Rodwell Suráh # Verse # Traditional Suráh # Sale Translation Sale's Notes Bahá'í References (Central Figures) Bahá'í Translation (Shoghi Effendi unless otherwise noted) Bahá'í References (Special) Rodwell Translation Rodwell's notes
51 0 71






51 0 71






51 0 71 CHAPTER LXXI.



SURA LXXI.–NOAH [LI.]
51 0 71 ENTITLED, NOAH; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–29 Verses
51 0 71 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
51 1 71 VERILY we sent Noah unto his people, saying, Warn thy people, before a grievous punishment overtake them.



We sent NOAH to his people, and said to him, "Warn thou thy people ere there come on them an afflictive punishment."
51 2 71 Noah said, O my people, verily I am a public warner unto you;



He said, "O my people! I come to you a plain-spoken warner:
51 3 71 wherefore serve GOD, and fear him, and obey me;



Serve God and fear Him, and obey me:
51 4 71 he will forgive you part of your sins;m and will grant you respite until a determined time: for GOD'S determined time, when it cometh, shall not be deferred; if ye were men of understanding, ye would know this. m i.e., Your past sins; which are done away by the profession of the true faith.


Your sins will He forgive you, and respite you till the fixed Time; for when God's fixed Time hath come, it shall not be put back. Would that ye knew this!"
51 5 71 He said, LORD, verily I have called my people night and day; but my calling only increaseth their aversion:



He said, "Lord I have cried to my people night and day; and my cry doth but make them flee from me the more.
51 6 71 and whensoever I call them to the true faith, that thou mayest forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears, and cover themselves with their garments, and persist in their infidelity, and proudly disdain my counsel.



So oft as I cry to them, that thou mayest forgive them, they thrust their fingers into their ears, and wrap themselves in their garments, and persist in their error, and are disdainfully disdainful.
51 7 71 Moreover I invited them openly,



Then I cried aloud to them:
51 8 71 and I spake to them again in public; and I also secretly admonished them in private;



Then again spake I with plainness, and in private did I secretly address them:
51 9 71 and I said, Beg pardon of your LORD; for he is inclined to forgive:



And I said, Beg forgiveness of your Lord, for He is ready to forgive.
51 10 71 and he will cause the heaven to pour down rain plentifully upon you,



He will send down the very Heaven upon you in plenteous rains;
51 11 71 and will give you increase of wealth and of children;n and he will provide you gardens, and furnish you with rivers. n It is said that after Noah had for a long time preached to them in vain, GOD shut up the heaven for forty years, and rendered their women barren.2

2 Idem.


And will increase you in wealth and children; and will give you gardens, and will give you watercourses:–
51 12 71 What aileth you, that ye hope not for benevolence in GOD;o o i.e., That GOD will accept and amply reward those who serve him? For some suppose Noah’s people made him this answer, If what we now follow be the truth, we ought not to forsake it; but if it be false, how will GOD accept, or be favourable unto us, who have rebelled against him?3

3 Idem.


What hath come to you that ye hope not for goodness from the hand of God?
51 13 71 since he hath created you variously?p p That is, as the commentators expound it, by various steps or changes, from the original matter, till ye became perfect men.4

4 See cap. 22, p. 250, and cap. 23, p. 257, &c.


For He it is who hath formed you by successive steps.1 1 See Sura xxii. 5.
51 14 71 Do ye not see how GOD hath created the seven heavens, one above another;



See ye not how God hath created the seven heavens one over the other?
51 15 71 and hath placed the moon therein for a light, and hath appointed the sun for a taper?



And He hath placed therein the moon as a light, and hath placed there the sun as a torch;
51 16 71 GOD hath also produced and caused you to spring forth from the earth:



And God hath caused you to spring forth from the earth like a plant;
51 17 71 hereafter he will cause you to return into the same; and he will again take you thence, by bringing you forth from your graves.



Hereafter will He turn you back into it again, and will bring you forth anew–
51 18 71 And GOD hath spread the earth as a carpet for you,



And God hath spread the earth for you like a carpet,
51 19 71 that ye may walk therein through spacious paths.



That ye may walk therein along spacious paths."'
51 20 71 Noah said, LORD, verily they are disobedient unto me; and they follow him whose riches and children do no other than increase his perdition.



Said Noah, "O my Lord! they rebel against me, and they follow those whose riches and children do but aggravate their ruin."
51 21 71 And they devised a dangerous plot against Noah:



And they plotted a great plot;
51 22 71 and the chief men said to the others, Ye shall by no means leave your gods; neither shall ye forsake Wadd, nor Sowa,



And they said, "Forsake not your Gods; forsake not Wadd nor Sowah,
51 23 71 nor Yaghuth, and Yauk, and Nesr.q q These were five idols worshipped by the Antediluvians, and afterwards by the ancient Arabs. See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. I. p. 15.


Nor Yaghuth and Yahuk and Nesr;"
51 24 71 And they seduced many; (for thou shalt only increase error in the wicked:)



And they caused many to err;2–and thou, too, O Muhammad! shalt be the means of increasing only error in the wicked– 2 Or, the idols had seduced many. Thus Kas. Beidh. gives both interpp.–See on these idols Freytag's Einleitung, p. 349.
51 25 71 because of their sins they were drowned, and cast into the fire of hell;



Because of their sins they were drowned, and made to go into the Fire;
51 26 71 and they found none to protect them against GOD.



And they found that they had no helper save God.
51 27 71 And Noah said, LORD, leave not any families of the unbelievers on the earth:
Kitáb-i-Íqán, part I, paragraph 7, p. 8
link		 Lord! Leave not upon the land a single dweller from among the unbelievers.
And Noah said, "Lord, leave not one single family of Infidels on the Earth:
51 28 71 for if thou leave them, they will seduce thy servants, and will beget none but a wicked and unbelieving offspring.r r They say Noah preferred not this prayer for the destruction of his people till after he had tried them for nine hundred and fifty years, and found them incorrigible reprobates.


For if thou leave them they will beguile thy servants and will beget only sinners, infidels.
51 29 71 LORD, forgive me and my parents,s and every one who shall enter my house,t being a true believer, and the true believers of both sexes; and add unto the unjust doers nothing but destruction. s His father Lamech, and his mother, whose name was Shamkha, the daughter of Enosh, being true believers.

t The commentators are uncertain whether Noah’s dwelling-house be here meant, or the temple he had built for the worship of GOD, or the ark.


O my Lord, forgive me, and my parents, and every one who, being a believer, shall enter my house, and believers men and women: and add to the wicked nought but perdition."
62 0 72






62 0 72






62 0 72 CHAPTER LXXII.



SURA LXXII.–DJINN [LXII.]
62 0 72 ENTITLED, THE GENII; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–28 Verses
62 0 72 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
62 1 72 SAY, It hath been revealed unto me that a company of genii attentively heard me reading the Koran,u and said, Verily we have heard an admirable discourse; u See chapter 46, p. 374, note q.


SAY: It hath been revealed to me that a company of DJINN1 listened, and said,–"Verily, we have heard a marvellous discourse (Koran); 1 This interview with the Djinn took place at Nakhla, probably the "Wady Mohram" of Burckhardt, midway between Mecca and Ta‹ef, when Muhammad was driven from Mecca. A.D. 620.
62 2 72 which directeth unto the right institution; wherefore we believe therein, and we will by no means associate any other with our LORD.



It guideth to the truth; wherefore we believed in it, and we will not henceforth join any being with our Lord;
62 3 72 He (may the majesty of our LORD be exalted!) hath taken no wife, nor hath he begotten any issue.



And He,–may the majesty of our Lord be exalted!–hath taken no spouse neither hath he any offspring.
62 4 72 Yet the foolish among usx hath spoken that which is extremely false of GOD; x viz., Eblis, or the rebellious genii.


But the foolish among us hath spoken of God that which is unjust:
62 5 72 but we verily thought that neither man nor genius would by any means have uttered a lie concerning GOD.



And we verily thought that no one amongst men or Djinn would have uttered a lie against God.
62 6 72 And there are certain men who fly for refuge unto certain of the genii;y but they increase their folly and transgression: y For the Arabs, when they found themselves in a desert in the evening (the genii being supposed to haunt such places about that time), used to say, I fly for refuge unto the Lord of this valley, that he may defend me from the foolish among his people.1

1 Al Beidâwi.


There are indeed people among men, who have sought for refuge unto people among Djinn: but they only increased their folly:
62 7 72 and they also thought, as ye thought,z that GOD would not raise any one to life. z It is uncertain which of these pronouns is to be referred to mankind, and which to the genii, some expositors taking that of the third person to relate to the former, and that of the second person to the latter; and others being of the contrary opinion.


And they thought, as ye think, that God would not raise any from the dead.
62 8 72 And we formerly attempted to pry into what was transacting in heaven; but we found the same filled with a strong guard of angels, and with flaming darts:



And the Heavens did we essay, but found them filled with a mighty garrison, and with flaming darts;
62 9 72 and we sat on some of the seats thereof to hear the discourse of its inhabitants; but whoever listeneth now, findeth a flame laid in ambush for him, to guard the celestial confines.a a See chapter 15, p. 192.


And we sat on some of the seats to listen, but whoever listeneth findeth an ambush ready for him of flaming darts.
62 10 72 And we know not whether evil be hereby intended against those who are in the earth, or whether their LORD intendeth to direct them aright.



And truly we know not whether evil be meant for them that are on earth, or whether their Lord meaneth guidance for them.
62 11 72 There are some among us who are upright; and there are some among us who are otherwise: we are of different ways.



And there are among us good, and others among us of another kind;–we are of various sorts:
62 12 72 And we verily thought that we could by no means frustrate GOD in the earth, neither could we escape him by flight:



And verily we thought that no one could weaken God on earth, neither could we escape from him by flight:
62 13 72 wherefore, when we had heard the direction contained in the Koran, we believed therein. And whoever believeth in his LORD, need not fear any diminution of his reward, nor any injustice.



Wherefore as soon as we had heard 'the guidance' we believed in it; and whoever believeth in his Lord, need not fear either loss or wrong.
62 14 72 There are some Moslems among us; and there are others of us who swerve from righteousness.b And whoso embraceth Islam, they earnestly seek true direction: b See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV.


There are some among us who have resigned themselves to God (the Muslims); and there are others of us who have gone astray. And whoso resigneth himself to God pursueth the way of truth;
62 15 72 but those who swerve from righteousness shall be fuel for hell.



But they who go astray from it shall be fuel for Hell."
62 16 72 If they tread in the way of truth, we will surely water them with abundant rain:c c i.e., We will grant them plenty of all good things. Some think by these words rain is promised to the Meccans, after their seven years’ drought, on their embracing Islâm.


Moreover, if they (the Meccans) keep straight on in that way, we will surely give them to drink of abundant waters,
62 17 72 that we may prove them thereby: but whoso turneth aside from the admonition of his LORD, him will he send into a severe torment.



That we may prove them thereby: but whoso withdraweth from the remembrance of his Lord, him will He send into a severe torment.
62 18 72 Verily the places of worship are set apart unto GOD: wherefore invoke not any other therein together with GOD.



It is unto God that the temples are set apart: call not then on any other therein with God.
62 19 72 When the servant of GODd stood up to invoke him, it wanted little but that the genii had pressed on him in crowds, to hear him rehearse the Koran. d viz., Mohammed.


When the servant of God stood up to call upon Him, the djinn almost jostled him by their crowds.
62 20 72 Say, Verily I call upon my LORD only, and I associate no other god with him.



SAY: I call only upon my Lord, and I join no other being with Him.
62 21 72 Say, Verily I am not able, of myself, to procure you either hurt, or a right institution.



SAY: No control have I over what may hurt or benefit you.
62 22 72 Say, Verily none can protect me against GOD;



SAY: Verily none can protect me against God;
62 23 72 neither shall I find any refuge besides him.



Neither shall I find any refuge beside Him.
62 24 72 I can do no more than publish what hath been revealed unto me from GOD, and his messages. And whosoever shall be disobedient unto GOD, and his apostle, for him is the fire of hell prepared; they shall remain therein forever.



My sole work is preaching from God, and His message: and for such as shall rebel against God and his apostle is the fire of Hell! they shall remain therein alway,–for ever!
62 25 72 Until they see the vengeance with which they are threatened, they will not cease their opposition: but then shall they know who were the weaker in a protector, and the fewer in number.



Until they see their threatened vengeance they will be perverse! but then shall they know which side was the weakest in a protector and the fewest in number.
62 26 72 Say, I know not whether the punishment with which ye are threatened be nigh, or whether my LORD will appoint for it a distant term. He knoweth the secrets of futurity; and he doth not communicate his secrets unto any,



SAY: I know not whether that with which ye are threatened be nigh, or whether my Lord hath assigned it to a distant day: He knoweth the secret, nor doth He divulge his secret to any,
62 27 72 except an apostle in whom he is well pleased: and he causeth a guard of angels to march before him, and behind him;



Except to that Apostle who pleaseth Him; and before him and behind him He maketh a guard to march:
62 28 72 that he may know that they have executed the commissions of their LORD;e he comprehendeth whatever is with them; and counteth all things by number. e That is to say, either that the prophet may know that Gabriel and the other angels, who bring down the revelation, have communicated it to him pure and free from any diabolical suggestions; or that GOD may know that the prophet has published the same to mankind.1

1 Idem.


That He may know if his Apostles have verily delivered the messages of their Lord: and He embraceth in his knowledge all their ways, and taketh count of all that concerneth them.
3 0 73






3 0 73






3 0 73 CHAPTER LXXIII.



SURA LXXIII. THE ENFOLDED1 [III.] 1 From the first line of this Sura, and its expressions concerning the Koran, Prayer, and Future Punishment: from the similarity of the tradition with regard to its having been preceded by a vision of Gabriel (Beidh., etc.), it seems to belong to, or at least to describe, a period, perhaps immediately succeeding the Fatrah, during which the hours of night were spent by Muhammad in devotion and in the labour of working up his materials in rhythmical and rhyming Suras, and in preparation for the public assumption of the prophetic office. Comp. especially verses 11, 19, 20, at the end, with 11, 54, 55, of the preceding Sura.
3 0 73 ENTITLED, THE WRAPPED UP; REVEALED AT MECCA.f f Some will have the last verse, beginning at these words, Verily thy LORD knoweth, &c., to have been revealed at Medina.


MECCA. 20 Verses.
3 0 73 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
3 1 73 O THOU wrapped up,g g When this revelation was brought to Mohammed, he was wrapped up in his garments, being affrighted at the appearance of Gabriel; or, as some say, he lay sleeping unconcernedly, or, according to others, praying, wrapped up in one part of a large mantle or rug, with the other part of which Ayesha had covered herself to sleep.2
This epithet of wrapped up, and another of the same import given to Mohammed in the next chapter, have been imagined, by several learned men,3 pretty plainly to intimate his being subject to the falling sickness: a malady generally attributed to him by the Christians,4 but mentioned by no Mohammedan writer. Though such an inference may be made, yet I think it scarce probable, much less necessary.5

2 Al Zamakh., al Beidâwi.
3 Hotting. Hist. Orient. l. I, c. 2. Marracc. in Alc. p. 763. Vide Gagnier, not. ad Abulf. Vit. Moh. p. 9. 4 See Prideaux, Life of Mahomet, p. 16, and the authors there cited.
5 See Ockley’s Hist. of the Saracens, vol. i. p. 300, &c


O THOU ENFOLDED in thy mantle,
3 2 73 arise to prayer, and continue therein during the night, except a small part;h h For a half is such, with respect to the whole. Or, as the sentence may be rendered, Pray half the night, within a small matter, &c. Some expound these words as an exception to nights in general; according to whom the sense will be, Spend one-half of every night in prayer, except some few nights in the year, &c.6

6 Al Beidâwi.


Stand up all night, except a small portion of it, for prayer:
3 3 73 that is to say, during one half thereof: or do thou lessen the same a little



Half; or curtail the half a little,–
3 4 73 or add thereto.i And repeat the Koran with a distinct and sonorous voice: i i.e., Set apart either less than half the night, as one-third, for example, or more, as two-thirds. Or the meaning may be, either take a small matter from a lesser part of the night than one-half, e.g., from one-third, and so reduce it to a fourth; or add to such lesser part, and make it a full half.1

1 Idem.


Or add to it: And with measured tone intone the Koran,2 2 Singe den Koran laut. H.v.P. Psalle Alcoranum psallendo. Mar. Singe den Koran mit singender und lauter Stimme ab. Ullm.
3 5 73 for we will lay on thee a weighty word.k k viz., The precepts contained in the Korân; which are heavy and difficult to those who are obliged to observe them, and especially to the prophet, whose care it was to see that his people observed them also.2

2 Idem, Jallalo’ddin.


For we shall devolve on thee weighty words.
3 6 73 Verily the rising by nightl is more efficacious for steadfast continuance in devotion, and more conducive to decent pronunciation:m l Or, the person who riseth by night; or, the hours, or particularly the first hours of the night, &c.

m For the nighttime is most proper for meditation and prayer, and also for reading GOD’S word distinctly and with attention, by reason of the absence of every noise and object which may distract the mind.
Marracci, having mentioned this natural explication of the Mohammedan commentators, because he finds one word in the verse which may be taken in a sense tending that way, says the whole may with greater exactness be expounded of the fitness of the night season for amorous diversions and discourse; and he paraphrases it in Latin thus: Certe in principio noctis majus robur et vim habet homo, ad foeminas premendas et subagitandas, et ad clarioribus verbis amores suos propalandos.3 A most effectual way, this, to turn a book into ridicule!

3 Marracc. in Alc. p. 759.


Verily, at the oncoming of night are devout impressions strongest, and words are most collected;3 3 Lit. most firm, perhaps, distinct.
3 7 73 for in the day-time thou hast long employment.



But in the day time thou hast continual employ–
3 8 73 And commemorate the name of thy LORD; and separate thyself unto him, renouncing worldly vanities.



And commemorate the name of thy Lord, and devote thyself to Him with entire devotion.
3 9 73 He is the LORD of the east, and of the west; there is no GOD but he. Wherefore take him for thy patron:



Lord of the East and of the West! No God is there but He! Take Him for thy protector,
3 10 73 and patiently suffer the contumelies which the infidels utter against thee; and depart from them with a decent departure.



And endure what they say with patience, and depart from them with a decorous departure.
3 11 73 And let me alone with those who charge the Koran with falsehood, who enjoy the blessings of this life; and bear with them for a while:



And let Me alone with the gainsayers, rich in the pleasures of this life; and bear thou with them yet a little while:
3 12 73 verily with us are heavy fetters, and a burning fire,



For with Us are strong fetters, and a flaming fire,
3 13 73 and food ready to choke him who swalloweth it,n and painful torment. n As thorns and thistles, the fruit of the infernal tree al Zakkûm, and the corruption flowing from the bodies of the damned.


And food that choketh, and a sore torment.
3 14 73 On a certain day the earth shall be shaken, and the mountains also, and the mountains shall become a heap of sand poured forth.



The day cometh when the earth and the mountains shall be shaken; and the mountains shall become a loose sand heap.
3 15 73 Verily we have sent unto you an apostle, to bear witness against you; as we sent an apostle unto Pharaoh;



Verily, we have sent you an Apostle to witness against you, even as we sent an Apostle to Pharaoh:
3 16 73 but Pharaoh was disobedient unto the apostle; wherefore we chastised him with a heavy chastisement.



But Pharaoh rebelled against the Apostle, and we therefore laid hold on him with a severe chastisement.
3 17 73 How, therefore, will ye escape, if ye believe not, the day which shall make children become gray-headed through terror?



And how, if ye believe not, will you screen yourselves from the day that shall turn children greyheaded?
3 18 73 The heaven shall be rent in sunder thereby: the promise thereof shall surely be performed.



The very heaven shall be reft asunder by it: this threat shall be carried into effect.
3 19 73 Verily this is an admonition; and whoever is willing to be admonished will take the way unto his LORD.



Lo! this is a warning. Let him then who will, take the way to his Lord.
3 20 73 Thy LORD knoweth that thou continuest in prayer and meditation sometimes near two third parts of the night, and sometimes one half thereof, and at other times one third part thereof; and a part of thy companions, who are with thee, do the same. But GOD measureth the night and the day; he knoweth that ye cannot exactly compute the same: wherefore he turneth favourably unto you.o Read, therefore, so much of the Koran as may be easy unto you. He knoweth that there will be some infirm among you; and others travel through the earth, that they may obtain a competency of the bounty of GOD; and others fight in the defence of GOD'S faith. Read, therefore, so much of the same as may be easy. And observe the stated times of prayer, and pay the legal alms; and lend unto GOD an acceptable loan; for whatever good ye send before your souls, ye shall find the same with GOD. This will be better, and will merit a greater reward.p And ask GOD forgiveness; for GOD is ready to forgive, and merciful. o By making the matter easy to you, and dispensing with your scrupulous counting of the hours of the night which ye are directed to spend in reading and praying: for some of the Moslems, not knowing how the time passed, used to watch the whole night, standing and walking about till their legs and feet swelled in a sad manner. The commentators add that this precept of dedicating a part of the night to devotion, is abrogated by the institution of the five hours of prayer.4

4 Al Beidâwi.

p i.e., The good which ye shall do in your lifetime will be much more meritorious in the sight of GOD, than what ye shall defer till death, and order by will.1

1 Idem.


Of a truth,4 thy Lord knoweth that thou prayest almost two-thirds, or half, or a third of the night, as do a part of thy followers. But God measureth the night and the day: He knoweth that ye cannot count its hours aright, and therefore, turneth to you mercifully. Recite then so much of the Koran as may be easy to you. He knoweth that there will be some among you sick, while others travel through the earth in quest of the bounties of God; and others do battle in his cause. Recite therefore so much of it as may be easy. And observe the Prayers and pay the legal Alms,5 and lend God a liberal loan: for whatever good works ye send on before for your own behoof, ye shall find with God. This will be best and richest in the recompense. And seek the forgiveness of God: verily, God is forgiving, Merciful. 4 This verse, according to a tradition of Ayesha, was revealed one year later than the previous part of the Sura. Nöldeke says it is "offenbar ein Medinischer."

