turn men aside from the Way, who yet shall deem themselves rightly guided; Until when man shall come before us, he shall say, "O Satan, would that between me and thee were the distance of the East and West."8 And a wretched companion is a Satan.
But it shall not avail you on that day, because ye were unjust: partners shall ye be in the torment.
What! Canst thou then make the deaf to hear, or guide the blind and him who is in palpable error?
Whether therefore we take thee off by death, surely will we avenge ourselves on them; Or whether we make thee a witness of the accomplishment of that with which we threatened them, we will surely gain the mastery over them.9 Hold thou fast therefore what hath been revealed to thee, for thou art on a right path: For truly to thee and to thy people it is an admonition; and ye shall have an account to render for it at last.10 And ask our Sent Ones whom we have sent before thee, "Appointed we gods beside the God of Mercy whom they should worship?"11 Of old sent we Moses with our signs to Pharaoh and his nobles: and he said, "I truly am the Apostle of the Lord of the worlds."
And when he presented himself before them with our signs, lo! they laughed at them, Though we shewed them no sign that was not greater than its fellow:12 and therefore did we lay hold on them with chastisement, to the intent that they might be turned to God.
Then they said, "O Magician! call on thy Lord on our behalf to do as he hath engaged with thee, for truly we would fain be guided."
But when we relieved them from the chastisement, lo! they broke their pledge.
And Pharaoh made proclamation among his people. Said he, "O my people! is not the kingdom of Egypt mine, and these rivers which flow at my feet?13 Do ye not behold?
Am I not mightier than this despicable fellow, And who scarce can speak distinctly?
Have bracelets of gold14 then been put upon him, or come there with him a train of Angels?"
And he inspired his people with levity, and they obeyed him; for they were a perverse people: And when they had angered us, we took vengeance on them, and we drowned them all.
And we made them a precedent and instance of divine judgments to those who came after them.
And when the Son of Mary was set forth as an instance of divine power, lo! thy people cried out for joy thereat: And they said, "Are our gods or is he the better?"15 They put this forth to thee only in the spirit of dispute. Yea, they are a contentious people.
Jesus is no more than a servant whom we favoured, and proposed as an instance of divine power to the children of Israel.
(And if we pleased, we could from yourselves bring forth Angels to succeed you on earth:)16 And he shall be a sign of the last hour;17 doubt not then of it, and follow ye me: this is the right way; And let not Satan turn you aside from it, for he is your manifest foe.
And when Jesus came with manifest proofs, he said, "Now am I come to you with wisdom; and a part of those things about which ye are at variance I will clear up to you; fear ye God therefore and obey me.
Verily, God is my Lord and your Lord; wherefore worship ye him: this is a right way."
But the different parties18 fell into disputes among themselves; but woe to those who thus transgressed, because of the punishment of an afflictive day!
For what wait they but for the hour "to come suddenly on them, while they expect it not?"
Friends on that day shall become foes to one another, except the God- fearing:- "O my servants! on this day shall no fear come upon you, neither shall ye be put to grief, Who have believed in our signs and become Muslims: Enter ye and your wives into Paradise, delighted."
Dishes and bowls of gold shall go round unto them: there shall they enjoy whatever their souls desire, and whatever their eyes delight in; and therein shall ye abide for ever.
This is Paradise, which ye have received as your heritage in recompense for your works; Therein shall ye have fruits in abundance, of which ye shall eat.
But in the torment of Hell shall the wicked remain for ever: It shall not be mitigated to them, and they shall be mute for despair therein, For it is not we who have treated them unjustly, but it was they who were unjust to themselves.
And they shall cry: "O Malec!19 would that thy Lord would make an end of us!" He saith: "Here must ye remain."
We have come to you with the truth (O Meccans), but most of you abhor the truth.
Have they drawn tight their toils for thee?20 We too will tighten ours.
Think they that we hear not their secrets and their private talk? Yes, and our angels who are at their sides write them down.
SAY: If the God of Mercy had a son, the first would I be to worship him: But far be the Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, the Lord of the Throne, from that which they impute to Him!
Wherefore let them alone, to plunge on, and sport, until they meet the day with which they are menaced.
He who is God in the Heavens is God in earth also: and He is the Wise, the Knowing.
And Blessed be He whose is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth and of all that is between them; for with Him is the knowledge of the Hour, and to Him shall ye be brought back.
