1 2 A l K O R A N . G H A P. 2.
to come ; wherefore their puniihment lhalj not' be mitigated, neither fhall
they be helped. We formerly delivered the book of the lata unto M o s e s ,
and caufed apoftles to fucceed him, and gave evident miracles to J e s u s the
fon of M a r y , and ftrengthened him with the holy fpirit *. Do ye therefore,
whenever an apoftle cometh unto you with that which your fouls defire not,
proudly rejedt him, and accufe fome of impofture, and flay others ? The
Jews fay, Our hearts are uncircumcifed : but G o d hath curled them with
their infidelity, therefore few fhall believe. And when a book came unto them
from G o d , confirming the feriptures which were with them, although they had
before prayed for afliftance againft thole who believed not", yet when that
came unto them which they knew to be from G O D, they would not believe
therein: therefore the curie of G o d fhall be on the infidels. For a vile
price have they fold their fouls, that they ihould not believe in that which
G o d hath fent down'; out of envy, becaufe G o d fendeth down his'favours to
fuch of his fervants as he pleafeth: therefore they brought on themfelves indignation
on indignation; and the unbelievers fhall fuffer an ignominious puniihment.
When one faith unto them, Believe in that which G o d hath fent
down; they anfwer, We believe in that which hath been fent down unto us4: and
they rejeft what hath been revealed fince, although it be the truth,: I confirming
that which is with them. Say, Why therefore have ye (lain the! prophets of
G o d in times pall, if ye be true believers? M o s e s formerly came unto you
with evident figns, but ye afterwards took the calf for your god and did
wickedly. And when we accepted your covenant and lifted the mountain of
Sin a i over you' , faying, Receive the law which we have given you, with a re-
folution to perform it, and hear ; they faid, We have heard, and have rebelled:
and they; were made to drink down the calf into their hearts f for their unbelief.
Say, A grievous thing hath your faith commanded you, if ye be true
believers5. Say, If the future manfion with G o d be prepared peculiarly for
you, exclufive of the reft of mankind, wilh for death, if ye fay truth : but
they will never wilh for it, becaufe of that which their hands .have fent before
them11; G o d knoweth the wicked doers ; and thou fhalt furely find them of
* The holy fpirit.] We muft not imagine 'Mo-
hammed here means the Holy Ghoft, in the Cbri-
ftian acceptation. The commentators fay, this
fpirit was the angel Gabriel, who fanftified Jefius
and conftantly attended on him r.
k Although they had before frayed, &c.] The
Jews in expedition of the coming of Mohammed
(according to the tradition of his followers) ufed
this prayer, O God, help us againft the unbelievers
by the prophet who is to be lent in the laß limes *.
6 The Koran's
' The Pentateuch.
• See before p. (J.
1 They were made to drink down the calf, &c.)
Mofes toot the calf which they had made, and burnt
it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and ftrewed
it upon the water (of the brock that defend'd
from the mount), and made the children of Ifrael
drink of it f
5 A grievous thing, &c.] Mohammed\\txt\sSzn
from their forefathers difobediettce in worihiping
the calf, at the fame time that they pretended to
believe in the law of Mofes,' that the faith of the
Jews in his .time-was as vain and hypocritical,
fince they rejected him) who was foretold (herein,
as an impoftor
h Which their handi'havefent before them)]That
is,by reafon of.the wicked forgeries Which they
havé been guilty’of in refpért to the feriptures.
