The Qur'an

Hath God daughters and ye sons? Asketh thou pay of them? they are themselves weighed down with debts. Have they such a knowledge of the secret things that they can write them down? Desire they to lay snares for thee? But the snared ones shall be they who do not believe. Have they any God beside God? Glory be to God above what they join with Him. And should they see a fragment of the heaven falling down, they would say, "It is only a dense cloud." Leave them then until they come face to face with the day when they shall swoon away: A day in which their snares shall not at all avail them, neither shall they be helped.

And verily, beside this is there a punishment for the evildoers: but most of them know it not. Wait thou patiently the judgment of thy Lord, for thou art in our eye; and celebrate the praise of thy Lord when thou risest up, And in the night-season: Praise him when the stars are setting.

WHEN the day that must come shall have come suddenly, None shall treat that sudden coming as a lie: Day that shall abase! Day that shall exalt! When the earth shall be shaken with a shock, And the mountains shall be crumbled with a crumbling, And shall become scattered dust, And into three bands shall ye be divided: Then the people of the right hand-Oh! how happy shall be the people of the right hand! And the people of the left hand-Oh! how wretched shall be the people of the left hand! And they who were foremost on earth-the foremost still. These are they who shall be brought nigh to God,

In gardens of delight; A crowd of the former And few of the latter generations; On inwrought couches Reclining on them face to face: Aye-blooming youths go round about to them With goblets and ewers and a cup of flowing wine; Their brows ache not from it, nor fails the sense: And with such fruits as shall please them best, And with flesh of such birds, as they shall long for: And theirs shall be the Houris, with large dark eyes, like pearls hidden in their shells, In recompense of their labours past. No vain discourse shall they hear therein, nor charge of sin, But only the cry, "Peace! Peace!"

And the people of the right hand-oh! how happy shall be the people of the right hand! Amid thornless sidrahs And talh trees clad with fruit, And in extended shade, And by flowing waters, And with abundant fruits, 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, For the people of the right hand, A crowd of the former, And a crowd of the latter generations. But the people of the left hand-oh! how wretched shall be the people of the left hand! Amid pestilential winds and in scalding water,

And in the shadow of a black smoke, Not cool, and horrid to behold. 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? What think ye? The germs of life- 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 hindered 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, 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: Let none touch it but the purified, 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.

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 power 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.

Near which is the garden of repose. When the Sidrah-tree was covered with what covered it, 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, And Manat the third idol besides? 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 avail 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, And that with Him is the second creation, And that He enricheth and causeth to possess, And that He is the Lord of Sirius, 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? 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. 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.

A SUITOR sued 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. 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 ashamed 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 West 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.

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 twain 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, He is the Lord of the West: Which, etc. He hath let loose the two seas 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: 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: 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: 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.

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 shall 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; Each action, both small and great, is written down. Verily, amid gardens and rivers shall the pious dwell. In the seat of truth, in the presence of the potent King.

By the angels ranged in order for Songs of Praise, And by those who repel demons, 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. 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, 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, 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:" 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. 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. 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?" 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, 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: 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, 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 costly victim, And we left this 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, 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!" 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, 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, 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." And if those infidels say, "Had we a revelation transmitted to us from those of old, 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.

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. 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;-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."

Doth not a long time pass over MAN, during which he is a thing unremembered? 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 fountain 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: 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.

Ha. Mim. By this clear Book! See! on a blessed night have we sent it down, for we would warn mankind: On the night wherein all things are disposed in wisdom, 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. 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, 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, 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: but the greater part of them understand it not. Verily the day of severing 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-Zakkoum Shall be the sinner's 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.

Kaf. 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 Rass 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, 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! 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 it- 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 side 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?" 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. We created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days, and no weariness touched us.

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.

TA. HA. 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: 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." 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, That they may understand my speech. And give me a counsellor from among my family, Aaron my brother; By him gird up my loins, 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: 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?' 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?" 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 kinds 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." 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 day 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." And the magicians fell down and worshipped. They said, "We believe in the Lord of Aaron and of Moses." Said Pharaoh, "Believe ye on him ere I give you leave? He, in sooth, is your Master who hath taught you magic. I will therefore cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you on trunks of the palm, and assuredly shall ye learn which of us is severest in punishing, and who is the more abiding."

