The Koran
by
Mohammed
Part 3 out of 14
And talh6 trees clad with fruit,
And in extended shade,
And by flowing waters,
And with abundant fruits,7
Unfailing, unforbidden,
And on lofty couches.
Of a rare creation have we created the Houris,
And we have made them ever virgins,
Dear to their spouses, of equal age with them,8
For the people of the right hand,
A crowd of the former,
And a crowd of the latter generations.9
But the people of the left hand–oh! how wretched shall be the people of the
left hand!
Amid pestilential10 winds and in scalding water,
And in the shadow of a black smoke,
Not cool, and horrid to behold.11
For they truly, ere this, were blessed with worldly goods,
But persisted in heinous sin,
And were wont to say,
"What! after we have died, and become dust and bones, shall we be raised?
And our fathers, the men of yore?"
SAY: Aye, the former and the latter:
Gathered shall they all be for the time of a known day.
Then ye, O ye the erring, the gainsaying,
Shall surely eat of the tree Ez-zakkoum,
And fill your bellies with it,
And thereupon shall ye drink boiling water,
And ye shall drink as the thirsty camel drinketh.
This shall be their repast in the day of reckoning!
We created you, will ye not credit us?12
What think ye? The germs of life13–
Is it ye who create them? or are we their creator?
It is we who have decreed that death should be among you;
Yet are we not thereby hindered14 from replacing you with others, your likes,
or from producing you again in a form which ye know not!
Ye have known the first creation: will ye not then reflect?
What think ye? That which ye sow–
Is it ye who cause its upgrowth, or do we cause it to spring forth?
If we pleased we could so make your harvest dry and brittle that ye would
ever marvel and say,
"Truly we have been at cost,15 yet are we forbidden harvest."
What think ye of the water ye drink?
Is it ye who send it down from the clouds, or send we it down?
Brackish could we make it, if we pleased: will ye not then be thankful?
What think ye? The fire which ye obtain by friction–
Is it ye who rear its tree, or do we rear it?
It is we who have made it for a memorial and a benefit to the wayfarers of
the desert,
Praise therefore the name of thy Lord, the Great.
It needs not that I swear by the setting of the stars,
And it is a great oath, if ye knew it,
That this is the honourable Koran,
Written in the preserved Book:16
Let none touch it but the purified,17
It is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds.
Such tidings as these will ye disdain?
Will ye make it your daily bread to gainsay them?
Why, at the moment when the soul of a dying man shall come up into his
throat,
And when ye are gazing at him,
Though we are nearer to him than ye, although ye see us not:–
Why do ye not, if ye are to escape the judgment,
Cause that soul to return? Tell me, if ye speak the truth.
But as to him who shall enjoy near access to God,
His shall be repose, and pleasure, and a garden of delights.
Yea, for him who shall be of the people of the right hand,
Shall be the greeting from the people of the right hand–"Peace be to thee."
But for him who shall be of those who treat the prophets as deceivers,
And of the erring,
His entertainment shall be of scalding water,
And the broiling of hell-fire.
Verily this is a certain truth:
Praise therefore the name of thy Lord, the Great.
_______________________
1 The renderings of Mar. cum inciderit casura, or as in Sur. lxix, 15,
ingruerit ingruens nearly express the peculiar force of the Arabic verb and
of the noun formed from it; i.e. a calamity that falls suddenly and surely.
Weil renders, ween der Auferstehung's Tag eintritt (p. 389). Lane, when the
calamity shall have happened.
2 Comp. Tr. Rosch Haschanah, fol. 16, 6.
3 Lit., the companions of the right hand, what shall be the companions of the
right hand! and thus in verses 9, 37, 40.
4 Lit., the preceders, the preceders.
5 See Sura liii. 14, p. 69.
6 Probably the banana according to others, the acacia gummifera.
7 "A Muslim of some learning professed to me that he considered the
descriptions of Paradise in the Koran to be, in a great measure, figurative;
'like those,' said he, 'in the book of the Revelation of St. John;' and he
assured me that many learned Muslims were of the same opinion." Lane's Modern
Egyptians, i. p. 75, note.
8 Like them, grow not old.
9 This seems a direct contradiction to verse 14, unless we suppose with
Beidhawi that an inferior and more numerous class of believers are here
spoken of.
10 Or, scorching.
11 Lit., not noble, agreeable in appearance.
12 As to the resurrection.
13 Lit., semen quod emittitis.
14 Lit., forestalled, anticipated.
15 Lit, have incurred debt.
16 That is, The Prototype of the Koran written down in the Book kept by God
himself.
17 This passage implies the existence of copies of portions at least of the
Koran in common use. It was quoted by the sister of Omar when at his
conversion be desired to take her copy of Sura xx. into his hands.
SURA1–LIII. THE STAR [XLVI.]
MECCA.–62 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
By the STAR when it setteth,
Your compatriot erreth not, nor is he led astray,
Neither speaketh he from mere impulse.
The Koran is no other than a revelation revealed to him:
One terrible in power2 taught it him,
Endued with wisdom. With even balance stood he
In the highest part of the horizon:
Then came he nearer and approached,
And was at the distance of two bows, or even closer,–
And he revealed to his servant what he revealed.
His heart falsified not what he saw.
What! will ye then dispute with him as to what he saw?
He had seen him also another time,
Near the Sidrah-tree, which marks the boundary.3
Near which is the garden of repose.
When the Sidrah-tree4 was covered with what covered it,5
His eye turned not aside, nor did it wander:
For he saw the greatest of the signs of his Lord.
Do you see Al-Lat and Al-Ozza,6
And Manat the third idol besides?7
What? shall ye have male progeny and God female?
This were indeed an unfair partition!
These are mere names: ye and your fathers named them thus: God hath not sent
down any warranty in their regard. A mere conceit and their own impulses do
they follow. Yet hath "the guidance" from their Lord come to them.
Shall man have whatever he wisheth?
The future and the present are in the hand of God:
And many as are the Angels in the Heavens, their intercession shall be of no
avail8
Until God hath permitted it to whom he shall please and will accept.
Verily, it is they who believe not in the life to come, who name the angels
with names of females:
But herein they have no knowledge: they follow a mere conceit; and mere
conceit can never take the place of truth.
Withdraw then from him who turneth his back on our warning and desireth only
this present life.
This is the sum of their knowledge. Truly thy Lord best knoweth him who
erreth from his way, and He best knoweth him who hath received guidance.
