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The Koran

J.M. Rodwell (translator)

Section 11 of 27 - Table of Contents
SURA XVIII.-THE CAVE [LXIX.]

MECCA.-110 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

PRAISE be to God, who hath sent down the Book to his servant, and hath not
made it tortuous1

But direct; that it may warn of a grievous woe from him, and announce to the
faithful who do the things that are right, that a goodly reward, wherein they
shall abide for ever, awaiteth them;

And that it may warn those who say, "God hath begotten a Son."

No knowledge of this have either they or their fathers! A grievous saying to
come out of their mouths! They speak no other than a lie!

And haply, if they believe not in this new revelation, thou wilt slay
thyself, on their very footsteps, out of vexation.

Verily, we have made all that is on earth as its adornment, that we might
make trial who among mankind would excel in works:

But we are surely about to reduce all that is thereon to dust!

Hast thou reflected that the Inmates of THE CAVE and of Al Rakim2 were on our
wondrous signs?

When the youths betook them to the cave they said, "O our Lord! grant us
mercy from before thee, and order for us our affair aright."

Then struck we upon their ears with deafness in the cave for many a year:

Then we awaked them that we might know which of the two parties could best
reckon the space of their abiding.

We will relate to thee their tale with truth. They were youths who had
believed in their Lord, and in guidance had we increased them;

And we had made them stout of heart, when they stood up and said, "Our Lord
is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth: we will call on no other God than
Him; for in that case we had said a thing outrageous.

These our people have taken other gods beside Him, though they bring no clear
proof for them; but, who more iniquitous than he who forgeth a lie of God?

So when ye shall have separated you from them and from that which they
worship beside God, then betake you to the cave: Your Lord will unfold his
mercy to you, and will order your affairs for you for the best."

And thou mightest have seen the sun when it arose, pass on the right of their
cave, and when it set, leave them on the left, while they were in its
spacious chamber. This is one of the signs of God. Guided indeed is he whom
God guideth; but for him whom He misleadeth, thou shalt by no means find a
patron, director.

And thou wouldst have deemed them awake,3 though they were sleeping: and we
turned them to the right and to the left. And in the entry lay their dog with
paws outstretched.4 Hadst thou come suddenly upon them, thou wouldst surely
have turned thy back on them in flight, and have been filled with fear at
them.

So we awaked them that they might question one another. Said one of them,
"How long have ye tarried here?" They said, "We have tarried a day or part of
day." They said, "Your Lord knoweth best how long ye have tarried: Send now
one of you with this your coin into the city, and let him mark who therein
hath purest food, and from him let him bring you a supply: and let him be
courteous, and not discover you to any one.

For they, if they find you out, will stone you or turn you back to their
faith, and in that case it will fare ill with you for ever."

And thus made we their adventure known to their fellow citizens, that they
might learn that the promise of God is true, and that as to "the Hour" there
is no doubt of its coming. When they disputed among themselves concerning
what had befallen them, some said, "Build a building over them; their Lord
knoweth best about them." Those who prevailed in the matter said, "A place of
worship will we surely raise over them."

Some say, "They were three; their dog the fourth:" others say, "Five; their
dog the sixth," guessing at the secret: others say, "Seven; and their dog the
eighth." SAY: My Lord best knoweth the number: none, save a few, shall know
them.

Therefore be clear in they discussions about them,5 and ask not any Christian
concerning them.

Say not thou of a thing, " I will surely do it to-morrow;" without , "If God
will."6 And when thou hast forgotten, call thy Lord to mind; and say, "Haply
my Lord will guide me, that I may come near to the truth of this story with
correctness."

And they tarried in their cave 300 years, and 9 years over.7

SAY: God best knoweth how long they tarried: With Him are the secrets of the
Heavens and of the Earth: Look thou and hearken unto Him alone.8 Man hath no
guardian but Him, and none may bear part in his judgments:-

And publish what hath been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord-none may
change his words,-and thou shalt find no refuge beside Him.

Be patient with those who call upon their Lord at morn and even, seeking his
face: and let not thine eyes be turned away from them in quest of the pomp of
this life;9 neither obey him10 whose heart we have made careless of the
remembrance of Us, and who followeth his own lusts, and whose ways are
unbridled.

And SAY: the truth is from your Lord: let him then who will, believe; and let
him who will, be an infidel. But for the offenders we have got ready the fire
whose smoke shall enwrap them: and if they implore help, helped shall they be
with water like molten brass which shall scald their Wretched the drink! and
an unhappy couch!