5 The reader will not be surprised to find in the very outset of Muhammad's career a frequent mention of Alms, Prayer, Heaven, Hell, Judgment, Apostles, etc., in their usual sense, when he remembers that Judaism was extensively naturalised in Arabia, and Christianity, also, although to a smaller extent. The words and phrases of these religions were doubtless familiar to the Meccans, especially to that numerous body who were anxiously searching after some better religion than the idolatries of their fathers (v. on Sura iii. 19, 60), and provided Muhammad with a copious fund from which to draw.
2 0 74






2 0 74






2 0 74 CHAPTER LXXIV



SURA LXXIV.–THE ENWRAPPED1 [II.] 1 This Sura is placed by Muir in the “second stage” of Meccan Suras, and twenty-first in chronological order, in the third or fourth year of the Prophet’s career. According, however, to the chronological list of Suras given by Weil (Leben M. p. 364) from ancient tradition, as well as from the consentient voice of tradionists and commentaries (v. Nöld. Geschichte, p. 69; Sprenger’s Life of Mohammad, p. 111) it was the next revealed after the Fatrah, and the designation to the prophetic office. The main features of the tradition are, that Muhammad while wandering about in the hills near Mecca, distracted by doubts and by anxiety after truth, had a vision of the Angel Gabriel seated on a throne between heaven and earth, that he ran to his wife, Chadijah, in the greatest alarm, and desired her, perhaps from superstitious motives (and believing that if covered with clothes he should be shielded from the glances of evil spirits–comp. Stanley on I Cor. xi. 10), to envelope him in his mantle; that then Gabriel came down and addressed him as in v. I. This vision, like that which preceded Sura xcvi., may actually have occurred during the hallucinations of one of the epileptic fits from which Muhammad from early youth appears to have suffered. Hence Muhammad in Sura lxxxi. appeals to it as a matter of fact, and such he doubtless believe it to be. It may here be observed, that however absurd the Muslim traditions may be in many of their details, it will generally be found that where there is an ancient and tolerably universal consent, there will be found at the bottom a residuum of fact and historical truth. At the same time there can be no doubt but that the details of the traditions are too commonly founded upon the attempt to explain or to throw light upon a dark passage of the Koran, and are pure inventions of a later age.
2 0 74 ENTITLED, THE COVERED; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–55 Verses
2 0 74 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
2 1 74 O THOU covered,q q It is related, from Mohammed’s own mouth, that being on Mount Harâ, and hearing himself called, he looked on each hand, and saw nobody; but looking upwards, he saw the angel Gabriel on a throne, between heaven and earth; at which sight being much terrified, he returned to his wife Khadîjah, and bade her cover him up; and that then the angel descended, and addressed him in the words of the text. From hence some think this chapter to have been the first which was revealed: but the more received opinion is, that it was the 96th. Others say that the prophet, having been reviled by certain of the Koreish, was sitting in a melancholy and pensive posture, wrapped up in his mantle, when Gabriel accosted him: and some say he was sleeping. See the second note to the preceding chapter.


O THOU, ENWRAPPED in thy mantle!
2 2 74 arise and preach,r r It is generally supposed that Mohammed is here commanded more especially to warn his near relations, the Koreish; as he is expressly ordered to do in a subsequent revelation.2

2 See cap. 26, p. 281, and the Prelim. Disc. Sect. II. p. 33.


Arise and warn!
2 3 74 and magnify thy LORD.



Thy Lord–magnify Him!
2 4 74 And cleanse thy garments:



Thy raiment–purify it!
2 5 74 and fly every abomination:s s By the word abomination the commentators generally agree idolatry to be principally intended.


The abomination–flee it!
2 6 74 and be not liberal in hopes to receive more in return:



And bestow not favours that thou mayest receive again with increase;
2 7 74 and patiently wait for thy LORD.



And for thy Lord wait thou patiently.
2 8 74 When the trumpet shall sound,
Memorials of the Faithful (within pp. 191-204, Táhirih)
link

For when there shall be a trump on the trumpet,2 2 The Arabic words are not those used in later Suras to express the same idea.
2 9 74 verily that day shall be a day of distress



That shall be a distressful day,
2 10 74 and uneasiness unto the unbelievers.



A day, to the Infidels, devoid of ease.
2 11 74 Let me alone with him whom I have created,t t The person here meant is generally supposed to have been al Walid Ebn al Mogheira,3 a principal man among the Koreish.

3 Al Zamakh., al Beidâwi, Jallal.


Leave me alone to deal with him3 whom I have created, 3 Said to be Walid b. Mogheira, a person of note among the unbelieving Meccans. This portion of the Sura seems to be of a different date from the first seven verses, though very ancient, and the change of subject is similar to that at v. 9 of the previous Sura.
2 12 74 on whom I have bestowed abundant riches,



And on whom I have bestowed vast riches,
2 13 74 and children dwelling in his presence,u u Being well provided for, and not obliged to go abroad to seek their livings, as most others of the Meccans were.4

4 Al Beidâwi.


And sons dwelling before him,
2 14 74 and for whom I have disposed affairs in a smooth and easy manner,x x By facilitating his advancement to power and dignity; which were so considerable that he was surnamed Rihâna Koreish, or The sweet odour of the Koreish, and al Wahîd, i.e., The only one, or The incomparable.5

5 Idem.


And for whom I have smoothed all things smoothly down;–
2 15 74 and who desireth that I will yet add other blessings unto him.



Yet desireth he that I should add more!
2 16 74 By no means: because he is an adversary to our signs.y y On the revelation of this passage it is said that Walid’s prosperity began to decay, and continued daily so to do to the time of his death.6

6 Idem.


But no! because to our signs he is a foe
2 17 74 I will afflict him with grievous calamities:z z Or, as the words may be strictly rendered, I will drive him up the crag of a mountain; which some understand of a mountain of fire, agreeably to a tradition of their prophet, importing that al Walid will be condemned to ascend this mountain, and then to be cast down from thence, alternately for ever; and that he will be seventy years in climbing up, and as many in falling down.7

7 Idem.


I will lay grievous woes upon him.
2 18 74 for he hath devised and prepared contumelious expressions to ridicule the Koran.



For he plotted and he planned!
2 19 74 May he be cursed: how maliciously hath he prepared the same!



May he be cursed! How he planned!
2 20 74 And again, may he be cursed: how maliciously hath he prepared the same!



Again, may he be cursed! How he planned!
2 21 74 Then he looked,



Then looked he around him,
2 22 74 and frowned, and put on an austere countenance:



Then frowned and scowled,
2 23 74 then he turned back, and was elated with pride;



Then turned his back and swelled with disdain,
2 24 74 and he said, This is no other than a piece of magic, borrowed from others:



And said, “This is merely magic that will be wrought;
2 25 74 these are only the words of a man.



It is merely the word of a mortal.”
2 26 74 I will cast him to be burned in hell.



We will surely cast him into Hell-fire.
2 27 74 And what shall make thee to understand what hell is?



And who shall teach thee what Hell-fire is?
2 28 74 It leaveth not anything unconsumed, neither doth it suffer anything to escape:



It leaveth nought, it spareth nought,
2 29 74 it scorcheth men's flesh:



Blackening the skin.
2 30 74 over the same are nineteen angels appointed.



Over it are nineteen angels.
2 31 74 We have appointed none but angels to preside over hell fire:a and we have expressed the number of them only for an occasion of discord to the unbelievers;b that they to whom the scriptures have been given may be certain of the veracity of this book,c and the true believers may increase in faith; a The reason of which is said to be, that they might be of a different nature and species from those who are to be tormented, lest they should have a fellow-feeling of, and compassionate their sufferings; or else, because of their great strength and severity of temper.1

1 Idem

b Or, for a trial of them: because they might say this was a particular borrowed by Mohammed of the Jews.

c And especially the Jews; this being conformable to what is contained in their books.2

2 Jallal.


None but angels have we made guardians of the fire:4 nor have we made this to be their number but to perplex the unbelievers, and that they who possess the Scriptures may be certain of the truth of the Koran, and that they who believe may increase their faith; 4 This and the three following verses wear the appearance of having been inserted at a later period to meet objections respecting the number of the angels who guard hell, raised by the Jews; perhaps at Medina, as the four classes of persons specified are those whom Muhammad had to deal with in that city, viz., the Jews, Believers, the Hypocrites, or undecided, and Idolaters. These are constantly mentioned together in the Medina Suras.
2 32 74 and that those to whom the scriptures have been given, and the true believers, may not doubt hereafter;



And that they to whom the Scriptures have been given, and the believers, may not doubt;
2 33 74 and that those in whose hearts there is an infirmity, and the unbelievers, may say, What mystery doth GOD intend by this number?



And that the infirm of heart and the unbelievers may say, What meaneth God by this parable?
2 34 74 Thus doth GOD cause to err whom he pleaseth; and he directeth whom he pleaseth. None knoweth the armies of thy LORD,d besides him; and thise is no other than a memento unto mankind. d i.e., All his creatures; or particularly the number and strength of the guards of hell.

e The antecedent seems to be hell.


Thus God misleadeth whom He will, and whom He will doth He guide aright: and none knoweth the armies of thy Lord but Himself: and this is no other than a warning to mankind.
2 35 74 Assuredly. By the moon,
74:35-37
Selections from the Writings of the Báb (2 Excerpts from the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá, Chapter LVIII, within pp. 58-59)
link

Nay, by the Moon!
2 36 74 and the night when it retreateth,
74:35-37 (cont.)
Selections from the Writings of the Báb (2 Excerpts from the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá, Chapter LVIII, within pp. 58-59)
link

By the Night when it retreateth!
2 37 74 and the morning when it reddeneth,
74:35-37 (cont.)
Selections from the Writings of the Báb (2 Excerpts from the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá, Chapter LVIII, within pp. 58-59)
link

By the Morn when it brighteneth!
2 38 74 I swear that this is one of the most terrible calamities,



Hell is one of the most grievous woes,
2 39 74 giving warning unto men,



Fraught with warning to man,
2 40 74 as well as unto him among you who desireth to go forward, as unto him who chooseth to remain behind.



To him among you who desireth to press forward, or to remain behind.5 5 That is, who believe, and do not believe.
2 41 74 Every soul is given in pledge for that which it shall have wrought:f except the companions of the right hand;g f See chapter 52, p. 388.

g i.e., The blessed;3 who shall redeem themselves by their good works. Some say these are the angels, and others, such as die infants.4

3 See cap. 56, p. 396, note t.
4 Al Beidâwi.


For its own works lieth every soul in pledge. But they of God’s right hand
2 42 74 who shall dwell in gardens, and shall ask one another questions concerning the wicked,



In their gardens shall ask of the wicked;–
2 43 74 and shall also ask the wicked themselves, saying, What hath brought you into hell?



“What hath cast you into Hell-fire?”6 6 As the word sakar disturbs the rhyme, it may have been inserted by a mistake of the copyist for the usual word, which suits it.
2 44 74 They shall answer, We were not of those who were constant at prayer,



They will say, “We were not of those who prayed,
2 45 74 neither did we feed the poor;



And we were not of those who fed the poor,
2 46 74 and we waded in vain disputes with the fallacious reasoners;



And we plunged into vain disputes with vain disputers,
2 47 74 and we denied the day of judgment,



And we rejected as a lie, the day of reckoning,
2 48 74 until deathh overtook us: h Literally, That which is certain.


Till the certainty7 came upon us”– 7 That is, death. Beidh. Comp. Sura xv. 99.
2 49 74 and the intercession of the interceders shall not avail them.



And intercession of the interceders shall not avail them.
2 50 74 What aileth them, therefore, that they turn aside from the admonition of the Koran,
Kitáb-i-Íqán, part I, paragraph 55, p. 52
link

Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 44, paragraph 60
link		 Affrighted asses fleeing from a lion.

BWC: as though they were affrighted asses
Then what hath come to them that they turn aside from the Warning
2 51 74 as though they were timorous asses flying from a lion?



As if they were affrighted asses fleeing from a lion?
2 52 74 But every man among them desireth that he may have expanded scrolls delivered to him from God.i i For the infidels to Mohammed that they would never obey him as a prophet till he brought each man a writing from heaven, to this effect, viz., From GOD to such a one: Follow Mohammed.5

5 Idem.


And every one of them would fain have open pages given to him out of Heaven.
2 53 74 By no means. They fear not the life to come.



It shall not be. They fear not the life to come.
2 54 74 By no means: verily this is a sufficient warning.



It shall not be. For this Koran is warning enough. And whoso will, it warneth him.
2 55 74 Whoso is willing to be warned, him shall it warn: but they shall not be warned, unless GOD shall please. He is worthy to be feared; and he is inclined to forgiveness.



But not unless God please, shall they be warned. Meet is He to be feared. Meet is forgiveness in Him.
40 0 75






40 0 75






40 0 75 CHAPTER LXXV.



SURA LXXV.–THE RESURRECTION [XL.]
40 0 75 ENTITLED, THE RESURRECTION; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–40 Verses
40 0 75 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
40 1 75 VERILY I sweark by the day of resurrection; k Or, I will not swear. See chapter 56, p. 398, note m.


It needeth not that I swear by the day of the RESURRECTION,
40 2 75 and I swear by the soul which accuseth itself:l l Being conscious of having offended, and of failing of perfection, notwithstanding its endeavours to do its duty; or, the pious soul which shall blame others, at the last day, for having been remiss in their devotions, &c. Some understand the words of the soul of Adam, in particular; who is continually blaming himself for having lost paradise by his disobedience.6

6 Idem.


Or that I swear by the self-accusing soul.
40 3 75 doth man think that we will not gather his bones together?



Thinketh man that we shall not re-unite his bones?
40 4 75 Yea: we are able to put together the smallest bones of his fingers.



Aye! his very finger tips are we able evenly to replace.
40 5 75 But man chooseth to be wicked, for the time which is before him.



But man chooseth to deny what is before him:
40 6 75 He asketh, When will the day of resurrection be?



He asketh, "When this day of Resurrection?"
40 7 75 But when the sight shall be dazzled,



But when the eye shall be dazzled,
40 8 75 and the moon shall be eclipsed,



And when the moon shall be darkened,
40 9 75 and the sun and the moon shall be in conjunction;m m Rising both in the west:1 which conjunction is no contradiction to what is mentioned just before, of the moon’s being eclipsed; because those words are not to be understood of a regular eclipse, but metaphorically, of the moon’s losing her light at the last day in a preternatural manner. Some think the meaning rather to be, that the sun and the moon shall be joined in the loss of their light.2

1 See the Prelim. Disc. p. 62.
2 Al Beidâwi.


And the sun and the moon shall be together,1 1 Lit. shall be united. In the loss of light, or in the rising in the west.–Beidh.
40 10 75 on that day man shall say, Where is a place of refuge?



On that day man shall cry, "Where is there a place to flee to?"
40 11 75 By no means: there shall be no place to fly unto.



But in vain–there is no refuge–
40 12 75 With thy LORD shall be the sure mansion of rest on that day:



With thy Lord on that day shall be the sole asylum.
40 13 75 on that day shall a man be told that which he hath done first and last.n n Or, the good which he hath done, and that which he hath left undone, &c.


On that day shall man be told of all that he hath done first and last;
40 14 75 Yea; a man shall be an evidence against himself:



Yea, a man shall be the eye witness against himself:
40 15 75 and though he offer his excuses, they shall not be received.



And even if he put forth his plea. . . .2 2 Supply, it shall not be accepted.
40 16 75 Move not thy tongue, O Mohammed, in repeating the revelations brought thee by Gabriel, before he shall have finished the same, that thou mayest quickly commit them to memory:



(Move not thy tongue in haste to follow and master this revelation:3 3 Verses 16-19 are parenthetic, and either an address to Muhammad by Gabriel desiring him (I) not to be overcome by any fear of being unable to follow and retain the revelation of this particular Sura; (2) or, not to interrupt him, but to await the completion of the entire revelation before he should proceed to its public recital. In either case we are led to the conclusion that, from the first, Muhammad had formed the plan of promulging a written book. Comp. Sura xx. 112.
40 17 75 for the collecting the Koran in thy mind, and the teaching thee the true reading thereof, are incumbent on us.



For we will see to the collecting and the recital of it;
40 18 75 But when we shall have read the same unto thee by the tongue of the angel, do thou follow the reading thereof:



But when we have recited it, then follow thou the recital,
40 19 75 and afterwards it shall be our part to explain it unto thee.



And, verily, afterwards it shall be ours to make it clear to thee.)
40 20 75 By no means shalt thou be thus hasty for the future. But ye love that which hasteneth away,o o i.e., The fleeting pleasures of this life. The words intimate the natural hastiness and impatience of man,3 who takes up with a present enjoyment, though short and bitter in its consequences, rather than wait for real happiness in futurity.

3 See cap. 17, p. 208.


Aye, but ye love the transitory,
40 21 75 and neglect the life to come.



And ye neglect the life to come.
40 22 75 Some countenances on that day shall be bright,



On that day shall faces beam with light,
40 23 75 looking towards their LORD:



Outlooking towards their Lord;
40 24 75 and some countenances, on that day, shall be dismal:



And faces on that day shall be dismal,
40 25 75 they shall think that a crushing calamity shall be brought upon them.



As if they thought that some great calamity would befal them.
40 26 75 Assuredly. When a man's soul shall come up to his throat, in his last agony,



Aye, when the soul shall come up into the throat,
40 27 75 and the standers-by shall say, Who bringeth a charm to recover him?



And there shall be a cry, "Who hath a charm that can restore him?"
40 28 75 and shall think it to be his departure out of this world;



And the man feeleth that the time of his departure is come,
40 29 75 and one leg shall be joined with the other leg:p p i.e., And when he shall stretch forth his legs together, as is usual with dying persons. The words may also be translated, And when one affliction shall be joined with another affliction.


And when one leg shall be laid over the other,4 4 In the death-struggle.
40 30 75 on that day unto thy LORD shall he be driven.



To thy Lord on that day shall he be driven on;
40 31 75 For he believed not,q neither did he pray; q Or, He did not give alms; or, He was not a man of veracity. Some suppose Abu Jahl, and others one Adi Ebn Rabîa, to be particularly inveighed against in this chapter.


For he believed not, and he did not pray,
40 32 75 but he accused God's apostle of imposture, and turned back from obeying him:



But he called the truth a lie and turned his back,
40 33 75 then he departed unto his family, walking with a haughty mien.



Then, walking with haughty men, rejoined his people.
40 34 75 Wherefore, woe be unto thee; woe!



That Hour is nearer to thee and nearer,5 5 Or, Therefore woe to thee, woe! And, again, woe to thee, woe. Thus Sale, Ullm. Beidhawi; who also gives the rendering in the text, which is that of Maracci.
40 35 75 And again, woe be unto thee; woe!



It is ever nearer to thee and nearer still.
40 36 75 Doth man think that he shall be left at full liberty, without control?



Thinketh man that he shall be left supreme?
40 37 75 Was he not a drop of seed, which was emitted?



Was he not a mere embryo?6 6 Nonne fuit humor ex spermate quod spermatizatur.
40 38 75 Afterwards he became a little coagulated blood, and God formed him, and fashioned him with just proportion;



Then he became thick blood of which God formed him and fashioned him;
40 39 75 and made of him two sexes, the male and the female.



And made him twain, male and female.
40 40 75 Is not he who hath done this able to quicken the dead?



Is not He powerful enough to quicken the dead?
52 0 76






52 0 76






52 0 76 CHAPTER LXXVI.



SURA LXXVI.–MAN [LII.]
52 0 76 ENTITLED, MAN; REVEALED AT MECCA.r r It is somewhat doubtful whether this chapter was revealed at Mecca or Medina.


MECCA.–31 Verses
52 0 76 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
52 1 76 DID there not pass over man a long space of time; during which he was a thing not worthy of remembrance?s s Some take these words to be spoken of Adam, whose body, according to Mohammedan tradition, was at first a figure of clay, and was left forty years to dry before GOD breathed life into it;1 others understand them of man in general and of the time he lies in the womb.

1 See the notes to cap. 2, p. 4.


Doth not a long time pass over MAN, during which he is a thing unremembered?1 1 When in the womb.
52 2 76 Verily we have created man of the mingled seed of both sexes, that we might prove him: and we have made him to hear and to see.t t That he might be capable of receiving the rules and directions given by GOD for his guidance;2 and of meriting reward or punishment for his observance or neglect of them.

2 Al Beidâwi.


We have created man from the union of the sexes that we might prove him; and hearing, seeing, have we made him:
52 3 76 We have surely directed him in the way; whether he be grateful, or ungrateful.



In a right way have we guided him, be he thankful or ungrateful.
52 4 76 Verily we have prepared for the unbelievers chains, and collars, and burning fire.



For the Infidels we have got ready chains and collars and flaming fire.
52 5 76 But the just shall drink of a cup of wine, mixed with the water of Cafur,u u Is the name of a fountain in paradise, so called from its resembling camphire (which the word signifies) in odour and whiteness. Some take the word for an appellative, and think the wine of paradise will be mixed with camphire, because of its agreeable coolness and smell.3

3 Idem.		 Kitáb-i-Íqán, part I, paragraph 41, p. 41
link

The Seven Valleys (The Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness)
link

Bahá’í Prayers (6th prayer under “Triumph of the Cause”) by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
link

Memorials of the Faithful (within pp. 43-45, Shaykh Sádiq-i-Yazdi)
link

Memorials of the Faithful (within pp. 67-70, Muhammad-Hadiy-i-Sahhaf)
link

Memorials of the Faithful (Áqá Muhammad-Ibrahim, within pp. 81-83)
link

Memorials of the Faithful (within pp. 173-180, The Consort of the King of Martyrs)
link

Memorials of the Faithful (within pp. 95-97, Mirzá Mihdíy-i-Káshání)
link		 The righteous shall drink of a cup tempered at the camphor fountain.

MG: Verily the righteous shall drink of a winecup tempered at the camphor fountain.

O: tempered at the camphor fountain.

MG: a wine cup tempered at the camphor fountain,

MG: wine-cup tempered at the camphor fountain,

MG: tempered at the camphor fountain.

cf. MG: cup that was tempered at the camphor fountain

cf. MG: crystalline wine cup, tempered at the camphor fountain.

BWC in Bahíyyih Khánum: winecup tempered at the camphor fountain,		 Bahíyyih Khánum, V. Letters of the Greatest Holy Leaf, no. 33, p. 130
link		 But a wine cup tempered at the camphor fountain2 the just shall quaff: 2 With (the water of) Kafoor. Lane.
52 6 76 a fountain whereof the servants of GOD shall drink; they shall convey the same by channels whithersoever they please.



Fount whence the servants of God shall drink, and guide by channels from place to place;
52 7 76 These fulfil their vow, and dread the day, the evil whereof will disperse itself far abroad;



They who fulfilled their vows, and feared the day whose woes will spread far and wide;
52 8 76 and give food unto the poor, and the orphan, and the bondman, for his sake,



Who though longing for it themselves, bestowed their food on the poor and the orphan and the captive:
52 9 76 saying, We feed you for GOD'S sake only: we desire no recompense from you, nor any thanks:
Kitáb-i-Íqán, part I, paragraph 22, p. 22
link

The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 6
link		 Shoghi Effendi in The Dawn-Breakers: We nourish your souls for the sake of God; we seek from you neither recompense nor thanks.

We nourish your souls for the sake of God; we seek from you neither recompense nor thanks.