And whatever is in the Heavens and in the Earth is God's that he may reward
those who do evil according to their deeds: and those who do good will He
reward with good things.
To those who avoid great crimes and scandals but commit only lighter faults,
verily, thy Lord will be diffuse of mercy. He well knew you when he produced
you out of the earth, and when ye were embryos in your mother's womb. Assert
not then your own purity. He best knoweth who feareth him.
Hast thou considered him who turned his back?
Who giveth little and is covetous?
Is it that he hath the knowledge and vision of the secret things?
Hath he not been told of what is in the pages of Moses?
And of Abraham faithful to his pledge?
That no burdened soul shall bear the burdens of another,
And that nothing shall be reckoned to a man but that for which he hath made
efforts:
And that his efforts shall at last be seen in their true light:
That then he shall be recompensed with a most exact recompense,
And that unto thy Lord is the term of all things,
And that it is He who causeth to laugh and to weep,
And that He causeth to die and maketh alive,
And that He hath created the sexes, male and female,
From the diffused germs of life,9
And that with Him is the second creation,
And that He enricheth and causeth to possess,
And that He is the Lord of Sirius,10
And that it was He who destroyed the ancient Adites,
And the people of Themoud and left not one survivor,
And before them the people of Noah who were most wicked and most perverse.
And it was He who destroyed the cities that were overthrown.
So that that which covered them covered them.
Which then of thy Lord's benefits wilt thou make a matter of doubt?11
He who warneth you is one of the warners of old.
The day that must draw nigh, draweth nigh already: and yet none but God can
reveal its time.
Is it at these sayings that ye marvel?
And that ye laugh and weep not?
And that ye are triflers?
Prostrate yourselves then to God and worship.
_______________________
1 This Sura was revealed at about the time of the first emigration of
Muhammad's followers to Abyssinia, A. 5. The manner in which the Prophet
cancelled the objectionable verses 19, 20, is the strongest proof of his
sincerity (as also is the opening of Sura 1xxx.) at this period. Had he not
done so, nothing would have been easier for him than to have effected a
reconciliation with the powerful party in Mecca, who had recently compelled
his followers to emigrate.
2 The Angel Gabriel, to the meaning of whose name, as the strong one of God,
these words probably allude.
3 That is, Beyond which neither men nor angels can pass (Djelal). The
original word is also rendered, the Lote-Tree of the extremity, or of the
loftiest spot in Paradise, in the seventh Heaven, on the right hand of the
throne of God. Its leaves are fabled to be as numerous as the members of the
whole human family, and each leaf to bear the name of an individual. This
tree is shaken on the night of the 15th of Ramadan every year a little after
sunset, when the leaves on which are inscribed the names of those who are to
die in the ensuing year fall, either wholly withered, or with more or less
green remaining, according to the months or weeks the person has yet to live.
4 The Sidrah is a prickly plum, which is called Ber in India, the zizyphus
Jujuba of Linnæus. A decoction of the leaves is used in India to wash the
dead, on account of the sacredness of the tree.
5 Hosts of adoring angels, by which the tree was masked.
6 Al-Lat or El-Lat, probably the Alilat of Herodotus (iii. 8) was an idol at
Nakhlah, a place east of the present site of Mecca. Al-Ozza was an idol of
the Kinanah tribe; but its hereditary priests were the Banu Solaym, who were
stationed along the mercantile road to Syria in the neighbourhood of Chaibar.
7 When at the first recital of this Sura, the prophet had reached this verse,
he continued,
These are the exalted females, [or, sublime swans, i.e., mounting nearer and
nearer to God]
And truly their intercession may be expected.
These words, however, which were received by the idolaters with great
exultation, were disowned by Muhammad in the course of a few days as a
Satanic suggestion, and replaced by the text as it now stands. The
probability is that the difficulties of his position led him to attempt a
compromise of which he speedily repented. In the Suras subsequent to this
period the denunciations of idolatry become much sterner and clearer. The
authorities are given by Weil, Sprenger and Muir. See Sura [lxvii.] xvii. 74-
76.
8 Verses 26-33 are probably later than the previous part of the Sura, but
inserted with reference to it. Some (as Omar b. Muhammad and 1tq.) consider
verse 33, or (as Itq.36) verses 34-42, or (as Omar b. Muhammad) the whole
Sura, to have originated at Medina.
9 Ex spermate cum seminatum fuerit.
10 The Dog-star, worshipped by the Arabians.
11 Compare the refrain in Sura lv. p. 74.
SURA LXX.–THE STEPS OR ASCENTS [XLVII.]
MECCA.–44 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
A SUITOR sued1 for punishment to light suddenly
On the infidels: none can hinder
God from inflicting it, the master of those ASCENTS,
By which the angels and the spirit ascend to him in a day, whose length is
fifty thousand years.2
Be thou patient therefore with becoming patience;
They forsooth regard that day as distant,
But we see it nigh:
The day when the heavens shall become as molten brass,
And the mountains shall become like flocks of wool:
And friend shall not question of friend,
Though they look at one another. Fain would the wicked redeem himself from
punishment on that day at the price of his children,
Of his spouse and his brother,
And of his kindred who shewed affection for him,
And of all who are on the earth that then it might deliver him.
But no. For the fire,
Dragging by the scalp,
Shall claim him who turned his back and went away,
And amassed and hoarded.
Man truly is by creation hasty;
When evil befalleth him, impatient;
But when good falleth to his lot, tenacious.
Not so the prayerful,
Who are ever constant at their prayers;
And of whose substance there is a due and stated portion
For him who asketh, and for him who is ashamed3 to beg;
And who own the judgment-day a truth,
And who thrill with dread at the chastisement of their Lord–
For there is none safe from the chastisement of their Lord–
And who control their desires,
(Save with their wives or the slaves whom their right hands have won, for
there they shall be blameless;
But whoever indulge their desires beyond this are transgressors);
And who are true to their trusts and their engagements,
And who witness uprightly,
And who keep strictly the hours of prayer:
These shall dwell, laden with honours, amid gardens.
But what hath come to the unbelievers that they run at full stretch around
thee,
On the right hand and on the left, in bands?
Is it that every man of them would fain enter that garden of delights?
Not at all. We have created them, they know of what.
It needs not that I swear by the Lord of the East and of the West4 that we
have power.
To replace them with better than themselves: neither are we to be hindered.