The gods whom they call upon beside Him shall not be able to intercede for others: they only shall be able who bore witness to the truth and21 knew it."
If thou ask them who hath created them, they will be sure to say, "God." How then hold they false opinions?
And one22 saith, "O Lord! verily these are people who believe not."
Turn thou then from them, and say, "Peace:" In the end they shall know their folly.
2 Lit. it is in the Mother of the Book, i.e. the original of the Koran, preserved before God.
3 That is, of the birth of a female.
4 Lit. which he imputeth to the God of Mercy, as his likeness.
5 To authorise angel-worship.
6 Supply, Mecca and Taief, we would have received it.
7 Lit. mercy, i.e. the gift and office of prophecy.
8 Lit. the two Easts, by which some understand the distance between the two solstices.
9 Comp. Suras xl. 77; xxiii. 97; x. 47; xxix. 53; xxxvii. 179; xiii. 42. These passages clearly show that Muhammad had at this period-towards the close of his Meccan period-full faith in his ultimate success, and in the fulfilment of his menaces against the unbelievers.
10 Lit. ye shall be examined in the end.
11 This verse is said (see Nöld. p. 100, n.) to have been revealed in the temple at Jerusalem on the occasion of the night journey thither. See also Weil's Muhammed der Prophet, p. 374.
12 Lit. sister.
13 See Sura [lxxix.] xxviii. 39, n.
14 Comp. Gen. xli. 42.
15 This was a captious objection made to Muhammad by the idolaters of Mecca when he condemned their gods (Sura xxi. 98), as if they had said, "Jesus is worshipped as a God by the Christians: does he come under your anathema equally with our idols? we shall be content for our gods to be with him."
16 That is, as we caused Jesus to be born without a human father.
17 At his return to this earth. Some refer this to the Koran as revealing the last Hour. Lit. He (or It) is for knowledge of the Hour.
18 Jewish and Christian sects.
19 Malec is one of the keepers of Hell, who specially presides over the torments of the damned.
20 Lit. if they have twisted tight or set firmly the affair, i.e. their plots against thee and the truth.
21 Or, and they (the Infidels). The Commentators say that Jesus, Ezra, and the angels, will be allowed to intercede.
22 Muhammad.
SURA LXXII.-DJINN [LXII.]
MECCA.-28 Verses In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful SAY: It hath been revealed to me that a company of DJINN1 listened, and said,-"Verily, we have heard a marvellous discourse (Koran); It guideth to the truth; wherefore we believed in it, and we will not henceforth join any being with our Lord; And He,-may the majesty of our Lord be exalted!-hath taken no spouse neither hath he any offspring.
But the foolish among us hath spoken of God that which is unjust: And we verily thought that no one amongst men or Djinn would have uttered a lie against God.
There are indeed people among men, who have sought for refuge unto people among Djinn: but they only increased their folly: And they thought, as ye think, that God would not raise any from the dead.
And the Heavens did we essay, but found them filled with a mighty garrison, and with flaming darts; And we sat on some of the seats to listen, but whoever listeneth findeth an ambush ready for him of flaming darts.
And truly we know not whether evil be meant for them that are on earth, or whether their Lord meaneth guidance for them.
And there are among us good, and others among us of another kind;-we are of various sorts: And verily we thought that no one could weaken God on earth, neither could we escape from him by flight: Wherefore as soon as we had heard 'the guidance' we believed in it; and whoever believeth in his Lord, need not fear either loss or wrong.
There are some among us who have resigned themselves to God (the Muslims); and there are others of us who have gone astray. And whoso resigneth himself to God pursueth the way of truth; But they who go astray from it shall be fuel for Hell."
Moreover, if they (the Meccans) keep straight on in that way, we will surely give them to drink of abundant waters, That we may prove them thereby: but whoso withdraweth from the remembrance of his Lord, him will He send into a severe torment.
It is unto God that the temples are set apart: call not then on any other therein with God.
When the servant of God stood up to call upon Him, the djinn almost jostled him by their crowds.
SAY: I call only upon my Lord, and I join no other being with Him.
SAY: No control have I over what may hurt or benefit you.
SAY: Verily none can protect me against God; Neither shall I find any refuge beside Him.
