Chapter 19
2 Vide Al Beidâwi.
And meddle not with the substance of the orphan, unless it be to improve it, until he attain his age of strength:n and perform your covenant; for the performance of your covenant shall be inquired into hereafter. And give full measure, when you measure aught; and weigh with a just balance. This will be better, and more easy for determining every man's due.o And follow not that whereof thou hast no knowledge;p for the hearing, and the sight, and the heart, every of these shall be examined at the last day. Walk not proudly in the land, for thou canst not cleave the earth, neither shalt thou equal the mountains in stature. 40 All this is evil, and abominable in the sight of thy LORD. These precepts are a part of the wisdom which they LORD hath revealed unto thee. Set not up any other god as equal unto GOD, lest thou be cast into hell, reproved and rejected. Hath your LORD preferably granted unto you sons, and taken for himself daughters from among the angels?q Verily in asserting this ye utter a grievous saying. And now have we used various arguments and repetitions in this Koran, that they may be warned: yet it only rendereth them more disposed to fly from the truth. Say unto the idolaters, If there were other gods with him, as ye say, they would surely seek an occasion of making some attempt against the possessor of the throne:r GOD forbid! and far, very far, be that from him which they utter! The seven heavens praise him, and the earth, and all who are therein: neither is there anything which doth not celebrate his praise; but ye understand not their celebration thereof: he is gracious and merciful. When thou readest the Koran, we place between thee and those who believe not in the life to come a dark veil; and we put coverings over their hearts, lest they should understand it, and in their ears thickness of hearing. And when thou makest mention, in repeating the Koran, of thy LORD only,s they turn their backs, flying the doctrine of his unity. 50 We well know with what design they hearken, when they hearken unto thee, and when they privately discourse together: when the ungodly say, Ye follow no other than a madman. Behold! what epithets they bestow on thee. But they are deceived; neither can they find any just occasion to reproach thee. They also say, After we shall have become bones and dust, shall we surely be raised a new creature?
n See chapter 4, p. 53, 54. o Or, more advantageous in the end.3 p i.e., Vain and uncertain opinions, which thou hast not good reason to believe true, or at least probable. Some interpret the words, Accuse not another of a crime whereof thou hast no knowledge; supposing they forbid the bearing false witness, or the spreading or giving credit to idle reports of others.4 q See chapter 16, p. 199. r i.e., They would in all probability contend with GOD for superiority, and endeavour to dethrone him, in the same manner as princes act with one another on earth. s Not allowing their gods to be his associates, nor praying their intercession with him.
3 Idem. Al Zamakh. 4 Iidem.
Answer, Be ye stones, or iron, or some creature more improbable in your opinions to be raised to life. But they will say, Who shall restore us to life? Answer, He who created you the first time: and they will wag their heads at thee, saying, When shall this be? Answer, Peradventure it is nigh. On that day shall GOD call you forth from your sepulchres, and ye shall obey, with celebration of his praise;t and ye shall think that ye tarriedu but a little while. Speak unto my servants, that they speak mildly unto the unbelievers, lest ye exasperate them; for Satan soweth discord among them, and Satan is a declared enemy unto man. your LORD well knoweth you; if he pleaseth, he will have mercy on you, or, if he pleaseth, he will punish you:x and we have not sent thee to be a steward over them. Thy LORD well knoweth all persons in heaven and on earth.y We have bestowed peculiar favors on some of the prophets, preferably to others; and we gave unto David the psalms.z Say, Call upon those whom ye imagine to be gods besides him; yet they will not be able to free you from harm, or to turn it on others. Those whom ye invoke,a do themselves desire to be admitted to a near conjunction with their LORD; striving which of them shall approach nearest unto him: they also hope for his mercy, and dread his punishment; for the punishment of thy LORD is terrible. 60 There is no city but we will destroy the same before the day of resurrection, or we will punish it with a grievous punishment. This is written in the book of our eternal decrees. Nothing hindered us from sending thee with miracles, except that the former nations have charged them with imposture. We gave unto the tribe of Thamud, at their demand, the she-camel visible to their sight: yet they dealt unjustly with her:b and we send not a prophet with miracles, but to strike terror. Remember when we said unto thee, Verily thy LORD encompasseth men by his knowledge and power. We have appointed the vision which we showed thee,c and also the treed cursed in the Koran, only for an occasion of dispute unto men, and to strike them with terror; but it shall cause them to transgress only the more enormously.
