Part 32
52 That is, those under Satanic influence.
53 Collected or sought it out. Beidh.
SURA XLVI.-AL AHKAF [LXXXVIII.]
MECCA.-35 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
HA. MIM.1 The Revelation (sending down) of this Book is from the Mighty, the Wise!
We have not created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is between them otherwise than in truth and for a settled term. But they who believe not, turn away from their warning.
SAY: What think ye? As for those whom ye invoke beside God, shew me what part of the earth it is which they have created? Had they a share in the Heavens? Bring me a Book sent down by them before this Koran, or traces of their knowledge;2-if ye are men of truth.
And who erreth more than he who, beside God, calleth upon that which shall not answer him until the day of Resurrection? Yes, they regard not their invocations;
And when mankind shall be assembled together, they will become their enemies, and ungratefully disown their worship.
And when our clear signs are recited to them, they who believe not say of the truth when it cometh to them, "This is plain sorcery."
Will they say, "He hath devised It?" SAY: If I have devised the Koran, then not one single thing shall ye ever obtain for me from God! He best knoweth what ye utter in its regard! Witness enough is He between me and you! And He is the Gracious, the Merciful.
SAY: I am no apostle of new doctrines: neither know I what will be done with me or you. Only what is revealed to me do I follow, and I am only charged to warn openly.
SAY: What think ye? If this Book be from God, and ye believe it not, and a witness of the children of Israel3 witness to its conformity with the Law, and believe, while ye proudly disdain it . . . ? Ah! God guideth not the people guilty of such a wrong!
But the infidels say of the believers, "If it were a good Book they would not have been before us in believing it:"4 And not having submitted to guidance, they proceed to say, "It is an old lying legend!"
But before the Koran was the Book of Moses, a rule and a mercy; and this Book confirmeth it (the Pentateuch)-in the Arabic tongue-that those who are guilty of that wrong may be warned, and as glad tidings to the doers of good.
Assuredly they who say, "Our Lord is God," and take the straight way to Him- no fear shall come on them, neither shall they be put to grief:
These shall be the inmates of Paradise to remain therein for ever,-the recompense of their deeds!
Moreover, we have enjoined on man to shew kindness to his parents. With pain his mother beareth him; with pain she bringeth him forth: and his bearing and his weaning is thirty months; until when he attaineth his strength, and attaineth to forty years,5 he saith, "O my Lord! stir me up to be grateful for thy favours wherewith thou hast favoured me and my parents, and to do good works which shall please thee: and prosper me in my offspring: for to thee am I turned, and am resigned to thy will" (am a Muslim).
These are they from whom we will accept their best works, and whose evil works we will pass by; among the inmates shall they be of Paradise:-a true promise which they are promised.
But he who saith to his parents, "Fie on you both! Promise ye me that I shall be taken forth from the grave alive, when whole generations have already passed away before me?" But they both will implore the help of God, and say, "Alas for thee! Believe: for the promise of God is true." But he saith, "It is no more than a fable of the ancients."
These are they in whom the sentence passed on the nations, djinn and men, who flourished before them, is made good. They shall surely perish.6
And there are grades for all, according to their works, that God may repay them for their works; and they shall not be dealt with unfairly.
And they who believe not shall one day be set before the fire. "Ye made away your precious gifts during your life on earth; and ye took your fill of pleasure in them: This day, therefore, with punishment of shame shall ye be rewarded, for that ye behaved you proudly and unjustly on the earth, and for that ye were given to excesses."
Remember, too, the brother of Ad7 when he warned his people in AL AHKAF8-and before and since his time there have been warners-"Worship none but God: verily I fear for you the punishment of the great day."
They said, "Art thou come to us to turn us away from our Gods? Bring on us now the woes which thou threatenest if thou speakest truth."
"That knowledge," said he, "is with God alone: I only proclaim to you the message with which I am sent. But I perceive that ye are a people sunk in ignorance."
So when they saw a cloud coming straight for their valleys, they said, "It is a passing cloud that shall give us rain." "Nay, it is that whose speedy coming ye challenged a blast wherein is an afflictive punishment:-
It will destroy everything at the bidding of its Lord!" And at morn nought was to be seen but their empty dwellings! Thus repay we a wicked people.
With power had we endued them, even as with power have we endued you; and we had given them ears and eyes and hearts: yet neither their eyes, nor their ears, nor their hearts aided them at all, when once they gainsaid the signs of God; but that punishment which they had mocked at enveloped them on all sides.