Wherefore let them flounder on and disport them, till they come face to face
with their threatened day,
The day on which they shall flock up out of their graves in haste like men
who rally to a standard:–
Their eyes downcast; disgrace shall cover them. Such their threatened day.
_______________________
1 Lit. asking one asked; probably some unbeliever, with reference to the
opening of Sura lvi., p. 60, or like statements in some previous Sura.
2 The expression is hyperbolical, and, as such, identical with Sura [lxx.]
xxxii. 4. Compare also Sura xcvii., p. 37. where the descent is said to take
place in a single night.
3 Lit. forbidden or prevented by shame.
4 See next Sura. v. 16.
SURA LV.–THE MERCIFUL [XLVIII.]
MECCA.–78 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The God of MERCY hath taught the Koran,
Hath created man,
Hath taught him articulate speech,
The Sun and the Moon have each their times,
And the plants and the trees bend in adoration.
And the Heaven, He hath reared it on high, and hath appointed the balance;
That in the balance ye should not transgress.
Weigh therefore with fairness, and scant not the balance.
And the Earth, He hath prepared it for the living tribes:
Therein are fruits, and the palms with sheathed clusters,
And the grain with its husk, and the fragrant plants.
Which then of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain1 deny?
He created man of clay like that of the potter.
And He created the djinn of pure fire:
Which then of the bounties, etc.
He is the Lord of the East,2
He is the Lord of the West:
Which, etc.
He hath let loose the two seas3 which meet each other:
Yet between them is a barrier which they overpass not:
Which, etc.
From each he bringeth up pearls both great and small:
Which, etc.
And His are the ships towering up at sea like mountains:
Which, etc.
All on the earth shall pass away,
But the face of thy Lord shall abide resplendent with majesty and glory:
Which, etc.
To Him maketh suit all that is in the Heaven and the Earth. Every day doth
some new work employ Him:
Which, etc.
We will find leisure to judge you, O ye men and djinn:4
Which, etc.
O company of djinn and men, if ye can overpass the bounds of the Heavens and
the Earth, then overpass them. But by our leave only shall ye overpass them:
Which, etc.
A bright flash of fire shall be hurled at you both, and molten brass, and ye
shall not defend yourselves from it:
Which, etc.
When the Heaven shall be cleft asunder, and become rose red, like stained
leather:
Which, etc.
On that day shall neither man nor djinn be asked of his sin:
Which, etc.
By their tokens shall the sinners be known, and they shall be seized by their
forelocks and their feet:
Which, etc.
"This is Hell which sinners treated as a lie."
To and fro shall they pass between it and the boiling water:
Which, etc.
But for those who dread the majesty of their Lord shall be two gardens:
Which, etc.
With o'erbranching trees in each:
Which, etc.
In each two kinds of every fruit:
Which, etc.
On couches with linings of brocade shall they recline, and the fruit of the
two gardens shall be within easy reach:
Which, etc.
Therein shall be the damsels with retiring glances, whom nor man nor djinn
hath touched before them:
Which, etc.
Like jacynths and pearls:
Which, etc.
Shall the reward of good be aught but good?
Which, etc.
And beside these shall be two other gardens:5
Which, etc.
Of a dark green:
Which, etc.
With gushing fountains in each:
Which, etc.
In each, fruits and the palm and the pomegranate:
Which, etc.
In each, the fair, the beauteous ones:
Which, etc.
With large dark eyeballs, kept close in their pavilions:
Which, etc.
Whom man hath never touched, nor any djinn:6
Which, etc.
Their spouses on soft green cushions and on beautiful carpets shall recline:
Which, etc.
Blessed be the name of thy Lord, full of majesty and glory.
_______________________
1 Men and djinn. The verb is in the dual.
2 Lit. of the two easts, of the two wests, i.e., of all that lies between the
extreme points at which the sun rises and sets at the winter and summer
solstices.
3 Lit. he hath set at large, poured forth over the earth the masses of fresh
and salt water which are in contact at the mouths of rivers, etc. See Sura
[lxviii.] xxvii. 62; [lxxxvi.] xxxv. 13.
4 Lit. O ye two weights; hence, treasures; and, generally, any collective
body of men or things.
5 One for men, the other for the Genii; or, two for each man and Genius; or,
both are for the inferior classes of Muslims. Beidh.
6 It should be remarked that these promises of the Houris of Paradise are
almost exclusively to be found in Suras written at a time when Muhammad had
only a single wife of 60 years of age, and that in all the ten years
subsequent to the Hejira, women are only twice mentioned as part of the
reward of the faithful. Suras ii. 23 and iv. 60. While in Suras xxxvi. 56;
xliii. 70; xiii. 23; xl. 8 the proper wives of the faithful are spoken of as
accompanying their husbands into the gardens of bliss.
SURA LIV.–THE MOON [XLIX.]
MECCA.–55 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The hour hath approached and the MOON hath been cleft:
But whenever they see a miracle they turn aside and say, This is well-devised
magic.
And they have treated the prophets as impostors, and follow their own lusts;
but everything is unalterably fixed.
A message of prohibition had come to them–
Consummate wisdom–but warners profit them not.
Quit them then. On the day when the summoner shall summon to a stern
business,
With downcast eyes shall they come forth from their graves, as if they were
scattered locusts,
Hastening to the summoner. "This," shall the infidels say, "is the
distressful day."
Before them the people of Noah treated the truth as a lie. Our servant did
they charge with falsehood, and said, "Demoniac!" and he was rejected.
Then cried he to his Lord, "Verily, they prevail against me; come thou
therefore to my succour."
So we opened the gates of Heaven with water which fell in torrents,
And we caused the earth to break forth with springs, and their waters met by
settled decree.
And we bare him on a vessel made with planks and nails.
Under our eyes it floated on: a recompence to him who had been rejected with
unbelief.
And we left it a sign: but, is there any one who receives the warning?
And how great was my vengeance and my menace!
Easy for warning have we made the Koran–but, is there any one who receives
the warning?
The Adites called the truth a lie: but how great was my vengeance and my
menace;
For we sent against them a roaring wind in a day of continued distress:
It tore men away as though they were uprooted palm stumps.
And how great was my vengeance and my menace!
Easy for warning have we made the Koran–but, is there any one who receives
the warning?
The tribe of Themoud treated the threatenings as lies:
And they said, "Shall we follow a single man from among ourselves? Then
verily should we be in error and in folly.
