2 26 A I K O R A N . Chap. 16.
their own fouls \ Moreover thy L ord will he favourable unto thofe who dó
evil through ignóranée j and .afterwards repent and amend: verily unto thefe’
will thy L ord be gracious and merciful,, after their repentance. A brahAm was
à model of true religion, obedient unto G od, orthodox, and was not an idolater1’
: he was alfo grateful for his benefits : wherefore God chofe him, and
diredted him into the right way. And we beftowed on himjgoo'd in this-world •
and in the next he fhall furely .be one of the righteous. We have alfo ipokeri
unto thee, O M o h amm ed, by revelation, faying, Follow the religion of A bra h
a m , who was orthodox, and was no idolater. The fabbath Was only ap-.
pointed unto thofe who differed with their prophet concerning; i t c j and thy
L ord will furely judge between them, on the day of refurteftion, as {to'that
concerning which they differed. Invite men unto the way of-thy' I .or o, by
wifdom, and mild exhortation ; and difpute with them in the ttiefft cdndefôend-
ing manner : for thy L ord well knoweth him . "who ftrayetK ftotri- his jAttH,1
and he well knoweth thofe who are rightly difedfed. If ye'take vengtence ;e
any, take a vengeance proportionable to the wrong, which hath been'done
you d ; but if ye fuffer wrong patiently,, verily this will be better- for the
patient'. Wherefore do thou bear oppa/îrio« with:patience -, but thy patience fhall
not be praticable, unlefs with G od’S affiflance,- And be hot thou grieved on account
of the unbelievers ; neither be thou troubled for that which they fubtilly
devife ; for G od is with thofe who fear him, and are upright.
C H A P.
bowels,, and cutting-öff bis «ars and his nofe,
when Mohammed, £aw'it, he fwore that if God
grafted, him fuecefs, he would 'retaliate -, thofe
cruélfiés on feventy of ttie Vor'f0 ; ..but tie was
by thefe words fbrbiddeh to extec life what.he had
fworn, and he-accordingly ' hi'ade .void-liis oath *.
Abi?Ifeda makes.the .number, on which Mohammed
fwore to reek his véngeaKôe^ to be but thirty
3 : but it may be obferved, by the way, that
the tranflator renders the paffage in that author,
G od hath revealed unto me that I Jhall retaliate,
See. inftead- of*(. I f . G od grantmewiftory
oper the Koreifti,' Iw/llfetaliate, &c: reading
Lain adhharni, for -adkfarni ; God, far-from
putting this defign into the prophet-s head by a
revelation, exprefsly forbidding him to put it
in execution.
. e The patient j] Here, fays alBeiddwi, the Koran
principally points at Mohammed, who was
of all men the the moft confpicuous forflieekfiéls
and clemency. •.
a They injured their own fouls i) i. e. They,
were forbidden things which were in themfelves
indifferent, as a punilhment for their wickednefs
and rebellion.
b And was not an idolater;] This was to reprehend
the idolatrous Koreijh,/who pretended that
they profeffed the religion of Abraham.
c Who differed with their prophet, concerning zV.]
Thefe were the Jews; who being ordered by Mofes
to-fet apart friday (the day now obferved by the
Mohammedans) for the exercife of divine worfhip,
refufed -it, and chofe the-fabbath-day, becaufe.
bn that day G od refted from his works of crea*
tion-: for w hich. reafon they were commanded
to keep the day they had chofen in the itriCieft
manner r.
d I f ye take vengeance, &c.] This paffage is
fuppofed to have been revealed at Medbfa, on oc-
cafion of Hamza, Mohammed's uncle, being
flam at the battle of Ohod. For the infidels having
abufed his dead body, by taking out his
Idem,, J a l l a l o ’ d d in . 2 Ttdem.. 3 A b u ’ l f . Vit. Mob. p. 68 .
CHAP . XVII.
