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The Koran

J.M. Rodwell (translator)

Section 16 of 27 - Table of Contents
SURA X.-JONAH, PEACE BE ON HIM! [LXXXIV.]

MECCA.-109 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. RA.1 These are the signs of the wise Book!

A matter of wonderment is it to the men of Mecca, that to a person among
themselves We revealed, "Bear warnings to the people: and, to those who
believe, bear the good tidings that they shall have with their Lord the
precedence merited by their sincerity." The unbelievers say, "Verily this is
a manifest sorcerer."

Verily your Lord is God who hath made the Heavens and the Earth in six days-
then mounted his throne to rule all things: None can intercede with him till
after his permission: This is God your Lord: therefore serve him: Will ye not
reflect?

Unto Him shall ye return, all together: the promise of God is sure: He
produceth a creature, then causeth it to return again-that he may reward
those who believe and do the things that are right, with equity: but as for
the infidels!-for them the draught that boileth and an afflictive torment-
because they have not believed.

It is He who hath appointed the sun for brightness, and the moon for a light,
and hath ordained her stations that ye may learn the number of years and the
reckoning of time. God hath not created all this but for the truth.2 He
maketh his signs clear to those who understand.

Verily, in the alternations of night and of day, and in all that God hath
created in the Heavens and in the Earth are signs to those who fear Him.

Verily, they who hope not to meet Us, and find their satisfaction in this
world's life, and rest on it, and who of our signs are heedless;-

These! their abode the fire, in recompense of their deeds!

But they who believe and do the things that are right, shall their Lord
direct aright because of their faith. Rivers shall flow at their feet in
gardens of delight:

Their cry therein, "Glory be to thee, O God!" and their salutation therein,
"Peace!"

And the close of their cry, "Praise be to God, Lord, of all creatures!"

Should God hasten evil on men as they fain would hasten their good, then were
their end decreed! So leave we those who hope not to meet Us, bewildered in
their error.

When trouble toucheth a man, he crieth to us, on his side, or sitting, or
standing; and when we withdraw his trouble from him, he passeth on as though
he had not called on us against the trouble which touched him! Thus are the
deeds of transgressors pre-arranged for them.

And of old destroyed we generations before you, when they had acted wickedly,
and their Apostles had come to them with clear tokens of their mission, and
they would not believe:-thus reward we the wicked.

Then we caused you to succeed them on the earth, that we might see how ye
would act.

But when our clear signs are recited to them, they who look not forward to
meet Us, say, "Bring a different Koran from this, or make some change in it."
SAY: It is not for me to change it as mine own soul prompteth. I follow only
what is revealed to me: verily, I fear, if I rebel against my Lord, the
punishment of a great day.

SAY: Had God so pleased, I had not recited it to you, neither had I taught it
to you. Already have I dwelt among you for years, ere it was revealed to me.
Understand ye not?

And who is more unjust than he who coineth a lie against God, or treateth his
signs as lies? Surely the wicked shall not prosper!

And they worship beside God, what cannot hurt or help them; and say, "These
are our advocates with God!" SAY: Will ye inform God of aught in the Heavens
and in the Earth which he knoweth not? Praise be to Him! High be He exalted
above the deities they join with Him!

Men were of one religion only:3 then they fell to variance: and had not a
decree (of respite) previously gone forth from thy Lord, their differences
had surely been decided between them!

They say: "Unless a sign be sent down to him from his Lord. . . ." But SAY:
The hidden is only with God: wait therefore: I truly will be with you among
those who wait.

And when after a trouble which you befallen them,4 we caused this people to
taste of mercy, lo! a plot on their part against our signs! SAY: Swifter to
plot is God! Verily, our messengers note down your plottings.

He it is who enableth you to travel by land and sea, so that ye go on board
of ships-which sail on with them, with favouring breeze in which they
rejoice. But if a tempestuous gale overtake them, and the billow come on them
from every side, and they think that they are encompassed therewith, they
call on God, professing sincere religion:-"Wouldst thou but rescue us from
this, then will we indeed be of the thankful."

But when we have rescued them, lo! they commit unrighteous excesses on the
earth! O men! assuredly your self-injuring excess is only an enjoyment of
this life present: soon ye return to us: and we will let you know what ye
have done!

