^JSW <* MHCtf$ LOGICAL %V$ BP 109 .R69 1876 Koran. The Koran EL KOR'AN OR, THE KORAN. LOXDO.V : WYIIAS AND SONS, PBIXTER3, GREAT QUEEN SIBEET, LIKCOL.N'S-IX.Y FIELDS, W.C. EL-KOR'AN ; OR, THE KORAN: TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC THE SURAS ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER; WITH NOTES AND INDEX, nv J. M. RODWELL, M.A. OF TUTS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; AN'D RECTOR OV ST. BTHRf-B CROA, LONDON gcconts Jftrbis'cH anti flninitfcti <£&itfon. LONDON: BERNARD QUARITCH, 15 PICCADILLY. 1876. Deb Korax. . . . So oft wir auch daran geben, immer von ncuem anwiJert, dann aber anzieht, in Erstaunen setzt, und am Ende Verehrung abnothigt. . . . Der Styl des Korans ist, seinem Inhalt und Zweck gemass, streng, gToss, furchtbar, stellenweis wabrhaft erbaben So wird dieses Bucb fur ewige Zeiten hochst wirksam verbleiben. — Gothb. Wett-OeM. Divan. " I confess I can make nothing of the critic, in these times, who would accuse Mahomet of deceit prepente; of conscious deceit generally, or perhaps at all; still more, of living in a mere element of conscious deceit, and writing this Koran as a forger and juggler would have done ! Every candid eye, I think, will read the Koran far otherwise than so. It is the confused ferment of a great rude human soul . . . fervent, earnest. . . . Sincerity, in all senses, seems to me the merit of the Koran." — Cablyle. TO SIR WILLIAM MARTIN, KT., D.C.L. LATE CHIEF JUSTICE OF NEW ZEAXAXD, %\h %Btem is jgrtriaicfc, WITH SINCERE FEELINGS OF ESTEEM FOR HIS PRIVATE WORTH, PUBLIC SERVICES. AND EMINENT LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, BY THE TRANSLATOR. NOTICE. TN preparing the Second Edition of this Work, it has not been thought necessary in any instance to depart from the arrangement of the Suras ori- ginally adopted. The Translation has been carefully revised throughout, and the Indexes altered and enlarged. J. M. R. PREFACE. Oxe important point in which this Translation of the Koran differs from its predecessors is the arrangement of the Suras, of which it is therefore necessary that a brief explanation should be given. The order of the Suras, as it stands in all Arabic manuscripts, and in all hitherto printed editions whether Arabic or European, is not chronological, neither is thei'e any authentic tradition to show that it rests upon the authority of Muhammad himself. The scattered fragments of the Koran were in the first instance collected by Abu Bekr, about a year after the Prophet's death, at the sugges- tion of Omar, who foresaw that as the Muslim warriors, whose memories were the sole depositaries of large portions of the revela- tions, died off or were slain, as had been the case with many in the battle of Yemaina, A. H. 12, the loss of the greater part, ox- even of the whole, was imminent. Zaid Ibn Thabit, a native of Medina, and one of the Ansars, or helpers, who had been Muham- mad's amanuensis, was the person fixed upon to carry out the task, and we are told that he "gathered together" the fragments of the Koran from every quarter, " from date-leaves and tablets of white stone, and from the breasts of men."1 The copy thus formed by Zaid probably remained in the possession of Abu Bekr dining the remainder of his brief caliphate, who committed it to the custody of Hafsa, one of Muhammad's widows, and this text continued during the ten years of Omar's caliphate to be the standard. In the copies made from it, various readings naturally and necessarily sprung up ; and these, under the caliphate of Othman, led to such serious disputes between the faithful, that it became necessary to interpose, and in accoi'dance with the warn- of Hodzeifa, " to stop the people, before they should differ •»■ - ,rding their scriptures as did the Jews and Clmstians." 2 Tn •rdance with this advice, Othman determined to establish a ' Mishcat, vol. i. p. 52 1. E. Trans, b. viii. 3, 3. " Mishcat, as above. Muir, i. p. xiii. Frcyt. Eiiil. p. 38 i. Meinoires de ad. t. 50, p. 426. Nold. p. 205. X PREFACE. text which should be the sole standard, and intrusted the redac- tion to the Zaid already mentioned, with whom he associated as colleagues, three, according to others, twelve1 of the Koreish, in order to secure the purity of that Meccan idiom in which Muham- mad had spoken, should any occasions arise in which the collators might have to decide upon various readings. Copies of the text formed were thus forwarded to several of the chief military stations in the new empire, and all previously existing copies were com- mitted to the flames. Zaid and his coadjutors, however, do not appear to have arranged the materials which came into their hands upon any system more definite than that of placing the longest and best- known Suras first, although even this rule, artless and unscientific as it is, has not been adhered to with strictness. Anything approaching to chronological arrangement was entirely lost sight of.2 Late Medina Suras are often placed before early Meccan Suras ; the short Suras at the end of the Koran are its earliest portions ; while, as will be seen from the notes, verses of Meccan origin are to be found embedded in Medina Suras, and verses pro- mulgated at Medina scattered up and down in the Meccan Suras. It would seem as if Zaid had to a great extent put his materials together just as they came to hand, and often with entire dis- regard to continuity of subject and uniformity of style. The text, therefore, as hitherto arranged, necessarily assumes the form of a most unreadable and incongruous patchwork; " un assemblage," says M. Kasimirski in his Preface, "informe et incoherent de preceptes moraux, religieux, civils et politiques, meles d'exhorta- tions, de promesses, et de menaces " — and conveys no idea what- ever of the development and growth of any plan in the mind of the founder of Islam, or of the circumstances by which he was surrounded and influenced. It is true that the manner in which Zaid contented himself with simply bringing together his materials and transcribing them, without any attempt to mould them into shape or sequence, and without any effort to supply connecting links between adjacent verses, to fill up obvious chasms, or to suppress details of a nature discreditable to the founder of Islam, proves his scrupulous honesty as a compiler, as well as his reve- rence for the sacred text, and to a certain extent guarantees thf 1 JKitab al Waquidi, p. 278. 