The Koran/The Q'uran
by
Mohammed/Mohammad/Muhamad/Muhammad/Mohomet

Part 14 out of 14




Only the faithful are brethren; wherefore make peace between
your brethren; and fear God, that ye may obtain mercy.

O Believers! let not men laugh men to scorn who haply may be
better than themselves; neither let women laugh women to scorn
who may haply be better than themselves!6 Neither defame one
another, nor call one another by nicknames. Bad is it to be called
wicked after having professed the faith:7 and whoso repent not of
this are doers of wrong.

O Believers! avoid frequent suspicions, for some suspicions are a
crime; and pry not: neither let the one of you traduce another in his
absence. Would any one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead
brother? Surely ye would loathe it. And fear ye God: for God is
Ready to turn, Merciful.

O men! verily, we have created you of a male and a female; and
we have divided you into peoples and tribes that ye might have
knowledge one of another. Truly, the most worthy of honour in the
sight of God is he who feareth Him most.8 Verily, God is Knowing,
Cognisant.

The Arabs of the desert9 say, "We believe." Say thou: Ye believe
not; but rather say, "We profess Islam;" for the faith hath not yet
found its way into your hearts. But if ye obey God and His Apostle,
he will not allow you to lose any of your actions: for God is
Indulgent, Merciful.

The true believers are those only who believe in God and His
Apostle, and afterwards doubt not; and who contend with their
substance and their persons on the path of God. These are the
sincere.

Say: Will ye teach God about your religion? when God knoweth
whatever is in the Heavens and on the Earth: yea, God hath
knowledge of all things.

They taunt thee with their having embraced Islam.10 Say: Taunt me
not with your having embraced Islam: God rather taunteth you
with His having guided you to the faith: acknowledge this if ye are
sincere.

Verily, God knoweth the secrets of the Heavens and of the Earth:
and God beholdeth what ye do.

_______________________

1 Or anticipate not, take not the lead of God and His Apostle.

2 All the ancient Interpreters (as His. 933 ff., Ibn Sa'd. 320, Tab.
Aganlt. 116 f. comp. also Weil 244 ff., Caussin, iii. 271) refer
from 1-5 to the disrespectful demeanour, in Muhammad's
presence, of the envoys of the Banu Tamim in Hej. 9 or 10.

3 Lit. from without.

4 The commentators mentioned in the last note, as well as others,
explain this verse of Al Walid ben Uqba, who had brought a false
report of the refusal of the Banu'lmustaliq to pay certain alms
which Muhammad had sent him to demand. This Al Walid became
governor of Kufa under Othman. He probably was never really
converted to Islam.

5 Upon this passage 91-2, die Muslimen, says N”ldeke,
verschiedene Geschichten erz„hlen, so dass sich Nichts sicher
bestimmen I„sst, p. 164. This remark applies to the great mass of
Muhammadan comment.

6 Said to refer to Safia, one of Muhammad's wives. who had been
taunted by his other wives with being a Jewess.

7 Lit. Bad the name, wickedness, after faith.

8 That is, not the most nobly born, like the Koreisch. This verse is
said to have been revealed in Mecca on the day of its conquest.
See Weil, Leben, p.372, and n.

9 The Ban– Asad had come to Medina in a year of famine to seek
support for themselves and families, and made profession of
Islamism. Beidh. Thus, also Ibn Sad. Tabari. Wah.

10 As if by so doing they had conferred a favour on the Prophet.

SURA IX.1 IMMUNITY [CXIII.]

Medina. 130 Verses

An IMMUNITY from God and His Apostle to those with whom ye
are in league, among the Polytheist Arabs! (those who join gods
with God).

Go ye, therefore, at large in the land four months: but know that
God ye shall not weaken;2 and that those who believe not, God
will put to shame

And a proclamation on the part of God and His Apostle to the
people on the day of the greater pilgrimage, that God is free from
any engagement with the votaries of other gods with God as is His
Apostle! If, therefore, ye turn to God it will be better for you; but if
ye turn back, then know that ye shall not weaken God: and to those
who believe not, announce thou a grievous punishment.

But this concerneth not those Polytheists with whom ye are in
league, and who shall have afterwards in no way failed you, nor
aided anyone against you. Observe, therefore, engagement with
them through the whole time of their treaty: for God loveth those
who fear Him.

And when the sacred months3 are passed, kill those who join other
gods with God wherever ye shall find them; and seize them,
besiege them, and lay wait for them with every kind of ambush:
but if they shall convert, and observe prayer, and pay the
obligatory alms, then let them go their way, for God is Gracious,
Merciful.

If any one of those who join gods with God ask an asylum of thee,
grant him an asylum, that he may hear the Word of God, and then
let him reach his place of safety. This, for that they are people
devoid of knowledge.

How shall they who add gods to God be in league with God and
with His Apostle, save those with whom ye made a league at the
sacred temple? So long as they are true to you, be ye true to them;
for God loveth those who fear Him.

How can they? since if they prevail against you, they will not
regard in you either ties of blood or faith. With their mouths will
they content you, but their hearts will be averse. The greater part
of them are perverse doers.

They sell the signs of God for a mean price, and turn others aside
from his way: evil is it that they do!

They regard not in a believer either ties of blood or faith; these are
the transgressors!

Yet if they turn to God and observe prayer, and pay the impost,
then are they your brethren in religion. We make clear our signs to
those who understand.

But if, after alliance made, they break their oaths and revile your
religion, then do battle with the ring-leaders of infidelity for no
oaths are binding with them that they may desist.

What! will ye not fight against those Meccans who have broken
their oaths and aimed to expel your Apostle, and attacked you
first? Will ye dread them? God is more worthy of your fear, if ye
are believers!

So make war on them: By your hands will God chastise them, and
will put them to shame, and will give you victory over them, and
will heal the bosoms of a people who believe;

And will take away the wrath of their hearts. God will be turned
unto whom He will: and God is Knowing, Wise.

Think ye that ye shall be forsaken as if God did not yet know those
among you who do valiantly, and take none for their friends beside
God, and His Apostle, and the faithful? God is well apprised of
your doings.

It is not for the votaries of other gods with God, witnesses against
themselves of infidelity, to visit the temples of God. These! vain
their works: and in the fire shall they abide for ever!

He only should visit the temples of God who believeth in God and
the last day, and observeth prayer, and payeth the legal alms, and
dreadeth none but God. These haply will be among the rightly
guided.

Do ye place the giving drink to the pilgrims, and the visitation of
the sacred temple,4 on the same level with him who believeth in
God and the last day, and fighteth on the way of God? They shall
not be held equal by God: and God guideth not the unrighteous.

They who have believed, and fled their homes, and striven with
their substance and with their persons on the path of God, shall be
of highest grade with God: and these are they who shall be happy!

Tidings of mercy from Himself, and of His good pleasure, doth
their Lord send them, and of gardens in which lasting pleasure
shall be theirs;

Therein shall they abide for ever; for God! with Him is a great
reward.

O Believers! make not friends of your fathers or your brethren if
they love unbelief above faith: and whoso of you shall make them
his friends, will be wrong doers.

Say: If your fathers, and your sons, and your brethren, and your
wives, and your kindred, and the wealth which ye have gained, and
merchandise which ye fear may be unsold, and dwellings wherein
ye delight, be dearer to you than God and His Apostle and efforts
on his Path, then wait until God shall Himself enter on His work:5
and God guideth not the impious.

Now hath God helped you in many battlefields, and, on the day of
Honein,6 when ye prided yourselves on your numbers; but it
availed you nothing; and the earth, with all its breadth, became too
straight for you:7 then turned ye your backs in flight:

Then did God send down His spirit of repose8 upon His Apostle,
and upon the faithful, and He sent down the hosts which ye saw
not, and He punished the Infidels: This, the Infidels' reward!

Yet, after this, will God be turned to whom He pleaseth; for God is
Gracious, Merciful!

O Believers! only they who join gods with God are unclean! Let
them not, therefore, after this their year, come near the sacred
Temple. And if ye fear want,9 God, if He please, will enrich you of
His abundance: for God is Knowing, Wise.

