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raise a witness out of every nation: then they who shall have been unbelievers shall not be suffered to excuse themselves, neither shall they be received into favour. And when they who shall have acted unjustly shall see the torment prepared for them; (it shall not be mitigated unto them, neither shall they be respited;) and when those who shall have been guilty of idolatry shall see their false gods, they shall say, O Lord, these are our idols which we invoked, besides thee. But they shall return an answer unto them, saying, Verily ye are liars. And on that day shall the wicked offer submission unto God; and the false deities which they imagined shall abandon them. As for those who shall have been infidels, and shall have turned aside others from the way of God, we will add unto them punishment upon punishment, because they have corrupted others. On a certain day we will raise up in every nation a witness against them, from among themselves; and we will bring thee, O Mohammed, as a witness against these Arabians. We have sent down unto thee the book of the Korân, for an explication of every thing necessary both as to faith and practice, and a direction, and mercy, and good tidings unto the Moslems. Verily God commandeth justice, and the doing of good, and the giving unto kindred what shall be necessary; and he forbiddeth wickedness, and iniquity, and oppression: he admonisheth you that ye may remember. Perform your covenant with God, when ye enter into covenant with him; and violate not your oaths, after the ratification thereof; since ye have made God a witness over you. Verily God knoweth that which ye do. And be not like unto her who undoeth that which she hath spun, untwisting it after she hath twisted it strongly; taking your oaths between you deceitfully, because one party is more numerous than another party. Verily God only tempteth you therein; and he will make that manifest unto you, on the day of resurrection, concerning which ye now disagree. If God had pleased, he would surely have made you one people: but he will lead into error whom he pleaseth, and he will direct whom he pleaseth; and ye shall surely give an acconnt of that which ye have done. Therefore take not your oaths between you deceitfully, lest your foot slip, after it hath been steadfastly fixed, and ye taste evil in this life, for that ye have turned aside from the way of God; and ye suffer a grievous punishment in the life to come. And sell not the covenant of God for a small price; for with God is a better recompense prepared for you, if ye be men of understanding. That which is with you will fail; but that which is with God is permanent: and we will surely reward those who shall persevere, according to the utmost merit of their actions. Whoso worketh righteousness, whether he be male or female, and is a true believer, we will surely raise him to a happy life; and we will give them their reward, according to the utmost merit of their actions. When thou readest the Korân, have recourse unto God, that he may preserve thee from Satan driven away with stones: he hath no power over those who be

lieve, and who put their confidence in their Lord; but his power is over those only, who take him for their patron, and who give companions unto God. When we substitute in the Korân an abrogating verse in lieu of a verse abrogated, (and God best knoweth the fitness of that which he revealeth,) the infidels say, Thou art only a forger of these verses: but the greater part of them know not truth from falsehood. Say, The holy spirit hath brought the same down from thy Lord with truth; that he may confirm those who believe, and for a direction and good tidings unto the Moslems. We also know that 'they say, Verily, a certain man teacheth him to compose the Korân. The tongue of the person unto whom they incline, is a foreign tongue; but this, wherein the Korân is written, is the perspicuous Arabic tongue. Moreover as for those who believe not in the signs of God, God will not direct them, and they shall suffer a painful torment: verily they imagine a falsehood who believe not in the signs of God, and they are really the liars. Whoever denieth God, after he hath believed, except him who shall be compelled against his will, and whose heart_continueth steadfast in the faith, shall be severely chastised: but whoever shall voluntarily profess infidelity, on those shall the indignation of God fall, and they shall suffer a grievous punishment. This shall be their sentence, because they have loved the present life above that which is to come, and for that God directeth not the unbelieving people. These are they whose hearts, and hearing, and sight God hath sealed up; and these are the negligent: there is no doubt but that in the next life they shall perish. Moreover thy Lord will be favourable unto those who have fled their country, after having suffered persecution, and been compelled to deny the faith by violence, and who have since sought in defence of the true religion, and have persevered with patience; verily unto these will thy Lord be gracious and merciful, after they shall have shown their sincerity. On a certain day shall every soul come to plead for itself, and every soul shall be repaid that which it shall have wrought; and they shall not be treated unjustly. God propoundeth as a parable a city which was secure and quiet, unto which her provisions came in abundance from every side: but she ungratefully denied the favours of God: wherefore God caused her to taste the extreme famine, and fear, because of that which they had done. And now is an apostle come unto the inhabitants of Mecca from among themselves; and they accuse him of imposture: wherefore a punishment shall be inflicted on them, while they are acting unjustly. Eat of what God hath given you for food, that which is lawful and good; and be thankful for the favours of God, if ye serve him. He hath only forbidden you that which dieth of itself, and blood, and swine's flesh, and that which hath been slain in the name of any, besides God. But unto him who shall be compelled by neces sity to eat of these things, not lusting nor wilfully transgressing, God will surely be gracious and merciful. And say not that wherein your

