into the right way. Declareunto the ungodly * that they fhall fuffer a p a i n -
ful punifhment. They who take the unbelievers for their protestors, b e f i d e s
the faithful, do they feek for power with them ? fince all power belongeth u n to
G o d . And he hath already revealed unto you, in the book«/the.KoR^
the following paffagc, When ye fhall hear the figns o f G o d , they fhall not b e
believed, but they fhall be laughed to fcorn. Therefore fit not with t h e m -who
believe not, until they engage in different difcourfe ; for i f ye do ye will c e r t a i n l
y become like unto them. G o d will fiirely gather the ungodly and the u n b e lievers
togetherin hell. They who wait?» obferve what befalleth you, if v i f t o r y
be granted you from G o d , fay, Were we not with you ' ? But if any a d vantage
happen to the infidels, they fay unto them, Were we not f u p e r i o r
to youd, and have we not defended you againft the believers? G o d fhall j u d g e
between you on the day of refurreftion ; and G o d will not grant the u n b e l i e vers
means to p r ev a il over the faithful. The hypocrites aft deceitfully with God,
but he will deceive them; and when they ftand up to pray, they ftand c a r e -
letly, affefting to be feen of men, and remember not Gob-, unlefs a l i t t l e * ',
wavering between fa ith and infidelity, and adhering neither unto thefe nor u n t o
thofe f: and for him whom G o d fhall lead affray, thou fhalt find no true p a t h .
O true believers, take not the unbelievers for your proteftors, befides the f a i t h ful.
Will ye fiimifh G o d with an evident argument o f impiety againft y o u ?
Moreover the hypocrites fhall be in the loweft bottom of h ell fire 2, and t h o u
fhalt not find any to help them thence. But they who repent and a m e n d ,
and adhere firmly unto G o d , and approve the fincerity of their religion t o
G o d , they fhall be numbered with the faithful ; and G o d will furely give t h e
faithful a great reward. And how lhould . G o d go about to punilh you, i f y e
VI. be thankful and believe? for G o d is grateful and wife. * G o d loveth not t h e
fpeaking ill o f any one in public, unlefs he who is injured call fo r ajftftance s
and G o d heareth and knoweth: whether yè publifh a good attion, or c o n c e a l
ir, or forgive evil, verily G o d is gracious and powerful. They who b e l i e v e
not in G o d , and his apoftles, and would make a diftinftion between G o d a n d
his apoftles \ and fay, We believe in fome o f the prophet $ and rejeft others of
them, and feek to take a middle way in this matter ; thefe are really unbelievers
: and we have prepared for the unbelievers an ignominious punifhment.
But they who believe in G o d and his apoftles, and make no diftinftion b e t w e e n
any of them, unto thofe will we furely give their reward; and G o d « g r a c
i o u s
* 'Declare Jaffa the ungodly, Mohammed
'here means thofe who hypocritically .pretended
to believe in him but really did not, and by
itheir treachery -did great mifchief to his party 1.
b In the Koran ;] Ghap. 6.
* Were toe not with you n , i. e. Did we not
ailift you? therefore give us a part of the
‘fpoil 2.
d Were toe not fuperior to you Would not
©or army have cut you off, if it h?d not been
-for our faint afliftance, or rather defection, of
the Moflems, and our difheartning them 3 ?
e Unlefs a little ;] That is., with the tongue,
and not with the heart.
f Adhering neither .unto thefe nor unto lbofei]
Halting between . two opinions, and being
ftaunch friends neither to the Moflems, nor the
infidels.
8 The. hypocrites Jhall be in the lowejl bottom'of
hell fire }J See the Preliminary Difcourfe § IV-
p. 92.
h._See chap. 2. -p. 34. not. i-.
cious and merciful.' They- who have received the feriptures-,“ wilE demand of.
thee chat thou caufe a book to defcend unto-them from heaven:-they formerly
a l l i e d o f M o s -e s a-greater thing than this ; for they faid; Shew us- G o d vifiblyV
Wherefore a ftorm of fire from heaven deftroyed them, becaufe of their iniquity.