But as to those who have believed and done the things that are right,-Verily
we will not suffer the reward of him whose works were good, to perish!

For them, the gardens of Eden, under whose shades shall rivers flow: decked
shall they be therein with bracelets of gold, and green robes of silk and
rich brocade shall they wear, reclining them therein on thrones. Blissful the
reward! and a pleasant couch!11

And set forth to them as a parable two men; on one of whom we bestowed two
gardens of grape vines, and surrounded both with palm trees, and placed corn
fields between them: Each of the gardens did yield its fruit, and failed not
thereof at all:

And we caused a river to flow in their midst: And this man received his
fruit, and said, disputing with him, to his companion, "More have I than thou
of wealth, and my family is mightier."

And he went into his garden-to his own soul unjust. He said, "I do not think
that this will ever perish:

And I do not think that 'the Hour' will come: and even if I be taken back to
my Lord, I shall surely find a better than it in exchange."

His fellow said to him, disputing with him, "What ! hast thou no belief in
him who created thee of the dust, then of the germs of life,12 then fashioned
thee a perfect man?

But God is my Lord; and no other being will I associate with my Lord.

And why didst thou not say when thou enteredst thy garden, 'What God willeth!
There is no power but in God.' Though thou seest that I have less than thou
of wealth and children,

Yet haply my Lord may bestow on me better than thy garden, and may send his
bolts upon it out of Heaven, so that the next dawn shall find it barren dust;

Or its water become deep sunk, so that thou art unable to find it."

And his fruits were encompassed by destruction. Then began he to turn down
the palms of his hands at what he had spent on it; for its vines were falling
down on their trellises, and he said, "Oh that I had not joined any other god
to my Lord!"

And he had no host to help him instead of God, neither was he able to help
himself.

Protection in such a case is of God-the Truth: He is the best rewarder, and
He bringeth to the best issue.

And set before them a similitude of the present life. It is as water which we
send down from Heaven, and the herb of the Earth is mingled with it, and on
the morrow it becometh dry stubble which the winds scatter: for God hath
power over all things.

Wealth and children are the adornment of this present life: but good works,
which are lasting, are better in the sight of thy Lord as to recompense, and
better as to hope.

And call to mind the day when we will cause the mountains to pass away,13 and
thou shalt see the earth a levelled plain, and we will gather mankind
together, and not leave of them any one.

And they shall be set before thy Lord in ranks:-"Now are ye come unto us as
we created you at first: but ye thought that we should not make good to you
the promise."

And each shall have his book put into his hand: and thou shalt see the wicked
in alarm at that which is therein: and they shall say, "O woe to us! what
meaneth this Book? It leaveth neither small nor great unnoted down!" And they
shall find all that they have wrought present to them, and thy Lord will not
deal unjustly with any one.

When we said to the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam," they all
prostrated them save Eblis, who was of the Djinn,14 and revolted from his
Lord's behest. behest.-What! will ye then take him and his offspring as
patrons rather than Me? and they your enemies? Sad exchange for the ungodly!

I made them not witnesses of the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth,
nor of their own creation, neither did I take seducers as my helpers.

On a certain day, God shall say, "Call ye on the companions ye joined with
me, deeming them to be gods:" and they shall call on them, but they shall not
answer them: then will we place a valley of perdition between them:

And the wicked shall see the fire, and shall have a foreboding that they
shall be flung into it, and they shall find no escape from it.

And now in this Koran we have presented to man similitudes of every kind:
but, at most things is man a caviller.

And what, now that guidance is come to them, letteth men from believing and
from asking forgiveness of their Lord-unless they wait till that the doom of
the ancients overtake them, or the chastisement come upon them in the sight
of the universe?

We send not our Sent Ones but to announce and to warn: but the infidels cavil
with vain words in order to refute the truth; and they treat my signs and
their own warnings with scorn.

But who is worse than he who when told of the signs of his Lord turneth him
away and forgetteth what in time past his hands have wrought? Truly we have
thrown veils over their hearts lest they should understand this Koran, and
into their ears a heaviness:

And if thou bid them to "the guidance" yet will they not even then be guided
ever.

The gracious one, full of compassion, is thy Lord! if he would have chastised
them for their demerits he would have hastened their chastisement. But they
have a time fixed for the accomplishment of our menaces: and beside God they
shall find no refuge.

And those cities did we destroy when they became impious; and of their coming
destruction we gave them warning.

