error. And they say, When will this promise of the resurrection be fulfilled, if ye speak truth? They only wait for one sounding of the trumpet, which shall overtake them while they are disputing together; and they shall not have time to make any disposition of their effects, neither shall they return to their family. And the trumpet shall be sounded again; and behold they shall come forth from their graves, and hasten unto their LORD. They shall say, Alas for us! who hath awakened us from our bed?" This is what the Merciful promised us; and his apostles spoke the truth. It shall be but one sound of the trumpet, and behold, they shall be all assembled before us. On this day no soul shall be unjustly treated in the least; neither shall ye be rewarded, but according to what ye shall have wrought. On this day the inhabitants of paradise shall be wholly taken up with joy: they and their wives shall rest in shady groves, leaning on magnificent couches. There shall they have fruit, and they shall obtain whatever they shall desire. Peace shall be the word spoken unto the righteous, by a merciful LORD but he shall say unto the wicked, Be ye separated this day, O ye wicked, from the righteous. Did I not command you, O sons of Adam, that ye should not worship Satan; because he was an open enemy unto you? And did I not say, Worship me; this is the right way? But now hath he seduced a great multitude of you: did ye not therefore understand? This is hell, with which ye were threatened: be ye cast into the same this day to be burned; for that ye have been unbelievers. On this day we will seal up their mouths, that they shall not open them in their own defence; and their hands shall speak unto us, and their feet shall bear witness of that which they have committed." If we pleased we could put out their eyes, and they might run with emulation in the way they use to take ;* and how should they see their error? And if we pleased we could transform them into other shapes, in their places when they should be found; and they should not be able to depart: neither should they repent. Unto whomsoever we grant a long life, him do we cause to bow down his body through age.† Will they not therefore understand? We have not taught Mohammed the art of poetry; nor is it expedient for him to be a poet. This book is no other than an admonition from God, and a perspicuous Korân; that he may с if God could provide for them, as they imagined, and did not, it was an argument that they deserved not his favour so well as themselves: whereas God permits some to be in want, to try the rich and exercise their charity. See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv. p. 59, and the notes to chap. 39. y See ibid. For they shall sleep during the interval between these two blasts of the trumpet, and shall feel no pain.? See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv. p. 63. "We could deprive them of sight, and they would wander hither and thither in the midst of darkness."-Savary. b That is, They deserve to be thus treated for their infidelity and disobedience but we bear with them out of mercy, and grant them respite. "He whose old age we lengthen approaches unto childhood."-Savary. This is, in answer to the infidels, who pretended the Koran was only a poetical composition. 7 Jallalo'ddin. warn him who is living: and the sentence of condemnation will be justly executed on the unbelievers. Do they not consider that we have created for them, among the things which our hand have wrought, cattle of several kinds, of which they are possessors; and that we have put the same in subjection under them? Some of them are for their riding; and on some of them do they feed: and they receive other advantages therefrom; and of their milk do they drink. Will they not, therefore, be thankful? They have taken other gods, besides GOD, in hopes that they may be assisted by them; but they are not able to give them any assistance: yet are they a party of troops ready to defend them. Let not their speech, therefore, grieve thee: we know that which they privately conceal, and that which they publicly discover. Doth not man know that we have created him of seed? yet, behold, he is an open disputer against the resurrection; and he propoundeth unto us a comparison, and forgetteth his creation. He saith, Who shall restore bones to life, when they are rotten? Answer, He shall restore them to life, who produced them the first time: for he is skilled in every kind of creation: who giveth you fire out of the green tree,' and behold, ye kindle your fuel from thence. Is not he who hath created the heavens and the earth able to create new creatures like unto them? Yea certainly: for he is the wise Creator. His command, when he willeth a thing, is only that he saith unto it, Be; and it is. Wherefore praise be unto him, in whose hand is the kingdom of all things, and unto whom ye shall return at the last day. CHAPTER XXXVII. INTITLED, THOSE WHO RANK THEMSELVES IN ORDER; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. By the angels who rank themselves in order; and by those who drive forward and dispel the clouds, and by those who read the Koran for h i. e. Indued with understanding; the stupid and careless being like dead persons.8 “They are incapable of giving succour. The worshipper and the idol shall be the prey of the flames."