To him alone among us is the office of warning entrusted? No! he is an
impostor, an insolent person."
To-morrow shall they learn who is the impostor, the insolent.
"For we will send the she-camel to prove them: do thou mark them well, O
Saleh, and be patient:
And foretell them that their waters shall1 be divided between themselves and
her, and that every draught shall come by turns to them."
But they called to their comrade, and he took a knife and ham-strung her.
And how great was my vengeance and my menance!
We sent against them a single shout; and they became like the dry sticks of
the fold-builders.
Easy have we made the Koran for warning–but, is there any one who receives
the warning?
The people of Lot treated his warning as a lie;
But we sent a stone-charged wind against them all, except the family of Lot,
whom at daybreak we delivered,
By our special grace–for thus we reward the thankful.
He, indeed, had warned them of our severity, but of that warning they
doubted.
Even this guess did they demand: therefore we deprived them of sight,
And said, "Taste ye my vengeance and my menace;"
And in the morning a relentless punishment overtook them.
Easy have we made the Koran for warning but, is there any one who receives
the warning?
To the people of Pharaoh also came the threatenings:
All our miracles did they treat as impostures. Therefore seized we them as he
only can seize, who is the Mighty, the Strong.
Are your infidels, O Meccans, better men than these? Is there an exemption
for you in the sacred Books?
Will they say, "We are a host that lend one another aid?"
The host shall be routed, and they shall turn them back.
But, that Hour is their threatened time, and that Hour shall be most severe
and bitter.
Verily, the wicked are sunk in bewilderment and folly.
On that day they shall be dragged into the fire on their faces. "Taste ye the
touch of Hell."
All things have we created after a fixed decree:
Our command was but one word, swift as the twinkling of an eye.
Of old, too, have we destroyed the like of you–yet is any one warned?
And everything that they do is in the Books;2
Each action, both small and great, is written down.
Verily, amid gardens3 and rivers shall the pious dwell.
In the seat of truth, in the presence of the potent King.
_______________________
1 See Sura [lvi.] xxvi. 155; also Sura [lxxxvii.] vii. 71.
2 Kept by the Guardian Angels.
3 The Talmudic descriptions of the Gardens–for the later Jews believed in
more than one Paradise–and of the rivers and trees therein, will be found in
Schr der Talm. Rabb. Judenthum, pp. 418-432.
SURA XXXVII.–THE RANKS [L.]
MECCA.–182 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
By the angels ranged in order for Songs of Praise,
And by those who repel demons,1
And by those who recite the Koran for warning,
Truly your God is but one,
Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between them, and
Lord of the East.2
We have adorned the lower heaven with the adornment of the stars.
They serve also as a guard against every rebellious Satan,
That they overhear not what passeth in the assembly on high, for they are
darted at from every side,3
Driven off and consigned to a lasting torment;
While, if one steal a word by stealth, a glistening flame pursueth him.
Ask the Meccans then, Are they, or the angels whom we have made, the stronger
creation? Aye, of coarse clay have we created them.
But while thou marvellest they mock;
When they are warned, no warning do they take;
And when they see a sign, they fall to mocking,
And say, "This is no other than clear sorcery:
What! when dead, and turned to dust and bones, shall we indeed be raised?
Our sires also of olden times?"
Say, Yes; and ye shall be covered with disgrace.
For, one blast only, and lo! they shall gaze around them, And shall say, "Oh!
woe to us! this is the day of reckoning; This is the day of decision which ye
gainsaid as an untruth."
Gather together those who have acted unjustly, and their consorts,4 and the
gods whom they adored
Beside God; and guide them to the road for Hell.
Set them forth: they shall be questioned.
"How now, that ye help not one another?"
But on this day they shall submit themselves to God,
And shall address one another with mutual reproaches.
They shall say, "In sooth, ye came to us in well-omened sort:"5
But they will answer, "Nay, it was ye who would not believe; and we had no
power whatever over you. Nay, ye were people given to transgress;
Just, therefore, is the doom which our Lord hath passed upon us.6 We shall
surely taste it:
We made you err, for we had erred ourselves."
Partners therefore shall they be in punishment on that day.
Truly, thus will we deal with the wicked,
Because when it was said to them, There is no God but God, they swelled with
pride,
And said, "Shall we then abandon our gods for a crazed poet?"
Nay, he cometh with truth and confirmeth the Sent Ones of old.
Ye shall surely taste the painful punishment,
And ye shall not be rewarded but as ye have wrought,
Save the sincere servants of God!
A stated banquet shall they have
Of fruits; and honoured shall they be
In the gardens of delight,
Upon couches face to face.
A cup shall be borne round among them from a fountain,
Limpid, delicious to those who drink;
It shall not oppress the sense, nor shall they therewith be drunken.
And with them are the large-eyed ones with modest refraining glances, fair
like the sheltered egg.7
And they shall address one another with mutual questions.
Saith one of them, "I truly had a bosom friend,
Who said, 'Art thou of those who credit it?
What! when we shall have died, and become dust and bones, shall we indeed be
judged?"'
He shall say to those around him, "Will ye look?"
And he shall look and see him in the midst of Hell.
And he shall say to him, "By God, thou hadst almost caused me to perish;
And, but for the favour of my Lord, I had surely been of those who have been
brought with thee into torment."
"But do we not die," say the blessed,
"Any other than our first death? and have we escaped the torment?"8
This truly is the great felicity!
For the like of this should the travailers travail!
Is this the better repast or the tree Ez-zakkoum?
Verily, we have made it for a subject of discord to the wicked.
It is a tree which cometh up from the bottom of hell;
Its fruits is as it were the heads of Satans;
And, lo! the damned shall surely eat of it and fill their bellies with it:
Then shall they have, thereon, a mixture of boiling water:
Then shall they return to hell.
They found their fathers erring,
And they hastened on in their footsteps.
Also before them the greater number of the ancients had erred.
Though we had sent warners among them.
But see what was the end of these warned ones,
Except of God's true servants.
Noah called on us of old, and right prompt were we to hear him,9
And we saved him and his family out of the great distress,
And we made his offspring the survivors;
And we left for him with posterity,
"Peace be on Noah throughout the worlds!"
Thus do we reward the well-doers,
For he was one of our believing servants;–
And the rest we drowned.
And truly, of his faith was Abraham,
When he brought to his Lord a perfect heart,
When he said to his father and to his people, "What is this ye worship?
Prefer ye with falsehood gods to God?