2 An arrangement of the Books of the New Testament in their chrono- logical order, so far as it can be proximately ascertained, would be a very instructive and useful work. St. Paul's Epistles would then occupy thf first, and St. John's Gospel probably the last, place in the volume. PREFACE. XI genuineness and authenticity of the entire volume. But it is deeply to be regretted that he did not combine some measure of historical criticism with that simplicity and honesty of purpose which seems to have prevented him from tampering with the sacred text, and from suppressing contradictory and inaccurate statements. The arrangement of the Suras in this translation is based upon the traditions of the Mubammadans themselves, upon the ancient chronological list given by Weil in his Mohammed der Prophet, as well as upon a consideration of the subject-matter of each separate Sura and its probable connection with the sequence of events in the life of Muhammad. Great attention has been paid to this subject by Dr. Weil in the work just mentioned ; by Mr. Muir in his Life of Mahomet, who also proposes a chronological list of Suras, twenty-one however of which he admits have "not yet been carefully fixed ;" and especially by Nbldeke, in his Geschichte des Qorans, a work to which public honours were awarded in 1859 by the Paris Academy of Inscriptions. From the arrangement of this author I see no reason to depart in regard to the later Suras. It is based upon a searching criticism and minute analysis of the component verses of each, and may be safely taken as a standard, which ought not to be departed from without weighty reasons. I have, however, placed the earlier and more fragmentary Suras, after the two first, in an order which has reference rather to their subject-matter than to points of historical allusion, which in these Suras are veiy few, and, with the exception of references to the opposition met with by Muhammad from his townsmen of Mecca, of doubtful interpretation ; whilst on the other hand they are mainly couched in the language of self-communion and of mental struggle, and are vivid pictures of Heaven and Hell, or descrip- tions of natural objects. This remark applies to what Nbldeke terms " the Suras of the First Period." The contrast between the earlier, middle, and later Suras is very striking and interesting, and will be at once apparent from the arrangement here adopted. In the Suras as far as the 54th, ]). 64, we cannot but notice the predominance of a poetical element, a deep appreciation (as in Sura xci. p. 22) of the beauty of natural objects, fragmentary and impassioned utterances, denunciations of woe and punishment, expressed for the most part in verses of extreme brevity. With a change, however, in the position of Muhammad when he openly assumes the office of " public wamer," the Suras begin to wear a more prosaic and didactic tone, though 12 Xll PREFACE. the poetical ornament of rhyme is preserved throughout. We lose the Poet in the missionary aiming to convert, and in the warm asserter of dogmatic truths ; the descriptions of natural objects, of the judgment, of Heaven and Hell, make way for gradually increasing historical statements, first from Jewish, and subsequently from Christian histories ; while, in the twenty-nine Suras revealed at Medina, we no longer listen to vague words often as it would seem without definite aim, but to the earnest dispu- tant with the opponents of the new faith, the Apostle pleading the cause of what he believes to be the Truth of God. He who at Mecca is the admonisher and persuader, at Medina is the legislator and the warrior dictating obedience, and who uses other weapons than the pen of the Poet and the Scribe ; while we are startled by finding obedience to God and tlte Apostle, God's gifts and the Apostle's, God's pleasure and the Apostle's, spoken of in the same breath, and epithets and attributes elsewhere applied to Allah, openly applied to himself. " Whoso obeyeth the Apostle, obeyeth Allah " (iv. 82). The Suras, viewed as a whole, will thus appear to be the work of one who began his career as a thoughtful inquirer after truth, and as an earnest asserter of it in such rhetorical and poetical forms as he deemed most likely to win and attract his countrymen, but who gradually proceeded from the dogmatic teacher to the politic founder of a system for which laws aud regulations had to be provided as occasions arose. And of all the Suras it must be remarked that they were intended not only for readers but for hearers — that they were all promulgated by public recital — and that much was left, as the imperfect sentences show, to the manner and suggestive action of the reciter. The main events with which the Suras of the Koran stand in connection, are — the visions of Gabriel, seen, or said to have been seen, at the outset of the prophet's career in his 40th year, during a season of retirement for devotion and meditation, to Mount Hint, near Mecca, — the period of mental depression and re-assurance previous to the assumption of the office of public teacher — the Fatrah or pause (see n. p. 3) during which he waited for a repeti- tion of the angelic vision — his labours in comparative privacy for three years, issuing in about 40 converts, of whom his wife Cha- dijah was the first, and Abu Bekr the most important ; struggles with Meccan unbelief and idolatry followed by a period during which probably he had the second vision, Sura liii. p. 55, and was listened to and respected as a person " possessed " (Sura lxix. 42, PREFACE. XU1 p. 45, lii. 26, p. 50) — the first emigration to Abyssinia in A.D. 616, in consequence of the Meccan persecutions brought on by his now open attacks upon idolatry — increasing reference to Jewish and Christian histories, showing that much time had been devoted to their study — the conversion of Omar in 617 — the journey to the Thaquifites at Taief in A.D. 620 — the intercourse with pilgrims from Medina, who believed in Islam, and spread the knowledge thereof in their native towns in the same year — the vision of the midnight journey to Jerusalem and the Heavens — the meetings by night at Acaba, a mountain near Mecca, in the 11th year of his mission, and the pledges of fealty there given to him — the command given to the believers to emigi-ate to Yathrib, henceforth Medinat- en-nabi (the city of the Prophet) or El-Medina, (the city J, in April of A.D. 622 — the escape of Muhammad and Abu Bekr from Mecca to the cave of Thaur — the flight to Medina in June 20, A.D. 622 — treaties made with Christian tribes — increasing, but still very imperfect acquaintance with Christian doctrines — the Battle of Bedr in Hej. 2, and of Ohod — the coalition formed against Muhammad by the Jews and idolatrous Arabians, issuing in the siege of Medina, Hej. 5 (A.D. 627) — the convention, with reference to the liberty of making the pilgrimage, of Hudaibiya, Hej. 6 — the embassy to Chosroes King of Persia in the same year, to the Go- vernor of Egypt and to the King of Abyssinia, desiring them to embrace Islam — the conquest of several Jewish tribes, the most important of which was that of Chaibar, in Hej. 7, a year marked by the embassy sent to Heraclius, then in Syria on his return from the Persian campaign, and by a solemn and peaceful pilgrimage to Mecca — the triumphant entry into Mecca in Hej. 8 (A.D. 630), and the demolition of the idols of the Caaba — the submission of the Christians of Nedjran, of Aila on the Red Sea, and of Taief, etc., in Hej. 9, called " the ye;ir of embassies or deputations," from the numerous deputations which flocked to Mecca proffering sub- mission—and lastly in Hej. 10, the submission of Hadramout, Yemen, the greater part of the southern and eastern provinces of Arabia — and the final solemn pilgrimage to Mecca. While, however, there is no great difficulty in ascertaining the Suras which stand in connection with the more salient features of Muhammad's life, it is a much more arduous, and often impracti- cable, task, to point out the precise events to which individual verses refer, and out of which they sprung. It