MG: We nourish your souls for the sake of God; We seek from you neither recompense nor thanks.		 The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter II, p. 23
link		 "We feed you for the sake of God: we seek from you neither recompense nor thanks:3
52 10 76 verily we dread, from our LORD, a dismal and calamitous day.x x It is related that Hasan and Hosein, Mohammed’s grandchildren, on a certain time being both sick, the prophet, among others, visited them, and they wished Ali to make some vow to GOD for the recovery of his sons: whereupon Ali, and Fâtema, and Fidda, their maid-servant, vowed a fast of three days in case they did well; as it happened they did. This vow was performed with so great strictness, that the first day, having no provisions in the house, Ali was obliged to borrow three measures of barley of one Simeon, a Jew, of Khaibar, one measure of which Fâtema ground the same day, and baked five cakes of the meal, and they were set before them to break their fast with after sunset: but a poor man coming to them, they gave all their bread to him, and passed the night without tasting anything except water. The next day Fâtema made another measure into bread, for the same purpose; but an orphan begging some food, they chose to let him have it, and passed that night as the first; and the third day they likewise gave their whole provision to a famished captive. Upon this occasion Gabriel descended with the chapter, before us, and told Mohammed that GOD congratulated him on the virtues of his family.1

1 Idem.


A stern and calamitous day dread we from our Lord."
52 11 76 Wherefore GOD shall deliver them from the evil of that day, and shall cast on them brightness of countenance, and joy;



From the evil therefore of that day hath God delivered them and cast on them brightness of face and joy:
52 12 76 and shall reward them, for their patient persevering, with a garden and silk garments:



And hath rewarded their constancy, with Paradise and silken robes:
52 13 76 therein shall they repose themselves on couches; they shall see therein neither sun nor moon;y y Because they shall not need the light of either.2 The word Zamharîr, here translated moon, properly signifies extreme cold: for which reason some understand the meaning of the passage to be, that in paradise there shall be felt no excess either of heat or of cold.

2 See Revel. xxi. 23.


Reclining therein on bridal couches, nought shall they know of sun or piercing cold:
52 14 76 and the shades thereof shall be near spreading above them, and the fruits thereof shall hang low, so as to be easily gathered.



Its shades shall be close over them, and low shall its fruits hang down:
52 15 76 And their attendants shall go round about unto them, with vessels of silver, and goblets:



And vessels of silver and goblets like flagons shall be borne round among them:
52 16 76 the bottles shall be bottles of silver shining like glass; they shall determine the measure thereof by their wish.



Flagons of silver whose measure themselves shall mete.
52 17 76 And therein shall they be given to drink of a cup of wine, mixed with the water of Zenjebil,z z The word signifies ginger, which the Arabs delight to mix with the water they drink; and therefore the water of this fountain is supposed to have the taste of that spice.3

3 Al Beidâwi, Jallal.


And there shall they be given to drink of the cup tempered with zendjebil (ginger)
52 18 76 a fountain in paradise named Salsabil:a a Signifies water which flows gently and pleasantly down the throat.


From the fount therein whose name is Selsebil (the softly flowing).
52 19 76 and youths, which shall continue forever in their bloom, shall go round to attend them; when thou seest them, thou shalt think them to be scattered pearls:



Aye-blooming youths go round among them. When thou lookest at them thou wouldest deem them scattered pearls;
52 20 76 and when thou lookest, there shalt thou behold delights, and a great kingdom.



And when thou seest this, thou wilt see delights and a vast kingdom:
52 21 76 Upon them shall be garments of fine green silk, and of brocades, and they shall be adorned with bracelets of silver: and their LORD shall give them to drink of a most pure liquor;

Shoghi Effendi in The Dawn-Breakers: A drink of a pure beverage shall their Lord give them. The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter II, p. 27
link		 Their clothing green silk robes and rich brocade: with silver bracelets shall they be adorned; and drink of a pure beverage shall their Lord give them.
52 22 76 and shall say unto them, Verily this is your reward: and your endeavor is gratefully accepted.
Memorials of the Faithful (within pp. 67-70, Muhammad-Hadiy-i-Sahhaf)
link

This shall be your recompense. Your efforts shall meet with thanks.
52 23 76 Verily we have sent down unto thee the Koran, by a gradual revelation.



We ourselves have sent down to thee the Koran as a missive from on high.
52 24 76 Wherefore patiently wait the judgment of thy LORD; and obey not any wicked person or unbeliever among them.



Await then with patience the judgments of thy Lord, and obey not the wicked among them and the unbelieving:
52 25 76 And commemorate the name of thy LORD, in the morning, and in the evening:



And make mention of the name of thy Lord at morn, at even,
52 26 76 and during some part of the night worship him, and praise him a long part of the night.



And at night. Adore him, and praise him the livelong night.
52 27 76 Verily these men love the transitory life, and leave behind them the heavy day of judgment.



But these men love the fleeting present, and leave behind them the heavy day of doom.
52 28 76 We have created them, and have strengthened their joints; and when we please, we will substitute others like unto them, in their stead.



Ourselves have we created them, and strengthened their joints; and when we please, with others like unto themselves will we replace them.
52 29 76 Verily this is an admonition: and whoso willeth, taketh the way unto his LORD:



This truly is a warning: And whoso willeth, taketh the way to his Lord;
52 30 76 but ye shall not will, unless GOD willeth; for GOD is knowing and wise.



But will it ye shall not, unless God will it, for God is Knowing, Wise.
52 31 76 He leadeth whom he pleaseth into his mercy; but for the unjust hath he prepared a grievous punishment.



He causeth whom He will to enter into his mercy. But for the evil doers, He hath made ready an afflictive chastisement.
36 0 77






36 0 77






36 0 77 CHAPTER LXXVII.



SURA LXXVII.–THE SENT [XXXVI.]
36 0 77 ENTITLED, THOSE WHICH ARE SENT; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–50 Verses
36 0 77 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
36 1 77 BY the angels which are sent by God, following one another in a continual series;



By the train of THE SENT ones,1 1 Lit. by the sent (fem.) one after another. Per missas. Mar. Either angels following in a continued series; or, winds, which disperse rain over the earth; or the successive verses of the Koran which disperse truth and distinguish truth from error.
36 2 77 and those which move swiftly, with a rapid motion;



And the swift in their swiftness;
36 3 77 and by those which disperse his commands, by divulging them through the earth;



By the scatterers who scatter,
36 4 77 and by those which separate truth from falsehood, by distinguishing the same;



And the distinguishers who distinguish;
36 5 77 and by those which communicate the divine admonitions,



And by those that give forth the word
36 6 77 to excuse, or to threaten:b b Some understand the whole passage of the verses of the Korân; which continued to be sent down, parcel after parcel, during the space of several years, and which rescind (for so the verb ásafa may also be translated) and abolish all former dispensations, divulging and making known the ways of salvation, distinguishing truth from falsehood, and communicating admonition, &c. Some interpret the first three verses of the winds, sent in a continual succession, blowing with a violent gust, and dispersing rain over the earth; and others give different explications.


To excuse or warn;
36 7 77 verily that which ye are promisedc is inevitable. c viz., The day of judgment.


Verily that which ye are promised is imminent.
36 8 77 When the stars, therefore, shall be put out,



When the stars, therefore, shall be blotted out,
36 9 77 and when the heaven shall be cloven in sunder,



And when the heaven shall be cleft,
36 10 77 and when the mountains shall be winnowed,



And when the mountains shall be scattered in dust,
36 11 77 and when the apostles shall have a time assigned to them to appear and bear testimony against their respective people;



And when the Apostles shall have a time assigned them;
36 12 77 to what a day shall that appointment be deferred!



Until what day shall that time be deferred?
36 13 77 to the day of separation:



To the day of severing!
36 14 77 and what shall cause thee to understand what the day of separation is?



And who shall teach thee what the day of severing is?
36 15 77 On that day, woe be unto them who accused the prophets of imposture!



Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
36 16 77 Have we not destroyed the obstinate unbelievers of old?



Have we not destroyed them of old?
36 17 77 We will also cause those of the latter times to follow them.



We will next cause those of later times to follow them.2 2 Sura xliv. 40.
36 18 77 Thus do we deal with the wicked.



Thus deal we with the evil doers.
36 19 77 Woe be, on that day, unto them who accused the prophets of imposture!



Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
36 20 77 Have we not created you of a contemptible drop of seed,
Summons of the Lord of Hosts (Súriy-Haykal, paragraph 151)
link

Summons of the Lord of Hosts (Súriy-i-Mulúk, paragraph 77)
link		 BWC: created of a sorry germ

BWC: created from a sorry germ
Have we not created you of a sorry germ,
36 21 77 which we placed in a sure repository,



Which we laid up in a secure place,
36 22 77 until the fixed term of delivery?



Till the term decreed for birth?
36 23 77 And we were able to do this: for we are most powerful.



Such is our power! and, how powerful are We!
36 24 77 On that day, woe be unto those who accused the prophets of imposture:



Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
36 25 77 Have we not made the earth to contain



Have we not made the earth to hold
36 26 77 the living and the dead,



The living and the dead?
36 27 77 and placed therein stable and lofty mountains, and given you fresh water to drink?



And placed on it the tall firm mountains, and given you to drink of sweet water.
36 28 77 Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture!



Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
36 29 77 It shall be said unto them, Go ye to the punishment which ye denied as a falsehood:



Begone to that Hell which ye called a lie:–
36 30 77 go ye into the shadow of the smoke of hell, which shall ascend in three columns,



Begone to the shadows that lie in triple masses;
36 31 77 and shall not shade you from the heat, neither shall it be of service against the flame;



"But not against the flame shall they shade or help you:"–
36 32 77 but it shall cast forth sparks as big as towers,



The sparks which it casteth out are like towers–
36 33 77 resembling yellow camels in colour.d d Being of fiery colour. Others, however, suppose these sparks will be of a dusky hue, like that of black camels, which always inclines a little to the yellow; the word translated yellow, signifying sometimes black. Some copies, by the variation of a vowel, have cables, instead of camels.


Like tawny camels.
36 34 77 Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture!



Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
36 35 77 This shall be a day whereon they shall not speak to any purpose;



On that day they shall not speak,
36 36 77 neither shall they be permitted to excuse themselves.



Nor shall it be permitted them to allege excuses.
36 37 77 Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture!



Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
36 38 77 This shall be the day of separation: we will assemble both you and your predecessors.



This is the day of severing, when we will assemble you and your ancestors.
36 39 77 Wherefore, if ye have any cunning stratagem, employ stratagems against me.



If now ye have any craft try your craft on me.
36 40 77 Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture!



Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
36 41 77 But the pious shall dwell amidst shades and fountains,



But the god-fearing shall be placed amid shades and fountains,
36 42 77 and fruits of the kinds which they shall desire:



And fruits, whatsoever they shall desire:
36 43 77 and it shall be said unto them, Eat and drink with easy digestion, in recompense for that which ye have wrought;



"Eat and drink, with health,3 as the meed of your toils." 3 Maimonides says that the majority of the Jews hope that Messiah shall come and "raise the dead, and they shall be gathered into Paradise, and there shall eat and drink and be in good health to all eternity."–Sanhedrin, fol. 119, col. I.
36 44 77 for thus do we reward the righteous doers.



Thus recompense we the good.
36 45 77 Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture!



Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
36 46 77 Eat, O unbelievers, and enjoy the pleasures of this life, for a little while: verily ye are wicked men.



"Eat ye and enjoy yourselves a little while. Verily, ye are doers of evil."
36 47 77 Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture!



Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture!
36 48 77 And when it is said unto them, Bow down; they do not bow down.



For when it is said to them, bend the knee, they bend it not.
36 49 77 Woe be, on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture!



Woe on that day to those who charged with imposture
36 50 77 In what new revelation will they believe, after this.



In what other revelation after this will they believe?
37 0 78






37 0 78






37 0 78 CHAPTER LXXVIII.



SURA LXXVIII.–THE NEWS [XXXVII.]
37 0 78 ENTITLED, THE NEWS; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–41 Verses
37 0 78 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
37 1 78 (XXX.) CONCERNING what do the unbelievers ask questions of one another?



Of what ask they of one another?
37 2 78 Concerning the great news of the resurrection,



Of the great NEWS.1 1 Of the Resurrection. With regard to the date of this Sura, we can only be guided (I) by the general style of the earlier portion (to verse 37, which is analogous to that of the early Meccan Suras; (2) by verse 17, which pre-supposes lxxvii. 12; (3) by the obviously later style of verse 37 to the end.
37 3 78 about which they disagree.



The theme of their disputes.
37 4 78 Assuredly they shall hereafter know the truth thereof.



Nay! they shall certainly knows its truth!
37 5 78 Again, Assuredly they shall hereafter know the truth thereof.



Again. Nay! they shall certainly know it.
37 6 78 Have we not made the earth for a bed,



Have we not made the Earth a couch?
37 7 78 and the mountains for stakes to fix the same?e e See chapter 16, p. 196, and chapter 31, p. 307.


And the mountains its tent-stakes?
37 8 78 And have we not created you of two sexes;



We have created you of two sexes,
37 9 78 and appointed your sleep for rest;



And ordained your sleep for rest,
37 10 78 and made the night a garment to cover you;



And ordained the night as a mantle,
37 11 78 and destined the day to the gaining your livelihood;



And ordained the day for gaining livelihood,
37 12 78 and built over you seven solid heavens;



And built above you seven solid2 heavens, 2 See Sura ii. 27. This is the title given by the Talmudists to the fifth of the seven heavens.
37 13 78 and placed therein a burning lamp?



And placed therein a burning lamp;
37 14 78 And do we not send down from the clouds pressing forth rain, water pouring down in abundance,



And we send down water in abundance from the rain-clouds,
37 15 78 that we may thereby produce corn, and herbs,



That we may bring forth by it corn and herbs,
37 16 78 and gardens planted thick with trees?



And gardens thick with trees.
37 17 78 Verily the day of separation is a fixed period:



Lo! the day of Severance is fixed;
37 18 78 the day whereon the trumpet shall sound, and ye shall come in troops to judgment;



The day when there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and ye shall come in crowds,
37 19 78 and the heaven shall be opened, and shall be full of gates for the angels to pass through;



And the heaven shall be opened and be full of portals,
37 20 78 and the mountains shall pass away, and become as a vapor;



And the mountains shall be set in motion, and melt into thin vapour.
37 21 78 verily hell shall be a place of ambush,



Hell truly shall be a place of snares,
37 22 78 a receptacle for the transgressors,



The home of transgressors,
37 23 78 who shall remain therein for ages:



To abide therein ages;
37 24 78 they shall not taste any refreshment therein, or any drink,



No coolness shall they taste therein nor any drink,
37 25 78 except boiling water, and filthy corruption:



Save boiling water and running sores;
37 26 78 a fit recompense for their deeds!



Meet recompense!
37 27 78 For they hope that they should not be brought to an account,



For they looked not forward to their account;
37 28 78 and they disbelieved our signs, accusing them of falsehood.



And they gave the lie to our signs, charging them with falsehood;
37 29 78 But everything have we computed, and written down.
Kitáb-i-Íqán, part II, paragraph 149, p. 140
link		 We noted all things and wrote them down,
But we noted and wrote down all:
37 30 78 Taste, therefore: we will not add unto you any other than torment.f f This, say the commentators, is the most severe and terrible sentence in the whole Korân, pronounced against the inhabitants of hell; they being hereby assured that every change in their torments will be for the worse.


"Taste this then: and we will give you increase of nought but torment."
37 31 78 But for the pious is prepared a place of bliss:



But, for the God-fearing is a blissful abode,
37 32 78 gardens planted with trees, and vineyards,



Enclosed gardens and vineyards;
37 33 78 and damsels with swelling breasts, of equal age with themselves,



And damsels with swelling breasts, their peers in age,
37 34 78 and a full cup.



And a full cup:
37 35 78 They shall hear no vain discourse there, nor any falsehood.



There shall they hear no vain discourse nor any falsehood:
37 36 78 This shall be their recompense from thy LORD; a gift fully sufficient:



A recompense from thy Lord–sufficing gift!–
37 37 78 from the LORD of heaven and earth, and of whatever is between them; the Merciful. The inhabitants of heaven or of earth shall not dare to demand audience of him:



Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and of all that between3 them lieth–the God of Mercy! But not a word shall they obtain from Him. 3 This phrase is of constant recurrence in the Talmud. Maimonides, Yad Hach. i. 3, makes it one of the positive commands of the Rabbins to believe "that there exists a first Being . . . and that all things existing, Heaven and Earth, and whatever is between them, exist only through the truth of his existence."
37 38 78 the day whereon the spirit Gabriel and the other angels shall stand in order, they shall not speak in behalf of themselves or others, except he only to whom the Merciful shall grant permission, and who shall say that which is right.
Selections from the Writings of the Báb (2 Excerpts from the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá, Chapter XXIV, within pp. 50-51)
link

On the day whereon the Spirit4 and the Angels shall be ranged in order, they shall not speak: save he whom the God of Mercy shall permit, and who shall say that which is right. 4 Gabriel.
37 39 78 This is the infallible day. Whoso, therefore, willeth, let him return unto his LORD.



This is the sure day. Whoso then will, let him take the path of return to his Lord.
37 40 78 Verily we threaten you with a punishment nigh at hand:



Verily, we warn you of a chastisement close at hand:
37 41 78 the day whereon a man shall behold the good or evil deeds which his hands have sent before him; and the unbeliever shall say, Would to GOD I were dust!



The day on which a man shall see the deeds which his hands have sent before him; and when the unbeliever shall say, "Oh! would I were dust!"
35 0 79






35 0 79






35 0 79 CHAPTER LXXIX.



SURA LXXIX.1–THOSE WHO DRAG FORTH [XXXV.] 1 This Sura obviously consists of three portions, verses 1-14, 15-26, 27-46, of which the third is the latest in point of style, and the second, more detailed than is usual in the Suras of the early period, which allude to Jewish and other legend only in brief and vague terms. It may therefore be considered as one of the short and early Suras.
35 0 79 ENTITLED, THOSE WHO TEAR FORTH; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–46 Verses
35 0 79 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
35 1 79 BY the angels who tear forth the souls of some with violence;



By those angels who DRAG FORTH souls with violence,
35 2 79 and by those who draw forth the souls of others with gentleness;g g These are the angel of death and his assistants, who will take the souls of the wicked in a rough and cruel manner from the inmost part of their bodies, as a man drags up a thing from the bottom of the sea; but will take the souls of the good in a gentle and easy manner from their lips, as when a man draws a bucket of water at one pull.1
There are several other interpretations of this whole passage; some expounding all the five parts of the oath of the stars, others of the souls of men, others of the souls of warriors in particular, and others of war-horses: a detail of which, I apprehend, would rather tire than please.

1 Al Beidâwi.


And by those who with joyous release release them;
35 3 79 by those who glide swimmingly through the air with the commands of God;



By those who swim swimmingly along;
35 4 79 and those who precede and usher the righteous to paradise;



By those who are foremost with foremost speed;2 2 Or, By those angels which precede, i.e., the souls of the pious into Paradise. Or, are beforehand with the Satans and djinn in learning the decrees of God.
35 5 79 and those who subordinately govern the affairs of this world:



By those who conduct the affairs of the universe!
35 6 79 on a certain day, the disturbing blast of the trumpet shall disturb the universe;



One day, the disturbing trumpet-blast shall disturb it,
35 7 79 and the subsequent blast shall follow it.



Which the second blast shall follow:
35 8 79 On that day men's hearts shall tremble:



Men's hearts on that day shall quake:–
35 9 79 their looks shall be cast down.



Their looks be downcast.
35 10 79 The infidels say, Shall we surely be made to return whence we came?h h i.e., Shall we be restored to our former condition?


The infidels will say, "Shall we indeed be restored as at first?
35 11 79 After we shall have become rotten bones, shall we be again raised to life?



What! when we have become rotten bones?"
35 12 79 They say, This then will be a return to loss.



"This then," say they, "will be a return to loss."
35 13 79 Verily it will be but one sounding of the trumpet,i i viz., The second or third blast, according to different opinions.


Verily, it will be but a single blast,
35 14 79 and, behold, they shall appear alive on the face of the earth.k k Or, they shall appear at the place of judgment. The original word al Sâhira is also one of the names of hell.


And lo! they are on the surface of the earth.
35 15 79 Hath not the story of Moses reached thee?



Hath the story of Moses reached thee?
35 16 79 When his LORD called unto him in the holy valley Towa,l l See chapter 20, p. 234.


When his Lord called to him in Towa's holy vale:
35 17 79 saying, Go unto Pharaoh; for he is insolently wicked:



Go to Pharaoh, for he hath burst all bounds:
35 18 79 and say, Hast thou a desire to become just and holy;



And say, "Wouldest thou become just?
35 19 79 and I will direct thee unto thy LORD, that thou mayest fear to transgress.



Then I will guide thee to thy Lord that thou mayest fear him."
35 20 79 And he showed him the very great sign of the rod turned into a serpent:



And he showed him a great miracle,–
35 21 79 but he charged Moses with imposture, and rebelled against God.



But he treated him as an impostor, and rebelled;
35 22 79 Then he turned back hastily;



Then turned he his back all hastily,
35 23 79 and he assembled the magicians, and cried aloud,



And gathered an assembly and proclaimed,
35 24 79 saying, I am your supreme LORD.



And said, "I am your Lord supreme."
35 25 79 Wherefore GOD chastised him with the punishment of the life to come, and also of this present life.



So God visited on him the punishment of this life and of the other.
35 26 79 Verily herein is an example unto him who feareth to rebel.



Verily, herein is a lesson for him who hath the fear of God.
35 27 79 Are ye more difficult to create, or the heaven which God hath built?



Are ye the harder to create, or the heaven which he hath built?
35 28 79 He hath raised the height thereof, and hath perfectly formed the same:



He reared its height and fashioned it,
35 29 79 and he hath made the night thereof dark, and hath produced the light thereof.



And gave darkness to its night, and brought out its light,
35 30 79 After this, he stretched out the earth,m m Which had been created before the heavens, but without expansion.1

1 Jallalo’ddin.


And afterwards stretched forth the earth,–
35 31 79 whence he caused to spring forth the water thereof, and the pasture thereof;



He brought forth from it its waters and its pastures;
35 32 79 and he established the mountains,



And set the mountains firm
35 33 79 for the use of yourselves, and of your cattle.



For you and your cattle to enjoy.
35 34 79 When the prevailing, the great day shall come,



But when the grand overthrow shall come,
35 35 79 on that day shall a man call to remembrance what he hath purposely done:



The day when a man shall reflect on the pains that he hath taken,
35 36 79 and hell shall be exposed to the view of the spectator.



And Hell shall be in full view of all who are looking on;
35 37 79 And whoso shall have transgressed,



Then, as for him who hath transgressed
35 38 79 and shall have chosen this present life;



And hath chosen this present life,
35 39 79 verily hell shall be his abode;



Verily, Hell–that shall be his dwelling-place:
35 40 79 but whoso shall have dreaded the appearing before his LORD, and shall have refrained his soul from lust,



But as to him who shall have feared the majesty of his Lord, and shall have refrained his soul from lust,
35 41 79 verily paradise shall be his abode.



Verily, Paradise–that shall be his dwelling-place.
35 42 79 They will ask thee concerning the last hour, when will be the fixed time thereof?