t The dead, says al Beidâwi, at his call shall immediately rise, and shaking the dust off their heads, shall say, Praise be unto thee, O God. u viz., In your graves; or in the world. x These words are designed as a pattern for the Moslems to follow, in discoursing with the idolaters; by which they are taught to use soft and dubious expressions, and not to tell them directly that they are doomed to hell fire; which, besides the presumption in offering to determine the sentence of others, would only make them more irreconcilable enemies.1 y And may choose whom he pleases for his ambassador. This is an answer to the objections of the Koreish, that Mohammed was the orphan pupil of Abu Taleb, and followed by a parcel of naked and hungry fellows.2 z Which were a greater honour to him than his kingdom; and wherein Mohammed and his people are foretold by these words, among others:3 The righteous shall inherit the earth.4 a viz., The angels and prophets, who are the servants of GOD as well as yourselves. b See chapter 7, p. 112. c Mohammed's journey to heaven is generally agreed to be intended in this place; which occasioned great heats and debates among his followers, till they were quieted by Abu Becr's bearing testimony to the truth of it.5 The word vision, here used, is urged by those who take this journey to have been no more than a dream, as a plain confirmation of their opinion. Some, however, suppose the vision meant in this passage was not the night-journey, but the dream Mohammed saw at al Hodeibiya, wherein he seemed to make his entrance into Mecca;6 or that at Bedr;7 or else a vision he had relating to the family of Ommeya, whom he saw mount his pulpit, and jump about in it like monkeys; upon which he said, This is their portion in this world, which they have gained by their profession of Islâm.1 But if any of these latter expositions be true, the verse must have been revealed at Medina. d Called al Zakkûm, which springs from the bottom of hell.2
1 Al Beidâwi. 2 Idem. 3 Vide Marracc. in Alc. p. 28, &c. Prid. Life of Mah. p. 122. 4 Psal. xxxvii. 28. Al Beid. 5 Vide Abulf. Vit. Moh. p. 39, and not. ibid Prideaux, Life of Mah. p. 50, and Prelim. Disc. Sect. II, p. 36. 6 See Kor. chapter 48. 7 See chapter 8, p. 129. 1 Al Beidâwi. 2 See chapter 37.
And remember when we said unto the angels, Worship Adam; and they all worshipped him except Eblis, who said, Shall I worship him whom thou hast created of clay? And he said, What thinkest thou, as to this man whom thou hast honoured above me? verily, if thou grant me respite until the day of resurrection, I will extirpate his offspring, except a few. God answered, Begone, I grant thee respite: but whosoever of them shall follow thee, hell shall surely be your reward; an ample reward for your demerits!e And entice to vanity such of them as thou canst, by thy voice; and assault them on all sides with thy horsemen and thy footmen;f and partake with them in their riches, and their children;g and make them promises; (but the devil shall make them no other than deceitful promises:) as to my servants, thou shalt have no power over them; for thy LORD is a sufficient protector of those who trust in him. It is your LORD who driveth forward the ships for you in the sea, that ye may seek to enrich yourselves of his abundance by commerce; for he is merciful towards you. When a misfortune befalleth you at sea, the false deities whom ye invoke are forgotten by you, except him alone: yet when he bringeth you safe to dry land, ye retire afar off from him, and return to your idols; for man is ungrateful.h 70 Are ye therefore secure that he will not cause the dry land to swallow you up, or that he will not send against you a whirlwind driving the sands to overwhelm you? Then shall ye find none to protect you. Or are ye secure that he will not cause you again to commit yourselves to the sea another time, and send against you a tempestuous wind, and drown you; for that ye have been ungrateful? then shall ye find none to defend you against us, in that distress. And now have we honoured the children of Adam by sundry peculiar privileges and endowments; and we have given them conveniences of carriage by land and by sea, and have provided food for them of good things; and we have preferred them before many of our creatures which we have created, by granting them great prerogatives. On a certain day we will call all men to judgment with their respective leader:i and whosoever shall have his book given him into his right hand, they shall read their book with joy and satisfaction;j and they shall not be wronged a hair.k
e See chapter 2, p. 5, and chapter 7, p. 106, &c. f i.e., With all thy forces. g Instigating them to get wealth by unlawful means, and to spend it in supporting vice and superstition; and tempting them to incestuous mixtures, and to give their children names in honour of their idols, as Abd Yaghuth, Abd' al Uzza, &c.3 h See chapter 10, p. 152. i Some interpret this of the prophet sent to every people; others, of the heads of sects; others, of the various religions professed in the world; others, of the books which shall be given to every man at the resurrection, containing a register of their good and bad actions. j See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 70. k See chapter 4, p. 60, note o.