My sole work is preaching from God, and His message: and for such as shall rebel against God and his apostle is the fire of Hell! they shall remain therein alway,-for ever!
Until they see their threatened vengeance they will be perverse! but then shall they know which side was the weakest in a protector and the fewest in number.
SAY: I know not whether that with which ye are threatened be nigh, or whether my Lord hath assigned it to a distant day: He knoweth the secret, nor doth He divulge his secret to any, Except to that Apostle who pleaseth Him; and before him and behind him He maketh a guard to march: That He may know if his Apostles have verily delivered the messages of their Lord: and He embraceth in his knowledge all their ways, and taketh count of all that concerneth them.
1 This interview with the Djinn took place at Nakhla, probably the "Wady Mohram" of Burckhardt, midway between Mecca and Ta‹ef, when Muhammad was driven from Mecca. A.D. 620.
SURA LXVII.-THE KINGDOM [LXIII.]
MECCA.- 30 Verses In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful BLESSED be He is whose hand is the KINGDOM! and over all things is He potent: Who hath created death and life to prove which of you will be most righteous in deed; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving!
Who hath created seven Heavens one above another: No defect canst thou see in the creation of the God of Mercy: Repeat the gaze: seest thou a single flaw?
Then twice more repeat the gaze: thy gaze shall return to thee dulled and weary.
Moreover we have decked the lowest heaven with lights, and have placed them there to be hurled at the Satans, for whom we have prepared the torment of the flaming fire.
And for those who believe not in their Lord is the torment of Hell; and horrid the journey thither!
When they shall be thrown into it, they shall hear it braying:1 and it shall boil- Almost shall it burst for fury. So oft as a crowd shall be thrown into it, its keepers shall ask them, "Came not the warner to you?"
They shall say, Yes! there came to us one charged with warnings; but we treated him as a liar, and said, "Nothing hath God sent down: ye are in nothing but a vast delusion."
And they shall say, "Had we but hearkened or understood, we had not been among the dwellers in the flames;" And their sin shall they acknowledge: but, "Avaunt, ye dwellers in the flame."
But pardon and a great reward for those who fear their Lord in secret!
Be your converse hidden or open, He truly knoweth the inmost recess of your breasts!
What! shall He not know who hath created? for He is the Subtil,2 the Cognizant.
It is He who hath made the earth level for you: traverse then its broad sides, and eat of what He hath provided.-Unto Him shall be the resurrection.
What! are ye sure that He who is in Heaven will not cleave the Earth beneath you? And lo, it shall quake.
Or are ye sure that He who is in Heaven will not send against you a stone- charged whirlwind? Then shall ye know what my warning meant!
And verily, those who flourish before you treated their prophets as liars: and how grievous my wrath!
Behold they not the birds over their heads, outstretching and drawing in their wings? None, save the God of Mercy, upholdeth them: for he regardeth all things.
Who is he that can be as an army to you, to succour you, except the God of Mercy? Truly, the infidels are in the merest delusion.
Or who is he that will furnish you supplies, if He withhold His supplies? Yet do they persist in pride and in fleeing from Him!
Is he who goeth along grovelling on his face, better guided than he who goeth upright on a straight path?
SAY: It is He who hath brought you forth, and gifted you with hearing and sight and heart: yet how few are grateful!
SAY: It is He who hath sown you in the earth, and to Him shall ye be gathered.
And they say, "When shall this threat be put in force, if ye speak the truth?"
SAY: Nay truly, this knowledge is with God alone: and I am only an open warner.
But when they shall see it nigh, sad shall wax the countenances of the infidels: and it shall be said, "This is what ye have been calling for."
SAY: What think ye? Whether God destroy me or not, and those who follow me, or whether he have mercy on us, yet who will protect the infidels from a woeful torment?
SAY: He is the God of Mercy: in Him do we believe, and in Him put we our trust; and ye shall know hereafter who is in a manifest error.
SAY: What think ye? If at early morn your waters shall have sunk away, who then will give you clear running water?
1 Thus Shakespeare uses the word braying of clamours of Hell; and Milton speaks of braying horrible discord. Comp. Sura xxv. 12-21.
2 Der alles durchdringt. Ullm.; perspicax. Mar.; sagacious. Sale. The primary meaning of the Arabic root is to draw near; hence the above signification, in the sense of God's presence as interpenetrating all things: hence also the other sense of benign, as in Sura [lxxxiii.] xlii. 18.