Verily, this present life is like the water which we send down from Heaven,
and the produce of the earth, of which men and cattle eat, is mingled with
it, till the earth hath received its golden raiment, and is decked out: and
they who dwell on it deem that they have power over it! but, Our behest
cometh to it by night or by day, and we make it as if it had been mown, as if
it had not teemed only yesterday! Thus make we our signs clear to those who
consider.

And God calleth to the abode of peace;5 and He guideth whom He will into the
right way.

Goodness6 itself and an increase of it for those who do good! neither
blackness nor shame shall cover their faces! These shall be the inmates of
Paradise, therein shall they abide for ever.

And as for those who have wrought out evil, their recompense shall be evil of
like degree, and shame shall cover them-no protector shall they have against
God: as though their faces were darkened with deep murk of night! These shall
be inmates of the fire: therein they shall abide for ever.

And on that day will we gather them all together: then will we say to those
who added gods to God, "To your place, ye and those added gods of yours!"
Then we will separate between them: and those their gods shall say, "Ye
served us not:7

And God is a sufficient witness between us and you: we cared not aught for
your worship."

There shall every soul make proof of what itself shall have sent on before,
and they shall be brought back to God, their true lord, and the deities of
their own devising shall vanish from them.

SAY: Who supplieth you from the Heaven and the Earth? Who hath power over
hearing and sight? And who bringeth forth the living from the dead, and
bringeth forth the dead from the living? And who ruleth all things? They will
surely say, "God:" then SAY: "What! will ye not therefore fear him?

This God then is your true Lord: and when the truth is gone, what remaineth
but error? How then are ye so perverted?

Thus is the word of thy Lord made good on the wicked, that they shall not
believe.

SAY: Is there any of the gods whom ye add to God who produceth a creature,
then causeth it to return to him? SAY: God produceth a creature, then causeth
it to return to Him: How therefore are ye turned aside?

SAY: Is there any of the gods ye add to God who guideth into the truth? SAY:
God guideth into the truth. Is He then who guideth into the truth the more
worthy to be followed, or he who guideth not unless he be himself guided?
What then hath befallen you that ye so judge?

And most of them follow only a conceit:-But a conceit attaineth to nought of
truth! Verily God knoweth what they say.

Moreover this Koran could not have been devised by any but God: but it
confirmeth what was revealed before it, and is a clearing up of the
Scriptures-there is no doubt thereof-from the Lord of all creatures.

Do they say, "He hath devised it himself?" SAY: Then bring a Sura like it;
and call on whom ye can beside God, if ye speak truth.

But that which they embrace not in their knowledge have they charged with
falsehood, though the explanation of it had not yet been given them. So those
who were before them brought charges of imposture: But see what was the end
of the unjust!

And some of them believe in it, and some of them believe not in it. But thy
Lord well knoweth the transgressors.

And if they charge thee with imposture, then SAY: My work for me, and your
work for you! Ye are clear of that which I do, and I am clear of that which
ye do.

And some of them lend a ready ear to thee: But wilt thou make the deaf to
hear even though they understand not?

And some of them look at thee: But wilt thou guide the blind even though they
see not?

Verily, God will not wrong men in aught, but men will wrong themselves.

Moreover, on that day, He will gather them all together: They shall seem as
though they had waited but an hour of the day! They shall recognise one
another! Now perish they who denied the meeting with God, and were not guided
aright!

Whether we cause thee to see some of our menaces against them fulfilled, or
whether we first take thee to Ourself,8 to us do they return. Then shall God
bear witness of what they do.

And every people hath had its apostle.9 And when their apostle came, a
rightful decision took place between them, and they were not wronged.

Yet they say, "When will this menace be made good? Tell us if ye speak
truly."

SAY: I have no power over my own weal or woe, but as God pleaseth. Every
people hath its time: when their time is come, they shall neither retard nor
advance it an hour.

SAY: How think ye? if God's punishment came on you by night or by day, what
portion of it would the wicked desire to hasten on?

When it falleth on you, will ye believe it then? Yes! ye will believe it
then. Yet did ye challenge its speedy coming.

Then shall it be said to the transgressors, "Taste ye the punishment of
eternity! Shall ye be rewarded but as ye have wrought?"

They will desire thee to inform them whether this be true? SAY: Yes! by my
Lord it is the truth: and it is not ye who can weaken Him.

And every soul that hath sinned, if it possessed all that is on earth, would
assuredly ransom itself therewith; and they will proclaim their repentance
when they have seen the punishment: and there shall be a rightful decision
between them, and they shall not be unjustly dealt with.

