11

like unto it, although the one of them assisted the other. (91) And we have variously propounded unto men in this Qurán every kind of figurative argument; but the greater part of men refuse to receive it, merely out of infidelity. (92) 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; (93) or thou have a garden of palmtrees and vines, and thou cause rivers to spring forth from the midst thereof in abundance; (94) or thou cause the heaven to fall down upon us, as thou hast given out, in pieces; or thou bring down GOD and the angels to vouch for thee; (95) 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, bearing witness of thee, which we may read. Answer, My LORD be praised! Am I other than a man, sent as an apostle ?

|| (96) 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? (97) Answer, If the angels had walked on earth as familiar inhabitants thereof, we had surely sent down unto them from heaven an angel for our apostle. (98) Say, GOD is a sufficient. witness between me and you: for he knoweth and regardeth his servants. (99) 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

(92-95) These miracles were demanded of Muhammad by the Quraish of Makkah, and though Muhammad here denies his inability to perform the wonders demanded, saying, "My Lord be praised! Am I other than a man sent as an apostle?" and, notwithstanding the teaching of ver. 61 above, yet all orthodox Muslims believe on the testimony of tradition that he actually wrought all these wonders. See also notes on chap. xiii. 8 and 27. (95) Neither will we believe thy ascending, &c.

The allusion is

This

to Muhammad's night-journey; see note on ver. I above.
passage proves beyond reasonable dispute that the night-journey was
represented to the Quraish as a real journey and not as a vision. See

note on ver. I.

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. (100) 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?

(101) Do they not perceive that GOD, who created the NiSr. 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. (102) 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.

(103) We heretofore gave unto Moses the power of R12 working nine evident signs. And do thou ask the children

(99) We will gather, &c. See Prelim. Disc., pp. 138-140.

So often as the fire, &c., i.e., "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."-Sale.

See chap. iv. 54, and notes on chap. ii. 38.

(101) A limited term. "Of life or resurrection."-Sale. The latter is probably the reference intended here. chap. iii. 9 and note.

Compare

(102) For fear of spending them, i.e., "lest they should be exhausted."-Sale.

(103) Nine evident signs. "These were, the changing his rod into a serpent, the making his hand white and shining, the producing focusts, 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, viz., 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 sab

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. (104) Moses answered, Thou well knowest that none hath sent down these evident signs except the LORD of heaven and earth; and I surely esteem thee, O Pharaoh, a lost man. (105) Wherefore Pharaoh sought to drive them out of the land; but we drowned him and all those who were with him. (106) And we said unto the children of Israel, after his destruction, Dwell ye in the land: and when the promise of the next life shall come to be fulfilled, we will bring you both promiscuously to judgment. We have sent down the Quran with truth, and it hath descended with truth and we have not sent thee otherwise than to be a bearer of good tidings and a denouncer of threats. (107) And we have divided the Qurán, revealing it by parcels, that thou mightest read it unto men with deliberation: and we have sent it down, causing it to descend as occasion required. (108) Say, Whether ye believe therein, or do not believe, verily those who have been favoured with the knowledge of the scriptures which were revealed before it, when the same is rehearsed unto them, fall down on their faces, worshipping, and say, Our LORD be praised, for that the promise of our LORD is surely fulfilled! (109) and they fall down on their faces, weeping; and the hearing thereof increaseth their humility. (110)

bath, 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."-Sale, Buidhawi.

Ask the children of Israel. See note on chap. vi. 20.

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

(106) Dwell ye in the land. The impression is left on the mind here that the land referred to by Muhammad was the land of the Pharaohs. See note on chap. vii. 137.

(107) We have divided the Quran, &c. See Prelim. Disc., p. 108. (108) The persons alluded to here were Jews or Jewish converts, who either believed or pretended to believe in Muhammad as the promised Messiah. See note on chap. vi. 20.

Say, call upon GOD, or call on the Merciful: by whichsoever of the two names ye invoke him, it is equal; for he hath most excellent names. Pronounce not thy prayer aloud, neither pronounce it with too low a voice, but follow a middle way between these: (111) and say, Praise be unto GOD, who hath not begotten any child; who hath no partner in the kingdom, nor hath any to protect him from contempt: and magnify him by proclaiming his greatness.

(110) God or the Merciful. "The infidels hearing Muhammed say, O God, and O Merciful, imagined the Merciful was the name of a deity different from God, and that he preached the worship of two, which occasioned this passage. See chap. vii. 181.” -Sale.

Follow a middle way, &c. "Neither so loud that the infidels may overhear thee, and thence take occasion to blaspheme and scoff; nor so softly as not to be heard by the assistants. Some suppose that by the word prayer in this place is meant the reading of the Quran."-Sale.

Rodwell tells us this was in imitation of the practice of the Jews.

(111) Compare chap. iii. 39, v. 19 and 79, and vi. 101.

CHAPTER XVIII.

ENTITLED SURAT AL KAHAF (THE CAVE).

Revealed at Makkah.

INTRODUCTION.

THIS chapter might be called the chapter of wonderful stories. It owes its name to one of these-the story of the sleepers in the cave, which is the story of the Seven Sleepers of Christian tradition embellished by Muhammad with an Islamic colouring. (See notes on vers. 8-12.)

This story is remarkable, in that it throws some light on the habit the Prophet of Makkah had of delaying to answer difficult questions till the following day, on the pretence of not yet having received the answer by revelation. In this instance, if we are to believe the commentators, he had to wait ten days for the required answer, at which time he proclaims himself rebuked by God for rashly presuming to command the spirit of revelation on a morrow (ver. 23, note). But, judging from the character of the story itself, we are safe in adopting the opinion that during this interval Muhammad did not despise the scanty information he was able to derive from the Christian slaves of his town, some of whom were in his own household.

A remarkable feature of the stories of this chapter is that three of them are derived from apocryphal sources, viz., the story of the sleepers, the story of Khidhar (Jethro), and the story of Alexander's journeyings, and of his building a barrier to prevent the incursions of the northern kings of Gog and Magog. All these stories partake of the character of the marvellous, and carry with them such an air of vagueness as to leave the impression that Muhammad's informants were themselves but ill-informed. We have already indicated our belief as to the source of this information.