Qurán; for he was one of great veracity, and a prophet. (43) When he said unto his father, O my father, why dost thou worship that which heareth not, neither seeth, nor profiteth thee at all? (44) O my father, verily a degree of knowledge hath been bestowed on me, which hath not been bestowed on thee: wherefore follow me; I will lead thee into an even way. (45) O my father, serve not Satan; for Satan was rebellious unto the Merciful. (46) O my father, verily I fear lest a punishment be inflicted on thee from the Merciful, and thou become a companion of Satan. (47) His father answered, Dost thou reject my gods, O Abraham? If thou forbear not, I will surely stone thee: wherefore leave me for a long time. (48) Abraham replied, Peace be on thee: I will ask pardon for thee of my LORD; for he is gracious unto me. (49) And I will separate myself from you, and from the idols which ye invoke besides GOD; and I will call upon my LORD: it may be that I shall not be unsuccessful in calling on my LORD, as ye are in calling upon them. (50) And when he had separated himself from them, and from the idols which they worshipped besides GOD, we gave him Isaac and Jacob; and we made each of them a prophet, (51) and we bestowed on them, through our mercy, the gift of prophecy, and children and wealth; and we caused them. to deserve the highest commendations. (52) And remember Moses in the book of the Qurán: for he was sincerely upright, and was an apostle and a prophet. (53) And we called unto him from the right side of Mount Sinai, and A prophet. Rodwell distinguishes between a prophet (nabí) and an apostle (rasúl), the mission of the former being restricted to a family, that of an apostle being extended to a tribe, some of the prophets, e.g., Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, possessing the credentials of both nabí and rasúl. (43-50) See notes on chap. vi. 75-85. (50) When he had separated himself from them. "By flying to Harrán, and thence to Palestine."-Sale. (51) To deserve, &c. Literally, We granted them a lofty tongue of truth. (52) An apostle and a prophet. See above on ver. 42. T D. caused him to draw near, and to discourse privately with us. (54) And we gave him, through our mercy, his brother Aaron a prophet, for his assistant. (55) Remember also Ismáíl in the same book; for he was true to his promise, and was an apostle and a prophet. (56) And he commanded his family to observe prayer and to give alms; and he was acceptable unto his LORD. (57) And remember Idrís in the same book; for he was a just person and a prophet: (58) and we exalted him to a high place. (59) These are they unto whom God hath been bounteous, of the prophets of the posterity of Adam, and of those whom we carried in the ark with Noah; and of the posterity of Abraham, and of Israel, and of those whom we have directed and chosen. When the signs of the Merciful (53) To draw near. "Or, as some expound it, And we raised him on high; for, say they, he was raised to so great an elevation, that he heard the creaking of the pen writing on the table of God's decrees." -Sale, Baidhawi. (55) He was true to his promise. "Being celebrated on that account, and particularly for his behaving with that resignation and constancy which he had promised his father, on his receiving God's command to sacrifice him: for the Muhammadans say it was Ismáíl, and not Isaac, whom he was commanded to offer.”—Sale, Baidhawi. Abdul Qádír says Ismáíl obtained this title (in Arabic Sádiq ul Wadi) because having promised to wait for a certain person in a certain place till he came, he waited there a whole year. (57) Idris," or Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, who had that surname from his great knowledge; for he was favoured with no less than thirty books of divine revelations, and was the first who wrote with a pen, and studied the sciences of astronomy and arithmetic, &c."-Baidhawi, Jalaluddín. "The learned Bartolocci (Bartol. Bibl. Rab., part ii. p. 845) endeavours to show, from the testimonies of the ancient Jews, that Enoch, surnamed Ídrís, was a very different person from the Enoch of Moses, and many ages younger."-Sale. Arab writers derive the name Idris from Darasa, to search out. (58) We exalted him. "Some understand by this the honour of the prophetic office and his familiarity with God; but others suppose his translation is here meant for they say he was taken up by God into heaven at the age of three hundred and fifty, having first suffered death, and been restored to life, and that he is now alive in one of the seven heavens, or in paradise."