Remember when Moses said to his servant, "I will not stop till I reach the
confluence of the two seas,15 or for years will I journey on."

But when they reached their confluence, they forgot their fish, and it took
its way in the sea at will.

And when they had passed on, said Moses to his servant, "Bring us our morning
meal; for now have we incurred weariness from this journey."

He said, "What thinkest thou? When we repaired to the rock for rest I forgot
the fish; and none but Satan made me forget it, so as not to mention it; and
it hath taken its way in the sea in a wondrous sort."

He said, "It is this we were in quest of."16 And they both went back
retracing their footsteps.

Then found they one of our servants to whom we had vouchsafed our mercy, and
whom we had instructed with our knowledge.

And Moses said to him, "Shall I follow thee that thou teach me, for guidance,
of that which thou too hast been taught?"

He said, "Verily, thou canst not have patience with me;

How canst thou be patient in matters whose meaning thou comprehendest not?"

He said, "Thou shalt find me patient if God please, nor will I disobey thy
bidding."

He said, "Then, if thou follow me, ask me not of aught until I have given
thee an account thereof."

So they both went on, till they embarked in a ship, and he-the unknown-staved
it in. "What!" said Moses, "hast thou staved it in that thou mayest drown its
crew? a strange thing now hast thou done!"

He said, "Did I not tell thee that thou couldst not have patience with me?"

He said, "Chide me not that I forgat, nor lay on me a hard command."

Then went they on till they met a youth, and he slew him. Said Moses, "Hast
thou slain him who is free from guilt of blood? Now hast thou wrought a
grievous thing!"

He said, "Did I not tell thee that thou couldst not have patience with me?"

Moses said, "If after this I ask thee aught, then let me be thy comrade no
longer; but now hast thou my excuse."

They went on till they came to the people of a city. Of this people they
asked food, but they refused them for guests. And they found in it a wall
that was about to fall, and he set it upright. Said Moses, "If thou hadst
wished, for this thou mightest have obtained pay."

He said, "This is the parting point between me and thee. But I will first
tell thee the meaning of that which thou couldst not await with patience.

"As to the vessel, it belonged to poor men who toiled upon the sea, and I was
minded to damage it, for in their rear was a king who seized every ship by
force.

As to the youth his parents were believers, and we feared lest he should
trouble them by error and infidelity.

And we desired that their Lord might give them in his place a child, better
than he in virtue, and nearer to filial piety.

And as to the wall, it belonged to two orphan youths in the city, and beneath
it was their treasure: and their father was a righteous man: and thy Lord
desired that they should reach the age of strength, and take forth their
treasure through the mercy of thy Lord. And not of mine own will have I done
this. This is the interpretation of that which thou couldst not bear with
patience."

They will ask thee of Dhoulkarnain [the two-horned17]. SAY: I will recite to
you an account of him.

We stablished his power upon the earth, and made for him a way to everything.
And a route he followed,

Until when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it to set in a miry
fount; and hard by he found a people.

We said, "O Dhoulkarnain! either chastise or treat them generously."

"The impious," said he, "will we surely chastise;" then shall he be taken
back to his Lord, and he will chastise him with a grievous chastisement.

But as to him who believeth and doeth that which is right, he shall have a
generous recompense, and we will lay on them our easy behests.

Then followed he a route,

Until when he reached the rising of the sun he found it to rise on a people
to whom we had given no shelter from it.

Thus it was.  And we had full knowledge of the forces that were with him.

Then followed he a route

Until he came between the two mountains, beneath which he found a people who
scarce understood a language.

They said, "O Dhoulkarnain! verily, Gog and Magog18 waste this land; shall we
then pay thee tribute, so thou build a rampart19 between us and them?"

He said, "Better than your tribute is the might wherewith my Lord hath
strengthened me; but help me strenuously, and I will set a barrier between
you and them.

Bring me blocks of iron,"-until when it filled the space between the mountain
sides-"Ply," said he, "your bellows,"-until when he had made it red with heat
(fire), he said,-"Bring me molten brass that I may pour upon it."

And Gog and Magog were not able to scale it, neither were they able to dig
through it.

"This," said he, "is a mercy from my Lord:

But when the promise of my Lord shall come to pass, he will turn it to dust;
and the promise of my Lord is true."

On that day we will let them dash like billows one over another; and there
shall be a blast on the trumpet, and we will gather them together in a body.

And we will set Hell on that day close before the infidels,

Whose eyes were veiled from my warning, and who had no power to hear.

