i o 6 A l K O R A N . C H A P. 6;
whatever is fecret, and whatever is public; he is the wife, the knowing. Call
to mind when A b r a h a m faid unto his father A z e r *, Doft thou take images f o r
godsb? Verily I perceive that thou and thy people are in a manifeft e r r o r .
And thus did we Ihew unto A b r a h a m the kingdom of heaven and earth, that
he might become one of thofewho firmly believe VAnd when the night o v e r -
lhadowed him, he fawa ftar, and he faid, This is my L o r d '1 ; but w h e n i t
fet, he faid, I like not gods which fet. And when he law the moon r i l i n g ,
he faid, This is my L o r d •, but when he law it fet, he faid. Verily if my L ord
direft me not, I lhall become one of the people who go aftray. And when h e faw
the fun riling, he faid, This is my L o r d , this is thegreateft ; but w h e n it f e t ,
he faid, O my people, verily I am clear of that which ye afibciate with G od : }
direft my face unto him who hath created the heavens and the'earth ; I am o r thodox,
and am not one of the idolaters. And his people difputed with h i m :
and he faid, Will ye difpute with me concerning G o d ? fince he hath n o w
diredled me, and I fear not that which ye afibciate with h im , u n l e f s
that my L o r d willeth a thing -, fo r my L o r d comprehendeth all things by
, hit
* Azer. J This is the name- which the Mohammedans
give to Abraham's father, named in
fcripture Ter ah. However fome of their writers
pretend that Azer was the fon of Terah 1, and
D'Herbelot fays that the Arabs always diftinguifh
them in their genealogies as different perfons j
but that becaufe Abraham was the fon of Ter ah
according to Mofes, it is therefore fuppofed [by
European writers], that Ter ah is the fame with
the Azer of the Arabs 2. How true this observation
may be in relation to fome authors,
I cannot fay, but I am fure it cannot be true
of all; for feveral Arab and Turkift writers ex-
prefly make Azer and Ter ah the fame Per fon 3.
Azer, in ancient times, was the name of the
planet Mars, and the month of March was fo
called by the molt ancient Perftans; for the
word originally fignifying fire (as it ftill does),
it was, therefore given by them and the Chaldeans
to that planet 4, which partaking, as was
fuppofed, of a fiery nature, was acknowledged
by the Chaldeans an dr AJfyrians as a god or
planetary deity, whom in old times they wor-
lhipped under the form o f a pillar t whence
Azer became a name among the nobility, who
efteemed it honourable to be denominated from
their gods s, and is found in the compofition
of feveral Babylonift names. For thefe reafons
a learned author fuppofes Azer to have been the
heathen name of Terab, and that the other was
given him oh his converfion;6. Al Beidawl
confirms this conjecture, faying that Azer was
the name of the idol which he worfhipped. It
may be obferved that Abraham's father is alfo
called Zarah in the Talmud, and Athar by Eufebius.
b Do ye take images for gods ?] That Azer of
Ter ah was an idolater, is allowed on all hands;
nor can it be denied, fince he is exprefly faid,in
fcripture to have ferved Arrange gods 7. The
eaftern. authors unanimoufly agree that he was
a ftatuary, or carver of idolsj and he is reprefen
ted as the firft. who made images of clay,
pictures only having been in ufe before 8, and
taught that they were to be- adored as gods9.
However we are told his employment was a
very honourable one I O, and that he was a great
lord, and in high favour with Nimrod, whole
fon-in-law he .was.1 1 , becaufe he made his idols-
for him, and was excellent in his art. Some
of the Rabbins fay Ter ah was a prieft, and chief
of the order 12.
* And thus weftewed Pdox^smthehingdom °f
heaven and earthy &c.] That is, we gave him a
right apprehenfion of the government of the
world and of the heavenly bodies, that he
might know them all to be ruled by G od*
by putting him on making the following reflections.
. •
A He faw a Jlar, and.he faid, This is my Lord»
dsfr.J Since Abraham's -parents were- idolaters,
1 Tarikh Montakbab, apud D’H erbel. BibLOrient, p. it . 2 D’H erbel. ibid. dl
Be id aw i, J allalo’ddin, Yahya, E bn Shohnah, M irat K ainat, CaV. V. etiam Wm--
bang Jehangbiri, apud H yde de rel. vet. Per far. p.68. 4 H yde, ibid, p. 6$. ... 5 Idem, i f
p. 64. 6 Idem, ibid.p. 62. : 7 J-oft. xxiv. 2, 14. 8 E piph an . ddv. Herr. 1. i- P- 7» °\
