Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

How many

and there will be a superabundant addition of bliss with us. generations have we destroyed before the Meccans, which were more mighty than they in strength? Pass, therefore, through the regions of the earth, and see whether there be any refuge from our vengeance. Verily herein is an admonition unto him who hath a heart to understand, or giveth ear, and is present with an attentive mind. We created the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between them, in six days, and no weariness affected us.* Wherefore patiently suffer what they say; and celebrate the praise of thy LORD before sunrise, and before sunset, and praise him in some part of the night: and perform the additional parts of worship.•* And hearken unto the day whereon the crier shall call men to judgment from a near place: the day whereon they shall hear the voice of the trumpet in truth this will be the day of men's coming forth from their graves : we give life, and we cause to die; and unto us shall be the return of all creatures: the day whereon the earth shall suddenly cleave in sunder over them. This will be an assembly easy for us to assemble. We well know what the unbelievers say; and thou art not sent to compel them forcibly to the faith. Wherefore warn, by the Korân, him who feareth my threatening.

CHAPTER LI.

INTITLED, THE DISPERSING; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

By the winds dispersing and scattering the dust;* and by the clouds bearing a load of rain; by the ships running swiftly in the sea; and by

See the Prelim. Disc. sect. 4, p. 71.

This was revealed in answer to the Jews, who said that God rested from his work of creation on the seventh day, and reposed himself on his throne, as one fatigued.'

viz. Either what the idolaters say, in denying the resurrection; or the Jews, in speak. ing indecently of God.

These are the two inclinations used after the evening prayer, which are not necessary, or of precept, but voluntary, and of supererogation, and may therefore be added or omitted indifferently.

"Make known his praise at the beginning of the night, and accomplish the adoration."-Savary.

That is, from a place whence every creature may equally hear the call. This place, it is supposed, will be the mountain of the temple of Jerusalem, which some fancy to be nigher heaven than any other part of the earth; whence Israfil will sound the trumpet, and Gabriel will make the following proclamation, O ye rotten bones, and torn flesh, and dispersed hairs, God commandeth you to be gathered together to judgment.”

[ocr errors]

Or, By the women who bring forth or scatter children, &c.

"I swear by the breath of the impetuous winds."-Savary.

Or, By the women bearing a burden in their womb, or the winds bearing the clouds, &c. Or, By the winds passing swiftly in the air, or the stars moving swiftly in their courses, &c.

Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin.

(By these words is to be understood the prayer called el aché, that is, of the supper, which is repeated about two hours after sunset. Marracci is mistaken in supposing that the words signify genuflexions which are not prescribed by the law. Marracci, p. 673.)Savary.

Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin.

the angels who distribute things necessary for the support of all creatures ;** verily that where with ye are threatened is certainly true; and the last judgment will surely come. By the heaven furnished with paths; ye widely differ in,what ye say. He will be turned aside from the faith, who shall be turned aside by the divine decree. Cursed be the liars; who wade in deep waters of ignorance, neglecting their salvation. They ask, When will the day of judgment come? On that day shall they be burned in hell fire; and it shall be said unto them, Taste your punishment; this is what ye demanded to be hastened. But the pious shall dwell among gardens and fountains, receiving that which their LORD shall give them; because they were righteous doers before this day. They slept but a small part of the night; and early in the morning they asked pardon of God: and a due portion of their wealth was given unto him who asked, and unto him who was forbidden by shame to ask. There are signs of the divine power and goodness in the earth, unto men of sound understanding; and also in your own selves will ye not therefore consider? Your sustenance is in the heaven; and also that which ye are promised. Wherefore by the LORD of heaven and earth I swear that this is certainly the truth; according to what ye yourselves speak. Hath not the story of Abraham's honoured guests come to thy knowledge? When they went in unto him, and said, Peace: he answered Peace; saying within himself, These are unknown people. And he went privately unto his family, and brought a fatted calf. And he set it before them, and when he saw they touched it not, he said, Do ye not eat? And he began to entertain a fear of them. They said, Fear not: and they declared unto him the promise of a wise youth. And his wife drew near with exclamation, and she smote her face, and said, I am an old woman, and barren. The angels answered, Thus saith thy LORD: verily he is the wise, the knowing. *[XXVII.] And Abraham said unto them, What is your errand, therefore, O messengers of God? They answered, Verily we are sent unto a wicked people that we may send down upon them stones of baked clay, marked

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Or, By the winds which distribute the rain, &c.