They will ask thee of "the Hour," when will be its fixed time?
35 43 79 By what means canst thou give any information of the same?



But what knowledge hast thou of it?
35 44 79 Unto thy LORD belongeth the knowledge of the period thereof:



Its period is known only to thy Lord;
35 45 79 and thou art only a warner, who fearest the same.



And thou art only charged with the warning of those who fear it.
35 46 79 The day whereon they shall see the same, it shall seem to them as though they had not tarried in the world longer than an evening, or a morning thereof.



On the day when they shall see it, it shall seem to them as though they had not tarried in the tomb, longer than its evening or its morn.
24 0 80






24 0 80






24 0 80 CHAPTER LXXX.



SURA LXXX.–HE FROWNED [XXIV.]
24 0 80 ENTITLED, HE FROWNED; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–42 Verses
24 0 80 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
24 1 80 THE prophet frowned, and turned aside,



HE FROWNED, and he turned his back,1 1 We are told in the traditions, etc., that when engaged in converse with Walid, a chief man among the Koreisch, Muhammad was interrupted by the blind Abdallah Ibn Omm Maktûm, who asked to hear the Koran. The Prophet spoke very roughly to him at the time, but afterwards repented, and treated him ever after with the greatest respect. So much so, that he twice made him Governor of Medina.
24 2 80 because the blind man came unto him:n n This passage was revealed on the following occasion. A certain blind man, named Abdallah Ebn Omm Mactûm, came and interrupted Mohammed while he was engaged in earnest discourse with some of the principal Koreish, whose conversion he had hopes of; but the prophet taking no notice of him, the blind man, not knowing he was otherwise busied, raised his voice, and said, O apostle of GOD, teach me some part of what GOD hath taught thee; but Mohammed, vexed at this interruption, frowned and turned away from him; for which he is here reprehended. After this, whenever the prophet saw Ebn Omm Mactûm, he showed him great respect, saying, The man is welcome, on whose account my LORD hath reprimanded me; and he made him twice governor of Medina.2

2 Idem al Beidâwi.


Because the blind man came to him!
24 3 80 and how dost thou know whether he shall peradventure be cleansed from his sins,



But what assured thee that he would not be cleansed by the Faith,
24 4 80 or whether he shall be admonished, and the admonition shall profit him?



Or be warned, and the warning profit him?
24 5 80 The man who is wealthy,



As to him who is wealthy–
24 6 80 thou receivest respectfully;



To him thou wast all attention:
24 7 80 whereas it is not to be charged on thee, that he is not cleansed:



Yet is it not thy concern if he be not cleansed:2 2 That is, if he does not embrace Islam, and so become pure from sin, thou wilt not be to blame; thou art simply charged with the delivery of a message of warning.
24 8 80 but him who cometh unto thee earnestly, seeking his salvation,



But as to him who cometh to thee in earnest,
24 9 80 and who feareth God,



And full of fears–
24 10 80 dost thou neglect.



Him dost thou neglect.
24 11 80 By no means shouldst thou act thus. Verily the Koran is an admonition



Nay! but it (the Koran) is a warning;
24 12 80 (and he who is willing retaineth the same;)



(And whoso is willing beareth it in mind)
24 13 80 written in volumes honourable,



Written on honoured pages,
24 14 80 exalted, and pure;



Exalted, purified,
24 15 80 by the hands of scribes honoured, and just.o o Being transcribed from the preserved table, highly honoured in the sight of GOD, kept pure and uncorrupted from the hands of evil spirits, and touched only by the angels. Some understand hereby the books of the prophets, with which the Korân agrees in substance.1

1 Al Zamakh.


By the hands of Scribes, honoured, righteous.
24 16 80 May man be cursed! What hath seduced him to infidelity?



Cursed be man! What hath made him unbelieving?
24 17 80 Of what thing doth God create him?



Of what thing did God create him?
24 18 80 Of a drop of seed



Out of moist germs.3 3 Ex spermate.
24 19 80 doth he create him; and he formeth him with proportion;



He created him and fashioned him,
24 20 80 and then facilitateth his passage out of the womb:



Then made him an easy passage from the womb,
24 21 80 afterwards he causeth him to die, and layeth him in the grave;



Then causeth him to die and burieth him;
24 22 80 hereafter, when it shall please him, he shall raise him to life.



Then, when he pleaseth, will raise him again to life.
24 23 80 Assuredly, He hath not hitherto fully performed what God hath commanded him.



Aye! but man hath not yet fulfilled the bidding of his Lord.
24 24 80 Let man consider his food; in what manner it is provided.



Let man look at his food:
24 25 80 We pour down water by showers;



It was We who rained down the copious rains,
24 26 80 afterwards we cleave the earth in clefts,



Then cleft the earth with clefts,
24 27 80 and we cause corn to spring forth therein,



And caused the upgrowth of the grain,
24 28 80 and grapes, and clover,



And grapes and healing herbs,
24 29 80 and the olive, and the palm,



And the olive and the palm,
24 30 80 and gardens planted thick with trees,



And enclosed gardens thick with trees,
24 31 80 and fruits, and grass,



And fruits and herbage,
24 32 80 for the use of yourselves and of your cattle.



For the service of yourselves and of your cattle.
24 33 80 When the stunning sound of the trumpet shall be heard;



But when the stunning trumpet-blast shall arrive,4 4 Descriptions of the Day of Judgment now become very frequent. See Sura lxxxv. p. 42, and almost every Sura to the lv., after which they become gradually more historical.
24 34 80 on that day shall a man fly from his brother,

Shoghi Effendi in The Dawn-Breakers: man shall fly from his brother, 80:34-36
The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter XXIV, p. 567
link		 On that day shall a man fly from his brother,
24 35 80 and his mother, and his father,

Shoghi Effendi in The Dawn-Breakers: and his mother and his father, 80:34-36 (cont.)
The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter XXIV, p. 567
link		 And his mother and his father,
24 36 80 and his wife, and his children.

Shoghi Effendi in The Dawn-Breakers: and his wife and his children 80:34-36 (cont.)
The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter XXIV, p. 567
link		 And his wife and his children;
24 37 80 Every man of them, on that day, shall have business of his own sufficient to employ his thoughts.



For every man of them on that day his own concerns shall be enough.
24 38 80 On that day the faces of some shall be bright,
Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 54, paragraph 75
link		 BWC: faces...that shine with the light of paradise.
There shall be faces on that day radiant,
24 39 80 laughing, and joyful:



Laughing and joyous:
24 40 80 and upon the faces of others, on that day, shall there be dust;
80:40-41
Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 54, paragraph 75
link		 BWC: faces...obscured with the dust of hell
And faces on that day with dust upon them:
24 41 80 darkness shall cover them.
80:40-41 (cont.)
Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 54, paragraph 75
link

Blackness shall cover them!
24 42 80 These are the unbelievers, the wicked.



These are the Infidels, the Impure.
32 0 81






32 0 81






32 0 81 CHAPTER LXXXI.



SURA LXXXI.–THE FOLDED UP [XXXII.]
32 0 81 ENTITLED, THE FOLDING UP; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–29 Verses
32 0 81 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
32 1 81 WHEN the sun shall be folded up;p p As a garment that is laid by.


WHEN the sun shall be FOLDED UP,1 1 Involutus fuerit tenebris. Mar. Or, thrown down.
32 2 81 and when the stars shall fall;



And when the stars shall fall,
32 3 81 and when the mountains shall be made to pass away;



And when the mountains shall be set in motion,
32 4 81 and when the camels ten months gone with young shall be neglected;q q See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 64.


And when the she-camels shall be abandoned,
32 5 81 and when the wild beasts shall be gathered together;r r See ibid. p. 64 and 67.


And when the wild beasts shall be gathered together,2 2 Thus Bab. Talm. Erchin, 3. "In the day to come (i.e., of judgment) all the beasts will assemble and come, etc."
32 6 81 and when the seas shall boil;s s See ibid. p. 64. Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revelaed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Tarazát (Ornaments), within pp. 31-44)
link		 BWC: And when the seas shall boil...
And when the seas shall boil,
32 7 81 and when the souls shall be joined again to their bodies;



And when souls shall be paired with their bodies,
32 8 81 and when the girl who hath been buried alive shall be asked



And when the female child that had been buried alive shall be asked
32 9 81 for what crime she was put to death;t t For it was customary among the ancient Arabs to bury their daughters alive as soon as they were born; for fear they should be impoverished by providing for them, or should suffer disgrace on their account. See chapter 16, p. 199.


For what crime she was put to death,3 3 See Sura xvi. 61; xvii. 33.
32 10 81 and when the books shall be laid open;
Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revelaed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Tarazát (Ornaments), within pp. 31-44)
link		 BWC: And when the Scriptures shall be unrolled.
And when the leaves of the Book shall be unrolled,
32 11 81 and when the heaven shall be removed;u u Or plucked away from its place, as the skin is plucked off from a camel which is flaying; for that is the proper signification of the verb here used. Marracci fancies the passage alludes to that in the Psalms,2 where, according to the versions of the Septuagint and the Vulgate, GOD is said to have stretched out the heaven like a skin.

2 Psalm civ. 2.


And when the Heaven shall be stripped away,4 4 Like a skin from an animal when flayed. The idea is perhaps borrowed from the Sept. V. of Psalm civ. 2. Vulg. sicut pellem.
32 12 81 and when hell shall burn fiercely;



And when Hell shall be made to blaze,
32 13 81 and when paradise shall be brought near;



And when Paradise shall be brought near,
32 14 81 every soul shall know what it hath wrought.



Every soul shall know what it hath produced.
32 15 81 Verily I swearx by the stars which are retrograde, x Or, I will not swear, &c. See chapter 56, p. 398, note m.


It needs not that I swear by the stars5 of retrograde motions 5 Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn.
32 16 81 which move swiftly, and which hide themselves;y y Some understand hereby the stars in general, but the more exact commentators, five of the planets, viz., the two which accompany the sun, and the three superior planets; which have both a retrograde and a direct motion, and hide themselves in the rays of the sun, or when they set.


Which move swiftly and hide themselves away,
32 17 81 and by the night, when it cometh on;



And by the night when it cometh darkening on,
32 18 81 and by the morning, when it appeareth;



And by the dawn when it brighteneth,
32 19 81 these these are the words of an honourable messenger,z z i.e., Gabriel.


That this is the word of an illustrious Messenger,6 6 Gabriel; of the meaning of whose name the next verse is probably a paraphrase.
32 20 81 endued with strength, of established dignity in the sight of the possessor of the throne,



Endued with power, having influence with the Lord of the Throne,
32 21 81 obeyed by the angels under his authority, and faithful:



Obeyed there by Angels, faithful to his trust,
32 22 81 and your companion Mohammed is not distracted.



And your compatriot is not one possessed by djinn;
32 23 81 He had already seen him in the clear horizon:a a See chapter 53, p. 389.


For he saw him in the clear horizon:7 7 Sura 1iii. 7.
32 24 81 and he suspected notb the secrets revealed unto him. b Some copies, by a change of one letter only, instead of dhanînin, read danînin; and then the words should be rendered, He is not tenacious of, or grudges not to communicate to you, the secret revelations which he has received.


Nor doth he grapple with heaven's secrets,8 8 Like a mere Kahin, or soothsayer.
32 25 81 Neither are these the words of an accursed devil.c c Who has overheard, by stealth, the discourse of the angels. The verse is an answer to a calumny of the infidels, who said the Korân was only a piece of divination, or magic; for the Arabs suppose the soothsayer, or magician, receives his intelligence from those evil spirits, who are continually listening to learn what they can from the inhabitants of heaven.


Nor doth he teach the doctrine of a cursed9 Satan. 9 Lit. stoned. Sura iii. 31. This vision or hallucination is one of the few clearly stated miracles, to which Muhammad appeals in the Koran. According to the tradition of Ibn-Abbas in Waquidi he was preserved by it from committing suicide by throwing himself down from Mount Hira, and that after it, God cheered him and strengthened his heart, and one revelation speedily followed another.
32 26 81 Whither, therefore, are you going?



Whither then are ye going?
32 27 81 This is no other than an admonition unto all creatures;



Verily, this is no other than a warning to all creatures;
32 28 81 unto him among you who shall be willing to walk uprightly:



To him among you who willeth to walk in a straight path:
32 29 81 but ye shall not will, unless GOD willeth, the LORD of all creatures.



But will it ye shall not, unless as God willeth it,10 the Lord of the worlds. 10 Comp. the doctrine of predestination in Sura 1xxvi. v. 25 to end.
31 0 82






31 0 82






31 0 82 CHAPTER LXXXII.



SURA LXXXII.–THE CLEAVING [XXXI.]
31 0 82 ENTITLED, THE CLEAVING IN SUNDER; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–19 Verses
31 0 82 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
31 1 82 WHEN the heaven shall be cloven in sunder;
Kitáb-i-Íqán, part I, paragraph 46, p. 44
link		 When the heaven shall be cloven asunder.
WHEN the Heaven shall CLEAVE asunder,
31 2 82 and when the stars shall be scattered;



And when the stars shall disperse,
31 3 82 and when the seas shall be suffered to join their waters;



And when the seas1 shall be commingled, 1 Salt water and fresh water.
31 4 82 and when the graves shall be turned upside down:



And when the graves shall be turned upside down,
31 5 82 every soul shall know what it hath committed, and what it hath omitted.



Each soul shall recognise its earliest and its latest actions.
31 6 82 O man, what hath seduced thee against thy gracious LORD,



O man! what hath misled thee against thy generous Lord,
31 7 82 who hath created thee, and put thee together, and rightly disposed thee?



Who hath created thee and moulded thee and shaped thee aright?
31 8 82 In what form he pleased hath he fashioned thee.



In the form which pleased Him hath He fashioned thee.
31 9 82 Assuredly. But ye deny the last judgment as a falsehood.



Even so; but ye treat the Judgment as a lie.
31 10 82 Verily there are appointed over you guardian angels,d d See chapter 50, p. 384, and the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 56.


Yet truly there are guardians over you–
31 11 82 honourable in the sight of God, writing down your actions;



Illustrious recorders–
31 12 82 who know that which ye do.



Cognisant of your actions.
31 13 82 The just shall surely be in a place of delight:



Surely amid delights shall the righteous dwell,
31 14 82 but the wicked shall surely be in hell;



But verily the impure in Hell-fire:
31 15 82 they shall be cast therein to be turned, on the day of judgment,



They shall be burned at it on the day of doom,
31 16 82 and they shall not be absent therefrom forever.



And they shall not be able to hide themselves from it.
31 17 82 What shall cause thee to understand what the day of judgment is?



Who shall teach thee what the day of doom is?
31 18 82 Again, What shall cause thee to understand what the day of judgment is?



Once more. Who shall teach thee what the day of doom is?
31 19 82 It is a day whereon one soul shall not be able to obtain anything in behalf of another soul: and the command, on that day, shall be GOD'S.



It is a day when one soul shall be powerless for another soul: all sovereignty on that day shall be with God.
41 0 83






41 0 83






41 0 83 CHAPTER LXXXIII.



SURA LXXXIII.–THOSE WHO STINT [XLI.]
41 0 83 ENTITLED, THOSE WHO GIVE SHORT MEASURE OR WEIGHT; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–36 Verses
41 0 83 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
41 1 83 WOE be unto those who give short measure or weight:



Woe to those who STINT the measure:
41 2 83 who, when they receive by measure from other men, take the full;



Who when they take by measure from others, exact the full;
41 3 83 but when they measure unto them, or weigh unto them, defraud!



But when they mete to them or weigh to them, minish–
41 4 83 Do not these think they shall be raised again,



What! have they no thought that they shall be raised again
41 5 83 at the great day,



For the great day?
41 6 83 the day whereon mankind shall stand before the LORD of all creatures?
Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revelaed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Tablet of Ishráqát, within pp. 99-134)
link

Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 22, paragraph 27
link		 BWC: The Day when mankind shall stand before the Lord of the worlds.

BWC: the day when mankind shall stand before the Lord of the worlds
The day when mankind shall stand before the Lord of the worlds.
41 7 83 By no means. Verily the register of the actions of the wicked is surely in Sejjîn.e e Is the name of the general register, wherein the actions of all the wicked, both men and genii, are distinctly entered. Sejn signifies a prison; and this book, as some think, derives its name from thence, because it will occasion those whose deeds are there recorded to be imprisoned in hell. Sejjin, or Sajin, is also the name of the dungeon beneath the seventh earth, the residence of Eblis and his host, where, it is supposed by some, that this book is kept, and where the souls of the wicked will be detained till the resurrection.1 If the latter explication be admitted, the words, And what shall make thee to understand what Sejjin is? should be enclosed within a parenthesis.

1 Jallalo’ddin, al Beidâwi. See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 61.


Yes! the register of the wicked is in Sidjin.1 1 Sidjin is a prison in Hell which gives its name to the register of actions there kept, as Illiyoun, a name of the lofty apartments of Paradise, is transferred to the register of the righteous.
41 8 83 And what shall make thee to understand what Sejjîn is?



And who shall make thee understand what Sidjin is?
41 9 83 It is a book distinctly written.



It is a book distinctly written.
41 10 83 Woe be on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture;



Woe, on that day, to those who treated our signs as lies,
41 11 83 who denied the day of judgment as a falsehood!



Who treated the day of judgment as a lie!
41 12 83 And none denieth the same as a falsehood, except every unjust and flagitious person:



None treat it as a lie, save the transgressor, the criminal,
41 13 83 who, when our signs are rehearsed unto him, saith, They are fables of the ancients.



Who, when our signs are rehearsed to him, saith, "Tales of the Ancients!"
41 14 83 By no means: but rather their lusts have cast a veil over their hearts.



Yes; but their own works have got the mastery over their hearts.
41 15 83 By no means. Verily they shall be shut out from their LORD on that day;



Yes; they shall be shut out as by a veil from their Lord on that day;
41 16 83 and they shall be sent into hell to be burned:



Then shall they be burned in Hell-fire:
41 17 83 then shall it be said unto them by the infernal guards, This is what ye denied as a falsehood.



Then shall it be said to them, "This is what ye deemed a lie."
41 18 83 Assuredly. But the register of the actions of the righteous is Illiyyûn:f f The word is a plural, and signifies high places. Some say it is the general register wherein the actions of the righteous, whether angels, men, or genii, are distinctly recorded. Others will have it to be a place in the seventh heaven, under the throne of GOD, where this book is kept, and where the souls of the just, as many think, will remain till the last day.2 If we prefer the latter opinion, the words, And what shall make thee to understand what Illiyyûn is? should likewise be enclosed in a parenthesis.

2 Jallalo’ddin. See the Prelim. Disc. ubi sup.


Even so. But the register of the righteous is in Illiyoun.
41 19 83 and what shall cause thee to understand what Illiyyun is?



And who shall make thee understand what Illiyoun is?
41 20 83 It is a book distinctly written:



A book distinctly written;
41 21 83 those who approach near unto God are witnesses thereto.g g Or, are present with, and keep the same.


The angels who draw nigh unto God attest it.
41 22 83 Verily the righteous shall dwell among delights:



Surely, among delights shall the righteous dwell!
41 23 83 seated on couches they shall behold objects of pleasure;



Seated on bridal couches they will gaze around;
41 24 83 thou shalt see in their faces the brightness of joy.
Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 54, paragraph 75
link		 BWC: faces... that shine with the light of paradise
Thou shalt mark in their faces the brightness of delight;
41 25 83 They shall be given to drink of pure wine, sealed;
83:25-26
Selections from the Writings of the Báb (2 Excerpts from the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá, Chapter XXIV, within pp. 50-51)
link

Choice sealed wine shall be given them to quaff,
41 26 83 the seal whereof shall be musk:h and to this let those aspire, who aspire to happiness: h i.e., The vessels containing the same shall be sealed with musk, instead of clay. Some understand by the seal of this wine its farewell, or the flavour it will leave in the mouth after it is drank. 83:25-26 (cont.)
Selections from the Writings of the Báb (2 Excerpts from the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá, Chapter XXIV, within pp. 50-51)
link

The seal of musk. For this let those pant who pant for bliss–
41 27 83 and the water mixed therewith shall be of Tasnîm,i i Is the name of a fountain in paradise, so called from its being conveyed to the highest apartments.


Mingled therewith shall be the waters of Tasnim–2 2 Derived from the root sanima, to be high: this water being conveyed to the highest apartments in the Pavilions of Paradise.
41 28 83 a fountain whereof those shall drink who approach near unto the divine presence.k k For they shall drink the water of Tasnîm pure and unmixed, being continually and wholly employed in the contemplation of GOD; but the other inhabitants of paradise shall drink it mixed with their wine.3

3 Al Beidâwi.		 The Seven Valleys (Valley of Unity, within pp. 17-29)
link		 MG: A fount whereof the near unto God shall drink....
Fount whereof they who draw nigh to God shall drink.
41 29 83 They who act wickedly laugh the true believers to scorn:



The sinners indeed laugh the faithful to scorn:
41 30 83 and when they pass by them, they wink at one another:



And when they pass by them they wink at one another,–
41 31 83 and when they turn aside to their people, they turn aside making scurrilous jests;



And when they return to their own people, they return jesting,
41 32 83 and when they see them, they say, Verily these are mistaken men.



And when they see them they say, "These are the erring ones."
41 33 83 But they are not sent to be keepers over them.l l i.e., The infidels are not commissioned by GOD to call the believers to account, or to judge of their actions.


And yet they have no mission to be their guardians.
41 34 83 Wherefore one day the true believers, in their turn, shall laugh the infidels to scorn:m m When they shall see them ignominiously driven into hell. It is also said, that a door shall be shown the damned, opening into paradise, and they shall be bidden to go in; but when they come near the door it shall be suddenly shut, and the believers within shall laugh at them.1

1 Idem.


Therefore, on that day the faithful shall laugh the infidels to scorn,
41 35 83 lying on couches they shall look down upon them in hell.



As reclining on bridal couches they behold them.
41 36 83 Shall not the infidels be rewarded for that which they have done?



Shall not the infidels be recompensed according to their works?
33 0 84






33 0 84






33 0 84 CHAPTER LXXXIV.



SURA LXXXIV.–THE SPLITTING ASUNDER [XXXIII.]
33 0 84 ENTITLED, THE RENDING IN SUNDER; REVEALED AT MECCA.n n There are some who take this chapter to have been revealed at Medina.


MECCA.–25 Verses
33 0 84 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
33 1 84 WHEN the heaven shall be rent in sunder,



WHEN the Heaven shall have SPLIT ASUNDER
33 2 84 and shall obey its LORD, and shall be capable thereof;



And duteously obeyed its Lord;1 1 Lit. and obeyed its Lord, and shall be worthy, or capable, i.e., of obedience.
33 3 84 and when the earth shall be stretched out,o o Like a skin; every mountain and hill being levelled.


And when Earth shall have been stretched out as a plain,
33 4 84 and shall cast forth that which is therein,p and shall remain empty, p As the treasures hidden in its bowels, and the dead bodies which lie in their graves.