And what deem ye of the Lord of the worlds?"
So gazing he gazed towards the stars,
And said, "In sooth I am ill:10
And they turned their back on him and departed.
He went aside to their gods and said, "Do ye not eat?
What aileth you that ye do not speak?"
He broke out upon them, with the right hand striking:
When his tribesmen came back to him with hasty steps
He said, "Worship ye what ye carve,
When God hath created you, and that ye make?"
They said, "Build up a pyre for him and cast him into the glowing flame."
Fain would they plot against him, but we brought them low.
And he said, "Verily, I repair to my Lord who will guide me:
O Lord give me a son, of the righteous."
We announced to him a youth of meekness.
And when he became a full-grown youth,11
His father said to him, "My son, I have seen in a dream that I should
sacrifice thee; therefore, consider what thou seest right."
He said, "My father, do what thou art bidden; of the patient, if
God please, shalt thou find me."
And when they had surrendered them to the will of God, he laid him down upon
his forehead:
We cried unto him, "O Abraham!
Now hast thou satisfied the vision." See how we recompense the righteous.
This was indeed a decisive test.
And we ransomed his son with a costly12 victim,
And we left this13 for him among posterity,
"PEACE BE ON ABRAHAM!"
Thus do we reward the well-doers,
For he was of our believing servants.
And we announced Isaac to him–a righteous Prophet–
And on him and on Isaac we bestowed our blessing. And among their offspring
were well-doers, and others, to their own hurt undoubted sinners.
And of old,14 to Moses and to Aaron shewed we favours:
And both of them, and their people, we rescued from the great distress:
And we succoured them, and they became the conquerors:
And we gave them (Moses and Aaron) each the lucid book:
And we guided them each into the right way:
And we left this for each among posterity,
"PEACE BE ON MOSES AND AARON."
Thus do we reward the well-doers,
For they were two of our believing servants.
And Elias truly was of our Sent Ones,
When he said to his people, "Fear ye not God?
Invoke ye Baal and forsake ye the most skilful Creator?
God is your Lord, and the Lord of your sires of old?"
But they treated him as a liar, and shall therefore be consigned to
punishment,
Except God's faithful servants.
And we left this for him among posterity,
"PEACE BE ON ELIASIN!"15
Thus do we reward the well-doers,
For he was one of our believing servants.
And Lot truly was of our Sent Ones,
When we rescued him and all his family,
Save an aged woman among those who tarried.
Afterward we destroyed the others.
And ye indeed pass by their ruined dwellings at morn
And night: will ye not then reflect?
Jonas, too, was one of the Apostles,
When he fled unto the laden ship,
And lots were cast,16 and he was doomed,
And the fish swallowed him, for he was blameworthy.
But had he not been of those who praise Us,
In its belly had he surely remained, till the day of resurrection.
And we cast him on the bare shore–and he was sick;–
And we caused a gourd-plant to grow up over him,
And we sent him to a hundred thousand persons, or even more,
And because they believed, we continued their enjoyments for a season.
Inquire then of the Meccans whether thy Lord hath daughters, and they, sons?
Have we created the angels females? and did they witness it?
Is it not a falsehood of their own devising, when they say,
"God hath begotten"? They are indeed liars.
Would he have preferred daughters to sons?
What reason have ye for thus judging?
Will ye not then receive this warning?
Have ye a clear proof for them?
Produce your Book if ye speak truth.
And they make him to be of kin with the Djinn: but the Djinn have long known
that these idolaters shall be brought up before God.
Far be the glory of God from what they impute to him.
"His faithful servants do not thus.
Moreover, ye and what ye worship
Shall not stir up any against God,17
Save him who shall burn in Hell.
And verily each one of us hath his appointed place,
And we range ourselves in order,
And we celebrate His praises."18
And if those infidels say,
"Had we a revelation transmitted to us from those of old,19
We had surely been God's faithful servants."
Yet they believe not the Koran. But they shall know its truth at last.
Our word came of old to our servants the apostles,
That they should surely be the succoured,
And that our armies should procure the victory for them.
Turn aside therefore from them for a time,
And behold them, for they too shall in the end behold their doom.
Would they then hasten our vengeance?
But when it shall come down into their courts, an evil morning shall it be to
those who have had their warning.
Turn aside from them therefore for a time.
And behold; for they too shall in the end behold their doom.
Far be the glory of thy Lord, the Lord of all greatness, from what they
impute to him,
And peace be on his Apostles!
And praise be to God the Lord of the worlds.
_______________________
1 I have given in the text the sense of these first two verses according to
the Muhammadan commentators. The original, literally translated, viz. By the
ranks which rank themselves, and by the repellers who repel, would not convey
an intelligible idea to the English reader. Mar. renders, Per ordinantes
ordinando et agitantes agitando.
2 Ar. Easts. Errat in pluralitate mundorum. Mar. But the allusion probably is
to the different points of the horizon at which the sun rises and sets in the
course of the year.
3 See Sura [lvii.] xv. 18.
4 Or, comrades, i.e. the demons.
5 Lit. on the right hand, the side of good omen i.e. with semblance of truth.
6 See Sura [lx.] xxxvi. 6.
7 The ostrich egg carefully protected from dust.
8 Lit. and are we not among the punished?
9 Lit. et sane euge auditores. Mar.
10 And therefore unable to assist at your sacrifices.
11 Lit. cum igitur pervenisset cum eo ad ‘tatem cui competit operandi
studium. Mar. Beidh. When he had attained to the age when he could work with
him. Lane.
12 Brought, says Rabbi Jehoshua, from Paradise by an angel. Midr. fol.
13 This salutation.
14 The Arabic particle which is here and elsewhere rendered of old (also,
already, certainly) serves to mark the position of a past act or event as
prior to the time present, and in all such passages merely gives a fulness
and intensity to our perfect, or pluperfect tense.
15 The form of this word is altered in the original for the sake of the
rhyme.
16 Lit. he cast lots (with the sailors).
17 Nequequam vos ad illud colendum estis Seducturi. Mar.
18 This verse and the six preceding are the words of the Angel.
19 Compare verse 69.
SURA LXXI.–NOAH [LI.]
MECCA.–29 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
We sent NOAH to his people, and said to him, "Warn thou thy people ere there
come on them an afflictive punishment."
