L o rd humbly and in fecret ; for he loveth not thofe who tranfgrefs *. And
aft not corruptly in the earth, after its reformationb s and call upon him with
fear and defire : for the mercy of G od is near unto the righteous. It is he
who fendeth the winds, fpread abroad c before his mercyd, until they brino- a
cloud heavy with rain, which we drive unto a *dead country e; and we caufe
water to defcend thereon, by which we caufe all fo rts o f fruits to fpring forth.
Thus.will we bring forth the dead from their g ra v e s f ; that peradventure ye
may confider. From a good country lhall its fruit fpring forth abundantly,
by the permiffion of its L o r d s but from the land which is bad, it lhall not
fpring forth otherwife than fcarcely. Thus do we explain the figns o f divine
providence unto people who are thankful. We formerly fent N o a h 5 unto his
people: and he faid, O my people, worlhip G od ye have no other G od
than him h. Verily I fear for you the punilhmentof the great day . The
chiefs of his people anfwered him, We furely perceive thee to be in a manifeft
error. He replied, O my people, there is no error in me ; but I am a mef-
fenger from the L o r d of all creatures. I bring unto you the mellages of rny
L o r d ; and I counfel you aright : for I know from G o d , that which ye know
not. Do ye wonder that an admonition hath come unto you from your L ord
by a man k from among you, to warn you, that ye may take heed to yourfelves,
■ and
* Who tranfgrefs;] Behaving themfelves arrogantly
while they prSy; or praying with an
obftreperous voice, or a multitude of words and
vain repetitions *.
b After its reformation;] i. e, After that G od
hath fent his prophets, and revealed his laws* for
the reformation and amendment of mankind.
' Spread abroad;] Or ranging óver a large extent
of land. Sojne copies inftead of nofhran,
which is the reading I have here followed, have
bofkran, which fignifiesgood tidings ; the riling
of the wind in fuch a manner being the forerunner
of rain.
d Before his.mercy ;] That is, rain. For the
eaft-wind, fays al Beidawi, raifes the clouds,
the north-wind drives them together, the fouth-
jyind agitates them, fo as to make the rain fall,
and the fouth-wind difperfès them again 2.
' A dead countryOr a dry and parched land.
1 See the Prelim. Difc. §. IV. p. 79, 83, &c.
6 Ntab the fon of Lamech, according to the
Mohammedan writers, was one óf the fix principal
prophets3, tho’ he had no written revelations
delivered to him 4, and the firft who appeared
after his great grand-father Edris or Enoch.
They alfo fay he was by trade a carpenter, which
they infer from his building the ark, and that
the year of his mjffion was the fiftieth, ory as o-
thers fay, the fortieth of his age 5,
thé'wicked antediluvians, is tellified by fcrip-
ture6. The eaftern Cbriftians fay, that when
God ordered Noah to build the ark, he alfo di- .
reöedjiim to make an inftrument of wood, fuch
as they make ufe of, at this day, in the eaft, inftead
of bells, tó call the people to church; and
named in Arabic Nakies, and in modern Greek,
Semandra; on which he was to ftrike three times
every day, not only to.call together the workmen
that were building the ark, but to give him an
opportunity of daily admonilhing his people of the
impending danger of the deluge, which would
certainly deftroy them if they did notrepent7.
Some Mohammedan authors pretend Noah was
fent to convert Zohak, one of the Perf an kings
of' the' firft race, who refufed- to hearken to him;
and that he afterwards preached God’s unity
publickly8.
h Serve G od; ye have no other G od but him;]
From thefe words, and other paflagesof thcKorh
where Noah's preaching is mentioned, it appears
that, according to Mohammed's opinion, a principal
crime of the antediluvians was idolatry9.
The great day;] viz. Either the day ofrefur-
re&ion, or that whereon the flood was to, begin.
k By a man ;]For, faid; they, if G od had pïeafed,
he would have fent !an angel,-and not i man;
fince we never heard of fuch an inftance in the
times of our fathers 10.
That Noah was a preacher of righteoufhefs unto
1 Idem. 2 Idenir 3 See the Prelim. Difc. p. 75. 4 V. R eland, de rellg- Mobpi
34. \ A lZ amakhsharl 6 2 Pet. ii. 5- 7 Edtych;.-Anna!.p . 37. 8 ^.D’Herbel.
