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to be gods besides him; yet they will not be able to free you from harm, or to turn it on others. Those whom ye invoke" do themselves desire to be ad. mitted to a near conjunction with their LORD; striving which of them shall approach nearest unto him: they also hope for his mercy, and dread his punishment; for the punishment of thy LORD is terrible. There is no city but we will destroy the same before the day of resurrection, or we will punish it with a grievous punishment. This is written in the book of our eternal decrees. Nothing hindered us from sending thee with miracles, except that the former nations have charged them with imposture. We gave anto the tribe of Thamud, at their demand, the she-camel visible to their sight yet they dealt unjustly with her: and we send not a prophet with miracles, but to strike terror. Remember when we said unto thee, Verily thy LORD encompasseth men by his knowledge and power. We have appointed the vision which we showed thee, and also the tree cursed in the Korân, only for an occasion of dispute unto men, and to strike them with terror; but it shall cause them to transgress only the more enormously. And remember when we said unto the angels, Worship Adam; and they all worshipped him except Eblis, who said, Shall I worship him whom thou hast created of clay! And he said, What thinkest thou, as to this man whom thou hast honoured above me? verily, if thou grant me respite unti the day of resurrection, I will extirpate his offspring, except a few. God answered, Begone, I grant thee respite: but whosoever of them shall follow thee, hell shall surely be your reward; an ample reward for your demerits! And entice to vanity such of them as thou canst, by thy voice; and assault them on all sides with thy horsemen and thy footmen ;' and partake with them in their riches, and their children; and make them promises; (but the devil shall make them no other than deceitful proviz. The angels and prophets, who are the servants of God as well as yourselves. See chap. 7, p. 124.

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Mohammed's journey to heaven is generally agreed to be intended in this place; which occasioned great heats and debates among his followers, till they were quieted by Abu Beer's bearing testimony to the truth of it. The word vision, here used, is urged by those who take this journey to have been no more than a dream, as a plain confirmation of their opinion. Some, however, suppose the vision meant in this passage was not the night journey, but the dream Mohammed saw at al Hodeibiya, wherein he seemed to make his entrance into Mecca; or that at Bedr; or else a vision he had relating to the family of Ommeya, whom he saw mount his pulpit, and jump about in it like monkeys; upor which he said, This is their portion in this world, which they have gained by their profession of Islam. But if any of these latter expositions be true, the verse must have been revealed at Medina.

Called al Zakkum, which springs from the bottom of hell.'

"The Zakkum is a thorny tree which grows in Arabia, and of which the fruit is excessively bitter. It was, no doubt, this bad quality which induced Mohammed to place i in hell."-Savary.

* "I will enchain the posterity of him whom thou hast raised above me. Few shal: escape my snares."-Savary.

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mises :*) as to my servants, thou shalt have no power over them; for thy LORD is a sufficient protector of those who trust in him. It is your LORD who driveth forward the ships for you in the sea, that ye may seek to enrich yourselves of his abundance by commerce; for he is merciful towards you. When a misfortune befalleth you at sea, the false deities whom ye invoke are forgotten by you, except him alone: yet when he bringeth you safe to dry land, ye retire afar off from him, and return to your idols; for man is ungrateful." Are ye therefore secure that he will not cause the dry land to swallow you up, or that he will not send against you a whirlwind driving the sands to overwhelm you? Then shall ye find none to protect you. Or are ye secure that he will not cause you again to commit yourselves to the sea another time, and send against you a tempestuous wind, and drown you; for that ye have been ungrateful? then shall ye find none to defend you against us, in that distress. And now have we honoured the children of Adam by sundry peculiar privileges and endowments; and we have given them conveniences of carriage by land and by sea, and have provided food for them of good things; and we have preferred them before many of our creatures which we have created, by granting them great prerogatives. On a certain day we will call all men to judgment with their respective leader: and whosoever shall have his book given him into his right hand, they shall read their book with joy and satisfaction; and they shall not be wronged a hair. And whoever hath been blind in this life shall be also blind in the next, and shall wander more widely from the path of salvation. It wanted little but the unbelievers had tempted thee to swerve from the instructions which we had revealed unto thee, that thou shouldest devise concerning us a different thing; and then would they have taken thee for their friend:

and superstition; and tempting them to incestuous mixtures, and to give their children names in honour of their idols, as Abd Yaghuth, Abd' al Uzza, &c.10

*Render men docile to thy voice; attack them with thy legions; increase their riches and the number of their children; flatter them with delightful hopes. Thy promises shall be delusive."-Savary.

See chap. 10, p. 168.

Think ye that ye have a shelter from his wrath? Can he not open an abyss under your feet, or cause a cloud laden with stones to burst upon your heads? Where would ye find a refuge ?"-Savary.

Some interpret this of the prophet sent to every people; others of the heads of sects; others, of the various religions professed in the world; others, of the books which shall be given to every man at the resurrection, containing a register of their good and bad actions.'

See the Prelim. Disc. sect. 4, p. 64.

