admonition unto him who feareth God: (3) being sent down from him who created the earth and the lofty heavens. (4) The Merciful sitteth on his throne: (5) unto him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth, and whatsoever is between them, and whatsoever is under the earth. (6) If thou pronounce thy prayers with a loud voice, know that it is not necessary in respect to God; for he knoweth that which is secret, and what is yet more hidden. (7) GOD! there is no GOD but he; he hath most excellent names. (8) Hast thou been informed of the history of Moses? (9) When he saw fire, and said unto his family, Tarry ye here; for I perceive fire: (10) peradventure I may bring you a brand thereout, or may find

revealed, stood on one foot only, but was hereby commanded to ease himself by setting both feet to the ground. Others fancy the first letter stands for Túba, beatitude; and the latter for Hawiyat, the name of the lower apartment of hell. Tah is also an interjection commanding silence, and may properly enough be used in this place."-Sale.

Unhappy. "Either by reason of thy zealous solicitude for the conversion of the infidels, or thy fatiguing thyself by watching and other religious exercises; for, it seems, the Quraish urged the extraordinary fatigues he underwent in those respects as the consequence of his having left their religion."-Sale, Baidhawi.

(6) If thou pronounce... with a loud voice. One of the points of controversy between the orthodox or Sunni sect of Muslims and the Indian Wahábís, commonly called Ghair Mukallad, or Antiauthoritists (i.e., they refuse to recognise the authority of the Muslim fathers, so to speak, regarding the Qurán alone as inspired; tradition having merely historical value in matters of doctrine), is that the latter repeat the "Amen" with a loud voice, while the orthodox say it in a whisper. This verse favours the orthodox view, though the example of the Prophet (as witnessed to by this verse) is on the side of the Wahábís. The latter, of course, deny that pronouncing the name of God is here prohibited.

(7) He hath most excellent names. See chap. vii. 181, and xvii. 110, and notes there.

(8) "The relation of the story of Moses, which takes up the greatest part of this chapter, was designed to encourage Muhammad, by his example, to discharge the prophetic office with firmness of mind, as being assured of receiving the like assistance from God; for it is said this chapter was one of the first that were revealed."

(9) When he saw fire. Compare this and the following verses with Exod. iii. 1-6, to see how far the Qurán comes short of confirming the Pentateuch.

a direction in our way by the fire. (11) And when he was come near unto it, a voice called unto him, saying, O Moses, (12) verily I am thy LORD: wherefore put off thy shoes; for thou art in the sacred valley Tuwá. (13) And I have chosen thee; therefore hearken with attention unto that which is revealed unto thee. (14) Verily I am GOD; there is no god besides me; wherefore worship me, and perform thy prayer in remembrance of me. (15) Verily the hour cometh: I will surely manifest the same, (16) that every soul may receive its reward for that which it hath deliberately done. (17) Let not him who believeth not therein, and who followeth his lust, prevent thee from believing in the same, lest thou perish. (18) Now what is that in thy right hand, O Moses? (19) He answered, It is my rod whereon I lean, and with which I beat down leaves for my flock; and I have other uses for it. (20) God said unto him, Cast it down, O Moses. (21) And he cast it down, and behold, it became a serpent, which ran about. (22) God said, Take hold on it, and

(10) A direction in our way. "The commentators say that Moses having obtained leave of Shuaib, or Jethro, his father-in-law, to visit his mother, departed with his family from Midian towards Egypt; but coming to the valley of Tuwa, wherein Mount Sinai stands, his wife fell in labour, and was delivered of a son in a very dark and snowy night; he had also lost his way, and his cattle were scattered from him; when on a sudden he saw a fire by the side of a mountain, which, on his nearer approach, he found burning in a green bush."-Sale, Baidhawi.

(12) Put off thy shoes. "This was a mark of humility and respect: though some fancy there was some uncleanness in the shoes themselves, because they were made of the skin of an ass not dressed."Sale, Baidhawi.

Tuwá. See note above on ver. 10.

(16) Deliberately done, literally, performs with effort.

(19) Other uses. "As to drive away wild beasts from my flock, to carry my bottle of water on, to stick up and hang my upper garment on, to shade me from the sun; and several other uses enumerated by the commentators."-Sale.

(21) A serpent. “Which was at first no bigger than the rod, but afterwards swelled to a prodigious size."-Sale, Baidhawi. See note on chap. vii. 107.

fear not we will reduce it to its former condition. (23) And put thy right hand under thy left arm: it shall come forth white, without any hurt. (24) This shall be another sign that we may show thee some of our greatest signs. (25) Go unto Pharaoh: for he is exceedingly impious. (26) Moses answered, LORD, enlarge my breast,

:

|| (27) And make what thou hast commanded me easy unto me: (28) and loose the knot of my tongue, (29) that they may understand my speech. (30) And give me a counsellor of my family, (31) namely, Aaron my brother. (32) Gird up my loins by him, (33) and make him my colleague in the business: (34) that we may praise thee greatly, and may remember thee often; (35) for thou regardest us. (36) God replied, Now hast thou obtained. thy request, O Moses: (37) and we have heretofore been gracious unto thee another time, (38) when we revealed unto thy mother that which was revealed unto her, (39) saying, Put him into the ark, and cast him into the river, and the

(22) Fear not. "When Moses saw the serpent move about with great nimbleness, and swallow stones and trees, he was greatly terrified, and fled from it; but recovering his courage at these words of God, he had the boldness to take the serpent by the jaws."—Sale, Baidhawi.

