H> A l K 0 R A N . C h -A'p*. z>
fire whole fewel is men and ftcsnes, prepared for the unbelievers: But bear
good tidings unto thofe who believe, and do good works, that they fhall have
gardens watered by rivers; fo often as they eat of the fruit thereof for fufte-
nance, they fh a ll fay, This is what we have formerly eaten of; and they fhall
be fupplied with fev o ra l fo r ts o f fr u i t having a mutual refemblance to one
another,*. There fhall they enjoy wives iubjeft to no impurity, and’ there
fhall they continue for ever. Moreover G od' will not be afhamed to propound
in a parable: a gnat, or even, a more defpieable thing b: for they who believe
will know it to. be the truth from their L ord ; but the unbelievers will fay,
What meaneth G od by this parable?: he will thereby miflead many, and
will dire£t many thereby: but he will not miflead a n f thereby, except the
rranfgreffors, who make void the:covenant of G od after the eftablifhing thereof,
.andcut in funder that which G od; hath commanded to'be joined, and aft
corruptly in the earth ; they fhall iperifh. How is i t that ye believe not in
G od ? Since ye were dead, and he gave you life?; he will hereafter caufe yon
to die, and will again reftore you to life; then fhall ye return unto him. It
is he who hath created for you whatsoever is on earth, and then fet his mind to
the creation o f heaven, and Tormed it into feven heavens ; he knoweth all
things. When thy. L ord faid unto the angels, I Am going to place a fubfti-
tute' on earth4 ;t ,tkey faid, liWilf; thou place, there one who will do evil therein,
and fhed blood 3 but we celebrate thy praife, and fanftify. thee. God anfwer-
■ ed, Verily I know that which ye know hot; and he taught A dam the names
- ' of
a Some commentators1 approve -of this-fenfe,
fuppoftng the fruits of paradife, tho’ pf. various
taftes, are alike iii colour and' outward appearance
: but others 2 think the meaning to be;
that the inhabitants of that place will findjhere
iruitsiof the' fame or the like -kinds, as they uYed
tueat while on earth.
b This was revealed to take off an objection
■ made lothe Koran by the infidels, for conde-
feending to>lpeak o f fuch infignifieant îrifeéts, as
the fpider, thé pifmire, the bee, 3. 4
* Ye were dead, dud he gave you life, &c.J i. 'ë.
Ye were dead, while in the loins of'your fathers,
and he gave you life in your mothers wombs ;
:and after death ye ihallbe again raifedat the're-
furreâion
d-Concerning the creation of Adatn, here intimated,
the Mohammedans hayç lèverai'peculiar
traditions. They fay the-Angels, Gabriel,Michael,
and Ifrafil, were fent by G od> one after another,
to fetch forthat purpole feven handfuls bf earth
from different depths, and. iof different< colour's
( whence fome account for. the various'ebmplexion
of mankind 5 ); but the ear th. being appreheflftve
of the confequence,, and deliring them to reprelent;
her fear to G od, that. the.creature he de-
lign.ed to form, would rebel again# him> and
draw do^rn 'his curie upon Her, they- returned
' without performing G ods command j whereupon
he fent Agraïl on the fame ejraijd, \yho.execut-
ëd his commiffioh' without remorie ; for'Which
reafon, G od appointed that angel fbfe^arate
the fouls from the: bodies, being therefore’ called
the angel of death. The earth; he had taken was
carried into Arabia, to- a iplacebetween Mecca
and ‘Tayèf, where being firft knèaded by the ati-
’gels,’. i f was afterwards faftiibned- By; G oii him-
felf info a human- form; and left to dry 6 for the
fpace b f forty days, or as othersTay, as many
years ; the angels in thé mèari time often v is ing
it, and Eblis (then one of thé angels who
are neareft to G od’s prefence,; afterwards the
devil) among the reft; but h é 'not contented
tvith-looking on it;- kicked1 it-with his foot till it
fuhg,f and knowing'Gdo-defigned tlxaircrëatlïre
to bè his fiiperior; tdok a fétrét- réfólütibn'nëvër
1 tb-acknowledge-hiih a:sftjcfr.0i Aftëf' this; God
‘animated tHe figurèJ©frclay,‘;ahd' indited! i f with-
an intelligent foul, and when Be-had placéd him
in pafadife, formed Eve out of his left .fide-7.*
1 Jallalo’ddin. 2 ^ /Z amakhshari. 3 Ya# £ a-'.:1! Jadl^ïo’ôiün' : - ' ^Al
T ermbdi, from a tradition of Abu Musa al Ashari. 6 Koran, c. 55: 7 Khond amir*
Jall alq’ddin. Comment. in-Koran, &c; \K, .D’H^r î b t, ÿiblioth. Orient, p. 55.