Is not whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth God's? Is not then the
promise of God true? Yet most of them know it not.

He maketh alive and He causeth to die, and to Him shall ye return.

O men! now hath a warning come to you from your Lord, and a medicine for what
is in your breasts, and a guidance and a mercy to believers.

SAY: Through the grace of God and his mercy! and in this therefore let them
rejoice: better is this than all ye amass.

SAY: What think ye? of what God hath sent down to you for food, have ye made
unlawful and lawful? SAY: Hath God permitted you? or invent ye on the part of
God?

But what on the day of Resurrection will be the thought of those who invent a
lie on the part of God? Truly God is full of bounties to man; but most of
them give not thanks.

Thou shalt not be employed in affairs, nor shalt thou read a text out of the
Koran, nor shall ye work any work, but we will be witnesses over you when ye
are engaged therein: and not the weight of an atom on Earth or in Heaven
escapeth thy Lord; nor is there aught that is less than this or greater, but
it is in the perspicuous Book.

Are not the friends of God, those on whom no fear shall come, nor shall they
be put to grief?

They who believe and fear God-

For them are good tidings in this life, and in the next! There is no change
in the words of God! This, the great felicity!

And let not their discourse grieve thee: for all might is God's: the Hearer,
the Knower, He!

Is not whoever is in the Heavens and the Earth subject to God? What then do
they follow who, beside God, call upon deities they have joined with Him?
They follow but a conceit, and they are but liars!

It is He who hath ordained for you the night wherein to rest, and the
lightsome day. Verily in this are signs for those who hearken.

They say, "God hath begotten children." No! by his glory! He is the self-
sufficient. All that is in the Heavens and all that is in the Earth is His!
Have ye warranty for that assertion? What! speak ye of God that which ye know
not?

SAY: Verily, they who devise this lie concerning God shall fare ill.

A portion have they in this world! Then to us they return! Then make we them
to taste the vehement torment, for that they were unbelievers.

Recite to them the history of Noah,10 when he said to his people,-If, O my
people! my abode with you, and my reminding you of the signs of God, be
grievous to you, yet in God is my trust: Muster, therefore, your designs and
your false gods, and let not your design be carried on by you in the dark:
then come to some decision about me, and delay not.

And if ye turn your backs on me, yet ask I no reward from you: my reward is
with God alone, and I am commanded to be of the Muslims.

But they treated him as a liar: therefore we rescued him and those who were
with him in the ark, and we made them to survive the others; and we drowned
those who charged our signs with falsehood. See, then, what was the end of
these warned ones!

Then after him, we sent Apostles to their peoples, and they came to them with
credentials; but they would not believe in what they had denied aforetime:
Thus seal we up the hearts of the transgressors!

Then sent we, after them, Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and his nobles with our
signs; but they acted proudly and were a wicked people:

And when the truth came to them from us, they said, "Verily, this is clear
sorcery."

Moses said: "What! say ye of the truth after it hath come to you, 'Is this
sorcery?' But sorcerers shall not prosper."

They said: "Art thou come to us to pervert us from the faith in which we
found our fathers, and that you twain shall bear rule in this land? But we
believe you not."

And Pharaoh said: "Fetch me every skilled magician." And when the magicians
arrived, Moses said to them, "Cast down what ye have to cast."

And when they had cast them down, Moses said, "Verily, God will render vain
the sorceries which ye have brought to pass: God prospereth not the work of
the evildoers.

And by his words will God verify the Truth, though the impious be averse to
it.

And none believed on Moses but a race among his own people, through fear of
Pharaoh and his nobles, lest he should afflict them: For of a truth mighty
was Pharaoh in the land, and one who committed excesses.

And Moses said: "O my people! if ye believe in God, then put your trust in
Him-if ye be Muslims."

And they said: "In God put we our trust. O our Lord! abandon us not to trial
from that unjust people,

And deliver us by thy mercy from the unbelieving people."

Then thus revealed we to Moses and to his brother: "Provide houses for your
people in Egypt, and in your houses make a Kebla, and observe prayer and
proclaim good tidings to the believers."

And Moses said: "O our Lord! thou hast indeed given to Pharaoh and his nobles
splendour and riches in this present life: O our Lord! that they may err from
thy way! O our Lord! confound their riches, and harden their hearts that they
may not believe till they see the dolorous torment."

