Part 11

That is the best of men who disliketh power. Beware! ye are all guardians; and ye will be asked about your subjects: then the leader is the guardian of the subject, and he will be asked respecting the subject; and a man is a shepherd to his own family, and will be asked how they behaved, and his conduct to them; and a wife is guardian to her husband’s house and children, and will be interrogated about them; and a slave is a shepherd to his master’s property, and will be asked about it, whether he took good care of it or not.

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There is no prince who oppresseth the subject and dieth, but God forbiddeth Paradise to him.

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If a negro slave is appointed to rule over you, hear him, and obey him, though his head should be like a dried grape.

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There is no obedience due to sinful commands, nor to any other than what is lawful.

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O Prophet of God, if we have princes over us, wanting our rights, and withholding our rights from us, then what do you order us? He said, “Ye must hear them and obey their orders: it is on them to be just and good, and on you to be obedient and submissive.”

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He is not strong or powerful who throws people down, but he is strong who withholds himself from anger.

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When one of you getteth angry, he must sit down, and if his anger goeth away from sitting, so much the better; if not, let him lie down.

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_Of Vanities and Sundry Matters._

The angels are not with the company with which is a dog nor with the company with which is a bell.

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A bell is the Devil’s musical instrument.

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The angels do not enter a house in which is a dog, nor that in which there are pictures.

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Every painter is in Hell Fire; and God will appoint a person at the Day of Resurrection for every picture he shall have drawn, to punish him, and they will punish him in Hell. Then if you must make pictures, make them of trees and things without souls.

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Whosoever shall tell a dream, not having dreamt, shall be put to the trouble at the Day of Resurrection of joining two barleycorns; and he can by no means do it; and he will be punished. And whosoever listeneth to others’ conversation, who dislike to be heard by him, and avoid him, boiling lead will be poured into his ears at the Day of Resurrection. And whosoever draweth a picture shall be punished by ordering him to breathe a spirit into it, and this he can never do, and so he will be punished as long as God wills.

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O servants of God use medicine: because God hath not created a pain without a remedy for it, to be the means of curing it, except age; for that is a pain without a remedy.

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He who is not loving to God’s creatures and to his own children, God will not be loving to him.

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The truest words spoken by any poet are those of Lebīd, who said, “Know that everything is vanity except God.”

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Verily he who believeth fighteth with his sword and tongue: I swear by God, verily abuse of infidels in verse is worse to them than arrows.

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Meekness and shame are two branches of faith, and vain talking and embellishing are two branches of hypocrisy.

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The calamity of knowledge is forgetfulness, and to lose knowledge is this, to speak of it to the unworthy.

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Whoso pursueth the road of knowledge, God will direct him to the road of Paradise; and verily the angels spread their arms to receive him who seeketh after knowledge; and everything in heaven and earth will ask grace for him; and verily the superiority of a learned man over a mere worshipper is like that of the full moon over all the stars.

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Hearing is not like seeing: verily God acquainted Moses of his tribe’s worshipping a calf, but he did not throw down the tables; but when Moses went to his tribe, and saw with his eyes the calf they had made, he threw down the tables and broke them.

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Be not extravagant in praising me, as the Christians are in praising Jesus, Mary’s Son, by calling him God, and the Son of God; I am only the Lord’s servant; then call me the servant of God, and His messenger.

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It was asked, “O Messenger of God, what relation is most worthy of doing good to?” He said, “Your mother,” this he repeated thrice: “and after her your father, and after him your other relations by propinquity.”

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God’s pleasure is in a father’s pleasure, and God’s displeasure is a father’s displeasure.

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Verily one of you is a mirror to his brother: Then if he see a vice in his brother he must tell him to get rid of it.

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The best person near God is the best amongst his friends; and the best of neighbours near God is the best person in his own neighbourhood.

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Deliberation in undertaking is pleasing to God, and haste is pleasing to the devil.

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The heart of the old is always young in two things, in love for the world and length of hope.

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_Of Death._

Wish not for death any one of you; either a doer of good works, for peradventure he may increase them by an increase of life; or an offender, for perhaps he may obtain the forgiveness of God by repentance.

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When the soul is taken from the body, the eyes follow it, and look towards it: on this account the eyes remain open.

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When a believer is nearly dead, angels of mercy come, clothed in white silk garments, and say to the soul of the dying man, “Come out, O thou who art satisfied with God, and with whom He is satisfied; come out to rest, which is with God, and the sustenance of God’s mercy and compassion, and to the Lord, who is not angry.” Then the soul cometh out like the smell of the best musk, so that verily it is handed from one angel to another, till they bring it to the doors of the celestial regions. Then the angels say, “What a wonderful pleasant smell this is which is come to you from the earth!” Then they bring it to the souls of the faithful, and they are very happy at its coming; more than ye are at the coming of one of your family after a long journey. And the souls of the faithful ask it, “What hath such an one done, and such an one? how are they?” and they mention the names of their friends who are left in the world. And some of them say, “Let it alone, do not ask it, because it was grieved in the world, and came from thence aggrieved; ask it when it is at rest.” Then the soul saith when it is at ease, “Verily such an one about whom ye ask is dead.” And as they do not see him amongst themselves, they say to one another, “Surely he was carried to his mother, which is Hell Fire.”