is quite possible that Muhammad himself, in a later period of his career, designedly mixed up later with earlier revelations in the same Suras — for th^ XIV PREFACE. purpose of softening down some of the statements -which represent the last hour and the final judgment as imminent ; and thus while leading his followers still to continue in the attitude of expectation, to see in his later successes the truth of his earlier predictions. If after-thoughts of this kind are to be traced, and they will often strike the attentive reader, it then follows that the perplexed state of the text in individual Suras is to be considered as partly due to Muhammad himself, and we are furnished with a series of constant hints for attaining to chronological accuracy. And it may be re- marked in passing, that a belief that the end of all things was at hand, may have tended to promote the earlier successes of Islam at Mecca, precisely in the same manner as the near approach of the day of the Lord was an argument used by the apostles to induce their hearers to flee from the wrath to come. It must be borne in mind that the allusions to contemporary minor events, and to the local efforts made by the new religion to gain the ascendant are very few, and often couched in terms so vague and general that we are forced to interpret the Koran solely by the Koran itself ; and for this, the frequent repetitions of the same histories and the same sentiments, afford much facility : while the peculiar manner in which the details of each history are increased by fresh traits at each recurrence, enables us to trace their growth in the author's mind, and to ascertain the manner in which a part of the Koran was composed. The absence of the historical element from the Koran as regards the details of Muhammad's daily life, may be judged of by the fact, that only two of his cotemporaries are mentioned in the entire volume, and that Muhammad's name occurs but five times, although he is all the way through addressed by the Angel Gabriel as the recipient of the divine revelations, with the word Say : and perhaps such passages as Sura ii. 15, p. 367, and v. 274, p. 403, and the constant mention of guidance, direction, wandering, may have been suggested by reminiscences of his mercantile journeys in his earlier years. It may be considered quite certain that it was not customary to reduce to writing any traditions concerning Muhammad himself, for at least the greater part of a century. They rested entirely in the memory of those who have handed them down, and must necessarily have been coloured by their prejudices and convic- tions, to say nothing of the tendency to the formation of myths and to actual fabrication, which early shows itself, especially in interpretations of the Koran, to subserve the purposes of the con- tending factions of the Ommeyads and Abbasides. It was under PREFACE. XV the 5th Caliph, Al-Mamun, that three writers (mentioned below) on whom we mainly depend for all really reliable information, flourished : but even their writings are coloured by the theological tendencies of their master and patron, a decided partisan of the divine right of Ali and of his descendants. The incidents mentioned in the Koran itself, for the interpretation of which early tradition is available, are comparatively few, while there are many passages with which it is totally at variance; as, for instance, that Muhammad worked miracles, which the Koran expressly disclaims. Traditions can never be considered as at all reliable, unless they are traceable to some common origin, have descended to us by inde- pendent witnesses, and correspond with the statements of the Koran itself — always of course deducting such texts as (which is not un- frequently the case) have themselves given rise to the tradition. It soon becomes obvious to the reader of Muslim traditions and commentators that both miracles and historical events have been invented for the sake of expounding dark and perplexing texts ; and that even the earlier traditions are largely tinged with the mythical element. The first biographer of Muhammad of whom we have any infor- mation was Zohri, who died A. H. 124, aged 72 ; but his works, though abundantly quoted by later writers, are no longer extant. Much of his information was derived from Orwa, who died A.H. 94, and was a near relative of Ayesha, the prophet's favourite wife. Ibn Ishaq, who died in A.H. 151, and who had been a hearer of Zohri, composed a Biography of Muhammad for the use of the Caliph Al Mansur. On this work, considerable remains of which have come down to us, Ibn Hisham, who died A.H. 213, based his Life of Muhammad. Waquidi of Medina, who died A.H. 207, composed a biogra- phical work, which has reached us in an abbreviated form through his secretary (Katib). It is composed entirely of traditions. Tabari, "the Livy of the Arabians" (Gibbon, 51, n. 1), who died at Baghdad A.H. 310, composed annals of Muhammad's life and of the progress of Islam. These ancient writers are the principal sources whence anything like authentic information as to the life of Muhammad is to be derived. And it may be safely concluded that after the diligent investigations carried on by professed collectors of traditions in the second century after the Hejira, little or nothing remains to be added to our stores of information relative to the details of Mu- XVI PKEEACB. hammad's life, or to facts which may further illustrate the text of the Koran. But however this may be, no records which ai'e pos- terior in date to these authorities can be considered as at all deserving of dependence. " To consider," sa)'s Dr. Sprenger, " late historians like Abulfeda as authorities, and to suppose that an account gains in certainty because it is mentioned by several of them, is highly uncritical." — Life of Mohammad, p. 73. The sources whence Muhammad derived the materials of his Koran are, over and above the more poetical parts which are his own creation, the legends of his time and country, Jewish tradi- tions based upon the Talmud, and the Christian traditions of Arabia and of S. Syria. At a later period of his career no one would venture to doubt the divine origin of the entire book. But at its commencement the case was different. The people of Mecca spoke openly and tauntingly of it as the work of a poet, as a col- lection of antiquated or fabulous legends, or as palpable sorcery.1 They accused him of having confederates, and even specified foreigners who had been his coadjutors. Such were Salman the Persian, to whom he may have owed the descriptions of Heaven and Hell, which are analogous to those of the Zendavesta ; and the Christian monk Sergius, or as the Muhammadans term him, Boheira. From the latter, and perhaps from other Christians, especially slaves naturalized at Mecca, Muhammad obtained access to the teaching of the Apocryphal Gospels, and to many popular traditions of which those Gospels are the concrete expression. His wife Chadijah, as well as her cousin Waraka, a reputed con- vert to Christianity, and Muhammad's intimate friend, are said to have been well acquainted with the doctrines and sacred books both of Jews and Christians. And not only were several Arab tribes in the neighbourhood of Mecca converts to the Christian