And they drank thereof, except a few of them * *. And when they had paffed
the river, he and thofe who believed with him, they faid, We have no ftrength
to day, againft J a lu t b and his forces. But they who confidered that they
(hould meet G od at the refurreciion, faid, How often hath a fmall army dif-
■ comfited a great army, by the will of G od ? and G od is. with thofe who patiently
perfevere. And when they went forth to battle againft J alu t and his
forces, they faid, O L ord, pour on us patience, and confirm' our feet, and
help us againft the unbelieving people. : Therefore they difcomfited them
-by the will of G od, and D a v id flew J a l u t . And G od gave him the king,
dom and wifdom, and taught him his will “; and if G od had not prevented
men, the one by the other, verily the earth had been corrupted : but G od is
beneficent towards his creatures. Thefe are the figns of G od : we rehearfe
them unto thee with truth, and thou art furely one of thofe who have been
HI. fent by G o d ■ * Thefe are the apoftles ; we have preferred fome of them before
others : fome of them hath G od fpoken unto, and hath exalted the degree
of others of them. And we gave unto J esus the fon of M a r y manifeft
figns, and ftrengthened him with the holy fpirit4. And if G od had pleafed,
they who came after thofe apoftles, would not have contended among them-
felves, after manifeft figns had been Ihewn unto them. But they fell to variance
; therefore fome of them believed, and fome of them believed not ; and
if G od had fo pleafed, they would not have contended among themfelves, but
G od doth what he will. O true believers, give alms of that which we have
bellowed on you, before the day cometh wherein there lhall be no merchandizing,
nor friendlhip, nor interceflion. The infidels are unjuft doers, Gootd
there is no G od but he' ; the living, the felf-fubfifting: neither Humber nor
fleep feizeth him; to him belongeth whatfoever is in heaven, and on earth.
Who is he that can intercede with him, but through his good pleafure ? He
knoweth that which is paft, and that which is to come unto them, and they
lhall not comprehend any thing of his knowledge, but fo far as he pleafeth.-
His throne is extended over heaven and earthf, and the prefervation of both is
* And they drank thereofexcept a few, &c.J The
number of thofe who drank out of their hands
were about 313 1. It feems that Mohammed has
here confounded Saul with Gideon, who by the
divine direction took with him againft the Mi-
dianites fuch of his army only, as lapped water
**out of their hands, which were 300 men 2.
b Jdlutl Or Goliah.
* His will;] Or what he pleafed to teach him.
Tahya moft rationally underftands hereby the divine
revelations which David received from
<jod ; but Jallaidddin the art of making coats
of mail (which the Mohammedans believe was
that prophet’s peculiar trade) and the knowledge
of .the language o f birds.
d See before p. 12. Note a.
* God! there is no God but he, &c.J The following
feven lines contain a magnificent deferip-
tion of the divine majefty and providence ; but it
muft not be fuppofed the tranflation comes up to
the dignity of the original. This palfage is juftly
admired by the Mohammedans, who recite it in
their prayers ; and fome of them wear it about
them, engraved on an agate or other precious
ftone|.
f His throne is extended over heaven and earth,
&c.] This throne, in Arabic called Corfi, is by
the Mohammedans fuppofed to be G od’s tribunal,
or feat of juftice; being placed under that 0-
ther called al Arjh> which they fay is his imperial
throne. The Corf allegorically lignifies
the divine providence, which fuftains and governs
the heaven and the earth, and is infinitely
above humane comprehenfion 4.