And shall have cast forth what was in her and become empty,
33 5 84 and shall obey its LORD, and shall be capable thereof:



And duteously obeyed its Lord;
33 6 84 O man, verily laboring thou laborest to meet thy LORD, and thou shalt meet him.q q Or, and thou shalt meet thy labour; whether thy works be good, or whether they be evil


Then verily, O man, who desirest to reach thy Lord, shalt thou meet him.
33 7 84 And he who shall have his book given into his right hand



And he into whose right hand his Book shall be given,
33 8 84 shall be called to an easy account,



Shall be reckoned with in an easy reckoning,
33 9 84 and shall turn unto his familyr with joy: r i.e., His relations or friends who are true believers; or rather, to his wives and servants, of the damsels and youths of paradise, who wait to receive him.2

2 Idem.


And shall turn, rejoicing, to his kindred.
33 10 84 but he who shall have his book given him behind his back,s s That is, into his left hand; for the wicked will have that hand bound behind their back, and their right hand to their neck.


But he whose Book shall be given him behind his back2 2 That is, into his left hand. The Muhammadans believe that the right hand of the damned will be chained to the neck; the left chained behind the back.
33 11 84 shall invoke destruction to fall upon him,



Shall invoke destruction:
33 12 84 and he shall be sent into hell to be burned;



But in the fire shall he burn,
33 13 84 because he rejoiced insolently amidst his family on earth.



For that he lived joyously among his kindred,
33 14 84 Verily he thought he should never return unto God:



Without a thought that he should return to God.
33 15 84 yea verily, but his LORD beheld him.



Yea, but his Lord beheld him.
33 16 84 Wherefore I sweart by the redness of the sky after sunset, t Or, I will not swear. See chapter 56, p. 398, note m.


It needs not therefore that I swear by the sunset redness,
33 17 84 and by the night, and the animals which it driveth together,



And by the night and its gatherings,
33 18 84 and by the moon when she is in the full;



And by the moon when at her full,
33 19 84 ye shall surely be transferred successively from state to state.u u i.e., From the state of the living, to that of the dead; and from the state of the dead, to a new state of life in another world.


That from state to state shall ye be surely carried onward.3 3 From Life to Death, from the Grave to Resurrection, thence to Paradise.
33 20 84 What aileth them, therefore, that they believe not the resurrection;



What then hath come to them that they believe not?
33 21 84 and that, when the Koran is read unto them, they worship not?x x Or, humble not themselves.


And that when the Koran is recited to them they adore not?
33 22 84 Yea: the unbelievers accuse the same of imposture:



Yea, the unbelievers treat it as a lie.
33 23 84 but GOD well knoweth the malice which they keep hidden in their breasts.



But God knoweth their secret hatreds:
33 24 84 Wherefore denounce unto them a grievous punishment,



Let their only tidings4 be those of painful punishment; 4 The expression is ironical. See Freyt. on the word. Lit. tell them glad tidings.
33 25 84 except those who believe and do good works: for them is prepared a never-failing reward.



Save to those who believe and do the things that be right. An unfailing recompense shall be theirs.
28 0 85






28 0 85






28 0 85 CHAPTER LXXXV.



SURA LXXXV.–THE STARRY [XXVIII.]
28 0 85 ENTITLED, THE CELESTIAL SIGNS; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–22 Verses
28 0 85 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
28 1 85 BY the heaven adorned with signs;y y The original word properly signifies towers, which some interpret of real towers,1 wherein it is supposed the angels keep guard;2 and others, of the stars of the first magnitude: but the generality of expositors understand thereby the twelve signs of the zodiac, wherein the planets make their several stations.3

1 Yahya.
2 See cap. 15, p. 191.
3 Jallal., al Beidâwi, Yahya.


BY the star-bespangled Heaven!1 1 Lit. By the Heaven furnished with towers, where the angels keep watch; also, the signs of the Zodiac: this is the usual interpretation. See Sura xv. 15.
28 2 85 by the promised day of judgment;



By the promised Day!
28 3 85 by the witness, and the witnessed;z z The meaning of these words is very uncertain, and the explications of the commentators consequently vary. One thinks the witness to be Mohammed, and that which is borne witness of, to be the resurrection, or the professors of the Mohammedan faith; or else that these latter are the witness, and the professors of every other religion, those who will be witnessed against by them. Another supposes the witness to be the guardian angel, and his charge the person witnessed against. Another expounds the words of the day of Arafat, the 9th of Dhu’lhajja, and of the day of slaying the victims, which is the day following, or else of Friday, the day of the weekly assembling of the Mohammedans at their mosques, and of the people who are assembled on those days, &c.4

4 Idem.


By the witness and the witnessed!2 2 That is, by Muhammad and by Islam; or, angels and men. See, however, v. 7.
28 4 85 cursed were the contrivers of the pit,a a Literally, the lords of the pit. These were the ministers of the persecution raised by Dhu Nowâs, king of Yaman, who was of the Jewish religion, against the inhabitants of Najrân; for they having embraced Christianity (at that time the true religion, by the confession of Mohammed himself), the bigoted tyrant commanded all those who would not renounce their faith to be cast into a pit, or trench, filled with fire, and there burnt to ashes.5 Others, however, tell the story with different circumstances.6

5 Idem. Vide Poc. Spec. p. 62; Ecchellens. Hist. Arab. part i. c. 10; and Prid. Life of Mah. p. 61.
6 Vide D’Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Art. Abou Navas.


Cursed the masters of the trench3 3 Prepared by Dhu Nowas, King of Yemen, A.D. 523, for the Christians. See Gibbon's Decline and Fall, chap. xii. towards the end. Pocock Sp. Hist. Ar. p. 62. And thus the comm. generally. But Geiger (p. 192) and Nöldeke (p. 77 n.) understand the passage of Dan. iii. But it should be borne in mind that the Suras of this early period contain very little allusion to Jewish or Christian legends.
28 5 85 of fire supplied with fuel;



Of the fuel-fed fire,
28 6 85 when they sat around the same,



When they sat around it
28 7 85 and were witnesses of what they did against the true believers:b b Or, as some choose to understand the words, And shall be witnesses against themselves, at the day of judgment, of their unjust treatment of the true believers.


Witnesses of what they inflicted on the believers!
28 8 85 and they afflicted them for no other reason, but because they believed in the mighty, the glorious GOD,



Nor did they torment them but for their faith in God, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy:4 4 Verses 8-11 wear the appearance of a late insertion, on account of their length, which is a characteristic of the more advanced period. Observe also the change in the rhymes.
28 9 85 unto whom belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth: and GOD is witness of all things.



His the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth; and God is the witness of everything.
28 10 85 Verily for those who persecute the true believers of either sex, and afterwards repent not, is prepared the torment of hell; and they shall suffer the pain of burning.c c Which pain, it is said, the persecutors of the Christian martyrs above mentioned felt in this life; the fire bursting forth upon them from the pit, and consuming them.7

7 Al Beidâwi, Yahya.


Verily, those who vexed the believers, men and women, and repented not, doth the torment of Hell, and the torment of the burning, await.
28 11 85 But for those who believe, and do that which is right, are destined gardens beneath which rivers flow: this shall be great felicity.



But for those who shall have believed and done the things that be right, are the Gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow. This the immense bliss!
28 12 85 Verily the vengeance of thy LORD is severe.



Verily, right terrible will be thy Lord's vengeance!
28 13 85 He createth, and he restoreth to life:



He it is who produceth all things, and causeth them to return;
28 14 85 he is inclined to forgive, and gracious;



And is He the Indulgent, the Loving;
28 15 85 the possessor of the glorious throne,



Possessor of the Glorious throne;
28 16 85 who effecteth that which he pleaseth.



Worker of that he willeth.
28 17 85 Hath not the story of the hosts



Hath not the story reached thee of the hosts
28 18 85 of Pharaohd and of Thamude reached thee? d See chapter 7, p. 115, &c.

e See ibid. p. 111, &c.


Of Pharaoh and Themoud?
28 19 85 Yet the unbelievers cease not to accuse the divine revelations of falsehood:



Nay! the infields are all for denial:
28 20 85 but GOD encompasseth them behind, that they cannot escape.



But God surroundeth them from behind.
28 21 85 Verily that which they reject is a glorious Koran;



Yet it is a glorious Koran,
28 22 85 the original whereof is written in a table kept in heaven.f f And preserved from the least change or corruption. See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. III. p. 50, and Sect. IV. p. 58.


Written on the preserved Table.
22 0 86






22 0 86






22 0 86 CHAPTER LXXXVI.



SURA LXXXVI. THE NIGHT-COMER [XXII.]
22 0 86 ENTITLED, THE STAR WHICH APPEARED BY NIGHT; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA. 17 Verses
22 0 86 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
22 1 86 BY the heaven, and that which appeareth by night:



BY the heaven, and by the NIGHT-COMER!
22 2 86 but what shall cause thee to understand what that which appeareth by night is?



But who shall teach thee what the night-comer is?
22 3 86 it is the star of piercing brightness:g g Some take the words to signify any bright star, without restriction; but others think some particular star or stars to be thereby intended; which one supposes to be the morning star (peculiarly called al Târek, or the appearing by nights), another Saturn (that planet being by the Arabs surnamed al Thakeb, or the piercing, as it was by the Greeks, Phoenon, or the shining), and a third, the Pleiades.


'Tis the star of piercing radiance.
22 4 86 every soul hath a guardian set over it.



Over every soul is set a guardian.
22 5 86 Let a man consider, therefore, of what he is created.



Let man then reflect out of what he was created.
22 6 86 He is created of seed poured forth,



He was created of the poured-forth germs,
22 7 86 issuing from the loins, and the breastbones.h h i.e., From the loins of the man, and the breast-bones of the woman.1

1 Al Beidâwi, Yahya


Which issue from the loins and breastbones:
22 8 86 Verily God is able to restore him to life,



Well able then is God to restore him to life,–
22 9 86 the day whereon all secret thoughts and actions shall be examined into;

Shoghi Effendi in The Dawn-Breakers: [the day when] all secrets shall be searched out. The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter XXIV, p. 551
link		 On the day when all secrets shall be searched out,
22 10 86 and he shall have no power to defend himself, nor any protector.



And he shall have no other might or helper.
22 11 86 By the heaven which returneth the rain;i i Or, as some expound it, Which performeth its periodic motion, returning to the point from whence it began the same. The words seem designed to express the alternate returns of the different seasons of the year.


I swear by the heaven which accomplisheth its cycle,
22 12 86 and by the earth which openeth to let forth vegetables and springs:



And by the earth which openeth her bosom,
22 13 86 verily this is a discourse distinguishing good from evil:



That this Koran is a discriminating discourse,
22 14 86 and it is not composed with lightness.



And that it is not frivolous.
22 15 86 Verily the infidels are laying a plot to frustrate my designs:



They plot a plot against thee,
22 16 86 but I will lay a plot for their ruin.



And I will plot a plot against them.
22 17 86 Wherefore, O prophet, bear with the unbelievers: let them alone a while.



Deal calmly therefore with the infidels; leave them awhile alone.
25 0 87






25 0 87






25 0 87 CHAPTER LXXXVII.



SURA LXXXVII.–THE MOST HIGH [XXV.]
25 0 87 ENTITLED, THE MOST HIGH;k REVEALED AT MECCA. k Some take the first word of this chapter, viz., Praise, for its title.


MECCA.–19 Verses
25 0 87 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
25 1 87 PRAISE the name of thy LORD, the most high;



PRAISE the name of thy Lord THE MOST HIGH,
25 2 87 who hath created, and completely formed his creatures:



Who hath created and balanced all things,
25 3 87 and who determineth them to various ends,l and directeth them to attain the same;m l Determining their various species, properties, ways of life, &c.1

1 Al Beidâwi.

m Guiding the rational by their reason and also by revelation, and the irrational by instinct, &c.2

2 Idem.


Who hath fixed their destinies and guideth them,
25 4 87 and who produceth the pasture for cattle,



Who bringeth forth the pasture,
25 5 87 and afterwards rendereth the same dry stubble of a dusky hue.



And reduceth it to dusky stubble.
25 6 87 We will enable thee to rehearse our revelations;n and thou shalt not forget any part thereof, n See chapter 75, p. 431.


We will teach thee to recite the Koran, nor aught shalt thou forget,
25 7 87 except what GOD shall please;o for he knoweth that which is manifest, and that which is hidden. o i.e., Except such revelations as GOD shall think fit to abrogate and blot out of thy memory. See chapter 2, p. 13, and chapter 75, p. 431.


Save what God pleaseth; for he knoweth alike things manifest and hidden;
25 8 87 And we will facilitate unto thee the most easy way.p p To retain the relations communicated to thee by Gabriel; or, as some understand the words, We will dispose thee to the profession and strict observance of the most easy religion, that is, of Islâm.


And we will make easy to thee our easy ways.
25 9 87 Wherefore admonish thy people, if thy admonition shall be profitable unto them.



Warn, therefore, for the warning is profitable:
25 10 87 Whoso feareth God, he will be admonished:



He that feareth God will receive the warning,–
25 11 87 but the most wretched unbeliever will turn away therefrom;



And the most reprobate only will turn aside from it,
25 12 87 who shall be cast to be broiled in the greater fire of hell,



Who shall be exposed to the terrible fire,
25 13 87 wherein he shall not die, neither shall he live.



In which he shall not die, and shall not live.
25 14 87 Now hath he attained felicity, who is purified by faith,



Happy he who is purified by Islam,
25 15 87 and who remembereth the name of his LORD, and prayeth.



And who remembereth the name of his Lord and prayeth.
25 16 87 But ye prefer this present life:



But ye prefer this present life,
25 17 87 yet the life to come is better, and more durable.



Though the life to come is better and more enduring.
25 18 87 Verily this is written in the ancient books,



This truly is in the Books of old,
25 19 87 the books of Abraham and Moses.



The Books of Abraham1 and Moses. 1 Thus the Rabbins attribute the Book Jezirah to Abraham. See Fabr. Cod. Apoc. V. T. p. 349.
38 0 88






38 0 88






38 0 88 CHAPTER LXXXVIII.



SURA LXXXVIII.–THE OVERSHADOWING [XXXVIII.]
38 0 88 ENTITLED, THE OVERWHELMING;q REVEALED AT MECCA. q That is a name, or epithet, of the last day; because it will suddenly overwhelm all creatures with fear and astonishment. It is also a name, or epithet, of hell fire.


MECCA.–26 Verses
38 0 88 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
38 1 88 HATH the news of the overwhelming day of judgment reached thee?



Hath the tidings of the day that shall OVERSHADOW, reached thee?
38 2 88 The countenances of some, on that day, shall be cast down;



Downcast on that day shall be the countenances of some,
38 3 88 labouring and toiling:r r i.e., Dragging their chains, and labouring through hell fire, as camels labour through mud, &c. Or, Employing and fatiguing themselves in what shall not avail them.3

3 Idem.


Travailing and worn,
38 4 88 they shall be cast into scorching fire to be broiled:



Burnt at the scorching fire,
38 5 88 they shall be given to drink of a boiling fountain:



Made to drink from a fountain fiercely boiling.
38 6 88 they shall have no food, but of dry thorns and thistles:s s Such as the camels eat when green and tender. Some take the original word al Darí for the name of a thorny tree.


No food shall they have but the fruit of Darih,1 1 The name of a bitter, thorny shrub.
38 7 88 which shall not fatten, neither shall they satisfy hunger.



Which shall not fatten, nor appease their hunger.
38 8 88 But the countenances of others, on that day, shall be joyful;



Joyous too, on that day, the countenances of others,
38 9 88 well pleased with their past endeavor:



Well pleased with their labours past,
38 10 88 they shall be placed in a lofty garden,



In a lofty garden:
38 11 88 wherein thou shalt hear no vain discourse:



No vain discourse shalt thou hear therein:
38 12 88 therein shall be a running fountain;



Therein shall be a gushing fountain,
38 13 88 therein shall be raised beds,



Therein shall be raised couches,
38 14 88 and goblets placed before them,



And goblets ready placed,
38 15 88 and cushions laid in order,



And cushions laid in order,
38 16 88 and carpets ready spread.



And carpets spread forth.
38 17 88 Do they not consider the camels,t how they are created; t These animals are of such use, or rather necessity, in the east, that the creation of a species so wonderfully adapted to those countries is a very proper instance, to an Arabian, of the power and wisdom of GOD. Some, however, think the clouds (which the original word ibl also signifies) are here intended; the heaven being mentioned immediately after.


Can they not look up to the clouds, how they are created;
38 18 88 and the heaven, how it is raised;



And to the heaven how it is upraised;
38 19 88 and the mountains, how they are fixed;



And to the mountains how they are rooted;
38 20 88 and the earth, how it is extended?



And to the earth how it is outspread?
38 21 88 Wherefore warn thy people; for thou art a warner only:



Warn thou then; for thou art a warner only:
38 22 88 thou art not impowered to act with authority over them.



Thou hast no authority over them:
38 23 88 But whoever shall turn back,u and disbelieve, u Or, Except him who shall turn back, and be an infidel: and GOD shall also punish him &c. By which exception some suppose that power is here given to Mohammed to chastise obstinate infidels and apostates.


But whoever shall turn back and disbelieve,
38 24 88 GOD shall punish him with the greater punishment of the life to come.



God shall punish him with the greater punishment.
38 25 88 Verily unto us shall they return:



Verily to Us shall they return;
38 26 88 then shall it be our part to bring them to account.



Then shall it be Our's to reckon with them.
39 0 89






39 0 89






39 0 89 CHAPTER LXXXIX.



SURA LXXXIX.–THE DAYBREAK [XXXIX.]
39 0 89 ENTITLED, THE DAYBREAK; REVEALED AT MECCA.x x Some are of opinion this chapter was revealed at Medina.


MECCA.–30 Verses
39 0 89 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
39 1 89 BY the daybreak, and ten nights;y y That is, the ten nights of Dhu’lhajja, or the 10th of that month (whence some understand the daybreak mentioned just before, of the morning of that day, or of the preceding); or the nights of the 10th of Moharram; or, as others rather think, the 10th, 11th, and 12th of Dhu’lhajja; all which are days peculiarly sacred among the Mohammedans.


By the DAYBREAK and ten nights.1 1 Of the sacred month Dhu'lhajja.
39 2 89 by that which is double, and that which is single;z z These words are variously interpreted. Some understand thereby all things in general; some, all created beings (which are said to have been created by pairs, or of two kinds),1 and the Creator, who is single; some, of the primum mobile, and the other orbs; some, of the constellations and the planets; some, of the nights before mentioned, taken either together or singly; and some, of the day of slaying the victims (the 10th of Dhu’lhajja), and of the day of Arafat, which is the day before, &c.2

1 See cap. 51, p. 387.
2 Al Zamakh.


By that which is double and that which is single,
39 3 89 and by the night when it cometh on:



By the night when it pursues its course!
39 4 89 is there not in this an oath formed with understanding?



Is there not in this an oath becoming a man of sense?
39 5 89 Hast thou not considered how thy LORD dealt with Ad,



Hast thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with Ad,
39 6 89 the people of Irem,a adorned with lofty buildings,b a Was the name of the territory or city of the Adites, and of the garden mentioned in the next note; which were so called from Irem, or Aram, the grandfather of Ad, their progenitor. Some think Aaron himself to be here meant, and his name to be added to signify the ancient Adites, his immediate descendants, and to distinguish them from the latter tribe of that name:3 but the adjective and relative joined to the word are, in the original, of the feminine gender, which seems to contradict this opinion.

3 Al Beidâwi, Jallalo’ddin.

b Or pillars. Some imagine these words are used to express the great size and strength of the old Adites;4 and then they should be translated, who were of enormous stature. But the more exact commentators take the passage to relate to the sumptuous palace and delightful gardens built and made by Sheddâd the son of Ad. For they say Ad left two sons, Sheddâd and Sheddîd, who reigned jointly after his decease, and extended their power over the greater part of the world; but Sheddîd dying, his brother became sole monarch; who, having heard of the celestial paradise, made a garden in imitation thereof, in the deserts of Aden, and called it Irem, after the name of his great-grandfather: when it was finished he set out, with a great attendance, to take a view of it; but when they were come within a day’s journey of the place, they were all destroyed by a terrible noise from heaven. Al Beidâwi adds that one Abdallah Ebn Kelâbah (whom, after D’Herbelot, I have elsewhere named Colabah)5 accidentally hit on this wonderful place, as he was seeking a camel.

4 Idem. See the Prelim. Disc. p. 5.
5 Prelim. Disc. p. 5.


At Irem adorned with pillars,
39 7 89 the like whereof hath not been erected in the land;c c If we suppose the preceding words to relate to the vast stature of the Adites, these must be translated, The like of whom hath not been created, &c.


Whose like have not been reared in these lands!
39 8 89 and with Thamud, who hewed the rocks in the valleyd into houses; d The learned Greaves, in his translation of Abulfeda’s description of Arabia,6 has falsely rendered these words, which are there quoted, Quibus petroe vallis responsum dederunt, i.e., To whom the rocks of the valley returned answer: which slip being made by so great a man, I do not at all wonder that La Roque, and Petis de la Croix, from whose Latin version, and with whose assistance, La Roque made his French translation of the aforesaid treatise, have been led into the same mistake, and rendered those words, A qui les pierres de la valée rendirent réponse.1 The valley here meant, say the commentators,2 is Wâdi’lkora, lying about one day’s journey3 (not five and upwards, as Abulfeda will have it) from al Hejr.

6 p. 43. It was published by Dr. Hudson, in the third vol. of the Geograhphiæ Veteris Scriptor. Gr. minor.
1 Descr. de l’Arabie, mise à la suite du Voyage de la Palestine, par La Roque, p. 35.
2 Jallalo’ddin, al Beidâwi.
3 Ebn Hawkal, apud Abulf. ubi sup. Geogr. Nub. p. 110.


And with Themoud who hewed out the rocks in the valley;
39 9 89 and with Pharaoh, the contriver of the stakes:e e See chapter 38, p. 340. Summons of the Lord of Hosts (Lawh-i-Fu’ád)
link

The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 53
link		 BWC: Pharaoh, the Lord of the Stakes

MG: (note 30 states: Dhu'l-Awtád is variously rendered by translators of the Qur'án as The Impaler, The Contriver of the Stakes, The Lord of a Strong Dominion, The One Surrounded by Ministers, etc. Awtád means pegs or tent stakes.)
And with Pharaoh the impaler;
39 10 89 who had behaved insolently in the earth,



Who all committed excesses in the lands,
39 11 89 and multiplied corruption therein?



And multiplied wickedness therein.
39 12 89 Wherefore thy LORD poured on them various kindsf of chastisement: f The original word signifies a mixture, and also a scourge of platted thongs: whence some suppose the chastisement of this life is here represented by scourge, and intimated to be as much lighter than that of the next life, as scourging is lighter than death.4

4 Al Beidâwi.


Wherefore thy Lord let loose on them the scourge of chastisement,2 2 Or, poured on them the mixed cup of chastisement.
39 13 89 for thy LORD is surely in a watch-tower, whence he observeth the actions of men.



