CHAPTER LII.

ENTITLED, THE MOUNTAIN; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

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; 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 the 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 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 decrees? Do they seek to lay a plot against thee? But the unbelievers are they who shall be circumvented. 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.

CHAPTER LIII.

ENTITLED, THE STAR; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD,

By the star, when it setteth; your companion Mohammed erreth not, nor is he led astray: neither doth he speak of his own will. It is no other than a revelation, which hath been revealed unto him. One mighty in power, endued with understanding, taught it him: and he appeared in the highest part of the horizon. Afterwards he approached the prophet, and drew near unto him; until he was at the distance of two bows' length from him, or yet nearer: and he revealed unto his servant that which he revealed. The heart of Mohammed did not falsely represent that which he saw. Will ye therefore dispute with him concerning that which he saw? He also saw him another time, by the lote-tree beyond which there is no passing near it is the garden of eternal abode. When the lote-tree covered that which it covered, his eyesight turned not aside, neither did it wander: and he really beheld some of the greatest signs of his Lord. What think ye of Allât, and al Uzza, and Manah, that other

third goddess? Have ye male children, and God female? This, therefore, is an unjust partition. They are no other than empty names, which ye and your fathers have named goddesses. God hath not revealed concerning them anything to authorize their wor ship. They follow no other than a vain opinion, and what their souls desire: yet hath the true direction come unto them from their Lord Shall man have whatever he wisheth for? The life to come and the present life are God's; and how many angels soever there be in the heavens, their intercession shall be of no avail, until after God shall have granted permission unto whom he shall please and shall accept. Verily they who believe not in the life to come give unto the angels a female appellation. But they have no knowledge herein: they follow no other than a bare opinion; and a bare opinion attaineth not anything of truth. Wherefore withdraw from him who turneth away from our admonition, and seeketh only the present life. This is their highest pitch of knowledge. Verily thy Lord well knoweth him who erreth from his way; and he well knoweth him who is rightly directed. Unto God belongeth whatever is in heaven and earth: that he may reward those who do evil, according to that which they shall have wrought: and may reward those who do well, with the most excellent reward. As to those who avoid great crimes and heinous sins, and are guilty only of lighter faults; verily thy Lord will be extensive in mercy towards them. He well knew you when he produced you out of the earth, and when ye were embryos in your mothers' wombs: wherefore justify not yourselves: he best knoweth the man who feareth him. What thinkest thou of him who turneth aside from following the truth, and giveth little, and covetously stoppeth his hand? Is the knowledge of futurity with him, so that he seeth the same? Hath he not been informed of that which is contained in the books of Moses, and of Abraham who faithfully performed his engagements? To wit: that a burdened soul shall not bear the burden of another; and that nothing shall be imputed to a man for righteousness, except his own labour; and that his reward shall surely be made manifest hereafter, and that he shall be rewarded for the same with a most abundant reward; and that unto thy Lord will be the end of all things; and that he causeth to laugh, and causeth to weep; and that he putteth to death, and giveth life; and that he createth the two sexes, the male and the female, of seed when it is emitted; and that unto him appertaineth another production, namely, the raising af the dead again to life hereafter; and that he enricheth, and causeth to acquire possession; and that he is the Lord of the dog-star; and that he destroyed the ancient tribe of Ad and Thamud, and left not any of them alive, and also the people of Noah, before them; for they were most unjust and wicked: and he overthrew the cities which were turned upside down; and that which covered them, covered them. Which, therefore, of thy Lord's benefits, O man, wilt thou call in question? This our apostle is a preacher like the preachers who preceded him. The

approaching day of judgment draweth near: there is none who can reveal the exact time of the same, besides God. Do ye, therefore, wonder at this new revelation; and do ye laugh, and not weep, spending your time in idle diversions? But rather worship God, and serve him.

CHAPTER LIV.