They said, "We will not have more regard to thee than to the clear tokens which have come to us, or than to Him who hath made us: doom the doom thou wilt: Thou canst only doom as to this present life: of a truth we have believed on our Lord that he may pardon us our sins and the sorcery to which thou hast forced us, for God is better, and more abiding than thou. As for him who shall come before his Lord laden with crime-for him verily is Hell: he shall not die in it and he shall not live. But he who shall come before Him, a believer, with righteous works,-these! the loftiest grades await them:

Gardens of Eden, beneath whose trees the rivers flow: therein shall they abide for ever. This, the reward of him who hath been pure." Then revealed we to Moses, "Go forth by night with my servants and cleave for them a dry path in the sea; Fear not thou to be overtaken, neither be thou afraid." And Pharaoh followed them with his hosts, and the whelming billows of the sea overwhelmed them, for Pharaoh misled his people, and did not guide them. O children of Israel! we rescued you from your foes; and We appointed a meeting with you on the right side of the mountain; and We caused the manna and the quail to descend upon you:

"Eat," said We, "of the good things with which we have supplied you; but without excess, lest my wrath fall upon you; for on whom my wrath doth fall, he perisheth outright. Surely however will I forgive him who turneth to God and believeth, and worketh righteousness, and then yieldeth to guidance. But what hath hastened thee on apart from thy people, O Moses?" He said, "They are hard on my footsteps: but to thee, O Lord, have I hastened, that thou mightest be well pleased with me." He said, "Of a truth now have we proved thy people since thou didst leave them, and Samiri had led them astray."

And Moses returned to his people, angered, sorrowful. He said, "O my people! did not your Lord promise you a good promise? Was the time of my absence long to you? or desired ye that wrath from your Lord should light upon you, that ye failed in your promise to me?" They said, "Not of our own accord have we failed in the promise to thee, but we were made to bring loads of the people's trinkets, and we threw them into the fire and Samiri likewise cast them in, and brought forth to them a corporeal lowing calf: and they said, "This is your God and the God of Moses, whom he hath forgotten."'

What! saw they not that it returned them no answer, and could neither hurt nor help them? And Aaron had before said to them, "O my people! by this calf are ye only proved: surely your Lord is the God of Mercy: follow me therefore and obey my bidding." They said, "We will not cease devotion to it, till Moses come back to us." He said, "O Aaron! when thou sawest that they had gone astray, what hindered thee from following me? Hast thou then disobeyed my command?" He said, "O Son of my mother! seize me not by my beard, nor by my head: indeed I feared lest thou shouldst say,

Thou hast rent the children of Isreal asunder, and hast not observed my orders."' He said, "And what was thy motive, O Samiri?" He said, "I saw what they saw not: so I took a handful of dust from the track of the messenger of God, and flung it into the calf, for so my soul prompted me." He said, "Begone then: verily thy doom even in this life shall be to say, 'Touch me not.' And there is a threat against thee, which thou shalt not escape hereafter. Now look at thy god to which thou hast continued so devoted: we will surely burn it and reduce it to ashes, which we will cast into the sea.

Your God is God, beside whom there is no God: In his knowledge he embraceth all things." Thus do We recite to thee histories of what passed of old; and from ourself have we given thee admonition. Whoso shall turn aside from it shall verily carry a burden on the day of Resurrection: Under it shall they remain: and grievous, in the day of Resurrection, shall it be to them to bear. On that day there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and We will gather the wicked together on that day with leaden eyes: They shall say in a low voice, one to another,-"Ye tarried but ten days on earth."

We are most knowing with respect to that which they will say when the most veracious of them will say. "Ye have not tarried above a day." And they will ask thee of the mountains: SAY: scattering my Lord will scatter them in dust; And he will leave them a level plain: thou shalt see in it no hollows or jutting hills. On that day shall men follow their summoner-he marcheth straight on: and low shall be their voices before the God of Mercy, nor shalt thou hear aught but the light footfall. No intercession shall avail on that day, save his whom the God of Mercy shall allow to intercede, and whose words he shall approve.

He knoweth their future and their past; but in their own knowledge they comprehend it not:- And humble shall be their faces before Him that Liveth, the Self-subsisting: and undone he, who shall bear the burden of iniquity; But he who shall have done the things that are right and is a believer, shall fear neither wrong nor loss. Thus have We sent down to thee an Arabic Koran, and have set forth menaces therein diversely, that haply they may fear God, or that it may give birth to reflection in them. Exalted then be God, the King, the Truth! Be not hasty in its recital while the revelation of it to thee is incomplete. Say rather, "O my Lord, increase knowledge unto me."