Of old, too, did we destroy the cities which were round about you; and, in order that they might return to us, we varied our signs before them.
But did those whom they took for gods beside God as his kindred deities, help them?9 Nay, they withdrew from them. Such was their delusion, and their device!
And remember when we turned aside a company of the djinn to thee, that they might hearken to the Koran: and no sooner were they present at its reading than they said to each other, "Hist;" and when it was ended, they returned to their people with warnings.
They said, "O our people! verily we have been listening to a book sent down since the days of Moses, affirming the previous scriptures; it guideth to the truth, and to the right way.
O our people! Obey the Summoner of God, and believe in him, that He may forgive your sins, and rescue you from an afflictive punishment.
And he who shall not respond to God's preacher, yet cannot weaken God's power on earth, nor shall he have protectors beside Him. These are in obvious error."
See they not that God who created the Heavens and the Earth, and was not wearied with their creation, is of power to quicken the dead? Yea, he is for all things Potent.
And a day is coming when the infidels shall be set before the fire. "Is not this it in truth?" They shall say, "Aye, by our Lord." He said, "Taste then the punishment for that ye would not believe."
Bear thou up, then, with patience, as did the Apostles endued with firmness, and seek not to accelerate their doom. For, on the day when they shall see that with which they have been menaced,
It shall be as though they had waited but an hour of the day. Enough! shall any perish save they who transgress?
_______________________
1 See Sura lxviii. p. 32.
2 Of a divine revelation, authorising the worship of other gods than God
3 Abdallah bin Salma, say the commentators.
4 Comp. John vii. 48.
5 Thus Mischn. Aboth, v. 21, "at forty years of age a man comes to intelligence." This verse refers, it is said by the Sonnites, to Abu Bekr, afterwards Chalif, who embraced Islam in his 40th year. But this interpretation was probably invented after his accession to power.
6 Lit. suffer loss.
7 The Prophet Houd.
8 That is, Sandhills; at Taief, to which Muhammad had retired in consequence of the opposition, etc., of the Meccans. Verses 20-31 are probably misplaced, as they interrupt the connection between 19 and 32, but appear to belong to the same period as the rest of the Sura.
9 Thus Ullm. als naheverwandte Götter. But Wahl, denen sie sich mit gottesdienstlichen Opfer näherten. Ad appropinquandum (magis ipsi Deo), by intercession. Mar. Beidh.
SURA VI.-CATTLE [LXXXIX.]
MECCA.-165 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
PRAISE be to God, who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, and ordained the darkness and the light! Yet unto their Lord do the infidels give peers!
He it is who created you of clay then decreed the term of your life: and with Him is another prefixed term for the resurrection. Yet have ye doubts thereof!
And He is God in the Heavens and on the Earth! He knoweth your secrets and your disclosures! and He knoweth what ye deserve.
Never did one single sign from among the signs of their Lord come to them, but they turned away from it;
And now, after it hath reached them, have they treated the truth itself as a lie. But in the end, a message as to that which they have mocked, shall reach them.
See they not how many generations we have destroyed before them? We had settled them on the earth as we have not settled you, and we sent down the very heavens upon them in copious rains, and we made the rivers to flow beneath their feet: yet we destroyed them in their sins, and raised up other generations to succeed them.
And had we sent down to thee a Book written on parchment, and they had touched it with their hands, the infidels had surely said, "This is nought but plain sorcery."
They say, too, "Unless an angel be sent down to him. . . ." But if we had sent down an angel, their judgment would have come on them at once,1 and they would have had no respite:
And if we had appointed an angel, we should certainly have appointed one in the form of a man, and we should have clothed him before them in garments like their own.2
Moreover, apostles before thee have been laughed to scorn: but that which they laughed to scorn encompassed the mockers among them!
SAY: Go through the land: then see what hath been the end of those who treated them as liars.
SAY: Whose is all that is in the Heavens and the Earth?
SAY: God's. He had imposed mercy on Himself as a law. He will surely assemble you on the Resurrection day; there is no doubt of it. They who are the authors of their own ruin, are they who will not believe.
His, whatsoever hath its dwelling in the night and in the day! and He, the Hearing, the Knowing!
SAY: Other than God shall I take as Lord, maker of the Heavens and of the Earth, who nourisheth all, and of none is nourished? SAY: Verily, I am bidden to be the first of those who surrender them to God (profess Islam): and, be not thou of those who join gods with God.
