R & understand when they shall be raised. (68) However, their knowledge attaineth some notion of the life to come: yet they are in an uncertainty concerning the same; yea, they are blind as to the real circumstances thereof. || (69) And the unbelievers say, When we and our fathers shall have been reduced to dust, shall we be taken forth from the grave? (70) Verily we have been threatened with this, both we and our fathers, heretofore. This is no other than fables of the ancients. (71) Say unto them, Pass through the earth, and see what hath been the end of the wicked. (72) And be not thou grieved for them; neither be thou in any concern on account of the plots which they are contriving against thee. (73) And they say, When will this threat be accomplished, if ye speak true? (74) Answer, Peradventure some part of that punishment which ye desire to be hastened may follow close behind you; (75) verily thy LORD is endued with indulgence towards mankind; but the greater part of them are not thankful. (76) Verily thy LORD knoweth what their breasts conceal, and what they discover; (77) and there is nothing hidden in heaven or on earth, but it is written in a clear book. (78) Verily this Qurán declareth unto the children of Israel most of those points concerning which they disagree: (79) and it is certainly a direction and a mercy unto the true believers. (80) Thy LORD will decide the controversy between them by his definitive sentence: and he is the mighty, the wise. (81) Therefore put thy trust in GOD; for thou art in the manifest truth. (82) Verily thou shalt not make the dead to hear, neither shalt thou make the deaf to hear thy call to the true faith (68) Their knowledge, &c. "Or the words may be translated thus: "Yea, their knowledge faileth as to the life to come; yea, &c.'"Sale. (70) See chap. vii. 24, note. (78) This Qurán declareth, &c. "Such as the comparing of God to sensible things, or to created beings; the removing all imperfections from the description of the Divine Being; the state of paradise and hell; the stories of Ezra and Jesus Christ, &c."-Sale, Baidhawi. when they retire and turn their backs; (83) neither shalt thou direct the blind to extricate themselves out of their error. Thou shalt make none to hear thee except him who shall believe in our signs: and they are wholly resigned unto us. (84) When the sentence shall be ready to fall upon them, we will cause a beast to come forth unto them from out of the earth, which shall speak unto them: verily men do not firmly believe in our signs. || (85) On the day of resurrection we will assemble, out of every nation, a company of those who shall have charged our signs with falsehood; and they shall be prevented from mixing together, (86) until they shall arrive at the place of judgment. And God shall say unto them, Have ye charged my signs with falsehood, although ye comprehended them not with your knowledge? Or what is it that ye were doing? (87) And the sentence of damnation shall fall on them, for that they have acted unjustly and they shall not speak in their own excuse. (88) Do they not see that we have ordained the night, that they may rest therein, and the day giving open light? Verily herein are signs unto people who believe. (89) On that day the trumpet shall be sounded; and whoever are in heaven and on earth shall be struck with terror, except those whom GOD shall please to exempt therefrom: (84) A beast, &c. "The Muhammadans call this a beast, whose appearance will be one sign of the approach of the day of judgment, al Jásúsa, or the Spy. I have given the description of her elsewhere (Prelim. Disc., p. 131), to which should be added that she is to have two wings."-Sale. Comp. Rev. xiii. Which shall speak unto them. "Or, according to a different reading (viz., tuklimuhum, instead of tukallimuhum), 'who shall wound them.""-Sale. (85) Chargel our signs with falsehood. See chap. iii. 185, and note there. (89) Except those.. exempt. "See the Prelim. Disc., p. 135, &c. Some say the persons exempted from this general consternation will be the angels Gabriel, Michael, Israfil, and Israil; others suppose them to be the virgins of Paradise, and the angels who guard that place and carry God's throne; and others will have them to be the inartyrs."-Sale, Ibn Abbás, Baidhawi. and all shall come before him in humble guise. (90) And thou shalt see the mountains, and shalt think them firmly fixed; but they shall pass away, even as the clouds pass away. This will be the work of GOD, who hath rightly disposed all things: and he is well acquainted with that which ye do. (91) Whoever shall have wrought righteousness shall receive a reward beyond the desert thereof; and they shall be secure from the terror of that day: (92) but whoever shall have wrought evil shall be thrown on their faces into hell-fire. Shall ye receive the reward of any other than of that which ye shall have wrought? (93) Verily I am commanded to worship the LORD of this territory of Makkah, who hath sanctified the same: unto him belong all things. And I am commanded to be a Muslim, (94) and to rehearse the Qurán: he who shall be directed thereby will be directed to his own advantage; and to him who shall go astray, say, Verily I am a warner only. (95) And say, Praise be unto GOD! he will show you his signs, and ye shall know them: and thy LORD is not regardless of that which they do. (92) From the terror, &c. "That is, from the fear of damnation and the other terrors which will disturb the wicked; not from the general terror or consternation before mentioned."