He said: "The prayer of you both is heard: pursue ye both therefore the
straight path, and follow not the path of those who have no knowledge."

And we led the children of Israel through the sea; and Pharaoh and his hosts
followed them in eager and hostile sort until, when the drowning overtook
him, he said, "I believe that there is no God but he on whom the children of
Israel believe, and I am one of the Muslims."

"Yes, now," said God: "but thou hast been rebellious hitherto, and wast one
of the wicked doers.

But this day will we rescue thee with thy body that thou mayest be a sign to
those who shall be after thee:11 but truly, most men are of our signs
regardless!"

Moreover we prepared a settled abode for the children of Israel, and provided
them with good things: nor did they fall into variance till the knowledge
(the Law) came to them: Truly thy Lord will decide between them on the day of
Resurrection concerning that in which they differed.

And if thou art in doubt as to what we have sent down to thee, inquire at
those who have read the Scriptures before thee.12 Now hath the truth come
unto thee from thy Lord: be not therefore of those who doubt.

Neither be of those who charge the signs of God with falsehood, lest thou be
of those who perish.

Verily they against whom the decree of thy Lord is pronounced, shall not
believe,

Even though every kind of sign come unto them, till they behold the dolorous
torment!

Were it otherwise, any city, had it believed, might have found its safety in
its faith. But it was so, only with the people of JONAS. When they believed,
we delivered them from the penalty of shame in this world, and provided for
them for a time.

But if thy Lord had pleased, verily all who are in the earth would have
believed together. What! wilt thou compel men to become believers?

No soul can believe but by the permission of God: and he shall lay his wrath
on those who will not understand.

SAY: Consider ye whatever is in the Heavens and on the Earth: but neither
signs, nor warners, avail those who will not believe!

What then can they expect but the like of such days of wrath as befel those
who flourish before them? SAY: WAIT; I too will wait with you:

Then will we deliver our apostles and those who believe. Thus is it binding
on us to deliver the faithful.

SAY: O men! if ye are in doubt as to my religion, verily I worship not what
ye worship beside God; but I worship God who will cause you to die: and I am
commanded to be a believer.

And set thy face toward true religion, sound in faith, and be not of those
who join other gods with God:

Neither invoke beside God that which can neither help nor hurt thee: for if
thou do, thou wilt certainly then be one of those who act unjustly.

And if God lay the touch of trouble on thee, none can deliver thee from it
but He: and if He will thee any good, none can keep back his boons. He will
confer them on such of his servants as he chooseth: and He is the Gracious,
the Merciful!

SAY: O men! now hath the truth come unto you from your Lord. He therefore who
will be guided, will be guided only for his own behoof: but he who shall err
will err only against it; and I am not your guardian!

And follow what is revealed to thee: and persevere steadfastly till God shall
judge, for He is the best of Judges.


_______________________

1 See Sura 1xviii. n. 3, p. 32.

2 That is, for a serious end, to manifest the Divine Unity.

3 Gen. xi. 1.

4 This refers to the seven years of scarcity with which Mecca had been
visited.

5 Paradise.

6 Verses 27, 28 are to be noted, as defining the proportion to be observed in
rewards and punishments, the severity of the latter being only in proportion
to the crime, the excellence of the former being above and beyond its strict
merits.

7 But rather your own lusts. The Muhammadans believe that idols will be
gifted with speech at the day of judgment.

8 The ordinary Arabic word for to die seems to be avoided in speaking of
Jesus and Muhammad.

9 This is the doctrine of the Rabbins. Comp. Midrasch Rabba, and Midr. Jalkut
on Numb. xxii. 2.

10 The preaching of Noah is mentioned by the Rabbins. Sanhedrin, 108. Comp.
Midr. Rabbah on Gen. Par. 30 and 33, on Eccl. ix. 14, and in the probably
sub. Apostolic 2 Pet. ii. 5.

11 This is in accordance with Talmudic legend. "Recognise the power of
repentance, in the case of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, who rebelled excessively
against the most High; Who is God that I should hearken to his voice? (Ex. v.
2). But with the same tongue that sinned he did penance: Who is like thee, O
Lord, among the Gods? (xv. 11). The Holy One, Blessed be He, delivered him
from the dead, . . . so that he should not die (ix. 15, 16).-For now have I
stretched forth my hand, and verily thee have I raised up from among the
dead, to proclaim my might." Ex. ix. 15, 16. A strange comment! Pirke R.
Eliezer, � 43. Comp. Midr. on Ps. cvi. Midr. Jalkut, ch. 238.