And verily when an infidel is near death, angels of punishment come to him, clothed in sackcloth, and say to his soul, “Come out, thou discontented, and with whom God is displeased; come to God’s punishments.” Then it cometh out with a disagreeable smell, worse than the worst stench of a dead body, until they bring it upon the earth, and they say, “What an extraordinary bad smell this is;” till they bring it to the souls of the infidels.

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A bier was passing, and the Prophet stood up for it; and we stood with him and said, “O Prophet! verily this bier is of a Jewish woman; we must not respect it.” Then the Prophet said, “Verily death is dreadful: therefore when ye see a bier stand up.”

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Do not abuse or speak ill of the dead, because they have arrived at what they sent before them; they have received the rewards of their actions; if the reward is good, you must not mention them as sinful; and if it is bad, perhaps they may be forgiven, but if not, your mentioning their badness is of no use.

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Sit not upon graves, nor say your prayers fronting them.

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Whoso consoleth one in misfortune, for him is a reward equal to that of the sufferer.

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Whoso comforteth a woman who has lost her child will be covered with a garment in Paradise.

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The Prophet passed by graves in Medina, and turned his face towards them, and said, “Peace be to you, O people of the graves. God forgive us and you! Ye have passed on before us, and we are following you.”

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_Of the State after Death._

To whomsoever God giveth wealth, and he doth not perform the charity due from it, his wealth will be made into the shape of a serpent on the Day of Resurrection, which shall not have any hair upon its head, and this is a sign of its poison and long life, and it hath two black spots upon its eyes, and it will be twisted round his neck like a chain on the Day of Resurrection; then the serpent will seize the man’s jaw-bones, and will say, “I am thy wealth, the charity for which thou didst not give, and I am thy treasure, from which thou didst not separate any alms.”

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The Prophet asked us, “Did any one of you dream?” We said, “No.” He said, “But I did. Two men came to me and took hold of my hands, and carried me to a pure land: and behold, there was a man sitting and another standing: the first had an iron hook in his hand, and was hooking the other in the lip, and split it to the back of the neck, and then did the same with the other lip. While this was doing the first healed, and the man kept on from one lip to the other.” I said, “What is this?” They said, “Move on,” and we did so till we reached a man sleeping on his back, and another standing at his head with a stone in his hand, with which he was breaking the other’s head, and afterwards rolled the stone about and then followed it, and had not yet returned, when the man’s head was healed and well. Then he broke it again, and I said, “What is this?” They said, “Walk on,” and we walked, till we came to a hole like an oven, with its top narrow and its bottom wide, and fire was burning under it, and there were naked men and women in it; and when the fire burnt high the people mounted also, and when the fire subsided they subsided also. Then I said “What is this?” They said, “Move on,” and we went on till we came to a river of blood, with a man standing in the middle of it, and another man on the bank, with stones in his hands: and when the man in the river attempted to come out, the other threw stones in his face, and made him return. And I said, “What is this?” They said, “Advance,” and we moved forward, till we arrived at a green garden, in which was a large tree, and an old man and children sitting on the roots of it, and near it was a man lighting a fire. Then I was carried upon the tree, and put into a house which was in the middle of it,--a better house I have never seen: and there were old men, young men, women, and children. After that they brought me out of the house and carried me to the top of the tree, and put me into a better house, where were old men and young men. And I said to my two conductors, “Verily ye have shown me a great many things to-night, then inform me of what I have seen.” They said, “Yes: as to the man whom you saw with split lips, he was a liar, and will be treated in that way till the Day of Resurrection; and the person you saw getting his head broken is a man whom God taught the Korān, and he did not repeat it in the night, nor practice what is in it by day, and he will be treated as you saw till the Day of Resurrection; and the people you saw in the oven are adulterers; and those you saw in the river are receivers of usury; and the old man you saw under the tree is Abraham; and the children around them are the children of men: and the person who was lighting the fire was Mālik, the keeper of hell; and the first house you entered was for the common believers; and as to the second house, it is for the martyrs: and we who conducted you are one of us Gabriel, and the other Michael; then raise up your head;” and I did so, and saw above it as it were a cloud: and they said, “That is your dwelling.” I said, “Call it here, that I may enter it;” and they said, “Verily your life remaineth, but when you have completed it, you will come into your house.”

