lieve | and do thou bear witnefs that we are refigned unto thee. Remember
when the apoftles faid, O J e s u s fon of M a r y , is thy L o r d able to caufe a
table to defcend unto us from heaven * ? He anfwered, Fear G o d , if y e b e
true believers. They faid, We defire to eat thereof, and that our h e a r t s
may reft at eafe, and that we may know that- thou haft told us the t r u t h ,
and that we may be witnefles thereof. J e s u s the fon of M a r y faid, O G o d
'our L o r d , caufe a table to defcend unto us from heaven-, that the day of its
defccnt may become a feftival day b unto us, unto the firft of us, and unto t h e
laft of us, and a fign from thee; and do thou provide food for us, f o r
thou art the beft provider. G o d faid, Verily I will caufe it to defcend u n t o
you ; but whoever among you fhall difbelieve hereafter, I will furely p u n i f l t
him with a punifhment, wherewith I will not punilh any other creature. A n d
when G o d fhall fay unto J esus , at the laft day, O J e s u s fon of M a r y , h a f t
thou faid unto men, Take me and my mother for two gods, beflde G o d ?
He fhall anfwer, Praife be unto thee ! it is not for me to fay that w h i c h I
ought not •, if I had faid fo, thou wouldeft furely have known it: thou k n o W e f t
what is in me, but I know not what is in thee ; for thou art the knower of
fecrets. I have not fpoken to them any other than what thou didft c o m m a n d
■ me ; namely, Worfhip G o d , my L o r d and your L o r d : and I was a w i t n e f s
o f the ir actions while I ftaid among them ; but fince thou haft taken me to t h y
* Is thy L ord able to caufe a table to defcend
unto us from heaven, &c.] This miracle is thus
related by the commentators. Jefus having, at
the requeft of his followers, asked it of G od,
a red table immediately defcended, in their fight,
between two clouds, and was fet before them;
whereupon he rofe up, p d having made the ablution,
prayed, and then took off the cloth which
covered the table, faying, In the. name of Goss, the
beft 'provider of food. What the provilions were,
with which this table was furnifhed, is a matter
wherein the expofitors are not agreed. One
will have them to be nine cakes of bread, and
nine fifties; another, bread and flefti-; another,
all forts of food except flefti ; another, all forts
of food, except bread and flelh; another, all except
bread and fifti; another, one fifli which had
thetafteof all manner of food; and another, fruits
of paradife : but the moft received tradition is,
that when the table was uncovered, there appeared
a fifli ready dreft, without fcales or prickly
fins, dropping with fat, having fait placed at
its head, and vinegar at its tail, and round it all
forts of herbs, except leeks, and five loaves of
bread, on one of which there were olives, on
the fecond honey, on the third butter, on the
fourth cheefe, and on the fifth dj-ied flelh. They
add, that Jefus, at the requeft of the apoftles,
ftiewed them another miracle, by reftoring the
fifti to lifer and caufing its fcales and fins to return
to i t } at which the ftanders by being affrighted,
he caufed it to become as it was before
: that one thoufand three hundred men and
women, all afflidled with bodily infirmities or
poverty,, eat of thefe provilions, and were fatis-
fied j the fifti remaining whole as it was at firft:
that then the table flew up to heaven in the light
of al-lf and every one who had partaken of
this food, were delivered from their infirmities
and misfortunes : and that it continued to defcend
for forty days together, at dinner time,and
flood o‘n -the ground till the fun declined, and
was then taken up into the clouds. Some of the
Mohammedan writers are of opinion that this
table did not really defcend, but that it was only
a parable ; but moft think the words of the
Koran are plain to the contrary. A further tradition
is, that feveral men were changed into
fwine for disbelieving this miracle, and attributing
it to magic art ; or, as others pretend, for
Healing fome of the vidluals from off it V Several
other fabulous circumftances are alfo told,
which are fcarce worth tranfcribing a.
b A feftival day;] Some fay the table defended
on a funday, which was the reafon of the
ChriJlians obferving that day as facred. Others
pretend this day is ftill kept among them as a very
great feftival; and it feems as if the Itory had its
rife from an imperfedt notion of Chriftf laft mP'
per, and the inftitution of the Eucharift.
1 Idem, A l T halab i, V. Marracc, in Ale. p> 238, &c.
f if» thou haft been the watcher over them ; for thou art witnefs of all
thin®. If thou punilh them, they are furely thy fervants j.and if thou for-
ive them, thou art mighty and wife. G od will fay, This day fhall their veracity
be of advantage unto thofe who fpeak truth ; they fhall have gardens
wherein rivers flow, they fhall remain therein for ever : God hath been well-
leafed in them, and they have been well-pleafed in him. This fhall he great
felicity. Unto G od belongeth the kingdom of heaven and of earth, and of
whatever therein is ; and he is almighty. .
•Sinti tbou baß taken me to thyfelf j] O r ,/ * « riginal may be tranilated either way, I, have
the baft cauftd me to itie : but as it is a difpute i dürfen the former expreflion, which leaves the
among the Mohammedans whether CbriftiSmssWy ’ matter undecided,
died or not, before his affumption and the o-
1 See chappy,, p, 43.
C H A P. VI.
Intitled, Cattlea; revealed -at M e c c a 11.
In the name of the moft merciful G od.
PRaife be unto G od, who hath created the heavens and the earth, and
hath ordained the darknefs and the light 5 neverthelefs they who believe
not in the L ord, equalize other gods with him. It is he who hath created
you of clay ; and then decreed the term of your lives ; and the prefixed term
is with him yet do ye doubt thereof. He is God in heaven and in earth;
he knoweth what ye keep fecret, and what ye publifh, and knoweth what
ye deferve. There came not unto them any fign, o f the figns of their L ord, but
they retired from the fame ; and they have gainfaid the truth, after that it hath
come unto them : but a mefiage fhall come unto them, concerning that which
they have mocked at4'. Do they not confider how many generations we have
deftroyed before them? We had eftablilhed them in the earth in a manner wherein
we have not eftablilhed you'; we lent the heaven to rain abundantly up-
O 2 on
a This chapter is fo intitled, becaufe fome
fuperftitious cuftoms of the Meccans, as to certain
cattle, are therein incidentally mentioned.
h Except only fix verfes, or, fay others, three
verfes, which are taken notice of in the notes.
c And then decreed the term of their lives t
and the prefixed term is with himl] By the laft
tefm fome underftand the time of -the refurrec-
tion. Others think that b y the firft term is intended
the fpace between creation and death,
and by the latter, that between death and the
«furrettion.
d A meffage fhall come unto- them, &c.] That
is, they fhall be convinced of the truth which
they have made a jeft of, when they fee the pu-
niftiment which they fhall fuffer for fo doing,
both in this world and the next; or when they
fhall fee the glorious fuccefs of Mohammedifm.
* We had eftablifoed them in the earth, as we
have not eftablijhedyou, &c.] i. e. We had bleffed
them with greater power, and length of prof-
perity than we have granted you, O men of
Mecca1. Mohammed feems here to mean the
ancient and. potent tribes of Ad, and Ilhamud,
& c * . . V ..
1 u^/Beidawi. * See the Prelim. Difc. §• L p> 6,