faith, but on two occasions Muhammad had travelled with his uncle Abu Talib, as far as Bostra, where he must have had oppor- tunities of learning the general outlines of Oriental Christian doctrine, and perhaps of witnessing the ceremonial of their wor- ship. And it appears tolerably certain that previous to and at the period of his entering into public life, there was a large number of inquirers at Mecca, who like Zaid, Omayah of Taief, Waraka, > Verily, it is but the word of a man.'' We will surely cast him into Hell-fire to be burned. And what shall teach thee what Hell-fire is ? It leaveth nought and spareth nought, Blackening the skin of man. 30 Over it are nineteen angels. None but angels have we made guardians of the fire ; l nor have we made this to be their number but to perplex those who believe not, in order that they to whom the Scriptures have been given may be certain of the truth of the Koran, and in order to increase the faith of those who believe ; And that they to whom the Scriptures have been given, and the believers, may not be in doubt ; And that the infirm of heart and the unbelievers may say, What meaneth God by this figure of speech ? Thus God misleadeth whom He will, and whom He will doth He guide aright ; and none knoweth the armies of thy Lord but He; and this is no other than a warning to mankind. Nay, by the Moon ! And by the Night when it retreateth ! And by the Morn when it brighteneth ! Verily, Hell is one of the most grievous ivoes, Fraught with warning to man, 40 To him among you who desireth to press forward, or to remain behind.2 For its own works lieth every soul in pledge. But they of God's right hand In their gardens make inquiry of the wicked ; — " What hath cast you into Hell-fire V'3 They will say, " We were not of those who prayed, And we were not of those who fed the poor, And we plunged into vain disputes with vain disputers, And we rejected as a lie the day of reckoning, 1 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 un- decided, and Idolaters. These are constantly mentioned together in the Medina Suras. 2 That is, who believe, and do not believe. 3 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. 6 THE KORAN. Till the Certainty1 came upon us" — Therefore intercession of interceders shall not avail them. 50 What then hath come to them that they turn aside from the Warning As if they were affrighted asses fleeing from a lion ? But every one of them would fain have open pages given to him out of Heaven ! Nay, but they fear not the life to come. Nay, verily this Koran is a warning,2 and whoso will, beareth it in mind ; But not unless God please, will they bear it in mind. Meet is He to be feared, and meet is forgiveness in Him. [III.] SURA LXXIIL— THE ENFOLDED.3 Mecca. — 20 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. 0 Thou ENFOLDED in thy mantle, * Stand up all night, except a small portion of it, for prayer : Half ; or curtail the half a little, — Or add to it : And with measured tone intone the Koran ; 5 1 That is, death. Beidh. Comp. Sura xv. 99. 2 Lit. that which brings to mind, a remembrancer. 3 From the first line of this Sura, and its expressions concerning the Koran, Prayer, and Future Punishment, from the similarity of the tra- dition with regard to its having been preceded by a vision of Gabriel (Beidh., &c), 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. 4 This, as well as v. 1 of the preceding Sura, may be equivalent, not- withstanding the traditions, to 0 thou sleeper. The Oriental is content with a single covering for the head and body, as all his bedclothes. 5 Singe den Koran laut. H. v. P. Psalle Alcoranum psallendo. Mar. Singe den Koran mit singender und lauter Stimme ab. Ullm. V. Sprenger's Leben Mohammad, i. 321, 322. THE KORAN. 7 Lo, We devolve on thee weighty words. Verily, the oncoming of night is most fitted for earnest devotion, and words are more collected ; 1 (Verily in the daytime thou hast continual employ — ) And commemorate the name of thy Lord, and devote thyself to Him with entire devotion ; Lord of the East and of the West ! No God is there but He ! Take Him then for thy guardian, 10 And endure what they say with patience, and depart from them with a decorous departure. And let me alone with the gainsayers, rich in the pleasures of this life ; and bear thou with them yet a little while ; — Verily with Us are strong fetters, and a flaming fire, And food that choketh, and a sore torment, On the day when the earth and the mountains shall tremble ; and the mountains shall become a loose sand-heap. Verily, we have sent you an Apostle to bear witness to yon, even as we sent an Apostle to Pharaoh : But Pharaoh rebelled against the Apostle, and we laid hold on him with a severe chastisement. And how, if ye believe not, will ye screen yourselves from the day that shall turn children grey- headed? The heaven shall be rent asunder by it : it is a threat that shall be carried into effect. Lo ! this is a warning. Let him then who will, take the way to his Lord. % 20 Of a truth,2 thy Lord knoweth that thou prayest almost two -thirds, or half, or a third of the night, as do 1 Or, for keeping doivn improper thought, and more suitable for correct pronunciation. 3 This verso, according to a tradition of Ayesha, was revealed one year later than the previous part of the Sura. Noldeke says it is " offeubar ein Medinischer." V. Dr. Sprenger as above, note 5, p. 6. It need not, however, surprise us to find in the very outset of Muhammad's career a frequent mention of Alms, Prayer, Heaven, Hell, Judgment, Apostles, &c, in their usual sense, when we remember that Judaism was exten- sively naturalized in Arabia, and Christianity also! although to a smaller extent— in fact, only, says Mr. Muir, among " the Bani Harith of Najran, the Bani Hanifa of Yemama, and some of the Bani Tay at Tayma, and hardly any more." The words and phrases of these religions were doubt- less familiar to the Meccans, especially to that numerous body who were anxiously searching after something better than the idolatries of their fathers (v. on Sura iii. 19, 60), and provided Muhammad with a copious fund from which to draw his materials. 8 THE KORAN. 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 there- fore so much of it as may be easy. And observe the Prayers and pay the legal Alms, 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 recom- pense. And seek the forgiveness of God : verily, God is forgiving, Merciful. [IV.] SURA XCIII.1— THE BRIGHTNESS. Mecca. — 11 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. By the noon-day BRIGHTNESS, And by the night when it darkeneth ! Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither hath He hated thee, And surely the Future shall be better for thee than the Present, And thy Lord shall assuredly be bounteous to thee and thou be satisfied. Did He not find thee an orphan 2 and provide thee a home? 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. 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, &c. THE KORAN. And He found thee erring and guided thee,1 And found thee needy and enriched thee. As to the orphan therefore wrong him not ; 10 And as to him that asketh of thee, chide him not away; And as for the favours of thy Lord, tell them then abroad. [V.] SURA XCIV.