caufe their people to defcend into the houfe of perdition , namely into hell ?
They lhall be thrown to burn therein i and an unhappy dwelling /hall it
be. They alfo fet up idols as copartners with G od, that they might caufe
men to ftray from his path. Say unto them, Enjoy the pleafures of this Ufe
for a time ; bût your departure hence lhall be into fire. Speak unto
.my fervants who have believed, that they be afiiduous at prayer, and give
alms out of that which we have bellowed on them, both privately and in
public *, before the day, Cometh, wherein there lhall be no buying nor fel-
ing, neither any friendlhip. It is G od who hath created the heavens and
the earth ; and caufeth water to defcend. from heaven, and by means thereof
produceth fruits for your fuftenance : and by his command he obligetha the
fhips to fail in the fea for your fervice -, and he alfo fprceth the rivers to fupply
your ufes : he likewife compelleth the fun and the moon, which diligently perform
their courfes, to ferve you ; and. hath fubjeéled the day and the night to
your fervice. He giveth you of every thing which ye alk him*, andifye
attempt to reckon up the favours of G qd, ye lhall not be able to com^
:pute the fame. Surely man is unjuft and ungrateful. Remember when A braham
faid, O L o r d , make this Jandb a place of fecurity ; and grant that I
and my children0 may avoid .the worlhip of idols; for .they, O L o r d , have
feduced a great number of men. Whoever therefore lhall follow me, he
fhall be of me : and whofoever lhall difobey me ; verily thou wilt be gracious
and mercifuld. O L o r d , I have caufed fome of my off-fpring e to fettle in
an unfruitful valley, near thy holy houfe, O L o r d , that they may be confiant
at prayer. Grant, therefore, that the hearts of fome men f may be af-
- , f e & e d
but only paid a fuperftitious veneration to certain
ftones, which they fet up and compared, as re-
prefentations of the Caaba 3.
d Thou wilt be gracious and merciful;] That is,
by difpofing him to repentance. But J allait? Min
fuppofes thefe words were fpoken by Abraham
before he knew that God would not pardon
idolatry.
* Some of my offspring ;] L e. Ifmael and his
pofterity. The Mohammedans fay, that Hagar,
his mother, belonged to Sarah, who gave her
to Abraham > and that, on her bearing him this
fon, Sarah became fo jealous of her, that lhe
prevailed on her husband to turn them both out
of doors ; whereupon he, fent them to the territory
of Mecca, where G od caufed the fountain
of Zemzem to fpring forth for their relief, in
confideration of which the Jorhamites, who
were the matters of the country, permitted them
to fettle among them 4.
f The hearts o f fome men, &c.j Had he faid
the hearts of men, abfolutely, the Perfans and
the Romans would alfo have treated them as
friends ; and both the Jews and Chrifians would
have made their pilgrimages to Mecca I.
>ritory, and given them the cuftody of the Caaba,
and abundant provifion of all neceflaries and
conveniences of life, and had alfo honoured them
by the million of Mohammed, yet in return for
all this, became obftinate unbelievers, and perfected
his apoftle for which they were not
only punilhed by a famine of feven years, but
alfo by the lofs and difgrace they fuftained at Be dr',
fo that they who had before been celebrated for
their profperity, were now ftripped of that, and
become confpicuous only for their infidelity 1 .
I f this be the drift of the palfage, it could not
have been revealed at Mecca, as the reft of the
chapter is agreed to be; wherefore fome fuppofe
this verfe and the next to have been revealed at
Medina.
a He obligeth;] The word ufed here, and in
the following fentences, is fakhkhara, which lig-
nifies forcibly to prefs into any fervice 2.
b This land’,] viz. The territory of Mecca.
