Part 12
We created you; _that is, your father Adam_: then we formed you; _we formed him, and you in him_: then We said unto the angels, Prostrate yourselves unto Adam, _by way of salutation_; whereupon they prostrated themselves, except Iblees, _the father of the jinn, who was amid the angels_: he was not of those who prostrated themselves. _God_ said, What hath hindered thee from prostrating thyself, when I commanded thee? He answered, I am better than he: Thou hast created me of fire, and Thou hast created him of earth. [God] said, Then descend thou from it; _that is, from Paradise; or, as some say, from the heavens_; for it is not fit for thee that thou behave thyself proudly therein: so go thou forth: verily thou [shalt be] of the contemptible. He replied, Grant me respite until the day when they (_that is, mankind_) shall be raised from the dead. He said, Thou shalt be of those [who are] respited: _and, in another verse_ [in xv. 38, it is said], _until the day of the known period; that is, until the period of the first blast_ [of the trumpet]. [And the devil] said, Now, as Thou hast led me into error, I will surely lay wait for them (_that is, for the sons of Adam_) in Thy right way, _the way that leadeth to Thee_: then I will surely come upon them, from before them, and from behind them, and from their right hands, and from their left, _and hinder them from pursuing the way_ (_but, saith Ibn-´Abbás, he cannot come upon them above, lest he should intervene between the servant and God’s mercy_), and Thou shalt not find the greater number of them grateful, _or believing_. [God] said, Go forth from it, despised and driven away _from mercy_. Whosoever of them (_that is, of mankind_) shall follow thee, I will surely fill hell with you all; _with thee, and thy offspring, and with men_.
(vii. 10-17.)
And we said, O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife (_Howwá_ [or Eve], _whom God created from a rib of his left side_) in the garden, and eat ye therefrom plentifully, wherever ye will; but approach ye not this tree, _to eat thereof_; (_and it was wheat, or the grape-vine, or some other tree_;) for _if ye do so_, ye will be of _the number of_ the offenders. But the devil, _Iblees_, caused them to slip from it, _that is, from the garden, by his saying unto them, Shall I show you the way to the tree of eternity? And he swore to them by God that he was one of the faithful advisers to them: so they ate of it_, and He ejected them from that _state of delight_ in which they were. And We said, Descend ye[193] _to the earth, ye two with the offspring that ye comprise_ [yet unborn], one of you (_that is, of your offspring_) an enemy to another; and there shall be for you, in the earth, a place of abode, and a provision, _of its vegetable produce_, for a time, _until the period of the expiration of your terms of life_. And Adam learned, from his Lord, words, _which were these_:—_O Lord, we have acted unjustly to our own souls, and if Thou do not forgive us, and be merciful unto us, we shall surely be of those who suffer loss_.[194] _And he prayed in these words_; and He became propitious towards him, _accepting his repentance_; for He is the Very Propitious, the Merciful. We said, Descend ye from it (_from the garden_) altogether; and if there come unto you from Me a direction (_a book and an apostle_), those who follow my direction, _there shall come_ no fear on them, nor shall they grieve _in the world to come; for they shall enter paradise_: but they who disbelieve and accuse our signs[195] of falsehood, these shall be the companions of the fire: they shall remain therein for ever.
(ii. 33-37.)
_ABEL AND CAIN._
Recite, _O Moḥammad_, unto them (_that is, to thy people_) the history of the two sons of Adam, _namely, Abel and Cain_,[196] with truth. When they offered [their] offering _to God_[197] (_Abel’s being a ram, and Cain’s being produce of the earth_), and it was accepted from one of them (_that is, from Abel; for fire descended from heaven, and devoured his offering_), and it was not accepted from the other, _Cain was enraged; but he concealed his envy until Adam performed a pilgrimage, when_ he said _unto his brother_, I will assuredly slay thee. _Abel said, Wherefore? Cain answered, Because of the acceptance of thine offering to the exclusion of mine. Abel_ replied, God only accepteth from the pious. If thou stretch forth to me thy hand to slay me, I will not stretch forth to thee my hand to slay thee; for I fear God, the Lord of the worlds. I desire that thou shouldst bear the sin [which thou intendest to commit] against me, _by slaying me_, and thy sin _which thou hast committed before_, and thou wilt be of the companions of the fire.—And that is the recompense of the offenders.—But his soul suffered him to slay his brother: so he slew him; and he became of [the number of] those who suffer loss. _And he knew not what to do with him; for he was the first dead person upon the face of the earth of the sons of Adam. So he carried him upon his back._ And God sent a raven, which scratched up the earth _with its bill and its talons and raised it over a dead raven that was with it until it hid it_, to show him how he should hide the corpse of his brother. He said, O my disgrace! Am I unable to be like this raven, and to hide the corpse of my brother?—And he became of [the number of] the repentant. _And he digged_ [a grave] _for him, and hid him_.—On account of this _which Cain did_ We commanded the children of Israel that he who should slay a soul (not for _the latter’s having slain_ a soul or _committed_ wickedness in the earth, _such as infidelity, or adultery, or intercepting the way, and the like_) [should be regarded] as though he had slain all mankind; and he who saveth it alive, _by abstaining from slaying it_, as though he had saved alive all mankind.
(v. 30-35.)
_NOAH AND THE FLOOD._
We formerly sent Noah [Nooḥ] unto his people, _saying_, Verily I am unto you a plain admonisher that ye worship not [any] but God. Verily I fear for you, _if ye worship any other_, the punishment of an afflictive day _in this world and in the world to come_.—But the chiefs who disbelieved among his people replied, We see thee not to be other than a man, like unto us; and we see not any to have followed thee except the meanest of us, _as the weavers and the cobblers_, at first thought (_or rashly_), nor do we see you to have any excellence above us: nay, we imagine you to be liars _in your claim to the apostolic commission_. He said, O my people, tell me, if I have an evident proof from my Lord and He hath bestowed on me mercy (_the gift of prophecy_) from Himself which is hidden from you, shall we compel you to _receive_ it when ye are averse thereto? _We cannot do so._ And, O my people, I ask not of you any riches for it; _namely, for delivering my message_. My reward is not due from any but God; and I will not drive away those who have believed _as ye have commanded me_ [because they are poor people]. Verily they shall meet their Lord _at the resurrection, and He will recompense them, and will exact for them_ [reparation] _from those who have treated them with injustice, and driven them away_. But I see you [to be] a people who are ignorant _of the end of your case_. And, O my people, who will defend me against God if I drive them away? Will ye not then consider? And I do not say unto you, I have the treasures of God; nor [do I say], I know the things unseen; nor do I say, Verily I am an angel; nor do I say, of those whom your eyes contemn, God will by no means bestow on them good: (God best knoweth what is in their minds:) verily I should in that case be [one] of the offenders.—They replied, O Noah, thou hast disputed with us and multiplied disputes with us: now bring upon us that _punishment_ wherewith thou threatenest us, if thou be of those that speak truth. He said, Only God will bring it upon you, if He please _to hasten it unto you; for it is His affair, not mine_; and ye shall not escape _God_: nor will my counsel profit you, if I desire to counsel you, if God desire to lead you into error. He is your Lord; and unto Him shall ye be brought back.
(xi. 27-36.)
And it was said by revelation unto Noah, Verily there shalt not believe of thy people [any] but they who have already believed; therefore be not grieved for that which they have done.
(xi. 38.)
_And he uttered an imprecation upon them, saying_, O my Lord, leave not upon the earth any one of the unbelievers; for if Thou leave them, they will lead Thy servants into error, and will not beget [any] but a wicked, ungrateful [offspring]. O my Lord, forgive me and my parents (_for they were believers_), and whomsoever entereth my house (_my abode, or my place of worship_), being a believer, and the believing men, and the believing women, (_to the day of resurrection_), and add not to the offenders [aught] save destruction.
(lxxi. 27-29.)