What! do the infidels think that they can take my servants as their patrons,
beside Me? Verily, we have got Hell ready as the abode of the infidels.

SAY: Shall we tell you who they are that have lost their labour most?

Whose aim in the present life hath been mistaken, and who deem that what they
do is right?

They are those who believe not in the signs of the Lord, or that they shall
ever meet him. Vain, therefore, are their works; and no weight will we allow
them on the day of resurrection.

This shall be their reward-Hell.20 Because they were unbelievers, and treated
my signs and my Apostles with scorn.

But as for those who believe and do the things that are right, they shall
have the gardens of Paradise21 for their abode:

They shall remain therein for ever: they shall wish for no change from it.

SAY: Should the sea become ink, to write the words of my Lord, the sea would
surely fail ere the words of my Lord would fail, though we brought its like
in aid.

SAY: In sooth I am only a man like you. It hath been revealed to me that your
God is one only God: let him then who hopeth to meet his Lord work a
righteous work: nor let him give any other creature a share in the worship of
his Lord.


_______________________

1 Lit. hath not put crookedness into it.

2 The valley, or mountain, in which the Cave of the Seven Sleepers was
situated. Comp. Fundgreiben des Orients, iii. 347-381. Gibbon's Decline and
Fall, ch. xxxiii., especially the concluding sentences.

3 Because they slept with their eyes open. Beidh.

4 The Muhammadans believe that this dog will be admitted into Paradise. One
of its traditional names is Katmir, a word whose letters, it should be
observed, are with one exception identical with Rakim.

5 Lit. dispute not about them unless with clear disputation.

6 Muhammad had omitted to use the qualifying phrase when, in reply to the
Jews who asked for the History of the Seven Sleepers, he simply promised to
give it on the morrow; hence, this verse. Comp. James iv. 13-15.

7 They entered the cavern under Decius and awoke in the time of Theodosius,
according to the tradition; which cannot be reconciled with the number of
years given in the text.

8 Thus Ullm. But the words may be taken with Beidh. and Sale, as ironical.
Make thou him to see and hear.

9 Said to have been promulgated at Medina. N�ld. p. 106

10 Omaya Ibn Chalf, who advised Muhammad to cast off all his poorer
followers, out of respect to the Koreisch.

11 It is probable that this and the numerous similar descriptions of the
enjoyments in Paradise are based upon Muhammad's knowledge, or possibly
personal observation, of the luxurious habits of the Persians, to whom many
Arabian tribes owed allegiance, and with whom they had mercantile
transactions by means of caravans. The word Paradise, the names of cups and
brocade in Sura lvi. pp. 66, 67, and the word sundus in this passage, are all
Persian.

12 Lit ex spermate.

13 Comp. Isai. xl. 4, etc.

14 Muhammad appears, according to this text, to have considered Eblis not
only as the father of the Djinn, but as one of their number. The truth
appears to be that Muhammad derived his doctrines of the Genii from the
Persian and Indian mythology, and attempted to identify them with the Satan
and demons of the Semitic races. Both the Satans and Djinn represent in the
Koran the principle of Evil. See Sura [xci.] ii. 32, n.

15 The sea of Greece and the sea of Persia. But as no literal interpretation
of the passage seems satisfactory, the Commentators have devised a spiritual
or metaphorical one, and explain it of the two oceans of natural and
supernatural knowledge. There is no trace of this legend in the Rabbinic
writings.

16 The loss of our fish is a sign to us of our finding him whom we seek,
namely, El-Khidr, or El-Khadir, the reputed vizier of Dhoulkarnain, and said
to have drunk of the fountain of life, by virtue of which he still lives, and
will live till the day of judgment. He is also said to appear, clad in green
robes, to Muslims in distress, whence his name. Perhaps the name Khidr is
formed from Jethro.

17 Probably Alexander the Great-so called from his expeditions to the East
and West. He seems to be regarded in this passage as invested with a divine
commission for the extirpation of impiety and idolatry. Comp. Dan. viii. and
Tr. Tanith, fol. 32. Hottinger Bibl. Orient. 109.

18 Ar. Yadjoudj and Madjoudj-the barbarous people of E. Asia. See Ibn
Batoutah's Travels, iv. p. 274 (Par.ed.)

19 This rampart has been identified with fortifications which extended from
the W. shore of the Caspian Sea to the Pontus Euxinus, made, as it is said,
by Alexander, and repaired by Yezdegird II. Caussin de Perceval, vol.i.p. 66.
See Sura [lxv.] xxi. 96

20 The form of this word in the Arabic, with the h in the second syllable and
the final m, shews that the word was borrowed from the Hebrew, and not from
the Greek or Syriac.