He said, "O my people! I come to you a plain-spoken warner:
Serve God and fear Him, and obey me:
Your sins will He forgive you, and respite you till the fixed Time; for when
God's fixed Time hath come, it shall not be put back. Would that ye knew
this!"
He said, "Lord I have cried to my people night and day; and my cry doth but
make them flee from me the more.
So oft as I cry to them, that thou mayest forgive them, they thrust their
fingers into their ears, and wrap themselves in their garments, and persist
in their error, and are disdainfully disdainful.
Then I cried aloud to them:
Then again spake I with plainness, and in private did I secretly address
them:
And I said, Beg forgiveness of your Lord, for He is ready to forgive.
He will send down the very Heaven upon you in plenteous rains;
And will increase you in wealth and children; and will give you gardens, and
will give you watercourses:–
What hath come to you that ye hope not for goodness from the hand of God?
For He it is who hath formed you by successive steps.1
See ye not how God hath created the seven heavens one over the other?
And He hath placed therein the moon as a light, and hath placed there the sun
as a torch;
And God hath caused you to spring forth from the earth like a plant;
Hereafter will He turn you back into it again, and will bring you forth anew–
And God hath spread the earth for you like a carpet,
That ye may walk therein along spacious paths."'
Said Noah, "O my Lord! they rebel against me, and they follow those whose
riches and children do but aggravate their ruin."
And they plotted a great plot;
And they said, "Forsake not your Gods; forsake not Wadd nor Sowah,
Nor Yaghuth and Yahuk and Nesr;"
And they caused many to err;2–and thou, too, O Muhammad! shalt be the means
of increasing only error in the wicked–
Because of their sins they were drowned, and made to go into the Fire;
And they found that they had no helper save God.
And Noah said, "Lord, leave not one single family of Infidels on the Earth:
For if thou leave them they will beguile thy servants and will beget only
sinners, infidels.
O my Lord, forgive me, and my parents, and every one who, being a believer,
shall enter my house, and believers men and women: and add to the wicked
nought but perdition."
_______________________
1 See Sura xxii. 5.
2 Or, the idols had seduced many. Thus Kas. Beidh. gives both interpp.–See
on these idols Freytag's Einleitung, p. 349.
SURA LXXVI.–MAN [LII.]
MECCA.–31 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Doth not a long time pass over MAN, during which he is a thing unremembered?1
We have created man from the union of the sexes that we might prove him; and
hearing, seeing, have we made him:
In a right way have we guided him, be he thankful or ungrateful.
For the Infidels we have got ready chains and collars and flaming fire.
But a wine cup tempered at the camphor fountain2 the just shall quaff:
Fount whence the servants of God shall drink, and guide by channels from
place to place;
They who fulfilled their vows, and feared the day whose woes will spread far
and wide;
Who though longing for it themselves, bestowed their food on the poor and the
orphan and the captive:
"We feed you for the sake of God: we seek from you neither recompense nor
thanks:3
A stern and calamitous day dread we from our Lord."
From the evil therefore of that day hath God delivered them and cast on them
brightness of face and joy:
And hath rewarded their constancy, with Paradise and silken robes:
Reclining therein on bridal couches, nought shall they know of sun or
piercing cold:
Its shades shall be close over them, and low shall its fruits hang down:
And vessels of silver and goblets like flagons shall be borne round among
them:
Flagons of silver whose measure themselves shall mete.
And there shall they be given to drink of the cup tempered with zendjebil
(ginger)
From the fount therein whose name is Selsebil (the softly flowing).
Aye-blooming youths go round among them. When thou lookest at them thou
wouldest deem them scattered pearls;
And when thou seest this, thou wilt see delights and a vast kingdom:
Their clothing green silk robes and rich brocade: with silver bracelets shall
they be adorned; and drink of a pure beverage shall their Lord give them.
This shall be your recompense. Your efforts shall meet with thanks.
We ourselves have sent down to thee the Koran as a missive from on high.
Await then with patience the judgments of thy Lord, and obey not the wicked
among them and the unbelieving:
And make mention of the name of thy Lord at morn, at even,
And at night. Adore him, and praise him the livelong night.
But these men love the fleeting present, and leave behind them the heavy day
of doom.
Ourselves have we created them, and strengthened their joints; and when we
please, with others like unto themselves will we replace them.
This truly is a warning: And whoso willeth, taketh the way to his Lord;
But will it ye shall not, unless God will it, for God is Knowing, Wise.
He causeth whom He will to enter into his mercy. But for the evil doers, He
hath made ready an afflictive chastisement.
_______________________
1 When in the womb.
2 With (the water of) Kafoor. Lane.
3 Desire no recompense from you.
SURA XLIV.–SMOKE [LIII.]
MECCA.–59 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Ha. Mim.1 By this clear Book!
See! on a blessed night2 have we sent it down, for we would warn mankind:
On the night wherein all things are disposed in wisdom,3
By virtue of our behest. Lo! we have ever sent forth Apostles,
A mercy from thy Lord: he truly heareth and knoweth all things–
Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth and of all that is between them,–if ye
be firm in faith–
There is no God but He!–He maketh alive and killeth!–Your Lord and the Lord
of your sires of old!
Yet with doubts do they disport them.
But mark them on the day when the Heaven shall give out a palpable SMOKE,
Which shall enshroud mankind: this will be an afflictive torment.
They will cry, "Our Lord! relieve us from this torment: see! we are
believers."
But how did warning avail them, when an undoubted apostle had come to them;
And they turned their backs on him, and said, "Taught by others, possessed?"
Were we to relieve you from the plague even a little, ye would certainly
relapse.4
On the day when we shall fiercely put forth our great fierceness, we will
surely take vengeance on them!
Of old, before their time, had we proved the people of Pharaoh, when a noble
apostle presented himself to them.
"Send away with me," cried he, "the servants of God; for I am an apostle
worthy of all credit:
And exalt not yourselves against God, for I come to you with undoubted power;
And I take refuge with Him who is my Lord and your Lord, that ye stone me
not:
And if ye believe me not, at least separate yourselves from me."
And he cried to his Lord, "That these are a wicked people."
"March forth then, said God, with my servants by night, for ye will be
pursued.
And leave behind you the cleft sea: they are a drowned host."
How many a garden and fountain did they quit!
And corn fields and noble dwellings!
And pleasures in which they rejoiced them!
So was it: and we gave them as a heritage to another people.
Nor Heaven nor Earth wept for them, nor was their sentence respited;
And we rescued the children of Israel from a degrading affliction–
From Pharaoh, for he was haughty, given to excess.
