commanded: I am the first Moslem. Say, shall I desire any other LORD besides God? since he is the LORD of all things; and no soul shall acquire any merits or demerits but for itself; and no burdened soul shall bear the burden of another." Moreover unto your LORD shall ye return; and he shall declare unto you that concerning which ye now dispute. It is he who hath appointed you to succeed your predecessors in the earth, and hath raised some of you above others by various degrees of worldly advantages, that he might prove you by that which he hath bestowed on you. Th▾ LORD is swift in punishing; and he is also gracious and merciful.

CHAPTER VII.

INTITLED, AL ARAF; REVEALED AT MECCA,

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

AL. M. S. A book hath been sent down unto thee: and therefore ict there be no doubt in thy breast concerning it; that thou mayest preach the same, and that it may be an admonition unto the faithful. Follow that which hath been sent down unto you from your LORD; and follow no guides besides him: how little will ye be warned! How many cities have we destroyed; which our vengeance overtook by night, or while they were reposing themselves at noon-day! And their supplication, when our punishment came upon them, was no other than that they said, Verily we have been unjust. We will surely call those to an account, unto whom a prophet hath been sent; and we will also call those to account who have been sent unto them. And we will declare their actions unto them with knowledge; for we are not absent from them. The weighing of men's actions on that day shall be just; and they whose balances laden with their good works shall be heavy, are those who shall be happy; but they whose balances shall be light, are those who have lost their souls, because they injured our signs. And now have we placed you on the earth, and have

See before, p. 99

This was revealed in answer to the pressing instances of the idolaters, who offered to take the crime upon themselves, if Mohammed would conform to their worship.

* Al Arâf signifies the partition between paradise and hell, which is mentioned in this chapter.'

Some however except five or eight verses, beginning at these words, And ask then concerning the city, &c.

The signification of those letters the more sober Mohammedans confess God alone knows. Some however imagine they stand for Allah, Gabriel, Mohammed, on whom be peace.

Fea, not to use it for the purpose of threatening the wicked, and exhorting the rue Jelievers.". ."-Savary.

As it did the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, to whom Lot was sent.
As happened to the Midianites, to whom Shoaib preached.

See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv.

f

provided you foon therein: but how little are ye thankful! We created you, and afterwards formed you; and then said unto the angels, Worship Adam; and they all worshipped him, except Eblis, who was not one of those who worshipped. God said unto him, What hindered thee from worshipping Adam, since I had commanded thee? He answered, I am more excellent than he: thou hast created me of fire, and hast created him of clay. God said, Get thee down therefore froin paradise; for it is not fit that thou behave thyself proudly therein: get thee hence; thou shalt be one of the contemptible. He answered, Give me respite until the day of resurrection. God said, Verily thou shalt be one of those who are respited. The devil said, Because thou hast depraved me, I will lay wait for men in thy strait way; then will I come upon them from before, and from behind, and from their right hands, and from their left; and thou shalt not find the greater part of them thankful. God said unto him, Get thee hence, despised, and driven far away: verily whoever of them shall follow thee, I will surely fill hell with you all: but as for thee, O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in paradise; and eat of the fruit thereof wherever ye will; but approach not this tree, lest ye become of the number of the unjust. And Satan suggested to them both, that he would discover unto them their nakedness, which was hidden from them; and he said, Your LORD hath not forbidden you this tree, for any other reason but lest ye should become angels, or lest ye become immortal. And he sware unto them, saying, Verily I am one of those who counsel you aright. And he caused them to fall through deceit. And when they had tasted of the tree, their naked. ness appeared unto them; and they began to join together the leaves of paradise, to cover themselves. And their LORD called to them, saying. Did I not forbid you this tree: and did I not say unto you, Verily Satan is

See chap. 2, p. 5, &c.

As the time till which the devil is reprieved is not particularly expressed, the com. mentators suppose his request was not wholly granted: but agree that he shall die, as well as other creatures, at the second sound of the trumpet.

i. e. I will attack them on every side that I shall be able. The other two ways, viz. from above, and from under their feet, are omitted, say the commentators, to show that the devil's power is limited."

The Mohammedan gospel of Barnabas tells us, that the sentence which God pronounced on the serpent for introducing the devil into paradise was, that he should not only be turned out of paradise, but that he should have his legs cut off by the angel Michael, with the sword of God; and that the devil himself, since he had rendered our first parents unclean, was condemned to eat the excrements of them and all their posterity; which two last circumstances I do not remember to have read elsewhere. The words of the manuscript are these:-Y llamó (Dios) a la serpiente, y a Michael, aquel que tiene la espada de Dios, y le dixo; Aquesta sierpe es acelerada, echala la primera del parayso, y cortale las piernas, y si quisieri caminar, arrastrara la vida por tierra. Y llamo à Satanas, el qual vino riendo, y dixole; Porque tu reprobo has enganado a aquestos, y los has hecho immundos? Yo quiero que toda immundicia suya, y de todos sus hijos, en saliendo de sus cuerpos entre por tu boca, porque en verdad ellos haran penitencia, y tv quedaras harto de Which they had not perceived before; being clothed, as some say, with light, or garments of paradise, which fell from them on their disobedience. Yahya imagines their nakedness was hidden by their hair."

immundicia.