3 Al Beidâwi.
And whoever hath been blind in this life shall be also blind in the next, and shall wander more widely from the path of salvation. It wanted little but the unbelievers had tempted thee to swerve from the instructions which we had revealed unto thee, that thou shouldest devise concerning us a different thing;l and then would they have taken thee for their friend: and unless we had confirmed thee, thou hadst certainly been very near inclining unto them a little. Then would we surely have caused thee to taste the punishment of life, and the punishment of death;m and thou shouldest not have found any to protect thee against us. The unbelievers had likewise almost caused thee to depart the land, that they might have expelled thee thence:n but then should they not have tarried therein after thee, except a little while.o This is the method of dealing which we have prescribed ourselves in respect to our apostles, whom we have already sent before thee: and thou shalt not find any change in our prescribed method. 80 Regularly perform thy prayer at the declension of the sun, at the first darkness of the night,q and the prayer of daybreak;r for the prayer of daybreak is borne witness unto by the angels.s
l These are generally supposed to have been the tribe of Thakîf, the inhabitants of al Tâyef, who insisted on Mohammed's granting them several very extraordinary privileges, as the terms of their submission to him; for they demanded that they might be free from the legal contribution of alms, and from observing the appointed times of prayer; that they might be allowed to keep their idol Allât for a certain time,1 and that their territory might be declared a place of security and not be violated, like that of Mecca, &c. And they added, that if the other Arabs asked him the reason of these concessions, he should say, that GOD had commanded him so to do.2 According to which explication it is plain this verse must have been revealed long after the Hejra. Some, however, will have the passage to have been revealed at Mecca, on occasion of the Koreish; who told Mohammed they would not suffer him to kiss the black stone in the wall of Caaba, unless he also visited their idols, and touched them with his hand, to show his respect. m i.e., Both of this life and the next. Some interpret the first of the punishment in the next world, and the latter of the torture of the sepulchre.3 n The commentators differ as to the place where this passage was delivered, and the occasion of it. Some think it was revealed at Mecca, and that it refers to the violent enmity which the Koreish bore Mohammed, and their restless endeavours to make him leave Mecca;4 as he was at length obliged to do. But as the persons here spoken of seem not to have prevailed in their project, others suppose that the verse was revealed at Medina, on the following occasion. The Jews, envious of Mohammed's good reception and stay there, told him, by way of counsel, that Syria was the land of the prophets, and that if he was really a prophet he ought to go thither. Mohammed seriously reflecting on what they had said, began to think they had advised him well; and actually set out, and proceeded a day's journey in his way to Syria: whereupon GOD acquainted him with their design by the revelation of this verse; and he returned to Medina.5 o This was fulfilled, according to the former of the above-mentioned explications, by the loss of the Koreish at Bedr; and according to the latter, by the great slaughter of the Jews of Koreidha and al Nadîr.6 p i.e., At the time of noon prayer, when the sun declines from the meridian; or, as some choose to translate the words, at the setting of the sun, which is the time of the first evening prayer. q The time of the last evening prayer. r Literally, the reading of the daybreak; whence some suppose the reading of the Korân at that time is here meant. s viz., The guardian angels, who, according to some, are relieved at that time; or else the angels appointed to make the change of night into day, &c.7
1 See the Prelim. Disc. p. 14. 2 Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin. Vide Abulf. Vit. Moham. p. 126, &c. 3 Al Beidâwi. 4 Idem. 5 Idem, Jallalo'ddin. 6 Iidem. 7 Al Beidâwi.
