it belongeth not unto thee to pafs any judgment on them *, nor doth it belong
unto them to pafs any judgment on thee : therefore f f thou drive
them away, thou wilt become one of the unjuft. Thus have we proved fome
part of them by other part, that they may fay, Are thde the people among
us unto whom G o d hath been gracious11? Doth not G o d molt truly know
thofe who are thankful ? And when they who believe in our 'figns fhall come
unto thee, fay, Peace be upon you. Your L o r d hath preforibed unto him-
felf mercy ; fo that whoever among you worketh evil through ignorance, and
afterwards repenteth, and amendeth •, unto him w ill he furely be gracious and
merciful. Thus have we diftinftly propounded our figns, that the path of the
wicked might be made known. Say, Verily Lam forbidden to worlhip the
fa lfe deities which ye invoke, befides G o d . Say, I will not follow your defires
; for then fhould I err, neither fhould I be one of thofe who are rightly
direfted. Say, I behave according to the plain declaration which I have received
from my L o r d ; but ye have forged lies Concerning him. That which
ye defire fhould be haftened, is not in my power': judgment belongeth only
unto G o d ; he will determine the truth •, and he is the beft difcerner. Say, If
what ye defire fhould be haftened were in my power, the matter had been determined
between me and youd: but G o d well knoweth the unjuft. With
him are the keys of the fecret things ; none knoweth them befides himfelf: he
knoweth that which is on the dry land and in the fea; there falleth no leaf,
but he knoweth it; neither is there a fingle grain in the dark parts of
the earth, neither a green thing, nor a dry thing, but it is -written in the
perfpicuous -book'. It is he who caufeth you to fleep by night, and
knoweth what-ye-merit by day ; he alfo awaketh you therein, that the prefixed
term o f your lives may be fulfilled; then unto him fhall ye return, and
he fhall declare unto you that which ye have wrought. He is fupreme oyer
his fervants, and fendeth the guardian angels to watch over youf, until, when
death overtaketh one of you, our meflengers 8 caufe him to die ; and they will
not negledt our commands. Afterwards fhall they return unto G o d , their true
L o r d : doth not judgment belong unto him ? he is the molt quick in taking ’ . a n
embrace his religion; but he made fome difficulty
to receive them, fuljpetting their motive to
be neceffity, and not real conviction1; whereupon
this paflage Was revealed.
* It belongeth not unto thee to pafs any judgment
on them, &c.] i. e. Ralhly to decide whether
■ their intentions be fincere or not; lince thou
canft not .know their heart, and their faith may
poffibly be more firm than that of thofe who
would perfuade thee to dlfcard them.
0 !Thus have we proved fome part of them by
other part, &c.] That is to fay, the noble by
thofe of mean extraction, and the rich by the
■ poor; in that G od chefeto call the latter to the
■ faith before the former2.-
c That which ye defire fhould be haftened, is not
in my power, &c.] This paflage is an anfwer to
the audacious defiances of the infidels, who
bid Mohammed, if he were a true prophet, to
call for a fhower of Hones from heaven, or fome
other fudden and miraculous punifhment, to
deftroy them 3.
6 The matter had been determined;] For I
fhould e’re now have deftroyed you, out
o f zeal for G od’s honour, had it been in my
power 4.
e In the perfpicuous booki] i. e. The preferved
table, or regifter o f G od’s decrees.
1 See the Prelim. Difc. SeCl. IV. p. 88, 89«
* Our meffengerr,] That is, the angel o f death
and his afliftants *.
1 Idem, J allaloZddim.
Prelim. Difc. IV. p. 72.
2 lidem. 3 .^f/BEIDAWI, 4 Idem. 1 See the
an account*. Say, Who delivereth you'from tjie darknefs 6 of the land, and
of the fea, when ye call upon him humbly and in private, faying, Verily if
thou deliver us j from thefe dangers, we will furely be thankful ? Say, G o d
delivereth you from them, and from every grief of mind ; yet afterwards ye
give him companions'1. Say, He is able to fend on you a punifhment from
above you', or from under your feetf, or to ingage you in difienfion, and
to make fome. of you tafte the violence of others. Obferve how varioufly
we Ihew forth our figns, that peradventure they may underftand. This people
hath accufed Hoe. revelation w h ich thou haft brought of falfhood, although
it be the truth. Say, I am not a guardian over you : every prophecy hath
its fixed time o f accomplijhment; and ye will hereafter know it. When thou
feed thofe who are ingaged in cavilling at, or ridiculing our figns; depart from
them, until they be ingaged in fome other difcourle : and if S a t a n caufe thee to
forget this precept, do-not fit with the ungodly people, after recolledtion. They
who fear God are not at all accountable for them, but their duty is to remember,
that they may take heed to themfelves8. Abandon thofe who make their
religion a fport and a'jeft ; and whom theprefent life hath deceived: and ad-
monifli them by the K orkin, that a foul becometh liable to deftruftion for
that which it committeth: it (hall have no patron nor intercefior befides G o d ;
and if it could pay the utmoft price of redemption, it would not be accepted
from it. They who are delivered over to perdition for that which they have
committed, mail have boiling water to drink, and fhall fuffer a grievous
punilhment, becapfe they have difbelieved. Say, Shall we call upon that, befides
G o d , which can neither profit us nor. hurt us ? and fhall we turn back
on our heelsj1- after that G o d hath diredted us ; like him whom the devils have
infatuated, wandring amazedly in the earth, and yet having companions who
call him to the true diredtion, faying, Come unto us ? Say, The diredtion of
God is the true diredtion : we are commanded to refign ourfelves unto the
L ord of all creatures; and it is alfo commanded us, faying, Obferve the ftated
times of prayer, and fear him ; for it is he before whom ye fhall be afiembled.
It is he who hath created the heavens and the earth in truth ; and whenever
he faith unto a thing, Be, it is. His word is the truth; and his will be th,e
kingdom on the day whereon the trumpet fhall be founded h: he knoweth
P what-
1 See the Prelim. Difc. Sedl. IV. p. 88, 89.
The darkncfsCi That is, the dangers and
diftrefies. -. -/.v,-.,V, ■
1 it in the third perfon, i f he deliver us, Sec.
fet afterwards ye give him companions;} Returning
to your old idolatry.
* et funijhment from above you;] That is, by
norms from heaven, as he deftroyed the unbei
n g people of Noah, and of Lot, and the ar-
“f fh r aha, the lord of the elephant 1.
Or from under your ‘feet i] Either by drown-
“ 8 yon, as he did Pharaoh and his hoft, or
casting the earth to open and fwallow you up,
as happened to jforah, or (as the Mohammedans
name him) Karan *.
* Thofe who fear G od are not accountable for
them, &c.j And therefore need not be troubled
at the indecent and impious talk of the infidels;
provided they take care not to be infedted by
them. When the preceding paflage was revealed,
the Mojlemt told their prophet, that if
they were obliged to rife up whenever the ido7
laters fpoke irreverently .of the Koran, they
could never fit quietly in the temple, nor' perform
their devotions there ; whereupon thefe
words were added 3.
h See the Prelim* Difc. Sedf. IV. p. 72, and
82, dsV, ■
1 ^/BeidaWi. 1 Idem. 3 Idem, Jai. la l o’ n d 1N.