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The Koran

J.M. Rodwell (translator)

Section 10 of 27 - Table of Contents
SURA XXV.-AL FURKAN [LXVI.]

MECCA.-77 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

BLESSED be He who hath sent down AL FURKAN1 (the illumination) on his
servant, that to all creatures he may be a warner.

His the Kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! No son hath He begotten! No
partner hath He in his Empire! All things hath He created, and decreeing hath
decreed their destinies.

Yet have they adopted gods beside Him which have created nothing, but were
themselves created:

And no power have they over themselves for evil or for good, nor have they
power of death, or of life, or of raising the dead.

And the infidels say, "This Koran is a mere fraud of his own devising, and
others have helped him with it,2 who had come hither by outrage and lie."3

And they say, "Tales of the ancients that he hath put in writing! and they
were dictated to him morn and even."

SAY: He hath sent it down who knoweth the secrets of the Heavens and of the
Earth. He truly is the Gracious, the Merciful.

And they say, "What sort of apostle is this? He eateth food and he walketh
the streets! Unless an angel be sent down and take part in his warnings,

Or a treasure be thrown down to him, or he have a garden that supplieth him
with food . . ."4 and those unjust persons say, "Ye follow but a man
enchanted."

See what likenesses they strike out for thee! But they err, and cannot find
their way.

Blessed be He who if he please can give thee better than that of which they
speak-Gardens, 'neath which the rivers flow: and pavilions will He assign
thee.

Aye, they have treated the coming of "the Hour" as a lie. But a flaming fire
have we got ready for those who treat the coming of the Hour as a lie.

When it shall see them from afar, they shall hear its raging and roaring,-

And when they shall be flung into a narrow space thereof bound together, they
shall invoke destruction on the spot:

-"Call not this day for one destruction, but call for destructions many."

SAY: Is this, or the Paradise of Eternity which was promised to the God-
fearing, best? Their recompense shall it be and their retreat;

Abiding therein for ever, they shall have in it all that they desire! It is a
promise to be claimed of thy Lord.

And on the day when he shall gather them together, and those whom they
worshipped beside God, he will say, "Was it ye who led these my servants
astray, or of themselves strayed they from the path?"

They will say, "Glory be to thee! It beseemed not us to take other lords than
thee. But thou gavest them and their fathers their fill of good things, till
they forgat the remembrance of thee, and became a lost people."

Then will God say to the Idolaters, "Now have they made you liars in what ye
say,5 and they have no power to avert your doom, or to succour you."

And whosoever of you thus offendeth, we will make him taste a great
punishment.

Never have we sent Apostles before thee who ate not common food, and walked
not the streets. And we test you by means of each other. Will ye be
steadfast? Thy Lord is looking on!

They who look not forward to meet Us say, "If the angels be not sent down to
us, or unless we behold our Lord. . . .”  Ah! they are proud of heart, and
exceed with great excess!

On the day when they shall see the angels, no good news shall there be for
the guilty ones, and they shall cry out, "A barrier that cannot be passed!"6

Then will we proceed to the works which they have wrought, and make them as
scattered dust.

Happier, on that day, the inmates of the Garden as to abode, and better off
as to place of noontide slumber!

On that day shall the heaven with its clouds be cleft, and the angels shall
be sent down, descending:

On that day shall all empire be in very deed with the God of Mercy, and a
hard day shall it be for the Infidels.

And on that day shall the wicked one7 bite his hands, and say, "Oh! would
that I had taken the same path with the Apostle!

"Oh! woe is me! would that I had not taken such an one8 for my friend!

It was he who led me astray from the Warning which had reached me! and Satan
is man's betrayer."9

Then said the Apostle, "O my Lord! truly my people have esteemed this Koran
to be vain babbling."

Thus have we given to every Prophet an enemy from among the wicked ones-But
thy Lord is a sufficient guide and helper.

And the infidels say, "Unless the Koran be sent down to him all at once. . .
." But in this way would we stablish thy heart by it; in parcels have we
parcelled it out to thee;10

Nor shall they come to thee with puzzling questions,11 but we will come to
thee with the truth, and their best solution.

They who shall be gathered upon their faces into hell, shall have the worst
place, and be farthest from the path of happiness.

Heretofore we gave the law to Moses, and appointed his brother Aaron to be
his counsellor:12

And we said, "Go ye to the people who treat our signs as lies." And them
destroyed we with utter destruction.

And as to the people of Noah! when they treated their Apostles as impostors,
we drowned them; and we made them a sign to mankind:-A grievous chastisement
have we prepared for the wicked!

And Ad and Themoud, and the men of Rass,13 and divers generations between
them:

Unto each of them did we set forth parables for warnings, and each of them
did we utterly exterminate.

Oft are this have the unbelieving Meccans passed by the city on which was
rained a fatal rain. What! Have they not seen it? Yet have they no hope of a
resurrection!

And when they see thee, they do but take thee as the subject of their
railleries. "What! Is this he whom God has sent as an Apostle?

Indeed he had well nigh led us astray from our gods, had we not persevered
steadfastly in their service." But in the end they shall know, when they
shall see the punishment, who hath most strayed from the path.

What thinkest thou? He who hath taken his passions as a god-wilt thou be a
guardian over him?

