.A -ft..F*S
A L ^
K O R A N.
C H A P . I .
Intitled\ The Preface, or Introductiona; revealed at M ecca.
In the name of the moft merciful God.
PRaife be to G o d ; the L o r d of all creaturesb j the moft merciful, the
king of the day of judgment. , Thee do we worlhip, and of thee do.
we beg afliftance. Direft us in the right way, in the way of thofe
to whom thou haft been gracious s not of thofe againft whom thou
art incenfed, nor of thofe who go aftray c.
B C H A P .
a_ The Preface, &c.] In Arabic al Tâtihat.
This chapter is a prayer, and held.in great veneration
by the Mohammedans, who give it feveral
other honourable titles j as the chapter of prayer,
of praife, of thanhfgiving, of treafure, See. They
efteem it as the quinteflence of the whole Koran,
and often repeat it in their devotions both public
and private, as the Chrijlians - do the Lord's
Prayer1,. .. •'
b Lord of ail creatures',] The original Words are,
Rabbi 'lalatriind, which literally1 fignify Lord, bf
the worlds ; but alamina in this and other placés
of the Koran properly mean the three fpecies of
rational creatures, Meh, Genii, and Angels. Father
Marracci has endeavoured to prove from this
ten called the right way', in this place more particularly
defined to be, the way of thofe to. whom
Go b hath been gracious, that is, of the prophets
and faithful, who preceded Mohammed ', under
which appellations are alfo comprehended the
Jews and Chrijlians, fuch as they were in the
times of theif primitive purity, before they had
deviated from their refpeftive inftitutions; not the
' way of the modern Jews, whole fignal Calamities
are marks of the juft anger o f G o 'D againft them
for their obftinacy and difobedience ; ndr of the
Chriftians of. tbit age> who have departed from
the true doftrine o f Jefus, and are bewildered in
a labyrinth of error %
This is the common expbfition of the paflage ;
tho’ a l Z am a kh fh ar i, and fome others, -by a diffe-
'reht application of the negatives, refer the whole
tO\the trlie. believers; and then me feiife will ruh
thus : The way of thofe to whom thou haf beeti g r f
cidusf againfl whom thou art dot incenfed, arid fMo
haveiibt;• erred. \ Which translation the original
will' very well bear.
paflage that Mohammed believed a plurality of
'worlds, which he ■ éallsihe^èrrôrpFthe^'Manicbees,
Jc. 2 : but this imphtatioq the leàrhêd Relàndhjts
fliewn to-be entifely groundlëfs 3. . 3* ■
* Dir eft. us in the right way, &c.]j This làft
fentence,'contains a petition, that G'o d would
lead the fuppliçarits-into the true-religion, by
which is meant the Mohammedan, in the Koran of-
1 Ï ' ? P } 0^IXJ.U d*precib. Mohammed, p. 3>&feq. a In Prodromo adrefut. Alcorani Part. IV.
p'5 &'.tnn Kalis ad Ale, cap* i . - , De-religion, Mohammed. /•' - T'allabo^dOin. 1 A l
"2IDawi,& c. _ 3 ; .iiii .os . viy.r I - * , .. ■ f , aA>> .Af V
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