2Öo A i K O R A N . C hap , 20.
ed, We will by no means have greater regard unto'thee, than unto thofe
evident miracles which have been fhewn us, or than unto him who hath
created us. Pronounce therefore that fentence agäinft us which thou art
about to pronounce; for thou canft only give fentence as to this.prefent;
life. Verily we believe in our L ord, that he. may forgive us our fins, and
the forcery which thou haft forced us to exercife: for God is better to reward,
and more able to prolong punijhment than thou. Verily whofoever fhall appear
before his L ord on the day. o f judgment, polluted with crimes, , fhall
have hell fo r his reward-, he fhall not die therein, neither fhall he live. But
whoever fhall appear before him, having been a true believer, and fhall
have worked righteoufnefs, for thefe are prepared the higheft degrees of hap-
pinefs -, namely, gardens of perpetual abode*, which fhall be watered by
riyers; they fhall remain therein for e verand this fhall be the- reward of,
him who fhall be pure. And we fpake, by revelation unto Moses,;.faying,.
Go forth with my iervants out o f E otpt by night ; and finite the waters pith.
thy rod, and make them a dry path through the fed *: be not apprehenfive of.
P h a r a oh s , overtaking thee-, neither be thou afraid. And when M oses had.
done fo , Pharaoh followed them with his forces; and the waters of the lea.
which overwhelmed them, overwhelmed them. And Pharaoh caufedjhis
people to err, neither did he diredt them aright. Thus, O children of Israel,
we delivered you from your enemy ; and we appointed you the right fide, of
mount Sinai to difcourfe with M oses and to give him. the law y and we.caufed.
manna and quails to defcend upon youc, faying, Eat of the good things which we
have given you for food ; and tranfgrefs not therein d, left my indignation fall on.
you : and on whomfoever my indignation fhall fall, he fhall go down headlong
into perdition. But I will be gracious unto him who fhall repent and believe,.,
and fhall do that which is right; and who fhall be rightly directed. What
hath caufed thee to haften from thy people, O Moses; to receive the law' ?
He anfwered,, Thefe follow clofe on my footfteps ; but 1 have haftened unto,
thee, O L ord, that thou mighteft be well pleafed with me. Go d faid,.• We
have already made a trial of thy people, fince thy departure’ -, and a l Sameri
E hath feduced them to idolatry. Wherefore Moses returned unto
J \V ;A h« his
s Gardens of perpetual 'abode;] Literally,^/-- to the mount3, and appeared before God while
dem of Eden; See chap. 9. p. 158. they were at Tome, tho’ no great, diftance bej
A-dry path through the feat] Theexpofitors hind him.
add; that the fea was divided into twelve fepa- f Since thy departure;] They continued in the
rate.j>aths,.one for each tribe 1 : a fable borrow- worihip of. the true G od for the Aril twenty
ed from the yews *■ days of Mohs's abfence, which, by talcing the^
c See chap, 2. p. 7. nights alfo into their reckoning, 'they computed
* Tranfgrefs not therein;] By ingratitude, ex- to be forty, and at their expiration concluded
eefs, or infoient behaviour. they had ilaid the full, time which Moßs had com-
= What bath taufed thee to haften from thy peo- manded them, arid fo fell into the worihip of the
pie,. & c ] For Mofes, it Teems, outwent thefe- golden calf4.
venty elders, who had been chofen, in. obedi- a A l Sameri-,3 This was not hi3 proper name,
cnce to the divine command, to ac-coriipany him, but he had.this appellation: becaufe he was of _a
w .certain
C hat*. 20. A I K O R A N . 261
his people * in great wrath, and exceedingly afflifted. Arid he faid, O my
people, had not your L ord promifed you a moft excellent promife6? Did
the time of my abfence feem long unto you ? Or did ye defire that indignation
from your L ord fhould fall on you, and therefore failed to keep the promife
which ye made me? They anfwered, We have not failed in what we promifed
thee of our own authority ; but we were made to carry in feveral loads of
gold and ftlver, o f the ornaments of the people % and we call them into the
fr e ; and in like manner al Sameri alfo call in what he had collefted, and
he produced unto them a corporeal calf4, which lowed. And a l Sameri and
his companions faid, This is your god, and the god of Moses ; - but he hath
forgotten him, and is gone to feèk fame other. Did they not therefore fee
that their idol returned them no anfwer, and was not able to caufe them either
hurt or profit? And A aron had faid unto them before, O my people, verily
ye are only proved by this calf-, for your L ord is the Merciful: wherefore
follow me, and obey my command. They anfwered, We will by no
means ceafe to be devoted to its worjhip, until Moses return unto us. And
when M oses was returned, he faid, O A aron, what hindred thee, when
thou faweft that they went aftray, that thou didft not follow me ' ? Haft
thou therefore been difobedient to my command? A aron anfwered, O fon of
my mother, drag me not by my beard, nor by the hair o f my head. Verily
I feared left thou Ihouldeft fay, Thou haft made a divifion among the
children
certain tribe among the fezos called Samaritans, c The ornaments of the people;] Thefe orna-
(wherein the Mohammedans ftrangely betray ments were rings, bracelets, and the like, which
their ignorance in hiftory ï) tho’ fome fay he was the Ifraelites had borrowed of the Egyptians,-
aprofelyte, but a hypocritical one, and original-’ under pretence of decking themfelves out for
ly of Kirman, or fome other country. His true fome feaft, and had not returned to them ; or,
name was Mofes, or Mufa, Ebn Dbafar 1. 1 as fome think, what they had ftripped from the
Helden is óf opinion that this perfon was no dead bodies of the Egyptians, caft on fhore by
other than Aaron himfelf, (who was really the thé fea : and al Sameri, conceiving them unlawmaker
of the calf,) and that he is here called ful to be kept, and the occafion of much wick-
al Sameri, from the Hebrew) verb Jhamar, to ednefs, perfuaded Aaron to let him collect them •
keep 2 ; becaufe he was the Keeper or Guardian from the people; which being done, he threw -
I of the children of Ifrael during his brother’s ab- them all into the fire, to melt them down into
I fence in the mount; which is a very ingenious one mafs 4. -
conjefture, not absolutely inconfiftent with the It is obfervable, that the Mohammedans gene- -
text of the Koran, [tho' [Mohammed feems to rally fuppofe the caft metal’s coming forth in the
I have miftaken al Sameri for the name of a diffe- lhape of a calf, was befide the expe&ation of
I rent perfon) and offers a much more probable al Sameri, who had not made a mould of that
I origin of that appellation, than to derive it, as figure : and that when Aaron excufes himfelf to
I the Mohammedans do, from the Samaritans, who his brother, in the pentateuch, he feems as if
[ were not formed into a people, ftor bore that he would perfuade him it was an accident *.
I name till manv ages after. d See chap. p. 132. not. f.
a Mofes returned unto his people;] viz. After e That thou didft not follow) me;] By thefe
I he had completed his forty-' days ftay in the words Mofes reprehends Aarou for not Seconding
I mount, and had received the law * - his zeal in taking arms againft the idolaters ; or
b A mofl excellent promife;] i. e. The law, for not coming after him to the mountain, .to
I containing a light and certain direftion to guide acquaint him with their rebellion.
I yon, in the right way.
* 'Idem. 2 Selden. 1 de Diis Syr is, Synt. 1. c. 4. 3 Al B k i d a w i . 4 Idem*
V- D’H e r b e l . - Bib). Orient, p. 650. and Kor. chap. %. p. 6, tSV, See Exod. xxxii. 24.