Then they took, the calf fo r their G od c, after that evident proofs
of the divine ««/ykadfcome unto them: bqtwe forgave them that, and gave
jylosEsa.manifeft-.power to fmnijh 'them*. And we lifted the mountain o f
S1 a a 1 over .them % when we exalted: from th em thw covenant; and faid unto
them, Enter the gate of the city worfhipping f. We alfo faid unto them,
Tranfgrefs not on the fabbarh day. And we received from them a firm cov
e n a n t , . that they would'obferrue thefe things. Therefore for that6 they have
made voidtheir covenant,. and haVe not believed in-the figns of G o d , , and have
flain the prophets, UDjuftly, and havefaid,.Our hearts are uncircumeiftd; (but
God hath fealed -them up, becaufe of their unbelief; therefore they fhall not
b e l i e v e , except afew oof Ahem:) and ;for. that they have not believed on. J esus,
a n d , have- fpok-en againft-M a r y a grievous calumny11; and have faid, Verily
w e have flain C h r i s t J e s u s the fon of M a r y , the apoftle of G o d ; yet
t h e y flew him not, neither crucified him, but he was reprefented by one in
h is likenefs 1 ; and verily they who difagreed concerning him k, were in a
| d o u b t as to this matter, and had no fa r e knowledge thereof, but followed oir-
l y an .uncertain opinion. They did not really kill him; but G o d took him
! u p unto himfeif: and G o d is mighty and wife. And there Jhall not be one of
t h o f e who have received the feriptures, who fhall not believe in him, before
h is death1 ; and on the day of refurreftion he fhall be a witnefs againft
them.
* They who have -received the feriptures, &c.]
That is, the Jews’, who demanded-of Mohammed,
as a proof of his miffion, that they might-
fee a book of revelations defcend to him from
heaven, or that he would produce one written
in a celeftial charader, like the. two tables of
Mofes, ,
b Shew us G od vifibly,Sco.I\ See chap. 2. p. 7.
This ftor.y feems to be an addition to what
Mofes fays'of the feventy elders, who went up
to the mountain with him, and with Aaron,
Radab, and Abihu, and faw the God o l l f
raell . u
c See chap. 2. p. 6.
* See ibid. p. 7. not. a *
* See ibid. p. 9.
f See ibid. p. 7.
8 Therefore for that, &c.] There being nothing
in the- following words of this ientence,
to anfwer to the caufal for that, Jullaltfddin
fuppofes fomething to be underftood to com-
P'cat the fenfe, as, therefore we have cur fed them,
or the like.
And have ffoken againfi Mary a grievous
calumny j} By accuiing her of fornication 2.
1 Yet they flew him not, &c.] See chap, 3.
p. 42. and the'notes there.
* Who difagreed. concerning^ him’,] For fome
maintained that he was juftly and. really crucified
; fome infifted that it was not Jtfits, who
fufFered, but another who refembled him in-the
face, pretending the other parts of his body,
by their unlikenefs, plainly difeovered the im-
pofition; fome laid, he was taken up into heaven;
and others, that his manhood only fufFered, and
that his godhead afeended into heaven 3.
. 1 There jhall not be-one.of thofe who have re*
ceived the feriptures, who Jhall not believe in
him, before his deàth ;] This pafFage is ex-.
pôunded two ways.
Some, referring the relative his, to the firft
antecedent, take the meaning to be, that no Jew
or Chrifiian fhall die, before he believes in Je-
fus for they fay, that when, one- of either of
thofe religions is ready to breathe his laft, and
fees the angel of death before him, he fhall
then believe in that prophet as' lie ought, tho'
his faith will not then be of any avail." According
to a tradition of Hejâj, when a Jew
is
Exod: xxiv. 9, 10, 11.
3 ^/Beidawi.