them to heara: and if he had caufed them to hear, they would furely have
turned back, and have retired afar off. O true believers, anfwer G od and
h is apoftle, when lie inviteth you unto that which giveth you life ; and know
that G od goeth between a man and his heartb, and that before him ye fhall
be aflembled. Beware of fedition c; it will not affeft thofe who are ungodly
among you, particularly, h u t a ll o f you in g e n e r a l; and know that G od is fe-
vere in punilhing. And remember when ye were few, an d reputed weak in
the.land4; ye feared left men fliould (natch you away ; but God provided
you a place of refuge, and he ftrengthened you with his affiftance, and be-
ftowed on you good things, that ye might give thanks. O true believers
deceive not G od and h is apoftle ' ; neither violate your faith, againft your
own knowledge. And know that your.wealth, and your children are a temptation
unto y o u 1; and that with G od is a great reward. O true believers, if ye
fear G o d , he will grant you a diitinftion 8, and will expiate your fins from you,
and will .forgive .you ; for G od is indued with great liberality. And call to
m in d when the unbelievers plotted againft thee, that they might either detain
thee in bonds, or put thee to death, or expel thee th e c ity h ; and they plotted
again*
tains, of the Caaba, faying, O God grant the
viBory to the Juperi'or army, the party that if mojl
rightly directed, and the mojl honourable 1.
' a To hear;] That is, to-be.arken to the remon-
ftrances of the Koran. Some fay that the infidels
demanded of Mohammed that he ihould raife
Kofai, one of his anceftors, to life, to bear wit-
nefs to the truth of his miffion, faying, he was
a man of honour and veracity, and they would
believe his -teftimony: but they are here told
that it would have been,in vain 2.
b G od goeth between a man and his heart',"] Not
only knowing th'e innermoft fecrets of his heart,
but over-ruling a man’s defigns, and difpofing
him either to belief or infidelity.
. c Sedition',] The original word fignifies any
epidemical crime, which involves a number of
people in its guilt; and the commentators are
divided as to its particular meaning in this place.
“ In the land',] Viz. at Mecca. The perfons
here fpoken to are the Mohajerin, or refugees
who fled from thence to Medina.
e Deceive not G od and his apoftle, &c.] Al
Beidaioi mentions an inftance of fuch treacherous
-dealing in Abu Lobaba, who was fent by Mohammed
to the tribe of Koreidba, then befieged by
that prophet for having-broken their league with
him and perfidiously gone over to the enemies
at the war of the ..ditch 3, to perluade them to
furrender at the diferetion of Saad Ebn Moadh
-prince of the tribe of Aws, their confederates,
which propofal they had refufed. But Abu Lo-
baba's family and effedls being in the hands of
-thofe of Koreidba, he adted dire&ly 'contrary to
his commiflidn, and inftead of perfuading them
to accept Saad as vfiqir judge, when they asked
hisadvice.about it, drew his hand crofs his throat,
dignifying that he would put them all t© death.
However he had no fooner done this than he
was lenlible of his crime, and going into a mofque
tied himfelf to a pillar, and remained there feven
days without meat or drink, till Mohammed forgave
him.
f Your wealth and. your children are a temptation
unto you ;] As they were to Abu Lobaba.
8 Diftinftion;] i. e. A direction that you may
djftinguifh between truth and falfehood; or fuc-
cels in battle to diftinguilh the believers from
the infidels; or the like.
h And call to mind when the. unbelievers plotted a-
gainft thee, &c.] When the Meccans heard of the
league entered into by Mohammed with thofe of Medina,
being apprehenfive of the confequence, they
held a council, whereat they fay the devil affiled
in the likenefs of an old man of Najd. The point
under conlideration being v;hat they ihould do
with Mohammed, AbtdIbakhtari was of .opinion
that he ihould be imprifoned, and the room walled
up, except a little hole, thro’ which he ihould
have neceifaries given him, till he died. This
the devil oppofed, faying that he might probably
be releafed by fome of his own party. Hejbahi
Ebn Amru was for banifhing him : but Kis advice
alfo the devil rejedtecl, infilling that f/l'ibammd
might engage fome other tribes in his intereft,
and make war on them. At length Abu fa ll
gave his opinion for putting him to death; and
pro-
1 Idem. 2 Idem. See chap. 6. p. n o .
n)it. Moh. p. 76. and the notes to chap. 33.
