Book online «The Speeches & Table-Talk of the Prophet Mohammad, Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah [speed reading book TXT] 📗». Author Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah

Go to page:

pleased.

Did He not find thee an orphan and sheltered thee,

And found thee erring and guided thee,

And found thee poor and enriched thee?

Then as for the orphan, oppress him not,

And as for him who asketh of thee, chide him not away,

And as for the bounty of thy Lord, tell of it.

(xciii.)

THE MOST HIGH.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Magnify the name of thy Lord, The Most High,

Who created, and fashioned,

And decreed, and guided,

Who bringeth forth the pasturage,

Then turneth it dry and brown.

We will make thee cry aloud, and thou shalt not forget,

Except what God pleaseth; verily He knoweth the plain and the hidden.

And we will speed thee to ease.

Admonish, therefore,—verily admonishing profiteth,—

Whoso feareth God will mind;

And there will turn away from it only the wretch

Who shall broil upon the mighty fire;

And then shall neither die therein, nor live.

Happy is he who purifieth himself,

And remembereth the name of his Lord, and prayeth.

But ye prefer the life of this world,

Though the life to come is better and more enduring.

Truly this is in the books of eld,

The books of Abraham and Moses.

(lxxxvii.)

THE WRAPPING.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

When the sun shall be wrapped up,

And when the stars shall fall down,

And when the mountains shall be removed,

And when the ten-month camels shall be neglected,

And when the wild beasts shall be huddled together,

And when the seas shall boil over,

And when souls shall be joined to their bodies,

And when the child that was buried alive shall be asked

For what crime she was slain;

And when the Books shall be laid open,

And when the sky shall be peeled off,

And when Hell shall be set a-blaze,

And when Paradise shall be brought near,—

The soul shall know what it hath wrought.

And I swear by the stars that hide,

That move swiftly and hide,

And by the darkening night,

And by the breath of dawn,—

Verily this is the word of a noble messenger,

Strong, firm in the favour of the Lord of the Throne,

Obeyed and trusted.

And your companion is not mad:

Of a surety he saw [the Angel] on the clear horizon:

And he is not mistrusted as to the unseen,

Nor is his the speech of a pelted devil.

Then whither go ye?

Verily this is but a Reminder to the worlds,

To whomsoever of you chooseth to walk aright:

But ye shall not choose it, except God choose it, the Lord of the worlds.

(lxxxi.)

THE NEWS.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Of what do they question together?

Of the great News,

About which they dispute?

Nay, but they shall know!

Again,—Nay, but they shall know!

Have we not made the earth as a bed?

And the mountains as tent-pegs?

And created you in pairs,

And made your sleep for rest,

And made the night for a mantle,

And made the day for bread-winning,

And built above you seven firmaments,

And put therein a burning lamp,

And sent down water pouring from the squeezed clouds

To bring forth grain and herb withal,

And gardens thick with trees?

Lo! the Day of Decision is appointed—

The day when there shall be a blowing of the trumpet, and ye shall come in troops,

And the heavens shall be opened, and be full of gates,

And the mountains shall be removed, and turn into mist.

Verily Hell lieth in wait,

The goal for rebels,

To abide therein for ages;

They shall not taste therein coolness nor drink,

Save scalding water and running sores,—

A meet reward!

Verily they did not expect the reckoning,

And they denied our signs with lies;

But everything have we recorded in a book:—

“Taste then: for we will only add torment to you.”

Verily for the pious is a place of joy,

Gardens and vineyards,

And full-bosomed girls, their mates,

And a cup brimming over:

There shall they hear neither folly nor lying;—

A reward of thy Lord—a gift sufficient,

Of the Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and of what is between them, the Merciful!

They shall not obtain speech of him:—

On the day when the Spirit and the Angels shall stand in ranks, they shall have no utterance, save he to whom the Merciful shall give leave, and who speaketh rightly.

That is the day of truth! Then he that chooseth, let him make for his Lord as his goal.

Verily we warn you of torment nigh at hand;

On the day when man shall see what his hands have sent before him, and the unbeliever shall say, “Oh! that I were dust.”

(lxxviii.)