— THE OPENING. Mecca. — 8 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Have we not OPENED thy breast for thee ? And taken off from thee thy burden, Which galled thy back ? And have we not upraised thy name for thee ? Then verily along with the difficulty cometh ease. Verily along with the difficulty cometh ease. But when thou art set at liberty,3 be instant (in prayer), And seek thy Lord with fervour. [VI.] SURA CXIII.— THE DAYBREAK Mecca. — 5 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Say : I betake me for refuge to the Lord of the DAY- BREAK Against the mischief of his creation ; 1 Up to his fortieth 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. 2 Lit. hast ended (thy preaching) or (thy relaxation). 10 THE KORAN. And against the mischief of the first darkness when it c-verspreadeth ; 1 And against the mischief of enchantresses ; 2 And against the mischief of the envier when he envieth. [VII.] SURA CXIV.— MEN. Mecca. — 6 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Say : I betake me for refuge to the Lord of MEN, The King of men, The God of men, Against the mischief of the stealthily withdrawing whisperer,3 Who whispereth in man's breast — Against djinn and men. [VIIL] SURA4 I.— THE OPENING. Mecca. — 7 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds ! The compassionate, the merciful ! 1 Or, of the moon when it is eclipsed. 2 Lit. women who blow on knots. According to some commentators, an allusion to a species of charm. Coinp. Virg. Ec. viii. 77. But the reference, more probably, is to women in general, who disconcert schemes as thread is disentangled by blowing upon it. Suras cxiii. cxiv. are called the el momvwidhetani, or preservative chapters, are engraved on amulets, &c. 3 Satan ; who hides himself at the Name of God. 4 This Sura, which Noldeke places last, and Muir sixth, in the earliest class of Meccan Suras, must at least have been composed prior to Sura xxxvii. 182, -where it is quoted, and to Sura xv. 87, which refers to it. And it can scarcely be an accidental circumstance that the words THE KORAN. 11 King on the day of judgment ! Thee only do we worship, and to Thee do we cry for help. Guide Thou us on the right path,1 The path of those to whom Thou art gracious ; Not of those with whom Thou art angered, nor of those who go astray.2 [IX.] SURA CIX.— UNBELIEVERS. Mecca. — 6 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Say : 0 ye UNBELIEVERS ! I worship not what ye worship, of the first, second, and fifth verses do not occur in any other Suras of the first Meccan period as given by Noldeke, but frequently in those of the second, which it therefore, in Noldeke's opinion, immediately pre- cedes. But this may be accounted for by its having been recast for the purposes of private and public devotion by Muhammad himself, which is the meaning probably of the Mukammadan tradition that it was revealed twice. It should also be observed, that including the auspicatory formula, there are the same number of petitions in this Sura as in the Lord's Prayer. It is recited several times in each of the five daily prayers, and on many other occasions, as in concluding a bargain, &c. It is termed " the Opening of the Book," " the Completion," " the Sufficing Sura," " the Sura of Praise, Thanks, and Prayer," " the Healer," " the Remedy," " the Basis," " the Treasure," " the Mother of the Book," " the Seven Verses of Repetition." The Muhammadans always say "Amen" after this prayer, Muhammad having been instructed, says the Sonna, to do so by the Angel Gabriel. 1 Islam. 2 The commentators refer the first clause of line 7 to the Jews, the latter to the Christians. The following transfer of this Sura from the Arabic into the corre- sponding English characters may give some idea of the rhyming prose in which the Koran is written : — Bismillahi 'rrahhmani 'rrahheem El-hamdoo lillahi rabi 'lalameen Arrahhmani raheem Maliki yowmi-d-deen Eyaka naboodoo, wa^yaka nestaeen Ihdina 'ssirat almostakeem Sirat alezeena anhamta aleihim Gheiri-'l mughdoobi aleihim, wala dsaleen. Amen. 12 THE K0KAN. And ye are not worshippers of what I worship ; And I am not a worshipper of what ye have wor- shipped, And ye are not worshippers of what I worship. To you your religion ; and to me my religion.1 [X.] SUKA CXII.-THE UNITY. Mecca. — 4 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Say : He is one God : God the everlasting ! He begetteth not, and He is not begotten ; And there is none like unto Him. [XL] SURA CXI.— ABU LAHAB. Mecca. — 5 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Let the hands of ABU LAHAB perish/ and let him- self perish ! His wealth and his gains shall avail him not. 1 This Sura is said to have been revealed when Walid urged Muhammad to consent that his God should be worshipped at the same time with the old Meccan deities, or alternately every year. Hishami, 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. 2 Or shall perish. 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, and hence called, according to some, the carrier of wood in the text. But the rendering given above harmonizes best with the context. The following six Suras, like the two first, have special reference to the difficulties which the Prophet met with in the outset of his career, especially from the rich . THE KORAN. 13 Burned shall he be at the fiery flame,1 And his wife laden with the fire-wood, — On her neck a rope of twisted palm-fibre. [XII.] SURA CVIIL— THE ABUNDANCE. Mecca. — 3 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Truly we have given thee an ABUNDANCE ; 2 Pray therefore to thy Lord, and slay the victims.3 Verily whoso hateth thee shall be childless.4 pan.] SURA CIV.— THE BACKBITER. Mecca.— 9 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Woe to every BACKBITER, Defamer ! Who hath amassed wealth and stored it against the future ! He thinketh that his wealth hath made him immortal. Nay ! he shall surely be flung into the Crushing Fire (Hotama) ; And what shall teach thee what the Crushing Fire is ? It is God's kindled fire, Which shall mount above the hearts of the damned ; It shall verily rise over them like a vault, On outstretched columns. i In allusion to the meaning of Abu Lahab, father of flame. 2 Conip. xciii. 6, p. 9. 3 See Sura xxii. 38, n. 4 A reply to those who had taunted Muhammad with the death of his sons Al-Kasim and Abd-Manaf, as a mark of the divine displeasure. Lit. tail-less. As Manaf is the name of a Meccan idol, Muhammad must have thus named his child long before he had conceived the idea of founding a new religion. 14 THE KORAN. [XIV.] SURA CVII.— HELP, or ALMS. Mecca. — 7 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. What thinkest thou of him who treateth the day of judgment as a lie ? He it is who thrusteth away the orphan, And stirreth not others up to feed the poor. Woe then to those who pray, Who in their prayer are careless ; Who make a show of devotion, But refuse help to the needy.1 [XV.] SURA OIL— DESIRE. Mecca. — 8 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. The DESIRE of increasing riches occupieth you, Till ye come to the grave. Nay ! but in the end ye shall know — Nay ! once more ; in the end ye shall know your folly. Nay ! would that ye knew it with knowledge of cer- tainty ! Surely shall ye see hell-fire. Then shall ye surely see it with the eye of certainty ; Then shall ye surely on that day be taken to task concerning the pleasures of this life. 1 Lit. common necessaries, or alms. THE KORAN. 