21 Observe in this expression the same admixture of the Semitic and Indo-
Persian elements as was noticed above in the identification of Satans and
Djinn, verse 48.


SURA XXXII.-ADORATION [LXX.]

MECCA.-30 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

ELIF. LAM. MIM.1 This Book is without a doubt a Revelation sent down from the
Lord of the Worlds.

Will they say, He hath forged it? Nay, it is the truth from thy Lord that
thou mayest warn a people to whom no warner hath come before thee, that haply
they may be guided.

God it is who hath created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is between
them in six days; then ascended his throne. Save Him ye have no patron, and
none to plead for you. Will ye not then reflect?

From the Heaven to the Earth He governeth all things: hereafter shall they
come up to him on a day whose length shall be a thousand of such years as ye
reckon.2

This is He who knoweth the unseen and the seen; the Mighty, the Merciful,

Who hath made everything which he hath created most good; and began the
creation of man with clay;

Then ordained his progeny from germs of life,3 from sorry water:

Then shaped him, and breathed of His Spirit into him, and gave you hearing
and seeing and hearts: what little thanks do ye return!

And they say, "What! when we shall have lain hidden in the earth, shall we
become a new creation?"

Yea, they deny that they shall meet their Lord.

SAY: The angel of death who is charged with you shall cause you to die: then
shall ye be returned to your Lord.

Couldst thou but see when the guilty shall droop their heads before their
Lord, and cry, "O our Lord! we have seen and we have heard: return us then to
life: we will do that which is right. Verily we believe firmly!"

(Had we pleased we had certainly given to every soul its guidance. But true
shall be the word which hath gone forth from me-I will surely fill hell with
Djinn and men together.)

"Taste then the recompense of your having forgotten the meeting with this
your day. We, too, we have forgotten you: taste then an eternal punishment
for that which ye have wrought."

They only believe in our signs, who, when mention is made of them, fall down
in ADORATION, and celebrate the praise of their Lord, and are not puffed up
with disdain:

Who, as they raise them4 from their couches, call on their Lord with fear and
desire, and give alms of that with which we have supplied them.

No soul knoweth what joy of the eyes is reserved for the good in recompense
of their works.

Shall he then who is a believer be as he who sinneth grossly? they shall not
be held alike.

As to those who believe and do that which is right, they shall have gardens
of eternal abode as the meed of their works:

But as for those who grossly sin, their abode shall be the fire: so oft as
they shall desire to escape out of it, back shall they be turned into it. And
it shall be said to them, Taste ye the torment of the fire, which ye treated
as a lie.

And we will surely cause them to taste a punishment yet nearer at hand,
besides the greater punishment, that haply they may turn to us in penitence.

Who acteth worse than he who is warned by the signs of his Lord, then turneth
away from them? We will surely take vengeance on the guilty ones.

We heretofore gave the Book of the law to Moses: have thou no doubt as to our
meeting with him:5 and we appointed it for the guidance of the children of
Israel.

And we appointed Im�ms from among them who should guide after our command
when they had themselves endured with constancy, and had firmly believed in
our signs.

Now thy Lord! He will decide between them on the day of resurrection as to
the subject of their disputes.

Is it not notorious to them how many generations, through whose abodes they
walk, we have destroyed before them? Truly herein are sings: will they not
then hear?

See they not how we drive the rain to some parched land and thereby bring
forth corn of which their cattle and themselves do eat? Will they not then
behold?

They say, "When will this decision take place? Tell us, if ye are men of
truth?"

SAY: On the day of that decision, the faith of infidels shall not avail them,
and they shall have no further respite.

Stand aloof from them then, and wait thou, for they too wait.6


_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. 1, p. 32.

2 Comp. Sura [cvii.] xxii. 46, and Ps. xc. 4, which is taken literally by
many of the Talmudists. Comp. e.g. Sanhed. 96, 2.

3 Lit. ex spermate genitali.

4 Lit. their sides are raised.

5 N�ldeke thinks that the word for meeting is used here in the same sense as
in v. 10 above and Sura [lxxi.] xli. 54, and that the clause does not belong
to this verse, p. 108, n.

6 Wait thou for their punishment as they wait for thy downfall.


SURA1 XLI.-THE MADE PLAIN [LXXI.]