-Sale. (93, 94) I am commanded to be a Muslim. See note on chap. vi. The word say must be understood here. Nöeldeke thinks it has been inadvertently dropped. 14. To rehearse the Qurán. Comp. with ver. 6. Muhammad distinctly claims to be a prophet of God, but as yet only a warner. See note on chaps. ii. 119, xi. 13, and xiii. 8, &c. (95) He will show you signs, viz., "the successes of the true believers against the infidels, and particularly the victory of Badr.” -Sale. The signs are either the verses of the Qurán, or the signs of the judgment-day, referred to in ver. 84 seq. CHAPTER XXVIII ENTITLED SURAT AL QASAS (THE STORY). Revealed at Makkah. INTRODUCTION. THE object of this chapter, as we are informed in ver. 2, was to instruct the faithful by a rehearsal of the history of Moses and Pharaoh. This history, which occupies a considerable portion of the chapter, is related with considerable detail up to the point of Moses's visit to Pharaoh. The account of Moses's rejection and of Pharaoh's destruction occupies but a very few verses, in which the story of Haman and his destruction seems to be mixed up with that of Pharaoh. From this it may fairly be inferred that Muhammad had as yet received but little information concerning the latter part of the history of Moses and Pharaoh. This is confirmed by the story of Korah and his rebellion, as related in vers. 76–82, where both the place and the cause of rebellion are misrepresented in a way that leaves the impression that the writer is retailing the substance of a story learned from some ignorant Jewish informer. So far as the story of Moses and the Egyptians is concerned, it is fair to say that it furnished Muhammad with a model prophet he ever afterwards strove to imitate. Indeed, such imitation is plainly visible in this chapter. The Quraish are represented as rejecting both Moses and Muhanımad-both the Pentateuch and the Qurán— on the ground that they, i.e., Moses and Muhammad, assisted one another. Muhammad accepts the companionship of Moses, and challenges the Quraish to produce a book as good as either that of Moses or his own Qurán, thereby very clearly attesting the credibility of the Pentateuch then extant among the Jews, which may account for the fact that certain Jews became his followers about this time (vers. 52, 53). The latter portion of the chapter is occupied with the usual Makkan discourse of the preacher. Idolaters are warned and threatened with destruction, while the joys of Paradise are held up for the encouragement of the humble and penitent believer. Probable Date of the Revelations. It is generally agreed that this chapter belongs to Makkah. One writer, Umar Bin Muhammad, thinks it was written on the journey from Makkah to Madína. This opinion is based upon a mistaken interpretation of ver. 85. The opinion of those who regard vers. 52 and 53 as Madínic is unworthy of serious consideration, because Muhammad's experience at Madina would have prevented his declaring that the Jews and Christians believed the Qurán to be the Word of God. Vers. 76-82 are not a misplaced interpolation, as some have thought, but simply illustrate the fate of those who are mentioned in vers. 74, 75, as is evident by reference to ver. 83 seq. The chapter being Makkan, the next point is to fix its place there. Believing, as we may, that the story of Moses and Pharaoh here reflects the condition of the Muslims at the time it was enunciated, we may gather that there were two parties (ver. 3); that efforts were made to crush the weaker party (vers. 3, 4); that Muhammad was regarded as a sorcerer and deceiver (ver. 36); that Muhammad and his Quran were treated with great contempt, because of the opposition made to the national idolatry (vers. 38, 39); that Muhammad was charged with forging the Qurán, but received encouragement from certain Jewish, and perhaps Christian, converts vers. 48-53), and that the opposition to the Muslims was led by sorie powerful person at Makkah, probably Abu Lahab, as appears from the story of Qárún (vers. 76–82). To this may be added the allusion (in vers. 85-88) to the lapse of Muhammad, and to the Quraishite hatred of Muslims in ver. 69. These circumstances of the Muslims fit in very well with the history of Islám about the beginning of the fifth year of Muhammad's ministry, i.e., B.H. 9. Principal Subjects. Muhammad receives the story of Moses for the benefit of believers. Pharaoh oppresses the Israelites God determines to befriend the weak and to destroy op VERSES I, 2 3 4, 5 6 The anxiety of Moses's mother-his sister watches him. 7,8 Moses refuses the Egyptian nurse, and his mother is employed 11, 12 9, to Moses's mother directed to commit her child to the river |