■ « H P H |
PSWH IÜ!
IW Ä il
i l H f i l
II | | n » k m
B i i i i f i
I I ü i i i
f Iflti
Bf
children of I s r a e l , and thou haft not obferved my faying*. M oses faid
unto al. Sameri, What was thy defign, O S a m e r i ? He anfwered, I faw that
which they faw notb; wherefore I took a handful o f duft from the :foot-
fteps of the meffenger of God, and I call it into the molten ca lf' •, for fo did
my mind'direft me. . M oses faid, Get thee gone ; for thy punijhment in this
life ihall be, that thou fhalt fay unto thofe who Jhall meet thee, Touch me
notd; and a threat is denounced againft thee o f more terrible fains, in the
life , to come, Which thou fhalt by no means elcape. And behold now thy
god, to whofe worfhip thou haft continued affiduoufly devoted : verily we
will burn it.' and"we: will reduce it to powder, and ,fcatter it in the fea.
Your G o d is the true G o d , befides whom there is no ocher god: he comprehended!
all things, by his knowledge. Thus do we recite: unto .'.thee, 0
M ohammed, relations of what had* pafted heretofore ; .and we have given
thee an admonition from us. He who fhall turn arfide from it, fhall ■ farely
carry a load o f guilt on the day of refurreftion: they fhall continue thereunder
fo r ever ; and a grievous burthen fhall it be unto them on the day of re-
furreftion f. On that day the trumpet fhall be founded ; and we will gather
the wicked together on that day, having grey eyess. They fhall :fpeak with
a low voice to one another, faying, Ye have not tarriedh above ten . days.
We well know what they wilt fa y ; when the mofl confpk'tious among them
ii&sih'. for
a Leß thou fhouldefi fay, Thou baß made a di-
vifion among the children of Ifrael, and haft not
kept my faying, ] i. e. Left if I had taken arms
againft the worfhippers o f the calf, thou lhouldeft
fay that 1 had railed a feditron ; or if I had gone
after thee, thou ihouldeft blame me for abandoning
my charge, and not waiting thy return to
reflify what was amifs.
b I faw that which they faw not;] Or, I knew
that which they knew not i viz. That the mef-
fenger lent to thee from God, was a pure fpirit,
and that his footfteps gave life to whatever they
touched; being no other than the angel Gabriel,
mounted on the horfe of life: and therefore I
made ufe of the duft of his feet to animate the
molten calf. It is laid al Sameri knew the angel,
becaufe he had faved and taken care of him
«when a child ai\d expoled by his mother for
fear of Pharaoh 1 *.
c See chap z. p. 7.
d Thou fhalt fay to thofe who Jhall meet thee,
Touch me not;] Left they infefi thee with a burning
fever: for that was the confequence of any
man’s touching him, and the fame happened to
the perfons he touched; for which reafon he
was obliged to avoid all communication with
others, and was alfo fhunned by them, wandering
in the,.defart like a wild beaft *.
Hence it is concluded that a tribe of Samaritan
Jews, faid to inhabit a certain ifle in the red
fea, are the defeendants of our al Sameri j becaufe
it is their peculiar mark of diftin&ion, at
this day, to ufe the fame words, pitt. La mejas,
i. e. 7ouch me not, to thofe they meet | . It is
not improbable that this ftory may owe-its rife
to the known hatred born by the Samaritans to
the Jews, and their fuperftitious avoiding to
have any commerce with them, or any other
ftrangers +.
* We will burn it j] Or, as the word may alfo
be tranflated, We will file it down i but the
other is the more received interpretation,
fj See chap. 6. p. 101.
g Having grey eyesf] Tor this, with the Arabs,
is one mark of an enemy, or a perfon they abominate
; to fay a man has a black.liver, (tho’ I
think we exprefs our averfion by the tterni white-
livered,) reddifh whiskers, and grey eyes, being a
periphrafis for a foe, and particularly a Greek,
which nation were the molt inveterate enemies
of the Arabs, and have ufualJy hair and eyes of
thofe colours 5. The original word, however,
fignifies alfo thofe who are fquint-eyed, or even
blind' of a fuffufion.
h 7e have not tarried j] : viz. in the world ;
or, in the grave.