MECCA.-54 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

HA. MIM.2 A Revelation from the Compassionate, the Merciful!

A Book whose verses (signs) are MADE PLAIN-an Arabic Koran, for men of
knowledge;

Announcer of glad tidings and charged with warnings! But most of them
withdraw and hearken not:

And they say, "Our hearts are under shelter from thy teachings, and in our
ears is a deafness, and between us and thee there is a veil. Act as thou
thinkest right: we verily shall act as we think right."

SAY: I am only a man like you.3 It is revealed to me that your God is one
God: go straight then to Him, and implore his pardon. And woe to those who
join gods with God;

Who pay not the alms of obligation, and in the life to come believe not!

But they who believe and do the things that are right shall receive a
perfect4 recompense.

SAY: Do ye indeed disbelieve in Him who in two days created the earth? and do
ye assign Him peers? The Lord of the worlds is He!

And he hath placed on the earth the firm mountains which tower above it; and
He hath blessed it, and distributed food throughout it, for the cravings of
all alike, in four days:

Then He applied himself to the Heaven, which then was but smoke: and to it
and to the Earth He said, "Come ye, whether in obedience or against your
will?" and they both said, "We come obedient."

And He made them seven heavens in two days, and in each heaven made known its
office: And we furnished the lower heaven with lights and guardian angels.
This, the disposition of the Almighty, the All-knowing.

If they turn away, then SAY: I warn you of a tempest, like the tempest of Ad
and Themoud!

When the apostles came to them on every side,5 saying, "Worship none but
God," they said, "Had our Lord been pleased to send down, He had surely sent
down angels; and in sooth, your message we do not believe."

As to Ad, they bore them proudly and unjustly in the land, and said, "Who
more mighty than we in prowess?" Saw they not that God their creator was
mightier than they in prowess? And they rejected our signs.

Therefore on ill-omened days did we send against them an impetuous blast that
we might make them taste the chastisement of shame in this world:-but more
shameful shall be the chastisement of the life to come; and they shall not be
protected.

And as to Themoud, we had vouchsafed them guidance; but to guidance did they
prefer blindness; wherefore the tempest of a shameful punishment overtook
them for their doings:

But we rescued the believing and the God-fearing:

And warn of the day when the enemies of God shall be gathered6 unto the fire
urged on in bands:

Until when they reach it, their ears and their eyes and their skins shall
bear witness against them of their deeds:

And they shall say to their skins, "Why witness ye against us?" They shall
say, "God, who giveth a voice to all things, hath given us a voice: He
created you at first, and to Him are ye brought back.

And ye did not hide yourselves so that neither your ears nor your eyes nor
your skins should witness against you: but ye thought that God knew not many
a thing that ye did!

And this your thought which ye did think of your Lord hath ruined you, so
that ye are become of those who perish."

And be they patient, still the fire shall be their abode: or if they beg for
favour, yet shall they not be of favoured.

And we will appoint Satans as their fast companions; for it was they who made
their present and future state seem fair and right to them; and the sentence
passed on the peoples of Djinn and men who flourished before them hath become
their due, and they shall perish.

Yet the unbelievers say, "Hearken not to this Koran, but keep up a talking,
that ye may overpower the voice of the reader."

Surely therefore will we cause the unbelievers to taste a terrible
punishment;

And recompense them according to the worst of their actions.

This the reward of the enemies of God,-the Fire! it shall be their eternal
abode, in requital for their gainsaying our signs.

And they who believed not shall say, "O our Lord! shew us those of the Djinn
and men who led us astray: both of them will we put under out feet, that they
may be of the humbled."

But as for those who say, "Our Lord is God;" and who go straight to Him,7
angels shall descend to them and say, "Fear ye not, neither be ye grieved,
but rejoice ye in the paradise which ye have been promised.

We are your guardians in this life and in the next: your's therein shall be
your soul's desire, and your's therein whatever ye shall ask for,

The hospitality of a Gracious, a Merciful One."

And who speaketh fairer than he who biddeth to God and doth the thing that is
right, and saith, "I for my part am of the Muslims"?

Moreover, good and evil are not to be treated as the same thing. Turn away
evil by what is better, and lo! he between whom and thyself was enmity, shall
be as though he were a warm friend.

But none attain to this save men steadfast in patience, and none attain to it
except the most highly favoured.8

And if an enticement from Satan entice thee, then take refuge in God, for He
is the Hearing, the Knowing.