SURA XXIII.-THE BELIEVERS [LXIV.]
MECCA.1-118 Verses In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful HAPPY now the BELIEVERS, Who humble them in their prayer, And who keep aloof from vain words,2 And who are doers of alms deeds, And who restrain their appetites, (Save with their wives, or the slaves whom their right hands possess: for in that case they shall be free from blame: But they whose desires reach further than this are transgressors:) And who tend well their trusts and their covenants, And who keep them strictly to their prayers: These shall be the heritors, Who shall inherit the paradise, to abide therein for ever.
Now of fine clay have we created man: Then we placed him, a moist germ,3 in a safe abode; Then made we the moist germ a clot of blood: then made the clotted blood into a piece of flesh; then made the piece of flesh into bones: and we clothed the bones with flesh: then brought forth man of yet another make4-Blessed therefore be God, the most excellent of Makers5- Then after this ye shall surely die: Then shall ye be waked up on the day of resurrection.
And we have created over you seven heavens:6-and we are not careless of the creation.
And we send down water from the Heaven in its due degree, and we cause it to settle on the earth;-and we have power for its withdrawal:- And by it we cause gardens of palm trees, and vineyards to spring forth for you, in which ye have plenteous fruits, and whereof ye eat; And the tree that groweth up on Mount Sinai; which yieldeth oil and a juice for those who eat.
And there is a lesson for you in the cattle: We give you to drink of what is in their bellies, and many advantages do ye derive from them, and for food they serve you; And on them and on ships are ye borne.
We sent Noah heretofore unto his people, and he said, "O my people! serve God: ye have no other God than He: will ye not therefore fear Him?
But the chiefs of the people who believed not said, "This is but a man like yourselves: he fain would raise himself above you: but had it pleased God to send, He would have sent angels: We heard not of this with our sires of old;- Verily he is but a man possessed; leave him alone therefore for a time."
He said, "O my Lord! help me against their charge of imposture."
So we revealed unto him, "Make the ark under our eye, and as we have taught, and when our doom shall come on, and the earth's surface shall boil up,7 Carry into it of every kind a pair, and thy family, save him on whom sentence hath already passed: and plead not with me for the wicked, for they shall be drowned.
And when thou, and they who shall be with thee, shall go up into the ark; say, 'Praise be unto God, who hath rescued us from the wicked folk.'
And say, 'O my Lord! disembark me with a blessed disembarking: for thou art the best to disembark."'
Verily in this were signs, and verily we made proof of man.
We then raised up other generations after them; And we sent among them an apostle from out themselves, with, "Worship ye God! ye have no other God than He: will ye not therefore fear Him?"
And the chiefs of His people who believed not, and who deemed the meeting with us in the life to come to be a lie, and whom we had richly supplied in this present life, said, "This is but a man like yourselves; he eateth of what ye eat, And he drinketh of what ye drink: And if ye obey a man like yourselves, then ye will surely be undone.
What! doth he foretell you, that after ye shall be dead and become dust and bones, ye shall be brought forth?
Away, away with his predictions!
There is no life beyond our present life; we die, and we live, and we shall not be quickened again!
This is merely a man who forgeth a lie about God: and we will not believe him."
He said, "O my Lord! help me against this charge of imposture."
He said, "Yet a little, and they will soon repent them!"
Then did the shout of the destroying angel in justice surprise them, we made them like leaves swept down by a torrent. Away then with the wicked people!
Then raised we up other generations after them- Neither too soon, nor too late, shall a people reach its appointed time- Then sent we our apostles one after another. Oft as their apostle presented himself to a nation, they treated him as a liar; and we caused one nation to follow another; and we made them the burden of a tale. Away then with the people who believe not!
Then sent we Moses and his brother Aaron, with our signs and manifest power, To Pharaoh and his princes; but they behaved them proudly, for they were a haughty people.
And they said, "Shall we believe on two men like ourselves, whose people are our slaves?"
And they treated them both as impostors; wherefore they became of the destroyed.
And we gave Moses the Book for Israel's guidance.
And we appointed the Son of Mary, and His mother for a sign; and we prepared an abode for both in a lofty spot,8 quiet, and watered with springs.
"O ye apostles! eat of things that are good: and do that which is right: of your doings I am cognisant.