1 ^ - B e i d a w i * J a l l a l o ’ d d i n . % lidctn.
.S elden, ubi fmft. . * Al B e -i d a w i ," J awh am,
3 V. Geogr. N.'cb. p . 45.
t Lex.
for behaviour fhall fay, Ye have not tarried above one day. They will
atk thee concerning the mountains : Anfwer, My L o r d will reduce them to
duft, and fcatter them abroad * ; and he will leave them a plain equally extended':
thou fhalt fee no part of them higher ,or lower than another. On
that day mankind fhall follow the angel who will call them to judgmentb, none
fhall havp power to turn afide from him ; and their voices fhall be low before
the Merciful, neither fhalt thou hear any more than the hollow found o f their
feet., On that day the interceflion o f none fhall be of advantage unto another
except the intercejfum of him to whom the Merciful fhall grant permif-
fion ', -and who fhall be acceptable unto him in what he faith. God knoweth
that which is before them, and that which is behind them ; but they comprehend
not the fame by their knowledge : and their faces fhall be humbled d before
the living, the felf-fubfifting God ; and he fhall be wretched who fhall bear
hfs iniquity. But- whofoever fhall do good works, being a true believer, fhall
not fear any injuftice, or any diminution o f his reward from God. And
thus have .we fent down this look, being a K o r a n in the Arabic tongue ;
and we have inferted various threats and promifes therein, that men may fear
Goo, or that it may awaken fome confideration in them : wherefore let G o d be
highly exalted,; the King, the Truth! Be not overhafty in receiving or repeating
the K o r a n , before the revelation thereof be compleated unto thee ' ; and
fay, L o r d , increafe my knowledge. We heretofore gave a command unto
A d am ; but he: forgot the fame r, and eat o f the forbidden f r u i t ; and we found
not in him a firm refolution. And remember when we faid unto the angels,
Worfhip ye A d a m ; and they worfhipped him: but E b l i s refufed %. And
w e -faid, O A d a m , verily this is an enemy unto thee, and thy wife-: wherefore
beware left he turn you out of paradife ; for then fhalt thou be mifera-
ble,~ - Verily- we have made a,.provifion forthee,. that thou fhalt not hanger
therein,,'neither flialt thou be naked : and therf is alfo a previjion made for
thee, that thou fhalt not thirft therein, neither fhalt thou be incommoded
by heat, But S a t a n vebvtSpere&evilfuggeJlions unto him, faying, O A d a m ,
fhall I guide thee to the tree of eternity, and a kingdom which faileth
not? And they both eat thereof: and their nakednefs appeared unto them.,;
and, they began to few together the leaves of paradife, to cover themfelves.
3 See the Prelim. Difc. §. IV. p. 82.
* See ibid. p. 84.
' Except the intercejfton of him;] Or, Except
unto him, See. See chap. 19. p. 255.
d Their faces Jhall be bumbled;] The original
word properl}'expreffes the humility and d eed ed
looks of captives in the prefence of their
conqueror,
e Be not overhafty in receiving or repeating the
Koran, fJV.} Mohammed is-here commanded not
to be impatient at any delay in GabriePs bring-
tng the divine revelations, or not to repeat it
too fall after the angel, fo as to overtake him before
he had finiflied the paflage. But fome fup-
pofe the prohibition relates to the publiihingdany
verfe before the fame was perfectly explained to
him *.
f He forgot;] Adam's fo foon forgetting the divine
command, has occaftoned fome Arab ety-
mologiils to derive the word Infdn, i. e. man,
from naftya, to forget; and has alfo given rife
to the following proverbial faying, Azuajalo ndftn
atowalo ’nnaft, that is, The Jirft forgetful perfon teas
the fir f t of men; alluding to the like found of
the words.
* See chap. 2. p. 4, (sfe. chap. 7. p. 117, {?V.
1 A l B u d a w i , J a l l a i o ’ d d i k .