28 A l K O R A N . C ha p . 2.
fbnable. G o d well knoweththat which ye do. And it lhall be no crime in
you, whether ye make public overtures of marriage unto fu ch women, within
the [a id fo u r months and ten days, or whether ye conceal fu ch your defigns i n
your minds: G o d knoweth that ye will remember them. But make no p r o -
mife unto them privately, unlefs ye fpeak honourable words ; and refolve
not on the knot of marriage, until the prefcribed time be accomplilhed; and
know that G o d knoweth that which is in your minds, therefore beware , o f
him, and know^that G o d is gracious and merciful. It lhall be no crime i n
you, if ye divorce your wives, fo long as ye have not touched them, n o r
fettled any dowry on them. And provide for them (he who is at his eafe
mu ft provide according to his circumftances, and he who is ftraitened according
to his circumftances) neceffaries, according to what lhall be reafonable.
‘This is a duty incumbent on the righteous. But if ye divorce them before ye
have touched them, and have already fettled a dowry on them, ye fh a ll give
them half of what ye have fettled, unlefs they releafe any -part, or he releafe part
in whofe hand the knot of marriage is4j and if ye releafe the whole, it will
approach nearer unto piety. And forget not liberality among you, for G o b
feeth that which ye do. Carefully obferve the appointed prayers, and the middle
prayer b, and be affiduous therein, with devotion towards G o d . But if
ye fear any danger, pray on foot or on horfeback ; and when ye are fafe, remember
G o d , how he hath taught you what as yet ye knew not. And
fuch of you as. lhall die and leave wives, ought to bequeath their wives a
year’s maintenance, without putting them out o f their houfes: but if they g o
out voluntarily, it lhall be no crime in you, for that which they lhall do with
themfelves, according to what fhall be reafonable ; G o d is mighty and wife.
And unto thofe who are divorced, a reafonable provifion is d fo due -, this is a
duty incumbent on thofe who fear G od. Thus G o d declareth his figns unto
you, that ye may underftand. Haft thou not confidered thofe, who left
their habitations, (and they were thoufands)for fear of death4? And G o d
-' laid
* Unlefs they, or he in whofe hand the knot of
marriage is, releafe it, & c .]i. e. Unlefs the wife .
ngree to. take lefs than half her dowry, or unlefs.
the husband be fo generous as. to give her
more than half, or the whole j which is here apn
proved of as moft commendable.
b The middle prayer.] Yahya interprets this from
a tradition of Mohammed, who being asked
which was the middle prayer, anfwered, The
evening prayer,which was inftituted by the prophet
Solomon. But Jallalo'ddin allows ä greater
lati tude, and fuppofes it may be the afternoon
prayer, the morning prayer, the noon prayer,
or any other.
e Haß- thou not confidered thofe who left their
habitations for-fear of death, &c. J Thefe were
fome of the children of Ifrael, who abandoned
their dwellings becaufe of a peftilence; or, as-
others lay, to avoid, ferving in a religious war:
but as they fled, God ftruck them all dead in a
certain valley. About eight days or more after,
when their bodies were corrupted, the prophet
Ezekiel the fon of JBuzi happening to pafs that
way, at the fight of their bones, wept; whereupon
God faid to him, Call to them, O Ezekiel,.
and 1 will reftore them to life. And accordingly on
the prophet’s call they all arofe, and lived feveral
years after j but they retained the colour and
flench of dead corps, as long as they lived, and
the cloaths they wore changed as black as pitch»
which qualities they tranfmitted to their pofte-
rity 1. As to the number of thefe Ifraelites, the
commentators are not agreed j, they who reckon
leaft fay they were 3000, and they who reekon
C h a p . 2 . A l K O R A N. zty
faid unto them, Die ; then he reftored them to life, for God is gracious towards
mankinds but the greater part of men do not give thanks. Fight for the
religion of G o d , and know that G o d is he who heareth and knoweth. Who-
is he that will lend unto G o d on good ufury4? Eerily he will double it unto
him manifolds for G o d contrað and extendeth his hand as he pleafeth,
and to him fhall ye return. Haft thou not confidered the aflembly of the
children of I s r a e l , after the time o f M o s e s s when they faid unto their prophet
Samuel, Seta king over us, that we may fight for the religion of G o d ?
tphe prophet anfwered, If ye are injoined to go to war, will ye be near refilling
to fight? They anfwered, And what ihould ail us that we fhould not'
fight for the religion' of Gon, feeing we are difpoffefled of our habitations,
and deprived of our children ? But when they were injoined to go to war, they
turned back, except a few:of them : and G o d knew the ungodly. And their'
prophet faid unto them, Verily GoD;hath fet T a l u t b, king over you: they
anfwered, How fhall he reign over us, feeing we are more worthy of the kingdom
than he, neither is he poffefled of great riches ? Samuel faid, Verily'
G o d hath chofeh him before1 you, and hath caufed him to increafe in knowledge
and ftature, for G o d giveth his kingdom unto whom he pleafeth s G o d -
is bounteous and wife. And their prophet faid unto them, Verily the fign
of his kingdom fhall be, that the ark fhall come unto you4: therein lhall be
tranquility from your L o r d *, and the relicks4 which have been left by the family
of M o s e s , and the family of A a r o n s the angels fhall bring it. Verily
t h i s : fhall be a fign unto: you, if ye believe. And when T a l u t departed with
bis foidiersi he faid, Verily G o d will prove you by the river: for he who
drinketh thereof, fhall not be on my fide (but he who fhall not tafte thereof
he lhall be on- my fide) except he who drinketh a draught out of his hand.
And
moft, 70.000. This ftory feems to have been
taken from Ezekiel's vifion of the refurre&ion of
dry bones 1.
Some of the Mohammedan writers will have
Ezekiel to have been one of the judges of Ifrael,
and to have fucceedfed Othoniel the fon of Caleb.
They alfo call this prophet Ebn al ajuz, or the
fon of the old woman; becaufe they fay his mother
obtained him by her prayers in her old
age1*. , -....>•>•.-. v./’.
a Who will lend unto God, on good ufury ?] viz.
By contributing towards the eftablifhment of his
true religion.
b Talut. S o the Mohammedans name Sauli
* The ark fhall come unto you, &c.j This ark,
fays Jallalo'ddin, contained the images of the
prophets, and was font down from heaven to
AdamK and at length came to the IfraeliteSi
who put great confidence therein, and continually.
carried it in the front of their army, till, it
Was taken by the Amalekites. But on this occafion
the angels brought it back, in the fight of
all the people, and placed it at the feet of Talutv
who was thereupon unanimoufly acknowledged
for their king.
This relation-feems to have arifen from fome
imperfeft tradition of the taking and fending
back the ark by the Pbilift ines 3.
d Therein fhall be tranquillity from your Lord;]'
That is, becaufe of the great confidence the
Ifraelites placed in it, having won feveral battles
by its miraculous afliftance. I imagine
however, that the Arabic word Sakinat, which
fignifies tranquility or fecurity of mind, and is lo •
underftood by the commentators, may notimpro-
bably mean the divine prefence or glory, which
ufed to appear on the ark, and which the Jews
exprefs by the fame word Shecbinah.
e The relicks, &c.] THefe were the Ihoes and
rod of Mofes, the mitre of Aaron, a pot of Manna,
and the broken-pieces o f the two tables of-
the law
Ezek. xxxvii.
Jallalo’dehn.