See the Prelim. Difc. §. IV. *
* And my Children;] This prayer, it deems,
was not heard as to all his pofterity, particularly
as to the defendants of Ifmael; tho’ fome pretend
that thefe latter did not worlhip images,
1 A l Beidawi. 2 See chap. 2. p. 19 .not. d . 3' A l Beidawi. See the Prelim. Dtfc. $. I.
f . 2Q92. i . 4 .Idem. 1 Ide?n9 Jallalo’ddin.
fefied with kindnefs toward them ; and do thou bellow on them all forts of
fruits*; that they may give thanks. O L o r d , thou knoweft whatfoev-er we
conceal, and whatfoever we publifh; for nothing, is hidden from G o d , either on
earth, or in heaven. Praife be unto G o d , who hath given me, in my old age,
Ismael and Isaac : for my L o r d is the hearer of fupplication. O L o r d , grant
that I may be an obferver of prayer, and apart of my pofterity alfob, O L o r d -;
and receive my fupplication. O L o r d , forgive me, and my parentsc, and the
faithful, on the day whereon an account lhall be taken. Think not, Oprophet,
that G od is regardlefs of what the ungodly do. He only deferreth theirpunijhment
unto the day whereon mens eyes lhall be fixed : they fhall haften forward, at the
voice of the angel calling to judgment, and lhall lift up their heads ; they lhall not
be able to turn their fight from the objeftl whereon it fhall be fixed, and their hearts
lhall be void of fenfe, through excefftve terror. Wherefore do thou threaten
men with the day, whereon their punilhment fhall be inflifted on them, and
whereon thofe who have a died unjuftly (hall fay, O L o r d , give us refpite unto a
term near at hand ; and we will obey thy call, and we will follow thy apoftles.
But it fhall be anfwered unto them, Did ye not fwear heretofore, that no re-
verfe Ihould befal youd ? yet ye dwelt in the dwellings of thofe who had treated
-their own fouls unjuftly c; t and it appeared plainly unto ycu how we
had dealt with themf ; and we propounded their deftruhlion as examples unto
you. They employ their utmoft fubtlety to oppofe. the truth -, but their
fubtlety is apparent unto G o d , who is able to frufirate their deftgns ; although
their fubtlety were fo great, that the mountains might be moved thereby. Think
not therefore, O prophet, that G o d will be contrary to his promife of af-
fiflance, made unto his apoftles ; for G o d is mighty, able to avenge. The
day will come, when the earth lhall be changed into another earth, and the
heavens into other heavens5; and men lhall come forth from their graves to
appear before the only, the mighty G o d . And thou fhalt fee the wicked
E e on
* Bejlm on them fru its;] This part of the ter death be railed to jadgment *:
prayer was granted; Mecca being fo plentifully • The dwellings o f thofe who bad treated their
fupplied, that the fruits of fpring, fummer, and own fouls unjuftly ;] viz. O f the Adites and
autumn, are to be found there at one and the Tbamudites.
fame time 1. > And it appeared plainly unto you how we had
And a part o f my pofterity;] For he knew dealt with them i] Not only by the hiftories of
by revelation that fome of them would be infi- thofe people revealed in the K o ra n , but alfo by
. . . . * the monuments remaining of them (as the
c Forgive me, and my parents;] Abraham put houfes of the Thamudites,) and the traditions
up this petition to G od, before he knew that preferved among you of the terrible judghrs
parents were the enemies of G od *. Some ments which befel them.
fuppofe his mother was a. true believer, and s When the earth jhall be changed into another
therefore read it in the Angular, and my father, earth, and the heavens into other heavens;] This
Others fancy that’ by. his parents the patriarch the Mohammedans fuppofe will come to pal’s at the
a l?eans Aiam a“d Eve 3. laft day; the earth becoming white and even.
That no reverje Jhould befal you;] That is, or, as fome will have it, of filver ; and the
. bat ye ihould not taile ot death, but continue heavens of gold *.
in -this world for ever; or that ye ihould not af-
1 Idem. 1 See chap.- j . p„ i‘64.-1 '3 Jallalo’ddis, ^/Beidawi. “ ifdem, A lZ a-
“ « hshari, Y ahya. 1 lidei/i. V. Prelim. Difc. J. IV. p. 86.