-Savary. See chap. 16, p. 214, note *. The usual way of striking fire in the east is by rubbing together two pieces of wood, one of which is commonly of the tree called Markh, and the other of that called Afâr: and it will succeed even though the wood be green and wet." * Some understand by these words the souls of men who range themselves in obedience to God's laws, and put away from them all infidelity and corrupt doings; or the souls of those who rank themselves in battle array, to fight for the true religion, and push on their horses to charge the infidels, &c.1 Or, who put in motion all bodies, in the upper and lower world, according to the divine command; or, who keep off men from disobedience to God, by inspiring them with good thoughts and inclinations; or, who drive away the devils from them, &c. Al Beidawi. • Vide Hyde, de Rel. vet. Pers. c. 25, p. 333, &c. 2 Idem. 1 Al Beidâwi. k an admonition; verily your God is one:* the LORD of heaven and earth, and of whatever is between them, and the LORD of the east. We have adorned the lower heaven with the ornament of the stars: and we have placed therein a guard against every rebellious devil; that they may not listen to the discourse of the exalted princes (for they are darted at from every side, to repel them, and a lasting torment is prepared for them); except him who catcheth a word by stealth, and is pursued by a shining flame. Ask the Meccans, therefore, whether they be stronger by nature, or the angels, whom we have created? We have surely created them of stiff clay. Thou wonderest at God's power, and their obstinacy; but they mock at the arguments urged to convince them: when they are warned, they do not take warning; and when they see any sign, they scoff thereat, and say, This is no other than manifest sorcery: after we shall be dead, and become dust and bones, shall we be really raised to life, and our forefathers also? Answer, Yea: and ye shall then be despicable. There shall be but one blast of the trumpet, and they shall see themselves raised: and they shall say, Alas for us! this is the day of judgment; this is the day of distinction between the righteous and the wicked, which ye rejected as a falsehood. Gather together those who have acted unjustly, and their comrades, and the idols which they worshipped besides GOD, and direct them in the way to hell; and set them before God's tribunal; for they shall be called to account. What aileth you that ye defend not one another? But on this day they shall submit themselves to the judgment of God: and they shall draw nigh unto one another, and shall dispute among themselves. And the seduced shall say unto those who seduced them, Verily ye came unto us with presages of prosperity; and the seducers shall answer, Nay, rather ye were not true believers: for we had no power over you to compel you; but ye were people who voluntarily transgressed: wherefore the sentence of our LORD hath been justly pronounced against us, and we shall surely taste his vengeance. We seduced you; but we also erred ourselves. They shall both therefore be made partakers of the same punishment on that day. Thus will we deal with the wicked: because, when it is said unto them, There is no god besides the true GOD, they swell with arrogance, and say, Shall we abandon our gods for a distracted poet? Nay: he cometh with the truth, and beareth witness to the former apostles. Ye "I swear by the bands of angels, by those who threaten, by those who read, your God is the only God."-Savary. The original word, being in the plural number, is supposed to signify the dif ferent points of the horizon from whence the sun rises in the course of the year, which are in number three hundred and sixty (equal to the number of days in the old civil year), and have as many corresponding points where it successively sets, during that space.* Marracci groundlessly imagines this interpretation to be built on the error of the plurality of worlds." "One of them approached by stealth the celestial spheres, but a penetrating flame precipitated him down."—Savary. See chap. 15, p. 210. 'Literally, from the right hand. The words may also be rendered, with force, to ompel us; or, with an oath, swearing that ye were in the right. "The angels who read the Korân are here meant."-Savary. m shall surely taste the painful torment of hell; and ye shall not be rewarded, but according to your works. But as for the sincere servants of GOD, they shall have a certain provision in paradise, namely, delicious fruits: and they shall be honoured: they shall be placed in gardens of pleasure, leaning on couches, opposite to one another: a cup shall be carried round unto them, filled from a limpid fountain, for the delight of those who drink : it shall not oppress the understanding, neither shall they be inebriated therewith. And near them shall lie the virgins of paradise, refraining their looks from beholding any besides their spouses, having large black eyes, and resembling the eggs of an ostrich covered with feathers from the dust." And they shall turn the one unto the other, and shall ask one another questions. And one of them shall say, Verily I had an intimate friend while I lived in the world, who said unto me, Art thou one of those who assertest the truth of the resurrection? After we shall be dead, and reduced to dust and bones, shall we surely be judged? Then he shall say to his companions, Will ye look down? And he shall look down, and shall see him in the midst of hell: and he shall say unto him, By GOD, it wanted little but thou hadst drawn me into ruin : and had it not been for the grace of my LORD, I had surely been one of those who have been delivered up to eternal torment. Shall we die any other than our first death; or do we suffer any punishment? Verily this is great felicity: for the obtaining a felicity like this let the labourers labour. Is