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

For they are far removed from hearing it.20

Call not thou on any other god but God, lest thou be of those consigned to torment:

But warn thy relatives of nearer kin,21

And kindly lower thy wing over the faithful who follow thee.

And if they disobey thee, then say: "I will not be answerable for your doings;"-

And put thy trust in Him that is the Mighty, the Merciful,

Who seeth thee when thou standest in prayer,

And thy demeanour amongst those who worship;

For He heareth, knoweth all.

Shall I tell you on whom Satan descend?

They descend on every lying, wicked person:

They impart what they have heard;22-but most of them are liars.

It is the POETS23 whom the erring follow:

Seest thou not how they rove distraught in every valley?

And that they say that which they do not?

Save those who believe and do good works, and oft remember God;

And who defend themselves when unjustly treated. But they who treat them unjustly shall find out what a lot awaiteth them.

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1 This Sura belongs to about the seventh year of Muhammad's prophetic life.

2 See Sura 1xviii. I, p. 32.

3 Lit. to which their necks would humble themselves.

4 Lit. my tongue is not free. This verse appears to be a studied simplification of Ex. iv. 10-13.

5 The murder of the Egyptian. See Geiger, 159.

6 Lit. and thou hast done thy deed which thou hast done. See xxviii. 15.

7 Thus Pirke R. Elieser § 48. "He placed his hand in his bosom, and drew it forth, white as snow with leprosy."

8 "The Pharaoh who lived in the days of Moses was a great magician." Mid. Jalkut, c. 182. Comp. Sura xxviii. 38, where, in accordance with the Rabbinic traditions Pharaoh claims to be a God.

9 See ii. 58, and Midr. Jalkut on Ex. xii. c. 208.

10 Lit. except.

11 Lit. a tongue of truth, i.e. high repute. Or, grant that my words may be believed among posterity. See [lviii.] xix. 47.

12 Of their motives in embracing Islam.

13 The Adites are mentioned in vii. and xi.

14 This is to be understood of the small forts erected by the nomades of the Hejaz along the route of the caravans to guarantee their safety. Comp. Gen. xi. 1-10, and Sura lxxxix. 6, p. 54.

15 The Madian and the El-Aika of other Suras are unquestionably one and the same place, as they have the same prophet Shoaib (or Sho'eyb), the Jethro of Scripture-a name perhaps altered from Hobab (Numb. x. 29)-and because the same sin is laid to the charge of both. See Winer's Realwrterbuch on Jethro. The Midr. Rabbah on Ex. ii. I6, Par. I, makes Jethro renounce idolatry, and his office of Priest, and undergo banishment from the Midianites.

16 Gabriel. See Sura lxxxi. 19, p. 46.

17 See Sura xiii. 36. This verse is said to have been revealed at Medina by Itq. 34.

18 The unbelieving Meccans. Lit. that the knowing (Doctors, Uhlemas) knew it.

19 Lit. have introduced it, i.e. infidelity; or, the Koran. Beidh. The latter interpretation seems most accordant with the context.

20 Comp. Sura xxxvii. 7, 8, p. 79.

21 It is probable that within three or four years from his entry upon the prophetic office, Muhammad had made about 40 converts. Some biographers refer to this passage, and not to Sura lxiv. I, as the first call to preach. But this Sura is itself late, and bears evidence of the opposition to which the prophet had become exposed, and of adherents to his cause, now become numerous. The diffuseness and feeblenss of the style clearly point to a late origin.

22 They impart to their votaries on earth what they have learned by stealth and partially, in heaven.

23 Muhammad found it necessary to employ the pens of certain poets to defend himself and his religion from the ridicule and satire of other poets, whose productions were recited at the great annual fair held at Okatz, the Olympus of the Hejaz. The poems which were judged the best were written up in letters of gold, or suspended (hence called Moallakat) in the Caaba. These poetical contests were subsequently suppressed by Muhammad, as offering openings for discussions which might prove inconvenient, and dangerous to his rising claims.

MECCA.-99 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ELIF. LAM. RA.2 These are the signs of the Book, and of a lucid recital
[Koran].

Many a time will the infidels wish that they had been Muslims.

Let them feast and enjoy themselves, and let hope beguile them: but they shall know the truth at last.

We never destroyed a city whose term was not perfixed:3

No people can forestall or retard its destiny.

They say: "O thou to whom the warning hath been sent down, thou art surely possessed by a djinn:

Wouldst thou not have come to us with the angels, if thou wert of those who assert the truth?"

-We will not send down the angels without due cause.4 The Infidels would not in that case have been respited.

Verily, We have sent down the warning, and verily, We will be its guardian;

And already have We sent Apostles, before thee, among the sects of the ancients;

But never came Apostles to them whom they did not deride.

In like manner will We put it into the hearts of the sinners of Mecca to do the same:

They will not believe on him though the example of those of old hath gone before.

Even were We to open above them a gate in Heaven, yet all the while they were mounting up to it,

They would surely say: It is only that our eyes are drunken: nay, we are a people enchanted.

