The Quran (Koran), 1st translation, - [red queen free ebook txt] 📗

"What! if I shew thee that which shall be a proof of my mission?"

He said, "Forth with it then, if thou speakest truth."

Then threw he down his staff, and lo! an undoubted serpent:

And he drew out his hand, and lo! it was white7 to the beholders.

He said to his nobles around him. "This truly is a right cunning sorcerer:

Fain would he drive you out of your land by his Sorcery. But what do ye suggest?"

They said, "Put him and his brother off awhile, and send summoners to all the cities,

Who shall bring to thee every cunning magician."

So the magicians were mustered at a set time, on a solemn day:

And it was said to the people, "Are ye all assembled?"

-"Yes! and we will follow the magicians if they gain the day."

And when the magicians were arrived they said to Pharaoh, "Shall we have a reward if we gain the day?"

He said, "Yes. And verily in that case ye shall be of those who are near my person."

Moses said to them, "Throw down what ye have to throw."

So they cast down their ropes and rods, and said, "By Pharaoh's might we shall surely win."

Then Moses threw down his rod, and lo! it swallowed up their cheating wonders.

Then the magicians threw themselves down in worship:

They said, "We believe on the Lord of the Worlds,

The Lord of Moses and of Aaron."

Said Pharaoh, "Have ye then believed on him ere I gave you leave? He truly is your master who hath taught you magic.8 But bye and bye ye shall surely know my power.

I will cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will have you all crucified."

They said, "It cannot harm us, for to our Lord shall we return:

Assuredly we trust that our Lord will forgive us our sins, since we are of the first who believe."

Then revealed we this order to Moses: "Go forth by night with my servants, for ye will be pursued."

And Pharaoh sent summoners through the cities:-

"These Israelites," said they, "are a scanty band;

Yet are they enraged against us-

But we truly are numerous, wary."

Thus we caused them to quit gardens and fountains,

And treasures and splendid dwellings;

So was it; and we gave them to the children of Israel for an heritage.9

Then at sunrise the Egyptians followed them:

And when the hosts came in view of one another, the comrades of Moses said,
"We are surely overtaken."

He said, "By no means:-for my Lord is with me-He will guide me."

And we revealed this order to Moses, "Strike the sea with thy rod." And it clave asunder, and each part became like a huge mountain.

Then made we the others to draw on;

And we saved Moses, and those who were with him, all;

But we drowned the others.

Truly in this was a sign; but most of them did not believe.

But verily thy Lord,-He is the Mighty, the Merciful!

And recite to them the story of Abraham

When he said to his Father and to his people, "What worship ye?"

They said, "We worship idols, and constant is our devotion to them."

He said, "Can they hear you when ye cry to them?

Or help you or do you harm?"

They said, "But we found our Fathers do the like."

He said, "How think ye? They whom ye worship,

Ye and your fathers of early days,

Are my foes: but not so10 the Lord of the Worlds,

Who hath created me, and guideth me,

Who giveth me food and drink;

And when I am sick, he healeth me,

And who will cause me to die and again quicken me,

And who, I hope, will forgive me my sins in the day of reckoning.

My Lord! bestow on me wisdom and join me to the just,

And give me a good name11 among posterity,

And make me one of the heirs of the garden of delight,

And forgive my father, for he was one of the erring,

And put me not to shame on the day when mankind shall be raised up,

The day when neither wealth nor children shall avail,

Save to him who shall come to God with a sound heart:

When Paradise shall be brought near the pious,

And Hell shall lay open for those who have gone astray.

And it shall be said to them, 'Where are they whom ye worshipped

Beside God? Can they harm you or help themselves?'

And they shall be cast into it-the seducers and the seduced,

And all the host of Eblis.

They shall say, as they wrangle therein together,

'By God, we were in a plain error,

When we equalled you with the Lord of the Worlds:

And none misled us but the wicked,

And we have none to plead for us,

Nor friend who careth for us.

Could we but return, we would be of the believers."'

Verily, in this was a sign: but most of them believed not.

And truly thy Lord!-He is the Mighty, the Merciful!

The people of Noah gainsaid the Apostles,

When their brother Noah said to them, "Will ye not fear God?

Of a truth am I your faithful Apostle;

Fear God then and obey me.

I ask of you no reward for this, for my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone:

Fear God then and obey me."

They said, "Shall we believe on thee when the meanest only are thy followers?"

He said, "But I have no knowledge of that they did:12

To my Lord only must their account be given: would that ye understood this!

And I will not thrust away those who believe,

For I am only one charged with plain warnings."

They said, "Now unless thou desist, O Noah, one of the stoned shalt thou surely be."

He said, "Lord! my people treat me as a liar:

Decide thou therefore a decision between me and them, and rescue me and the faithful who are with me."