12 That is, whether thou art not foretold in the Law and Gospel, and whether
the Koran is not in unison with, and confirmatory of, them.


SURA XXXIV.-SABA1 [LXXXV.]

MECCA.-54 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

PRAISE be to God! to whom belongeth all that is in the Heavens and all that
is on the Earth; and to Him be praise in the next world: for he is the All-
wise, the All-informed!

He knoweth what entereth into the earth, and what proceedeth from it; and
what cometh down from heaven, and what goeth up into it: and He is the
Merciful, the Forgiving!

"Never," say the unbelievers, "will the Hour come upon us!" SAY: Yea, by my
Lord who knoweth the unseen, it will surely come upon you! not the weight of
a mote either in the Heavens or in the Earth escapeth him; nor is there aught
less than this or aught greater, which is not in the clear Book;-

To the intent that God may reward those who have believed and done the things
that are right: Pardon and a noble provision shall they receive:

But as for those who aim to invalidate our signs,-a chastisement of painful
torment awaiteth them!

And they to whom knowledge hath been given see that what hath been sent down
to thee from thy Lord is the truth, and that it guideth into the way of the
Glorious one, the Praiseworthy.

But the unbelievers say to those whom they fall in with, "Shall we shew you a
man who will foretell you that when ye shall have been utterly torn and rent
to pieces, ye shall be restored in a new form?

He deviseth a lie about God, or there is a djinn in him," but they who
believe not in the next life, shall incur the chastisement, and be lost in
the mazes of estrangement from God.

What! have they never contemplated that which is before them and behind them,
the Heaven and the Earth? If such were our pleasure, we could sink them into
that Earth, or cause a portion of that Heaven to fall upon them! herein truly
is a sign for our every returning servant.

Of old bestowed we on David a gift, our special boon:-"Ye mountains and ye
birds answer his songs of praise." And we made the iron soft for him:-"Make
coats of mail, and arrange its plates; and work ye righteousness; for I
behold your actions."

And unto Solomon did we subject the wind, which travelled in the morning a
month's journey, and a month's journey in the evening. And we made a fountain
of molten brass to flow for him. And of the Djinn were some who worked in his
presence, by the will of his Lord; and such of them as swerved from our
bidding will we cause to taste the torment of the flame.

They made for him whatever he pleased, of lofty halls, and images, and dishes
large as tanks for watering camels, and cooking pots that stood firmly.
"Work," said we, "O family of David with thanksgiving:" But few of my
servants are the thankful!

And when we decreed the death of Solomon, nothing shewed them that he was
dead but a reptile of the earth that gnawed the staff which supported his
corpse.2 And when it fell, the Djinn perceived that if they had known the
things unseen, they had not continued in this shameful affliction.3

A sign there was to SABA, in their dwelling places:-two gardens, the one on
the right hand and the other on the left:-"Eat ye of your Lord's supplies,
and give thanks to him: Goodly is the country, and gracious is the Lord!"

But they turned aside: so we sent upon them the flood of Irem;4 and we
changed them their gardens into two gardens of bitter fruit and tamarisk and
some few jujube trees.

Such was our retribution on them for their ingratitude: but do we thus
recompense any except the ungrateful?

And we placed between them and the cities which we have blessed, conspicuous
cities, and we fixed easy stages: "Travel ye through them by night and day,
secure."

But they said, "O Lord! make the distance between our journeys longer,"5-and
against themselves did they act unjustly: so we made them a tale, and
scattered them with an utter scattering. Truly herein are signs to everyone
that is patient, grateful.

And Eblis found that he had judged truly of them: and they all except a
remnant of the faithful, followed him:

Yet no power had he over them. Only we would discern him who believed in the
life to come, from him who doubted of it; for thy Lord watcheth all things.

SAY: Call ye upon those whom ye deem gods, beside God: their power in the
Heavens and in the Earth is not the weight of an atom-neither have they any
share in either; nor hath He a helper from among them.

No intercession shall avail with Him but that which He shall Himself allow.
Until when at last their hearts shall be relieved from terror, they shall
say, "What saith your Lord?" they shall say, "The Truth; and He is the High,
the Great."