1 Idem, Yahya. 2 Judges v\\. 3 V. B o k o v , deprec. Moham. p. 5. & Reland, DiJferU.de
gemmis Arab. p. 235, 239* 4 Fid. D’Herbelot. Bill. Orient. Art. Corfi.
is no burthen unto him. He is the high, the mighty. Let there be no violence:
in religiona. Now is right dire£tion manifeftly diftinguilhed from deceit:
whoever therefore. lhall deny T a g u t \ and believe in G od, he lhall furely
take hold on, a ftrong handle, which lhall not be broken ; G od is he who
heareth and feeth. G od is the patron of thofe who believe ; he lhall lead them
out of darknefs into light: but as to thofe who believe not, trheir patrons are
T agut ; they lhall lead them from the light into darknefs *, they lhall be the
companions of hell lire, they lhall remain therein for ever. Haft thou not
confidered him who difputed with A braham concerning his L ord c, becaufe
God had given him the kingdom ? When A brah am faid, My L ord is he
who giveth life, and killeth : heanfwered, I give life, and I kill. A b r a ham
faid, Verily G od bringeth the fun from the eaft, now do thou bring it
from the weft. Whereupon the infidel was confounded ; for G od dire<5teth.
. not the ungodly people. Or haft thou not confidered how he behaved who paffed
by a city which had been deftroyed, even to her foundations d? He faid,
How lhall G od quicken this,city, after lhe hath been dead? And G od cau-
I fed him to die for an hundred years, and afterwards raifed him to life. And~
God faid, How long haft thou tarried here ? Heanfwered, A day, or part
l of a day. G od faid, Nay, thou haft tarried here an hundred years. Now
look on thy food and thy drink, they are not yet corrupted; and look on
thine afs: and this have we done that we might make thee a lign unto mem
I And look on the bones of thine afs, how we raife them, and afterwards cloath.
\ them with flelh. And when this was Ihewn unto him, he faid, I know that.
God is able to do all things. And when A braham faid, O L o r d , lhew
; me how thou wilt raife the deade 5 G 0 d faid, Doft thou not yet believe ? He
anfwer-
• Let there be no violence in r e lig io n This
paflage was particularly directed to fome of Mohammed's
firft profelytes, who having fons that
had beeh brought up in idolatry or Judaifm,
would oblige them to embrace Mohammedifm by
force.
b Tagut.1 This word properly fignifies an
idol, or whatever is worfiiipped befides God ;
particularly the two idols of the Meccans, Allât,
and al Uzza ; and alfo the devil, or any feducer.
c Him who difputed with Abraham, ÖV.] This
was Nimrod ; who, as the commentators fay,
to prove his power of life and death by ocular
demonftration, caufod two men to be brought
before him at the fame time, one of whom he
flew, and faved the other alive. -As to this
tyrant’s perfection of Abrahamt fee chap. 21.
and the notes thereon.
4 Haß thou not confidered him who paffed by a city
which had been deßroyed, &c.] The perfon here
meant, was Qzair or Ezra, who riding on an
afs by thè ruins of Jerufalem, after it had been
deftroyed by the Chaldeans, doubted in his mind
by what means G od could raife the city and its
inhabitants again; whereupon G od caufed him
to die, and he remained in that condition 100
years; at the end of which G od reftored him to
Iife,_ and he found a basket of figs and a crufe
of wine he had with him, not in the leaft fpoiled
or corrupted, but his afs was dead, the bones only
remaining; and thefe, while the prophet looked
on, were raifed and cloathed with flefh, becoming
an afs again, which being infpired with
life, began immediately to bray 2.
This apocryphal ftory may perhaps have taken-
its rife from Nehemiab's viewing of the ruins of
Jerufalem 3.
* When Abraham faid, L ord Jhew me how thou-
wilt raife the dead.] The occafionof this requeft
of Abraham is faid to have been on a doubt
propofed to him by the devil, in human form,
how it was poflible for the feveral parts of the
corps of a man which lay on the fea fiiore, and
had been partlydevoureoby the wildbeafts,the
birds, and the fifti, to be brought together, at the
refur reft ion 4.
1 Jallalo*ddin. 2 Jallalo’ddin, Yahya, fc. See D’Herbel. Bibl, Orient.Art.Ozdixi.
Nehem. ii. 12. £3V.. 4 See D’Herbelot, p. 13.