SAY: Verily, I fear, should I rebel against my Lord, the punishment of the great day.
From whomsoever it shall be averted on that day, He will have had mercy on him: and this will be the manifest bliss.
If God touch thee with trouble, none can take it off but He: and if He visit thee with good-it is He whose power is over all things;
And He is the Supreme over his servants; and He is the Wise, the Cognisant!
SAY: What thing is weightiest in bearing witness? SAY: God is witness between me and you; and this Koran hath been revealed to me that I should warn you by it, and all whom it shall reach. What! will ye really bear witness that there are other gods with God? SAY: I bear no such witness. SAY: Verily, He is one God, and truly am guiltless of what ye join with Him.
They to whom we have given the Book, recognise him (Muhammad) as they do their own children:3 but they who are the authors of their own perdition are they who will not believe.
And who more wicked than he who inventeth a lie concerning God, or who treateth our signs as lies? Verily those wicked ones shall not prosper.4
And on "the Day" we will gather them all together: then will we say to those who joined gods with God, "Where are those companion-gods of yours, as ye supposed them?"
Then shall they find no other excuse than to say, "By God our Lord! we joined not companions with Him."
Behold! how they lie against themselves-and the gods of their own inventing desert them!
Some among them hearken unto thee: but we have cast veils over their hearts that they should not understand the Koran, and a weight into their ears: and though they should see all kinds of signs, they will refuse all faith in them, until when they come to thee, to dispute with thee, the infidels say, "Verily, this is nothing but fables of the ancients."
And they will forbid it, and depart from it:-but they are only the authors of their own perdition, and know it not.
If thou couldst see when they shall be set over the fire, and shall say, "Oh! would we might be sent back! we would not treat the signs of our Lord as lies! we would be of the believers."
Aye! that hath become clear5 to them which they before concealed; but though they should return, they would surely go back to that which was forbidden them; for they are surely liars!
And they say, "There is no other than our life in this world, neither shall we be raised again."
But if thou couldest see when they shall be set before their Lord! He shall say to them, "Is not this it6 in truth?" They shall say, "Yea, by our Lord!" "Taste then," saith He, "the torment, for that ye believed not!"
Lost are they who deny the meeting with God until "the Hour" cometh suddenly upon them! Then will they say, "Oh, our sighs for past negligence of this hour!" and they shall bear their burdens on their back! Will not that be evil with which they shall be burdened?
The life in this world is but a play and pastime; and better surely for men of godly fear will be the future mansion! Will ye not then comprehend?
Now know we that what they speak vexeth thee:7 But it is not merely thee whom they charge with falsehood, but the ungodly gainsay the signs of God.
Before thee have apostles already been charged with falsehood: but they bore the charge and the wrong with constancy, till our help came to them;-for none can change the words of God. But this history of His Sent Ones hath already reached thee.
But if their estrangement be grievous to thee, and if thou art able to seek out an opening into the earth or a ladder into Heaven,8 that thou mightest bring them a sign. . . . Yes! But if God pleased, He would surely bring them, one and all, to the guidance! therefore be not thou one of the ignorant.
To those only who shall lend an ear will He make answer: as for the dead, God will raise them up; then unto Him shall they return.
They say, "Unless a sign be sent down to him from his Lord. . . ." SAY: Verily, God is able to send down a sign; but the greater part of them know it not.
No kind of beast is there on earth nor fowl that flieth with its wings, but is a folk9 like you: nothing have we passed over in the Book:10 then unto their Lord shall they be gathered.
They who gainsay our signs are deaf, and dumb, in darkness: God will mislead whom He pleaseth, and whom He pleaseth He will place upon the straight path.
SAY: What think ye? If the punishment of God were to come upon you, or "the Hour" were to come upon you, will ye cry to any other than God? Tell me, if ye speak the truth?
Yes! to Him will ye cry: and if He please He will deliver you from that ye shall cry to Him to avert, and ye shall forget the partners ye joined with Him.
Already have we sent apostles to nations that were before thee, and we laid hold on them with troubles and with straits in order that they might humble themselves:
Yet, when our trouble came upon them, they did not humble themselves; but their hearts were hardened, and Satan pre-arranged for them11 their course of conduct.
And when they had forgotten their warnings, we set open to them the gates of all things, until, as they were rejoicing in our gifts, we suddenly laid hold upon them, and lo! they were plunged into despair,
And the uttermost part of that impious people was cut off. All praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds!