tongues utter a lie; This is lawful, and this is unlawful; that ye may devise a lie concerning God: for they who devise a lie concerning God, shall not prosper. They shall have small enjoyment in this world, and in that which is to come they shall suffer a grievous torment. Unto the Jews did we forbid that which we have told thee formally and we did them no injury in that respect; but they injured their own souls. Moreover thy Lord will be favourable unto those who do evil through ignorance; and afterwards repent and amend: verily unto these will thy Lord be gracious and merciful, after their repentance. Abraham was a model of true religion, obedient unto God, orthodox, and was not an idolater: he was also grateful for his benefits: wherefore God chose him, and directed him into the right way. And we bestowed on him good in this world; and in the next he shall surely be one of the righteous. We have also spoken unto thee, O Mohammed, by revelation, saying, Follow the religion of Abraham, who was orthodox, and was no idolater. The sabbath was only appointed unto those who differed with their prophet concerning it; and thy Lord will surely judge between them, on the day of resurrection, as to that concerning which they differed. Invite men unto the way of thy Lord, by wisdom, and mild exhortation; and dispute with them in the most condescending manner: for thy Lord well knoweth him who strayeth from his path, and he well knoweth those who are rightly directed. If ye take vengeance on any, take a vengeance proportionable to the wrong which hath been done you; but if ye suffer wrong patiently, verily this will be better for the patient. Wherefore do thou bear opposition with patience; but thy patience shall not be practicable, unless with God's assistAnd be not thou grieved on account of the unbelievers; neither be thou troubled for that which they subtilely devise; for God is with those who fear him, and are upright.

ance.

CHAPTER XVII.

ENTITLED, THE NIGHT-JOURNEY; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD

(XV.) PRAISE be unto him, who transported his servant by night, from the sacred temple of Mecca to the father temple of Jerusalem, the circuit of which we have blessed, that we might show him some of our signs; for God is he who heareth, and seeth. And we gave unto Moses the book of the law, and appointed the same to be a direction unto the children of Israel, commanding them, saying, Beware that ye take not any other patron besides me. O posterity of those whom we carried in the ark with Noah: verily he was a grateful servant. And we expressly declared unto the children of Israel in the book of the law, saying, Ye will surely commit evil in