And of old We made a covenant with Adam; but he forgat it; and we found no firmness of purpose in him. And when We said to the angels, "Fall down and worship Adam," they worshipped all, save Eblis, who refused: and We said, "O Adam! this truly is a foe to thee and to thy wife. Let him not therefore drive you out of the garden, and ye become wretched; For to thee is it granted that thou shalt not hunger therein, neither shalt thou be naked; But Satan whispered him: said he, "O Adam! shall I shew thee the tree of Eternity, and the Kingdom that faileth not?"

And they both ate thereof, and their nakedness appeared to them, and they began to sew of the leaves of the Garden to cover them, and Adam disobeyed his Lord and went astray. Afterwards his Lord chose him for himself, and was turned towards him, and guided him. And God said, "Get ye all down hence, the one of you a foe unto the other. Hereafter shall guidance come unto you from me; And whoso followeth my guidance shall not err, and shall not be wretched: But whoso turneth away from my monition, his truly shall be a life of misery: And We will assemble him with others on the day of Resurrection, blind."

He will say, "O my Lord! why hast thou assembled me with others, blind? whereas I was endowed with sight." He will answer, "Thus is it, because our signs came unto thee and thou didst forget them, and thus shalt thou be forgotten this day." Even thus will We recompense him who hath transgressed and hath not believed in the signs of his Lord; and assuredly the chastisement of the next world will be more severe and more lasting. Are not they, who walk the very places where they dwelt, aware how many generations we have destroyed before them? Verily in this are signs to men of insight. And had not a decree of respite from thy Lord first gone forth, their chastisement had at once ensued. Yet the time is fixed.

Put up then with what they say; and celebrate the praise of thy Lord before the sunrise, and before its setting; and some time in the night do thou praise him, and in the extremes of the day, that thou haply mayest please Him. And strain not thine eye after what We have bestowed on divers of them-the braveries of this world-that we may thereby prove them. The portion which thy Lord will give, is better and more lasting. Enjoin prayer on thy family, and persevere therein. We ask not of thee to find thine own provision-we will provide for thee, and a happy issue shall there be to piety.

But they say, "If he come not to us with a sign from his Lord . . .!" But have not clear proofs for the Koran come to them, in what is in the Books of old? And had We destroyed them by a chastisement before its time, they would surely have said, "O our Lord! How could we believe if thou didst not send unto us an Apostle that we might follow thy signs ere that we were humbled and disgraced." SAY: Each one of us awaiteth the end. Wait ye then, and ye shall know which of us have been followers of the even way, and who hath been the rightly guided.

Ta. Sin. Mim. These are the signs of the lucid Book. Haply thou wearest thyself away with grief because they will not believe. Were it our will we could send down to them a sign from Heaven, before which they would humbly bow. But from each fresh warning that cometh to them from the God of Mercy they have only turned aside, And treated it as a lie: But tidings shall reach them which they shall not laugh to scorn. Have they not beheld the earth-how we have caused every kind of noble plant to spring up therein? Verily, in this is a sign: but most of them believe not.

And assuredly, thy Lord!-He is the Mighty, the Merciful. And remember when thy Lord called to Moses, "Go to the wicked people, The people of Pharaoh. What! will they not fear me?" He said, "My Lord, in sooth I fear lest they treat me as a liar: And my breast is straitened, and I am slow of speech: send therefore to Aaron to be my helpmate. For they have a charge against me, and I fear lest they put me to death." He said, "Surely not. Go ye therefore with our signs: we will be with you and will hearken. And go to Pharaoh and say: 'Verily we are the messengers of the Lord of the worlds-

Send forth with us the children of Israel."' He said, "Did we not rear thee among us when a child? And hast thou not passed years of thy life among us? And yet what a deed is that which thou hast done! Thou art one of the ungrateful." He said, "I did it indeed, and I was one of those who erred: And I fled from you because I feared you; but my Lord hath given me wisdom and hath made me one of his Apostles. And is this the favour thou hast conferred on me, that thou hast enslaved the children of Israel?" Said Pharaoh, "Who then is the Lord of the Worlds?"

He said, "The Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth and of all that is between them, if only ye believe it." Said Pharaoh to those around him, "Hear ye this?" "Your Lord," said Moses, "and the Lord of your sires of old." "In sooth, your Apostle whom He hath sent to you," said Pharaoh, "is certainly possessed." He said, "Lord is He of the East and of the West, and of all that is between them, if ye can understand." He said, "If ye take any God beside me, I will surely put thee in ward." Said Moses, "What! if I shew thee that which shall be a proof of my mission?"