Koran, for an explication of every thing necejfary both as to fa ith and p r alike
and a direftion, and mercy, aad good tidings unto the Modems. Verily
G od commandeth juftice, and the doing of good, and the giving unto kin-
dred what fhall be necejfary s and he forbiddeth wickednefs, and iniquity, and
oppreffion: he admonifheth you that ye may remember*. Perform your covenant
with G od b, when ye enter into covenant with him ; and violate not
your oaths, after the ratification thereof; fince ye have made G o d a witnefs
over you. Verily G od knoweth that which ye do. And be not like unto her
who undoeth that which Ihe hath fpun, untwifting it after fhe hath twilled
it ftrongly'; .taking your oaths between you deceitfully, becaufe one party
is more numerous than another party d. Verily G od only tempteth you therein
; and he will make that manifeft unto you, on the day of refurreftion
concerning which ye now difagree. If G od had pleafed, he would finely have
made you one people =: but he will lead into error whom he. pleafetb,
and he will diredl whom he pleafeth ; and ye lhall furely give an account
of that which ye have done. Therefore take not your oaths between
you deceitfully, left your foot flip, after it hath been ftedfaftly fixed, and ye
tafte evil in this life, for that ye have turned afide from the way of God s
and ye Juffer a grievous punilhment in the life to come. And fell not the
covenant of G od for a fmall pricef ; for with G od is a. better recmpenfe prepared
for you, if ye be men of underftanding. That which is with you will
fail■, but that which is with G o d is permanent: and we will finely reward
thofe who (hall perfevere, according to the utmoft merit of their addons.
Whofo worketh righteoufnefs, whether he be male or female, and is a true
believer, we will furely raife him to a happy life ; and we will give them
their reward, according to the utmoft merit of their adtions. When thou
readeft the K o r a n , have recourfe unto G o d , that he may preferve thee from
■ . I Sa-
* This vcrfe, which was the occafion of the
converfion of Otbman Ebn Matun, the commentators
fay, containeth the whole, which it is a'
man’s duty either to perform or to avoid; and is
alone a fufficient demonftration of what is faid in
the foregoing verfe. Under the three things
here commanded, they underftand the belief of
•G o d ’ s unity, without inclining to atheifm, on
the one hand, or poly theifm, on the other; obedience
to the commands of G o d ; and charity
towards thofe in diftrefs. And under the three
things forbidden, they comprehend all corrupt
and carnal affedlions; all falfe do&rines and heretical
opinions; and all injuftice towards man 1.
b Perform your cownant with G od ;] B.y per-
fevering in his true religion. Some think that
the oath of fidelity taken to Mohammed by his
followers, is chiefly intended here.
c Be not like her who undoeth that which Jhe
loath fpun, &c.] Some fuppofe that a particular
woman is meant in this paffage, who ufed (like
Penelope) to undo at night, the work that fhe had
done in the day. Her name, they fay, was
Beit a Bint Saad Ebn Teym, of the tribe of Ko-
reijh a.
d Taking your oaths deceitfully, becaufe one party
is more numerous than another;] O f this in-
nncerity in their alliances the Koreijh are accufed;
it, being ufual with them, when they faw the
enemies of their confederates to be fuperior in
force,, to renounce their league with their old
friends, and llrike up one with the others3.
e One people;] Or, of one religion.
. f Sell not the covenant of God for a fmall
price;] That is, Be not prevailed on to renounce
your religion, or your engagements with your
prophet, by any promifes or gifts of the infidels.
For, it feems,. the Koreijh, to tempt the poorer
Moflems to apoftatize, made them offers, not
very confiderable indeed, but fuch as they
imagined might be worth their acceptance 4.
1 A l B e id a w .2. % Idem. 3 Idem. 4 Idem.
Sa t a n driven away with ftones * : he hath no power over thofe who believe,
and who put their confidence in their L o r d ; but his power is over thofe
only, who take him for their patron, and who give companions unto God.