ENTITLED, THE MOON; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

THE hour of judgment approacheth; and the moon hath been split in sunder: but if the unbelievers see a sign, they turn aside, saying, This is a powerful charm. And they accuse thee, O Mohammed, of imposture, and follow their own lusts: but everything will be im mutably fixed. And now hath a message come unto them, wherein is a determent from obstinate infidelity; the same being consummate wisdom: but warners profit them not; wherefore do thou withdraw from them. The day whereon the summoner shall summon mankind to an ungrateful business, they shall come forth from their graves with downcast looks: numerous as locusts scattered far abroad; hastening with terror unto the summoner. The unbelievers shall say, this is a day of distress. The people of Noah accused that prophet of imposture, before thy people rejected thee: they accused our servant of imposture, saying, He is a madman; and he was rejected with reproach. He called, therefore, upon his Lord, saying, Verily, I am overpowered, wherefore avenge me. So we opened the gates of heaven with water pouring down, and we caused the earth to break forth into.springs; so that the water of heaven and earth met, according to the decree which had been established. And we bare him on a vessel composed of planks and nails; which moved forward under our eyes: as a recompense unto him who had been ungratefully rejected. And we left the said vessel for a sign. but is any one warned thereby? And how severe was my vengeance and my threatening! Now have we made the Korân easy for admonition. but is any one admonished thereby? Ad charged their prophet with imposture: but how severe was my vengeance and my threatening! Verily we sent against them a roaring wind, on a day of con tinued ill luck: it carried men away, as though they had been roots of palm-trees forcibly torn up. And how severe was my vengeance and my threatening! Now have we made the Korân easy for admonition: but is any one admonished thereby? Thamud charged the admonitions of their prophet with falsehood, and said, Shall we follow a single man among us? verily we should then be guilty of error and preposterous madness: is the office of admonition committed unto him preferably to the rest of us? Nay; he is a liar and an in

solent fellow. But God said to Saleh, To-morrow shall they know who is the liar and the insolent person: for we will surely send the she-camel for a trial of them; and do thou observe them, and bear their insults with patience: and prophesy unto them that the water shall be divided between them, and each portion shall be sat down to alternately. And they called their companion: and he took a sword, and slew her. But how severe was my vengeance and my threatening! For we sent against them one cry of the angel Gabriel, and they became like the dry sticks used by him who buildeth a fold for cattle. And now have we made the Korân easy for admonition: but is any one admonished thereby? The people of Lot charged his preaching with falsehood: but we sent against them a wind driving a shower of stones, which destroyed them all except the family of Lot; whom we delivered early in the morning, through favour from us. Thus do we reward those who are thankful. And Lot had warned them of our severity in chastising; but they doubted of that warning. And they demanded his guests of him, that they might abuse them: but we put out their eyes, saying, Taste my vengeance, and my threatening. And early in the morning a lasting punishment surprised them. Taste, therefore, my vengeance, and my threatening. Now have we made the Koran easy for admonition: but is any one admonished thereby? The warning of Moses also came unto the people of Pharaoh; but they charged every one of our signs with imposture: wherefore we chastised them with a mighty and irresistible chastisement. Are your unbelievers, O Meccans, better than these? Is immunity from punishment promised unto you in the scriptures? Do they say, We are a body of men able to prevail against our enemies? The multitude shall surely be put to flight, and shall turn their back. But the hour of judgment is their threatened time of punishment: and that hour shall be more grievous and more bitter than their afflictions in this life. Verily the wicked wander in error, and shall be tormented hereafter in burning flames. On that day they shall be dragged into the fire on their faces; and it shall be said unto them, Taste ye the touch of hell. All things have we created bound by a fixed decree: and our command is no more than a single word, like the twinkling of an eye. We have formerly destroyed nations like unto you; but is any of you warned by their example? Everything which they do is recorded in the books kept by the guardian angels: and every action, both small and great, is written down in the preserved table. Moreover the pious shall dwell among gardens and rivers, in the assembly of truth, in the presence of a most potent king.