THE FACT.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

When the Fact becomes fact,

None shall deny it is a fact,—

Abasing,—exalting!

When the earth shall be shaken in a shock,

And the mountains shall be powdered in powder,

And become like flying dust,

And ye shall be three kinds.

Then the people of the right hand—what people of good omen!

And the people of the left hand—what people of ill omen!

And the outstrippers, still outstripping:—

These are the nearest [to God],

In gardens of delight;

A crowd of the men of yore,

And a few of the latter days;

Upon inwrought couches,

Reclining thereon face to face.

Youths ever young shall go unto them round about

With goblets and ewers and a cup of flowing wine,—

Their heads shall not ache with it, neither shall they be confused;

And fruits of their choice,

And flesh of birds to their desire;

And damsels with bright eyes like hidden pearls,—

A reward for what they have wrought.

They shall hear no folly therein, nor any sin,

But only the greeting, “Peace! peace!”

And the people of the right hand—what people of good omen!

Amid thornless lote-trees,

And bananas laden with fruit,

And shade outspread,

And water flowing,

And fruit abundant,

Never failing, nor forbidden,

And wives exalted—

Verily we produced them specially

And made them virgins,

Amorous, of equal age,

For the people of the right hand,—

A crowd of the men of yore,

And a crowd of the latter days.

But the people of the left hand—what people of ill omen!—

Amid burning wind and scalding water,

And a shade of black smoke,

Not cool or grateful!

Verily, before that, they were prosperous;

But they persisted in the most grievous sin,

And used to say,

“When we have died, and become dust and bones, shall we indeed be raised again,

And our fathers the men of yore?”

Say: Verily those of yore and of the latter days

Shall surely be gathered to the trysting-place of a day which is known.

Then ye, O ye who err and call it a lie,

Shall surely eat of the tree of Zakkūm,

And fill your bellies with it,

And drink upon it scalding water,—

Drink like the thirsty camel:—

This shall be their entertainment on the Day of Judgment!

It is we who created you; why then will ye not believe?

Have ye considered the germs of life—

Is it ye who create them, or are we the creators?

It is we who have decreed death among you; yet are we not debarred

From changing you for your likes, or producing you how ye know not.

But ye have known the first creation: why will ye not mind?

Have ye considered what ye sow?

Is it ye who raise it, or are we the raisers thereof?

If we pleased we could surely make it dry, so that ye would stop and marvel, [saying]

“We have spent, yet we are forbidden [the fruits].”

Have ye considered the water ye drink?

Is it ye who send it down from the clouds, or do we send it down?

If we pleased we could make it salt; why will ye not be thankful?

Have ye considered the fire which ye kindle?

Is it ye who make the wood that produces it, or do we make it?

It is we who have made it for a reminder and a benefit to the traveller.

Then magnify the name of thy Lord the Most Great.

And I swear by the setting-places of the stars,

And that, if ye knew it, is verily a mighty oath,

Verily this is the honourable Korān,

Written in the preserved Book:

Let none touch it but the purified,—

A revelation from the Lord of the worlds.

Will ye then disdain this discourse,

And make it your daily bread to discredit it?

Why then when the dying man’s soul has come up to his throat,

And ye at the moment are watching,—

And we are nearer to him than ye, although ye see us not,—

Why, if ye are to have no Judgment,

Do ye not cause that soul to return, if ye speak the truth?

But if he be one of those brought nearest to God,

There is rest for him and sweet odour and a garden of delights.

And if he be of the people of the right hand,

[He shall be greeted with] “Peace to thee,” from the people of the right.

And if he be of those who call it a lie,

The erring,

Then an entertainment of scalding water,

And broiling in Hell.

Verily this is assured truth!

So magnify the name of thy Lord the Most Great.

(lvi.)

THE MERCIFUL.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

The merciful hath taught the Korān;

He created man,

Taught him clear speech;

The sun and the moon in their courses,

And the plants and the trees do homage.

And the Heaven, He raised it, and appointed the balance.

(That ye should not transgress in the balance:—

But weigh ye justly and stint not the balance.)

And the Earth, He prepared it for living things,

Therein is fruit, and the palm with sheaths,

And grain with its husk, and the fragrant herb: