CHAP. LXXVII. Intitled, Those which are sent; revealed at MECCA. In the name of the most merciful GOD. BY the angels which are sent by GOD, following one another in a continual series; and those which move swiftly, with a rapid motion; and by those which disperse his commands, by divulging them through the earth; and by those which separate truth from falsehood, by distinguishing the same; and by those which communicate the divine admonitions, to excuse, or to threaten": verily that which ye are promised is inevitable. When the stars, therefore, shall be put out, and when the heaven shall be cloven in sunder, and when the mountains shall be winnowed, and when the apostles shall have a time assigned them to appear and bear testimony against their respective people; to what a day shall that appointment be deferred! to the day of separation and what shall cause thee to understand what the day of separation is? On that day, wo be unto them who accused the prophets of imposture! Have we not destroyed the obstinate unbelievers of old? We will also cause those of the latter times to follow them. Thus do we deal with the wicked. Wo be, n By the angels which are sent, &c.] Some understand the whole passage of the verses of the Korân; which continued to be sent down, parcel after parcel, during the space of several years, and which rescind (for so the verb ásafa may also be translated) and abolish all former dispensations, divulging and making known the ways of salvation, distinguishing truth from falsehood, and communicating admonition, &c. Some interpret the first three verses of the winds, sent in a continual succession, blowing with a violent gust, and dispersing rain over the earth: and others give different explications. • That which ye are promised.] viz. The day of judgment. on that day, unto them who accused the prophets of imposture! Have we not created you of a contemptible drop of seed, which we placed in a sure repository, until the fixed term of delivery? And we were able to do this: for we are most powerful. On that day, wo be unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! Have we not made the earth to contain the living and the dead, and placed therein stable and lofty mountains, and given you fresh water to drink? Wo be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! It shall be said unto them, Go ye to the punishment which ye denied as a falsehood: go ye into the shadow of the smoke of hell, which shall ascend in three columns, and shall not shade you from the heat, neither shall it be of service against the flame; but it shall cast forth sparks as big as towers, resembling yellow camels in colour". Wo be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! This shall be a day whereon they shall not speak to any purpose; neither shall they be permitted to excuse themselves. Wo be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! This shall be the day of separation : we will assemble both you and your predecessors. Wherefore, if ye have any cunning stratagem, employ stratagems against me. Wo be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! But the pious shall dwell amidst shades and fountains, and fruits of the kinds which they shall desire : and it shall be said unto them, Eat and drink with easy digestion, in recompense for that which ye have wrought; for thus do we reward the righteous doers. Wo be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! Eat, O unbelievers, and enjoy the pleasures of this life, for a little while: verily ye are wicked men. Wo be, on that day, unto those P Resembling yellow camels.] Being of a fiery colour. Others, however, suppose these sparks will be of a dusky hue, like that of black camels, which always inclines a little to the VOL II. yellow; the word translated yellow signifying sometimes black. Some copies, by the variation of a vowel, have cables, instead of camels. 2 H who accused the prophets of imposture! And when it is said unto them, Bow down; they do not bow down. Wo be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture! In what new revelation will they believe after this? CHAP. LXXVIII. Intitled, The News; revealed at MECCA. In the name of the most merciful GOD. *XXX.] CONCERNING what do the unbelievers ask questions of one another? Concerning the great news of the resurrection, about which they disagree. Assuredly they shall hereafter know the truth thercof. Again, Assuredly they shall hereafter know the truth thereof. Have we not made the earth for a bed, and the mountains for stakes to fix the same? And have we not created you of two sexes; and appointed your sleep for rest; and made the night a garment to cover you; and destined the day to the gaining your livelihood; and built over you seven solid heavens; and placed therein a burning lamp? And do we not send down from the clouds pressing forth rain, water pouring down in abundance, that we may thereby produce corn, and herbs, and gardens planted thick with trees? Verily the day of separation is a fixed period: the day whereon the trumpet shall sound, and ye shall come in troops to judgment; and the heaven shall be opened, and shall be full of gates for the angels to pass through; and the mountains shall pass away, and become 9 See chap. xvi. p. 77. and chap. xxxi. p. 252. as a vapour: verily hell shall be a place of ambush' a receptacle for the transgressors, who shall remain therein for ages: they shall not taste any refreshment therein, or any drink, except boiling water, and filthy corruption: a fit recompence for their deeds! For they hoped that they should not be brought to an account, and they disbelieved our signs, accusing them of falsehood. But every thing have we computed and written down. Taste, therefore; we will not add unto you any other than torment. But for the pious is prepared a place of bliss: gardens planted with trees, and vineyards, and damsels with swelling breasts, of equal age with themselves, and a full cup. They shall hear no vain discourse there, nor any falsehood. This shall be their. recompence from thy LORD; a gift fully sufficient; from the LORD of heaven and earth, and of whatever is between them; the Merciful. The inhabitants of heaven or of earth shall not dare to demand audience of him the day whereon the spirit GABRIEL, and the other angels, shall stand in order, they shall not speak in behalf of themselves or others, except he only to whom the Merciful shall grant permission, and who shall say that which is right. This is the infallible day. Whoso, therefore, willeth, let him return unto his LORD. Verily we threaten you with a punishment nigh at hand: the day whereon a man shall behold the good or evil deeds which his hands have sent before him; and the unbeliever shall say, Would to GOD I were dust! We will not add unto you any other than torment.] This, say the commentators, is the most severe and terrible sentence in the whole Korân, pronounced against the inhabitants of hell; they being hereby assured, that every change in their torments will be for the worse. CHAP. LXXIX. Intitled, Those who tear forth; revealed at MECCA. In the name of the most merciful GOD. By the angels who tear forth the souls of some with violence; and by those who draw forth the souls of others with gentleness; by those who glide swimmingly through the air with the commands of GOD; and those who precede and usher the righteous to paradise; and those who subordinately govern the affairs of this world: on a certain day, the disturbing blast of the trumpet shall disturb the universe; and the subsequent blast shall follow it. On that day men's hearts shall tremble: their looks shall be cast down. The infidels say, Shall we surely be made to return whence we came'? After we shall have become rotten bones, shall we be again raised to life? They say, This then will be a return to loss. Verily it will be but one sounding of the trumpet", and behold, they shall appear alive on the face of the earth". Hath not the story of MOSES reached thee? By the angels who tear forth the souls of some with violence, &c.] These are the angel of death, and his assistants; who will take the souls of the wicked in a rough and cruel manner, from the inmost part of their bodies, as a man drags up a thing from the bottom of the sea; but will take the souls of the good in a gentle and easy manner, from their lips; when a man draws a bucket of water at one pull (1). as There are several other interpretations of this whole passage: some (1) Al BEIDAWI. |