Thinkest thou that the greater part of them hear or understand? They are just
like the brutes! Yes! they stray even further from the right way.

Hast thou not seen how thy Lord lengtheneth out the shadow?14 Had He pleased
he had made it motionless.15 But we made the sun to be its guide;

Then draw it in unto Us with easy indrawing.

He it is who ordaineth the night as a garment, and sleep for rest, and
ordaineth the day for waking up to life:

He it is who sendeth the winds as the forerunner of his mercy (rain); and
pure water send we down from Heaven,

That we may revive by it a dead land: and we give it for drink to our
creation, beasts and men in numbers;

And we distribute it among them on all sides, that they may reflect: but most
men refuse to be aught but thankless.

Had we pleased, we had raised up a warner in every city.

Give not way therefore to the Infidels, but by means of this Koran strive
against them with a mighty strife.

And He it is who hath let loose the two seas,16 the one sweet, fresh; and the
other salt, bitter; and hath put an interspace between them, and a barrier
that cannot be passed.

And it is He who hath created man of water,17 and established between them
the ties of kindred and affinity: and potent is thy Lord.

Yet beside God do they worship what can neither help nor hurt them: and the
Infidel is Satan's helper against his Lord:

Still we have sent thee only as a herald and a warner.

SAY: I ask of you no recompense for it,18 except from him who is willing to
take the way to his Lord.

And put thou thy trust in Him that liveth and dieth not, and celebrate his
praise; (He fully knoweth the faults of his servants) who in six days created
the Heavens and the Earth, and whatever is between them, then mounted his
Throne: the God of Mercy! Ask now of the Wise concerning Him.

But when it is said to them, "Bow down before the God of Mercy," they say,
"Who is the God of Mercy? Shall we bow down to what thou biddest?" And they
fly from thee the more.

Blessed be He who hath placed in the Heaven the sign of the Zodiac!19 who
hath placed in it the Lamp of the Sun, and the light-giving Moon!

And it is He who hath ordained the night and the day to succeed one another
for those who desire to think on God or desire to be thankful.

And the servants of the God of Mercy are they who walk upon the Earth softly;
and when the ignorant20 address them, they reply, "Peace!"

They that pass the night in the worship of their lord prostrate and
standing:-

And that say, "O our Lord! turn away from us the torment of Hell, for its
torment is endless: it is indeed an ill abode and resting place!

Those who when they spend are neither lavish nor niggard, but keep the mean:-

Those who call on no other gods with God, nor slay whom God hath forbidden to
be slain, except for a just cause, and who commit not fornication (for he who
doth this shall meet the reward of his wickedness:

Doubled to him shall be the torment on the day of Resurrection; and in it
shall he remain, disgraced, for ever:-

Save those who shall repent and believe and do righteous works-for them God
will change their evil things into good things, for God is Gracious,
Merciful-

And whose turneth to God and doeth what is right, he verily will convert with
a true conversion):

And they who bear not witness to that which is false, and when they pass by
frivolous sport, pass on with dignity:-

And they who, when monished by the signs of their Lord, fall not down
thereat, as if deaf and blind:-

And who say, "O our Lord! give us in our wives and offspring the joy of our
eyes, and make us examples to those who fear thee:"

These shall be rewarded with the High Places of Paradise for their steadfast
endurance, and they shall meet therein with-Welcome and Salutation:-

For ever shall they remain therein: a fair abode and resting-place!

SAY: Not on your account doth my Lord care if ye call not on Him! ye have
treated his Apostle as an impostor: but bye and bye a punishment shall cleave
to them.


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1 See Sura [lxv.] xxi. 49.

2 Comp. Sura [lxxiii.] xvi. 105. The frequency with which Muhammad feels it
necessary to rebut this charge by mere denial is strongly indicative of its
truth.

3 "The meaning may possibly be that the teachers of Muhammad were persons who
had taken refuge in Arabia for offences and heresies." Sprenger, Life of M.
p. 96, n. Or, but they utter an injustice and a falsehood. Nöldeke combats
Dr. Sprenger's supposition that "Tales of the ancients" (verse 6) is a book.
Hist. of Qoran, p. 13.

4 Supply, we will not believe.

5 In your ascriptions of divinity to them. Beidh.

6 Or, far, far be they removed. The same words occur at the end of verse 55.
The Commentators doubt whether they are spoken by the wicked of the
impossibility of their attaining Paradise, or by the angels to the wicked.

7 Said by Beidh. to be the polytheist Okbeh, the son of Abu Mo'eyt, who by
Muhammad's persuasion professed Islam, but afterwards retracted to please
Ubei ben Khalaf. See Gagnier's Vie de Mahom. i. 362.

8 Ar. fulani (whence the Spanish fulano) identical with the Heb. p. 155, used
of a person only in Ruth iv. 1, but by the Rabbinic writers, constantly.

9 Or, abandoner.

10 This verse shews that the Koran was of gradual growth in the time of
Muhammad himself.

11 Lit. parables.

12 Lit. vizier.

13 It is uncertain whether Rass is the name of a city in Yemama; or merely,
as some interpret it, of a well near Midian; or, according to others, in the
territory of Hadramont.

