them, and Satan is a declared enemy unto man. Your L ord well knoweth
you; if he pleafeth, he will have mercy pn you, or, if he pleafeth, he will
punilh youa : and we have not fent thee to be a fte ward over them. Thy I .orb
well knoweth all perfons in heaven and-on earth b. We have bellowed peculiar
favours on fome of the prophets, preferably to others; and we gave
unto David the pfalms■“•.. Say, Call upon thofewhom ye imagine to be gods
belides him ; yet they will not be able to.free, you from harm, or to turn
it on others. Thofe whom ye invoke d, do themfelves defire to be admitted
to a near conjun&ion with their L ord ; firming which of them lhall approach
neared unto him: they alfo hope for his mercy, and dread his . punilhment -
for the punilhment of thy L ord is terrible. There is no city but we will
deftroy the fame before the day of refurre&ion, or we will punilh it with
a grievous punilhment. This is written in the book of our eternal decrees.
Nothing hindred us from fending thee with miracles, except that the former
nations have charged them with impodure. We gave unto the tribe «ƒ T ha-
m u d , at their demand, the Ihe-camel vifible to th e ir fig h t; yet they dealt un-
judly with her e : and we fend not a prophet with miracles, but to drike
terror. Remember when we faid unto thee, Verily thy L ord encompaffeth
men by his knowledge and power. We have appointed the vifion. which we
fhewed thee f, and alfo the tree E curfed in the K oran, only for an occafion
of difpute unto men, and to drike them with terror ; but itjhall caufe them
to
a Your L ord well knoweth you, &c.] Thefe
words are defigned as a pattern for the Mojlems
to follow, in difcourfing with the idolaters j by
which they are taught to ufe foft and dubious
expreflions, and not to tell them direftly that
they are doomed to hell fire ; which, befides
the prefumption in offering to determine the
fentence of others, would only make them more
irreconcileable enemies 1.
hTby L ord well knoweth all perfons, &c.*J And
may choofe whom he pleafes for his embaffa-
dOr. This is an anfwer to the obj eft ions of
the Koreifh, that Mohammed was the orphan
pupil of Abu Taleb, and followed by a parcel
of naked and hungry fellows 2.
c The pfalms;] Which were a greater honour
to him than his kingdom ; and wherein Mohammed
and his people are foretold by thefe
words , among others 3 ; The righteous jhalT
inherit the earth 4.
d Thofe whom ye invoke;] viz. The angels and
prophets, who are the fervants .of G od as well
as your felves.
e See chap. 7. p. 124, 125.
i f The vifion which we fhewed thee, &c.j Mohammed's
journey to heaven is generally agreed to
be intended in this place; which occafioned
great heats and debates among his followers,
till they were quieted by Abu Beer's bearing
teftimony to the truth of i t 1. The word vifm,
here ufed, is urged by thofe who take; this journey
to have been no more than a dream, as a
plain confirmation of their opinion. Some, however,
fuppofe the vifion meant in this paffage
was not the night-journey, but the dream Mohammed
faw at al Hodeibiya, wherein he feemed
to make his entrance into Mecca6 ', or that at
Bedr7 '; or elfe a vifion he had relating to the
family of Ommeya, whom he faw mount his pulpit,
and jump about in it like monkeys; upon
which he faid, This is their portion in this
world, which they have gained by their pro-
feffion of IJlam*. But if any of thefe latter ex-
pofitions be true, the verfe rnuft have been revealed
at Medina.
g The curfed tree',] Called al Zakkum, which
fprings from the bottom of hell9.
1 A l Be 10aw 1. * Idem. 3 V. M a r r a c c . in Ale. p. 28, &c- P&us.lifeofMab.
p. 112. * Pfal. xxxvii. 28. Al Be id . 5 V. A b u l f . vit. Moh. p. 39. not. ibid. P rideaux, / ^
of Mah. p. 50. and Prelim. Difc. §. II. p. 47. 6 See Kor. chap. 48. * See chap. 8.
*.444. 8 -Al Be id aw j. 9 See chap. 37.
to tranfgrefs only the more enormoufly. And remember when we faid unto the
angels, Worfhip A dam ; and they all worfhipped him except E blis, who faid,
Shall I worlhip him whom thou haft created of clay ? And he faid, What thinkeft
thou, as to this man whom thou haft honoured, above me ? verily, if thou grant
me refpite until the day of refurredtion, I will extirpate his off-fpring, except a
few. G o d anfwered, Be gone, I grant thee refpite: but whofoever of them
lhall follow thee, hell lhall furely be your reward; an ample reward fo r
your demerits' ! And intice to vanity fuch of them as thou canft, by thy
voice; and aflault them on all fides with thy horfemen and thy footmenb ;
and partake with them in their riches, and their childrenc ; and make them
promifes ; (but the devil lhall make them no other than deceitful promifes:)
as to my fervants, thou fhalt have no power over them ; for thy L ord is a
fufficient proteftor o f thofe who trufi in him. It is your L ord who driveth
forward the Ihips for you in the fea, that ye may feek to enrich your felves
of his abundance by commerce ; for he is merciful towards you. When a
misfortune befalleth you at fea, the falfe deities whom ye invoke are forgotten
by you, except him alone : yet when he bringeth you fafe to dry land,
ye retire afar oft from him, and return to your idols ; for man is ungratefuld.
Are ye therefore fecure that he will not caufe the dry land'to fwallow you
up, or that he will not fend againft you a whirlwind driving the fands to
overwhelm you ? then lhall ye find none to protedl you. Or are ye fecure
that he will not caufe you again to commit your felves to the fea another
time, and fend againft you a tempeftuous wind, and drown you ; for that ye
have been ungrateful ? then lhall ye find none to defend you againft us, in
that diftrefs. And now have we honoured the children of A dam by fundry
peculiar privileges and endowments ; and we have given them conveniencies of
carriage by land and by fea, and have provided food for them of good
things; and we have preferred them before many of our creatures which we
have created, by granting them great prerogatives. On a certain day we will
call all men to judgment with their refpettive leader •: and whofoever lhall
have his book given him into his right hand, they lhall read their book with
joy and fa t i s fa c t io n and they lhall not be wronged a hairs. And whoever
hath been blind in this life, lhall be alfo blind in the next, and lhall wander
more widely from the path o f falvation. It wanted little but the unbelievers
had tempted thee to fwerve from the inftrublions which we had revealed
unto thee, that thou Ihouldeft devife concerning us a different
H h thing;
a See chap. 2. p. 4. and chap. 7. p. 117, fsV. d See chap. 10. p. 168.
b With thy horfemen and with thy footmen;] i. e. ' Their refpettwe leader ;] Some interpret this
With all thy forces. of the prophet fent to every people; others, of
c And partake with them in their riches and the heads of fedls; others, of the various reli-
their children;] Inftigating them to get wealth gions profeffed in the world; others, of the books
by unlawful means', and to fpend it in fupport- which lhall be given to every man at the refur-
ing vice and fuperftition-i and tempting them reftion, containing a regilter of their good and
to inceftuous mixtures, and to give their chil- bad actions 3.
dren names in honour of their idols, as Abd 1 Seethe Prelim. Difc. IV. p. 89.
Yaghuth, Abd' itl Uzzd, &c e See chap. 4. p. 67. not. 1.