who are refpited until the day of the appointed time *. The devil replied
O L ord, becaufe thou haft feduced me, I will furely tempt them to difebe-
dience in the earth •, and I will feduce them all, except fuch of them as Jhall
be thy chofen fervants. G od faid, This is the right way with me1. Verily
as to my fervants, thou fhalt have no power over them but over thofe only
who fhall be feduced, and who fhall follow thee. And hell is furely denounced
unto them all : it hath feven gates; unto every gate a diftinft company
of them Jhall be ajfignedc. But thofe who fear G od Jhall dwell in gardens,
amidft fountains. The angels Jhall fay unto them, Enter ye therein in
peace and fecurity. And we will remove all grudges from their breads4 ;
they Jhall be as brethren, fitting over againft one another'on couches; wea-
rinefs lhall not affedt them therein, neither lhall they be call out thence for
ever. Declare unto my fervants that I am the gracious, the merciful G o d ;
and that my punilhment is a grievous punilhment. And relate unto them
the hijlory of A br ah am ’s gueftsh When they went in unto him, and faid,
Peace be unto thee ; he anfwered, Verily we are afraid of you 8: and they
replied, Fear not; we bring thee the promife of awifefon. He faid, Do ye
bring me the promife of a fon now old age hath overtaken me ? what is it therefore
that ye tell me ? They faid, We have told thee the truth; be not therefore
one of thofe who defpair. He anfwered, And who defpaireth of the mercy
of G o d , except thofe who err ? And he faid, What is your errand therefore,
O mefiengers of G od? They anfwered, Verily we are fent to dejtroy a
wicked people; but as for the family of L o t , we will fave them all, except
his wife ; we have decreed that Ihe lhall be one of thofe who remain
behind to be dejlroyed with the infidels. And when the mefiengers came to the
family of L o t , he faid unto them, Verily ye are people who are unknown/»
me. They anfwered, But we are come unto thee to execute that fentence, concerning
which your fellow citizens doubted : vye tell thee a certain' truth; and
we are mejfengers of veracity. Therefore lead forth thy family, in fome time
of the night; and do thou follow behind them, and let none of you turn
back; but go whither ye are commanded1*. And we gave him this command
; becaufe the utmoft remnant of thofe people was to be cut off in the
morning. And the inhabitants of the city came unto L ot, rejoicing at the
news of the arrival of fome flrangers. And. he faid unto them, Verily thefe
•T.io'-are
a See ibid, and chap. 7. p. 117. ' Sitting over againft one another ;] Never
b This is the right way with me;] viz. The turning their backs to one another 2 ; which
faving of the ele£t, and the utter reprobation of might be conilrued a iign of contempt,
the wicked, according to my eternal decree. f See chap. it . p. 182, CSV.
c See the Prelim. Difc. §. IV. p. 92. . 8 We are afraid of you;] What occaiionedvf/rc-
4 We w ill remove all grudges from their breaftsi\ ham's apprehenfion was, either their fuddeil en-
That is, all hatred and ill-will which they bore tring without leave,• or their coming at an un-
each other in their life-time 1 ; or, as fome choofe feafonable time; or elfe their not eating with
to expound it, all envy or heart-burning on ac- him.
count of the different degrees of honour and h Whither ye are commanded;] Which was in-
happinefs to which the.bleifed will be promoted, to Syria; or into Egypt 3.
according to their refpeflive merits.
J See chap. 7. p. 120. not. e. J a l la lo 'ddin , 3 A l Biidawj, Ja u .alo’ddin.
are my guefts: wherefore do not difgrace me by abufing them; but fear G od;
and put me not to lhame. They anfwered, Have we not forbidden thee from
entertaining or protecting any man? L ot replied, Thefe are my daughters;
therefore rather make ufe of them, if ye be refolved to do what ye purpofe. As
thou liveft they wander in their folly \ Wherefore a terrible ftorm from
heaven afiailed them at fun-rife:. and we turned the city upfide down ; and
we rained on them ftones of baked clay. Verily herein are figns unto men
of fagacity : and thofe cities were punijhed, to point out a right way for men
to walk in. Verily herein is a fign unto the true believers. The inhabitants
of the wood near Midiass b were alfo ungodly : wherefore we took
vengeance on them c. And both of them were deftroyed, to ferve as a manifeft
rule for men to direct their actions by. And the inhabitants of A l H e jr 4 like-
wife heretofore accufed the mefiengers of G od of impofture : and we produced
our figns unto them, .but they retired afar off from the fame. And
they hewed houfes out of the mountains, to fecure themfelves. But a terrible
noife from heaven afiailed them in the morning: neither was what they
had wrought of any advantage unto them. We have not created the heavens
and the earth, and whatever is contained between them, otherwife than
in jullice: and the hour of judgment fhall furely come. Wherefore, O M oh am mad
, forgive thy people with a gracious forgivenefs '■ Verily thy L ord is the
creator of thee and of them, and knoweth what is mojl expedient. We have
already brought unto thee feven verfes which ore frequently to be repeated f,
and the glorious K oran. Caft not thine eyes on the good things which we
have bellowed on feveral of the unbelievers, fo as to covet the fame8; neither
be thou grieved on their-account. Behave thy felf with meeknefs towards
the true believers; and fay, I am a public preacher. If they believe not,
we will inflict a like ■ pumjhment on them, as we have inflicted on the dividers8,
who diftinguifhed the-K oran into different -parts; for by thy L ord,
we
a Some will have thefe words fpoken by the
angels to Lot; others, by G od to Mohammed.
u The inhabitants of the wood;] To whom
Shoaib was alfo fent, as well as to the inhabitants,
of Midian; they being of the fame tribe.
c We took vengeance on them;] Deftroying them,
for their incredulity and difobediencp, -by a hot
fuffocatirig wind 1.
d ThcHnhabitants of al H e j r . Who were the
tribe of Thamud 2.
e This verfe, it is faid, was abrogated by
that of the fword.
f Seven verfes, &c.] That, is, the firll-chapter
of the Koran, which con lifts of fo many verfes:
tho’.fome fuppofe the feven long chapters 3
are here; intended.
8 Caji not thine eyes on the good things which
have bejlowed on feveral of the unbelievers, &c.]
a hat is, Do not envy of covet their worldly
1 lidcm. 2 See chap. 7. p. 124, £sV. and Brel. Difc.
profperity, linee thou haft received, in the Koran,
a bleflmg, in companion whereof all that
we have bellowed on them, ought to be condemned
as o£ no value. .. 'A l Beidawi, mentions a
tradition, ’ that Mohatrimed meeting at Adhriat (a
town of Syria) feven caravans, very richly la-
deft, belonging to fome Jews of the tribes of
Ktoreidhai and al Nadir,.,his men- had-a great
mind to plunder them, faying, That thofe riches
would be of great fervice for the propagation of
G od’s true religion. But the prophet reprefent-
ed to them, by this palfage,- that- they had no rear
fon to.repine, Gop having,given .them the fe-
. ven verjes, which wefeV,irifinlfely more valuable
than thbfe feven caravans 4.
h The dividers;] Some interpret the original
word, the obflrutters, who hindred men from
entring Mecca, to vilit the temple, left they
Ihould be perfuaded to embrace Ijlam : and this,
i t
p.y- 3 See chap. q. p. 148. »0/. a. 4 A l Beidawi,