14 Geiger is mistaken in supposing that this passage alludes to 2 Kings xx. 9
12, and his translation is inaccurate.

15 Lit. quiescent, i.e. always the same.

16 According to some commentators, Muhammad here speaks of the waters of the
Tigris, which do not mingle with the salt water of the sea till they have
reached a considerable distance from the river-mouth. See Zech. xiv. 8.

17 See Sura [cv.] xxiv. 44, n.

18 "Thou art taught that whoever would make a profit by the Law depriveth
himself of life." Pirke Aboth, i. 4. This precept is of frequent occurrence
in the Talmud.

19 Comp. Sura [xc.] xiii. 29; and the following Sura xvii. 109, n.

20 The idolaters.


SURA XVII.-THE NIGHT JOURNEY [LXVII.]

MECCA.1-111 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

GLORY be to Him who carried his servant by night2 from the sacred temple of
Mecca to the temple3 that is more remote, whose precinct we have blessed,
that we might shew him of our signs! for He is the Hearer, the Seer.

And4 we gave the Book to Moses and ordained it for guidance to the children
of Israel-"that ye take no other Guardian than me."

O posterity of those whom we bare with Noah! He truly was a grateful servant!

And we solemnly declared to the children of Israel in the Book, "Twice surely
will ye enact crimes in the earth, and with great loftiness of pride will ye
surely be uplifted."

So when the menace for the first crime5 came to be inflicted, we sent against
you our servants endued with terrible prowess; and they searched the inmost
part of your abodes, and the menace was accomplished.

Then we gave you the mastery over them6 in turn, and increased you in wealth
and children, and made you a most numerous host.

We said, "If ye do well, to your own behoof will ye do well: and if ye do
evil, against yourselves will ye do it. And when the menace for your latter
crime7 came to be inflicted, then we sent an enemy to sadden your faces, and
to enter the temple as they entered it at first, and to destroy with utter
destruction that which they had conquered.

Haply your Lord will have mercy on you! but if ye return, we will return:8
and we have appointed Hell-the prison of the infidels.

Verily, this Koran guideth to what is most upright; and it announceth to
believers

Who do the things that are right, that for them is a great reward;

And that for those who believe not in the life to come, we have got ready a
painful punishment.

Man prayeth for evil as he prayeth for good; for man is hasty.

We have made the night and the day for two signs: the sign of the night do we
obscure, but the sign of the day cause we to shine forth, that ye may seek
plenty from your Lord, and that ye may know the number of the years and the
reckoning of time; and we have made everything distinct by distinctiveness.

And every man's fate9 have we fastened about his neck: and on the day of
resurrection will we bring forth to him a book which shall be proffered to
him wide open:

-"Read thy Book:10 there needeth none but thyself to make out an account
against thee this day."

For his own good only shall the guided yield to guidance, and to his own loss
only shall the erring err; and the heavy laden shall not be laden with
another's load. We never punished until we had first sent an apostle:

And when we willed to destroy a city, to its affluent ones did we address our
bidding; but when they acted criminally therein, just was its doom, and we
destroyed it with an utter destruction.

And since Noah, how many nations have we exterminated! And of the sins of his
servants thy Lord is sufficiently informed, observant.

Whoso chooseth this quickly passing life, quickly will we bestow therein that
which we please-even on him we choose; afterward we will appoint hell for
him, in which he shall burn-disgraced, outcast:

But whoso chooseth the next life, and striveth after it as it should be
striven for, being also a believer,-these! their striving shall be grateful
to God:

To all-both to these and those-will we prolong the gifts of thy Lord; for not
to any shall the gifts of thy Lord be denied.

See how we have caused some of them to excel others! but the next life shall
be greater in its grades, and greater in excellence.

Set not up another god with God, lest thou sit thee down disgraced,
helpless.11

Thy Lord hath ordained that ye worship none but him; and, kindness to your
parents, whether one or both of them attain to old age with thee: and say not
to them, "Fie!" neither reproach them; but speak to them both with respectful
speech;

And defer humbly to them12 out of tenderness; and say, "Lord, have compassion
on them both, even as they reared me when I was little."

Your Lord well knoweth what is in your souls; he knoweth whether ye be
righteous:

And gracious is He to those who return to Him.

And to him who is of kin render his due, and also to the poor and to the
wayfarer; yet waste not wastefully,

For the wasteful are brethren of the Satans, and Satan was ungrateful to his
Lord:

But if thou turn away from them, while thou thyself seekest boons from thy
Lord for which thou hopest, at least speak to them with kindly speech:

And let not thy hand be tied up to thy neck; nor yet open it with all
openness, lest thou sit thee down in rebuke, in beggary.

Verily, thy Lord will provide with open hand for whom he pleaseth, and will
be sparing. His servants doth he scan, inspect.

Kill not your children for fear of want:13 for them and for you will we
provide. Verily, the killing them is a great wickedness.

Have nought to do with adultery; for it is a foul thing and an evil way:

Neither slay any one whom God hath forbidden you to slay, unless for a just
cause: and whosoever shall be slain wrongfully, to his heir14 have we given
powers; but let him not outstep bounds in putting the manslayer to death, for
he too, in his turn, will be assisted and avenged.