And truly this your religion is the one religion;9 and I am your Lord: therefore fear me."
But men have rent their great concern, one among another, into sects; every party rejoicing in that which is their own; Wherefore leave them till a certain time, in their depths of error.
What! think they that what we largely, bestow on them of wealth and children, We hasten to them for their good? Nay, they have no knowledge.
But they who are awed with the dread of their Lord, And who believe in the signs of their Lord, And who join no other gods with their Lord, And who give that which they give with hearts thrilled with dread because they must return unto their Lord, These hasten after good, and are the first to win it.
We will not burden a soul beyond its power: and with us is a book, which speaketh the truth; and they shall not be wronged: But as to this Book, their hearts are plunged in error, and their works are far other than those of Muslims, and they will work those works, Until when we lay hold on their affluent ones with punishment; lo! they cry for help: -"Cry not for help this day, for by Us ye shall not be succoured: Long since were my signs rehearsed to you, but ye turned back on your heels, Puffed up with pride, discoursing foolishly by night."
Do they not then heed the things spoken-whether that hath come to them which came not to their fathers of old?
Or do they not recognise their apostle; and therefore disavow him?
Or say they, "A Djinn is in him?" Nay! he hath come to them with the truth; but the truth do most of them abhor.
But if the truth had followed in the train of their desires, the heavens and the earth, and all that therein is, had surely come to ruin! But we have brought them their warning; and from their warning they withdraw.
Dost thou ask them for remuneration? But, remuneration from thy Lord is best; and He is the best provider.
And thou indeed biddest them to the right path; But verily they who believe not in the life to come, from that path do surely wander!
And if we had taken compassion on them, and relieved them from their trouble, they would have plunged on in their wickedness, wildly wandering.10 We formerly laid hold on them with chastisement, yet they did not humble them to their Lord, nor did they abase them; Until, when we have opened upon them the door of a severe punishment, lo! they are in despair at it.
It is He who hath implanted in you hearing, and sight, and heart; how few of you give thanks!
It is He who hath caused you to be born on the earth: and unto Him shall ye be gathered.
And it is He who maketh alive and killeth, and of Him is the change of the night and of the day: Will ye not understand?
But they say, as said those of old:- They say,"What! When we shall be dead, and have become dust and bones, shall we, indeed, be waked to life?
This have we been promised, we and our fathers aforetime: but it is only fables of the ancients."
SAY: Whose is the earth, and all that is therein;-if ye know?
They will answer, "God's." SAY: Will ye not, then reflect?
SAY: Who is the Lord of the seven heavens, and the Lord of the glorious throne?
They will say, "They are God's". SAY: Will ye not, then, fear Him?
SAY: In whose hand is the empire of all things, who protecteth but is not protected? if ye know: They will answer, "In God's." SAY: How, then, can ye be so spell-bound?
Yea, we have brought them the truth; but they are surely liars: God hath not begotten offspring; neither is there any other God with Him: else had each god assuredly taken away that which he had created,11 and some had assuredly uplifted themselves above others! Far from the glory of God, be what they affirm of Him!
He knoweth alike the unseen and the seen: far be He uplifted above the gods whom they associate with Him!
SAY: O my Lord! If thou wilt let me witness the infliction of that with which they have been threatened!
O my Lord! place me not among the ungodly people.
Verily, we are well able to make thee see the punishment with which we have threatened them.
Turn aside evil with that which is better: we best know what they utter against thee.
And SAY: "O my Lord! I betake me to Thee, against the promptings of the Satans: And I betake me to Thee, O my Lord! that they gain no hurtful access to me."
When death overtaketh one of the wicked, he saith, "Lord, send me back again, That I may do the good which I have left undone."12 "By no means." These are the very words which he shall speak: But behind them shall be a barrier, until the day when they shall be raised again.
And when the trumpet shall be sounded, the ties of kindred between them shall cease on that day; neither shall they ask each other's help.
They whose balances shall be heavy, shall be the blest.
But they whose balances shall be light,-these are they who shall lose their souls, abiding in hell for ever: The fire shall scorch their faces, and their lips shall quiver therein:- -"What! Were not my signs rehearsed unto you? and did ye not treat them as lies?"
They shall say, "O our Lord! our ill-fortune prevailed against us, and we became an erring people.