And among his signs are the night, and the day, and the sun, and the moon.
Bend not in adoration to the sun or the moon, but bend in adoration before
God who created them both, if ye would serve Him.

But if they are too proud for this, yet they who are with thy Lord do
celebrate His praises night and day,9 and cease not.

And among His signs is this, that thou seest the earth drooping: but, when we
send down the rain upon it, it is stirred and swelleth; verily He who giveth
it life, will surely give life to the dead; for His might extendeth over all
things.10

They truly who with obloquy disown our signs are not hidden from us. Is he
then who shall be cast into the fire, or he who shall come forth secure on
the day of resurrection, in the better position? Do what ye will: but His eye
is on all your doings.

Verily, they who believe not in "the warning," after it hath come to them . .
. and yet the Koran is a glorious book!

Falsehood, from whatever side it cometh, shall not come night it;11 it is a
missive down from the Wise, the Praiseworthy.

Nothing hath been said to thee which hath not been said of old to apostles
before thee. Verily with thy Lord is forgiveness, and with Him is terrible
retribution.

Had we made it a Koran in a foreign tongue, they had surely said, "Unless its
signs be made clear . . . !12 What! in a foreign tongue? and the people
Arabian?" SAY: It is to those who believe a guide and a medicine;13 but as to
those who believe not, there is a thickness in their ears, and to them it is
a blindness: they are like those who are called to from afar.

Of old we gave the Book to Moses, and disputes arose about it: and if a
decree of respite from thy Lord had gone before, there would surely have been
a decision between them: for great were their doubts and questionings about
it.14

He who doth right-it is for himself:15 and he who doth evil-it is for
himself: and thy Lord will not deal unfairly with his servants.

With Him alone16 is the knowledge of "the Hour." No fruit cometh forth from
its coverings, neither doth any female conceive, nor is she delivered, but
with His knowledge. And on that day He shall call men to Him, saying, "Where
are the companions ye gave me?" They shall say, "We own to thee, there is no
one of us can witness for them."

And what they erst called on shall pass away from them, and they shall
perceive that there will be no escape for them.

Man ceaseth not to pray for good: but if evil betide him he despondeth,
despairing.

And if we cause him to taste our mercy after affliction hath touched him, he
is sure to say, "This is my due: and I take no thought of the Hour of
Resurrection: and if I be brought back to my Lord, I shall indeed attain with
Him my highest good." But we will then certainly declare their doings to the
Infidels, and cause them to taste a stern punishment.

When we are gracious to man, he withdraweth and turneth him aside: but when
evil toucheth him, he is a man of long prayers.

SAY: What think ye? If this Book be from God and ye believe it not, who will
have gone further astray than he who is at a distance from it?

We will shew them our signs in different countries and among themselves,
until it become plain to them that it is the truth. Is it not enough for thee
that thy Lord is witness of all things?

Are they not in doubt as to the meeting with their Lord? But doth he not
encompass all things?


_______________________

1 In some MSS. this Sura is entitled Adoration. Thus Beidh. According to His.
186, comp. Caussin 1, 375 f., Muhammad's aim in this Sura was the conversion
of a noble Meccan, Utba ben Rabia, to Islam. The precise year is uncertain.

2 See Sura lxviii. 1, p. 32.

3 Thus SS. Paul and Barnabas, Acts xiv. 15.

4 Or, never failing.

5 Lit. from before them and from behind them.

6 See Sura [lx.] xxxvi. 64, n.

7 Comp. Sura [lxxxviii.] xlvi. 12.

8 Lit. the possessor of great good fortune.

9 Comp. Rev. iv. 8 in the original.

10 Thus Tr. Taanith (init.).

11 Lit. vanity shall not come to it from before it, or from behind it.

12 We will not receive it. The literal rendering of the following words is
what! foreign and Arabian?

13 Comp. Sura [lxvii.] xvii. 83, 84.

14 Lit. verily they were in suspicious doubting about it.

15 Lit. for his soul. See next Sura, v. 14.

16 Lit. to Him is referred.


SURA XLV.-THE KNEELING [LXXII.]

MECCA.-36 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

HA. MIM.1 This Book is sent down2 from God, the Mighty, the Wise!

Assuredly in the Heavens and the Earth are signs for those who believe:

And in your own creation, and in the beasts which are scattered abroad are
signs to the firm in faith:

And in the succession of night and day, and in the supply which God sendeth
down from the Heaven whereby He giveth life to the earth when dead, and in
the change of the winds, are signs for a people of discernment.