_And God answered his prayer, and said_, Construct the ark in our sight and according to our revelation, and speak not unto Me concerning those who have offended, _to beg Me not to destroy them_; for they [shall be] drowned. And he constructed the ark; and whenever a company of his people passed by him, they derided him. He said, If ye deride us, we will deride you, like as ye deride, _when we are saved and ye are drowned_, and ye shall know on whom shall come a punishment which shall render him vile, and whom shall befall a lasting punishment. [Thus he was employed] until when Our decree _for their destruction_ came to pass, and the _baker’s_ oven overflowed _with water_[198] (_for this was a signal unto Noah_), We said, Carry into it (_that is, into the ark_) of every pair, _male and female, of each of these descriptions_, two (_and it is related that God assembled for Noah the wild beasts and the birds and other creatures, and he proceeded to put his hands upon each kind, and his right hand fell always upon the male, and his left upon the female, and he carried them into the ark_), and thy family (excepting him upon whom the sentence _of destruction_ hath already been pronounced, _namely, Noah’s wife, and his son Canaan: but Shem and Ham and Japheth and their three wives he took_), and those who have believed; but there believed not with him save a few: _they were six men and their wives: and it is said that all who were in the ark were eighty, half of whom were men and half women_. And _Noah_ said, Embark ye therein. In the name of God [be] its course and its mooring.[199] Verily my Lord is very forgiving [and] merciful.—And it moved along with them amid waves like mountains; and Noah called unto his son, _Canaan_, who was apart _from the ark_, O my child, embark with us, and be not with the unbelievers! He replied, I will betake me to a mountain which will secure me from the water. [Noah] said, There is nought that will secure to-day from the decree of God [any] but him on whom He hath mercy. And the waves intervened between them; so he became [one] of the drowned. And it was said, O earth, swallow up thy water (_whereupon it drank it up, except what had descended from heaven, which became rivers and seas_), and, O heaven, cease _from raining_;—and the water abated, and the decree was fulfilled, and it (_namely, the ark_) rested on El-Joodee (_a mountain of El-Jezeereh, near El-Mósil_); and it was said, Perdition to the offending people![200]
(xi. 38-46.)
And Noah called upon his Lord, and said, O my Lord, verily my son is of my family, _and Thou hast promised me to save them_, and verily Thy promise is true, and Thou art the most just of those who exercise judgment. _God_ replied, O Noah, verily he is not of thy family _who should be saved, or of the people of thy religion_. Verily it (_namely, thine asking me to save him_) is not a righteous act; _for he was an unbeliever, and there is no safety for the unbelievers_; therefore ask not of me that wherein thou hast no knowledge. I admonish thee, lest thou become [one] of the ignorant.—_Noah_ said, O my Lord, I beg Thee to preserve me from asking Thee that wherein I have no knowledge; and if Thou do not forgive me and have mercy upon me, I shall be of those who suffer loss.—It was said, O Noah, descend _from the ark_,[201] with peace from Us, and blessings, upon thee and upon peoples [that shall proceed] from those who are with thee _in the ark_ (_that is, their believing posterity_); but peoples [that shall proceed] _from those who are with thee_ We will permit to enjoy _the provisions of this world_; then a painful punishment shall befall them from Us, _in the world to come; they being unbelievers_.
(xi. 47-50.)
_´AD AND THAMOOD._
And _we sent_ unto _the former_ [tribe of] ´Ád[202] their brother Hood.[203] He said, O my people, worship God: _assert His unity_. Ye have no other deity than Him. Will ye not then fear _Him, and believe_?—The chiefs who disbelieved among his people answered, Verily we see thee to be in a foolish way, and verily we esteem thee one of the liars _with respect to the apostolic commission_. He replied, O my people, there is no folly in me; but I am an apostle from the Lord of the worlds. I bring unto you the messages of my Lord, and I am unto you a counsellor, intrusted _with the apostolic office_. Do ye wonder that an admonition hath come unto you from your Lord by _the tongue of_ a man from among you, that he may warn you? And remember how He hath appointed you vicegerents _in the earth_ after the people of Noah, and increased you in tallness of stature. (_For the tall among them was a hundred cubits, and the short among them sixty._) Remember, then, the benefits of God, that ye may prosper. They said, Art thou come unto us that we may worship God alone, and relinquish what our fathers worshipped? Then bring upon us that _punishment_ with which thou threatenest us, if thou be of those who speak truth.—He replied, Punishment and indignation from your Lord have become necessary for you. Do ye dispute with me concerning names which ye and your fathers have given _to idols which ye worship_, concerning which (_that is, the worship of which_) God hath not set down any convincing proof? Then await ye _the punishment_. I am with you, of those who await _that, for your accusing me of falsehood. And the unprofitable wind was sent upon them._ But We delivered him (_namely, Hood_) and them who were with him (_of the believers_) by Our mercy; and We cut off the uppermost part of those who charged Our signs with falsehood and who were not believers.