And watch some part of the night in the same exercise, as a work of supererogation for thee: peradventure thy LORD will raise thee to an honourable station.t And say, O LORD, cause me to enter with a favorable entry, and cause me to come forthu with a favorable coming forth; and grant me from thee an assisting power. And say, Truth is come, and falsehood is vanished: for falsehood is of short continuance.x We send down of the Koran that which is a medicine and mercy unto the true believers; but it shall only increase the perdition of the unjust. When we bestow favors on man, he retireth and withdraweth himself ungratefully from us: but when evil toucheth him, he despaireth of our mercy. Say, Every one acteth after his own manner:y but your LORD best knoweth who is most truly directed in his way. They will ask thee concerning the spirit:z answer, The spirit was created at the command of my LORD:a but ye have no knowledge given unto you, except a little.b If we pleased, we should certainly take away that which we have revealed unto thee;c in such case thou couldst not find any to assist thee therein against us, unless through mercy from thy LORD; for his favor towards thee hath been great. 90 Say, Verily if men and genii were purposely assembled, that they might produce a book like this Koran, they could not produce one like unto it, although the one of them assisted the other. And we have variously propounded unto men in this Koran every kind of figurative argument; but the greater part of men refuse to receive it, merely out of infidelity.
t According to a tradition of Abu Horeira, the honourable station here intended is that of intercessor for others.1 u That is, Grant that I may enter my grave with peace, and come forth from it, at the resurrection, with honour and satisfaction. In which sense this petition is the same with that of Balaam, Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.2 But as the person here spoken to is generally supposed to be Mohammed, the commentators say he was commanded to pray in these words for a safe departure from Mecca, and a good reception at Medina; or for a sure refuge in the cave, where he hid himself when he fled from Mecca;3 or (which is the more common opinion) for a victorious entrance into Mecca, and a safe return thence.4 x These words Mohammed repeated, when he entered the temple of Mecca, after the taking of that city, and cleansed it of the idols; a great number of which are said to have fallen down on his touching them with the end of the stick he held in his hand.5 y i.e., According to his judgment or opinion, be it true or false; or according to the bent of his mind, and the natural constitution of his body.6 z Or the soul of man. Some interpret it of the angel Gabriel, or of the divine revelation.7 a viz., By the word Kun, i.e., Be; consisting of an immaterial substance, and not generated, like the body. But, according to a different opinion, this passage should be translated, The spirit is of those things, the knowledge of which thy Lord hath reserved to himself. For it is said that the Jews bid the Koreish ask Mohammed to relate the history of those who slept in the cave,8 and of Dhu'lkarnein,9 and to give them an account of the soul of man; adding, that if he pretended to answer all the three questions, or could answer none of them, they might be sure he was no prophet; but if he gave an answer to one or two of the questions and was silent as to the other, he was really a prophet. Accordingly, when they propounded the questions to him, he told them the two histories, but acknowledged his ignorance as to the origin of the human soul.10 b All your knowledge being acquired from the information of your senses, which must necessarily fail you in spiritual speculations, without the assistance of divine revelation.11 c viz., The Korân; by razing it both from the written copies, and the memories of men.
1 Idem. 2 Numb. xxiii. 10. 3 See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. II. p. 39. 4 Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin. 5 Iidem. Vide Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. 2, p. 127. 6 Al Beidâwi. 7 Idem. 8 See the next chapter. 9 See ib. 10 Al Beidâwi. 11 Idem.