9 Suidas in Lexicoy voce 10 V. H yde, ubifupra, p. 63, 11 D’H erbel.
fup. 1 * Shalftel\ hakkab. p. 94.-
CtHAP. 6. A l K O R A N . 107
his knowledge*: will ye not therefore confider? And how fhould I fear that:
which ye afibciate with G o d , fince ye fear not to have afiociated with G o d
that concerning which he hath fent down unto you no authority ? which therefore
of the two parties is the morefafe, if yeunderftand a r ig h t? They who
believe, and clothe not their faith with injuftice b, they fhall enjoy fecurity,
and they are rightly dire&ed; And this is our argument wherewith we fur-
nifhed A b r a h a m that he.might make ufe o f it againft his people : we exalt unto
degrees o f wifdom and knowledge whom we pleafe; for thy L o r d is wife and
knowing. And we gave unto him I s a a c and J a c o b ; we directed them both:
md N o a h had we before directed, and of his pofterityc D a v i d and S o l o m o n ;
and J o b d, and J o s e p h , and M o s e s , and A a r o n : thus do we reward the
righteous : and Z a c h a r i a s , and J o h n , and J e s u s , and E l i A s * ; all ofthemwer c
upright men: and I s m a e l , and E l i s h a f , and J o n a s 8 , and L o t h; all thefe
have"we favoured above the reft o f the world ; and alfo divers of their fathers,
P 2 ' and
it feems to be a neceflary confequence that him-
felf was one alfo in his younger years j the
fcripture not obfcurely intimates as much1 j and
the Jews themfelves acknowledge it 2. At
what age he came to the knowledge of the true
G od and left idolatry, opinions are various.
Some Jewifh writers tells us, he was then but
three years old3, and the Mohammedans likewife
fuppofehim very young, and that he asked his
father and mother feveral fhrewd queftionswhen
a child 4. Others however allow him to have
been a middle-aged man at that time i . Mai-
monides, in particular, and R. Abraham Zacuth
think him to have been forty years old, which
age is alfo mentioned in the Koran. But the
general- opinion of the Mohammedans is, that he
was about fifteen or fixteen 6. As the religion
wherein Abraham was educated, was the Sabian,
which confifted chiefly in the worfhip of the
heavenly bodies 7, he ^introduced examining
their nature and properties^ to fee whether they
had a right to the worfhip which was paid
them or not j and the firft which he obferved
was the planet Venus-, or, as others will have it*
Jupiter 8. This method of Abraham's attaining
to the knowledge of the fupreme Creator
of all things, is conformable to what Jofephus
writes, viz. That he drew his notions from the
changes which he had obferved in the earth and
the fea, and in the fun and the moon, and the
reft of the celeftial bodies j concluding that
they were fubjedt to the command of a fu-
perior power, to whom alone all honour and'
thanks are due 9. The ftory it felf is certainly
taken from the Talmud 10. Some of the commentators
. however fuppofe this reafoning of
Abraham with himfelf was not the firft means of
his converfion, but that he ufed it only by way of
argument to convince the idolaters among
whom he then lived.
a I fear not what ye ajfociate with him; unlefs
that-my L ord willeth a thing, &c.] T h a t is,
I am not afraid of your falfe gods, which cannot
hurt me, except G od permitteth it, or is
pleafed to afflidt me himfelf.
b Injuftice i] By injuftice, in this place, the
commentators underftand idolatry, or open re-!'
bellion againft G od.
yf O f his pofterity ;] Some refer the relative
his, to Abraham:, the perfon chiefly fpoken of
in this paflage ; fome to Noah, the next antecedent,
becaufe Jonas and Lot were not (fay they)
of Abraham's feed: and others fuppofe the perfons
named in this and the next verfe are to be
underftood as the defeendants of Abraham, and
thofe in the following verfe, as thofe of Noah1r,
d Job.] The Mohammedans fay he was of the
race of Êfau. See chap. 21, and 38.
c Elias."] See chap. 37.
f Eli f t a.] This prophet was the fucceflor of
Elias, and as the commentators will have it,
the fon of Okbtüb; tho’ the fcripture makes hira
the fon of Sbapbdt.
8 Jonas.] See chap. 10, 21, and 37.
'• b Lot.] See chap. 7, dsfr. t
1 V. J o f t : x x iv. 2, 14. and Hyde, ubi fup.p. 5-9. * Joseph. Ant. 1. i. c. 7. Maimon. Mo re
Nev.part 3. c. 29. & TadHazzak. de Id. c. i , &c. 3 T anchuma, Talmud, Nedarimy 32, 1.
& apud Maimon. Tadhazz. ubi fup. 4 V . D’Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Art. Abraham. ^ Maim
o n . ubi ftp. R. A br. Z acuth in Sefer JucbaJin, Sbalftel. hakkab, isle. 6 V. H yde, ubifup. p.
60, 6t. dff Hotting. Smegma Orient, p. 290, dsV. G enebr. in Chron. 7 See the Prelim;
§.I. p. 14. 8 ^ /Beidawi. - 9 Joseph. Aiit>l. l. c. y. i9 R. Beghai,
in M id ra ft. V . Bartolocc. B ib l , R a b b. p a r t . 1. p , 640» 11 A l Bs i-d.