3 See P rid. life of Mah. p. 85. Abuli1-
mainft- t h e e but G od laid a plot againft th em 1 ; and G od is the beft layer of
olots.; And when our figns are repeated unto them, they fay, We have
Irani; if we- pleafed we could certainly pronounce a conipofition like unto this:
this is nothing but fables of the ancients b. And when they faid, O G o d , if
this be the truth from thee, rain down (tones upon us from heaven, or in-
fli£t on us fome oth e r grievous punifhment0. But G o d . was hot difpofed to
nunilh them, whileShou waft with them ; nor was G o d difpofed to punilh them
when they afked pardon4. But they have nothing to o f fe r in excufe why G od
jhould not punilh them, fince they hindred th e be liev e r s from v i f it in g the holy
temple % al though they are not the guardians'thereoff. The guardians thereof
are thofe only who fear G o v but the greater part of them know it not.
And their prayer at the houfe o f G od is no other than whiffling and clapping
of the hands-8; Tafte therefore the punifhment, for that ye have been unbelievers.
They'who believe not, expend their wealth to obftruft the way of
God h: they fliall expend if, but afterwards it (hall become matte r o f fighing
and regret unto them, and at length they (hall be overcome ; and the unbelievers
(hall be gathered together into hell; that G od may diftinguilh the wicked
from the good, and may throw the wicked one upon the other, and may
gather them all in -a heap, and caft them into hell. The-fe are they who
fhall perifh. Say unto the unbelievers, that if they defift f r om oppofing th e e ,
what is already paft (hall be forgiven them ; but if they return to attack th e e ,
the exemplary punifhment of the former oppofers o f th e p ro p h e ts is already
paft, and th e lik e f h a l l be in flic ted on them. Therefore fight againft them unpropoled
the manner; which was unanfmoufly
approved-,1. - •: - . ,
■* But G od laid a plot againft them;] Revealing
their conspiracy to Mohammed, and mira-
culoufly. affifting him to deceive them and make
his efcape 2 ; and afterwards drawing them to
the battle of Bedr.
b See chap. 6. p. io i .
c This was the fpeech o f Al Nodar Ebn al
Haretb K • .-
d When they asked pardon;] Saying, G od forgive
us! Some of the commentators however
iuppofe the perfons who asked pardon-were certain
believers, who flayed among the infidels.;
and others think. the meaning to be, that G od
would not punilh them, provided■ they asked pardon.
* Since they hindered the believers from vifiting
the holy temple;] Obliging them .to fly from
Mecca, and not permitting «them fp. much,as to
approach the temple, in the expedition of al
Hodeibiya +..
f Although they were not the guardians thereof;].
Becaufe of their idolatry, and indecent deportment
there. For otherwife the Koreijh had a
1 A lBeidawi. See the Prelim. Difc.p. 50.
the Prelim. Difc. p. 5 2. s See chap. 4. p. 68.
° awi. S Idem.
right to the guardianlhip of the Caaba, and it'
was continued in their tribe and in the fame family
even after the taking of Mecca *.
6 Their prayer at the houfe of God is no other
than whiftling and clapping of the hands.] It is faid
that they ufed to go round the Caaba naked 6,
both men and women, whiftling at the fame
time through their fingers, and clapping their
hands. Or, as others fay, they made this noife
on purpofe to difturb Mohammed when at his
prayers, pretending to be at prayers alfo them-
felves7 .
h They who believe not, expend their wealth to
obftruB the way of G od, &c.]. The perfons particularly
meant in this pafiage were twelve of
the Koreijh, who gave each of them ten camels
every day to be killed for provifions for their army
in the expedition of Bedr; or, according to
others, the owners of the effefts broughc by the
caravan, who gave great part of them to the fup-
portof the fuccours from Mecca. Itisalfofaid that
Abu Sofan, in the expedition of Ohod, hired two
thoufand Arabs who coft him a confiderable fum,
befides the auxiliaries which he had obtained
gratis 8.
2 See ibid. 3 ^ /B eidawi. 4 Sec 7 A l Bei