And we chose them, in our prescience, above all peoples,5
And we shewed them miracles wherein was their clear trial.
Yet these infidels say,
"There is but our first death, neither shall we be raised again:
Bring back our sires, if ye be men of truth."
Are they better than the people of Tobba,6
And those who flourished before them whom we destroyed for their evil deeds?
We have not created the Heavens and the Earth and whatever is between them in
sport:
We have not created them but for a serious end:7 but the greater part of them
understand it not.
Verily the day of severing8 shall be the appointed time of all:
A day when the master shall not at all be aided by the servant, neither shall
they be helped;
Save those on whom God shall have mercy: for He is the mighty, the merciful.
Verily the tree of Ez-Zakkoum9
Shall be the sinner's10 food:
Like dregs of oil shall it boil up in their bellies,
Like the boiling of scalding water.
"–Seize ye him, and drag him into the mid-fire;
Then pour on his head of the tormenting boiling water.
–'Taste this:' for thou forsooth art the mighty, the honourable!
Lo! this is that of which ye doubted."
But the pious shall be in a secure place,
Amid gardens and fountains,
Clothed in silk and richest robes, facing one another:
Thus shall it be: and we will wed them to the virgins with large dark eyes:
Therein shall they call, secure, for every kind of fruit;
Therein, their first death passed, shall they taste death no more; and He
shall keep them from the pains of Hell:–
'Tis the gracious bounty of thy Lord! This is the great felicity.
We have made this Koran easy for thee in thine own tongue, that they may take
the warning.
Therefore wait thou, for they are waiting.11
_______________________
1 See Sura lxviii. I, p. 32.
2 Of the 23rd and 24th of Ramadhan, in which, according to the Muslim creed,
all the events of the year subsequent are arranged. See Sura xcvii. n. 2, p.
27.
3 Lit. We settle each wise affair–called wise, because proceeding direct from
the will of Him who is absolute wisdom.
4 Beidh, and others suppose this verse to have been revealed at Medina. This
opinion, however, is based upon the supposition that it refers to the famine
with which Mecca was visited after the Hejira.
5 Comp. Ex. xx. 20; Deut. viii. 16.
6 Tobba, i.e. Chalif or successor, is the title of the Kings of Yemen; or of
Hadramont, Saba, and Hamyar.–See Pocock, Spec. Hist. Ar. p. 60.
7 Lit. in truth.
8 That is, Of the good from the bad.
9 See Sura xxxvii. 60, p. 81.
10 The commentators suppose this sinner to be Abu Jahl, one of the chief of
the Koreisch, and the bitter enemy of Muhammad.
11 To see the turn which events may take.
SURA L.–KAF [LIV.]
MECCA.–45 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Kaf1. By the glorious Koran:
They marvel forsooth that one of themselves hath come to them charged with
warnings. "This," say the infidels, "is a marvellous thing:
What! when dead and turned to dust shall we. . . .? Far off is such a return
as this?"
Now know we what the earth consumeth of them, and with us is a Book in which
account is kept.
But they have treated the truth which hath come to them as falsehood;
perplexed therefore is their state.
Will they not look up to the heaven above them, and consider how we have
reared it and decked it forth, and that there are no flaws therein?
And as to the earth, we have spread it out, and have thrown the mountains
upon it, and have caused an upgrowth in it of all beauteous kinds of plants,
For insight and admonition to every servant who loveth to turn to God:
And we send down the rain from Heaven with its blessings, by which we cause
gardens to spring forth and the grain of harvest,
And the tall palm trees with date-bearing branches one above the other
For man's nourishment: And life give we thereby to a dead country. So also
shall be the resurrection.
Ere the days of these (Meccans) the people of Noah, and the men of Rass2 and
Themoud, treated their prophets as impostors:
And Ad and Pharaoh, and the brethren of Lot and the dwellers in the forest,
and the people of Tobba,3 all gave the lie to their prophets: justly,
therefore, were the menaces inflicted.
Are we wearied out with the first creation? Yet are they in doubt with regard
to a new creation!4
We created man: and we know what his soul whispereth to him, and we are
closer to him than his neck-vein.
When the two angels charged with taking account shall take it, one sitting on
the right hand, the other on the left:
Not a word doth he utter, but there is a watcher with him ready to note it
down:
And the stupor of certain death cometh upon him: "This is what thou wouldst
have shunned"–
And there shall be a blast on the trumpet,–it is the threatened day!
And every soul shall come,–an angel with it urging it along, and an angel to
witness against it5–
Saith he, "Of this day didst thou live in heedlessness: but we have taken off
thy veil from thee, and thy sight is becoming sharp this day."
And he who is at this side6 shall say, "This is what I am prepared with
against thee."
And God will say, "Cast into Hell, ye twain, every infidel, every hardened
one,
The hinderer of the good, the transgressor, the doubter,
Who set up other gods with God. Cast ye him into the fierce torment."
He who is at his side shall say, "O our Lord! I led him not astray, yet was
he in an error wide of truth."
He shall say, "Wrangle not in my presence. I had plied you beforehand with
menaces:
My doom changeth not, and I am not unjust to man."
On that day will we cry to Hell, "Art thou full?" And it shall say, "Are
there more?"7
And not far from thence shall Paradise be brought near unto the Pious:
– "This is what ye have been promised: to every one who hath turned in
penitence to God and kept his laws;
Who hath feared the God of Mercy in secret, and come to him with a contrite
heart:
Enter it in peace: this is the day of Eternity."
There shall they have all that they can desire: and our's will it be to
augment their bliss:
And how many generations have we destroyed ere the days of these (Meccans),
mightier than they in strength! Search ye then the land. Is there any escape?
Lo! herein is warning for him who hath a heart, or giveth ear, and is himself
an eye-witness.8
We created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six
days, and no weariness touched us.9
Wherefore put up with what they say, and celebrate the praise of thy Lord
before sunrise and before sunset:
And praise Him in the night: and perform the two final prostrations.
And list for the day whereon the crier shall cry from a place near to every
one alike:
The day on which men shall in truth hear that shout will be the day of their
coming forth from the grave.
Verily, we cause to live, and we cause to die. To us shall all return.
On the day when the earth shall swiftly cleave asunder over the dead, will
this gathering be easy to Us.
We know best what the infidels say: and thou art not to compel them.
Warn then by the Koran those who fear my menace.