For thy Lord standeth on a watch tower.
39 14 89 Moreover man, when his LORD trieth him by prosperity, and honoureth him, and is bounteous unto him,



As to man, when his Lord trieth him and honoureth him and is bounteous to him,
39 15 89 saith, My LORD honoureth me;



Then saith he, "My Lord honoureth me:"
39 16 89 but when he proveth him by afflictions, and withholdeth his provisions from him,



But when he proveth him and limiteth his gifts to him,
39 17 89 he saith, My LORD despiseth me.



He saith, "My Lord despiseth me."
39 18 89 By no means:g but ye honour not the orphan, g For worldly prosperity or adversity is not a certain mark either of the favour or disfavour of GOD.


Aye. But ye honour not the orphan,
39 19 89 neither do ye excite one another to feed the poor;



Nor urge ye one another to feed the poor,
39 20 89 and ye devour the inheritance of the weak,h with undistinguishing greediness, h Not suffering women or young children to have any share in the inheritance of their husbands or parents. See chapter 4, p. 54.


And ye devour heritages, devouring greedily,
39 21 89 and ye love riches with much affection.



And ye love riches with exceeding love.
39 22 89 By no means should ye do thus. When the earth shall be minutely ground to dust;



Aye. But when the earth shall be crushed with crushing, crushing,
39 23 89 and thy LORD shall come, and the angels rank by rank;



And thy Lord shall come and the angels rank on rank,
39 24 89 and hell, on that day, shall be brought nigh:i on that day shall man call to remembrance his evil deeds; but how shall remembrance avail him? i There is a tradition that at the last day hell will be dragged towards the tribunal by 70,000 halters, each halter being hauled by 70,000 angels, and that it will come with great roaring and fury.5

5 Idem, Jallalo’ddin.


And Hell on that day shall be moved up,3–Man shall on that day remember himself. But how shall remembrance help him? 3 The orthodox Muhammadans take this passage literally. Djelal says that hell will "be dragged up by 70,000 chains, each pulled by 70,000 angels," as if it were an enormous animal or locomotive engine.
39 25 89 He shall say, Would to GOD that I had heretofore done good works in my lifetime!k On that day none shall punish with his punishment; k Or, for this my latter life.


He shall say, Oh! would that I had prepared for this my life! On that day none shall punish as God punisheth,
39 26 89 nor shall any bind with his bonds.l l i.e., None shall be able to punish or to bind, as GOD shall then punish and bind the wicked.6

6 Idem.


And none shall bind with such bonds as He.
39 27 89 O thou soul which art at rest,m m Some expound this of the soul, which, having, by pursuing the concatenation of natural causes, raised itself to the knowledge of that Being which produced them, and exists of necessity, rests fully contented, or acquiesces in the knowledge of him, and the contemplation of his perfections. By this the reader will observe that the Mohammedans are no strangers to Quietism. Others, however, understand the words of the soul, which, having attained the knowledge of the truth, rests satisfied, and relies securely thereon, undisturbed by doubts; or of the soul which is secure of its salvation, and free from fear or sorrow.7

7 Al Beidâwi		 89:27-28
The Four Valleys (First Valley, part one of quote and part two)
link

89:27-30
Memorials of the Faithful (within pp. 73-75, Muhammad Haná-Sab)
link

89:27-30
Memorials of the Faithful (Áqá Ibráhím-i-Isfahani and His Brothers, within pp. 77-81)
link

89:27-28
Memorials of the Faithful (within pp. 120-122 Jamshíd-i-Gurji)
link		 MG: O thou soul who art well assured,

MG: at rest

MG: O thou soul who art well-assured,

MG: O thou soul who art well-assured,
Oh, thou soul which art at rest,
39 28 89 return unto thy LORD, well pleased with thy reward, and well pleasing unto God:
89:27-28 (cont.)
The Four Valleys (First Valley, part one of quote and part two)
link

89:27-30 (cont.)
Memorials of the Faithful (within pp. 73-75, Muhammad Haná-Sab)
link

89:27-30 (cont.)
Memorials of the Faithful (Áqá Ibráhím-i-Isfahani and His Brothers, within pp. 77-81)
link

89:27-28 (cont.)
Memorials of the Faithful (within pp. 120-122 Jamshíd-i-Gurji)
link		 MG: Return to thy Lord, well-pleased, and pleasing unto Him.

MG: well-pleased with his Lord, and well-pleasing unto Him.

MG: return unto thy Lord, well-pleased, and well-pleasing unto Him.

MG: return unto thy Lord, well-pleased with Him, and well-pleasing unto Him.
Return to thy Lord, pleased, and pleasing him:
39 29 89 enter among my servants;
89:29-30 (cont.)
The Four Valleys (First Valley, part one of quote and part two)
link

89:27-30 (cont.)
Memorials of the Faithful (Áqá Ibráhím-i-Isfahani and His Brothers, within pp. 77-81)
link		 MG: Enter thou among My servants,

MG: Enter thou among My servants;
Enter thou among my servants,
39 30 89 and enter my paradise.
89:29-30 (cont.)
The Four Valleys (First Valley, part one of quote and part two)
link

89:27-30 (cont.)
Memorials of the Faithful (Áqá Ibráhím-i-Isfahani and His Brothers, within pp. 77-81)
link		 MG: And enter thou My paradise.

MG: enter Thou My Paradise.
And enter thou my Paradise.
18 0 90






18 0 90






18 0 90 CHAPTER XC.



SURA XC.–THE SOIL [XVIII.]
18 0 90 ENTITLED, THE TERRITORY; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–20 Verses
18 0 90 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
18 1 90 I SWEARn by this territory,o n Or, I will not swear, &c. See chapter 56, p. 398, note m.

o viz., The sacred territory of Mecca.


I NEED not to swear by this SOIL,
18 2 90 (and thou, O prophet, residest in this territory,)p p Or, Thou shalt be allowed to do what thou pleasest in this territory; the words, in this sense, importing a promise of that absolute power which Mohammed attained on the taking of Mecca.1

1 Idem.


This soil on which thou dost dwell,
18 3 90 and by the begetter, and that which he hath begotten;q q Some understand these words generally; others of Adam or Abraham, and of their offspring, and of Mohammed in particular.2

2 Idem.


Or by sire and offspring!1 1 Lit. and begetter and what he hath begotten
18 4 90 verily we have created man in misery.r r Or, to trouble. This passage was revealed to comfort the prophet under the persecutions of the Koreish.3

3 Idem.


Surely in trouble have we created man.
18 5 90 Doth he think that none shall prevail over him?s s Some expositors take a particular person to be here intended, who was one of Mohammed’s most inveterate adversaries; as al Walid Ebn al Mogheira;4 others suppose Abu’l Ashadd Ebn Calda to be the man, who was so very strong, that a large skin being spread under his feet, and ten men pulling at it, they could not make him fall, though they tore the skin to pieces.5

4 Al Zamakh.
5 Al Beidâwi.


What! thinketh he that no one hath power over him?
18 6 90 He saith, I have wasted plenty of riches.t t In a vain and ostentatious manner, or in opposing of Mohammed.6

6 Idem.


"I have wasted," saith he, "enormous riches!"
18 7 90 Doth he think that none seeth him?



What! thinketh he that no one regardeth him?
18 8 90 Have we not made him two eyes,



What! have we not made him eyes,
18 9 90 and a tongue, and two lips;



And tongue, and lips,
18 10 90 and shown him the two highways of good and evil?



And guided him to the two highways?2 2 Of good and evil.
18 11 90 Yet he attempteth not the cliff.



Yet he attempted not the steep.
18 12 90 What shall make thee to understand what the cliff is?



And who shall teach thee what the steep is?
18 13 90 It is to free the captive;



It is to ransom the captive,3 3 Thus we read in Hilchoth Matt'noth Aniim, c. 8, "The ransoming of captives takes precedence of the feeding and clothing of the poor, and there is no commandment so great as this."
18 14 90 or to feed, in the day of famine,



Or to feed in the day of famine,
18 15 90 the orphan who is of kin, or the poor man who lieth on the ground.



The orphan who is near of kin, or the poor that lieth in the dust;
18 16 90 Whoso doth this, and is one of those who believe, and recommend perseverance unto each other, and recommend mercy unto each other;



Beside this, to be of those who believe, and enjoin stedfastness on each other, and enjoin compassion on each other.
18 17 90 these shall be the companions of the right hand.u u See chapter 56, p. 396.


These shall be the people of the right hand:
18 18 90 But they who shall disbelieve our signs



While they who disbelieve our signs,
18 19 90 shall be the companions of the left hand:x x See ibid.


Shall be the people of the left.
18 20 90 above them shall be arched fire.



Around them the fire shall close.
23 0 91






23 0 91






23 0 91 CHAPTER XCI.



SURA XCI.–THE SUN [XXIII.]
23 0 91 ENTITLED, THE SUN; REVEALED AT MECCA.
Dawn of a New Day, pp. 79-80
link

MECCA.–15 Verses
23 0 91 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
23 1 91 BY the Sun, and its rising brightness;



BY the SUN and his noonday brightness!
23 2 91 by the moon when she followeth him;y y i.e., When she rises just after him, as she does at the beginning of the month; or when she gets after him, as happens when she is a little past the full.7

7 Idem.


By the Moon when she followeth him!
23 3 91 by the day, when it showeth its splendor;



By the Day when it revealeth his glory!
23 4 91 by the night, when it covereth him with darkness;



By the Night when it enshroudeth him!
23 5 91 by the heaven, and him who built it;



By the Heaven and Him who built it!
23 6 91 by the earth, and him who spread it forth;



By the Earth and Him who spread it forth!
23 7 91 by the soul, and him who completely formed it,



By a Soul and Him who balanced it,
23 8 91 and inspired into the same its faculty of distinguishing, and power of choosing, wickedness and piety:



And breathed into it its wickedness and its piety,
23 9 91 now is he who hath purified the same, happy;



Blessed now is he who hath kept it pure,
23 10 91 but he who hath corrupted the same, is miserable.



And undone is he who hath corrupted it!
23 11 91 Thamud accused their prophet Saleh of imposture, through the excess of their wickedness:



Themoud1 in his impiety rejected the message of the Lord, 1 See Sura vii. 33, for the story of Themoud.
23 12 91 when the wretchz among them was sent to slay the camel; z viz., Kedâr Ebn Sâlef. See chapter 7, p. 112, and chapter 54, p. 393.


When the greatest wretch among them rushed up:–
23 13 91 and the apostle of GOD said unto them, Let alone the camel of GOD; and hinder not her drinking.



Said the Apostle of God to them,–"The Camel of God! let her drink."
23 14 91 But they charged him with imposture; and they slew her. Wherefore their LORD destroyed them, for their crime, and made their punishment equal unto them all:



But they treated him as an impostor and hamstrung her. So their Lord destroyed them for their crime, and visited all alike:
23 15 91 and he feareth not the issue thereof.



Nor feared he the issue.
16 0 92






16 0 92






16 0 92 CHAPTER XCII.



SURA XCII.–THE NIGHT [XVI.]
16 0 92 ENTITLED, THE NIGHT; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–21 Verses
16 0 92 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
16 1 92 BY the night, when it covereth all things with darkness;



BY the NIGHT when she spreads her veil;
16 2 92 by the day, when it shineth forth;



By the Day when it brightly shineth;
16 3 92 by his who hath created the male, and the female:



By Him who made male and female;
16 4 92 verily your endeavor is different.



At different ends truly do ye aim!1 1 See Pref., p. 5, line I.
16 5 92 Now whoso is obedient, and feareth God,



But as to him who giveth alms and feareth God,
16 6 92 and professeth the truth of that faith which is most excellent;



And yieldeth assent to the Good;
16 7 92 unto him will we facilitate the way to happiness:



To him will we make easy the path to happiness.
16 8 92 but whoso shall be covetous, and shall be wholly taken up with this world,



But as to him who is covetous and bent on riches,
16 9 92 and shall deny the truth of that which is most excellent;



And calleth the Good a lie,
16 10 92 unto him will we facilitate the way to misery;



To him will we make easy the path to misery:
16 11 92 and his riches shall not profit him, when he shall fall headlong into hell.



And what shall his wealth avail him when he goeth down?
16 12 92 Verily unto us appertaineth the direction of mankind:



Truly man’s guidance is with Us
16 13 92 and ours is the life to come, and the present life.



And Our’s, the Future and the Past.
16 14 92 Wherefore I threaten you with fire which burneth fiercely,



I warn you therefore of the flaming fire;
16 15 92 which none shall enter to be burned except the most wretched;



None shall be cast to it but the most wretched,–
16 16 92 who shall have disbelieved, and turned back.



Who hath called the truth a lie and turned his back.
16 17 92 But he who strictly bewareth idolatry and rebellion shall be removed far from the same;



But the God-fearing shall escape it,–
16 18 92 who giveth his substance in alms,



Who giveth away his substance that he may become pure;2 2 Comp. Luke xi. 41. Muhammad perhaps derived this view of the meritorious anture of almsgiving from the Jewish oral law.
16 19 92 and by whom no benefit is bestowed on any, that it may be recompensed,



And who offereth not favours to any one for the sake of recompense,
16 20 92 but who bestoweth the same for the sake of his LORD, the most High,a a Jallalo’ddin thinks this whole description belongs peculiarly to Abu Becr: for when he had purchased Belâl, the Ethiopian (afterwards the prophet’s Muedhdhin, or crier to prayers), who purchased Belâl, the Ethiopian (afterwards the prophet’s Muedhdhin, or crier to prayers), who had been put to the rack on account of his faith, the infidels said he did it only out of a view of interest; upon which this passage was revealed.


But only as seeking the face of his Lord the Most High.
16 21 92 and hereafter he shall be well satisfied with his reward.



And surely in the end he shall be well content.
4 0 93






4 0 93






4 0 93 CHAPTER XCIII.



SURA XCIII.1–THE BRIGHTNESS [IV.] 1 This and the six following Suras are expressions of a state of deep mental anxiety and depression, in which Muhammad seeks to reassure himself by calling to mind the past favours of God, and by fixing his mind steadfastly on the Divine Unity. They belong to a period either before the public commencement of his ministry or when his success was very dubious, and his future career by no means clearly marked out.
4 0 93 ENTITLED, THE BRIGHTNESS; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–11 Verses
4 0 93 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
4 1 93 BY the brightness of the morning;b b The original word properly signifies the bright part of the day, when the sun shines full out, three or four hours after it is risen.


BY the noon-day BRIGHTNESS,
4 2 93 and by the night, when it groweth dark:



And by the night when it darkeneth!
4 3 93 thy LORD hath not forsaken thee, neither doth he hate thee.c c It is related that no revelation having been vouchsafed to Mohammed for several days, in answer to some questions put to him by the Koreish, because he had confidently promised to resolve them the next day, without adding the exception, if it please GOD,1 or because he had repulsed an importunate beggar, or else because a dead puppy lay under his seat, or for some other reason; his enemies said that GOD had left him: whereupon this chapter was sent down for his consolation.2

1 See cap. 18, p. 219
2 Al Beidâwi, Jallalo’ddin.


Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither hath he been displeased.
4 4 93 Verily the life to come shall be better for thee than this present life:



And surely the Future shall be better for thee than the Past,
4 5 93 and thy LORD shall give thee a reward wherewith thou shalt be well pleased.



And in the end shall thy Lord be bounteous to thee and thou be satisfied.
4 6 93 Did he not find thee an orphan, and hath he not taken care of thee?



Did he not find thee an orphan2 and gave thee a home? 2 The charge of the orphaned Muhammad was undertaken by Abd-al-Mutalib, his grandfather, A.D. 576. Hishami, p. 35; Kitab al Wakidi, p. 22, have preserved traditions of the fondness with which the old man of fourscore years treated the child, spreading a rug for him under the shadow of the Kaaba, protecting him from the rudeness of his own sons, etc.
4 7 93 And did he not find thee wandering in error, and hath he not guided thee into the truth?



And found thee erring and guided thee,3 3 Up to his 40th year Muhammad followed the religion of his countrymen. Waq. Tabari says that when he first entered on his office of Prophet, even his wife Chadijah had read the Scriptures, and was acquainted with the History of the Prophets. Spreng. p. 100. But his conformity can only have been partial.
4 8 93 And did he not find thee needy, and hath he not enriched thee?



And found thee needy and enriched thee.
4 9 93 Wherefore oppress not the orphan:



As to the orphan therefore wrong him not;
4 10 93 neither repulse the beggar:



And as to him that asketh of thee, chide him not away;
4 11 93 but declare the goodness of thy LORD.



And as for the favours of thy Lord tell them abroad.
5 0 94






5 0 94






5 0 94 CHAPTER XCIV.



SURA XCIV.–THE OPENING [V.]
5 0 94 ENTITLED, HAVE WE NOT OPENED; REVEALED AT MECCA



MECCA.–8 Verses
5 0 94 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
5 1 94 HAVE we not opened thy breast;d d By disposing and enlarging it to receive the truth, and wisdom, and prophecy; or, by freeing thee from uneasiness and ignorance? This passage is thought to intimate the opening of Mohammed’s heart, in his infancy, or when he took his journey to heaven, by the angel Gabriel; who having wrung out the black drop, or seed of original sin, washed and cleansed the same, and filled it with wisdom and faith:3 but some think it relates to the occasion of the preceding chapter.4

3 Al Beidâwi, Yahya. Vide Abulf. Vit. Moh. p. 8 and 33; Prid, Life of Mohamet, p. 105, &c.
4 Al Beidâwi.


HAVE we not OPENED thine heart for thee?
5 2 94 and eased thee of thy burden,e e i.e., Of thy sins committed before thy mission; or of thy ignorance, or trouble of mind.


And taken off from thee thy burden,
5 3 94 which galled thy back;



Which galled thy back?
5 4 94 and raise thy reputation for thee?



And have we not raised thy name for thee?
5 5 94 Verily a difficulty shall be attended with ease.
Selections from the Writings of the Báb (2 Excerpts from the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá, Chapter XIII, within pp. 47-48)
link		 cf. BWC: every hardship shall be followed by ease
Then verily along with trouble cometh ease.
5 6 94 Verily a difficulty shall be attended with ease.



Verily along with trouble cometh ease.
5 7 94 When thou shalt have ended thy preaching; labor to serve God in return for his favours;f f Or When thou shalt have finished thy prayer, labour in preaching the faith.5

5 Idem.


But when thou art set at liberty, then prosecute thy toil.
5 8 94 and make thy supplication unto thy LORD.



And seek thy Lord with fervour.
26 0 95






26 0 95






26 0 95 CHAPTER XCV.



SURA XCV.–THE FIG [XXVI.]
26 0 95 ENTITLED, THE FIG; WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED.



MECCA.–8 Verses
26 0 95 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
26 1 95 BY the fig, and the olive;g g GOD, say the commentators swears by these two fruits, because of their great uses and virtues: for the fig is wholesome and of easy digestion, and physically good to carry off phlegm, and gravel in the kidneys or bladder, and to remove obstructions of the liver and spleen, and also cures the piles and the gout, &c.; the olive produces oil, which is not only excellent to eat, but otherwise useful for the compounding of ointments;1 the wood of the olive-tree, moreover, is good for cleansing the teeth, preventing their growing rotten, and giving a good odour to the mouth, for which reason the prophets, and Mohammed in particular, made use of no other for toothpicks.2
Some, however, suppose that these words do not mean the fruits or trees above mentioned, but two mountains in the holy land, where they grow in plenty; or else the temple of Damascus and that at Jerusalem.3

1 Idem, al Zamakh.
2 Al Zamakh.
3 Idem, Yahya, al Beidâwi, Jallal.


I SWEAR by the FIG and by the olive,
26 2 95 and by mount Sinai,



By Mount Sinai,
26 3 95 and this territory of security;h h viz., The territory of Mecca.4 These words seem to argue the chapter to have been revealed there.

4 See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV.


And by this inviolate soil!1 1 In allusion to the sacredness of the territory of Mecca. This valley in about the fourth century of our ‘ra was a kind of sacred forest of 37 miles in circumference, and called Haram a name applied to it as early as the time of Pliny (vi. 32). It had the privilege of asylum, but it was not lawful to inhabit it, or to carry on commerce within its limits, and its religious ceremonies were a bond of union to several of the Bedouin tribes of the Hejaz. The Koreisch had monopolised most of the offices and advantages of the Haram in the time of Muhammad. See Sprenger's Life of Mohammad, pp. 7 20.
26 4 95 verily we created man of a most excellent fabric;
The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 19
link

A Traveler’s Narrative, p. 33
link		 MG: Verily, We created man in the goodliest of forms
That of goodliest fabric we created man,
26 5 95 afterwards we rendered him the vilest of the vile:i i i.e., As the commentators generally expound this passage, We created man of comely proportion of body, and great perfection of mind; and yet we have doomed him, in case of disobedience, to be an inhabitant of hell. Some, however, understand the words of the vigorous constitution of man in the prime and strength of his age, and of his miserable decay when he becomes old and decrepit: but they seem rather to intimate the perfect state of happiness wherein man was originally created, and his fall from thence, in consequence of Adam’s disobedience, to a state of misery in this world, and becoming liable to one infinitely more miserable in the next.5

5 Vide Marracc. in loc. p. 809.


Then brought him down to be the lowest of the low;–
26 6 95 except those who believe, and work righteousness; for they shall receive an endless reward.



Save who believe and do the things that are right, for theirs shall be a reward that faileth not.
26 7 95 What, therefore, shall cause thee to deny the day of judgment after this?k k Some suppose these words directed to Mohammed, and others to man in general, by way of apostrophe.


Then, who after this shall make thee treat the Judgment as a lie?
26 8 95 Is not GOD the most wise judge?



What! is not God the most just of judges?
1 0 96






1 0 96






1 0 96 CHAPTER XCVI.



SURA1 XCVI.–THICK BLOOD, OR CLOTS OF BLOOD [I.] 1 The word Sura occurs nine times in the Koran, viz. Sur. ix. 65, 87, 125, 128; xxiv. 1; xlvii. 22 (twice); ii. 21; x. 39; but it is not easy to determine whether it means a whole chapter, or part only of a chapter, or is used in the sense of "revelation." See Weil's Mohammed der Prophet, pp. 361-363. It is understood by the Muhammadan commentators to have a primary reference to the succession of subjects or parts, like the rows of bricks in a wall. The titles of the Suras are generally taken from some word occurring in each, which is printed in large type throughout, where practicable.
1 0 96 ENTITLED, CONGEALED BLOOD; REVEALED AT MECCA.l l The first five verses of this chapter, ending with the words, Who taught man that which he knew not, are generally allowed to be the first passage of the Korân which was revealed, though some give this honour to the seventy-four chapter, and others to the first, the next, they say, being the sixty-eighth.