By the angels who execute the decrees of Heaven."-Savary.

i. e. The paths or orbs of the stars; or the streaks which appear in the sky like paths, being thin and extended clouds.

Concerning Mohammed, or the Koran, or the resurrection and day of judgment; speaking variously and inconsistently of them.

"The liars shall perish: they are buried in the abyss of ignorance."-Savary.

b Spending the greater part in prayer, and religious meditation.

i. e. Your food cometh from above, whence proceedeth the change of seasons and rain: and your future reward is also there, that is to say, in paradise, which is situate above the seven heavens.

* That is, without any doubt or reserved meaning, as ye affirm a truth unto one another. 'See chap. 11, p. 182, and chap. 15, p. 212.

Some add, that to remove Abraham's fear, Gabriel, who was one of these strangers, touched the calf with his wing, and it immediately rose up and walked to its dam; upon which Abraham knew them to be the messengers of God.'

This some pretend, she did for shame; because she felt her courses coming upon her. • Al Beidâwi.

from thy LORD, for the destruction of transgressors.

And we brought

forth the true believers who were in the city but we found not therein more than one family of Moslems. And we overthrew the same, and left a sign therein unto those who dread the severe chastisement of God. In Moses also was a sign: when we sent him unto Pharaoh with manifest power. But he turned back, with his princes, saying, This man is a sorcerer, or a madman. Wherefore we took him and his forces, and cast them into the sea: and he was one worthy of reprehension. And in the tribe of Ad also was a sign: when we sent against them a destroying wind; ° it touched not aught whereon it came, but it rendered the same as a thing rotten, and reduced to dust. In Thamud likewise was a sign: when it was said unto them, Enjoy yourselves for a time. But they insolently transgressed the command of their LORD: wherefore a terrible noise from heaven assailed them, while they looked on; and they were not able to stand on their feet, neither did they save themselves from destruction, And the people of Noah did we destroy before these: for they were a people who enormously transgressed. We have built the heaven with might; and we have given it a large extent: and we have stretched forth the earth beneath; and how evenly have we spread the same! And of every thing have we created two kinds," that peradventure ye may consider. Fly, therefore, unto God; verily I am a public warner unto you, from him. And set not up another god with the true GoD: verily I am a public warner unto you, from him. In like manner there came no apostle unto their predecessors, but they said, This man is a magician, or a madman. Have they bequeathed this behaviour successively the one to the other? Yea; they are a people who enormously transgress. Wherefore withdraw from them; and thou shalt not be blameworthy in so doing. Yet continue to admonish: for admonition profiteth the true believers. I have not created genii and men for any other end than that they should serve me. I require not any sustenance from them; neither will I that they feed me. Verily GoD is he who provideth for all creatures; possessed of mighty power. Unto those who shall injure our apostle shall be given a portion like unto the portion of those who behaved like them in times past; and they shall not wish the same to be hastened. Woe, therefore, to the unbelievers, because of their day with which they are threatened!

We are about," replied they, "to chastise an infamous people. We shall cause to fall on the guilty a shower of stones, on which their names are engraven by the hand of the Lord."-Savary.

See chap. 7, p. 124, &c.

Pi. e. For three days. See chap. 11, p. 181.

For this calamity happened in the day-time.

"We exterminated the people of Noah, in the midst of their crimes."-Savary. As for example: male and female; the heaven and the earth; the sun and the moon; ught and darkness; plains and mountains; winter and summer; sweet and bitter, &c. "Give not unto him an equal, or fear my threats."-Savary.

"Have the people bequeathed themselves unto error? The people of Mecca persist in their unbelief."-Savary.

• Jallalo'ddin.

8

CHAPTER LII.