Intitled, The Night-Journey”; revealed at M e c c a \
In the name of the moft merciful G od,
*-p\R A IS E 'bè unto Kim, who trariipórtéd his fervant by night, from the XV
H facyyd temple, o f ÏMscca to the farther temple o f J e r u sa l em c, the
circuit of wtuch wej>ayé' blefled, that we might lhew hm 'fim e of our figns ;
for God is he who. Ke^reth, .awTfepth. .And we gave unto M o s e s the book
of the[ law, and appointed the Tame to be a direction unto the children of Isr
a e l , commanding them, faying, Beware that ye take not any other patron be-
fides me. O pofterity of thofe whom we carried in the ark with N o a h d :
verily he was a grateful fervant. And we exprefsly declared unto the children
of Is r a e l in the book of' the law, faying, Y e : will furely commit evil in the
earth .twice V and ye.will be elated with great infolence. And when the
pnijhment threatened for the firft of thofe tran[grejji</ns came to be executed, we
feflt avainft you Our fervants£, iiïdüe'd with exceeding ftrength in war, and they
G g % , • : fearched
» The reafon of this infeription appears in the
frit woVdsl? Some intitle the chapter, The Ml-
dm ’t f ifraelv M • ' •■ .*• !. ; / .
b Some e x c ep t e ig h t ver'fes, b e g inning at thefe
words, It wanted little but that the infidel shad
feduced thee., Sec.
c Who tranfported his. fervant by Aight,from
the temple of Me cca to the temple of Jerusalem.]
From "whence he was carried through the fe'Veh
heavens tb the p r e fe n c e 'o f G od, and brought
b a ck -a g a in T oM ?^ th e fam e nigh t. ’ .•
This journey of Mohammed io heaven 'is fo
well known, that I may be pardoned i f - 1 omit
the defeription of it. The Englifh reader may
find it in Dr. Prideaux's life of MahometI, air'd
the learned in Abu'Ifeda 2, whofe annotator has
correded fevefal miftakes in the relation of Dr.
Prideaux, and in other writers.
It is-a dilpute among the'Mohampiedan divines,
whether their prophet’s night-jonrhey was really
performed by him rorpor&flyy\br whether s f w4s
only a dreknf or'vifion. Somie think the whole
was no mote thaii a viflon; and: allege an ex-
prtfs tradition of Moawiyah 3, one of Moham-
Mfd's fucceffors, to that purpofe. Others fuppofe
he was carried bodily to Jerufalem, but no
farther ; and that he afcènded thence to heaven
in fpirit only. Butthé received opinion is, that
it was no vilion, but-that he was adually tranf-
.ported in the body to his journey’s end j and i f
any impoffibility be objeded, they think it a fuf-
ficient anfwer to fay, that it might eafily be effected
by an omnipotent agent 4.
d O pofterity. of thofe, &c.] The commentators
are put to it to find out the connexion of
th,efe words with the1 foregoing. Some think
the accufative cafe is hére put for the vocative,
as I have tranflated it : and. others interpret the
words thus, Take riot f fr your patrons, befides me,
the pofterity of thófé, See. meaning, mortaljtnen.
e Ye will furely cotrimit evil in the earth twice j]
Their firft''tranfgreffion was their rejecting the
decifions of the law, their putting Ifaiah to
death V ' and their imprifoning of Jeremiah 6 :
aiid the fecond,' was their flaying of Zachariah,
and John the BaptiftJ and their imagining the
death of Jesus 7'. ' .
f We fent agaibft'fou our fervants, &cv] Thefe
were Jaivt, or Goliah, ana his forces 8 ; Or Sennacherib
■ the Afjyrian; of elfe Nebüchadiïezzdr,
whom
ri Pagli^l &c. SeeLalfo M o r g a n ’ j Mahometifm explained, vol'. Z.
3 V. Ibid. c. 1 8. 4 Al B e id a w I. s Idem. 6 Jallalö*’ dï)ïn.
lalo’ddin, Y a h y a .
Vit. Móham, cap. 19.
7 lidem. " 8 J a'l -