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When God created Paradise, He said to Gabriel, “Go and look at it,” then Gabriel went and looked at it and at the things which God had prepared for the people of it. After that Gabriel came and said, “O my Lord! I swear by thy glory no one will hear a description of Paradise but will be ambitious of entering it.” After that God surrounded Paradise with distress and troubles, and said, “O Gabriel, go and look at Paradise.” And he went and looked, and then returned and said, “O my Lord, I fear that verily no one will enter it.” And when God created Hell Fire He said to Gabriel, “Go and take a look at it.” And he went and looked at it, and returned and said, “O my Lord, I swear by thy glory that no one who shall hear a description of Hell Fire will wish to enter it.” Then God surrounded it with sins, desires, and vices, after that said to Gabriel, “Go and look at Hell Fire,” and he went and looked at it, and said, “O my Lord, I swear by thy glory I am afraid that every one will enter Hell, because sins are so sweet that there is none but will incline to them.”

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If ye knew what I know of the condition of the resurrection and futurity, verily ye would weep much and laugh little.

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Then I said, “O messenger of God! shall we perish while the virtuous are amongst us?” He said, Yes, when the wickedness shall be excessive, verily there will be tribes of my sects that will consider the wearing of silks and drinking liquor lawful, and will listen to the lute: and there will be men with magnificent houses, and their milch animals will come to them in the evening, full of milk, and a man will come begging a little and they will say, Come to-morrow. Then God will quickly send a punishment upon them, and will change others into the shape of monkeys and swine, unto the Day of Resurrection.

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Verily among the signs of the Resurrection will be the taking away of knowledge from amongst men; and their being in great ignorance and much wickedness and much drinking of liquor, and diminution of men, and there being many women; to such a degree that there will be fifty women to one man, and he will work for a livelihood for the women.

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How can I be happy, when Isrāfīl hath put the trumpet to his mouth to blow it, leaning his ear towards the true God for orders, and hath already knit his brow, waiting in expectation of orders to blow it?

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_Of Destiny._

The hearts of men are at the disposal of God like unto one heart, and He turneth them about in any way that He pleaseth. O Director of hearts, turn our hearts to obey Thee.

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The first thing which God created was a pen, and He said to it, “Write.” It said, “What shall I write?” And God said, “Write down the quantity of every separate thing to be created.” And it wrote all that was and all that will be to eternity.

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There is not one among you whose sitting-place is not written by God whether in the fire or in Paradise. The Companions said, “O Prophet! since God hath appointed our place, may we confide in this and abandon our religious and moral duty?” He said, “No, because the happy will do good works, and those who are of the miserable will do bad works.”

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The Prophet of God said that Adam and Moses (in the world of spirits) maintained a debate before God, and Adam got the better of Moses; who said, “Thou art that Adam whom God created by the power of His hands, and breathed into thee from His own spirit, and made the angels bow before thee, and gave thee an habitation in His own Paradise: after that thou threwest man upon the earth, from the fault which thou committedst.” Adam said, “Thou art that Moses whom God elected for His prophecy, and to converse with, and He gave to thee twelve tables, in which are explained everything, and God made thee His confidant, and the bearer of His secrets: then how long was the Bible written before I was created?” Moses said, “Forty years.” Then Adam said, “Didst thou see in the Bible that Adam disobeyed God?” He said, “Yes.” Adam said, “Dost thou then reproach me on a matter which God wrote in the Bible forty years before creating me?”

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'Aïsha relates that the Prophet said to her, “Do you know, O 'Aïsha! the excellence of this night?” (the fifteenth of Ramadān.) I said, “What is it, O Prophet?” He said, “One thing in this night is, that all the children of Adam to be born in the year are written down; and also those who are to die in it, and all the actions of the children of Adam are carried up to heaven in this night; and their allowances are sent down.” Then I said, “O Prophet, do none enter Paradise except by God’s mercy?” He said, “No, none enter except by God’s favour:” this he said thrice. I said, “You, also, O Prophet! will you not enter into Paradise, excepting by God’s compassion?” Then the Prophet put his hand on his head, and said, “I shall not enter, except God cover me with His mercy:” this he said thrice.

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A man asked the Prophet what was the mark whereby a man might know the reality of his faith. He said, “If thou derive pleasure from the good which thou hast done, and be grieved for the evil which thou hast committed, thou art a true believer.” The man said, “What doth a fault really consist in?” He said, “When anything pricketh thy conscience forsake it.”

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I am no more than man: when I order you anything with respect to religion, receive it, and when I order you about the affairs of the world then I am nothing more than man.

NOTES.

THE MEKKA SPEECHES. I.--THE POETIC PERIOD.

