fearched the inner apartments of your houfes ; and the prediftion became ac-
complilhed. Afterwards we gave you the viftory over them*, in your turn, and
we granted you increafe o f wealth and children, and we made you a more
numerous people, faying, If ye do well, ye will do well to your own fouls •
and if ye do evil, ye will do it unto the fame. And when the punifhment
threatened for your latter tranfgreffion came to be executed, wefent enemies a-
gainft you to afflift youb, and to enter the temple, as they entred it the
firft time, and utterly to deftroy that which they had conquered. Perad-
venture your L o r d will have mercy on you hereafter: but if ye return to
tranfgrefs a third time, we alfowill return to chafiife youc i .and we have..ap-
pointed hell to be the prifon of the unbelievers. Verily this K o r a n direfteth
unto the way which is molt right, and declareth unto the faithful,; who do
good wotks, that they fhall receive a great reward; and that for thofe, who
believe hot in the life to come, we have prepared a grievous punifhment. Man
prayeth for evil, as he prayeth for good4; for man is hafty «. 1 We hafe
Ordained
whom the eaftern writers call Balbtnafr (which
was hewever only his furriame, his true name
being Gudarz, or Raham) the governour of Babylon
under Loborafp, king of Perjia who
took Jerufalem, and deftroyed the temple.
a Afterwards we gave you the viftory over them,
&c.] By permitting David to kill Goliab » or by
the miraculous defeat of Sennacherib's army j or
for that G od put it into the heart of Bahman
the fon; of Ifandiyar, when he fucceeded his
grandfather Loborafp, to order Kirejb, or Cyrus,
then governor of Babylon, to fend home the
Jews from their captivity, under the conduct of
Daniel i which he accordingly did, and they
prevailed againft thofe whom Bakbtnafr had
left in the landz .
b We fent enemies againft you to afjlift you ;]
Some imagine the army meant in this place was
that of Bakbtnafr 3; but others fay the Perftans
conquered the Jews this fecond time, by the
arms of Gudarz (by whom they feem to intend
Antioehus Epipbanes,) one of the fucceiTors of
Alexander at Babylon. It is related that the general
in this expedition, entring the temple, faw
blood bubbling up on the great altar, and asking
the reafon of it, the Jews told him it was the
blood of a facrifice which had not been accepted
of G od; to which he replied, that they had
not told him the truth, and ordered a thoufand
of them to be flain on the altar: but the blood
not ceafing, he told them, that if they woilld
not confefs the truth, he would not fpare one
♦ f them j whereupon they acknowledged it was
the blood of John: and the general faid, Thus
bath your L ord taken vengeance on you', and
then cried oufc, 0 John, my L ord and thy L ord
knowetb wbat bath befallen thy people for thy
fake; wherefore let tby blood flop, by G od’; per-
tnijjion, left Heave notone of them alive ; upon
which the blood immediately flopped +.
Thefe are the explications of the commentators,
wherein their ignorance in ancient hiftory
is fufficiently manifest j tho’ perhaps Mohammed ■
himfelf, in this latter paffage, intended the de- I
ftru&ion of Jerufalem by the Romans.
c But i f ye return to tranfgrefs a third time,
we alfo will return to chaftife you.] And this I
came accordingly to pafs :• for the Jews being
again ^ fo wicked as to rejeft Mohammed, and
confpire againft hia^life, God delivered them into
his hands j and he exterminated the tribe of Ko-
reidba, and flew the chiefs of that of al Nadir,
and obliged the reft of the Jewifh tribes to pay
tribute5.
d Man prayeth for evil as be prayeth for good,]
Out of ignorance, miftaking evil for good ; or
making wicked imprecations on himfelf and o-
thers, out of paffion and impatience.
c Man is hafty j] Or inconfiderate, not weighing
the confequence of what he asks.
It is faid that the perfon here meant is Adam,
who, when the breath of life was breathed into
his noftrils, and had reached fo far as his navel,
tho’ the lower part of his body was, as yet,
but a piece of clay, muft needs try to rife up,
and got an ugly fall by . the bargain. But o-
thers 2
2 lidem. . 3 Y ahya, Jallalo’ddin.
ordained the night and the day for two figns o f our power: afterwards we
blot out the fign of the night, and we caufe the fign of the day tofhine
forth, that ye may endeavour to obtain plenty from your L ord by doing your
bufinefs therein, and that ye may know the number of years, and the computation
o f time; and every thing neceffary have we explained by a perfpi-
cuous explication. The fate* of every man have we bound about his neckb;
and wè will produce unto him, on the day of refurreftion, a book wherein
bis actions fhall be recorded: it fhall be offered him open, and the angels fhall
j fay unto him, Read thy book ; thine own foul will be a fufficient accountant
againft thee, this day'. He who fhall be rightly direfted, fhall be
directed to the advantage only of his own foul; and he who fhall err, fhall
err only againft the fame: neither fhall any laden foul be charged with
the burthen of another. We did not punilh any people, until we had firft
fent an apoftle to warn them. And when we refolved to deftroy a city, we
[ commanded the inhabitants thereof, who lived in affluence, to obey our apoftle-,
I but they afted corruptly therein: wherefore the fentence was juftly pro-
I nounced againft that city ; and we deftroyed it with an utter deftruftion.
I And how many generations have we confumed fince N oah ? for thy L ord
fufficiently knoweth and feeth the fins of his fervants. Whofoever choofeth
I this tranfitory life, we will beftow oij him therein before hand that which
I we pleafe ; on him, namely, whom we pleafe: afterwards will we appoint him
I hell for his abode ; he fhall be thrown foto the fame to be fcorched, cover-
I ed with ignominy, and utterly rejefted from mercy. But whofoever choofeth
I the life to come, and direfteth his endeavour towards the fame, - befog alfo
I a true believer ; the endeavour of thefe fhall be acceptable unto God. On
all will we beftow the bleffings of this life, bo th on thefe and on thofe, of
the.'gift of thy L ord.; for the gift of thy L ord fhall not be denied unto
any. Behold, how we have caufed fome of them to furpafs others in wealth
and dignity: but the next life fhall be more considerable in degrees o f ho-
I nour, and greater in excellence. Set not up another god with the true G od,
left thou fit down in difgrace, and deftitute. Thy L ord hath commiand-
j ed that ye worfhip none, befides him ; and that ye fhew kindnefs unto your
parents, whether the one of them, or both of them attain to old age with
thee4. Wherefore fay not unto them, Fy on you! neither reproach them,
but.
I thers pretend the paflage was revealed on the taking omens from the flight of birds, which
I following Occaflon. Mohammed committed a they füppofèd to portend good luck,.if they flew
certain captive-to the charge of his wife, Satoda from the left, to the right, but if from the right
bint Zambo, who moved with compaflion 'at the to the left, the contrary; the like judgment
man’s groans, unbound him, and let him éfcape: they, alfo made when certain-beafts pafled be-
[ upon which the prophet, in the firft niotions fore them! 1
I <>f his anger, wiihed hér hand might fall off; • b Have we bound about his tie eh;] Like a col-
but immediately compofmg himfelf, faidaloud, jar, which he cannot by. any means get off.
O Gon, I am but a man', therefore turn my See the'Prelim. Difc. §. IV. p, 1030
ourfe into a blejfmg . ' ;f . h See ibid. p. 89. ' -
’ dhe fated] Literally,’ the bird, which is d With thee i f That is, receiving their fup-
here ufed to iignify a man’s fortune qr fuoeefo; port and maintenance from thee,
die Arabs, as wdl as the Greeks ènbC Romani, 1 jA L L A L O ’D D tR . ”