in general, a bearer of good tidings and a denouncer of threats, but the greater part of men do not understand. (28) And they say, When will this threat be fulfilled, if ye speak truth? (29) Answer, A threat is denounced unto you of a day which ye shall not retard one hour, neither shall ye hasten. 4 || (30) The unbelievers say, We will by no means be- R 10 lieve in this Qurán, nor in that which hath been revealed before it. But if thou couldest see when the unjust doers shall be set before their LORD! They will iterate discourse with one another: those who were esteemed weak shall say unto those who behaved themselves arrogantly, Had it not been for you, verily we had been true believers. (31) They who behaved themselves arrogantly shall NISP. say unto those who were esteemed weak, Did we turn you aside from the true direction after it had come unto you? On the contrary, ye acted wickedly of your own free choice. (32) And they who were esteemed weak shall say unto those who behaved with arrogance, Nay, but the crafty plot which ye devised by night and by day occasioned our ruin, when ye commanded us that we should not believe in GOD, and that we should set up other gods as equals unto him. And they shall conceal their repentance, after they shall have seen the punishment prepared for them. And we will put yokes on the necks of those who shall have disbelieved: shall they be rewarded any otherwise than according to what they shall have wrought? (33) We have sent no warner unto any city, but the inhabi prophets did, in attestation of his prophetic claims. See chap. ii. 119. (30) We will by no means believe. "It is said that the infidels Makkah, having inquired of the Jews and Christians concerning the mission of Muhammad, were assured by them that they found him described as the prophet who should come, both in the Pentateuch and in the Gospel; at which they were very angry, and brake out into the words here recorded."-Sale, Baidhawi. Arrogantly. See note on chap. xiv. 24. (32) They shall conceal their repentance. See note on chap. x. 55. VOL. III. Y 5 1, tants thereof who lived in affluence said, Verily we believe not that with which ye are sent. (34) And those of Makkah also say, We abound in riches and children more than ye, and we shall not be punished hereafter. (35) Answer, Verily my LORD will bestow provision in abundance unto whom he pleaseth, and will be sparing unto whom he pleaseth; but the greater part of men know not this. R (36) Neither your riches nor your children are the things which shall cause you to draw nigh unto us with a near approach: only whoever believeth and worketh righteousness, they shall receive a double reward for that which they shall have wrought; and they shall dwell in security in the upper apartments of Paradise. (37) But they who shall endeavour to render our signs of none effect shall be delivered up to punishment. (38) Say, Verily my LORD will bestow provision in abundance unto whom he pleaseth of his servants, and will be sparing unto whom he pleaseth: and whatever thing ye shall give in alms, he will return it; and he is the best provider of food. (39) On a certain day he shall gather them altogether then shall he say unto the angels, Did these worship you? (40) And the angels shall answer, GOD forbid thou art our friend, and not these: but they worshipped devils; the greater part of them believed in them. (41) On this day the one of you shall not be able either to profit or to hurt the other. And we will say unto those who have acted unjustly, Taste ye the pain of hell-fire, which ye rejected as a falsehood. (42) When our evident signs are read unto them, they say of thee, O Muhammad, this is no other than a man who seeketh to turn you aside from the gods which your fathers worshipped. And they say of the Qurán, This is no other than a lie blasphemously forged. And the unbelievers say of the truth (36) See note on chap. iii. 31, and references there. when it is come unto them, This is no other than manifest sorcery: (43) yet we have given them no books of Scripture wherein to exercise themselves, nor have we sent unto them any warner before thee. (44) They who were before them in like manner accused their prophets of imposture: but these have not arrived unto the tenth part of the riches and strength which we had bestowed on the former and they accused my apostles of imposture; and how severe was my vengeance! 6 || (45) Say, Verily I advise you unto one thing, namely, R 12 that ye stand before GOD by two and two and singly; and then consider seriously, and you will find that there is no madness in your companion Muhammad: he is no other than a warner unto you, sent before a severe punishment. (46) Say, I ask not of you any reward for my preaching; it is your own, either to give or not: my reward is to be expected from GOD alone; and he is witness over all (43) Brinckman thinks this verse and others of a similar import contradict those verses where it is said, "There hath been no nation but a preacher hath in past times been conversant among them" (chap. xxxv. 22). But the contradiction is only apparent. The latter class of passages refer to the past ages or generations, whereas the former class refers entirely to the Arabians of Muhammad's own time, to whom Muhammad declares himself to have been sent. (44) See notes on chaps. iii. 11, vi. 48, and introd. to chap. vii. (45) Two and two, and singly, i.e., "that ye set yourselves to deliberate and judge of me and my pretensions coolly and sincerely, as in the sight of God, without passion or prejudice. The reason why they are ordered to consider either alone, or by two and two at most together, is because in larger assemblies, where noise, passion, and prejudice generally prevail, men have not that freedom of judgment which they have in private."-Sale, Baidhá wi. (46) I ask not. . . reward. "Muhammad having in the preceding words answered the imputation of madness or vain enthusiasm by appealing to their cooler thoughts of him and his actions, endeavours by these to clear himself of the suspicion of any worldly view or interest, declaring that he desired no salary or support from them for executing his commission, but he expected his wages from God alone."-Sale. These words are put in the mouths of the former prophets also. See chap. xxvi. 109, 127, 145, 164, 180, where Noah, Húd, Sálih, Lot, and Shuaib are represented as using these very words. It is your own. Sale paraphrases, "to give or not," which I think things. (47) Say, Verily my LORD sendeth down the truth to his prophets: he is the knower of secrets. (48) Say, Truth is come, and falsehood is vanished, and shall not return any more. (49) Say, If I err, verily I shall err only against my own soul; but if I be rightly directed, it will be by that which my LORD revealeth unto me; for he is ready to hear, and nigh unto those who call upon him. (50) If thou couldest see when the unbelievers shall tremble, and shall find no refuge, and shall be taken from a near place, (51) and shall say, We believe in him! But how shall they receive the faith from a distant place, (52) since they had before denied him and reviled the mysteries of faith from a distant place? (53) And a bar shall be placed between them and that which they shall desire (54) as it hath been done with those who behaved like them heretofore: because they have been in a doubt which hath caused scandal. to be a mistake. The meaning is, "I preach to you freely and voluntarily, neither asking nor desiring a reward, and what I have given you is yours as a free gift." (50) The unbelievers shall tremble, viz., " at their death, or the day of judgment, or the battle of Badr."-Sale, Baidhawi. A near place. "That is, from the outside of the earth to the inside thereof, or from before God's tribunal to hell-fire, or from the plain of Badr to the well into which the dead bodies of the slain were thrown."-Sale, Baidhawi. (51) A distant place, i.e., "when they are in the other world; whereas faith is to be received in this."-Sale. (53) A bar. See note on chap. xxiii, 99. CHAPTER XXXV. ENTITLED SURAT UL FÁTIR (THE CREATOR). Revealed at Makkah. INTRODUCTION. THIS chapter owes its title to the mention of the Creator in the first verse. In the same verse mention is made of THE Angels, which title is also given in some editions of the Qurán. As to its character and contents, this chapter is so very much like the chapter immediately preceding it as to make the description of one applicable in all essential points to the other. Probable Date of the Revelations. As this chapter might very well have been joined on to the one preceding it, there is no need of saying more here than that it belongs to the same date. Muhammad told that it is no strange thing for a prophet to be called an impostor . VERSES I, 2 3 4 5,6 7,8 9 ΙΟ God's promises true, but Satan is a deceiver God, who is man's Creator, knoweth all things God's mercy to man seen in the waters 1234 |