The Koran Part 71

16 See Sura x.x.xviii. 37, p. 127.

17 See Sura xix. 55, 6, p. 121.

18 The man of the lot or portion. Or, of care, support. According to some Elias, as others say, Isaiah. It is more probable, however, that he is he Obadiah of 1 Kings xviii. 4, who supported 100 prophets in the cave, or Ezechiel, who is called Kephil by the Arabs. See Niebuhr, Travels, ii. 265.

19 The man of the fish-Jonah.

20 See Suras [xcvii.] iii. 33; xix. p. 117, for the story of Zacharias in full. The concluding sentence of this clause is obscure. It probably means that even if no heir were vouchsafed to Zacharias, yet since G.o.d will be the heir of all things he would take Zacharias to himself and thus abundantly recompense him. See Sura [lxxix.] xxviii. 58.

21 See Sura [cix.] lxvi. 12. It is quite clear from these two pa.s.sages that Muhammad believed in the Immaculate and miraculous conception of Jesus.

22 That is, identical with that of the previous prophets, etc.

23 See Sura [lxix.] xviii. 93. Thus, the ancient Jewish and Christian legend connects Gog and Magog with the end of the world. Rev. xx. 8. Pseudojon on Lev. xxvi. 44. Comp. Numb. xi. 27. Gog, however, is probably the mountain Ghef or Ghogh (see Reinegg's Beschreib. der Caucasus, ii. 79) and the syllable Ma in Magog, the Sanscrit mah, maha great.

24 "Whenever a people is punished (for idolatry) the beings honoured by them as G.o.ds, shall also be punished, for so it is written, on all the G.o.ds also of Egypt will I inflict judgments." (Sakkah, 29.)

25 Ar. Sidjill, which is supposed by some to be the name of the angel who writes down the actions of every man's life upon a scroll, which is rolled up at his death (comp. Isai. x.x.xiv. 4); by others, to be the name of one of Muhammad's secretaries.

26 Ps. x.x.xvii. 29. This is the only text quoted in the Koran.

SURA XXV.-AL FURKAN [LXVI.]

MECCA.-77 Verses

In the Name of G.o.d, the Compa.s.sionate, the Merciful

BLESSED be He who hath sent down AL FURKAN1 (the illumination) on his servant, that to all creatures he may be a warner.

His the Kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! No son hath He begotten! No partner hath He in his Empire! All things hath He created, and decreeing hath decreed their destinies.

Yet have they adopted G.o.ds beside Him which have created nothing, but were themselves created:

And no power have they over themselves for evil or for good, nor have they power of death, or of life, or of raising the dead.

And the infidels say, "This Koran is a mere fraud of his own devising, and others have helped him with it,2 who had come hither by outrage and lie."3

And they say, "Tales of the ancients that he hath put in writing! and they were dictated to him morn and even."

SAY: He hath sent it down who knoweth the secrets of the Heavens and of the Earth. He truly is the Gracious, the Merciful.

And they say, "What sort of apostle is this? He eateth food and he walketh the streets! Unless an angel be sent down and take part in his warnings,

Or a treasure be thrown down to him, or he have a garden that supplieth him with food ..."4 and those unjust persons say, "Ye follow but a man enchanted."

See what likenesses they strike out for thee! But they err, and cannot find their way.

Blessed be He who if he please can give thee better than that of which they speak-Gardens, 'neath which the rivers flow: and pavilions will He a.s.sign thee.

Aye, they have treated the coming of "the Hour" as a lie. But a flaming fire have we got ready for those who treat the coming of the Hour as a lie.

When it shall see them from afar, they shall hear its raging and roaring,-

And when they shall be flung into a narrow s.p.a.ce thereof bound together, they shall invoke destruction on the spot:

-"Call not this day for one destruction, but call for destructions many."

SAY: Is this, or the Paradise of Eternity which was promised to the G.o.d- fearing, best? Their recompense shall it be and their retreat;

Abiding therein for ever, they shall have in it all that they desire! It is a promise to be claimed of thy Lord.

And on the day when he shall gather them together, and those whom they worshipped beside G.o.d, he will say, "Was it ye who led these my servants astray, or of themselves strayed they from the path?"

They will say, "Glory be to thee! It beseemed not us to take other lords than thee. But thou gavest them and their fathers their fill of good things, till they forgat the remembrance of thee, and became a lost people."

Then will G.o.d say to the Idolaters, "Now have they made you liars in what ye say,5 and they have no power to avert your doom, or to succour you."

And whosoever of you thus offendeth, we will make him taste a great punishment.

Never have we sent Apostles before thee who ate not common food, and walked not the streets. And we test you by means of each other. Will ye be steadfast? Thy Lord is looking on!

They who look not forward to meet Us say, "If the angels be not sent down to us, or unless we behold our Lord... ." Ah! they are proud of heart, and exceed with great excess!

On the day when they shall see the angels, no good news shall there be for the guilty ones, and they shall cry out, "A barrier that cannot be pa.s.sed!"6

Then will we proceed to the works which they have wrought, and make them as scattered dust.

Happier, on that day, the inmates of the Garden as to abode, and better off as to place of noontide slumber!

On that day shall the heaven with its clouds be cleft, and the angels shall be sent down, descending:

On that day shall all empire be in very deed with the G.o.d of Mercy, and a hard day shall it be for the Infidels.

And on that day shall the wicked one7 bite his hands, and say, "Oh! would that I had taken the same path with the Apostle!

"Oh! woe is me! would that I had not taken such an one8 for my friend!

It was he who led me astray from the Warning which had reached me! and Satan is man's betrayer."9

Then said the Apostle, "O my Lord! truly my people have esteemed this Koran to be vain babbling."

Thus have we given to every Prophet an enemy from among the wicked ones-But thy Lord is a sufficient guide and helper.

And the infidels say, "Unless the Koran be sent down to him all at once...

." But in this way would we stablish thy heart by it; in parcels have we parcelled it out to thee;10

Nor shall they come to thee with puzzling questions,11 but we will come to thee with the truth, and their best solution.