Which it is said were fig-leaves.10

Al Beidâwi. See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv. and D'Herbelot, Bibl. Orient. Art. * Al Beidâwi. See the notes to chap. 2, p, 5. Idem. 10 Idem

Eblis.

your dec ared enemy? They answered, O LORD, we have dealt unjustly with our own souls; and if thou forgive us not, and be not merciful unto us, we shall surely be of those who perish. God said, Get ye down, the one of you an enemy unto the other; and ye shall have a dwelling-place upon the earth, and a provision for a season. He said, Therein shall ye live, and therein shall ye die, and from thence shall ye be taken forth at the resurrection. O children of Adam, we have sent down unto you apparel, to conceal your nakedness, and fair garments; but the clothing of piety is better. This is one of the signs of God; that peradventure ye may consider. O children of Adam, let not Satan seduce you, as he expelled your parents out of paradise, by stripping them of their clothing, that he might show them their nakedness: verily he seeth you, both he and his companions, whereas ye see not them.'— We have appointed the devils to be patrons of those who believe not: and when they commit a filthy action, they say, We found our fathers practising the same; and GOD hath commanded us to do it. Say, Verily GoD commandeth not filthy actions. Do ye speak concerning GoD that which ye know not? Say, My LORD hath commanded me to observe justice; therefore set your faces to pray at every place of worship, and call upon him, approving unto him. the sincerity of your religion. As he produced you at first, so unto him shall ye return. A part of mankind hath he directed; and a part hath been justly led into error, because they have taken the devils for their patrons besides GOD, and imagine they are rightly directed. O children of Adam, take your decent apparel at every place of worship," and eat and drink," but be not guilty of excess; for he loveth not those who are guilty of excess. Say, Who hath forbidden the decent apparel of God, which he hath produced for his servants, and the good things which he hath provided for food? Say, These things are for those who believe, in this present life, but peculiarly on the day of resurrection. Thus do we distinctly explain our signs unto people who understand. Say, Verily my LORD hath forbidden filthy actions, both that which is discovered thereof, and that which is concealed, and also iniquity, and unjust violence;

Not only proper materials. but also ingenuity of mind and dexterity of hand to make use of them."

Because of the subtlety of their bodies, and their being void of all colour."

This passage was revealed to reprove an immodest custom of the pagan Arabs, who used to encompass the Caaba naked, because clothes, they said, were the signs of their disobedience to God. The Sonna orders that when a man goes to prayers he should put on his better apparel, out of respect to the divine majesty before whom he is to appear. But as the Mohammedans think it indecent, on the one hand, to come into God's presence in a slovenly manner; so they imagine, on the other, that they ought not to appear before him in habits too rich or sumptuous, and particularly in clothes adorned with gold or silver. lest they should seem proud.

"The sons of Amer, it is said, when they performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, used to eat no more than was absolutely necessary, and that not of the more delicious sort of food neither; which abstinence they looked upon as a piece of merit, but they are here told the contrary.

• Because then the wicked, who also partook of the blessings of this life, will have no share in the enjoyments of the next.

See the notes to chap. ii. p. 5.

Jallalo'ddin.

Idem, al Beidâwi.

• Iidem.

and hath forbidden you to associate with GCD that concerning which he hath sent you down no authority, or to speak of God that which ye know not. Unto every nation there is a prefixed term;* therefore when their term is expired, they shall not have respite for an hour, neither shall they be anticipated. O children of Adam, verily apostles from among you shall come unto you, who shall expound my signs unto you: whosoever therefore shall fear God and amend, there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved. But they who shall accuse our signs of falsehood, and shall proudly reject them, they shall be the companions of hell fire; they shall remain thercin for ever. And who is more unjust than he who deviseth a lie concerning GoD, or accuseth his signs of imposture? Unto these shall be given their portion of worldly happiness, according to what is written in the book of God's decrees, until our messengers come unto them, and shall cause them to die; saying, Where are the idols which ye called upon, besides GOD? They shall answer, They have disappeared from us. And they shall bear witness against themselves that they were unbelievers. God shall say unto them at the resurrection, Enter ye with the nations which have ceded you, of genii and of men, into hell fire: so often as one nation shall enter, it shall curse its sister, until they shall all have successively entered * therein. The latter of them shall say of the former of them: O LORD, these have seduced us; therefore inflict on them a double punishment of the fire of hell. God shall answer, It shall be doubled unto all but ye know it not: and the former of them shall say unto the latter of them, Ye have not therefore any favour above us; taste the punishment for that which ye have gained. Verily they who shall charge our signs with falsehood, and shall proudly reject them, the gates of heaven shall not be opened unto them, neither shall they enter into paradise, until a camel pass through the eye of a needle,' and thus will we reward the wicked doers. Their couch shall be in hell, and over them shall be coverings of fire; and thus will we reward the unjust. But they who believe, and do that which is right (we will not load any soul but according to its ability,) they shall be the companions of paradise; they shall remain therein for ever. And we will remove all grudges from their minds;" rivers shall run at their feet,