SAY: What think ye? If God should take away your hearing and your sight and set a seal upon your hearts, what god beside God would restore them to you? See! how we vary our wondrous verses (signs)! yet they turn away from them!
SAY: What think ye? If the punishment of God come on you suddenly or foreseen,12 shall any perish except the impious?
We send not our Sent Ones but as heralds of good news and warners; and whoso shall believe and amend, on them shall come no fear, neither shall they be sorrowful:
But whoso shall charge our signs with falsehood, on them shall fall a punishment for their wicked doings.
SAY: I say not to you, "In my possession are the treasures of God;" neither say I, "I know things secret;" neither do I say to you, "Verily, I am an angel:" Only what is revealed to me do I follow. SAY: Shall the blind and the seeing be esteemed alike? Will ye not then reflect?
And warn those who dread their being gathered to their Lord, that patron or intercessor they shall have none but Him,-to the intent that they may fear Him!
And thrust not thou away those who cry to their Lord at morn and even, craving to behold his face. It is not for thee in anything to judge of their motives, nor for them in anything to judge of thee. If thou thrust them away thou wilt be of the doers of wrong.
Thus have we made proof of some of them by others, that they may say, "Are these they among us to whom God hath been gracious?" Doth not God best know the thankful?
And when they who believe in our signs come to thee, SAY: Peace be upon you! Your Lord hath laid down for himself a law of mercy; so that if any one of you commit a fault through ignorance, and afterwards turn and amend, He surely will be Gracious, Merciful.
Thus have we distinctly set forth our signs, that the way of the wicked might be made known.
SAY: Forbidden am I to worship those whom ye call on beside God. SAY: I will not follow your wishes; for then should I have gone astray, and should not be of the guided.
SAY: I act upon proofs from my Lord, but ye treat them as falsehoods. That punishment which ye desire to be hastened is not in my power; judgment is with God only: He will declare the truth; and He is the best settler of disputes.
SAY: If what ye would hasten on, were in my power, the matter between me and you had been decided: but God best knoweth the impious.
And with Him are the keys13 of the secret things; none knoweth them but He: He knoweth whatever is on the land and in the sea; and no leaf falleth but He knoweth it; neither is there a grain in the darknesses of the earth, nor a thing green or sere, but it is noted in a distinct writing.14
It is He who taketh your souls at night,15 and knoweth what ye have merited in the day: then he awaketh you therein, that the set life-term may be fulfilled: then unto Him shall ye return; and then shall be declare to you that which ye have wrought.
Supreme over his servants, He sendeth forth guardians who watch over you, until, when death overtaketh any one of you, our messengers take his soul, and fail not:
Then are they returned to God their Lord, the True. Is not judgment His? Swiftest He, of those who take account!
SAY: Who rescueth you from the darkness of the land and of the sea, when humbly and secretly ye cry to Him-"If thou rescue us from this, we will surely be of the thankful?"
SAY: God rescueth you from them, and from every strait: yet afterwards ye give Him companions!
SAY: It is He who hath power to send on you a punishment from above you, or from beneath your feet, or to clothe you with discord,16 and to make some of you to taste the violence of others. See how variously we handle the wondrous verses, that haply they may become wise!
But thy people hath accused the Koran of falsehood, though it be the truth: SAY: I am not in charge of you: To every prophecy is its set time, and bye- and-bye ye shall know it!
And when thou seest those who busy themselves with cavilling at our signs, withdraw from them till they busy themselves in some other subject: and if Satan cause thee to forget this, sit not, after recollection, with the ungodly people:17
Not that they who fear God are to pass any judgment upon them, but the object of recollection is that they may continue to fear Him.
And quit those who make their religion a sport and a pastime, and whom this present life hath deceived: warn them hereby that every soul will be consigned to doom for its own works: patron or intercessor, beside God, shall it have none: and could it compensate with fullest compensation, it would not be accepted from it. They who for their deeds shall be consigned to doom-for them are draughts of boiling water, and a grievous torment; for that they believed not!
SAY: Shall we, beside God, call upon those who can neither help nor hurt us? Shall we turn upon our heel after that God hath guided us? Like some bewildered man whom the Satans have spell-bound in the desert, though his companions call him to the true guidance, with, "Come to us!" SAY: Verily, guidance from God, that is the true guidance; and we are commanded to surrender ourselves to the Lord of the Worlds.
And observe ye the times of prayer, and fear ye God: for it is He to whom ye shall be gathered.
And it is He who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, in truth, and when He saith to a thing, "Be," it is.