-Sale, Jaláluddín, Baidhawi. See Rodwell's note in loco for corresponding Jewish tradition. R$ were read unto them, they fell down, worshipping, and wept. (60) But a succeeding generation have come after them, who neglect prayer and follow their lusts; and they shall surely fall into evil: (61) except him who repenteth and believeth, and doth that which is right; these shall enter Paradise, and they shall not in the least be wronged: (62) gardens of perpetual abode shall be their reward, which the Merciful hath promised unto his servants, as an object of faith; for his promise will surely come to be fulfilled. (63) Therein shall they hear no vain discourse, but peace; and their provision shall be prepared for them therein morning and evening. (64) This is Paradise, which we will give for an inheritance unto such of our servants as shall be pious. (65) We descend not from heaven, unless by command of thy LORD: unto him belongeth whatsoever is before us, and whatsoever is behind us, and whatsoever is in the intermediate space; neither is thy LORD forgetful of thee. (66) He is the LORD of heaven (59) And wept. The Tafsir-i-Raufi draws from these words the inference that tears should be shed during the reading of the Qurán. "If they do not flow voluntarily," says a tradition, "then strain them out with difficulty." (61) Except him who repenteth, &c. Salvation is here promised on the ground of repentance, faith, and good works (prayer, fasting, almsgiving, &c.) In other words, those who live the lives of good Muslims will be saved-Islám being the one true religion of God on earth. See also note on chap. iii. 31. (62) Gardens. See note on chap. iii. 15. (63) Peace, i.e., "words of peace and comfort, or the salutations of the angels, &c."-Sale. See also chap. x. 10, and note there. (65) "These are generally supposed to have been the words of the Angel Gabriel in answer to Muhammad's complaint for his long delay of fifteen, or, according to another tradition, of forty days, before he brought him instructions what solution he should give to the questions which had been asked him concerning the sleepers, Dhu-l-Qarnain, and the spirit (see chap. xviii. 23, note). 66 Others, however, are of opinion that they are the words which the godly will use at their entrance into Paradise; and that their meaning is,We take up our abode here at the command and through the mercy of God alone, who ruleth all things, past, future, and present; and who is not forgetful of the works of his servants.'"-Sale, Baidhawi. C and earth, and of whatsoever is between them: wherefore || (67) Man saith, After I shall have been dead, shall I R §- (66) Dost thou know any named like him? "That is, deserving His name is Allah, a name not used by the idolaters, who worshipped (70) We will draw forth from every sect, &c. "Hence, says al But see ver. 73 below. The pious are probably the erring faithful, who will be punished by purgatorial fire. (81) More worthy, viz., "the more obstinate and perverse, and especially the heads of sects, who will suffer a double punishment for their own errors and their seducing of others."-Sale. (72) You ... shall approach near the same. "For the true believers must also pass by or through hell, but the fire will be damped, and the flames abated, so as not to hurt them, though it will lay hold on the others. Some, however, suppose that the words intend no more than the passage over the narrow bridge, which is laid over hell."-Sale. See Prelim. Disc., p. 147. (73) See above on ver. 70. are read unto them, the infidels say unto the true believers, Which of the two parties is in the more eligible condition, and formeth the more excellent assembly? (75) But how many generations have we destroyed before them, which excelled them in wealth, and in outward appearance? (76) Say, Whosoever is in error, the Merciful will grant him a long and prosperous life, (77) until they see that with which they are threatened, whether it be the punishment of this life, or that of the last hour; and hereafter they shall know who is in the worse condition, and the weaker in forces. (78) GOD shall more fully direct those who receive direction; (79) and the good works which remain for ever are better in the sight of thy LORD than worldly possessions, in respect to the reward, and more eligible in respect to the future recompense. (80) Hast thou seen him who believeth not in our signs, and saith, I shall surely have riches and children bestowed on me? (81) Is he acquainted with the secrets of futurity; or hath he received a covenant from the Merciful that it shall be so? (82) By no means. We will surely write down that which he saith; and increasing we will increase his punishment; (83) and we will be his heir as to that which he speaketh of; and on the last day he shall appear before us alone (74) The two parties, viz., "of us or of you. When the Quraish were unable to produce a composition to equal the Qurán, they began to glory in their wealth and nobility, valuing themselves highly on that account, and despising the followers of Muhammad."-Sale. (76) A long and prosperous life. Not in order that he may have a longer day of probation, but that he may thus treasure up a greater degree of suffering. See chap. iii. 179, and note on chap. ii. 211. (80) "This passage was revealed on account of 'Aás Ibn Waíl, who being indebted to Khabbáh, when he demanded the money refused to pay it, unless he would deny Muhammad; to which proposal Khabbáb answered that he would never deny that prophet, neither alive, nor dead, nor when he should be raised to life at the last day. Therefore, replied al 'Aás, 'When thou art raised again, come to me, for I shall then have abundance of riches and children, and I will pay you.'"-Sale, Baidhawi, Jalaluddin. (83) We shall be heir, &c., i.e., “God will take from him all his wealth and children, whom he will be obliged to leave behind at death." See the same idea above in ver, 41. |