See chap. 4, p. 67, note n.

These are generally supposed to have been the tribe of Thakîf, the inhabitants of al Tâyef, who insisted on Mohammed's granting them several very extraordinary privileges, as the terms of their submission to him; for they demanded that they might be free from the legal contribution of alms, and from observing the appointed times of prayer; that they might be allowed to keep their idol Allât for a certain time, and that their territory might be declared a place of security, and not be violated, like that of Mecca, &c. And they added, that if the other Arabs asked him the reason of these concessions, he should say, that God had commanded him so to do.' Accora

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and unless we had confirmed thee, thou hadst certainly been very near inclining unto thern a little. Then would we surely have caused thee to taste the punishment of life, and the punishment of death; and thou shouldest not have found any to protect thee against us. The unbelievers had likewise almost caused thee to depart the land, that they might have expelled thee thence: but then should they not have tarried therein after thee, except a little while. This is the method of dealing which we have prescribed ourselves in respect to our apostles, whom we have already sent before thee: and thou shalt not find any change in our prescribed method. Regularly perform thy prayer at the declension of the sun, at the first darkness of the night, and the prayer of daybreak; for the prayer of day-break is borne witness unto by the angels. And watch some part of the night in the same exercise, as a work of supererogation for thee: peradventure thy LORD will raise thee to an honourable station. And say, O LORD, cause me to enter with a favourable entry, and cause me to come forth with a favourable coming forth; and grant me from thee an assisting power. And say, Truth is

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ing to which explication it is plain this verse must have been revealed long after the Hejra.

Some, however, will have the passage to have been revealed at Mecca, on occasion of the Koreish: who told Mohammed they would not suffer him to kiss the black stone in the wall of Caaba, unless he also visited their idols, and touched them with his hand, to show his respect.

viz. Both of this life and the next. Some interpret the first of the punishment in the next world, and the latter of the torture of the sepulchre.

The commentators differ as to the place where this passage was delivered, and the occasion of it. Some think it was revealed at Mecca, and that it refers to the violent enmity which the Koreish bore Mohammed, and their restless endeavours to make him leave Mecca as he was at length obliged to do. But as the persons here spoken of seem not to have prevailed in their project, others suppose that the verse was revealed at Medina, on the following occasion. The Jews, envious of Mohammed's good reception and stay there, told him, by way of counsel, that Syria was the land of the prophets, and that if he was a prophet he ought to go thither. Mohammed seriously reflecting on what they had said, began to think they had advised him well; and actually set out, and proceeded a day's journey in his way to Syria; whereupon God acquainted him with their design by the revelation of this verse; and he returned to Medina.

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This was fulfilled, according to the former of the above-mentioned explications, by the loss of the Koreish at Bedr; and according to the latter, by the great slaughter of the Jews of Koreidha and al Nadîr.'

i. e. At the time of noon prayer, when the sun declines from the meridian; or, as some choose to translate the words, at the setting of the sun, which is the time of the first evening prayer.

• The time of the last evening prayer.

'Literally, the reading of the daybreak; whence some suppose the reading of the Koran at that time is here meant.

vis. The guardian angels, who, according to some, are relieved at that time; or else the angels appointed to make the change of night into day, &c.

According to a tradition of Abu Horeira, the honourable station here intended is that of intercessor for others.'

That is, Grant that I may enter my grave with peace, and come forth from it, at the resurrection, with honour and satisfaction. In which sense this petition is the same with that of Balaam, Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his,' But as the person here spoken to is generally supposed to be Mohammed, the commentators say he was commanded to pray in these words for a safe departure from Mecca, and

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come, and falsehood is vanished: for falsehood is of short continuance.* We send down of the Koran that which is a medicine and mercy unto the true believers; but it shall only increase the perdition of the unjust. When we bestow favours on man, he retireth and withdraweth himself ungratefully from us: but when evil toucheth him, he despaireth of our mercy. Say, Every one acteth after his own manner:1 but your LORD bes. knoweth who is most truly directed in his way. They will ask thee con cerning the spirit: answer, The spirit was created at the command of my LORD: but ye have no knowledge given unto you, except a little. If we pleased, we should certainly take away that which we have revealed unto thee; in such case thou couldst not find any to assist thee therein against us, unless through mercy from thy LoRD; for his favour towards thee hath been great. Say, Verily if men and genii were purposely assembled, that they might produce a book like this Korân, they could not produce one like unto it, although the one of them assisted the other. And we have variously propounded unto men in this Korân every kind of figurative argument; but the greater part of men refuse to receive it, merely out of infidelity. And they say, We will by no means believe on thee, until thou cause a spring of water to gush forth for us out of the earth; or thou have a garden of palm-trees and vines, and thou cause

a good reception at Medina; or for a sure refuge in the cave, where he hid himself when he fled from Mecca; or (which is the more common opinion) for a victorious entrance into Mecca, and a safe return thence.'

"Say, Lord, cause the truth to preside over my entering in; cause it to preside over my going out; cover me with the shield of thy power."-Savary.