Make war upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been
given as believe not in God, or in the last day, and who forbid not
that which God and His Apostle have forbidden, and who profess
not the profession of the truth, until they pay tribute out of hand,10
and they be humbled.11

The Jews say, "Ezra (Ozair) is a son of God";12 and the Christians
say, "The Messiah is a son of God." Such the sayings in their
mouths! They resemble the saying of the Infidels of old! God do
battle with them! How are they misguided!

They take their teachers, and their monks, and the Messiah, son of
Mary, for Lords13 beside God, though bidden to worship one God
only. There is no God but He! Far from His glory be what they
associate with Him!

Fain would they put out God's light with their mouths: but God
only desireth to perfect His light, albeit the Infidels abhor it.

He it is who hath sent His Apostle with the Guidance and a
religion of the truth, that He may make it victorious14 over every
other religion, albeit they who assign partners to God be averse
from it.

O Believers! of a truth, many of the teachers and monks do devour
man's substance in vanity, and turn them from the Way of God.
But to those who treasure up gold and silver and expend it not in
the Way of God, announce tidings of a grievous torment.

On that day their treasures shall be heated in hell fire, and their
foreheads, and their sides, and their backs, shall be branded with
them. "This is what ye have treasured up for yourselves: taste,
therefore, your treasures!"

Twelve months is the number of months with God,15 according to
God's book, since the day when He created the Heavens and the
Earth: of these four are sacred: this is the right usage: But wrong
not yourselves therein; attack those who join gods with God in all,
as they attack you in all: and know that God is with those who fear
Him.

To carry over a sacred month to another, is only a growth of
infidelity. The Infidels are led into error by it. They allow it one
year, and forbid it another, that they may make good the number of
months which God hath hallowed, and they allow that which God
hath prohibited. The evil of their deeds hath been prepared for
them by Satan: for God guideth not the people who do not believe.

O Believers! what possessed you, that when it was said to you,
"March forth on the Way of God," ye sank heavily earthwards?
What! prefer ye the life of this world to the next? But the fruition
of this mundane life, in respect of that which is to come, is but
little.16

Unless ye march forth, with a grievous chastisement will He
chastise you; and He will place another people in your stead, and
ye shall in no way harm Him: for over everything is God potent.

If ye assist not your Prophet God assisted him formerly, when the
unbelievers drove him forth, in company with a second only!17
when they two were in the cave; when the Prophet said to his
companion, "Be not distressed; verily, God is with us." And God
sent down His tranquillity upon him, and strengthened him with
hosts ye saw not, and made the word of those who believed not the
abased, and the word of God was the exalted: for God is Mighty,
Wise.

March ye forth the light and heavy armed,18 and contend with
your substance and your persons on the Way of God. This, if ye
know it, will be better for you.

Had there been a near advantage and a short journey, they would
certainly have followed thee; but the way seemed long to them.19
Yet will they swear by God, "Had we been able, we had surely
gone forth with you:" they are self-destroyers! And God knoweth
that they are surely liars!

God forgive thee! Why didst thou give them leave to stay behind,
ere they who make true excuses had become known to thee, and
thou hadst known the liars?

They who believe in God and in the last day will not ask leave of
thee to be exempt from contending with their substance and their
persons. But God knoweth those who fear Him!

They only will ask thy leave who believe not in God and the last
day, and whose hearts are full of doubts, and who are tossed up
and down in their doubtings.

Moreover, had they been desirous to take the field, they would
have got ready for that purpose the munitions of war.20 But God
was averse to their marching forth, and made them laggards; and it
was said, "Sit ye at home with those who sit."

Had they taken the field with you, they would only have added a
burden to you, and have hurried about among you, stirring you up
to sedition; and some there are among you who would have
listened to them: and God knoweth the evil doers.

Of old aimed they at sedition, and deranged thy affairs, until the
truth arrived, and the behest of God became apparent, averse from
it though they were.

Some of them say to thee, "Allow me to remain at home, and
expose me not to the trial." Have they not fallen into a trial
already? But verily, Hell shall environ the Infidels!

If a success betide thee, it annoyeth them: but if a reverse betide
thee, they say, "We took our own measures before:" and they turn
their backs and are glad.

Say: Nothing can befall us but what God hath destined21 for us.
Our liege-lord is He; and on God let the faithful trust!

Say: Await ye for us, other than one of the two best things?22 But
we await for you the infliction of a chastisement by God, from
himself, or at our hands. Wait ye then; we verily will wait with
you.

Say: Make ye your offerings willingly or by constraint; it cannot be
accepted from you, because ye are a wicked people:

And nothing hindreth the acceptance of their offerings, but that
they believe not in God and His Apostle, and discharge not the
duty of prayer but with sluggishness, and make not offerings but
with reluctance.

Let not, therefore, their riches or their children amaze thee. God is
only minded to punish them by means of these, in this life present,
and that their souls may depart while they are unbelievers.23

And they swear by God that they are indeed of you, yet they are
not of you, but they are people who are afraid of you:

If they find a place of refuge, or caves, or a hiding place, they
assuredly turn towards it and haste thereto.

Some of them also defame thee in regard to the alms; yet if a part
be given them, they are content, but if no part be given them,
behold, they are angry!

Would that they were satisfied with that which God and His
Apostle had given them, and would say "God sufficeth us! God
will vouchsafe unto us of His favour, and s will His Apostle: verily
unto God do we make our suit!"

But alms are only to be given to the poor and the needy,24 and
those who collect them, and to those25 whose hearts are won to
Islam, and for ransoms, and for debtors, and for the cause of God,
and the wayfarer. This is an ordinance from God: and God is
Knowing, Wise.

There are some of them who injure26 the Prophet and say, "He is
all ear." Say: An ear of good to you! He believeth in God, and
believeth the believers: and is a mercy to such of you as believe:

But they who injure the Apostle of God, shall suffer a dolorous
chastisement.

They swear to you by God to please you; but worthier is God, and
His Apostle, that they should please Him, if they are believers.

Know they not, that for him who opposeth God and His Apostle, is
surely the fire of Hell, in which he shall remain for ever? This is
the great ignominy!

The hypocrites are afraid lest a Sura should be sent down
concerning them, to tell them plainly what is in their hearts. Say:
Scoff ye; but God will bring to light that which ye are afraid of.

And if thou question them, they will surely say, "We were only
discoursing and jesting." Say: What! do ye scoff at God, and His
signs, and His Apostle?

Make no excuse: from faith ye have passed to infidelity! If we
forgive some of you, we will punish others: for that they have been
evil doers.

Hypocritical men and women imitate one another.27 They enjoin
what is evil, and forbid what is just, and shut up their hands.28
They have forgotten God, and He hath forgotten them. Verily, the
hypocrites are the perverse doers.

God promiseth the hypocritical men and women, and the
unbelievers, the fire of Hell therein shall they abide this their
sufficing portion! And God hath cursed them, and a lasting
torment shall be theirs.

Ye act like those who flourished before you. Mightier were they
than you in prowess, and more abundant in wealth and children,
and they enjoyed their portion: so ye also enjoy your portion, as
they who were before you enjoyed theirs; and ye hold discourses
like their discourses. These! vain their works both for this world
and for that which is to come! These! they are the lost ones.

Hath not the history reached them of those who were before them?
of the people of Noah,29 and of Ad, and of Themoud, and of the
people of Abraham, and of the inhabitants of Madian, and of the
overthrown cities? Their apostles came to them with clear proofs
of their mission: God would not deal wrongly by them, but they
dealt wrongly by themselves.

The faithful of both sexes are mutual friends: they enjoin what is
just, and forbid what is evil; they observe prayer, and pay the legal
impost, and they obey God and His Apostle. On these will God
have mercy: verily, God is Mighty, Wise.

To the faithful, both men and women, God promiseth gardens
'neath which the rivers flow, in which they shall abide, and goodly
mansions in the gardens of Eden. But best of all will be God's good
pleasure in them. This will be the great bliss.

O Prophet! contend against the infidels and the hypocrites, and be
rigorous with them: Hell shall be their dwelling place! Wretched
the journey thither!