_______________________
1 See Sura lxviii. I, p. 32.
2 See [lxvi.] xxv. 40.
3 See xliv. 36, p. 90.
4 The Resurrection.
5 Lit. a driver and a witness.
6 The Satan who is chained to him. Sura [lxxi.] xli. 24.
7 Lit. is there any addition? which some explain as if Hell enquired whether,
being already full, any addition could be made to its size. Comp. Prov. xxx.
15, and Othioth Derabbi Akiba, 8, 1: "That the Prince of Hell saith daily,
Give me food enough, is clear from what is said (Is. v. 14). Therefore Shaol
hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure, etc."
8 That is, of the ruins of the destroyed cities, etc.
9 This verse is said (by Omar b. Muhammad, Itq. 36, Djelal Eddin, ap. Maracc.
and Beidh.) to have been revealed in answer to the Jews who told the Prophet
that if God rested on the Sabbath, it was because he was weary. But a
connection with verse 14 seems more natural.
SURA XX.1–TA. HA. [LV.]
MECCA.–135 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
TA. HA.2 Not to sadden thee have we sent down this Koran to thee,
But as a warning for him who feareth;
It is a missive from Him who hath made the earth and the lofty heavens!
The God of Mercy sitteth on his throne:
His, whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, and
whatsoever is between them both, and whatsoever is beneath the humid soil!
Thou needest not raise thy voice:3 for He knoweth the secret whisper, and the
yet more hidden.
God! There is no God but He! Most excellent His titles!
Hath the history of Moses reached thee?
When he saw a fire, and said to his family, "Tarry ye here, for I perceive a
fire:
Haply I may bring you a brand from it, or find at the fire a guide."4
And when he came to it, he was called to, "O Moses!
Verily, I am thy Lord:. therefore pull off thy shoes: for thou art in the
holy valley of Towa.
And I have chosen thee: hearken then to what shall be revealed.
Verily, I am God: there is no God but me: therefore worship me, and observe
prayer for a remembrance of me.
Verily the hour is coming:–I all but manifest it–
That every soul may be recompensed for its labours.
Nor let him who believeth not therein and followeth his lust, turn thee aside
from this truth, and thou perish.
Now, what is that in thy right hand, O Moses?"
Said he, "It is my staff on which I lean, and with which I beast down leaves
for my sheep, and I have other uses for it."
He said, "Cast it down, O Moses!"
So he cast it down, and lo! it became a serpent that ran along.
He said, "Lay hold on it, and fear not: to its former state will we restore
it."
"Now place thy right hand to thy arm-pit: it shall come forth white, but
unhurt:–another sign!–
That We may shew thee the greatest of our signs.
Go to Pharaoh, for he hath burst all bounds."
He said, "O my Lord! enlarge my breast for me,
And make my work easy for me,
And loose the knot of my tongue,5
That they may understand my speech.
And give me a counsellor6 from among my family,
Aaron my brother;
By him gird up my loins,7
And make him a colleague in my work,
That we may praise thee oft and oft remember thee,
For thou regardest us."
He said, "O Moses, thou hast obtained thy suit:
Already, at another time, have we showed thee favour,
When we spake unto thy mother what was spoken:
'Cast him into the ark:8 then cast him on the sea [the river], and the sea
shall throw him on the shore: and an enemy to me and an enemy to him shall
take him up.' And I myself have made thee an object of love,
That thou mightest be reared in mine eye.
When thy sister went and said, 'Shall I shew you one who will nurse him?'9
Then We returned thee to thy mother that her eye might be cheered, and that
she might not grieve. And when thou slewest a person, We delivered thee from
trouble, and We tried thee with other trial.
For years didst thou stay among the people of Midian; then camest thou hither
by my decree, O Moses:
And I have chosen thee for Myself.
Go thou and thy brother with my signs and be not slack to remember me.
Go ye to Pharaoh, for he hath burst all bounds:
But speak ye to him with gentle speech; haply he will reflect or fear."
They said, "O our Lord! truly we fear lest he break forth against us, or act
with exceeding injustice."
He said, "Fear ye not, for I am with you both. I will hearken and I will
behold.
Go ye then to him and say, 'Verily we are Sent ones of thy Lord; send
therefore the children of Israel with us and vex them not: now are we come to
thee with signs from thy Lord, and, Peace shall be on him who followeth the
right guidance.
For now hath it been revealed to us, that chastisement shall be on him who
chargeth with falsehood, and turneth him away."'
And he said, "Who is your Lord, O Moses?"
He said, "Our Lord is He who hath given to everything its form and then
guideth it aright."
"But what," said he, "was the state of generations past?"10
He said, "The knowledge thereof is with my Lord in the Book of his decrees.
My Lord erreth not, nor forgetteth.
He hath spread the earth as a bed, and hath traced out paths for you therein,
and hath sent down rain from Heaven, and by it we bring forth the kinds11 of
various herbs:
–'Eat ye, and feed your cattle.' Of a truth in this are signs unto men endued
with understanding.
From it have we created you, and into it will we return you, and out of it
will we bring you forth a second time."12
And we shewed him all our signs: but he treated them as falsehoods, and
refused to believe.
He said, "Hast thou come, O Moses, to drive us from our land by thine
enchantments?
Therefore will we assuredly confront thee with like enchantments: so appoint
a meeting between us and you–we will not fail it, we, and do not thou–in a
place alike for both."
He said, "On the feast day13 be your meeting, and in broad daylight let the
people be assembled."
And Pharaoh turned away, and collected his craftsmen and came.
Said Moses to them, "Woe to you! devise not a lie against God:
For then will he destroy you by a punishment. They who have lied have ever
perished."
And the magicians discussed their plan, and spake apart in secret:
They said, "These two are surely sorcerers: fain would they drive you from
your land by their sorceries, and lead away in their paths your chiefest men:
So muster your craft: then come in order: well this day shall it be for him,
who shall gain the upper hand."
They said, "O Moses, wilt thou first cast down thy rod, or shall we be the
first who cast?"
He said, "Yes, cast ye down first." And lo! by their enchantment their cords
and rods seemed to him as if they ran.
And Moses conceived a secret fear within him.
We said, "Fear not, for thou shalt be the uppermost:
Cast forth then what is in thy right hand: it shall swallow up what they have
produced: they have only produced the deceit of an enchanter: and come where
he may, ill shall an enchanter fare."
Back to Full Books
|