So we saved him and those who were with him in the fully-laden ark,

And afterwards we drowned the rest.

Herein truly was a sign, but most of them believed not.

But thy Lord!-He is the Mighty, the Merciful.

The Adites13 treated their Apostles as liars,

When their brother Houd said to them, "Will ye not fear God?

I am your Apostle, worthy of all credit;

Fear God then and obey me:

I ask for no reward for this; for my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone.

What! build ye landmarks on all heights in mere pastime?

And raise ye structures to be your lasting abodes?14

And when ye put forth your power do ye put it forth with harshness?

Fear ye God then and obey me;

And fear ye Him who hath plenteously betowed on you ye well know what:

Plenteously bestowed on you flocks and children,

And gardens and fountains;

Indeed I fear for you the punishment of a tremendous day."

They said, "It is the same to us whether thou warn or warn us not.

This is but a tale of the ancients,

And we are not they who shall be punished."

And they charged him with imposture; and we destroyed them. In this was a sign: but most of them believed not.

But thy Lord!-He is the Mighty, the Merciful!

The Themoudites also treated their Apostles as liars,

When their brother Saleh said to them, "Will ye not fear God?

I am your Apostle worthy of all credit:

Fear God, then, and obey me.

I ask of you no reward for this: my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone.

Shall ye be left secure amid these things here?

Amid gardens and fountains,

And corn-fields and palm-trees, with flower-sheathing branches?

And, insolent that ye are, will ye hew out your dwellings in the mountains?

But fear God and obey me,

And obey not the bidding of those who commit excess,

Who act disorderly on the earth and reform it not."

They said, "Certainly thou art a person bewitched;

Thou art only a man like us: produce now a sign if thou art a man of truth."

He said, "This she-camel, then-drink shall there be for her, and drink shall there be for you, on a several day for each.

But harm her not, lest the punishment of a tremendous day overtake you."

But they ham-strung her, and repented of it on the morrow;

For the punishment overtook them. In this truly was a sign, but most of them believed not.

But thy Lord!-He is the Powerful, the Merciful!

The people of Lot treated their apostles as liars,

When their brother Lot said to them, "Will ye not fear God?

I am your Apostle worthy of all credit:

Fear God, then, and obey me.

For this I ask you no reward: my reward is of the Lord of the worlds alone.

What! with men, of all creatures, will ye have commerce?

And leave ye your wives whom your Lord hath created for you? Ah! ye are an erring people!"

They said, "O Lot, if thou desist not, one of the banished shalt thou surely be."

He said, "I utterly abhor your doings:

My Lord! deliver me and my family from what they do."

So we delivered him and his whole family-

Save an aged one among those who tarried-

Then we destroyed the rest-

And we rained a rain upon them, and fatal was the rain to those whom we had warned.

In this truly was a sign; but most of them did not believe.

But thy Lord! He is the Powerful, the Merciful!

The dwellers in the forest of Madian15 treated the Apostles as liars.

When Shoaib their brother said to them, "Will ye not fear God?

I truly am your trustworthy Apostle.

Fear God, then, and obey me:

No reward ask I of you for this: my reward is of the Lord of the Worlds alone.

Fill the measure, and be not of those who minish:

Weigh with exact balance:

And defraud not men in their substance, and do no wrong on the earth by deeds of licence;

And fear Him who made you and the races of old."

They said, "Certainly thou art a person bewitched.

Thou art but a man like us, and we deem thee liar-

Make now a part of the heaven to fall down upon us, if thou art a man of truth."

He said, "My Lord best knoweth your doings."

And when they treated him as a liar, the chastisement of the day of cloud overtook them. This truly was the chastisement of a dreadful day!

In this was a sign, but most of them believed not.

But thy Lord!-He is the Mighty, the Merciful!

Verily from the Lord of the Worlds hath this Book come down;

The faithful spirit16 hath come down with it

Upon thy heart, that thou mightest become a warner-

In the clear Arabic tongue:

And truly it is foretold in the Scriptures of them of yore.17

Was it not a sign to them18 that the learned among the children of Israel recognised it?

If we had sent it down unto any foreigner,

And he had recited it to them, they had not believed.

In such sort have we influenced19 the heart of the wicked ones,

That they will not believe it till they see the grievous chastisement?

And it shall come upon them on a sudden when they look not for it:

And they will say, "Can we be respited?"

What! will they seek to hasten on our chastisement?

How thinkest thou? If after we have given them their fill for years,

That with which they are menaced come upon them at last,

Of what avail will their enjoyments be to them?

We never destroyed a city which had not first its warners

With admonition; nor did we deal unjustly.

The Satans were not sent down with this Koran:

It beseemed them not, and they had not