They swear by God that they said no such thing: yet spake they the
word of infidelity, and from Muslims became unbelievers! They
planned what they could not effect;30 and only disapproved of it
because God and His Apostle had enriched them by His bounty! If
they repent it will be better for them; but if they fall back into their
sin, with a grievous chastisement will God chastise them in this
world and the next, and on earth they shall have neither friend nor
protector!

Some there are of them who made this agreement with God "If
truly He give us of His bounties, we will surely give alms and
surely be of the righteous."

Yet when he had vouchsafed them of His bounty, they became
covetous thereof, and turned their backs, and withdrew afar off:

So He caused hypocrisy to take its turn in their hearts, until the day
on which they shall meet Him for that they failed their promise to
God, and that they were liars!

Know they not that God knoweth their secrets and their private
talk, and that God knoweth the secret things?

They who traduce such of the faithful as give their alms freely, and
those who find nothing to give but their earnings, and scoff at
them, God shall scoff at them; and there is a grievous torment in
store for them.

Ask thou forgiveness for them, or ask it not, it will be the same. If
thou ask forgiveness for them seventy times, God will by no means
forgive them. This, for that they believe not in God and His
Apostle! And God guideth not the ungodly people.

They who were left at home were delighted to stay behind God's
Apostle, and were averse from contending with their riches and
their persons for the cause of God, and said, "March not out in the
heat." Say: A fiercer heat will be the fire of Hell." Would that they
understood this.

Little, therefore, let them laugh, and much let them weep, as the
meed of their doings!

If God bring thee back from the fight to some of them, and they
ask thy leave to take the field, Say: By no means shall ye ever take
the field with me, and by no means shall ye fight an enemy with
me: ye were well pleased to sit at home at the first crisis: sit ye at
home, then, with those who lag behind.

Never pray thou over anyone of them who dieth, or stand at his
grave31 because they believed not in God and His Apostle, and
died in their wickedness.

Let not their riches or their children astonish thee: through these
God is fain only to punish them in this world, and that their souls
should depart while they are still infidels.

When a Sura was sent down with "Believe in God and go forth to
war with His Apostle," those of them who are possessed of riches
demanded exemption, and said, "Allow us to be with those who sit
at home.

Well content were they to be with those who stay behind: for a seal
hath been set on their hearts so that they understand not:

But the Apostle and those who share his faith, contend for the faith
with purse and person; and these! all good things await them: and
these are they who shall be happy.

God hath made ready for them gardens 'neath which the rivers
flow, wherein they shall remain for ever: this will be the great
bliss.

Some Arabs of the desert came with excuses, praying exemption;
and they who had gainsaid God and His Apostle sat at home: a
grievous punishment shall light on such of them as believe not.

It shall be no crime in the weak, and in the sick, and in those who
find not the means of contributing, to stay at home, provided they
are sincere with God and His Apostle. Against those who act
virtuously, there is no cause of blame: and God is Gracious,
Merciful:

Nor against those, to whom when they came to thee that thou
shouldst mount them, thou didst say "I find not wherewith to
mount you," and they turned away their eyes shedding floods of
tears for grief, because they found no means to contribute.

Only is there cause of blame against those who, though they are
rich, ask thee for exemption. They are pleased to be with those
who stay behind; and God hath set a seal upon their hearts: they
have no knowledge.

They will excuse themselves to you when ye come back to them.
Say: Excuse yourselves not; we cannot believe you: now hath God
informed us about you: God will behold your doings, and so will
His Apostle: to Him who knoweth alike things hidden and things
manifest shall ye hereafter be brought back: and He will tell you
what ye have done.

They will adjure you by God when ye are come back to them, to
withdraw from them: Withdraw from them, then, for they are
unclean: their dwelling shall be Hell, in recompense for their
deserts.

They will adjure you to take pleasure in them; but if ye take
pleasure in them, God truly will take no pleasure in those who act
corruptly.

The Arabs of the desert are most stout in unbelief and
dissimulation; and likelier it is that they should be unaware of the
laws which God hath sent down to His Apostle: and God is
Knowing, Wise.

Of the Arabs of the desert there are some who reckon what they
expend in the cause of God as tribute, and wait for some change of
fortune to befall you: a change for evil shall befall them! God is
the Hearer, the Knower.

And of the Arabs of the desert, some believe in God and in the last
day, and deem those alms an approach to God and to the Apostle's
prayers. Are they not their approach? Into His mercy shall God
lead them: yes, God is Indulgent, Merciful.

As for those who led the way, the first of the Mohadjers,32 and the
Ansars, and those who have followed their noble conduct, God is
well pleased with them, and they with Him: He hath made ready
for them gardens under whose trees the rivers flow: to abide
therein for aye: this shall be the great bliss:

And of the Arabs of the desert round about you, some are
hypocrites: and of the people of Medina, some are stubborn in
hypocrisy. Thou knowest them not, Muhammad: we know them:
twice33 will we chastise them: then shall they be given over to a
great chastisement.

Others have owned their faults, and with an action that is right they
have mixed another that is wrong. God will haply be turned to
them: for God is Forgiving, Merciful.

Take alms of their substance,34 that thou mayst cleanse and purify
them thereby, and pray for them; for thy prayers shall assure their
minds: and God Heareth, Knoweth.

Know they not that when his servants turn to Him with repentance,
God accepteth it, and that He accepteth alms, and that God is He
who turneth, the Merciful?

SAY: Work ye: but God will behold your work, and so will His
Apostle, and the faithful: and ye shall be brought before Him who
knoweth alike the Hidden and the Manifest, and He will tell you of
all your works.

And others await the decision of God; whether He will punish
them, or whether He will be turned unto them: but God is
Knowing, Wise.

There are some35 who have built a Mosque for mischief36 and for
infidelity, and to disunite the faithful, and in expectation of him37
who, in time past, warred against God and His Apostle. They will
surely swear, "Our aim was only good:" but God is witness that
they are liars.

Never set thou foot in it.38 There is a Mosque39 founded from its
first day in piety. More worthy is it that thou enter therein: therein
are men who aspire to purity, and God loveth the purified.

Which of the two is best? He who hath founded his building on the
fear of God and the desire to please Him, or he who hath founded
his building on the brink of an undermined bank washed away by
torrents, so that it rusheth with him into the fire of Hell? But God
guideth not the doers of wrong.

Their building which they40 have built will not cease to cause
uneasiness in their hearts, until their hearts are cut in pieces.41
God is Knowing, Wise.

Verily, of the faithful hath God bought their persons and their
substance, on condition of Paradise for them in return: on the path
of God shall they fight, and slay, and be slain: a Promise for this is
pledged in the Law, and in the Evangel, and in the Koran and who
more faithful, in to his engagement than God? Rejoice, therefore,
in the contract that ye have contracted: for this shall be the great
bliss.

Those who turn to God, and those who serve, who praise, who fast,
who bow down, who prostrate themselves, who enjoin what is just
and forbid what is evil, and keep to the bounds42 of God 43
Wherefore bear these good tidings to the faithful.

It is not for the prophet or the faithful to pray for the forgiveness of
those, even though they be of kin, who associate other beings with
God, after it hath been made clear to them that they are to be the
inmates of Hell.

For neither did Abraham ask forgiveness for his father, but in
pursuance of a promise which he had promised to him: but when it
was shewn him that he was an enemy to God, he declared himself
clear of him. Yet Abraham was pitiful, kind.

Nor is it for God to lead a people into error, after he hath guided
them aright, until that which they ought to dread hath been clearly
shewn them. Verily, God knoweth all things.

God! His the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! He maketh
alive and killeth! Ye have no patron or helper save God.

Now hath God turned Him unto the Prophet and unto the refugees
(Mohadjers), and unto the helpers (Ansars)44, who followed him
in the hour of distress, after that the hearts of a part of them had
well nigh failed them45. Then turned He unto them, for He was
Kind to them, Merciful.

He hath also turned Him unto the three46 who were left behind, so
that the earth, spacious as it is, became too strait for them; and
their souls became so straitened within them, that they bethought
them that there was no refuge from God but unto Himself. Then
was He turned to them, that they might be turned to Him, for God
is He that turneth, the Merciful.

Believers!47 fear God, and be with the sincere.

No cause had the people of Medina and the Arabs of the desert
around them, to abandon God's Apostle, or to prefer their own
lives to his; because neither thirst, nor the labour nor hunger, could
come upon them when on path of God;48 neither do they step a
step which may anger the unbelievers, neither do they receive from
the enemy any damage, but it is written down to them as a good
work. Verily, God suffereth not the reward of the righteous to
perish.

Nor give they alms either small or great, nor traverse they a
torrent, but it is thus reckoned to them; that God may reward them
with better than they have wrought.

The faithful must not march forth all together to the wars: and if a
party of every band of them march not out, it is that they may
instruct themselves in their religion, and may warn their people
when they come back to them, that they take heed to themselves.

Believers! wage war against such of the infidels as are your
neighbours, and let them find you rigorous: and know that God is
with those who fear him.

Whenever a Sura is sent down, there are some of them who say,
"Whose faith hath it increased?" It will increase the faith of those
who believe, and they shall rejoice.

But as to those in whose hearts is a disease, it will add doubt to
their doubt, and they shall die infidels.

Do they not see that they are proved every year once or twice? Yet
they turn not, neither are they warned.

And whenever a Sura is sent down, they look at one another.
"Doth any one see you?" then turn they aside. God shall turn their
hearts aside, because they are a people devoid of understanding.

Now hath an Apostle come unto you from among yourselves: your
iniquities press heavily upon him. He is careful over you, and
towards the faithful, compassionate, merciful.

If they turn away, SAY: God sufficeth me: there is no God but He.
In Him put I my trust. He is the possessor of the Glorious Throne!

_______________________

1 The "Immunity" is said by some commentators to have formed
originally one Sura with the eighth, p.375, and that on this account
the usual formula of invocation is not prefixed. The Caliph
Othman accounted for this omission of the Bismillah from the fact
of this Sura having been revealed, with the exception of a few
verses, shortly before the prophet's death, who left no instructions
on the subject. (Mishcat 1, p. 526.) The former verses from 1-12,
or, according to other traditions, from 1-40, were recited to the
pilgrims at Mecca by Ali, Ann. Hej. 9.

2 Lit. that ye cannot weaken God.

3 Shawƒl, Dhu'lkaada, Dhu'lhajja, Muharram. These months were
observed by the Arabians previous to the time of Muhammad.

4 Al Abbas, Muhammad's uncle, when taken prisoner, had
defended his unbelief, and declared that he had performed these
two important duties. Beidh.

5 Or, shall issue his behest.

6 At the battle of Honein, a valley three miles from Mecca (A.H.
8), the Muhammadans, presuming upon the great superiority of
their numbers, 12,000 men, over the enemy who were only 4000
strong, were seized with a panic throughout their ranks. Order was
restored and victory obtained through the bravery and presence of
mind of Muhammad and his kindred.

7 The enemy attacked and routed you on all sides.

8 See ii. 249, p. 365.

9 Through the breaking off commercial relations.

10 Or, by right of subjection, Sale; in cash, Wahl.; all without
exception, K. i.e. as if by counting hands.

11 Thus Hilchoth Melachim, vi. 4. The Jews are commanded, in
case of war with the Gentiles, to offer peace on two conditions:
that they become tributaries, and renounce idolatry. Thus also
chap. viii. 4.

12 The Muhammadan tradition is that Ezra was raised to life after
he had been 100 years dead, and dictated from memory the whole
Jewish law, which had been lost during the captivity, to the
scribes. That the Jews regarded Ezra as a son of God is due to
Muhammad's own invention. See Sonna, 462 v. H. v. Purgstall's
Fundgruben des Orients, i. 288. The Talmudists, however, use very
exaggerated language concerning him. Thus, Sanhedrin, 21, 22.
"Ezra would have been fully worthy to have been the lawgiver, if
Moses had not preceded him." Josephus, Ant. xi. 5, 5, speaks of his
high repute ([greek text]) with the people, and of his honourable
burial. Muhammad probably represents the Jews as having deified
Ezra with the view of showing that they, as well as the Christians,
had tampered with the doctrine of the Divine unity.

13 An allusion to the word Rabbi, used by Jews and Christians, of
their priests, etc., but in Arabic of God only. Comp. Matt. xxiii. 7,
8.

14 See Sur. [cxiv.] v. 85.

15 The intercalation of a month every third year, in order to reduce
the lunar to the solar years, is justified by the Muhammadans from
this passage.

16 See Sur. xiii. 26, p. 336 (n.).

17 With Abubekr. lit. second of two.

18 Wahk. reich oder arm. Savary, young or old. Ibn Hisam (924)
pronounces this to be the oldest verse of the Sura.

19 This refers to the expedition of Tabouk, a town half-way
between Medina and Damascus, against the Greeks, A.H. 9.
Muhammad was now at the head of an army of 30,000 men.
Verses 42-48 are said to have been revealed during the march.

20 Lit. prepared a preparation.

21 Lit. written.

22 That is, victory or martyrdom.

23 Compare Sura iii. 172. Geiger, p. 76, shews that this is
precisely the teaching of the Talmudists with regard to the wicked.

24 The poor, i.e. absolute paupers; the needy i.e. those in some
temporary distress.

25 The petty Arab chiefs with whom Muhammad made terms after
the battle of Honein, in order to secure their followers.

26 There seems to be a play, in the original, upon the similarity of
the words for injure and ear.

27 Lit. (are) the one from the other.

28 From giving alms.

29 Comp. Sura liv. 15, p. 77. The traditions as to the collection of
pitch from wood of the Ark, in the time of Berosus (B.C. 250?) for
amulets, and of the wood itself, in the time of Josephus (Ant. i. 3,
6, c. Apion, i. 19) must have reached Muhammad through his
Jewish informants. Fragments are said to have existed in the days
of Benjamin of Tudela, and to have been carried away by the
Chalif Omar, from the mountain al Djoudi to the mosque of
Gazyrat Ibn Omar.

30 To kill Muhammad. The circumstances are given in a tradition
preserved ap. Weil, p. 265, note. The meaning is, that the people of
Medina, who had become enriched by Muhammad's residence
among them, had no better motive for disapproving the attempt
upon his life. Lit. they had nothing to avenge but that, etc.

31 Prayers for the dead were customary among the Arabians
before Muhammad. See Freyt. Einl. p. 221.

32 The Mohadiers were those who fled with Muhammad from
Mecca to Medina, the Ansars his auxiliaries in Medina.

33 The commentators are not agreed as to the nature of this double
punishment.

34 The fine of a third part of all their substance was imposed upon
seven of those who had held back from the expedition to Tabouk.
This is the fault spoken of in the preceding verse.

35 The tribe of Beni Ganim had built a mosque, professedly from
religious motives, which they invited Muhammad on his way to
Tabouk to dedicate by a solemn act of prayer. Muhammad,
however, discovered that the real motive of the Beni Ganim was
jealousy of the tribe of Beni Amru Ibn Auf, and of the mosque at
Kuba, and that there existed and understanding between them and
his enemy the monk Abu Amir, who was then in Syria, for the
purpose of urging the Greeks to attack the Muslims and their
mosque. It is to him that the word irsddan refers.

36 To the dwellers at Kuba. Verses 108-111 were probably
promulged on the return from Tabouk previous to the entry into
Medina.

37 Abu Amir.

38 Or, never stand thou in it (to pray).

39 The mosque of Kuba, about three miles S.S.E. of Medina. The
spot where this verse was revealed is still pointed out, and called
"Makam el Ayat," or "the place of signs." Burton's "Pilgrimage," ii.
p. 214.Muhammad laid the first brick, and it was the first place of
public prayer in El Islam. Ib. p. 209.

40 The Beni Ganim.

41 That is, up to the time of their death they will never reflect on
what they have done without bitter pangs of conscience. See Weil's
M. der Prophet, pp. 268, 269, and note.

42 Lit. limits, i.e. laws.

43 Shall have their recompense.

44 See verse 101.

45 Lit. turned aside, swerved.

46 Three Ansars who did not accompany Muhammad to Tabouk,
and who on his return were put under interdict, and not released
from it till after fifty days of penance.

47 Verses 120-128 probably belong to the period after the return
from Tabouk to Medina.

48 While fighting for the cause of God.

SURA V. THE TABLE [CXIV.]

Medina. 120 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O BELIEVERS! be faithful to your engagements. You are allowed
the flesh of cattle other than what is hereinafter recited, except
game, which is not allowed you while ye are on pilgrimage. Verily,
God ordaineth what he pleaseth.

O Believers! violate neither the rites of God, nor the sacred month
Muharram, nor the offering, nor its ornaments1, nor those who
press on to the sacred house seeking favour from their Lord and his
good pleasure in them.

But when all is over2, then take to the chase: and let not ill will at
those3 who would have kept you from the sacred mosque lead you
to transgress4, but rather be helpful to one another according to
goodness and piety, but be not helpful for evil and malice: and fear
ye God. Verily, God is severe in punishing!

That which dieth of itself, and blood, and swine's flesh, and all
that hath been sacrificed under the invocation of any other name
than that of God, and the strangled, and the killed by a blow, or by
a fall, or by goring5, and that which hath been eaten by beasts of
prey, unless ye make it clean by giving the death-stroke
yourselves, and that which hath been sacrificed on the blocks of
stone6, is forbidden you: and to make division of the slain by
consulting the arrows,7 is impiety in you. Woe this day on those
who forsake your religion! And fear them not, but fear Me.

This day have I perfected your religion for you, and have filled up
the measure of my favours upon you: and it is my pleasure that
Islam be your religion; but whoso without wilful leanings to wrong
shall be forced by hunger to transgress, to him,verily, will God be
Indulgent, Merciful.

They will ask thee what is made lawful for them. Say: Those
things which are good8 are legalised to you, and the prey of beasts
of chase which ye have trained like dogs, teaching them as God
hath taught you. Eat, therefore, of what they shall catch for you,
and make mention of the name of God over it, and fear God:
Verily, Swift is God to reckon:

This day, things healthful are legalised to you, and the meats of
those who have received the Scriptures are allowed to you, as your
meats are to them. And you are permitted to marry virtuous
women who are believers, and virtuous women of those who have
received the Scriptures before you, when you shall have provided
them their portions, living chastely with them without fornication,
and without taking concubines. Vain the works of him who shall
renounce the faith! and in the next world he shall be of the lost.

O Believers! when ye address yourselves to prayer, wash your
faces, and your hands up to the elbow, and wipe your heads, and
your feet to the ankles.

And if ye have become unclean, then purify yourselves. But if ye
are sick, or on a journey, or if one of you come from the place of
retirement, or if ye have touched women, and ye find no water,
then take clean sand and rub your faces and your hands with it.9
God desireth not to lay a burden upon you, but he desireth to
purify you, and He would fill up the measure of His favour upon
you, that ye may be grateful.

And remember the favour of God upon you, and His covenant
which He hath covenanted with you, when ye said, "We have
heard and will obey;"10 and fear God; verily, God knoweth the
very secrets of the breast.

O Believers! stand up as witnesses for God by righteousness: and
let not ill-will at any, induce you not to act uprightly. Act
uprightly. Next will this be to the fear of God. And fear ye God:
verily, God is apprised of what ye do.

God hath promised to those who believe, and do the things that
are right, that for them is pardon and a great reward.

But they who are Infidels and treat our signs as lies these shall
be mated with Hell fire.

O Believers! recollect God's favour upon you, when11 certain folk
were minded to stretch forth their hands against you, but He kept
their hands from you. Fear God then: and on God let the faithful
trust.

Of old did God accept the covenant of the children of Israel,12 and
out of them we raised up twelve leaders, and God said, "Verily, I
will be with you. If ye observe prayer and pay the obligatory alms,
and believe in my Apostles and help them, and lend God a liberal
loan, I will surely put away from you your evil deeds, and I will
bring you into gardens 'neath which the rivers flow! But whoso of
you after this believeth not, hath gone astray from the even path."

But for their breaking their covenant we have cursed them, and
have hardened their hearts. They shift the words of Scripture from
their places, and have forgotten part of what they were taught.
Thou wilt not cease to discover deceit on their part, except in a
few of them. But forgive them, and pass it over: verily, God loveth
those who act generously!

And of those who say, "We are Christians," have we accepted the
covenant. But they too have forgotten a part of what they were
taught; wherefore we have stirred up enmity and hatred among
them that shall last till the day of the Resurrection; and in the end
will God tell them of their doings.

O people of the Scriptures! now is our Apostle come to you to
clear up to you much that ye concealed of those Scriptures, and to
pass over many things. Now hath a light and a clear Book come to
you from God, by which God will guide him who shall follow after
his good pleasure, to paths of peace, and will bring them out of the
darkness to the light, by his will: and to the straight path will he
guide them.

Infidels now are they who say, "Verily God is the Messiah Ibn
Maryam (son of Mary)! Say: And who could aught obtain from
God, if he chose to destroy the Messiah Ibn Maryam, and his
mother, and all who are on the earth together?

For with God is the sovereignty of the Heavens and of the Earth,
and of all that is between them! He createth what He will; and
over all things is God potent.

Say the Jews and Christians, "Sons are we of God and his
beloved." Say: Why then doth he chastise you for your sins? Nay!
ye are but a part of the men whom he hath created! He will pardon
whom he pleaseth, and chastise whom he pleaseth, and with God is
the sovereignty of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is
between them, and unto Him shall all things return.

O people of the Book! now hath our Apostle come to you to clear
up to you the cessation13 of Apostles, lest you should say, "There
hath come to us no bearer of good tidings, nor any warner." But
now hath a bearer of good tidings and a warner reached you. And
God is Almighty.

And remember when Moses said to his people, "O my people! call
to mind the goodness of God towards you when he appointed
Prophets among you, and appointed you kings, and gave you what
never had been given before to any human beings:

Enter, O my people! the holy land which God hath destined for
you. Turn not back, lest ye be overthrown to your ruin."

They said, "O Moses! Therein are men of might. And verily, we
can by no means enter it till they be gone forth. But if they go forth
from it, then verily will we enter in."

Then said two men of those who feared their Lord and to whom
God had been gracious, "Enter in upon them by the gate: and
when ye enter it, ye overcome! If ye be believers, put ye your trust
in God."

They said, "O Moses! never can we enter while they remain
therein. Go thou and thy Lord and fight; for here will we sit us
down."

He said, "O my Lord, Verily of none am I master but of myself and
my brother: put thou therefore a difference between us and this
ungodly people."

He said, "Verily the land shall be forbidden them forty years: they
shall wander in the earth perplexed. Fret not thyself therefore for
the ungodly people."

Relate to them exactly the story of the sons of Adam14 when they
each offered an offering; accepted from the one of them, and not
accepted from the other. The one said, "I will surely slay thee."
Said the other, "God only accepted from those that fear Him.

"Even if thou stretch forth thine hand against me to slay me, I will
not stretch forth my hand against thee to slay thee. Truly I fear
God the Lord of the Worlds.

"Yea, rather would I that thou shouldest bear my sin15 and thine
own sin, and that thou become an inmate of the Fire: for that is the
recompense of the unjust doers."

And his passion led him to slay his brother: and he slew him; and
he became one of those who perish.

And God sent a raven which scratched upon the ground, to shew
him16 how he might hide his brother's wrong.17 He said: "O woe is
me! am I too weak to become like this raven, and to hide away my
brother's wrong?" And he became one of the repentant.

For this cause have we ordained to the children of Israel that he
who slayeth any one, unless it be a person guilty of manslaughter,
or of spreading disorders in the land, shall be as though he had
slain all mankind; but that he who saveth a life, shall be as though
he had saved all mankind alive.18

Of old our Apostles came to them with the proofs of their mission;
then verily after this most of them committed excesses in the land.

Only, the recompense of those who war against God and his
Apostle, and go about to commit disorders on the earth, shall be
that they shall be slain or crucified, or have their alternate hands
and feet cut off, or be banished the land: This their disgrace in this
world, and in the next a great torment shall be theirs

Except those who, ere you have them in your power, shall repent;
for know that God is Forgiving, Merciful.