SAY: Who supplieth you out of the Heavens and the Earth? SAY: God. And either
we or ye have guidance, or are in palpable error!

SAY: Not as to our faults shall ye be questioned; neither shall we be
questioned as to your actions.

SAY: Our Lord will gather us together: then will He judge between us in
justice; for He is the Judge, the Knowing!

SAY: Shew me those whom ye have united with Him as associates: Nay, rather,
He is God, the Mighty, the Wise!

And we have sent thee to mankind at large, to announce and to threaten. But
most men understand not.

And they say, "When will this threat come to pass? Tell us, if ye be men of
truth."

SAY: Ye are menaced with a day, which not for an hour shall ye retard or
hasten on.

The unbelievers say, "We will not believe in this Koran, nor in the Books
which preceded it." But couldst thou see when the wicked shall be set before
their Lord! With reproaches will they answer one another. The weak shall say
to the mighty ones, "But for you we had been believers:"

Then shall the mighty ones say to the weak, "What! was it we who turned you
aside from the guidance which had reached you? Nay, but ye acted wickedly
yourselves."

And the weak shall say to the mighty ones, "Nay, but there was a plot by
night and by day, when ye bad us believe not in God, and gave him peers." And
they shall proclaim their repentance after they have seen the punishment! And
yokes will we place on the necks of those who have not believed! Shall they
be rewarded but as they have wrought?

And never have we sent a warner to any city whose opulent men did not say,
"In sooth we disbelieve your message."

And they said, "We are the more abundant in riches and in children, nor shall
we be among the punished."

SAY: Of a truth my Lord will be liberal or sparing in his supplies to whom he
pleaseth: but the greater part of men acknowledge it not.

Neither by your riches nor by your children shall you bring yourselves into
nearness with Us; but they who believe and do the thing that is right shall
have a double reward for what they shall have done: and in the pavilions of
Paradise shall they dwell secure!

But they who shall aim to invalidate our signs, shall be consigned to
punishment.

SAY: Of a truth my Lord will be liberal in supplies to whom he pleaseth of
his servants, or will be sparing to him: and whatever ye shall give in alms
he will return; and He is the best dispenser of gifts.

One day he will gather them all together: then shall he say to the angels,
"Did these worship you?"

They shall say, "Glory be to thee! Thou art our master, not these! But they
worshipped the Djinn: it was in them that most of them believed.

On this day the one of you shall have no power over others for help or hurt.
And we will say to the evil doers, "Taste ye the torment of the fire, which
ye treated as a delusion."

For when our distinct signs are recited to them, they say, "This is merely a
man who would fain pervert you from your father's Worship." And they say,
"This (Koran) is no other than a forged falsehood." And the unbelievers say
to the truth when it is presented to them, "Tis nothing but palpable
sorcery."

Yet have we given them no books in which to study deeply, nor have we sent
any one to them before thee, charged with warnings.

They also flourished before them, treated our apostles as impostors in like
sort: but not to the tenth part of what we bestowed on them,6 have these
attained. And yet when they charged my apostles with deceit, how terrible was
my vengeance:

SAY: One thing in sooth do I advise you:-that ye stand up before God two and
two, or singly,7 and then reflect that in your fellow citizen is no djinn:8
he is no other than your warner before a severe punishment.

SAY: I ask not any wage from you: keep it for yourselves: my wage is from God
alone. And He is witness over all things!

SAY: Truly my Lord sendeth forth the Truth:-Knower of things unseen!

SAY: Truth is come, and falsehood shall vanish and return no more.

SAY: If I err, verily to my own cost only shall I err: but if I have
guidance, it will be of my Lord's revealing, for He is the Hearer, the near
at hand.

Couldst thou see how they shall tremble and find no escape, and be taken
forth from the place that is so near;9

And shall say, "We believe in Him!" But how, in their present distance, shall
they receive the faith,

When they had before denied it, and aimed their shafts at the mysteries from
afar?10

And a gulf shall be between them and that which they shall desire-

As was done unto their likes of old, who were lost in the questionings of
doubt.


_______________________

1 In Arabia Felix, three days' journey from Sanaa.

2 The Talmud mentions the worm Shameer, used by Solomon to cut the stones for
building the temple. Pirke Aboth. v. See Buxt. Lex. Talmud, p. 2456. Tr.
Gittin, fol. 68; and Midr. Jalkut on 1 Kings, vi. 7. This passage of
Scripture may have suggested the idea that Solomon built, etc., by the aid of
Spirits. 3 That is, in their difficult toils.