(vii. 63-70.)
And _We sent_ unto _the tribe of_ Thamood[204] their brother Ṣáliḥ. He said, O my people, worship God. Ye have no other deity than Him. A _miraculous_ proof _of my veracity_ hath come unto you from your Lord, this she-camel of God being a sign unto you. [He had caused her, at their demand, to come forth from the heart of a rock.] Therefore let her feed in God’s earth, and do her no harm, lest a painful punishment seize you. And remember how He hath appointed you vicegerents _in the earth_ after [the tribe of] ´Ád, and given you a habitation in the earth: ye make yourselves, on its plains, pavilions _wherein ye dwell in summer_, and cut the mountains into houses _wherein ye dwell in winter_. Remember then the benefits of God, and do not evil in the earth, acting corruptly.—The chiefs who were elated with pride, among his people, said unto those who were esteemed weak, _namely_, to those who had believed among them, Do ye know that Ṣáliḥ hath been sent _unto you_ from his Lord? They answered, _Yea_: verily we believe in that wherewith he hath been sent. Those who were elated with pride replied, Verily we disbelieve in that wherein ye have believed.—_And the she-camel had a day to water; and they had a day; and they became weary of this._ And they hamstrung the she-camel (_Ḳudár_ [the son of Sálif] _doing so by their order and slaying her with the sword_);[205] and they impiously transgressed the command of their Lord,[206] and said, O Ṣáliḥ, bring upon us that _punishment_ with which thou threatenest us _for killing her_, if thou be [one] of the apostles. And the violent convulsion (_a great earthquake, and a cry from heaven_[207]) assailed them, and in the morning they were in their dwellings prostrate _and dead_. So he turned away from them, and said, O my people, I have brought unto you the message of my Lord and given you faithful counsel; but ye loved not faithful counsellors.
(vii. 71-77.)
_DHU-L-ḲARNEYN._
They (_namely, the Jews_) will ask thee concerning Dhu-l-Ḳarneyn.[208] (_His name was El-Iskender, and he was not a prophet._) Answer, I will recite unto you an account of him. We gave him ability in the earth, _by facilitating his journeying therein_, and gave him a way to _attain_ everything _that he required_. And he followed a way _towards a place where the sun setteth_, until, when he came to the place where the sun setteth, he found that it set in a spring of black mud, _as it appeared to the eye; but really that spring was greater than the world_; and he found near it a people _who were unbelievers_.[209] We said, _by inspiration_, O Dhu-l-Ḳarneyn, either punish _the people by slaughter_, or proceed against them gently, _taking them captive_. He said, As to him who offendeth _by polytheism_, we will punish him _by slaughter_: then he shall be taken back to his Lord, and He will punish him with a severe punishment, _in the fire of hell_. But as to him who believeth, and doeth that which is right, he shall have as a reward paradise, and We will say unto him, in Our command, _that which will be_ easy _unto him_.—Then he followed a way _towards the place where the sun riseth_, until, when he came to the place where the sun riseth, he found that it rose upon a people (_namely, the Zenj_) unto whom We had not given anything wherewith to shelter themselves therefrom, _neither clothing nor roof; for their land bore no building; but they had subterranean dwellings, into which they retired at sunrise, and they came forth when the sun was high_. Thus _was the case_; and We comprehended with Our knowledge what were with him (_namely, Dhu-l-Ḳarneyn_), _of weapons and forces and other things_.—Then he followed a way until, when he came between the two barriers (_or mountains, at the confines of the country of the Turks, between which is the barrier of El-Iskender, as will be related presently_), he found before them a people who could scarce understand speech. They said, O Dhu-l-Ḳarneyn, verily Yájooj and Májooj [Gog and Magog[210]] are corrupting in the earth, _by plunder and tyranny, when they came forth unto us_. Shall we therefore pay thee tribute, on the condition that thou make a barrier between us and them?