this a better entertainment, or the tree of al Zakkum ? Verily we have designed the same for an occasion of dispute unto the unjust.P* It is a tree which issueth from the bottom of hell: the fruit thereof resembleth the heads of devils; and the damned shall eat of the same, and shall fill their bellies therewith; and there shall be given them thereon a mixture of filthy and boiling water to drink: afterwards shall they return into hell." They found their fathers going astray, and they trod hastily in their footsteps: for the greater part of the ancients erred before them. And we sent warners unto them heretofore: and see how miserable was the end of those who were warned; except the sincere servants of GOD. Noah called on us in former days: and we heard him graciously and we delivered him and his family out of the great distress; and we caused his offspring to be those who survived to people the earth: See chap. 15, p. 212, note . This may seem an odd comparison to an European; but the orientals think nothing comes so near the colour of a fine woman's skin as that of an ostrich's egg, when kept perfectly clean. There is a thorny tree so called, which grows in Tehâma, and bears fruit like an almond, but extremely bitter; and therefore the same name is given to this infernal tree. ▸ The infidels not conceiving how a tree could grow in hell, where the stones themselves serve for fuel. "How different is the tree al Zakkum from the abode of Eden! We have planted it for the torment of the wicked."-Savary. Or of serpents ugly to behold: the original word signifies both. Some suppose that the entertainment above mentioned will be the welcome given the damned before they enter that place; and others, that they will be suffered to come out of hell from time to time, to drink their scalding liquor. and we left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest posterity, namely, Peace be on Noah among all creatures! Thus do we reward the righteous; for he was one of our servants the true believers. Afterwards we drowned the others. Abraham also was of his religion :" when he came unto his LORD with a perfect heart. When he said unto his father and his people, What do ye worship? Do ye choose false gods preferably to the true God? What therefore is your opinion of the LORD of all creatures? And he looked and observed the stars, and said, Verily I shall be sick, and shall not assist at your sacrifices: and they turned their backs and departed from him." And Abraham went privately to their gods, and said scoffingly unto them, Do ye not eat of the meat which is set before you? What aileth you that ye speak not? And he turned upon them, and struck them with his right hand, and demolished them. And the people came hastily unto him: and he said, Do ye worship the images which ye carve whereas God hath created you, and also that which ye make. They said, Build a pile for him, and cast him into the glowing fire. And they devised a plot against him; but we made them the inferior, and delivered him. And Abraham said, Verily I am going unto my LORD," who will direct me. O LORD, grant me a righteous issue. Wherefore we acquainted him that he should have a son, who should be a meek youth.* And when he had attained to years of discretion, and could join in acts of religion with him, Abraham said unto him, O my son, verily I saw in a dream that I should offer thee in sacrifice: consider therefore what thou art of opinion I should do. He answered, O my father, do what thou art For Noah and he agreed in the fundamental points both of faith and practice; though the space between them was no less than 2640 years. 6 He made as if he gathered so much from the aspect of the heavens, (the people being greatly addicted to the superstitions of astrology,) and made it his excuse for being absent from their festival, to which they had invited him. Fearing he had some contagious distemper.? ▾ See chap. 21, p. 268, &c. wi. e. Whither he hath commanded me. * "We foretold unto him a son, who should be endowed with wisdom."—Savary. He was then thirteen years old. The commentators say, that Abraham was ordered in a vision, which he saw on the eighth night of the month Dhu'lhajja, to sacrifice his son; and to assure him that this was not from the devil, as he was inclined to suspect, the same vision was repeated a second time the next night, when he knew it to be from God; and also a third time the night following, when he resolved to obey it, and to sacrifice his son and hence some think the 8th, 9th, and 10th days of Dhu'lhajja are called Yawm alterwiya, yawm arafat, and yawm alnehr, that is, the day of the vision, the day of knowledge, and the day of the sacrifice. It is the most received opinion among the Mohammedans, that the son whom Abraham offered was Ismael, and not Isaac; Ismael being his only son at that time; for the promise of Isaac's birth is mentioned lower, as subsequent in time to this transaction. They also allege the testimony of their prophet, who is reported to have said, I am the son of the two who were offered in sacrifice; meaning his great ancestor, Ismael, and his own father Abd'allah: for Abd'almotalleb had made a vow, that if God would permit him to find out and open the well Zemzem, and should give him ten sons, he would sacrifice one of them: accordingly, when he had obtained his desire in both respects, he cast lots on his sons, and the lot falling on Abd'allah, he redeemed him by offering an hundred camels, which was there ordered to be the price of a man's blood in the Sonna." • Al Beidâwi. 7 Idem. $ Idem. • Idem, Jallalo'ddin, al Zamakh. |