MECCA.–19 Verses
1 0 96 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful2 2 This formula–Bismillahi 'rrahmani 'rrahim–is of Jewish origin. It was in the first instance taught to the Koreisch by Omayah of Taief, the poet, who was a contemporary with, but somewhat older than, Muhammad; and who, during his mercantile journeys into Arabia Petr‘a and Syria, had made himself acquainted with the sacred books and doctrines of Jews and Christians. (Kitab al-Aghâni, 16. Delhi.) Muhammad adopted and constantly used it, and it is prefixed to each Sura except the ninth. The former of the two epithets implies that the mercy of God is exercised as occasions arise, towards all his creatures; the latter that the quality of mercy is inherent in God and permanent, so that there is only a shade of difference between the two words. Maracci well renders, In Nomine Dei Miseratoris, Misericordis. The rendering I have adopted is that of Mr. Lane in his extracts from the Koran. See also Freytag's Lex. ii. p. 133. Perhaps, In the name of Allah, the God of Mercy, the Merciful, would more fully express the original Arabic. The first five verses of this Sura are, in the opinion of nearly all commentators, ancient and modern, the earliest revelations made to Muhammad, in the 40th year of his life, and the starting point of El-Islam. (See the authorities quoted in detail in Nöldeke's Geschichte des Qorâns, p. 62, n.)
1 1 96 READ, in the name of thy LORD, who hath created all things;



RECITE3 thou, in the name of thy Lord who created;– 3 The usual rendering is read. But the word qaraa, which is the root of the word Koran, analogous to the Rabbinic mikra, rather means to address, recite; and with regard to its etymology and use in the kindred dialects to call, cry aloud, proclaim. Compare Isai. lviii. 1; 1 Kings xviii. 37; and Gesen. Thesaur. on the Hebrew root. I understand this passage to mean, "Preach to thy fellow men what thou believest to be true of thy Lord who has created man from the meanest materials, and can in like manner prosper the truth which thou proclaimest. He has taught man the art of writing (recently introduced at Mecca) and in this thou wilt find a powerful help for propagating the knowledge of the divine Unity." The speaker in this, as in all the Suras, is Gabriel, of whom Muhammad had, as he believed, a vision on the mountain Hirâ, near Mecca. See note 1 on the next page. The details of the vision are quite unhistorical.
1 2 96 who hath created man of congealed blood.m m All men being created of thick or concreted blood,6 except only Adam, Eve, and Jesus.7

6 See cap. 22, p. 250.
7 Yahya.


Created man from CLOTS OF BLOOD:–
1 3 96 Read, by thy most beneficent LORD;n n These words, containing a repetition of the command, are supposed to be a reply to Mohammed, who, in answer to the former words spoken by the angel, had declared that he could not read, being perfectly illiterate; and intimate a promise that GOD, who had inspired man with the art of writing, would graciously remedy this defect in him.8

8 Al Beidâwi.


Recite thou! For thy Lord is the most Beneficent,
1 4 96 who taught the use of the pen;



Who hath taught the use of the pen;–
1 5 96 who teacheth man that which he knoweth not.



Hath taught Man that which he knoweth not.
1 6 96 Assuredly. Verily man becometh insolent,



Nay, verily,4 Man is insolent, 4 This, and the following verses, may have been added at a later period, though previous to the Flight, and with special reference, if we are to believe the commentators Beidhawi, etc., to the opposition which Muhammad experienced at the hands of his opponent, Abu Jahl, who had threatened to set his foot on the Prophet's neck when prostrate in prayer. But the whole passage admits of application to mankind in general.
1 7 96 because he seeth himself abound in riches.o o The commentators agree the remaining part of the chapter to have been revealed against Abu Jahl, Mohammed’s great adversary.


Because he seeth himself possessed of riches.
1 8 96 Verily unto thy LORD shall be the return of all.



Verily, to thy Lord is the return of all.
1 9 96 What thinkest thou as to him who forbiddeth



What thinkest thou of him that holdeth back
1 10 96 our servant, when he prayeth?p p For Abu Jahl threatened that if he caught Mohammed in the act of adoration, he would set his foot on his neck; but when he came and saw him in that posture, he suddenly turned back as in a fright, and, being asked what was the matter, said there was a ditch of fire between himself and Mohammed, and a terrible appearance of troops, to defend him.9

9 Idem.


A servant5 of God when he prayeth? 5 That is Muhammad. Nöldeke, however, proposes to render "a slave." And it is certain that the doctrines of Islam were in the first instance embraced by slaves, many of whom had been carried away from Christian homes, or born of Christian parents at Mecca. "Men of this description," says Dr. Sprenger (Life of Mohammad. Allahabad. p. 159), "no doubt prepared the way for the Islam by inculcating purer notions respecting God upon their masters and their brethren. These men saw in Mohammad their liberator; and being superstitious enough to consider his fits as the consequence of an inspiration, they were among the first who acknowledged him as a prophet. Many of them suffered torture for their faith in him, and two of them died as martyrs. The excitement among the slaves when Mohammad first assumed his office was so great, that Abd Allah bin Jod'an, who had one hundred of these sufferers, found it necessary to remove them from Makkah, lest they should all turn converts." See Sura xvi. 105, 111; ii. 220.
1 11 96 What thinkest thou; if he follow the right direction;



What thinkest thou?6 Hath he followed the true Guidance, 6 Lit. hast thou seen if he be upon the guidance.
1 12 96 or command piety?



or enjoined Piety?
1 13 96 What thinkest thou; if he accuse the divine revelations of falsehood, and turn his back?



What thinkest thou? Hath he treated the truth as a lie and turned his back?
1 14 96 Doth he not know that GOD seeth?



What! doth he not know how that God seeth?
1 15 96 Assuredly. Verily, if he forbear not, we will drag him by the forelock,q q See chapter 11, p. 164, note o.


Nay, verily, if he desist not, We shall seize him by the forelock,
1 16 96 the lying, sinful forelock.



The lying sinful forelock!
1 17 96 And let him call his councilr to his assistance: r i.e., The council or assembly of the principal Meccans, the far greater part of whom adhered to Abu Jahl.


Then let him summon his associates;7 7 The principal men of the Koreisch who adhered to Abu Jahl.
1 18 96 we also will call the infernal guards to cast him into hell.



We too will summon the guards of Hell:
1 19 96 Assuredly. Obey him not: but continue to adore God; and draw nigh unto him.



Nay! obey him not; but adore, and draw nigh to God.8 8 During a period variously estimated from six months to three years from the revelation of this Sura, or of its earliest verses, the prophetic inspiration and the revelation of fresh Suras is said to have been suspended. This interval is called the Fatrah or intermission; and the Meccan Suras delivered at its close show that at or during this period Muhammad had gained an increasing and more intimate acquaintance with the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. "The accounts, however," says Mr. Muir (vol. ii. 86) "are throughout confused, if not contradictory; and we can only gather with certainty that there was a time during which his mind hung in suspense, and doubted the divine mission." The idea of any supernatural influence is of course to be entirely excluded; although there is no doubt that Muhammad himself had a full belief in the personality and influence of Satans and Djinn. Profound meditation, the struggles of an earnest mind anxious to attain to truth, the morbid excitability of an epileptic subject, visions seen in epileptic swoons, disgust at Meccan idolatry, and a desire to teach his countrymen the divine Unity will sufficiently account for the period of indecision termed the Fatrah, and for the determination which led Muhammad, in all sincerity, but still self-deceived, to take upon himself the office and work of a Messenger from God. We may perhaps infer from such passages as Sura ii. 123, what had ever been the leading idea in Muhammad's mind.
21 0 97






21 0 97






21 0 97 CHAPTER XCVII.



SURA XCVII.–POWER [XXI.]
21 0 97 ENTITLED, AL KADR; WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED.


97:all
The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter VI, p. 126
link
link		 MECCA.–5 Verses
21 0 97 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
21 1 97 VERILY we sent down the Koran in the night of al Kadr.s s The word al Kadr signifies power and honor or dignity, and also the divine decree; and the night is so named either from its excellence above all other nights in the year, or because, as the Mohammedans believe, the divine decrees for the ensuing year are annually on this night fixed and settled, or taken from the preserved table by GOD’S throne, and given to the angels to be executed.1 On this night Mohammed received his first revelations; when the Korân, say the commentators, was sent down from the aforesaid table, entire and in one volume, to the lowest heaven, from whence Gabriel revealed it to Mohammed by parcels, as occasion required.
The Moslem doctors are not agreed where to fix the night of al Kadr; the greater part are of opinion that it is one of the ten last nights of Ramadân, and, as is commonly believed, the seventh of those nights, reckoning backward; by which means it will fall between the 23rd and 24th days of that month.2

1 See cap. 44, p. 367.
2 Al Zamakh., al Beidâwi, Jallalo’ddin.


VERILY, we have caused It1 to descend on the night of POWER. 1 The Koran, which is now pressed on the Meccans with increased prominence, as will be seen in many succeeding Suras of this period.
21 2 97 And what shall make thee understand how excellent the night of al Kadr is?



And who shall teach thee what the night of power is?
21 3 97 The night of al Kadr is better than a thousand months.

Shoghi Effendi in The Dawn-Breakers: excelleth a thousand months The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter VI, p. 126
link
link		 The night of power excelleth a thousand months:
21 4 97 Therein do the angels descend, and the spirit of Gabriel also, by the permission of their LORD, with his decrees concerning every matter.t t See the preceding note, and chapter 44, p. 367.


Therein descend the angels and the spirit by permission of their Lord for every matter;2 2 The night of Al Kadr is one of the last ten nights of Ramadhan, and as is commonly believed the seventh of those nights reckoning backward. See Sura xliv. 2. "Three books are opened on the New Year's Day, one of the perfectly righteous, one of the perfectly wicked, one of the intermediate. The perfectly righteous are inscribed and sealed for life," etc. Bab. Talm. Rosh. Hash., § I.
21 5 97 It is peace until the rising of the morn.



And all is peace till the breaking of the morn.
92 0 98






92 0 98






92 0 98 CHAPTER XCVIII.



SURA XCVIII.–CLEAR EVIDENCE [XCII.]
92 0 98 ENTITLED, THE EVIDENCE;u WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED. u Some entitle this chapter, from the first words, Did not.


MEDINA.–8 Verses
92 0 98 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
92 1 98 THE unbelievers among those to whom the scriptures were given, and among the idolaters, did not stagger,x until the clear evidencey had come unto them: x i.e., Did not waver in their religion, or in their promises to follow the truth, when an apostle should come unto them. For the commentators pretend that before the appearance of Mohammed, the Jews and Christians, as well as the worshippers of idols, unanimously believed and expected the coming of that prophet, until which time they declared they would persevere in their respective religions, and then would follow him; but when he came, they rejected him through envy.3

3 Idem.

y viz., Mohammed, or the Korân.


THE unbelievers among the people of the Book, and the Polytheists, did not waver, until the CLEAR EVIDENCE had come to them;
92 2 98 an apostle from GOD, rehearsing unto them pure books of revelations; wherein are contained right discourses.



A messenger from God, reciting to them the pure pages wherein are true Scriptures!
92 3 98 Neither were they unto whom the scriptures were given divided among themselves, until after the clear evidence had come unto them.z z But when the promised apostle was sent, and the truth became manifest to them, they withstood the clearest conviction, differing from one another in their opinions; some believing and acknowledging Mohammed to be the prophet foretold in the scriptures, and others denying it.1

1 Idem.


Neither were they to whom the Scriptures were given divided into sects, till after this clear evidence had reached them!
92 4 98 And they were commanded no other in the scriptures than to worship GOD, exhibiting unto him the pure religion, and being orthodox; and to be constant at prayer, and to give alms;a and this is the right religion. a But these divine precepts in the law and the gospel have they corrupted, changed, and violated.2

2 Idem.


Yet was not aught enjoined on them but to worship God with sincere religion, sound in faith; and to observe prayer and pay the stated alms. For this is true religion.
92 5 98 Verily those who believe not, among those who have received the scriptures, and among the idolaters, shall be cast into the fire of hell, to remain therein forever. These are the worst of creatures.



But the unbelievers among the people of the Book, and among the Polytheists, shall go into the fire of Gehenna to abide therein for aye. Of all creatures are they the worst!
92 6 98 But they who believe, and do good works; these are the best of creatures:



But they who believe and do the things that are right–these of all creatures are the best!
92 7 98 their reward with their LORD shall be gardens of perpetual abode, through which rivers flow; they shall remain therein forever.



Their recompense with their Lord shall be gardens of Eden, 'neath which the rivers flow, in which they shall abide for evermore.
92 8 98 GOD will be well pleased in them; and they shall be well pleased in him. This is prepared for him who shall fear his LORD.



God is well pleased in them and they in Him! This, for him who feareth his Lord.
30 0 99






30 0 99






30 0 99 CHAPTER XCIX.



SURA XCIX.–THE EARTHQUAKE [XXX.]
30 0 99 ENTITLED, THE EARTHQUAKE; WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED.



MECCA.–8 Verses
30 0 99 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
30 1 99 WHEN the earth shall be shaken by an earthquake;b b This earthquake will happen at the first, or, as others say, at the second blast of the trumpet.3

3 Al Zamakh., al Beidâwi. See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 65


WHEN the Earth with her quaking shall quake
30 2 99 and the earth shall cast forth her burdens;c c viz., The treasures and dead bodies within it.4

4 See cap. 84, p. 441.


And the Earth shall cast forth her burdens,
30 3 99 and a man shall say, What aileth her?



And man shall say, What aileth her?
30 4 99 On that day the earth shall declare her tidings,



On that day shall she tell out her tidings,
30 5 99 for that thy LORD will inspire her.d d i.e., Will inform all creatures of the occasion of her trembling, and casting forth her treasures and her dead, by the circumstances which shall immediately attend them. Some say the earth will, at the last day, be miraculously enabled to speak, and will give evidence of the actions of her inhabitants.5

5 Al Beidâwi. See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV.


Because thy Lord shall have inspired her.
30 6 99 On that day men shall go forward in distinct classes, that they may behold their works.



On that day shall men come forward in throngs to behold their works,
30 7 99 And whoever shall have wrought good of the weight of an ant,e shall behold the same. e See chapter 4, p. 58, note y.


And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of good shall behold it,
30 8 99 And whoever shall have wrought evil of the weight of an ant, shall behold the same.



And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of evil shall behold it.
34 0 100






34 0 100






34 0 100 CHAPTER C.



SURA C.–THE CHARGERS [XXXIV.]
34 0 100 ENTITLED, THE WAR-HORSES WHICH RUN SWIFTLY; WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED.



Mecca.–11 Verses
34 0 100 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
34 1 100 BY the war-horses which run swiftly to the battle, with a panting noise;



By the snorting CHARGERS!
34 2 100 and by those which strike fire, by dashing their hoofs against the stones;



And those that dash off sparks of fire!
34 3 100 and by those which make a sudden incursion on the enemy early in the morning,



And those that scour to the attack at morn!
34 4 100 and therein raise the dust,



And stir therein the dust aloft;
34 5 100 and therein pass through the midst of the adverse troops:f f Some will have it that not horses, but the camels which went to the battle of Bedr, are meant in this passage.1 Others interpret all the parts of the oath of the human soul;2 but their explications seem a little forced, and therefore I choose to omit them.

1 Yahya, ex trad. Ali Ebn Abi Taleb.
2 Al Beidâwi.


And cleave therein their midway through a host!
34 6 100 verily man is ungrateful unto his LORD;



Truly, Man is to his Lord ungrateful.
34 7 100 and he is witness thereof:



And of this he is himself a witness;
34 8 100 and he is immoderate in the love of worldly good.



And truly, he is vehement in the love of this world's good.
34 9 100 Doth he not know, therefore, when that which is in the graves shall be taken forth,



Ah! knoweth he not, that when that which is in the graves shall be laid bare,
34 10 100 and that which is in men's breasts shall be brought to light,



And that which is in men's breasts shall be brought forth,
34 11 100 that their LORD will, on that day, be fully informed concerning them?



Verily their Lord shall on that day be informed concerning them?
29 0 101






29 0 101






29 0 101 CHAPTER CI.



SURA CI.–THE BLOW [XXIX.]
29 0 101 ENTITLED, THE STRIKING; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–8 Verses
29 0 101 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
29 1 101 THE striking!g What is the striking? g This is one of the names or epithets given to the last day, because it will strike the hearts of all creatures with terror.3

3 Idem, Jallalo’ddin.


THE BLOW! what is the Blow?
29 2 101 And what shall make thee to understand how terrible the striking will be?



Who shall teach thee what the Blow is?
29 3 101 On that day men shall be like moths scattered abroad,



The Day when men shall be like scattered moths,
29 4 101 and the mountains shall become like carded wool of various colours driven by the wind.



And the mountains shall be like flocks of carded wool,
29 5 101 Moreover he whose balance shall be heavy with good works, shall lead a pleasing life:



Then as to him whose balances are heavy–his shall be a life that shall please him well:
29 6 101 but as to him whose balance shall be light, his dwelling shall be the pit of hell.h h The original word Hâwiyat is the name of the lowest dungeon of hell, and properly signifies a deep pit or gulf.


And as to him whose balances are light–his dwelling-place1 shall be the pit. 1 Lit. Mother.
29 7 101 What shall make thee to understand how frightful the pit of hell is?



And who shall teach thee what the pit (El-Hawiya) is?
29 8 101 It is a burning fire.



A raging fire!
15 0 102






15 0 102






15 0 102 CHAPTER CII.



SURA CII.–DESIRE [XV.]
15 0 102 ENTITLED, THE EMULOUS DESIRE OF MULTIPLYING; WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED.



MECCA.–8 Verses
15 0 102 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
15 1 102 THE emulous desire of multiplying riches and children employeth you,



THE DESIRE of increasing riches occupieth you,
15 2 102 until ye visit the graves.i i i.e., Until ye die. According to the exposition of some commentators, the words should be rendered thus: The contending or vieing in numbers wholly employeth you, so that ye visit even the graves, to number the dead: to explain which, they relate that there was a great dispute and contention between the descendants of Abd Menâf and the descendants of Sahm, which of the two families were the more numerous; and it being found, on calculation, that the children of Abd Menâf exceeded those of Sahm, the Sahmites said that their numbers had been much diminished by wars in the time of ignorance, and insisted that the dead, as well as the living, should be taken into the account; and by this way of reckoning they were found to be more than the descendants of Abd Menâf.1

1 Al Zamakh., al Beidâwi, Jallal.


Till ye come to the grave.
15 3 102 By no means should ye thus employ your time: hereafter shall ye know your folly.



Nay! but in the end ye shall know
15 4 102 Again, By no means: hereafter shall ye know your folly.



Nay! once more,in the end ye shall know your folly.
15 5 102 By no means: if ye knew the consequence hereof with certainty of knowledge, ye would not act thus.



Nay! would that ye knew it with knowledge of certainty!
15 6 102 Verily ye shall see hell:



Surely ye shall see hell-fire.
15 7 102 again, ye shall surely see it with the eye of certainty.



Then shall ye surely see it with the eye of certainty;
15 8 102 Then shall ye be examined, on that day, concerning the pleasures with which ye have amused yourselves in this life.



Then shall ye on that day be taken to task concerning pleasures.
27 0 103






27 0 103






27 0 103 CHAPTER CIII.



SURA CIII.–THE AFTERNOON [XXVII.]
27 0 103 ENTITLED, THE AFTERNOON; REVEALED AT MECCA.
103:all
A Traveler’s Narrative, p. 9
link
103:all
The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter X, p. 201
link

103:all
The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter XI, p. 436
link		 MECCA.–3 Verses
27 0 103 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
27 1 103 BY the afternoon;k k Or the time from the sun’s declination to his setting, which is one of the five appointed times of prayer. The original word also signifies, The age, or time in general.
This passage is said to have been revealed against al Akhnas Ebn Shoreik, or al Walîd Ebn al Mogheira, or Omeyya Ebn Khalf, who were all guilty of slandering others, and especially the prophet.1

1 Idem.


I SWEAR by the declining day!
27 2 103 verily man employeth himself in that which will prove of loss:



Verily, man's lot is cast amid destruction,1 1 Said to have been recited in the Mosque shortly before his death by Muhammad. See Weil, p. 328.
27 3 103 except those who believe, and do that which is right; and who mutually recommend the truth, and mutually recommend perseverance unto each other.



Save those who believe and do the things which be right, and enjoin truth and enjoin stedfastness on each other.
13 0 104






13 0 104






13 0 104 CHAPTER CIV.



SURA CIV.–THE BACKBITER [XII.]
13 0 104 ENTITLED, THE SLANDERER; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–9 Verses
13 0 104 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
13 1 104 WOE unto every slanderer, and backbiter:l l This passage is said to have been revealed against al Akhnas Ebn Shoreik, or al Walîd Ebn al Mogheira, or Omeyya Ebn Khalf, who were all guilty of slandering others, and especially the prophet.1

1 Idem.		 104:1-2
Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Kitáb-i-’Ahd (Book of the Covenant, within pp. 217-223)
link		 Woe betide every slanderer and defamer,
Woe to every BACKBITER, Defamer!
13 2 104 who heapeth up riches, and prepareth the same for the time to come!
104:1-2 (cont.)
Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Kitáb-i-’Ahd (Book of the Covenant, within pp. 217-223)
link		 him that layeth up riches and counteth them.
Who amasseth wealth and storeth it against the future!
13 3 104 He thinketh that his riches will render him immortal.



He thinketh surely that his wealth shall be with him for ever.
13 4 104 By no means. He shall surely be cast into Al Hotama.m m Is one of the names of hell, or the name of one of its apartments;2 which is so called because it will break in pieces whatever shall be thrown into it.

2 See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 72.


Nay! for verily he shall be flung into the Crushing Fire;
13 5 104 And who shall cause thee to understand what Al Hotama is?



And who shall teach thee what the Crushing Fire is?
13 6 104 It is the kindled fire of GOD;n n And therefore shall not be extinguished by any.3

3 Al Beidâwi.


It is God's kindled fire,
13 7 104 which shall mount above the hearts of those who shall be cast therein.



Which shall mount above the hearts of the damned;
13 8 104 Verily it shall be as an arched vault above them



It shall verily rise over them like a vault,
13 9 104 on columns of vast extent.



On outstretched columns.
19 0 105






19 0 105






19 0 105 CHAPTER CV.