And touch not the substance of the orphan, unless in an upright way, till he
attain his age of strength: And perform your covenant; verily the covenant
shall be enquired of:

And give full measure when you measure, and weigh with just balance. This
will be better, and fairest for settlement:

And follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge;15 because the hearing
and the sight and the heart,-each of these shall be enquired of:

And walk not proudly on the earth, for thou canst not cleave the earth,
neither shalt thou reach to the mountains in height:

All this is evil; odious to thy Lord.

This is a part of the wisdom which thy Lord hath revealed to thee. Set not up
any other god with God, lest thou be cast into Hell, rebuked, cast away.

What! hath your Lord prepared sons for you, and taken for himself daughters
from among the angels? Indeed, ye say a dreadful saying.

Moreover, for man's warning have we varied16 this Koran: Yet it only
increaseth their flight from it.

SAY: If, as ye affirm, there were other gods with Him, they would in that
case seek occasion against the occupant of the throne:

Glory to Him! Immensely high is He exalted above their blasphemies!

The seven heavens17 praise him, and the earth, and all who are therein;
neither is there aught which doth not celebrate his praise; but their
utterances of praise ye understand not. He is kind, indulgent.

When thou recitest the Koran we place between thee and those who believe not
in the life to come, a dark veil;

And we put coverings over their hearts lest they should understand it, and in
their ears a heaviness;

And when in the Koran thou namest thy One Lord, they turn their backs in
flight.

We well know why they hearken, when they hearken unto thee, and when they
whisper apart; when the wicked say, "Ye follow no other than a man
enchanted."

See what likenesses they strike out for thee! But they are in error, neither
can they find the path.

They also say, "After we shall have become bones and dust, shall we in sooth
be raised a new creation?"

SAY: "Yes, though ye were stones, or iron, or any other creature, to your
seeming, yet harder to be raised." But they will say, "Who shall bring us
back?" SAY: "He who created you at first." And they will wag their heads at
thee, and say, "When shall this be?" SAY: "Haply it is nigh."

On that day shall God call you forth, and ye shall answer by praising Him;
and ye shall seem to have tarried but a little while.

Enjoin my servants to speak in kindly sort: Verily Satan would stir up
strifes among them, for Satan is man's avowed foe.

Your Lord well knoweth you: if He please He will have mercy on you; or if He
please He will chastise you: and we have not sent thee to be a guardian over
them.

Thy Lord hath full knowledge of all in the heavens and the earth. Higher
gifts have we given to some of the prophets than to others, and the Psalter
we gave to David.

SAY: Call ye upon those whom ye fancy to be gods beside Him; yet they will
have no power to relieve you from trouble, or to shift it elsewhere.

Those whom ye call on, themselves desire union with their Lord,18 striving
which of them shall be nearest to him: they also hope for his mercy and fear
his chastisement. Verily the chastisement of thy Lord is to be dreaded.

There is no city which we will not destroy before the day of Resurrection, or
chastise it with a grievous chastisement. This is written in the Book.

Nothing hindered us from sending thee with the power of working miracles,
except that the peoples of old treated them as lies. We gave to Themoud19 the
she-camel before their very eyes, yet they maltreated her! We send not a
prophet with miracles but to strike terror.

And remember when we said to thee, Verily, thy Lord is round about mankind;
we ordained the vision20 which we shewed thee, and likewise the cursed tree
of the Koran, only for men to dispute of; we will strike them with terror;
but it shall only increase in them enormous wickedness:

And when we said to the Angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam:" and they
all prostrated them, save Eblis. "What!" said he, "shall I bow me before him
whom thou hast created of clay?

Seest thou this man whom thou hast honoured above me? Verily, if thou respite
me till the day of Resurrection, I will destroy his offspring, except a few."

He said, "Begone; but whosoever of them shall follow thee, verily, Hell shall
be your recompense; an ample recompense!

And entice such of them as thou canst by thy voice; assault them with thy
horsemen and thy footmen;21 be their partner in their riches and in their
children, and make them promises: but Satan shall make them only deceitful
promises.

As to my servants, no power over them shalt thou have; And thy Lord will be
their sufficient guardian."

It is your Lord who speedeth onward the ships for you in the sea, that ye may
seek of his abundance; for he is merciful towards you.

When a misfortune befalleth you out at sea, they whom ye invoke are not to be
found: God alone is there: yet when he bringeth you safe to dry land, ye
place yourselves at a distance from Him. Ungrateful is man.

What! are ye sure, then, that he will not cleave the sides of the earth for
you? or that he will not send against you a whirlwind charged with sands?
Then shall ye find no protector.

Or are ye sure that he will not cause you to put back to sea a second time,
and send against you a storm blast, and drown you, for that ye have been
thankless? Then shall ye find no helper against us therein.

And now have we honoured the children of Adam: by land and by sea have we
carried them: food have we provided for them of good things, and with
endowments beyond many of our creatures have we endowed them.

One day we will summon all men with their leaders: they whose book shall be
given into their right hand, shall read their book, and not be wronged a
thread:

And he who has been blind here, shall be blind hereafter, and wander yet more
from the way.

And, verily, they had well nigh beguiled thee from what we revealed to thee,
and caused thee to invent some other thing in our name: but in that case they
would surely have taken thee as a friend;22

And had we not settled thee, thou hadst well nigh leaned to them a little:

In that case we would surely have made thee taste of woe23 in life and of woe
in death: then thou shouldest not have found a helper against us.