4 See M. Caussin de Perceval Hist. des Arabes, vol. iii., who, as well as M.
de Sacy, fix this event in the second century of our era.

5 The Saba, of verse 14 formed an important branch of the trading population
of Yemen. This whole passage, 14-18, alludes to the cessation of traffic
between them and Syria, which led to the desire to lengthen the stages and
diminish the expense of the journey. See Muir's Life of Muhammad, i. p.
cxxxix. Muhammad attributes this desire to covetousness.

6 That is, of strength and material prosperity.

7 That is, so as to form a judgment free from the influence of others.

8 It is very remarkable, that when the power of Muhammad became firmly
established, he never reverts to the insinuations against the soundness of
his mind which in the earlier Suras he so often rebuts.

9 That is, their graves. Mar. So called because there is but a step into it
from the surface of the earth. Ullm.

10 That is, when in this life.


SURA XXXV.-THE CREATOR, OR THE ANGELS [LXXXVI.]

MECCA.-45 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

PRAISE be to God, Maker of the Heavens and of the Earth! Who employeth the
ANGELS as envoys, with pairs of wings, two, three, and four: He addeth to his
creature what He will! Truly God hath power for all things.

The mercy which God layeth open for man, no one can keep back; and what He
shall keep back, none can afterwards send forth. And He is the Mighty, the
Wise.

O men! bear in mind the favour of God towards you. Is there a creator other
than God, who nourisheth you with the gifts of heaven and earth? There is no
God but He! How then are ye turned aside from Him?

If they treat thee as an impostor, then before thee have apostles been
treated as impostors. But to God shall all things return.

O men! assuredly the promise of God is true: let not then the present life
deceive you: and let not the Deceiver deceive you as to God.

Yes, Satan is your foe. For a foe then hold him. He calleth his followers to
him that they may become inmates of the flame.

The unbelievers,-for them a terrible punishment!

But believers and doers of good works, for them is mercy, and a great reward!

Shall he, the evil of whose deeds are so tricked out to him that he deemeth
them good, be treated like him who seeth things aright? Verily God misleadeth
whom He will, and guideth whom He will. Spend not thy soul in sighs for them:
God knoweth their doings.

It is God who sendeth forth the winds which raise the clouds aloft: then
drive we them on to some land dead from drought,1 and give life thereby to
the earth after its death. So shall be the resurrection.

If any one desireth greatness, all greatness is in God. The good word riseth
up to Him, and the righteous deed will He exalt. But a severe punishment
awaiteth the plotters of evil things; and the plots of such will He render
vain.

Moreover, God created you of dust-then of the germs of life-then made you two
sexes: and no female conceiveth or bringeth forth without his knowledge; and
the aged ageth not, nor is aught minished from man's age, but in accordance
with the Book. An easy thing truly is this to God.

Nor are the two seas2 alike: the one fresh, sweet, pleasant for drink, and
the other salt, bitter; yet from both ye eat fresh fish, and take forth for
you ornaments to wear, and thou seest the ships cleaving their waters that ye
may go in quest of his bounties, and that ye may be thankful.

He causeth the night to enter in upon the day, and the day to enter in upon
the night; and He hath given laws to the sun and to the moon, so that each
journeyeth to its appointed goal: This is God your Lord: All power is His:
But the gods whom ye call on beside Him have no power over the husk of a date
stone!

If ye cry to them they will not hear your cry; and if they heard they would
not answer you, and in the day of resurrection they will disown your joining
them with God: and none can instruct thee like Him who is informed of all.

O men! ye are but paupers in need of God; but God is the Rich, the
Praiseworthy!

If He please, He could sweep you away, and bring forth a new creation!

Nor will this be hard for God.

And the burdened soul shall not bear the burden of another: and if the heavy
laden soul cry out for its burden to be carried, yet shall not aught of it be
carried, even by the near of kin! Thou shalt warn those who fear their Lord
in secret, and observe prayer. And whoever shall keep himself pure, he
purifieth himself to his own behoof: for unto God shall be the final
gathering.

And the blind and the seeing are not alike; neither darkness and light; nor
the shade and the hot wind;

Nor are the living and the dead the same thing! God indeed shall make whom He
will to hearken, but thou shalt not make those who are in their graves to
hearken; for only with warning art thou charged.