We have set the signs of the zodiac5 in the Heavens, and adorned and decked them forth for the beholders,

And We guard them from every stoned6 Satan,

Save such as steal a hearing:7 and him doth a visible flame pursue.

And the Earth have We spread forth, and thrown thereon the mountains, and caused everything to spring forth in it in balanced measure:

And We have provided therein sustenance for you, and for the creatures which not ye sustain:

And no one thing is there, but with Us are its storehouses; and We send it not down but in settled measure:

And We send forth the fertilising winds, and cause the rain to come down from the heaven, and give you to drink of it; and it is not ye who are its storers:

And We cause to live and We cause to die,8 and We are the heir of all things:

We know those of you who flourish first and We know those who come later:

And truly thy Lord will gather them together again, for He is Wise, Knowing.

We created man of dried clay, of dark loam moulded;

And the djinn had We before created of subtle fire.

Remember when thy Lord said to the Angels, "I create man of dried clay, of dark loam moulded:

And when I shall have fashioned him and breathed of my spirit into him, then fall ye down and worship him."

And the Angels bowed down in worship, all of them, all together,

Save Eblis: he refused to be with those who bowed in worship.

"O Eblis,"9 said God, "wherefore art thou not with those who bow down in worship?"

He said, "It beseemeth not me to bow in worship to man whom thou hast created of clay, of moulded loam."

He said, "Begone then hence; thou art a stoned one,10

And the curse shall be on thee till the day of reckoning."

He said, "O my Lord! respite me till the day when man shall be raised from the dead."

He said, "One then of the respited shalt thou be

Till the day of the predestined time."

He said, "O my Lord! because thou hast beguiled me, I will surely make all fair seeming to them11 on the earth; I will surely beguile them all;

Except such of them as shall be thy sincere servants."

He said, "This is the right way with me;

For over none of my servants shalt thou have power, save those beguiled ones who shall follow thee."

And verily, Hell is the promise for them one and all.

It hath seven Portals;12 at each Portal is a separate band of them;

But 'mid gardens and fountains shall the pious dwell:

"Enter ye therein in peace, secure-"

And all rancour will We remove from their bosoms: they shall sit as brethren, face to face, on couches:

Therein no weariness shall reach them, nor forth from it shall they be cast for ever.

Announce to my servants that I am the Gracious, the Merciful,

And that my chastisement is the grievous chastisement.

And tell them of Abraham's guests.

When they entered in unto him, and said, "Peace."

"Verily," said he, "We fear you."

They said, "Fear not, for of a sage son we bring thee tidings."

He said, "Bring ye me such tidings now that old age hath come upon me? What, therefore, are your tidings really?"

They said, "We announce them to thee in very truth. Be not then one of the despairing."

"And who," said he, "despaireth of the mercy of his Lord, but they who err?"

He said, "What is your business then, O ye Sent Ones?"

They said, "We are sent unto a people who are sinners,

Except the family of Lot, whom verily we will rescue all,

Except his wife. We have decreed that she shall be of those who linger."

And when the Sent Ones came to the family of Lot

He said, "Yes; are persons unknown to me."

They said, "Yes; but we have come to thee for a purpose about which thy people doubt:

We have come to thee with very truth, and we are truthful envoys.

Lead forth therefore thy family in the dead of the night; follow thou on their rear: and let no one of you turn round, but pass ye on whither ye are bidden."

And this command we gave him because to the last man should these people be cut off at morning.

Then came the people of the city rejoicing at the news13-

He said, "These are my guests: therefore disgrace me not.

And fear God and put me not to shame."

They said, "Have we not forbidden thee to entertain any one whatever?"14

He said, "Here are my daughters, if ye will thus act."

As thou livest, O Muhammad, they were bewildered in the drunkenness of their lust.

So a tempest overtook them at their sunrise,

And we turned the city upside down, and we rained stones of baked clay upon them.

Verily, in this are signs for those who scan heedfully;

And these cities lay on the high road.15

Verily, in this are signs for the faithful.

The inhabitants also of El Aika16 were sinners:

So we took vengeance on them, and they both became a plain example.

And the people of HEDJR treated God's messengers as liars.

And we brought forth our signs to them, but they drew back from them:

And they hewed them out abodes in the mountains to secure them:

But a tempest surprised them at early morn,

And their labours availed them nothing.

We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that between them is, but for a worthy end.17 And verily, "the hour" shall surely come. Wherefore do thou, Muhammad, forgive with kindly forgiveness,

For thy Lord! He is the Creator, the Wise.

We have already given thee the seven verses of repetition18 and the glorious
Koran.

Strain not thine eyes after the good things we have bestowed on some of the unbelievers: afflict not thyself on their account, and lower thy wing to the faithful.19

And SAY: I am the only plain-spoken warner.

We will punish those who foster divisions,20

Who break up the Koran into parts:

By thy Lord! we will surely take account from them one and all,

Concerning that which they have done.

Profess publicly then what thou hast been bidden,21 and withdraw from those who join gods to God.

Verily, We