And truly they had almost caused thee to quit the land, in order wholly to
drive thee forth from it:24 but then, themselves should have tarried but a
little after thee.

This was our way with the Apostles we have already sent before thee, and in
this our way thou shalt find no change.

Observe prayer at sunset, till the first darkening of the night, and the
daybreak reading-for the daybreak reading hath its witnesses,

And watch unto it in the night: this shall be an excess in service:25 it may
be that thy Lord will raise thee to a glorious station:

And say, "O my Lord, cause me to enter26 with a perfect entry, and to come
forth with a perfect forthcoming, and give me from thy presence a helping
power:"

And SAY: Truth is come and falsehood is vanished. Verily, falsehood is a
thing that vanisheth.

And we send down of the Koran that which is a healing and a mercy to the
faithful: But it shall only add to the ruin of the wicked.

When we bestow favours on man, he withdraweth and goeth aside; but when evil
toucheth him, he is despairing.

SAY: Every one acteth after his own manner: but your Lord well knoweth who is
best guided in his path.

And they will ask thee of the Spirit.27 SAY: The Spirit proceedeth at my
Lord's command: but of knowledge, only a little to you is given.

If we pleased, we could take away what we have revealed to thee: none couldst
thou then find thee to undertake thy cause with us,

Save as a mercy from thy Lord; great, verily, is his favour towards thee.

SAY: Verily, were men and Djinn assembled to produce the like of this Koran,
they could not produce its like, though the one should help the other.

And of a truth we have set out to men every kind of similitude in this Koran,
but most men have refused everything except unbelief.

And they say, "By no means will we believe on thee till thou cause a fountain
to gush forth for us from the earth;

Or, till thou have a garden of palm-trees and grapes, and thou cause forth-
gushing rivers to gush forth in its midst;

Or thou make the heaven to fall on us, as thou hast given out, in pieces; or
thou bring God and the angels to vouch for thee;

Or thou have a house of gold; or thou mount up into Heaven; nor will we
believe in thy mounting up, till thou send down to us a book which we may
read." SAY: Praise be to my Lord! Am I more than a man, an apostle?

And what hindereth men from believing, when the guidance hath come to them,
but that they say, "Hath God sent a man as an apostle?"

SAY: Did angels walk the earth as its familiars, we had surely sent them an
angel-apostle out of Heaven.

SAY: God is witness enough between you and me. His servants He scanneth,
eyeth.

And He whom God shall guide will be guided indeed; and whom he shall mislead
thou shalt find none to assist, but Him: and we will gather them together on
the day of the resurrection, on their faces, blind and dumb and deaf: Hell
shall be their abode: so oft as its fires die down, we will rekindle the
flame.

This shall be their reward for that they believed not our signs and said,
"When we shall have become bones and dust, shall we surely be raised a new
creation?"

Do they not perceive that God, who created the Heavens and the Earth, is able
to create their like? And he hath ordained them a term; there is no doubt of
it: but the wicked refuse everything except unbelief.

SAY: If ye held the treasures of my Lord's mercy ye would certainly refrain
from them through fear of spending them: for man is covetous.

We therefore gave to Moses nine clear signs. Ask thou, therefore, the
children of Israel how it was when he came unto them, and Pharaoh said to
him, "Verily, I deem thee, O Moses, a man enchanted."

Said Moses, "Thou knowest that none hath sent down these clear signs but the
Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth; and I surely deem thee, O Pharaoh, a
person lost."

So Pharaoh sought to drive them out of the land; but we drowned him and all
his followers.

And after his death, we said to the children of Israel, "Dwell ye in the
land:" and when the promise of the next life shall come to pass, we will
bring you both up together to judgment. In truth have we sent down the Koran,
and in truth hath it descended, and we have only sent thee to announce and to
warn.

And we have parcelled out the Koran into sections, that thou mightest recite
it unto men by slow degrees, and we have sent it down piecemeal.

SAY: Believe ye therein or believe ye not? They verily to whom knowledge had
been given previously, fall on their faces worshipping when it is recited to
them, and say: "Glory be to God! the promise of our Lord is made good!"

They fall down on their faces weeping, and It increaseth their humility.

SAY: Call upon God (Allah),28 or call upon the God of Mercy (Arrahman), by
whichsoever ye will invoke him: He hath most excellent names. And be not loud
in thy prayer, neither pronounce it too low;29 but between these follow a
middle way:

And SAY: Praise be to God who hath not begotten a son, who hath no partner in
the Kingdom, nor any protector on account of weakness. And magnify him by
proclaiming His greatness.30


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1 Verses 12, 23-41, 75-82, 87, are supposed by many commentators to have
originated at Medina.

2 Waquidy says the night-journey took place on the 17th of Rabhy' 1, a
twelvemonth before the Hejira.

3 Of Jerusalem; and thence through the seven heavens to the throne of God on
the back of Borak, accompanied by Gabriel, according to some traditions;
while others, and those too of early date, regard it as no more than a
vision. It was, however, in all probability a dream. Muir ii. 219; Nöld. p.
102, who give the Muhammadan sources of information.

4 It is probable that as this verse has no real or apparent connection with
the preceding, a verse may have been lost, and that verse 1 has been placed
at the head of the Sura merely because the night-journey is elsewhere alluded
to in it.

5 According to the commentators the slaughter of Isaiah and the imprisonment
of Jeremiah, punished by the invasion of the Assyrians.

6 Over Sennacherib.

7 The slaying Zacharias, John Baptist, and Jesus, punished by the destruction
of Jerusalem by the Romans. Comp. Tr. Gittin, fol. 57, where we read of the
sufferings drawn down upon the Jews in consequence of the former of these
crimes.

8 That is, if ye return to sin, we will return to punish.

9 Lit. bird.

10 Comp. Mischnah Aboth, 3, 20.

11 Comp. in Heb. Isai. liii. 3.

12 Lit. lower a wing of humility.

13 Comp. Sura [lxxxix.] vi. 151; lxxxi. 8, p. 45. Zaid, the sceptical seeker
after truth, is reported to have discouraged the killing of daughters,
saying, "I will support them." Kitâb al Wackidi, p. 255. See note at Sura
[xcvii.] iii. 18.

14 Or, next of kin.

15 Or, run not after vain things which will avail nought. Or, accuse not any
of a crime if thou art not sure of his guilt.

16 Used a variety of arguments and illustrations.

17 Thus Tr. Chagiga, fol. 9 b. "There are seven heavens (rakian): the veil,
the firmament, the clouds, the habitation, the abode, the fixed seat, the
araboth." See Wetst. on 2 Cor. xii. 2.

18 In obvious allusion to the saint-worship of the Christians.

19 See Sura [lxxxvii.] vii. 71.

20 See note on v. 1. The tree is Zakkoum, Sura [xlv.] lvi. The Rabbins teach
that food of the bitterest herbs is one of the punishments of Hell. See
Schröder's Rabb. und. Talm. Judenthum, p. 403.

21 That is, with all thy might.

22 Zamakshary relates that this passage was revealed when the Thaqyfites in
framing the document of agreement between themselves and Muhammad, required
that the words requiring the prostrations in worship should not be added. The
writer looked at the prophet, who stood by in silence, when Omar stood up and
drew his sword with menacing words. They replied, We speak not thee but to
Muhammad. Then this verse was revealed. Thus Dr. Sprenger. Life, p. 186. He
renders the last clause, but at the right moment a friend reprehended thee.

23 Lit. weakness, languors.

24 "The Jews, envious of Muhammad's good reception and stay there, told him,
by way of counsel, that Syria was the land of the Prophets, and that if he
was really a prophet, he ought to go there." Sale from Djelal Eddin ap. Mar.
Geiger, p. 12, quotes a Talmudical saying to the same effect, but without any
reference.

25 A work of supererogation, and therefore doubly meritorious. Thus Tr.
Berachoth, fol. 4. The word station (mekam) is still used of the nearness to
God, attained in spiritual ecstacies, etc.

26 That is, to enter the Grave or Mecca. Lit. with an entry of truth.

27 The word spirit is probably to be understood of the Angel Gabriel. Comp. 1
Kings xxii. 21. Others understand it of the immaterial soul of man. See note
on Sura [xci.] ii. 81.

28 The infidels hearing Muhammad say, Ya Allah! Ya Rahman! in his prayers,
imagined that he was addressing two Deities; hence this passage. Comp.
[lxxiii.] xvi. 52; [lxvi.] xxv. 61. As this title of God (Rahman) disappears
from the later Suras, it has been inferred that Muhammad's original intention
was to have combined it with Allah, but that through fear lest Allah and
Arrahman should be supposed to be two Gods, he dropped the latter.-This title
was applied to their deities by the Himyarites; and it occurs in Ps. lxxviii.
38, and Ex. xxxiv. 6. The root is not found in Æthiopic.

29 The Talm. Tr. Berachoth, 31, 2, forbids loudness in prayer by the example
of Hannah.

30 Lit. magnify Him by magnifying.


SURA XXVII.-THE ANT [LXVIII.]

MECCA.-95 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

TA. SAD.1 These are the signs (verses) of the Koran and of the lucid Book;

Guidance and glad tidings to the believers who observe prayer and pay the
stated alms, and believe firmly-do they-in the life to come.

As to those who believe not in the life to come, we have made their own
doings fair seeming to them, and they are bewildered therein.

These are they whom the woe of chastisement awaiteth; and in the next life
they shall suffer-yes shall they-greatest loss;

But thou hast certainly received the Koran from the Wise, the Knowing.

Bear in mind when Moses said to his family, "I have perceived a fire;

I will bring you tidings from it, or will bring you a blazing brand, that ye
may warm you."

And when he came to it, he was called to, "Blessed, He who is in the fire,
and He who is about it; and glory be to God, the Lord of the worlds!

O Moses! verily, I am God, the Mighty, the Wise!

Throw down now thy staff." And when he saw that it moved itself as though it
were a serpent, he retreated backward and returned not. "O Moses, fear not;
for the Sent Ones fear not in my presence,

Save he who having done amiss shall afterwards exchange the evil for good;
for I am Forgiving, Merciful.

Put now thy hand into thy bosom: it shall come forth white, yet free from
hurt:2 one of nine signs to Pharaoh and his people; for a perverse people are
they."

And when our signs were wrought in their very sight,3 they said, "This is
plain magic."

And though in their souls they knew them to be true, yet in their wickedness
and pride they denied them. But see what was the end of the corrupt doers!

And of old we gave knowledge to David and Solomon: and they said, "Praise be
to God, who hath made us to excel many of his believing servants!"

And in knowledge Solomon was David's heir. And he said, "O men, we have been
taught the speech of birds,4 and are endued with everything. This is indeed a
clear boon from God."

And to Solomon were gathered his hosts of Djinn5 and men and birds, and they
were marched on in bands,

Till they reached the Valley of Ants. Said AN ANT, "O ye ants, enter your
dwellings, lest Solomon and his army crush you and know it not."

Then smiled Solomon, laughing at her words, and he said, "Stir me up, O Lord,
to be thankful for thy favour which thou hast shewed upon me and upon my
parents, and to do righteousness that shall be well pleasing to thee, and
bring me in, by thy mercy, among thy servants the righteous."

And he reviewed the birds, and said, "How is it that I see not the lapwing?
Is it one of the absent?

Surely, with a severe chastisement will I chastise it, or I will certainly
slaughter it, unless it bring me a clear excuse."

Nor tarried it long ere it came and said, "I have gained the knowledge that
thou knowest not, and with sure tidings have I come to thee from Saba:

I found a woman reigning over them, gifted with everything, and she hath a
splendid throne;

And I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of God; and Satan
hath made their works fair seeming to them, so that he hath turned them from
the Way: wherefore they are not guided,

To the worship of God, who bringeth to light the secret things of heaven and
earth, and knoweth what men conceal and what they manifest:

God! there is no god but He! the lord of the glorious throne!"

He said, "We shall see whether thou hast spoken truth, or whether thou art of
them that lie.

Go with this my letter and throw it down to them: then turn away from them
and await their answer."

She said, "O my nobles! an honourable letter hath been thrown down to me:

It is from Solomon; and it is this: 'In the name of God, the Compassionate,
the Merciful!

Set not up yourselves against me, but come to me submitting (Muslims).' "

She said, "O my nobles, advise me in mine affair: I decide it not without
your concurrence."6

They said, "We are endued with strength and are endued with mighty valour.-
But to command is thine: See therefore what thou wilt command us."

She said, "Kings when they enter a city spoil it, and abase the mightiest of
its people: and in like manner will these also do.

But I will send to them with a gift, and await what my envoys bring back."

And when the messenger came to Solomon, he said, "Aid ye me with riches? But
what God hath given to me is better than what he hath given you: yet ye glory
in your gifts:

Return to them: for we will surely come to them with forces which they cannot
withstand, and we will drive them from their land humbled and contemptible."

Said he, "O nobles, which of you will bring me her throne before they come to
me, submitting? (Muslims)."

An Efreet7 of the Djinn said: "I will bring it thee ere thou risest from thy
place: I have power for this and am trusty."

And one who had the knowledge of Scripture said, "I will bring it to thee in
the twinkling of an eye."8 And when he saw it set before him, he said, "This
is of the favour of my Lord, to try me whether I will be thankful or
unthankful. And he who is thankful is thankful to his own behoof; and as for
him who is unthankful-truly my Lord is self-sufficient, bounteous!"

Said he, "Make her throne so that she know it not: we shall see whether she
hath or not guidance."

And when she came he said, "Is thy throne like this?" She said, "As though it
were the same." "And we," said he, "have had knowledge given us before her,
and have been Muslims."

But the gods she had worshipped instead of God had led her astray: for she
was of a people who believe not.

It was said to her,"Enter the Palace:" and when she saw it, she thought it a
lake of water, and bared her legs. He said, "It is a palace paved with
glass."

She said, "O my Lord! I have sinned against my own soul, and I resign myself,
with Solomon, to God the Lord of the Worlds."

And of old we sent to Themoud their brother Saleh, with "Serve ye God:"but
lo! they became two sets of disputants wrangling with each other.

He said, "O my people, why, if ye ask not pardon of God that ye may find
mercy, hasten ye on evil rather than good?"

They said,"We augur9 ill concerning thee and those who are with thee." He
said, "The ills of which ye augur10 depend on God. But ye are a people on
your trial."

And there were in the city nine persons who committed excesses in the land
and did not that which is right.

They said, "Swear ye to one another by God that we will surely fall on him
and on his family by night: then will be say to the avenger of blood, we
witnessed not the destruction of his family: and verily we speak the truth."

And they devised a device, and we devised a device, and they were not aware
of it-

And see what was the end of their device! We destroyed them and their whole
people:

And for their sin these their houses are empty ruins: Verily in this is a
sign to those who understand;

And we delivered those who believed and feared.

And Lot, when he said to his people, "What! proceed ye to such filthiness
with your eyes open?

What! come ye with lust unto men rather than to women? Surely ye are an
ignorant people."

And the answer of his people was but to say, "Cast out the family of Lot from
your city: they, forsooth, are men of purity!"

So we rescued him and his family: but as for his wife, we decreed her to be
of them that lingered:

And we rained a rain upon them, and fatal was the rain to those who had had
their warning.

SAY: Praise be to God and peace be on His servants whom He hath chosen! Is
God the more worthy or the gods they join with Him?