Such are the signs of God: with truth do we recite them to thee. But in what
teaching will they believe, if they reject3 God and his signs?

Woe to every lying sinner,

Who heareth the signs of God recited to him, and then, as though he heard
them not, persisteth in proud disdain! Apprise him of an afflictive
punishment.

And when he becometh acquainted with any of our signs he turneth them into
ridicule. These! a shameful punishment for them!

Hell is behind them! and neither their gains nor the lords whom they have
adopted beside God shall avail them in the least: and theirs, a great
punishment!

This is "Guidance:" and for those who disbelieve the signs of their Lord is
the punishment of an afflictive torment.

It is God who hath subjected the sea to you that the ships may traverse it at
his bidding, and that ye may go in quest of the gifts of his bounty, and that
ye may be thankful.

And he hath subjected to you all that is in the Heavens and all that is on
the Earth: all is from him. Verily, herein are signs for those who reflect.

Tell the believers to pardon those who hope not for the days of God4 in which
He purposeth to reward men according to their deeds.

He who doth that which is right, doth it to his own behoof, and whoso doth
evil, doth it to his own hurt. Hereafter, to your Lord shall ye be brought
back.

To the children of Israel gave we of old the Book and the Wisdom, and the
gift of Prophecy, and we supplied them with good things, and privileged them
above all peoples:

And we gave them clear sanctions for our behests: neither did they differ,
through mutual envy, till after they had become possessed of knowledge; but
thy Lord will judge between them on the day of resurrection, as to the
subject of their disputes.

Afterwards we set thee over our divine law:5 follow it then: and follow not
the wishes of those who have no knowledge,

For against God shall they avail thee nothing. And in sooth, the doers of
evil are one another's patrons; but the patron of them that fear Him is God
himself.

This Book hath insight for mankind, and a Guidance and Mercy to a people who
are firm in faith.

Deem they whose gettings are only evil, that we will deal with them as with
those who believe and work righteousness, so that their lives and deaths
shall be alike? Ill do they judge.

In all truth hath God created the Heavens and the Earth, that he may reward
every one as he shall have wrought; and they shall not be wronged.

What thinkest thou? He who hath made a God of his passions, and whom God
causeth wilfully to err, and whose ears and whose heart he hath sealed up,
and over whose sight he hath placed a veil-who, after his rejection by God,
shall guide such a one? Will ye not then be warned?

And they say, "There is only this our present life: we die and we live, and
nought but time destroyeth us." But in this they have no knowledge: it is
merely their own conceit.

And when our clear signs are recited to them, their only argument is to say,
"Bring back our fathers, if ye speak the truth."

Say: God giveth you life, then causeth you to die: then will He assemble you
on the day of resurrection: there is no doubt of it: but most men have not
this knowledge.

And God's is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth; and on the day when
the Hour shall arrive, on that day shall the despisers6 perish.

And thou shalt see every nation KNEELING: to its own book shall every nation
be summoned:-�This day shall ye be repaid as ye have wrought.

This our Book will speak of you with truth: therein have we written down
whatever ye have done."

As to those who have believed and wrought righteously, into his mercy shall
their Lord cause them to enter. This shall be undoubted bliss!

But as to the Infidels-"Were not my signs recited to you? but ye proudly
scorned them, and became a sinful people."

And when it was said, "Verily the Promise of God is truth; and as to the
Hour, there is no doubt of it;" ye said, "We know not what the hour is-we
conceive it a mere conceit,-we have no assurance of it."

And the evils they have wrought shall rise up into their view, and that at
which they mocked shall hem them in on every side.

And it shall be said to them, "This day will we forget you as ye forgat your
meeting with us this day, and your abode shall be the fire, and none shall
there be to succour you:-

This, because ye received the signs of God with mockery, and this present
life deceived you." On that day therefore they shall not come out from it;
and they shall not be asked to win the favour of God.

Praise then be to God, Lord of the Heavens and Lord of the Earth; the Lord of
the worlds!

And His be the greatness in the Heavens and on the Earth; for He is the
Mighty, the Wise!


_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. p. 32.

2 Lit. the sending down, i.e. the revelation of the Book.

3 Lit. after God.

4 That is, the days of victory. In Scripture phrase, "the days of the right
hand of the Most High."

5 The Arabic amri may be rendered either command or business, i.e. of
religion.

6 Lit. the makers vain, i.e. vanitatis arguentes alcoranum. Mar.
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