(23) See note on chap. vii. 108.

(26) Enlarge my breast. Abdul Qadir says this expression means that he should have control of his temper.

(28) Loose the knot of my tongue. "For Moses had an impediment in his speech, which was occasioned by the following accident. Pharaoh one day carrying him in his arms when a child, he suddenly laid hold of his beard, and plucked it in a very rough manner, which put Pharaoh into such a passion that he ordered him to be put to death but Aishía, his wife, representing to him that he was but a child, who could not distinguish between a burning coal and a ruby, he ordered the experiment to be made; and a live coal and a ruby being set before Moses, he took the coal and put it into his mouth, and burnt his tongue; and thereupon he was pardoned. This is a Jewish story a little altered. (Vide Shalsh. Hakkab., p. 11.)”—Sale. (30) A counsellor. The original word is wazir, meaning a prime minister. The Qurán here (vers. 31-35) contradicts Exod. iv. 10-17. (38) "The commentators are not agreed by what means this revelation was made, whether by private inspiration, by a dream, by a prophet, or by an angel."-Sale.

(39) The ark. "The commentators say that his mother accord

[CHAP. XX. river shall throw him on the shore; and my enemy and his enemy shall take him and bring him up; and I bestowed on thee love from me, (40) that thou mightest be bred up under my eye. (41) When thy sister went and said, Shall I bring you unto one who will nurse the child? So we returned thee unto thy mother, that her mind might be set at ease, and that she might not be afflicted. And thou slewest a soul, and we delivered thee from trouble; and we proved thee by several trials: (42) and afterwards thou didst dwell some years among the inhabitants of Madian. Then thou camest hither according to our decree, O Moses; (43) and I have chosen thee for myself; (44)

ingly made an ark of the papyrus, and pitched it, and put in some cotton; and having laid the child therein, committed it to the river, a branch of which went into Pharaoh's garden; that the stream carried the ark thither into a fishpond, at the head of which Pharaoh was then sitting with his wife Aishía, the daughter of Muzáhim and that the king, having commanded that it be taken up and opened, and finding in it a beautiful child, took a fancy to it, and ordered it to be brought up.

;

"Some writers mention a miraculous preservation of Moses before he was put into the ark, and tell us that his mother having hid him from Pharaoh's officers in an oven, his sister, in her mother's absence, kindled a large fire in the oven to heat it, not knowing the child was there, but that he was afterwards taken out unhurt."— -Sale, Baidhawi, and Abul Fida.

I bestowed on thee love. "That is, I inspired the love of thee into the hearts of those who saw thee, and particularly into the heart of Pharaoh."-Sale.

(41) One who will nurse. "The Muhammadans pretend that several nurses were brought, but the child refused to take the breast of any, till his sister Miriam, who went to learn news of him, told them she would find a nurse, and brought his mother.". Sale, Baidháwi.

We delivered thee. "Moses killed an Egyptian in defence of an Israelite, and escaped the danger of being punished for it by flying to Midian, which was eight days' journey distant from Misr.

"The Jews pretend he was actually imprisoned for the fact, and condemned to be beheaded, but that, when he should have suffered, his neck became as hard as ivory, and the sword rebounded on the executioner (Shalsh. Hakkab., p. 11)."-Sale, Baidhawi.

Several trials. "For he was obliged to abandon his country and his friends, and to travel several days, in great terror and want of necessary provisions, to seek a refuge among strangers; and was afterwards forced to serve for hire to gain a livelihood.”—Sale. (42) Some years. Baidháwi says ten years.

wherefore go thou and thy brother with my signs; and be not negligent in remembering me. (45) Go ye unto Pharaoh, for he is excessively impious: (46) and speak mildly unto him; peradventure he will consider, or will fear our threats. (47) They answered, O LORD, verily we fear lest he be precipitately violent against us, or lest he transgress more exorbitantly. (48) God replied, Fear not; for I am with you: I will hear and will see. (49) Go ye therefore unto him, and say, Verily we are the messengers of thy LORD: wherefore send the children of Israel with us, and do not afflict them. Now are we come unto thee with a sign from thy LORD: and peace be upon him who shall follow the true direction. (50) Verily it hath been revealed unto us that a punishment shall be inflicted on him who shall charge us with imposture, and shall turn back. (51) And when they had delivered their message, Pharaoh said, Who is your LORD, O Moses? (52) He answered, Our LORD is he who giveth all things: he hath created them, and directeth them by his providence. (53) Pharaoh said, What therefore is the condition of the former generations? (54) Moses answered, The knowledge thereof is with my LORD, in the book of his decrees; my LORD erreth not, neither doth he forget. (55) It is he who hath spread the earth as a bed for you, and hath made you paths therein; and who sendeth down rain from heaven, whereby we cause various kinds of vegetables to spring forth: (56) saying, Eat of part, and feed

(44) Thy brother. "Aaron being by this time come out to meet his brother, either by divine inspiration, or having notice of his design to return to Egypt."-Sale, Baidhawi.

(46) Peradventure he will consider. This contradicts Exod. iii. 19, 20.

(50) Charge us with imposture. See note on chap. iii. p. 185. (53) The condition, i.e., "as to happiness or misery after death."Sale.

Rodwell understands the reference to be to the creed, meaning that past generations have always worshipped differently from Moses and his people.

(54-57) The discourse of Moses was of a kind with the preaching of Muhammad to the infidel Quraish.