And they say, We will by no means believe on thee, until thou cause a spring of water to gush forth for us out of the earth;d or thou have a garden of palm-trees and vines, and thou cause rivers to spring forth from the midst thereof in abundance; or thou cause the heaven to fall down upon us, as thou hast given out, in pieces; or thou bring down GOD and the angels to vouch for thee; or thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend by a ladder to heaven: neither will we believe thy ascending thither alone,e until thou cause a book to descend unto us, bearing witness of thee, which we may read. Answer My LORD be praised! Am I other than a man, sent as an apostle? And nothing hindereth men from believing, when a direction is come unto them, except that they say, Hath GOD sent a man for his apostle? Answer, If the angels had walked on earth as familiar inhabitants thereof, we had surely sent down unto them from heaven an angel for our apostle. Say, GOD is a sufficient witness between me and you: for he knoweth and regardeth his servants. Whom GOD shall direct, he shall be the rightly directed; and whom he shall cause to err, thou shalt find none to assist, besides him. And we will gather them together on the day of resurrection, creeping on their faces, blind, and dumb, and deaf:f their abode shall be hell; so often as the fire thereof shall be extinguished, we will rekindle a burning flame to torment them.g 100 This shall be their reward, because they disbelieve in our signs, and say, When we shall have been reduced to bones and dust, shall we surely be raised new creatures? Do they not perceive that GOD, who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create other bodies, like their present? And he hath appointed them a limited term;h there is no doubt thereof: but the ungodly reject the truth, merely out of unbelief. Say, If ye possessed the treasures of the mercy of my LORD, ye would surely refrain from using them, for fear of spending them;i for man is covetous. We heretofore gave unto Moses the power of working nine evident signs.j And do thou ask the children of Israel, as to the story of Moses;k when he came unto them, and Pharaoh said unto him, Verily I esteemed thee, O Moses, to be deluded by sorcery.
d This and the following miracles were demanded of Mohammed by the Koreish, as proofs of his mission. e As thou pretendest to have done in thy night-journey; but of which no man was witness. f See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 66. g i.e., When the fire shall go out or abate for want of fuel, after the consumption of the skins and flesh of the damned, we will add fresh vigour to the flames by giving them new bodies.1 h Or life, or resurrection. i That is, lest they should be exhausted. j These were, the changing his rod into a serpent, the making his hand white and shining, the producing locusts, lice, frogs, and blood, the dividing of the Red Sea, the bringing water out of the rock, and the shaking of Mount Sinai over the children of Israel. In lieu of the three last some reckon the inundation of the Nile, the blasting of the corn, and scarcity of the fruits of the earth.2 These words, however, are interpreted by others, not of nine miracles, but of nine commandments, which Moses gave his people, and were thus numbered up by Mohammed himself to a Jew, who asked him the question, viz., That they should not be guilty of idolatry, nor steal, nor commit adultery or murder, nor practise sorcery or usury, nor accuse an innocent man to take away his life, or a modest woman of whoredom, nor desert the army; to which he added the observing of the sabbath, as a tenth commandment, but which peculiarly regarded the Jews: upon which answer, it is said, the Jew kissed the prophet's hands and feet.3 k Some think these words are directed to Moses, who is hereby commanded to demand the children of Israel of Pharaoh, that he might let them go with him.
1 Al Beidâwi. See chapter 4, p. 60. 2 Idem, Jallalo'ddin. 3 Al Beidâwi.
Moses answered, Thou well knowest that none hath sent down these evident signs except the LORD of heaven and earth; and I surely esteem thee, O Pharaoh, a lost man. Wherefore Pharaoh sought to drive them out of the land; but we drowned him and all those who were with him. And we said unto the children of Israel, after his destruction, Dwell ye in the land: and when the promise of the next life shall come to be fulfilled, we will bring you both promiscuously to judgment. We have sent down the Koran with truth, and it hath descended with truth: and we have not sent thee otherwise than to be a bearer of good tidings, and a denouncer of threats. And we have divided the Koran, revealing it by parcels, that thou mightest read it unto men with deliberation: and we have sent it down, causing it to descend as occasion required.l Say, Whether ye believe therein, or do not believe, verily those who have been favored with the knowledge of the scriptures which were revealed before it, when the same is rehearsed unto them, fall down on their faces,m worshipping, and say, Our LORD be praised, for that the promise of our LORD is surely fulfilled! and they fall down on their faces, weeping; and the hearing thereof increaseth their humility. 110 Say, call upon GOD, or call on the Merciful: by whichsoever of the two names ye invoke him, it is equal; for he hath most excellent names.n Pronounce not thy prayer aloud, neither pronounce it with too low a voice,o but follow a middle way between these: and say, Praise be unto GOD, who hath not begotten any child; who hath no partner in the kingdom, nor hath any to protect him from contempt: and magnify him by proclaiming his greatness.
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