INTITLED, THE MOUNTAIN; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

t

By the mountain of Sinai; and by the book written in an expanded scroll; and by the visited house; and by the elevated roof of heaven; and by the swelling ocean: verily the punishment of thy LORD will surely descend; there shall be none to withhold it. On that day the heaven shall be shaken, and shall reel; and the mountains shall walk and pass away. And on that day woe be unto those who accused God's apostles of imposture; who amused themselves in wading in vain disputes! On that day shall they be driven and thrust into the fire of hell; and it shall be said unto them, This is the fire which ye denied as a fiction. Is this a magic illusion? Or do ye not see? Enter the same to be scorched: whether ye bear your torments patiently, or impatiently, it will be equal unto you: ye shall surely receive the reward of that which ye have wrought. But the pious shall dwell amidst gardens and pleasures; delighting themselves in what their LORD shall have given them: and their LORD shall deliver them from the pains of hell. And it shall be said unto them, Eat and drink with easy digestion;* because of that which ye have wrought leaning on couches disposed in order: and we will espouse them unto virgins having large black eyes. And unto those who believe, and whose offspring follow them in the faith, we will join their offspring in paradise and we will not diminish unto them aught of the merit of their works. (Every man is given in pledge for that which he shall have wrought.") And we will give them fruits in abundance, and flesh of the kinds which they shall desire. They shall present unto one another therein a cup of wine, wherein there shall be no vain discourse, nor any incitement unto wickedness. And youths appointed to attend them shall go round them beautiful as pearls hidden in their shell. And they shall approach unto one another, and shall ask mutual questions. And they shall say, Verily we were heretofore amidst our family, in great dread with regard to our state after death: but God hath been gracious unto us, and hath delivered us from the pain of burning fire: for we called on him heretofore;

The book here intended, according to different opinions, is either the book or register wherein every man's actions are recorded; or the preserved tables, containing God's de crees; or the book of the law, which was written by God, Moses hearing the creaking of the pen; or else the Korân.

i. e. The Caaba, so much visited by pilgrims; or, as some rather think, the original model of that house in heaven, called al Dorâh, which is visited and compassed by the angels, as the other is by men.

Satiate yourselves, it shall be said unto them, with the blessings which are offered anto you; they are the reward of your virtues."-Savary.

[ocr errors]

1. e. Every man is pledged unto God for his behaviour: and if he does well, he redeem nis pledge; but if evil he forfeits it.

Al Zamakh. al Beidawi.

See Prelim. Disc. sect. 4.

and he is the beneficent, the merciful. Wherefore do thou, O prophet, admonish thy people. Thou art not, by the grace of thy LORD, a soothsayer, or a madman. Do they say, He is a poet; we wait, concerning him, some adverse turn of fortune? Say, Wait ye my ruin: verily I wait, with you, the time of your destruction.* Do their mature understandings bid them say this; or are they people who perversely transgress? Do they say, He hath forged the Korân? Verily they believe not. Let them produce a discourse like unto it, if they speak truth. Were they created by nothing; or were they creators of themselves? Did they create the heavens and the earth? Verily they are not firmly persuaded that God hath created them. Are the stores of thy LORD in their hands? Are they the supreme dispensers of all things? Have they a ladder whereby they may ascend to heaven, and hear the discourses of the angels? Let one, therefore, who hath heard them, produce an evident proof thereof. Hath God daughters, and have ye sons?

Dost thou ask them a reward for thy preaching? but they are laden with debts. Are the secrets of futurity with them; and do they transcribe the same from the table of God's degrees? Do they seek to lay a plot against thee? But the unbelievers are they who shall be circumvented.1 Have they any god, besides GOD? Far be GOD exalted above the idols which they associate with him! If they should see a fragment of the heaven falling down upon them, they would say, It is only a thick cloud.• Wherefore leave them, until they arrive at their day wherein they shall swoon for fear: a day, in which their subtle contrivances shall not avail them at all, neither shall they be protected. And those who act unjustly shall surely suffer another punishment besides this: but the greater part of them do not understand. And wait thou patiently the judgment of thy LORD concerning them; for thou art in our eye: and celebrate the praise of thy LORD, when thou risest up; and praise him in the night-season, and when the stars begin to disappear.

[ocr errors]

"Reply unto them, Wait! I will wait with you.”—Savary.

For though they confess this with their tongues, yet they deny it by their averseness to render him his due worship.

See chap. 16, p. 218, &c.

See chap. 8, p. 142, &c.

This was one of the judgments which the idolatrous Meccans defied Mohammed to bring down upon them; and yet, says the text, if they should see a part of the heaven falling on them, they would not believe it till they were crushed to death by it.'

i. e. At the first sound of the trumpet."

That is, Besides the punishment to which they shall be doomed at the day of judg. ment, they shall be previously chastised by calamities in this life, as the slaughter at Bedr, and the seven years' famine, and also after their death, by the examination of the sepulchre.'

'Al Beidâwi.

• See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv. p.

59.

• Al Beidâ wi.

« PoprzedniaDalej »