pre

"The term of life is fixed. No one can either anticipate or protract it for a single instant."-Savary.

viz. The angel of death and his assistants.

That is, the nation whose example betrayed them into their idolatry and other wickedness.

Unto those who set the example, because they not only transgressed themselves, but were also the occasion of the others' transgression; and unto those who followed them, because of their own infidelity, and their imitating an ill example.

That is, when their souls shall, after death, ascend to heaven, they shall not be admitted, but shall be thrown down into the dungeon under the seventh earth.

This expression was probably taken from our Saviour's words in the gospel; though it be proverbial in the east.

So that whatever differences or animosities there had been between them in their life time, they shall now be forgotten, and give place to sincere love and amity. This Ali is

'Jallalo'ddin, al Beidâwi.

Matt. xix. 24.

Jallalo'ddin. See the Prelim. Disc. ubi sup. p. 56,

and they shall say, Praised be God, who hath directed us unto this felicity. for we should not have been rightly directed, if GOD had not directed us. now are we convinced by demonstration that the apostles of our LORD came unto us with truth. And it shall be proclaimed unto them, This is paradise, whereof ye are made heirs, as a reward for that which ye have wrought. And the inhabitants of paradise shall call out to the inhabitants of hell fire, saying, Now have we found that which our LORD promised us to be true: have ye also found that which your LORD promised you to be true? They shall answer, Yea. And a crier shall proclaim between them, The curse of GoD shall be on the wicked; who turn men aside from the way of GoD, and seek to render it crooked, and who deny the life to come. And between the blessed and the damned there shall be a veil; and men shall stand on Al Arâf who shall know every one of them by their marks; and shall call unto the inhabitants of paradise, saying, Peace be upon you yet they shall not enter therein, although they earnestly desire it. And when they shall turn their eyes towards the companions of hell fire, they say, O LORD, place us not with the ungodly people! And those who stand on Al Arâf shall call unto certain men, whom they shall know by their .marks, and shall say, What hath your gathering of riches availed you, and that ye were puffed up with pride? Are these the men on whom ye sware that God would not bestow mercy? Enter ye into paradise; there shall come no fear on you, neither shall ye be grieved. And the inhabitants of hell fire shall call unto the inhabitants of paradise, saying, Pour upon us some water, or of those refreshments which God hath bestowed on you.' They shall answer, Verity God hath forbidden them unto the unbelievers;

d

said to have hoped would prove true to himself and his inveterate enemies, Othmâa, Telha, and al Zobeir."

2

Literally, the companions.

This crier, some say, will be the angel Israfil.

Al Arâf is the name of the wall or partition which, as Mohammed taught, will separate paradise from hell. But as to the persons who are to be placed thereon, the commentators differ, as has been elsewhere observed.'

i. e. Who shall distinguish the blessed from the damned by their proper characteristics: such as the whiteness and splendour of the faces of the former, and the blackness of those of the latter."

From this circumstance it seems that their opinion is the most probable who make this intermediate partition a sort of purgatory for those who, though they deserve not to be sent to hell, yet have not merits suflicient to gain them immediate admittance into paradise, and will be tantalized here for a certain time with a bare view of the felicity of that place.

That is, the chiefs and ringleaders of the infidels.'

These were the inferior and poorer among the believers, whom they despised in their lifetimes as unworthy of God's favour.

These words are directed, by an apostrophe, to the poor and despised believers above. mentioned. Some commentators however imagine these and the next preceding words are to be understood of those who will be confined in Al Arâf; and that the damned will, in return for their reproachful speech, swear that they shall never enter paradise themselves; whereupon God of his mercy shall order them to be admitted by these words.* i. e. Of the other liquors or fruits of paradise. Compare this passage with the parable of Dives and Lazarus.

:

Al Beidâwi. 'Idem.

See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv.

'See ibid.

Al Beidâwi.

'Idem.