SURA CV.–THE ELEPHANT [XIX.]
19 0 105 ENTITLED, THE ELEPHANT; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–5 Verses
19 0 105 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
19 1 105 HAST thou not seen how thy LORD dealt with the masters of the elephant?o o This chapter relates to the following piece of history, which is famous among the Arabs; Abraha Ebn al Sabâh, surnamed al Ashram, i.e., the Slit-nosed, king or viceroy of Yaman, who was an Ethiopian,4 and of the Christian religion, having built a magnificent church at Sanaa with a design to draw the Arabs to go in pilgrimage thither, instead of visiting the temple of Mecca, the Koreish, observing the devotion and concourse of the pilgrims at the Caaba began considerably to diminish, sent one Nofail, as he is named by some of the tribe of Kenânah, who getting into the aforesaid church by night, defiled the altar and walls thereof with his excrements. At this profanation Abraha being highly incensed, vowed the destruction of the Caaba, and accordingly set out against Mecca at the head of a considerable army, wherein were several elephants, which he had obtained of the king of Ethiopia, their numbers being, as some say, thirteen, though others mention but one. The Meccans, at the approach of so considerable a host, retired to the neighbouring mountains, being unable to defend their city or temple; but GOD himself undertook the protection of both. For when Abraha drew near to Mecca, and would have entered it, the elephant on which he rode, which was a very large one, and named Mahmûd, refused to advance any nigher to the town, but knelt down whenever they endeavoured to force him that way, though he would rise and march briskly enough if they turned him towards any other quarter: and while matters were in this posture, on a sudden a large flock of birds, like swallows, came flying from the sea coast, every one of which carried three stones, one in each foot, and one in its bill; and these stones they threw down upon the heads of Abraha’s men, certainly killing every one they struck. Then GOD sent a flood, which swept the dead bodies, and some of those who had not been struck by the stones, into the sea: the rest fled toward Yaman, but perished by the way; none of them reaching Sanaa, except only Abraha himself, who died soon after his arrival there, being struck with a sort of plague or putrefaction, so that his body opened, and his limbs rotted off by piecemeal. It is said that one of Abraha’s army, named Abu Yacsûm, escaped over the Red Sea into Ethiopia, and going directly to the king, told him the tragical story; and upon that prince’s asking him what sort of birds they were that had occasioned such a destruction, the man pointed to one of them, which had followed him all the way, and was at that time hovering directly over his head, when immediately the bird let fall the stone, and struck him dead at the king’s feet.5
This remarkable defeat of Abraha happened the very year Mohammed was born, and as this chapter was revealed before the Hejra, and within fifty-four years, at least, after it came to pass, when several persons who could have detected the lie, had Mohammed forged this story out of his own head, were alive, it seems as if there was really something extraordinary in the matter, which might, by adding some circumstances, have been worked up into a miracle to his hands. Marracci6 judges the whole to be either a fable, or else a feat of some evil spirits, of which he gives a parallel instance, as he thinks, in the strange defeat of Brennus, when he was marching to attack the temple of Apollo at Delphi.7 Dr. Prideaux directly charges Mohammed with coining this miracle, notwithstanding he might have been so easily disproved, and supposes, without any foundation, that this chapter might not have been published till Othman’s edition of the Korân,1 which was many years after, when all might be dead who could remember anything of the above-mentioned war.2 But Mohammed had no occasion to coin such a miracle himself, to gain the temple of Mecca any greater veneration: the Meccans were but too superstitiously fond of it, and obliged him, against his inclinations and original design, to make it the chief place of his new invented worship. I cannot, however, but observe Dr. Prideaux’s partiality on this occasion, compared with the favourable reception he gives to the story of the miraculous overthrow of Brennus and his army, which he concludes in the following words: “Thus was GOD pleased in a very extraordinary manner to execute his vengeance upon those sacrilegious wretches for the sake of religion in general, how false and idolatrous soever that particular religion was, for which that temple at Delphos was erected.”3 If it be answered, that the Gauls believed the religion, to the devotions of which that temple was consecrated, to be true (though that be not certain), and therefore it was an impiety in them to offer violence to it, whereas Abraha acknowledged not the holiness of the Caaba, or the worship there practised; I reply, that the doctor, on occasion of Cambyses being killed by a wound he accidentally received in the same part of the body where he had before mortally wounded the Apis, or bull worshipped by the Egyptians, whose religion and worship that prince most certainly believed to be false and superstitious, makes the same reflection: “The Egyptians,” says he, “reckoned this as an especial judgment from heaven upon him for that fact, and perchance they were not much out in it: for it seldom happening in an affront given to any mode of worship, how erroneous soever it may be, but that religion is in general wounded hereby, there are many instances in history, wherein GOD hath very signally punished the profanations of religion in the worst of times, and under the worst modes of heathen idolatry.”4

4 See the Prelim. Disc. p. 8.
5 Al Zamakh., al Beidâwi, Jallalo’ddin, Abulf. Hist. Gen. &c. See Prid. Life of Mahomet, p. 61, &c., and D’Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Art. Abrahah.
6 Refut. in Alcor. p. 823.
7 See Prid. Connection, part ii. book i. p. 25, and the authors there quoted.
1 See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. III. p. 45.
2 Prid. Life of Mahomet, p. 63, 64.
3 Prid. Connection, in the place above cited.
4 Ibid. part i. book iii. p. 173.


HAST thou not seen1 how thy Lord dealt with the army of the ELEPHANT? 1 This Sura is probably Muhammad's appeal to the Meccans, intended at the same time for his own encouragement, on the ground of their deliverance from the army of Abraha, the Christian King of Abyssinia and Arabia Felix, said to have been lost in the year of Muhammad's birth in an expedition against Mecca for the purpose of destroying the Caaba. This army was cut off by small-pox (Wakidi; Hishami), and there is no doubt, as the Arabic word for small-pox also means "small stones," in reference to the hard gravelly feeling of the pustules, what is the true interpretation of the fourth line of this Sura, which, like many other poetical passages in the Koran, has formed the starting point for the most puerile and extravagant legends. Vide Gibbon's Decline and Fall, c. 1. The small-pox first shewed itself in Arabia at the time of the invasion by Abraha. M. de Hammer Gemaldesaal, i. 24. Reiske opusc. Med. Arabum. Hal‘, 1776, p. 8.
19 2 105 Did he not make their treacherous design an occasion of drawing them into error;



Did he not cause their stratagem to miscarry?
19 3 105 and send against them flocks of birds,



And he sent against them birds in flocks (ababils),
19 4 105 which casts down upon them stones of baked clay;p p These stones were of the same kind with those by which the Sodomites were destroyed,5 and were no bigger than vetches, though they fell with such force as to pierce the helmet and the man through, passing out at his fundament. It is said also that on each stone was written the name of him who was to be slain by it.

5 See cap. 11, p. 166.


Claystones did they hurl down upon them,
19 5 105 and render them like the leaves of corn eaten by cattle?



And he made them like stubble eaten down!
20 0 106






20 0 106






20 0 106 CHAPTER CVI.



SURA CVI.–THE KOREISCH [XX.]
20 0 106 ENTITLED, KOREISH; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–4 Verses
20 0 106 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
20 1 106 FOR the uniting of the tribe of Koreish;q q Some connect these words with the following, and suppose the natural order to be, Let them serve the Lord of this house, for the uniting, &c. Others connect them with the last words of the preceding chapter, and take the meaning to be, that GOD had so destroyed the army of Abraha for the uniting of the Koreish, &c. And the last opinion is confirmed by one copy, mentioned by al Beidâwi, wherein this and the preceding make but one chapter. It may not be amiss to observe, that the tribe of Koreish, the most noble among all the Arabians, and of which was Mohammed himself, were the posterity of Fehr, surnamed Koreish, the son of Malec, the son of al Nadr, who was descended in a right line from Ismael. Some writers say that al Nadr bore the surname of Koreish, but the more received opinion is that it was his grandson Fehr, who was so called because of his intrepid boldness, the word being a diminutive of Karsh, which is the name of a sea monster, very strong and daring; though there be other reasons given for its imposition.6

6 Vide Gagnier, Vie de Mah. t. I, p. 44 and 46.


For the union of the KOREISCH:–
20 2 106 their uniting in sending forth the caravan of merchants and purveyorsr in winter and summer; r It was Hâshem, the great-grandfather of Mohammed, who first appointed the two yearly caravans here mentioned;7 one of which set out in the winter for Yaman, and the other in summer for Syria.8

7 See the Prelim. Disc. p. 3.
8 Al Zamakh., Jallal., al Beidâwi.


Their union in equipping caravans winter and summer.
20 3 106 let them serve the LORD of this house; who supplieth them with food against hunger,s s By means of the aforesaid caravans of purveyors; or, Who supplied them with food in time of a famine, which those of Mecca had suffered.1

1 Idem.


And let them worship the Lord of this house, who hath provided them with food against hunger,
20 4 106 and hath rendered them secure from fear.t t By delivering them from Abraha and his troops; or, by making the territory of Mecca a place of security.


And secured them against alarm.1 1 In allusion to the ancient inviolability of the Haram, or precinct round Mecca. See Sura, xcv. n. p. 41. This Sura, therefore, like the preceding, is a brief appeal to the Meccans on the ground of their peculiar privileges.
14 0 107






14 0 107






14 0 107 CHAPTER CVII.



SURA CVII.–RELIGION [XIV.]
14 0 107 ENTITLED, NECESSARIES; WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED.



MECCA.–7 Verses
14 0 107 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
14 1 107 WHAT thinkest thou of him who denieth the future judgment as a falsehood?



WHAT thinkest thou of him who treateth our RELIGION as a lie?
14 2 107 It is he who pusheth away the orphan;u u The person here intended, according to some, was Abu Jahl, who turned away an orphan, to whom he was guardian, and who came to him naked, and asked for some relief out of his own money. Somme say it was Abu Sofiân, who, having killed a camel, when an orphan begged a piece of the flesh, beat him away with his staff; and others think it was al Walid Ebn al Mogheira, &c.


He it is who trusteth away the orphan,
14 3 107 and stirreth not up others to feed the poor.



And stirreth not others up to feed the poor.
14 4 107 Woe be unto those who pray,



Woe to those who pray,
14 5 107 and who are negligent at their prayer:



But in their prayer are careless;
14 6 107 who play the hypocrites,



Who make a shew of devotion,
14 7 107 and deny necessariesx to the needy. x The original word al Maûn properly signifies utensils, or whatever is of necessary use, as a hatchet, a pot, a dish, and a needle, to which some add a bucket and a hand-mill; or, according to a tradition of Ayesha, fire, water, and salt; and this signification it bore in the time of ignorance: but since the establishment of the Mohammedan religion, the word has been used to denote alms, either legal or voluntary; which seems to be the true meaning in this place.


But refuse help to the needy.
12 0 108






12 0 108






12 0 108 CHAPTER CVIII.



SURA CVIII.–THE ABUNDANCE [XII.]
12 0 108 ENTITLED, AL CAWTHAR; REVEALED AT MECCA.y y There are some, however, who think it to have been revealed at Medina. 108:all
A Traveler’s Narrative, p. 7
link
108:all
The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter IX, p. 174
link

The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter XXII, p. 495, footnote 2
link
link		 MECCA.–3 Verses
12 0 108 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
12 1 108 VERILY we have given thee al Cawthar.z z This word signifies abundance, especially of good, and thence the gift of wisdom and prophecy, the Korân, the office of intercessor, &c. Or it may imply abundance of children, followers, and the like. It is generally, however, expounded of a river in paradise of that name, whence the water is derived into Mohammed’s pond, of which the blessed are to drink before their admission into that place.2 According to a tradition of the prophet’s, this river, wherein his LORD promised him abundant good, is sweeter than honey, whiter than milk, cooler than snow, and smoother than cream; its banks are of chrysolites, and the vessels to drink thereout of silver; and those who drink of it shall never thirst.3
Euthymius Zigabenus,4 instead of Cauthar, reading Canthar, supposes the word to have the same signification in Arabic as in Greek, and translates the two first verses of the chapter thus: [Greek text],–i.e., We have given thee the beetle; wherefore pray unto thy LORD, and slay it; and then he cries out, O wonderful and magnificent sacrifice, worthy of the legislator!

2 See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 74.
3 Al Beidâwi, Jallal. &c.
4 In Panoplia Dogmat. inter Sylburgii Sarocenic. p. 29.


TRULY we have given thee an ABUNDANCE;
12 2 108 Wherefore pray unto thy LORD, and slay the victims.a a Which are to be sacrificed at the pilgrimage in the valley of Mina. Al Beidâwi explains the words thus: Pray with fervency and intense devotion, not out of hypocrisy; and slay the fatted camels and oxen, and distribute the flesh among the poor; for he says this chapter is the counterpart of the preceding, exhorting to those virtues which are opposite to the vices there condemned.


Pray therefore to the Lord, and slay the victims.
12 3 108 Verily he who hateth thee shall be childless.b b These words were revealed against al As Ebn Wayel, who, on the death of al Kâsem, Mohammed’s son, called that prophet Abtar, which signifies one who has no children or posterity.1

1 Jallalo’ddin.


Verily whoso hateth thee shall be childless.1 1 A reply to those who had taunted Muhammad with the death of his sons, as a mark of the divine displeasure.
9 0 109






9 0 109






9 0 109 CHAPTER CIX.



SURA CIX.–UNBELIEVERS [IX.]
9 0 109 ENTITLED, THE UNBELIEVERS; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA.–6 Verses
9 0 109 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
9 1 109 SAY: O unbelievers,c c It is said that certain of the Koreish once proposed to Mohammed that if he would worship their gods for a year, they would worship his GOD for the same space of time; upon which this chapter was revealed.2

2 Idem, al Beidâwi.


SAY: O ye UNBELIEVERS!
9 2 109 I will not worship that which ye worship;



I worship not that which ye worship,
9 3 109 nor will ye worship that which I worship.



And ye do not worship that which I worship;
9 4 109 Neither do I worship that which ye worship;



I shall never worship that which ye worship,
9 5 109 neither do ye worship that which I worship.



Neither will ye worship that which I worship.
9 6 109 Ye have your religion, and I my religion.



To you be your religion; to me my religion.1 1 This Sura is said to have been revealed when Walîd urged Muhammad to consent that his God should be worshipped at the same time with the old Meccan deities, or alternately every year. Hishâmi, p. 79; Tabari, p. 139. It is a distinct renunciation of Meccan idolatry, as the following Sura is a distinct recognition of the Divine Unity.
111 0 110






111 0 110






111 0 110 CHAPTER CX.



SURA1 CX.–HELP [CXI.] 1 This Sura was revealed at the taking of Mecca, and is supposed to have given Muhammad warning of his death.
111 0 110 ENTITLED, ASSISTANCE; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MEDINA.–3 Verses
111 0 110 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
111 1 110 WHEN the assistance of GOD shall come, and the victory;d d i.e., When GOD shall cause thee to prevail over thy enemies, and thou shalt take the city of Mecca.


WHEN the HELP of God and the victory arrive,
111 2 110 and thou shalt see the people enter into the religion of GOD by troops:e e Which happened in the ninth year of the Hejra, when, Mohammed having made himself master of Mecca, and obliged the Koreish to submit to him, the rest of the Arabs came in to him in great numbers, and professed Islâm.3

3 See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. II. p. 43.


And thou seest men entering the religion of God by troops;
111 3 110 celebrate the praise of thy LORD, and ask pardon of him;f for he is inclined to forgive. f Most of the commentators agree this chapter to have been revealed before the taking of Mecca, and suppose it gave Mohammed warning of his death; for they say that when he read it al Abbâs wept, and being asked by the prophet what was the reason of his weeping, answered, Because it biddeth thee to prepare for death; to which Mohammed replied, It is as thou sayest.4 And hence, adds Jallalo’ddin, after the revelation of this chapter the prophet was more frequent in praising and asking pardon of GOD, because he thereby knew that his end approached; for Mecca was taken in the eighth year of the Hejra, and he died in the beginning of the tenth.

4 Al Beidâwi.


Then utter the praise of thy Lord, implore His pardon; for He loveth to turn in mercy.
11 0 111






11 0 111






11 0 111 CHAPTER CXI.



SURA CXI. ABU LAHAB [XI.]
11 0 111 ENTITLED, ABU LAHEB; REVEALED AT MECCA.



MECCA. 5 Verses
11 0 111 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
11 1 111 THE hands of Abu Laheb shall perish,g and he shall perish.h g Abu Laheb was the surname of Abd’al Uzza, one of the sons of Abd’almotalleb, and uncle to Mohammed. He was a most bitter enemy to his nephew, and opposed the establishment of his new religion to the utmost of his power. When that prophet, in obedience to the command he had received to admonish his near relations,1 had called them together, and told them he was a warner sent unto them before a grievous chastisement, Abu Laheb cried out, Mayest thou perish! Hast thou called us together for this? and took up a stone to cast at him. Whereupon this passage was revealed.2
By the hands of Abu Laheb some commentators, by a synecdoche, understand his person; others, by a metonymy, his affairs in general, they being transacted with those members; or his hopes in this world and the next.

1 See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. II. p. 34.
2 Al Beidâwi, Jallalo’ddin, &c.

h He died of grief and vexation at the defeat his friends had received at Bedr, surviving that misfortune but seven days.3 They add, that his corpse was left aboveground three days, till it stank, and then some negroes were hired to bury him.4

3 Abulf. Vit. Moh. p. 57.
4 Al Beidâwi.


LET the hands of ABU LAHAB1 perish,and let himself perish! 1 Undoubtedly one of the earliest Suras, and refers to the rejection of Muhammad's claim to the prophetic office by his uncle, Abu Lahab, at the instigation of his wife, Omm Djemil, who is said to have strewn the path of Muhammad on one occasion with thorns. The following six Suras, like the two first, have special reference to the difficulties which the Prophet met with the outset of his career, especially from the rich.
11 2 111 His riches shall not profit him, neither that which he hath gained.i i And accordingly his great possessions, and the rank and esteem in which he lived at Mecca, were of no service to him, nor could protect him against the vengeance of GOD. Al Beidâwi mentions also the loss of his son Otha, who was torn to pieces by a lion in the way to Syria, though surrounded by the whole caravan.


His wealth and his gains shall avail him not.
11 3 111 He shall go down to be burned into flaming fire;k k Arab. nâr dhât laheb; alluding to the surname of Abu Laheb, which signifies the father of flames.


Burned shall he be at the fiery flame,2 2 In allusion to the meaning of Abu Lahab, father of flame.
11 4 111 and his wife also,l bearing wood,m l Her name was Omm Jemîl: she was the daughter of Harb, and sister of Abu Sofiân.

m For fuel in hell; because she fomented the hatred which her husband bore to Mohammed; or, bearing a bundle of thorns and brambles, because she carried such, and strewed them by night in the prophet’s way.5

5 Idem, Jallalo’ddin.


And his wife laden with fire wood,–
11 5 111 having on her neck a cord of twisted fibres of a palm-tree.



On her neck a rope of palm fibre.
10 0 112






10 0 112






10 0 112 CHAPTER CXII.



SURA CXII.–THE UNITY [X.]
10 0 112 ENTITLED, THE DECLARATION OF GOD'S UNITY;n WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED. n This chapter is held in particular veneration by the Mohammedans, and declared, by a tradition of their prophet, to be equal in value to a third part of the whole Korân. It is said to have been revealed in answer to the Koreish, who asked Mohammed concerning the distinguishing attributes of the GOD he invited them to worship.6

6 Idem.


MECCA.–4 Verses
10 0 112 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
10 1 112 SAY, God is one GOD;



SAY: He is God alone:
10 2 112 the eternal GOD:



God the eternal!
10 3 112 be begetteth not, neither is he begotten:



He begetteth not, and He is not begotten;
10 4 112 and there is not any one like unto him.



And there is none like unto Him.
6 0 113






6 0 113






6 0 113 CHAPTER CXIII.



SURA CXIII.–THE DAYBREAK [VI.]
6 0 113 ENTITLED, THE DAYBREAK; WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED.



MECCA OR MEDINA.–5 Verses
6 0 113 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
6 1 113 SAY, I fly for refuge unto the LORD of the daybreak,o o The original word properly signifies a cleaving, and denotes, says al Beidâwi, the production of all things in general, from the darkness of privation to the light of existence, and especially of those things which proceed from others, as springs, rain, plants, children, &c., and hence it is used more particularly to signify the breaking forth of the light from darkness, which is a most wonderful instance of the divine power.


SAY: I betake me for refuge to the Lord of the DAY BREAK
6 2 113 that he may deliver me from the mischief of those things which he hath created;p p i.e., From the mischiefs proceeding either from the perverseness and evil choice of those beings which have a power to choose, or the natural effects of necessary agents, as fire, poison, &c., the world being good in the whole, though evils may follow from those two causes.1

1 Al Beidâwi.


Against the mischiefs of his creation;
6 3 113 and from the mischief of the night, when it cometh on;q q Or, as the words may be rendered, From the mischief of the moon, when she is eclipsed.


And against the mischief of the night when it overtaketh me;
6 4 113 and from the mischief of women blowing on knots;r r That is, of witches, who used to tie knots in a cord, and to blow on them, uttering at the same time certain magical words over them, in order to work on or debilitate the person they had a mind to injure. This was a common practice in former days:2 what they call in France Nouër l’eguillette, and the knots which the wizards in the northern parts tie, when they sell mariners a wind (if the stories told of them be true), are also relics of the same superstition.
The commentators relate that Lobeid, a Jew, with the assistance of his daughters, bewitched Mohammed, by tying eleven knots on a cord, which they hid in a well; whereupon Mohammed falling ill, GOD revealed this chapter and the following, and Gabriel acquainted him with the use he was to make of them, and of the place where the cord was hidden: according to whose directions the prophet sent Ali to fetch the cord, and the same being brought, he repeated the two chapters over it, and at every verse (for they consist of eleven) a knot was loosed, till on finishing the last words, he was entirely freed from the charm.3

2 Vide Virgil. in Pharmaceutria.
3 Al Beidâwi, Jallalo’ddin.


And against the mischief of weird women;1 1 Lit. who blow on knots. According to some commentators an allusion to a species of charm. Comp. Virg.Ec. vi. But the reference more probably is to women in general, who disconcert schemes as thread is disentangled by blowing upon it. Suras cxiii. are called the el mouwwidhetani, or preservative chapters, are engraved on amulets,etc.
6 5 113 and from the mischief of the envious, when he envieth.



And against the mischief of the envier when he envieth.
7 0 114






7 0 114






7 0 114 CHAPTER CXIV.



SURA CXIV.–MEN [VII.]
7 0 114 ENTITLED, MEN; WHERE IT WAS REVEALED IS DISPUTED.s s This chapter was revealed on the same occasion and at the same time with the former.


MECCA OR MEDINA.–6 Verses
7 0 114 IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
7 1 114 SAY, I fly for refuge unto the LORD of men,



SAY: I betake me for refuge to the Lord of MEN,
7 2 114 the king of men,



The King of men,
7 3 114 the GOD of men,



The God of men,
7 4 114 that he may deliver me from the mischief of the whisperer who slyly withdraweth,t t i.e., The devil; who withdraweth when a man mentioneth GOD, or hath recourse to his protection.


Against the mischief of the stealthily withdrawing whisperer,1 1 Satan.
7 5 114 who whispereth evil suggestions into the breasts of men:



Who whispereth in man's breast–
7 6 114 from genii and men.



Against djinn and men.