The rhyming prose in which the Korān is written may be seen to best advantage in this earliest phase of Mohammad’s oratory, when the sentences are short and the rhythm more _chantant_ than in the later speeches. “The Smiting” (p. 7), will serve as a specimen of the sound of the original Arabic, as far as it can be represented in Roman characters:--

_Bismi-llahi-r-rahmāni-r-rahīm_ _El-kāri'atu mā-l-kāri'ah_ _Wa-mā adrāka mā-l-kāri'ah_ _Yawma yekūnu-n-nāsu ke-l-farāsi-l-mabthūth_ _Wa-tekūnu-l-jibālu ke-l-'ihni-l-manfūsh_ _Fe-amma men thekulet mawāzīnuhu fe-huwa fī 'īshetin rādiyeh_ _Wa-amma men khaffet mawāzīnuhu fe-ummuhu hāwiyeh_ _Wa-mā adrāka mā hiyeh_ _Nārun hāmiyeh_

The effect of which may be thus roughly preserved in English:--

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. The Smiting! What is the Smiting? And what shall teach thee what is the Smiting? The Day when men shall be like moths adrift, And the hills shall be like wool-flocks rift: Then as for him whose scales are heavy, his shall be a life of bliss: And as for him whose scales are light, a place in the Pit is his: And what shall teach thee what that place is-- A Fire that blazes!

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P. 3. THE NIGHT.--The formula “_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful_,” precedes all the chapters of the Korān but one. _We._--God speaks in the plural in the Korān.

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P. 5. THE COUNTRY.--_The two highways_: the _steep one_ to heaven, and the smooth one to hell.

P. 6. _The people of the right hand_--those that receive the book of the record of their actions in their right hand--the blessed. Contrariwise--_the people of the left hand_--the damned.

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P. 7. THE SMITING.--One of many similar names for the Day of Judgment. _The Bottomless Pit_, “El-Hāwiyeh,” is the lowest stage of the Hell of the Korān.

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P. 8. THE QUAKING.--_Burdens_, _i.e._ the dead. _Her tidings_: “The tidings of the earth are these--she will bear witness to the actions of every man and woman done upon her surface.”--Tradition of Mohammad.

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P. 9. THE RENDING ASUNDER.--_Reporters_: two angels who note respectively the good and the evil deeds and words of every man.

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P. 13. THE BACKBITER.--This speech is said to have been levelled at a personal enemy.

_Blasting Hell_, “El-Hutameh,” is the third stage of the Mohammadan Inferno.

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P. 14. THE SPLENDOUR OF MORNING.--Evidently uttered in a time of despondency and with the intention of self-encouragement.

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P. 15. THE MOST HIGH.--_The books of eld._ Mohammad asserted that his doctrine was a revival of the religion of Abraham and the patriarchs, as it was before the Jews corrupted it.

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P. 17. THE WRAPPING.--A simile from the wrapping of a head in a turban.

_Camels ten months_ gone with young were the Arabs’ most valuable property.

_The child that was buried alive._ Infanticide of female children was among the crimes of the ancient Arab.

_The Books_--in which men’s actions are recorded.

_Stars that hide_, _i.e._ that set; or, as others say, “that retrogress,” _i.e._ the planets.

P. 18. _Mad._ The people commonly believed Mohammad to be possessed with a jinni (or genius).

_Pelted devil._ The evil jinn or devils are supposed to act the eavesdropper on the confines of heaven, and to be driven away by shooting stars.

_A reminder_, _scil._, of the true religion of Abraham and the prophets, which men had forgotten. Cf. LANE: _Selections from the Kur-ān_, lxxxi. 15, 47, 48 (2d ed., Trübner’s Oriental Series).

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P. 19. THE NEWS.--One of the many names which Mohammad employed to bring home to his people the reality and fearfulness of the Last Day.

_Tent-pegs._ Mountains were believed to keep the earth steady, as pegs do a tent.

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P. 22. THE FACT.--One of the names of the Last Day: the event which must inevitably happen.

_Abasing_ the sinners, and _exalting_ the righteous.

_Three kinds_: the “outstrippers,” the “people of the right hand,” and the “people of the left hand.” In the original the same word means “right hand” and “happiness,” or “good omen;” contrariwise, “left hand” and “misfortune.” Cp. the use of _dexter_ and _sinister_. An instance of Mohammad’s practice of playing upon the different senses of a word.

_The outstrippers_, _i.e._ those who are the first to adopt the true religion--the prophets and apostles, who shall be rewarded by being allowed to stand nearest to God in the next world. The following fifteen lines describe their happy fate; after which, fourteen refer to the _people of the right hand_, or ordinary believers; and then seventeen lines to the _people of the left hand_, or damned.

P. 24. _Zakkūm_: A thorny tree with a bitter fruit, which grows up from the bottomless pit.