the earth twice, and ye will be elated with great insolence. And when the punishment threatened for the first of those transgressions came to be executed, we sent against you our servants, endued with exceeding strength in war, and they searched the inner apartments of your houses; and the prediction became accomplished. Afterwards we gave you the victory over them, in your turn, and we granted you increase of wealth and children, and we made you a more numerous people, saying, If ye do well, ye will do well to your own souls; and if ye do evil, ye will do it unto the same. And when the punishment threatened for your latter transgression come to be executed, we we sent enemies against you, to afflict you, and to enter the temple, as they entered it the first time, and utterly to destroy that which they had conquered. Peradventure your Lord will have mercy on you hereafter: but if ye return to transgress a third time, we also will return to chastise you; and we have appointed hell to be the prison of the unbelievers. Verily this Korân directeth unto the way which is most right, and declareth unto the faithful, who do good works, that they shall receive a great reward; and that for those who believe_not in the life to come, we have prepared a grievous punishment. Man prayeth for evil, as he prayeth for good; for man is hasty. We have ordained the night and the day for two signs of our power: afterwards we blot out the sign of the night, and we cause the sign of the day to shine forth, that ye may endeavour to obtain plenty from your Lord by doing your business therein, and that ye may know the number of years, and the computation of time; and everything necessary have we explained by a perspicuous explication. The fate of every man have we bound about his neck; and we will produce unto him, on the day of resurrection, a book where in his actions shall be recorded: it shall be offered him open, andthe angels shall say unto him, Read thy book; thine own soul will be a sufficient accountant against thee, this day. He who shall be rightly directed, shall be directed to the advantage only of his own soul; and he who shall err, shall err only against the same: neither shall any laden soul be charged with the burthen of another. We did not punish any people, until we had first sent an apostle to warn them. And when we resolved to destroy a city, we commanded the inhabitants thereof, who lived in affluence, to obey our apostle; but they acted corruptly therein: wherefore the sentence was justly pronounced against that city; and we destroyed it with an utter destruction. And how many generations have we consumed since Noah? for thy Lord sufficiently knoweth and seeth the sins of his servants. Whosoever chooseth this transitory life, we will bestow on him therein beforehand that which we please; on him, namely, whom we please: afterwards will we 'appoint him hell for his abode; he shall be thrown into the same to be scorched, covered with ignominy, and utterly rejected from mercy. But whosoever chooseth the life to come, and directeth his

endeavour towards the same, being also a true believer; the endeavour of these shall be acceptable unto God. On all will we bestow the blessings of this life, both on these and on those, of the gift of thy Lord; for the gift of thy Lord shall not be denied unto any. Behold, how we have caused some of them to surpass others in wealth and dignity: but the next life shall be more considerable in degrees of honour, and greater in excellence. Set not up another God with the true God, lest thou sit down in disgrace, and destitute. Thy Lord hath commanded that ye worship none, besides him; and that ye show kindness unto your parents, whether the one of them, or both of them attain to old age with thee. Wherefore say not unto them, Fie on you! neither reproach them, but speak respectfully unto them; and submit to behave humbly towards them, out of tender affection, and say, O Lord, have mercy on them both, as they nursed me when I was little. Your Lord well knoweth that which is in your souls; whether ye be men of integrity: and he will be gracious unto those who sincerely return unto him. And give unto him who is of kin to you his due, and also unto the poor, and the traveller. And waste not thy substance profusely: for the profuse are brethren of the devils: and the devil was ungrateful unto his Lord. But if thou turn from them, in expectation of the mercy which thou hopest from thy Lord; at least, speak kindly unto them. And let not thy hand be tied up to thy neck; neither open it with an unbounded expansion, lest thou become worthy of reprehension, and be reduced to poverty. Verity thy Lord will enlarge the store of whom he pleaseth; and will be sparing unto whom he pleaseth; for he knoweth and regardeth his servants. Kill not your children for fear of being brought to want; we will provide for them and for you: verily the killing them is a great sin. Draw not near unto fornication; for it is wickedness, and an evil way. Neither slay the soul which God hath forbidden you to slay, unless for a just cause; and whosoever shall be slain unjustly, we have given his heir power to demand satisfaction; but let him not exceed the bounds of moderation in putting to death the murderer in too cruel a manner, or by revenging his friend's blood on any other than the person who killed him; since he is assisted by this law. And meddle not with the substance of the orphan, unless it be to improve it, until he attain his age of strength: and perform your covenant; for the performance of your covenant shall be inquired into hereafter. And give full measure, when you measure ought; and weigh with a just balance. This will be better, and more easy for determining every man's due. And follow not that whereof thou hast no knowledge; for the hearing, and the sight, and the heart, every of these shall be examined at the last day. Walk not proudly in the land, for thou canst not cleave the earth, neither shalt thou equal the mountains in stature. All this is evil, and abominable in the sight of thy Lord. These precepts are a part of the wisdom which thy Lord hath revealed unto thee. Set not up any other god

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