Bibl. Orient, p. 675. 9 See chap. 71. and the Prelim. Difc. §. I. p. 19. 10 A I B e id a WI.
d that peradventure ye may obtain mercy ? And they accufed him of im-
^fture : but we delivered him and thofe who were with him in the ark*, and
we drowned thofe who charged our figns with falfhood ; for they were a
blind people. And unto the tribe of A d b we fent their brother Hud c. He
faid O my people worlhip G od : ye have no other G od than him ; will ye
not fear him ? The chiefs of thofe among his people who believed notd, an-
fwered, Verily we perceive that thou artguided by folly ; and we certainly e-
fteem thee to be one of the liars. He replied, O my people, lam not guided by
folly; but I am a mefleriger unto you from the L ord of all creatures : I bring
unto you the meffages of my- L ord •, and I am a faithful counfellor unto you. Do
ye wonder that an admonition hath come unto you from your L ord, by a man
from among you, that he may warn you ? Call to mind how he hath appointed
you fuccelfors unto the people of N oah % and hath added unto you in ftature
laraelyf. Remember the benefits of G od, that ye may profper. They faid, Art
thou come unto us, that we Ihould worfhipGoD alone, and leavc the deiijes which
our fathers worlhipped ? Now bring down that judgment upon us, with which
thou threateneft us, if thou fpeakeft truth. H u d anfwered, Now lhall there
fudderily fall upon you from your L ord vengeance and indignation. Will
ye difpute with me concerning the names which ye have named8, and your
father^ j as to which G od hath not revealed unto you any authority? Do ye
wait therefore,- and I will be oneof thofe who wait with you. And we delivered
Him, and them who believed with him, by our mercy ; and we cut
off the uttermoftpartof thofe who charged our figns with falfhood, and were
R 2 not
* And thofe that were with him in the ark ;]
That is, thofe who believed oh him, and entered
into that veffel with him. Tho’ there be a tradition
among the Mohammedans, faid to have been
received from the prophet himfelf, and conformable
to the feripture, that eight perfonsand no more
were faved in the ark, yet fome of them report
the number varioufly.: One fays, they were but
fix, another ten, another twelve, another feVen-
ty eight, and'another fourfeore, half men and
half women 1 ; and that one-of them Was the elder
Jorham 2, the preferver, as fome pretend,
of the Arabian language 3.
b Ad was an ancient and potent tribe of Arabs4-,
and zealous idolaters . They chiefly worlhipped
four deities, Sakia, Hâfedha, Razeka, and Salerno
; the firft, as they imagined, fupplying them
with rain, the fécond preferving them from all
dangers abroad, the ‘ third ^providing food for
their fuftenançe, and the foürth reftorhîg them
to health when affii&ed with fleknefs 6s according
to the fignification of the feveral names.
* Hud,] Generally- fuppofed to be the fame
perfomwith Heber7 ; but others lay he was the fon
ofAbda'lldb,. the fon of Ribah, the fon of Kbolüd,
the fon of Ad, the fon q£ Aws or Uz, the fon of
Aram, the fon of Sem 8.
d Who believed not;] Thele words were added
becaufe fome of the principal men among them
believed on Hud, one o f whom was Morthed Ebn
Saad9.
,* The fuccejfors of the people of Noah ;] Dwelling
in the habitations of the antediluvians, who
preceded them not many centuries; or having
the chief fway1 in the earth after them. Fofthe
kingdom of Sbedad the fon of Ad is faid to have
extended from the fands of Alaj, to the trees ‘
of Oman io . .
f See the Prelim. Difc. p. 7.
* Concerning the names tohichye have named,See. ]
That is, cbftcerning the idols and imaginary ob-
je£ls iif your worlhip, to which ye wickedly
give the names, attributes, and honour due to the
only true G od.
1 ^ /Z amakhshari, J allalo’ddin, E bn Shohnah. 2 Idem. See the Prelim.
Difc, §. I. p, 8. 3 V. PococK. Or at. preefix. Carm. Tograt.. 4 See the Prelim., Difc. §• I.
6, 7. < Abulfedä. 6 V. D’H erbel. Bibl. Öriènt, Art. Houd. 7 See thè Prei.
Difc.p.G. 8 ^ /B e id aw i. 9 Idem. " 10 Idem.