Is not He who hath made the Heavens and the Earth, and hath sent down rain to
you from Heaven, by which we cause the luxuriant groves to spring up! It is
not in your power to cause its trees to spring up! What! A god with God? Yet
they find equals for Him!

Is not He, who hath set the earth so firm, and hath made rivers in its midst,
and hath placed mountains upon it, and put a barrier between the two seas?11
What! a god with God? Yet the greater part of them have no knowledge!

Is not He the more worthy who answereth the oppressed when they cry to him,
and taketh off their ills, and maketh you to succeed your sires on the earth?
What! a god with God? How few bear these things in mind!

Is not He, who guideth you in the darkness of the land and of the sea, and
who sendeth forth the winds as the forerunners of His mercy? What! a god with
God? Far from God be what ye join with Him!

Is not He, who created a Being, then reneweth it, and who supplieth you out
of the Heaven and the Earth? What! a god with God? SAY: Bring forth your
proofs if you speak the truth.

SAY: None either in the Heavens or in the Earth knoweth the unseen but God.
And they know not

When they shall be raised.

-Yet they have attained to a knowledge of the life to come:12-yet are they in
doubt about it:-yet are they blind about it!

And the unbelievers say: "When we and our fathers have been dead shall we be
taken forth?

Of old have we been promised this, we and our sires of old it is but fables
of the ancients."

SAY: Go ye through the land, and see what hath been the end of the wicked.

And grieve not thou for them, nor be in distress at their devisings.

And they say, "When will this promise be made good, if ye speak true?"

SAY: Haply a part of what ye desire to be hastened may be close behind you.

And truly thy Lord is full of goodness towards men: But most of them are not
thankful.

And thy Lord knoweth well what their breasts enshroud, and what they bring to
light,

And there is no secret thing in the Heaven or on the Earth, but it is in the
clear Book.

Truly this Koran declareth to the children of Israel most things wherein they
disagree:

And it is certainly guidance and a mercy to the faithful.

Verily, by his wisdom will thy Lord decide between them: for He is the
Mighty, the Knowing.

Put thou then thy trust in God: for thou hast clear truth on thy side.13

Thou shalt not make the dead to hear; neither shalt thou make the deaf to
hear the call, when they turn away backward;

Neither art thou the guide of the blind out of their errors: none truly shalt
thou make to hear but those who believe our signs: and they are Muslims.

When the doom shall be ready to light upon them, we will cause a monster14 to
come forth to them out of the earth, and cry to them "Verily men have not
firmly believed our signs."

And on that day shall be gathered out of every nation a company of those who
have gainsaid our signs, in separate bands;

Till they come before God, who will say, "Treated ye my signs as impostures,
although ye embraced them not in your knowledge? or what is it that ye were
doing?

And doom shall light upon them for their evil deeds, and nought shall they
have to plead.

See they not that we have ordained the night that they may rest in it, and
the day with its gift of light? Of a truth herein are signs to people who
believe.

On that day there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and all that are in the
heavens, and all that the on the earth shall be terror-stricken, save him
whom God pleaseth to deliver; and all shall come to him in humble guise.

And thou shalt see the mountains, which thou thinkest so firm, pass away with
the passing of a cloud! 'Tis the work of God, who ordereth all things! of all
that ye do is He well aware.

To him who shall present himself with good works, shall be a reward beyond
their desert,15 and they shall be secure from the terror on that day;

And they who shall present themselves with evil shall be flung downward on
their faces into the fire. Shall ye be rewarded but as ye have wrought?

SAY: Specially am I commanded to worship the Lord of this land, which He hath
sanctified. All things are His: and I am commanded to be one of those who
surrender them to God (a Muslim)

And to recite the Koran: and whoever is rightly guided, assuredly will be
rightly guided to his own behoof.

And as to him who erreth, SAY, I truly am a warner only.And SAY, Praise be to
God! He will shew you His signs, and ye shall acknowledge them: and of what
ye do, thy Lord is not regardless.


_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii., p. 32, n.

2 Not really leprous.

3 Lit. when our visible signs came to them.

4 This tradition may be derived from 1 Kings iv. 33. Comp. Geiger, p. 185.
The legend of Solomon's power over the Genii originates in a mistranslation
of Eccl. ii. 8. Comp. also for other points in this story Prov. vi. 6; 1
Kings x. 1-10.

5 "Demons obeyed him (Solomon) . . . and evil spirits were subjected to him."
Targ. 2. on Esther 1, 2. From the same source Muhammad has adopted, with
slight variations, the whole story of Solomon's intercourse with the Queen of
Saba. Comp. also Tr. Gittin, fol. 68, and Midr. Jalkut on 1 Kings vi. ch.
182.

6 Lit. unless ye bear me witness.

7 That is, malignant. "The efreets are generally believed to differ from the
other djinn in being very powerful and always malicious; but to be in other
respects of a similar nature" (Lane's Modern Egyptians, i. 285). "The ghosts
of dead persons are also called by this name" (ib. 289).

8 Or, before thy glance can be withdrawn from an object.

9 Lit. we have consulted the flight of birds: hence presage.

10 Lit. your bird, augury.

11 Comp. Sura [lxvi.] xxv. 55.

12 Lit. their knowledge attaineth to the next life.

13 Lit. art on clear truth.

14 Al Jassaca, the Spy.

15 Or, shall derive advantage from them.
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