O ye who believe! fear God. Desire union with Him. Contend
earnestly on his path, that you may attain to happiness.

As to the infidels if that they had twice the riches of the earth to
be their ransom from torment on the day of resurrection, it should
not be accepted from them! And a dolorous torment shall be
their's.

Fain would they come forth from the Fire; but forth from it they
shall not come: and a lasting torment shall be their's.

As to the thief, whether man or woman, cut ye off their hands in
recompense for their doings.19 This is a penalty by way of warning
from God himself. And God is Mighty, Wise.

But whoever shall turn him to God after this his wickedness, and
amend, God truly will be turned to him: for God is Forgiving,
Merciful.

Knowest thou not that the sovereignty of the Heavens and of the
Earth is God's? He chastiseth whom He will, and whom He will
He forgiveth. And God hath power over all things.

O Apostle! let not those who vie with one another in speeding to
infidelity vex thee; of those who say with their mouths, "We
believe," but whose hearts believe not; or of the Jews listeners
to a lie listeners to others but who come not to thee. They shift
the words of the law from their places, and say, "If this be brought
to you, receive it; but if this be not brought to you, then beware of
it." For him whom God would mislead, thou canst in no wise
prevail with God! They whose hearts God shall not please to
cleanse, shall suffer disgrace in this world, and in the next a
grievous punishment;

Listeners to a falsehood and greedy devourers of the forbidden!20
If, therefore, they have recourse to thee, then judge between them,
or withdraw from them. If thou withdraw from them, then can they
have no power to injure thee. But if thou judge, then judge
between them with equity. Verily, God loveth those who deal
equitably.

But how shall they make thee their judge, since they possess
already the Law, in which are the behests of God, and have not
obeyed it? After this, they will turn their backs; but such are not
believers.

Verily, we have sent down the law (Towrat) wherein are guidance
and light. By it did the prophets who professed Islam judge the
Jews; and the doctors and the teachers judged by that portion of
the Book of God, of which they were the keepers and the witnesses.
Therefore, O Jews! fear not men but fear Me; and barter not away
my signs for a mean price! And whoso will not judge by what God
hath sent down such are the Infidels.

And therein21 have we enacted for them, "Life for life, and eye for
eye, and nose for nose, and ear for ear, and tooth for tooth, and
for wounds retaliation:" Whoso shall compromise it as alms
shall have therein the expiation of his sin; and whoso will not
judge by what God hath sent down such are the transgressors.

And in the footsteps of the prophets caused we Jesus, the son of
Mary, to follow, confirming the law which was before him: and we
gave him the Evangel with its guidance and light, confirmatory of
the preceding Law; a guidance and warning to those who fear
God;

And that the people of the Evangel may judge according to what
God hath sent down therein. And whoso will not judge by what
God hath sent down such are the perverse.

And to thee we have sent down the Book of the Koran with truth,
confirmatory of previous Scriptures, and their safeguard. Judge
therefore between them by what God hath sent down, and follow
not their desires by deserting the truth which hath come unto thee.
To every one of you have we given a rule and a beaten track.

And if God had pleased He had surely made you all one people;
but He would test you by what He hath given to each. Be emulous,
then, in good deeds. To God shall ye all return, and He will tell
you concerning the subjects of your disputes.

Wherefore do thou judge between them, by what God hath sent
down, and follow not their wishes! but be on thy guard against
them lest they beguile thee from any of those precepts which God
hath sent down to thee; and if they turn back, then know thou that
for some of their crimes doth God choose to punish them: for truly
most men are perverse.

Desire they, therefore, the judgments of the times of(pagan)
ignorance? But what better judge can there be than God for those
who believe firmly?

O Believers! take not the Jews or Christians22 as friends. They are
but one another's friends. If any one of you taketh them for his
friends, he surely is one of them! God will not guide the evil doers.

So shalt thou see the diseased at heart speed away to them, and
say, "We fear lest a change of fortune befall us." But haply God
will of himself bring about some victory or event of His own
ordering: then soon will they repent them of their secret
imaginings.

Then will the faithful say, "What! are these they who swore, by
their most solemn oath, that they were surely with you?" Vain
their works; and themselves shall come to ruin.

O ye who believe! should any of you desert His religion, God will
then raise up a people loved by Him, and loving Him, lowly
towards the faithful, haughty towards the Infidels. For the cause of
God will they contend, and not fear the blame of the blamer. This
is the Grace of God! On whom He will He bestoweth it! God is
Vast, Omniscient!

Verily, your protector is God and His Apostle, and those who
believe, who observe prayer, and pay the alms of obligation, and
who bow in worship.

And whoso take God and His Apostle, and those who believe for
friends, they truly are the people of God; they shall have the upper
hand.

O ye who believe! take not such of those who have received the
Scriptures before you, as scoff and jest at your religion, or the
Infidels, for your friends, but fear God if ye are believers:

Nor those who when ye call to prayer, make it an object of raillery
and derision. This they do because they are a people who
understand not.

Say:23 O people of the Book! do ye not disavow us only because we
believe in God, and in what He hath sent down to us, and in what
He hath sent down aforetime, and because most of you are doers
of ill?

Say: Can I announce to you any retribution worse than that which
awaiteth them with God? They whom God hath cursed and with
whom He hath been angry some of them hath He changed into
apes and swine; and they who worship Thagout are in evil plight,
and have gone far astray from the right path!

When they presented themselves to you they said, "We believe;"
but Infidels they came in unto you, and Infidels they went forth!
God well knew what they concealed.

Many of them shalt thou see hastening together to wickedness and
malice, and to eat unlawful things. Shame on them for what they
have done!

Had not their doctors and teachers forbidden their uttering
wickedness, and their eating unlawful food, bad indeed would
have been their doings!

"The hand of God," say the Jews, "is chained up." 24 Their own
hands shall be chained up and for that which they have said shall
they be cursed. Nay! outstretched are both His hands! At His own
pleasure does He bestow gifts. That which hath been sent down to
thee from thy Lord will surely increase the rebellion and unbelief
of many of them; and we have put enmity and hatred between them
that shall last till the day of the Resurrection. Oft as they kindle a
beacon fire for war shall God quench it! and their aim will be to
abet disorder on the earth: but God loveth not the abettors of
disorder.

But if the people of the Book believe and have the fear of God, we
will surely put away their sins from them, and will bring them into
gardens of delight: and if that they observe the law and the
Evangel, and what hath been sent down to them from their Lord,
they shall surely have their fill of good things from above them
and from beneath their feet. Some there are among them who act
aright; but many of them how evil are their doings!

O Apostle! proclaim all that hath been sent down to thee from thy
Lord: for if thou do it not, thou hast not proclaimed His message
at all. And God will protect thee from evil men: verily, God
guideth not the unbelievers.

Say: O people of the Book! ye have no ground to stand on, until ye
observe the Law and the Evangel, and that which hath been sent
down to you from your Lord.25 The Book which hath been sent
down to thee from thy Lord will certainly increase the rebellion
and unbelief of many of them; but, be not thou troubled for the
unbelievers.

Verily, they who believe, and the Jews, and the Sabeites,26 and the
Christians hoever of them believeth in God and in the last day,
and doth what is right, on them shall come no fear, neither shall
they be put to grief.

Of old we accepted the covenant of the children of Israel, and sent
Apostles to them. Oft as an Apostle came to them with that for
which they had no desire, some they treated as liars, and some
they slew;27

And they reckoned that no harm would come of it: but they
became blind and deaf! Then was God turned unto them: then
many of them again became blind and deaf! but God beheld what
they did.

Infidels now are they who say, "God is the Messiah, Son of
Mary;" for the Messiah said, "O children of Israel! worship God,
my Lord and your Lord." Whoever shall join other gods with God,
God shall forbid him the Garden, and his abode shall be the Fire;
and the wicked shall have no helpers.

They surely are Infidels who say, "God is the third of three:" for
there is no God but one God: and if they refrain not from what
they say, a grievous chastisement shall light on such of them as
are Infidels.