Verily we have sent thee with the truth; a bearer of good tidings and a
warner; nor hath there been a people unvisited by its warner.

And if they treat thee as a liar, so did those who were before them threat
their Apostles who came to them with the proofs of their mission, and with
the Scriptures and with the enlightening Book:3

Then chastised I the unbelievers: and how great was my vengeance!

Seest thou not how that God sendeth down water from the Heaven, and that by
it we cause the up-growth of fruits of varied hues, and that on the
mountains4 are tracks of varied hues, white and red, and others are of a
raven black? And of men and reptiles and animals, various likewise are the
hues. Such only of his servants as are possessed of knowledge fear God. Lo!
God is Mighty, Gracious!

Verily they who recite the Book of God, and observe prayer, and give alms in
public and in private from what we have bestowed upon them, may hope for a
merchandise that shall not perish:

God will certainly pay them their due wages, and of his bounty increase them:
for He is Gracious, Grateful.

And that which we have revealed to thee of the Book is the very Truth,
confirmatory of previous Scriptures: for God knoweth and beholdeth his
servants.

Moreover, we have made the Book an heritage to those of our servants whom we
have chosen. Some of them injure themselves by evil deeds; others keep the
midway between good and evil; and others, by the permission of God, outstrip
in goodness; this is the great merit!

Into the gardens of Eden shall they enter: with bracelets of gold and pearl
shall they be decked therein, and therein shall their raiment be of silk:

And they shall say, "Praise be to God who hath put away sorrow from us.
Verily our Lord is Gracious, Grateful,

Who of His bounty hath placed us in a manison that shall abide for ever:
therein no toil shall reach us, and therein no weariness shall touch us."

But for infidels is the fire of Hell; to die shall never be decreed them, nor
shall aught of its torment be made light to them. Thus reward we every
infidel!

And therein shall they cry aloud, "Take us hence, O our Lord! righteousness
will we work, and not what we wrought of old."-"Prolonged we not your days
that whoever would be warned might be warned therein? And the preacher came
to you-

Taste it then."-There is no protector for the unjust.

God truly knoweth the hidden things both of the Heavens and of the Earth: for
He knoweth the very secrets of the breast.

He hath appointed you his vicegerents in the earth: And whoever believeth
not, on him shall be his unbelief; and their unbelief shall only increase for
the unbelievers, hatred at the hands of their Lord:-and their unbelief shall
only increase for the unbelievers their own perdition!

SAY: What think ye of the gods whom ye invoke beside God? Shew me what part
of the earth they have created? Had they a share in the creation of the
Heavens? Have we given them a Book in which they can find proofs that they
are to be called on? Nay, the wicked promise one another only deceits.

Verily God holdeth fast the Heavens and the Earth that they pass not away:
and if they were passing away none could hold them back but He: for He is
Kind, Gracious.

They swore by God with their mightiest oath that should a preacher come to
them they would yield to guidance more than any people: but when the preacher
came to them it only increased in them their estrangement,

Their haughtiness on earth and their plotting of evil! But the plotting of
evil shall only enmesh those who make use of it.5 Look they then for aught
but God's way6 of dealing with the peoples of old? Thou shalt not find any
change in the way of God,-

Yea, thou shalt not find any variableness in the way of God.

Have they never journeyed in the land and seen what hath been the end of
those who flourished before them, though mightier in strength than they? God
is not to be frustrated by aught in the Heavens or in the Earth; for He is
the All-knowing, the All-mighty.

If, moreover, God should chastise men according to their deserts, He would
not leave even a reptile on the back of the earth! But to an appointed time
doth He respite them.

And when their time shall come, then verily God's eye is on his servants.


_______________________

1 See note at Sura [xcvii.] iii. 18. This is one of the passages said to have
originated with Zayd.

2 Not only seas, properly so called, but the great masses of fresh water in
the Nile, Tigris, inland lakes, etc. 3 The Gospel.

4 This idea was probably suggested by Muhammad's reminiscences of the view
from the Cave of Hira, to the north and west of which there is a prospect
thus described by Burckhardt (Travels, p. 176). "The country before us had a
dreary aspect, not a single green spot being visible; barren, black, and grey
hills, and white sandy valleys were the only objects in sight."

5 Lit. shall encompass its people.

6 Method of dealing, i.e., first warning, then punishing.
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