An exprelhon much like that of St. Paul, where
he fays, that fame men's fins are open before hand,
going before to;judgment LV-;> :
20. petal' Ü. *1. 4 jAM.ALÓ’bDJN. YaHÏA,
Chap. 2. A l K 0 R A N . 13
of all men the moft covetous of life, even more than the idolaters: one of
them would defire his life to be prolonged a thoufand years, but none fhall
reprieve himfelf frompunifhment, that his life may be prolonged: G o d feeth
that which they do, Say, Whoever is. an enemy to G a b r i e l * (for he hath
caufed the K oran to defeend. on thy heart, by the permilfion of G o d , confirming
that which was before revealed, a direction, and good tidings to the faithful;)
whofoever is an enemy to G o d , or his angels, or his apoftles, or to G a b
r i e l , or M i c h a e l , verily G o d is an enemy to the unbelievers. And. now
we have fent down unto thee evident figns b, and none will difbelieve them
but the evil-doers. Whenever they make a covenant, will fome of them rejeft
it ? yea the greater part of them do not believe. And when there came unto
them an apoftle from G o d , confirming that feripture which was with them,
fome of thofe to whom the feriptures were given, caft the book of G o d behind
their backs, as if they knew it not: ’and they followed the device which
the, devils devifed againft the kingdom of S o l o m o n c ; and S o l o m o n was not
an unbeliever ; but the devils believed not, they taught men forcery, and
that which was fent down to the two angels at B a -bel, H a r u t and M a r u t 4 :
yet thofe two taught no man until they had laid, Verily we are a temptation,
therefore be not, an unbeliever. So men learned from thofe two a charm by
which they might caufe divifion between a man and his wife ; but they hurt
none
* Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel, ] The
commentators fay, that the Jews asked,, what
angel it was that^bronght the divine revelations
to Mohammed.', and being told that it was Gabriel,
they replied, that he w;as their enemy, and the
meflenger of wrath, and puniihment; but if it had
been Michael, they would.have believed on him,
becaufe that angel was their friend, and the mef-
fenger of peace and plenty. And on this occa-
lion, they fay, this paffage was revealed f .
That Michael was really the prote&or or
guardian angel of the Jews, we know from
feripture 2 ; and it feems that Gabriel was, as:
the Perfians call him, the angel of revelations, be-,
ing frequently .feht on meflages of that kind } ;
for which reafon, it. is,probable, Mohammed pretended
he was the angel from whom he received
the Koran.
b Evident figns,] i, e. the. revelations of this
book.
c They followed. the device of the devils againft
Solomon, &fr.] The devils, having, by G o a’s,
permiffion, tempted Solomon without fuccefs.,
they made .ufe of a trick to blaft his character.
For they wrote feveral books .of magic, and hid
them under that prince’ s ' throne, aUd after his
death, told the chief men that if they wanted to
know by what means Solomon had obtained his
abfolute power over men, genii, and the winds,
1 J a l l a i . o ’ d d ,i n . <j/ Z a m a k h . Y a h y a . 3
hukei. 19,26. & ? H y d e derel. vet. Perjar.fi 263
they Ihould dig under his throne ; which having
done, they found the aforefaid books, which-
contained impious fuperftitions. The better fort
refufed to learn the evil arts therein delivered’,,
but the common people did; and the priefts pub-
lifhed this fcandalous ftory of Solomon, which
obtained credit among the Jews, till G o d , fay
the Mohammedans, cleared that king by the mouth
of their prophet, declaring that Salomon was no
idolater 4\
d The devils taught forcery, and that which was
fent down to Harut and Marut, £3V.] Some lay only
that thefe were two magicians, or angels fent
by G o d to teach men magic, and to tempt them5.
But others tell a longer'fable; that the angels
exprefling their furprize at the wickednefs of the
fons of Adam, after prophets* had been lent to
them with divine commiffions, G o d bid them
chufe two out of their own number to be fent
down to be judges on earth. Whereupon they
pitched upon Harut and Marut, who executed
their;office with integrity for lome time, till
Zcobara, or the. planet Venus, defeended and appeared
before them in the fhape of a beautiful
womari; ^bringing a complaint againft her husband
(though bthers .fay ihe was a real woman.)-
As foon as they faw her, they fell in love with
her, and endeavoured to prevail on her to fatisfy-
their delires; but Ihe flew up again- to heaven,
whither
Dan. x ii. 1. < • * Ibid. ch. Vnir 16: andix.zv.. , 4 Y a h y a .' J a l l A-Ld’o-b i n. . 5 J a l l‘ a t/o’b V i i ? i ‘