Will they not, therefore, be turned unto God, and ask pardon of
Him? since God is Forgiving, Merciful!

The Messiah, Son of Mary, is but an Apostle; other Apostles have
flourished before him; and his mother was a just28 person: they
both ate food.29 Behold! how we make clear to them the signs! then
behold how they turn aside!

Say: Will ye worship, beside God, that which can neither hurt nor
help? But God! He only Heareth, Knoweth.

Say: O people of the Book! outstep not bounds of truth in your
religion; neither follow the desires of those who have already gone
astray, and who have caused many to go astray, and have
themselves gone astray from the evenness of the way.

Those among the children of Israel who believed not were cursed
by the tongue of David,30 and of Jesus, Son of Mary. This, because
they were rebellious, and became transgressors: they forbade not
one another the iniquity which they wrought! detestable are their
actions!

Thou shalt see many of them make friends of the infidels. Evil the
actions which their own passions have sent on beforehand; for
God is angry with them, and in torment shall they abide for ever:

But, if they had believed in God, and the Prophet, and the Koran
which hath been sent down to him, they had not taken them for
their friends; but perverse are most of them.

Of all men thou wilt certainly find the Jews, and those who join
other gods with God, to be the most intense in hatred of those who
believe; and thou shalt certainly find those to be nearest in
affection to them who say, "We are Christians." This, because
some of them are priests and monks,31 and because they are free
from pride.

And when they hear that which hath been sent down to the Apostle,
thou seest their eyes overflow with tears at the truth they recognise
therein, saying, "O our Lord! we believe; write us down therefore
with those who bear witness to it.

And why should we not believe in God, and in the truth which hath
come down to us, and crave that our Lord would bring us into
Paradise with the Just?"

Therefore hath God rewarded them for these their words, with
gardens 'neath which the rivers flow; they shall abide therein for
ever: this the reward of the righteous! But they who believe not
and treat our signs as lies shall be the inmates of Hell-fire.

O ye who believe! interdict not the healthful viands which God
hath allowed you; go not beyond this limit. God loveth not those
who outstep it.32

And eat of what God hath given you for food, that which is lawful
and wholesome: and fear God, in whom ye believe.

God will not punish you for a mistaken word in your oaths: but he
will punish you in regard to an oath taken seriously.33 Its expiation
shall be to feed ten poor persons with such middling food as ye
feed your own families with, or to clothe them; or to set free a
captive. But he who cannot find means, shall fast three days. This
is the expiation of your oaths when ye shall have sworn. Keep then
your oaths. Thus God maketh his signs clear to you, that ye may
give thanks.

O believers! surely wine and games of chance,34 and statues, and
the divining arrows, are an abomination of Satan's work! Avoid
them, that ye may prosper.

Only would Satan sow hatred and strife among you, by wine and
games of chance, and turn you aside from the remembrance of
God, and from prayer: will ye not, therefore, abstain from them?
Obey God and obey the Apostle, and be on your guard: but if ye
turn back, know that our Apostle is only bound to deliver a plain
announcement.

No blame shall attach to those who believe and do good works, in
regard to any food they have taken, in case they fear God and
believe, and do the things that are right, and shall still fear God
and believe, and shall still fear him, and do good; for God loveth
those who do good.

O ye who believe! God will surely make trial of you with such
game as ye may take with your hands, or your lances, that God
may know who feareth him in secret: and whoever after this
transgresseth, shall suffer a grievous chastisement.

O believers!35 kill no game while ye are on pilgrimage. Whosoever
among you shall purposely kill it, shall comsent pensate for it in
domestic animals of equal value (according to the judgment of two
just persons among you), to be brought as an offering to the
Caaba; or in expiation thereof shall feed the poor; or as the
equivalent of this shall fast, that he may taste the ill consequence
of his deed. God forgiveth what is past; but whoever doth it again,
God will take vengeance on him; for God is mighty and vengeance
is His.

It is lawful for you to fish in the sea, and to eat fish, as provision
for you and for those who travel; but it is unlawful for you to hunt
by land while ye are still on pilgrimage: fear ye God, therefore,
before whom ye shall be assembled.

God hath appointed the Caaba,36 the sacred house, to be a station
for mankind, and the sacred month, and the offering, and its
ornaments. This, that ye may know that God knoweth all that is in
the heavens and on the earth, and that God hath knowledge of
everything. Know that God is severe in punishing, and that God is
Forgiving, Merciful.

The Apostle is only bound to preach: and God knoweth what ye
bring to light, and what ye conceal.

Say: The evil and the good shall not be valued alike, even though
the abundance of evil please thee; therefore fear God, O ye of
understanding! that it may be well with you.

O believers! ask us not of things which if they were told might only
pain you; but if ye ask of such things when the entire Koran shall
have been sent down, they will be declared to you: God will
pardon you for this, for God is Forgiving, Gracious. They who
were before you, asked concerning such things, and afterwards
quickly disbelieved therein

God hath not ordained anything on the subject. of Bahira, or
Saiba, or Wasila, or Hami;37 but the unbelievers have invented this
lie against God: and most of them had no understanding.

And when it was said to them, "Accede to that which God hath
sent down, and to the Apostle:" they said, "Sufficient for us is the
faith in which we found our fathers." What! though their fathers
knew nothing, and had no guidance?

O believers! take heed to yourselves.38 He who erreth shall not
hurt you when ye have the "guidance:" to God shall ye all return,
and He will tell you that which ye have done.

O believers! let there be witnesses between you, when death
draweth nigh to any of you, at the time of making the testament;
two witnesses just men from among yourselves, or two others of a
different tribe from yourselves if ye be journeying in the earth,
and the calamity of death surprise you. Ye shall shut them both up,
after the prayer; and if ye doubt them, they shall swear by God,
"We will not take a bribe though the party be of kin to us, neither
will we conceal the testimony of God, for then we should be among
the wicked."

But if it shall be made clear that both have been guilty of a
falsehood, two others of those who have convicted them thereof,
the two nearest in blood shall stand up in their place, and they
shall swear by God, "Verily our witness is more true than the
witness of these two; neither have we advanced anything untrue,
for then should we be of the unjust."

Thus will it be easier for men to bear a true39 witness, or fear lest
after their oath another oath be given. Therefore fear God and
hearken; for God guideth not the perverse.

One day will God assemble the Apostles, and say, "What reply
was made to you?" They shall say, "We have no knowledge, but
Thou art the Knower of Secrets."

When He shall say: O Jesus! Son of Mary! call to mind my favour
upon thee and upon thy mother, when I strengthened thee with the
Holy Spirit, that thou shouldest speak40 to men alike in the cradle,
and when grown up; And when I taught thee the Scripture, and
Wisdom, and the Law, and the Evangel: and thou didst create of
clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by my leave, and didst breathe
into it, and by my leave it became a bird; and thou didst heal the
blind and the leper, by my leave; and when, by my leave, thou
didst bring forth the dead; and when I withheld the children of
Israel from thee, when thou hadst come to them with clear tokens:
and such of them as believed not said, "This is nought but plain
sorcery;"41

And when I revealed unto the Apostles, "Believe on me and on my
Sent One," they said, "We believe; and bear thou witness that we
are Muslims."

Remember when the Apostles42 said "O Jesus, Son of Mary! is
thy Lord able to send down a furnished TABLE to us out of
Heaven?" He said "Fear God if ye be believers."

They said "We desire to eat therefrom, and to have our hearts
assured; and to know that thou hast indeed spoken truth to us, and
to be witnesses thereof."

Jesus, Son of Mary, said "O God, our Lord! send down a table to
us out of Heaven, that it may become a recurring festival to us, to
the first of us and to the last of us, and a sign from thee; and do
thou nourish us, for thou art the best of nourishers."

And God said Verily, I will cause it to descend unto you; but
whoever among you after that shall disbelieve, I will surely
chastise him with a chastisement, wherewith I will not chastise any
other creature.43

And when God shall say "O Jesus, Son of Mary: hast thou said
unto mankind 'Take me and my mother as two Gods, beside
God?"' He shall say "Glory be unto Thee! it is not for me to say
that which I know to be not the truth; had I said that, verily thou
wouldest have known it: Thou knowest what is in me, but I know
not what is in Thee; for Thou well knowest things unseen!