15 [XVL] SURA XCII— THE NIGHT. Mecca. — 21 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. By the NIGHT when she spreadeth her veil ; By the Day when it appeareth in glory ; By Him who made male and female ; Verily your aims are indeed different ! As then for him who giveth alms and feareth God, And yieldeth assent to the Good ; To him will We therefore make easy the path to hap- piness. But as to him who is covetous and bent on riches, And calleth the Good a lie, 10 To him will We make easy the path to distress; And what shall his wealth avail him when he goeth down headlong ? Truly man's guidance is with Us, And Ours, the next Life and this life Present. I warn you therefore of the naming fire ; None shall be burned at it but the most wretched, — Who hath called the truth a lie and turned his back. But the greatly God-fearing shall escape it, — Who giveth away his substance that he may become pure ; 1 And who offereth not favours to any one for the sake of recompense, 20 But only as seeking the face of his Lord the Most High. And assuredly in the end he shall be well content. 1 Comp. Luke xi. 41. Muhammad perhaps derived this view of the meritorious nature of almsgiving from the Jewish oral law. ]Q THE KORAN." [XVII.] SURA LXVIIL— THE PEN. Mecca. — 52 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Nun.1 By the PEN 2 and by what they write, Thou, 0 Prophet; by the grace of thy Lord art not possessed ! 3 And truly a boundless recompense doth await thee, And verily thou art of a noble nature ; 4 And thou shalt see and they shall see Which of you is the demented. Now thy Lord ! well knoweth He who erreth from his path, and well doth He know who have yielded to Guidance ; Give not place, therefore, to those who treat thee as a liar: They desire thee to deal smoothly with them : then would they deal smoothly with thee : 10 But yield not to every man of oaths, despicable, Defamer, going about with slander, 1 It has been conjectured, that as the word Nun means fish, there may be a reference to the fish which swallowed Jonas (v. 48). The fact, how- ever, is that the meaning of this and of the similar symbols throughout the Koran, though here it obviously points to the Rhyme, was unknown to the Muhammadans themselves, even in the first century. Possibly the letters Ha, Mim, which are prefixed to numerous successive Suras, were private marks, or initial letters, attached by their proprietor to the copies fur- nished to Said when effecting his recension of the text under Othman. In the same way, the letters prefixed to other Suras may be monograms, or abbreviations, or initial letters of the names of the persons to whom the copies of the respective Suras belonged. This subject is discussed hy Beidhawi on Sura ii. (the Cow), and an excellent translation of his remarks is to be found in De Sacy's Anthol. Arab. pp. 1-10. 2 This Sura has been supposed by ancient Muslim authorities to be, if not the oldest, the second revelation, and to have followed Sura xcvi. But this opinion probably originated from the expression in v. 1 compared with Sura xcvi. 4. Verses 17-33 read like a later addition, and this pas- sage, as well as verses 48-50, has been classed with the Medina revelations. In the absence of any reliable criterion for fixing the date, I have placed this Sura with those which detail the opposition encountered by the Prophet at Mecca. 3 By djinn. Comp. Sura xxxiv. 45. 4 In bearing the taunts of the unbelievers with patience. THE KORAN. 17 Hinderer of good, transgressor, criminal, Harsh — beside this, impure of birth, Though a man of riches and with sons ; Who, when our wondrous verses (signs) are recited to him saith — " Fables of the ancients " — On the nostrils will we brand him. Verily, we have proved them (the Meccans) as we proved the owners of the garden, when they swore that at morn they would cut its fruits; But added no reserve ; l Wherefore an encircling desolation from thy Lord swept round it while they slumbered, 20 And in the morning it was like a garden whose fruits had all been cut. Then at dawn they called to each other, " Go out early to your field, if ye would cut your dates. " So on they went and said to each other in a low voice, " No poor man shall this day enter your garden for you : » And they went out at daybreak with this settled purpose, And when they beheld it, they said, " Truly we have been in fault : Yes ! we are forbidden our fruits." The most rightminded of them said, " Did I not say to you, Will ye not give praise to God ? " They said, " Glory to our Lord ! Truly we have done amiss." 30 And they fell to blaming one another : They said, " Oh woe to us ! we have indeed trans- gressed ! Haply our Lord will give us in exchange a better garden than this : verily we crave it of our Lord." Such our chastisement — but heavier assuredly shall be the chastisement of the next world : did they but know it. Verily, for the God-fearing are gardens of delight in the presence of their Lord. Shall we then deal with those who have surrendered themselves to God (Muslims), as with those who offend Him ? What hath befallen you that ye thus judge ? 1 They did not add the restriction, if God will. c 18 THE KORAN. Have ye a Scripture wherein ye can search out That ye shall have the things ye choose ? Or have ye oaths which shall bind Us even until the day of the resurrection, that ye shall have what yourselves judge right? 40 Ask them which of them will guarantee this ? Or is it that they have gods with God ? let them pro- duce those associate-gods of theirs, if they be men of truth. On a certain day the leg shall be bared,1 and men shall be called upon to bow in adoration, but shall not be able ; Their looks downcast — shame shall cover them — because, while yet in safety, they were invited to bow in worship, but would not obey. Leave me alone therefore with him who chargeth this revelation with imposture. We will lead them by degrees to their ruin by ways which they know not; Yet will I bear long with them ; for my plan is sure. ^f Askest thou a recompense from them ? But they are burdened with debt. Are the secret things within their ken so that they copy them from the Book of God ? Patiently then await the judgment of thy Lord, and be not like him who was in the fish,2 when in deep distress he cried to God ; Had not favour from his Lord reached him, cast forth would he have been on the naked shore, dis- graced ; 50 But his Lord chose him and made him of the just. And of a truth almost would the infidels strike thee down3 with their looks when they hear the warning of the Koran. And they say, "Lo, he is certainly possessed ; " Yet is it nothing less than a warning for all creatures. 1 An expression implying a grievous calamity ; borrowed probably from the action of stripping previous to flight, &c. 2 Lit. the companion of the fish. Comp. on Jonah, Sura xxxvii. 139- 148, and Sura xxi. 87. 3 Lit. cause thee to slip. THE KORAN. 19 [xvni.] SURA XC— THE TERRITORY. Mecca. — 20 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. I swear by this TERRITORY, And in this territory thou dost dwell, And by sire and offspring I1 Surely in trouble have we created man. Thinketh he that no one hath any power over him ? " I have wasted/' saith he, " enormous riches ! " Thinketh he that no one regardeth him ? Have we not made him eyes, And tongue, and lips, 10 And guided him to the two highways? 2 Yet he attempted not the steep. And what shall teach thee what the steep is ? It is to ransom the captive,3 Or to feed in the day of famine The orphan who is near of kin, or the poor that lieth 4 in the dust ; Beside this, to be of those who believe, and enjoin steadfastness on each other, and enjoin compas- sion on each other. These shall be the people of the right hand : While they who disbelieve our signs, Shall be the people of the left — 20 Over them shall be a vault of fire.5 1 Lit. and begetter and ivhat he hath begotten. The commentators state that what follows has reference to one of Muhammad's most determined Meccan opponents, Walid ben el Mogheira. 3 Of good and evil. 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." 4 Lit. familiar with, possessed of nothing but (his mother earth). 1 Lit. closed over, or vaulted. c 2 20 THE KORAN. [XIX.] SURA CV.— THE ELEPHANT. Mecca. — 5 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Hast thou not seen1 how thy Lord dealt with the army of the ELEPHANT ? Did He not cause their stratagem to miscarry ? And He sent against them birds in flocks, Claystones did they hurl down upon them. And He made them like stubble eaten down ! [XX.] SURA CVL— THE KOREISH. Mecca. — 4 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. For the union of the KOREISH .— Their union in equipping caravans winter and summer. Let them then worship the lord of this house, who provideth them with food against hunger, And secureth them against alarm.2 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 de- liverance from the army of Abraha (strengthened by thirteen elephants), 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 ; Hisham), 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 showed itself in Arabia at the time of the invasion by Abraha. M. de Hammer Gemal- desaal, i. 24. Reiske, opusc. Med. Arabum. Halae, 1776, p. 8. 8 In allusion to the ancient inviolability of the Haram, or precinct round Mecca. See Sura xcv. n. p. 25. This Sura, therefore, like the preceding, is a brief appeal to the Meccans on the ground of their peculiar privileges. THE KORAN. 21 [XXI.] SURA XCVIL-POWER, or AL KADR. Mecca. — 5 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Verily, we have caused It1 to descend on the night of POWER. And what shall teach thee what the night of power is ? The night of power is better than a thousand months : Therein descend the angels and the Spirit by per- mission of their Lord for every matter ; 2 All is peace until the breaking of the morn. [XXII.] SURA LXXXVL— THE NIGHT-COMER. Mecca. — 17 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. By the heaven, and by the NIGHT-COMER ! But what shall teach thee what the night-comer is ? 'Tis the star of piercing radiance. Verily every soul has of a surety a guardian over it. Let man then reflect out of what he was created. He was created of the poured-forth germs, Which issue from between the loins and breastbones : Well able truly is God to restore him to life, — On the day when all secrets shall be searched out, 10 And he shall have no other might or helper. 1 The Koran, which, so far as already revealed, is now pressed on the Meccans with increasing prominence, as will be seen in many succeeding Suras of this period. 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 inter- mediate. The perfectly righteous are inscribed and sealed for life," &c. Bab. Talm. Rosh. Hash., § 1. 22 THE KORAN. I swear by the heaven which accomplisheth its revo- lution, And by the earth which openeth her bosom, That this Koran is indeed a discriminating discourse, And that it is not frivolous. They verily plot a plot against thee, And I will plot a plot against them. Deal gently therefore with the infidels ; grant them a gentle respite. [XXIII.] SURA XCL— THE SUN. Mecca. — 15 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. By the SUN and his (her) noonday brightness ! By the Moon when she followeth him ! By the Day when it revealeth his glory ! By the Night when it enshroudeth him ! By the Heaven and Him who built it ! By the Earth and Him who spread it forth ! By a Soul and Him who balanced it, And breathed into it its wickedness and its piety, Happy is he who hath kept it pure, 10 And undone is he who hath corrupted it ! Thamood x in his impiety rejected the message of the Lord, When the greatest wretch among them rushed up : — And the Apostle of God said to them, — " The Camel of God ! and let her drink." But they treated him as an impostor and hamstrung her. So their Lord destroyed them for their crime, and visited all alike : Nor feared He the issue. 1 See Sura vii 33, for the story of ThamoocL THE KORAN. 23 [XXIV.] SURA LXXX.— HE FROWNED. Mecca. — 42 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. HE FROWNED, and he turned his back/ Because the blind man came to him ! But what made thee know whether he would not aim at holiness,2 Or be warned, and the warning profit him ? As to him who has become wealthy — Him therefore thou didst receive with honour : Yet is it not thy concern that he endeavours not to be pure ; 3 But as to him who cometh to thee in earnest, And full of fears — 1 0 Him dost thou neglect. Do not so. Yerily it (the Koran) is a warning; (And whoso is willing beareth it in mind) Written on honoured pages, Exalted, purified, By the hands of Scribes, honoured, righteous. Cursed be man ! What hath made him unbelieving ? Of what thing did God create him ? Out of moist germs.4 He created him and fashioned him, 20 Then made him an easy passage from the womb, Then causeth him to die and burieth him ; Then, when He pleaseth, will raise him again to life. Nay ! but man hath not yet fulfilled the bidding of his Lord. Let man then look at his food : It was We who rained down the copious rains, 1 We are told in the traditions, &c, that when engaged in converse with Walid, a chief man among the Koreish, Muhammad was interrupted by the blind Abdallah Ibn Omm Maktum, who asked to hear the Koran. The Prophet spoke very roughly to him at the time, but afterwards re- pented, and treated him ever after with the greatest respect. So much so, that he twice made him Governor of Medina. s Lit. what lets thee know whether he will, &c. 3 That is, embrace Islam, and so become pure from sin. * Ex spermate. 24 THE KORAN. Then cleft the earth with clefts j So caused We the upgrowth of the grain, And grapes and healing herbs, And the olive and the palm, 30 And enclosed gardens thick with trees, And fruits and herbage, Provision for yourselves and for your cattle. But when the stunning trumpet-blast shall arrive,1 On that day shall a man fly from his brother, And his mother and his father, And his wife and his children ; For every man of them on that day his own concern shall be enough. There shall be faces on that day radiant, Laughing and joyous : 40 And faces on that day with dust upon them : Blackness shall cover them ! These are the Unbelievers, the Impure. [XXV.] SURA LXXXVIL— THE MOST HIGH. Mecca. — 19 Verses, In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Peaisb the name of thy Lord THE MOST HIGH, Who hath created and balanced all things, And who hath fixed their destinies and guided them ; Who bringeth forth the pastures, Then reduceth them to dusky stubble. We will teach thee to recite the Koran, nor aught shalt thou forget, Save what God pleaseth ; He verily knoweth alike the manifest and what is hidden ; And we will make easy for thee the easiest way.2 1 Descriptions of the Day of Judgment now become very frequent. See Suras pp. 28, 29, and almost every Sura to the fifty-fifth, after which they become gradually more historical. In the early part of his career, Muhammad appears to represent the day of doom as near at hand. 3 i. e. in matters of faith. I'HE KORAN. 25 Warn therefore ; verily the warning is profitable : 10 He that feareth God will receive the warning, — And the greatest wretch only will turn aside from it, Who shall be burned at the terrible fire ; Then shall he not die therein, and shall not live. Happy he who is purified by Islam, And remembereth the name of his Lord and prayeth. But ye prefer this present life, Though the life to come is better and more enduring. This truly is in the Books of old, The Books of Abraham x and Moses. [XXVI.] SURA XCV.— THE FIG. Mecca. — 8 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. I swear by the FIG and by the olive, By Mount Sinai, And by this inviolate soil ! - Of goodliest fabric have we created man, Then brought him down to be the lowest of the low;3 — Save who believe and do the things that are right, for theirs shall be a reward that faileth not. Then, what henceforth shall make thee treat the Judg- ment as a lie ? Is not God the most just of judges ? 1 Thus the Rabbins attribute the Book Jezirah to Abraham. See Fabr. Cod. Apoc. V. T. p. 349. 2 In allusion to the sacredness of the territory of Mecca. This valley, in about the fourth century of our era, was a kind of sacred forest of thirty-seven 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 Koreish had monopolized most of the offices and advantages of the Haram in the time of Muhammad. See Sprenger"s Life of Mohammad, p. 7-20. 3 This may refer to the tradition of the judgment inflicted on the sinners mentioned Sura vii. 166. 26 THE KORAN. [XXVII.] SURA CIIL— THE AFTERNOON. Mecca. — 3 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. I swear by the declining day ! Verily man's lot is one of loss,1 Save those who believe and do the things which be right, and enjoin truth, and enjoin steadfastness on each other. [XXVIII.] SURA LXXXV.— THE STARRY. Mecca. — 22 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. By the star-bespangled Heaven ! 2 By the predicted Day ! By the witness and the witnessed ! 3 Cursed the masters of the trench 4 Of the fuel-fed fire, When they sat over against it And were witnesses of what they inflicted on the believers ! 1 This Sura is said to have been recited in the Mosque, shortly before his death, by Muhammad. See Weil, p. 328. s Lit. by the Beaven furnished with towers ; the signs of the Zodiac. See Sura xv. 15. 3 That is, by Muhammad and by Islam ; or, Muhammad and the Resurrection. See, however, v. 7. 4 Prepared by Dhn Nowas, kiDg 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 Noldeke (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 Uttle allusion to Jewish or Christian legends. A third interpretation is given by Dr. Sprenger, i. 465. THE KORAN. 27 Nor did they dislike them but for their faith in God, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy : x His the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth; and God is the witness of everything. 10 Verily, those who vexed the' believers, men and women, and repented not, doth the torment of Hell, and the torment of the burning, await. Verily 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 ! Verily, right terrible will be thy Lord's vengeance ! Lo, He it is who produceth all things, and causeth them to return ; And is He the Indulgent, the Loving ; Possessor of the Glorious throne ; Worker of that He willeth. Hath the story reached thee of the hosts Of Pharaoh and Thamood ? Nay ! the infidels are all for denial ; 20 But God surroundeth them from behind. Yet it is a glorious Koran, Written on the preserved Table. [XXIX.] SURA CI.— THE BLOW. Mecca. — 8 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. The BLOW ! what is the Blow ? And what shall teach thee what the Blow is ? The Day when men shall be like scattered moths, And the mountains shall be like carded dyed wool ! Then as to him whose balances are heavy — his shall be a life that shall please him well : 1 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 changes in the rhymes. 28 THE KORAN. And as to him whose balances are light — his dwelling- place x shall be the lowest pit of Hell. And what shall teach thee what that pit is ? A raging fire ! [XXX.] SURA XCIX.— THE EARTHQUAKE. Mecca. — 8 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. When the Earth is shaken with its shaking,2 And (when) the Earth hath cast forth her burdens, And man shall say, What aileth her ? On that day shall she tell out her tidings, Because thy Lord hath inspired her. On that day shall men come forward in bands to behold their works, And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's 3 weight of good shall behold it, And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of evil shall behold it. [XXXI.] SURA LXXXIL— THE CLOVEN. Mecca.— 19 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. When the Heaven shall be CLOVEN asunder, And when the stars shall be scattered, And when the seas 4 shall be commingled, Aud when the graves shall be turned upside down, 1 Lit. Mother. 2 i. e. the earthquake which is to follow the blast of the Archangel's trumpet. 3 Lit. a single ant. 4 Salt water and fresh water. THE KORAN. 29 Each soul shall recognize its earliest and its latest actions.1 O man ! what hath seduced thee from thy generous Lord, Who created thee and moulded thee and disposed thee aright? In the form which pleased Him hath He fashioned thee. Nay ! but ye treat the Judgment as a lie. 10 Yet truly there are guardians over you — Illustrious recorders — Cognisant of your actions. Surely amid delights shall the righteous dwell, But verily the wicked in Hell-fire : They shall be burned at it on the day of doom, And they shall not be hidden from it. What shall teach thee what the day of Judgment is ? Once more. What shall teach thee what the day of Judgment is ? It is a day when one soul shall be powerless for another soul ; and all on that day shall be in the hands of God.2 [XXXII.] SURA LXXXL— THE FOLDED UP. Mecca.— 29 Verses. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. When the sun shall be FOLDED UP/ And when the stars shall shoot downwards, And when the mountains shall be set in motion, And when the camels ten months gone with foal shall be abandoned, And when the wild beasts shall be gathered together,4 And when the seas shall be swollen, 1 Or, what it hath done and left undone. 2 Lit. and the matter on that day to God. 3 Involutus fuerit tenehris. Mar. Coinp. tXi££