—He answered, The ability which my Lord hath given me, _by wealth and other things_, is better _than your tribute, which I need not. I will make the barrier for you gratuitously_: but assist me strenuously _by doing that which I desire_: I will make between you and them a strong barrier. Bring me pieces of iron _of the size of the blocks of stone used in building.—And he built with them, and placed amid them firewood and charcoal_, until, when it [the mass] filled up the space between the upper parts of the two mountains, _and he had put the bellows and fire around that mass_, he said, Blow ye [with the bellows]. _So they blew_ until, when he had made it (_that is, the iron_) _like_ fire, he said, Bring me molten brass, that I may pour upon it. _And he poured the molten brass upon the heated iron, so that it entered between its pieces and the whole became one mass._ And they (_namely, Yájooj and Májooj_) were not able to ascend to its top _by reason of its height and smoothness_; nor were they able to perforate it _by reason of its hardness and thickness_. _Dhu-l-Ḳarneyn_ said, This (_namely, the barrier, or the gift of the ability to construct it_) is a mercy from my Lord: but when the promise of my Lord, _as to the eruption of Yájooj and Májooj shortly before the resurrection_, shall come _to be fulfilled_, He will reduce it (_namely, the barrier_) to dust; and the promise of my Lord concerning _their eruption and other events_ is true. And We will suffer some of them, on that day (_the day of their eruption_), to pour tumultuously among others: and the trumpet shall be blown _for the resurrection_, and We will gather them (_namely, all creatures_) together in a body, _in one place_. And We will set hell, on that day, _near_ before the unbelievers, whose eyes have been veiled from my admonition (_the Ḳur-án_), _and who, being blind, have not been directed by it_, and who could not hear _what the prophet recited unto them, by reason of their hatred of him; wherefore they believed not in him_.
(xviii. 82-101.)
_ABRAHAM, ISHMAEL, ISAAC._
_Remember_ when Abraham [Ibráheem] said to his father A´zar (_this was the surname of Terah_), Dost thou take images as deities?[211] Verily I see thee and thy people to be in a manifest error.—(And thus, _as We showed him the error of his father and his people_, did We show Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and [We did so] that he might be of [the number of] those who firmly believe.) And when the night overshadowed him, he saw a star (_it is said that it was Venus_), [and] he said _unto his people, who were astrologers_, This is my Lord, _according to your assertion_.—But when it set, he said, I like not those that set, _to take them as Lords, since it is not meet for a Lord to experience alteration and change of place, as they are of the nature of accidents_. _Yet this had no effect upon them._ And when he saw the moon rising, he said _unto them_, This is my Lord.—But when it set, he said, Verily if my Lord direct me not (_if He confirm me not in the right way_), I shall assuredly be of the erring people.—_This was a hint to his people that they were in error; but it had no effect upon them._ And when he saw the sun rising, he said, This is my Lord. This is greater _than the star and the moon_.—But when it set, _and the proof had been rendered more strong to them, yet they desisted not_, he said, O my people, verily I am clear of the [things] which ye associate _with God; namely, the images and the heavenly bodies_. _So they said unto him, What dost thou worship? He answered_, Verily I direct my face unto Him who hath created the heavens and the earth, following the right religion, and I am not of the polytheists.—And his people argued with him; [but] he said, Do ye argue with me respecting God, when He hath directed me, and I fear not what ye associate with Him, unless my Lord will _that_ aught _displeasing should befall me_? My Lord comprehendeth everything by _His_ knowledge. Will ye not therefore consider? And wherefore should I fear what ye have associated _with God_, when ye fear not for your having associated with God that of which He hath not sent down unto you a proof? Then which of the two parties is the more worthy of safety? _Are we, or you?_ If ye know _who is the more worthy of it, follow him_.—_God saith_, They who have believed, and not mixed their belief with injustice (_that is, polytheism_), for these shall be safety _from punishment_, and they are rightly directed.
(vi. 74-82.)