"I spake not to them aught but that which thou didst bid
me 'Worship God, my Lord and your Lord;' and I was a witness
of their actions while I stayed among them; but since thou hast
taken me to Thyself, Thou hast Thyself watched them, and Thou art
witness of all things: "If Thou punish them, they are Thy servants,
and if Thou forgive them .44 Thou, verily, art the Mighty, the
Wise!"

God will say This day shall their truth advantage the truthful.
Gardens shall they have 'neath which the rivers flow, and remain
therein for ever: God is well pleased with them and they with Him.
This shall be the great bliss.

Unto God belongeth the sovereignty of the Heavens and of the
Earth, and of all that they contain; and He hath power over all
things.

_______________________

1 The garlands, etc., attached to the victims offered at Mecca
2 When you have again returned to your common and everyday
life by laying aside the ihram, or pilgrim's robe. This generally
consists of two pieces of cotton, or linen, or woollen cloth, without
seam or ornament, one of which is wrapped round the loins, and
the other thrown over the shoulders. The instep, heel, and head
must be bare
3 The Koreisch sent to meet Muhammad, who was on his way to
visit the Caaba with 1400 men, at Hudaibiya (An. Hej. 6) to
prohibit his nearer approach. A truce for ten years was ultimately
concluded.

4 By making war in the holy month
5 Comp. Tract Cholin, c. 3
6 Lit. on blocks or shafts of stone. These were set up by the pagan
Arabs in front of their houses for the purpose of sacrificing
thereon. See Freytag's Einl. p. 462, and Tr. Cholin, p. 39, 40, 41.
7 It was the custom to draw lots for joints of a camel with arrows,
some feathered and others unfeathered, kept for this purpose in the
temple of Mecca. See Pocock, Spec. Hist. Ar., under the word
Hobal.
8 In the sense of sound, healthful.
9 Thus Talm. Tr. Berachoth, 46.
10 This refers to the oath of fidelity which Muhammad's followers
took at Al Akaba. Abulf. Vit.Moh.p.43.
11 It is quite uncertain to what events this refers. The
commentators narrate, and have doubtless invented, various
incidents as having occasioned it.

12 Verses 15-38 belong probably to the period shortly before the
taking of Chaibar in the beginning of Hej. 7. It is remarkable that
Muhammad, although he has invented these twelve leaders of
tribes, should nowhere mention the number of the Apostles. There
is no doubt, however, from the ancient biographies, that he chose
twelve assistants for the propagation of Islam. See Gagnier, Vie de
M. ii. xvi.

13 The space between the mission of different prophets.

14 Called by the Arabians Habeel and Kabeel. The dialogue
between Cain and Abel is slightly varied from that given in Targ.
Jerus. on Gen. iv. 8, and Jonath. Ben Uzziel.

15 Or, the sin against me, i.e. of slaying me.

16 In the Jewish tradition the raven shews the mode of burial to
Adam, not to Cain. Pirke R. Elieser, c. 21. Midr. fol. II ap. Weil
(Legenden, p. 39).

17 Or, corpse.

18 Thus Mischn. Sanhedr. iv. 5, "We find it said in the case of
Cain who murdered his brother 'The voice of thy brother's
bloods crieth' It is not said, blood of thy brother, but bloods, i.e.
his blood and the blood of his seed. Therefore was man created
single, in order to shew that to him who kills a single individual of
Israel it shall be reckoned as if he had slain the whole race, and
that he, etc." precisely as in the text. Comp. also the same form of
expression in Bab. Tal, Kidush,  1, "If one fulfil but one
commandment, he causes the scale of innocence to preponderate
for himself and the whole world; but if he commit one sin, he
causes the scale of guilt to preponderate for himself and the whole
world.

19 Muhammad is said by the early traditionists to have punished a
woman who had been guilty of theft in this manner while on the
route to Mecca previous to its capture. We are, therefore, able to
fix the date of verses 39-44.

20 Usury, bribes.

21 Ex. xxi. 23-27.

22 This may refer to proposals made to the Muslims to enter into
alliance with the Jews and Christians against the heathen, after
the reverse at Ohod. Lane observes (Mod. Egyptians, i. 358) with
regard to this precept, that "of the leading features of the
character of the Mooslims none is more remarkable than their
religious pride. They regard persons of every other faith as the
children of perdition; and such the Mooslim is early taught to
despise." They are, however, "as remarkable for their toleration
as for their contempt of unbelievers."

23 Weil suggests that verses 64-88 were revealed subsequently to
contests with the Jews, but before Muhammad had broken with the
Christians, i.e. between Hej. 4 and 8.

24 That is, God has ceased to be bounteous. The Muslims believe
that at the day of judgment all the Jews will appear with the right
hand tied to the neck.

25 That is, the Koran. The Jew was to retain a faith in the Towrƒt,
or Law; the Christian in the Injil, or Gospel; but both Jews and
Christians were to receive the Koran as the complement of both.

26 See Sura [xci.] ii. 59, p. 344.

27 I Thess. ii. 15.

28 Did not give herself out to be a goddess. Djelal.

29 That is, were human beings, and subject to the usual wants and
liabilities of ordinary persons.

30 See Sura ii. 61, p. 344. Mark viii. 30.

31 Geiger derives both the Arabic words from Syriac terms, and
renders elders and clerics, p. 51. But the root of the Arabic word
rendered monk is generally said to be rahaba, to fear.

32 Comp. Sura [cix.] 1xvi. 2. The date of verses 89-91 is therefore
probably Hej. 7.

33 If you violate it.

34 See verse 4. Tradition has expanded the word ansab, so as to
include all figures, and hence the strict observers of the letter of
the Koran forbid the game of chess. The Persians, however, and
Indians generally interpret this verse more liberally.

35 This and the two following verses are placed by the
commentators in the year of Hudaibiya, as also 98, 99, 100.

36 That is, Cube-House. Maison Carr‚e. It is also commonly
called the Bait Ullah, House of God. The Caaba is an oblong
massive structure 55 ft. in length, 45 in breadth, and the height
somewhat greater than the length. At the S.E. corner is the famous
Hajar El-Aswad, or Black Stone, according to Lieut. Burton, an
undoubted aerolite. It is figured in Mr. Muir's "Life of Mahomet."
The Caaba stands in an open parallelogram of about 500 ft. by
530 ft. and is surrounded by colonnades, the pillars of which,
made of various marbles, some Egyptian but mostly Meccan, stand
in a quadruple row on the east side, and three deep on the other
sides, and amount to 554. It has been rebuilt several times, but has
not been materially altered since A.H. 1040.

37 Names given to the sacred animals which were marked and
allowed to range for pasture at liberty. The dedicated
mother-camel was the Saiba; the Wasila included also goats or
ewes; the eleventh female offspring of the camel was Bahira; the
dedicated stallion was Hami. These forms of superstition grew up,
obviously, from a remote period, out of the intense affection of the
Bedouin for his flocks, especially his horses and camels.

38 Lit. on you your souls.

39 Lit. upon its face, i.e. according to its plain scope.

40 See Evang. Infant. c. 1, Invenimus in libro Josephi Pontificis
qui vixit tempore Christi, Jesum locutum esse, et quidem cum in
cunis jaceret, etc. The date of verse 108 to the end is uncertain.

41 Precisely the same expression is applied to our Lord in the
Arabic Evang. Infantiae, c. 36 at the end, which also relates the
story of the Birds.

42 Ar. El-hawariyin, a different word from that used for Jesus,
Hud, Saleh, and the other apostles par excellence. The root of the
word is the ‘thiopic hawyra, to go, send; hence the Church is
called in ‘thiopic the Beth chrestyan ant hawariyat, i.e. Apostolic.
See, however, the note on Thilo's Cod. Apoc. p. 152, who derives
from the root hur, to be white, pure; hence, friends, helpers.

43 Comp. 1 Cor. xi. 27, sqq. Muhammad obviously refers to the
Eucharist.

44 Thou hast a right to do so as their Lord.







 


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