C h a p . 2. A l K O R A N . 5
of all things, and then propofed them to the angels, and faid, Declare unto
me the names of thefe things if ye fay truth. They anfwered, Praife be unto
thee, we have no knowledge but what thou teacheft us, for thou art knowing
and wife. GOD faid, O A d am, tell them' their names. And when he
had told them their names, GOD faid, Did I not tell you that I know the
fecrets of heaven and earth,: and know that which ye dilcover, and that which?
ye conceal“ ? And when we faid unto the angels, Worlhip b A dam ; they a ll
worfhipped him} except Eblis who refufed, and was puffed up with pride, and
became of the number.o funbelieversc. And we faid, O A d am , dwell thou
and thy wife in the garden d, and; eat o f the fr u i t thereof plentifully wherever
ye will *, but approach not . this tree % 3 left ye become of the number o f the
tranfgreffors. But Sa t a n caufed them to;forfeit paradife:* r and turned them
out of the f t ate o f bappinefswherem they had- been ^.whereupon we faid, Get
ye down2, the one of you an enemy uiito the others and there fhall be a
dwells
* This ftory Mohammed borrowed from the
JezoiJh traditions j which- -fay, that the angels
having fpoken of man with fome contempt,
when Goo confulted them aböut his creation,
God made anfwer,' that the man was wifer than
they ; and to.convince them of: it, he brought all,
kinds of animals to them, and asked them their
names j which théy not being able to tell, lie
put the fame queftion to the man, whö‘ named
them one after another ; and being asked his
own name, and, G;od’s name, he anfwered very
juftly, an,d gave God the name o f Jehovah
The'angels ^doring of Adam .is alfo. mentioned
in the falmua 2.
b Wohjhvp\\The1 original word fignifies pro-'
perly to pr^ftraieone's, felf . till the forehead touches,
thêj ground;. which is the humbled: pofture of a-
cdbration, and ftriélly due to G od only ; but it is
fometime.s, as in this place,.ufed to exprefs tha^:
civil worlhip or homage, which may be paid to
creatures fs ‘ ‘
f Thisoëcafioni o f 'the deVil’i''fall has fome
affinity with ap opinion which has been' pretty
'mWch'ëntërtainfed among Chrtftidns ^Wi&'.that
the angels-.beiflg inrolmed o f Gob’s intention to
creatë man after his own image, and to dignify
humah. nature by Christ’s aïTuming it, fome
of them thinking their glory to be eelipfed thereby,
envied man’s happinefs> and fo revolted.
a Mohammed,' as appears by what prefentlyfol-
ldws, doés hot place this garden or.piradife On
earth; but in. the feventh heaven'^. '
0 Concerning this treë or the'forbiadfen' fruit,
hhè Mbhdmmèdans-,1 as' Well a^ thé Chriftians, Ih’ave
various Öpipiohs: Somé .fay it was an ear of
wheat;!fome' will have'it to have been a fig-tree,
ahdhthèrs a'vine 6. The ftory of the fall is
told,with fome further circumftances, in the beginning
of the 7th’ chapter.
* Satan caufed them to forfeit paradife\\ They
have a tradition that the devil offering to get into'paradife
to tempt Adam, was not admitted by
the guard fwhereupon he begged-of the-animals*
one after another, to carny him in, that he might
fpeak to Adam and . his wife ; blit they all refufed.
.him, except the ferpent,. who took him between
two of his Veeth^ and fo introduced him. They
add, that the ferpent was then of a beautiful
form, and not in the lhape he now bears 7r. /:
8 Get ye dozvTt] 'Th.c Mphammedans fay, that
when. they were caft down from paradife, Adam
felt on .the ifle 0f Ceylon or Serendib, zn&Eve near
foddah (the portof Mecca) in .Arabia ; and that
.after a. Reparation bf 200 years, Adam was, on
his repentance, condufted by the angel Gabriel
to a mountain near Mecca, where he found and'
knew his wife, the mountain being thence.named
Arafat; and that he afterwards retired' with
her to Ceylon, where they continued to propa»
gate their,ipecles, ®.
, I t may not be improper here to mention another
tradition concerning the gigantic; ffature of
our firil parents. Their prophet, they lay, affirmed
Adam to have beep as tall as a hig;h palm-
tree 9 i. but this .would, be too much_in propor-
tibn, if that were really the print.of his foot,
which is pretended to be fuch, on the top of a
mountain in the ifle pf Ceylon, thence named
Eico de\ Adam, 'and'by the. Arab writers Rabun,
being fbnVewhat above two fpans long ^0 (tho’ o-
thers fay it'is feventy cubits long,-and that when
Adam fet one foot here, he had the other in the
fea11) ; and too little^ if Eve Were of fo enormous
a fize; as is, faid, that when her head Ray on one
hill near Mecca, her knees refted on two others
in the plain, about two muskeflhot afunder 12‘..
• * K- RivivuSerpent.feduft. p. 5^.-* AMoses Hapd-arsha^, in Rerejhkrabbah. 3 J all a-lq’d-
bm . I r ENLAEu‘s,"'L,A C t . G ^ E G .''N y s ,s'EN. i M a PvRa c c . 24. ‘6 J". ibïàlp.2z.
7 V, ib. 8 D’Herbelot, B ib l. orient.' P - '5 5'*" ^Yahy^J' ‘io »Ysroyage, par), .
$£e Knox’x Account of Ceylon. 11 Anciennes relations des Indes &c. p. 3 . 12 Monconts, ubi jup.