These words Mohammed repeated, when he entered the temple of Mecca, after the taking of that city, and cleansed it of the idols; a great number of which are said to have fallen down on his touching them with the end of the stick he held in his hand.'

i. e. According to his judgment or opinion, be it true or false: or according to the bent of his mind, and the natural constitution of his body.

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Or, the soul of man. Some interpret it of the angel Gabriel, or of the divine revelation.' viz. By the word Kun, i. e. Be; consisting of an immaterial substance, and not generated, like the body. But, according to a different opinion, this passage should be translated. The spirit is of those things, the knowledge of which thy Lord hath reserved to himself. For it is said that the Jews bid the Koreish ask Mohammed to relate the history of those who slept in the cave, and of Dhu'lkarnein, and to give them an account of the soul of man; adding, that if he pretended to answer all the three questions, or could answer none of them, they might be sure he was no prophet; but if he gave an answer to one or two of the questions, and was silent as to the other, he was really a prophet. Accordingly, when they propounded the questions to him, he told them the two histories, but acknowedged his ignorance as to the origin of the human soul.'

All your knowledge being acquired from the information of your senses, which must necessarily fail you in spiritual speculations, without the assistance of divine revelation.'

viz. The Korân: by razing it both from the written copies, and the memories of men. "In it we have given instructions to man concerning all his duties; but, obstinate in his unbelief, he rejects the light."-Savary.

This and the following miracles were demanded of Mohammed by the Koreish, as proofs of his mission.

"When Mohammed entered Mecca in triumph, the temple was surrounded by three hundred and sixty idols. He struck them with a wand which he had in his hand, exclaiming, till they were overthrown, Truth has appeared; falsehood is about to vanish." -Savary.

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See the Prelim. Disc. sect. ii. p. 36.
Vide Gagnier, Vie de Mohammed. tom. 2, p. 127.
See the next chapter.
• See ibid.

rivers to spring forth from the miust thereof in abundance; or thou cause the heaven to fall down upon us, as thou hast given out, in pieces; or thoч bring down God and the angels to vouch for thee; or thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend by a ladder to heaven: neither will we believe thy ascending thither alone, until thou cause a book to descend unto us, bear ing witness of thee, which we may read. Answer, My LORD be praised! Am I other than a man, sent as an apostle? And nothing hindereth men from believing, when a direction is come unto them, except that they say, Hath GOD sent a man for his apostle? Answer, If the angels had walked or earth as familiar inhabitants thereof, we had surely sent down unto them from heaven an angel for our apostle. Say, GoD is a sufficient witness between me and you: for he knoweth and regardeth his servants. Whom GoD shall direct, he shall be the rightly directed; and whom he shall cause to err, thou shalt find none to assist, besides him. And we will gather them together on the day of resurrection, creeping on their faces, blind, and dumb, and deaf; their abode shall be hell; so often as the fire thereof shall be extinguished, we will rekindle a burning flame to torment them. This shall be their reward, because they disbelieve in our signs, and say, When we shall have been reduced to bones and dust, shall we surely be raised new creatures? Do they not perceive that God, who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create other bodies, like their present? And he hath appointed them a limited term;" there is no doubt thereof: but the ungodly reject the truth, merely out of unbelief. Say, If ye possessed the treasures of the mercy of my LORD, ye would surely refrain from using them, for fear of spending them; for man is covetous. We heretofore gave unto Moses the power of working nine evident signs. And do thou ask the children of Israel, as to the story of Moses; when he came unto them, and Pharaoh said unto him, Verily I esteemed thee, O Moses, to be deluded by sorcery

As thou pretendest to have done in thy night-journey; but of which no man was witness.

See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv. pp. 60, 61.

tie. When the fire shall go out or abate for want of fuel, after the consumption of the skins and flesh of the damned, we will add fresh vigour to the flames by giving them new bodies.

Of life, or resurrection.

* That is, lest they should be exhausted.

"We gave to Moses the power of working seven miracles."-Savary.

These were, the changing his rod into a serpent, the making his hand white and shining, the producing locusts, lice, frogs, and blood, the dividing of the Red Sea, the bringing water out of the rock, and the shaking of Mount Sinai over the children of Israel. In lieu of the three last, some reckon the inundation of the Nile, the blasting of the corn, and scarcity of the fruits of the earth. These words, however, are interpreted by others, not of nine miracles, but of nine commandments, which Moses gave his people, and were thus numbered up by Mohammed himself to a Jew, who asked him the question, vis. That they should not be guilty of idolatry, nor steal, nor commit adultery or murder, nor practise sorcery or usury, nor accuse an innocent man to take away his life, or a modest woman of whoredom, nor desert the army; to which he added the observing of the sabbath, as a tenth commandment, but which peculiarly regarded the Jews; upon which answer, it is said, the Jew kissed the prophet's hands and feet.'

Some think these words are directed to Moses, who is hereby commanded to demand ne children of Israel of Pharaoh, that he might let them go with him.

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