When we fubflitute in the Koran an abrogating verfe in lieu of a verfe abrogated
, (and G od beft knoweth the fitnefs of that which he revealeth,)
the infidels fay, Thou art only a forger of thefe verfes: but the greater part
of them know not tru th from faljhood. Say, The holy Ipiritb hath brought
the fame down from thy L ord with truth ; that he may confirm thofe who
believe, and for a direftion and good tidings unto the Moflems. We alfo know
that they fay, Verily, a certain man teacheth him to compofethe Koran. The
tongue a t the perfon wrsxcs whom they incline, is a foreign tongue; but this, wherein
the Koran is written, is the perfpicuous Arabic tonguec. Moreover as for
thofe
4 When thou, readeft, the Koran, have recourfe
wto God, &c.] Mohammed one day reading
in the Koran, uttered a horrid blafphemy, to
the great fcandal of thofe who were prefent, as
will be obferved in another place 1 ; to excufe
which he allured them that thofe words were
put into his mouth by the devil; and to prevent
any fuch" accident For the future, he is here
taught to beg G o d ’s proteftion before he entred
on that duty 2. Hence the Mohammedans, before
they oegin to read any part of this book,
repeat thefe words, I have recourfe unto G od for
ajjiftance againft Satan driven away with ftones.
b Ihe holy fpiriti] viz. Gabriel. See chap. 2. p. 12.
. c A certain man teacheth him., &c.] This was
a great objection made by the Meccans to the
authority of the Koran; for when Mohammed infilled,
as a proof of its divine original, that it was
impoffible a man fo utterly unacquainted w ith learning
as himfelf, could compofe fuch a book," they
replied, that he had one or more affiftants in the
forgery; but as to the particular perfon or per-
fons, fufpedled of this confederacy, the traditions
differ. One fays it was Jabar, a Greek,
fervant to Amer Ebn al Hadrami, who could read
and write well3 ; another, that they were Ja-
bar and Yejdr two Haves, who followed the trade
of fword-cutlers at Mecca, and ufed to read the
Pentateuch and gofpel, and had often Mohammed
for their auditor, when he paffed that way 4. A-
nother tells us, it was one A'ifh, or Yaifb, a do-
meftic of al Hazoeiteb Ebn Abd al Uzza, who
was a man of fome learning, and had embraced
Mohammedifm 5. Another fuppofes it was one
Kais, a Cbriftian, whofe houfe Mohammed frequented
6 ; another, that it was Addas, a fervant
of Otba Ebn Rabta 7 ; and another, that it was
Salman the Perfian 8.
According to fome Chriftian writers 9, Abdallah
Ebn Salam, the Jew who was fo intimate
with Mohammed, (named by one, according to
the Hebrew dialed, Abdias Ben Salon, and by
another, Abdala Celen) was affifting to him
in the compiling his pretended revelations. This
Jew Br. Prideaux confounds with Salman the
Perfian, who was a very different man, as a late
author 10 has obferved before me; wherefore,
and for that we may have occafion to fpeak of
Salman hereafter, it may be proper to add a
brief extract of his ftory as told by hirafelf. He
was of a good family of Ifpahan, and, in his
younger years, left the religion of his country
to embrace Chriftianity ; and travelling into Syria,
was advifed by a certain monk of Amuria,
to go into Arabia, where a prophet was expedl-
ed to arife about that time, who Ihould eftablifli
the religion of Abraham» and whom he Ihould
know, among other things, by the feal of prophecy
between his ihoulders. Salman performed
the journey, and meeting with Mohammed at
Koba, where he refted in his flight to Medina,
foon found him to be the perfon he fought, and
profefled Iflam 1J.
The general opinion of the Chriftians however
is, that the chief help Mohammed had in
the contriving his Koran, was from a Nc/lorian
monk named Sergius, fuppofed to be the fame
perfon with the monk Boheira, with whom Mohammed
in his younger years had fome conference
at Bofra, a city of Syria Damafcena, where
that
1 In not. ad cap. 22. a J a l l a l o ’ d d i n , ^ / B e i d a w i , Y a h y a , & c. 3 / / Z a m a k h -
shari, Al B e i d a w i , Y a h y a . 4 ^ / Z a m a k h . ^ / B e i d a w i . See P r i d . Life of Mab. p.
32* 1 lidem. 6 J a l l a l o ’ d d i n . 7 A l Z a m a k h . Y a h y a . 8 A l Z a m a k h . A l
P e i d a w i . 9 R i c a r d i Confut. legis Saracenic#, c. 13. J o h . A n d r e a s , de confuf. feBa Mahometan#,
c. 2. See P r i d . Life of Mab, p. 33. 34. 10 G a g n .i i r not. in Abulf. vit. Mob. p. 74,
Ex E b n I s h a k . V. G a g n i e r , ibid.