264 ' S# K O R A N . C H A p. 2 0 .
felves *. ‘And thus'Aidam became difobedient unto his L o r d , and was reduced.
Afterwards his L o Rd accepted him, ón bis repentance,an d was turneCfun-
to him, and direfted hifi. And Got) faid, Get ye down hence, all o f you;
the one of you Jball be, an enemy unto the other. But. hereafter fhall a direction
come unto you from me * : and whofoever fhall follow my direction
Thall not err, neither fhall he be unhappy ; but whofoever fhall turn afide from
my admonition, verily he fhall lead a rriiferable life, and we1 will caufe him
to appear before us on the day of refurreftion, blind c. And he fhall fay, Q
L o r d , why haft thou brought me' before thee blind, whereas- before I faw
clearly ? G od fhall anfwer, Thus have we done, becaufe our figns came unto
thee, and thou didft forget them; and in the fame manner fhalt thou be
■ forgotten- this da y.1 And thus will we reward him who fhall be negligent,
and fhall n'Ot-believe in the figns' o f his L o rd : and the punifhment of the
life to come fhall be more fevere, and more lading, than the punifhment of
this life. Are not the M e c c a n s -thèreforé: Acquainted how many generations
we have deftroyed before them ; in whofe dwellings they walk4 ? Verily Herein
are figns unto thofe who are indued with underftanding. And unlefs a decree
had previotifly gone forth from thy L o r d fo r their refpite, verily their
deftrublion had neceflarily followed: but there is a-certain time determined
by G od fo r their punifhment. Wherefbré do thou, O M o h am m ed , patiently
bear that which they fay; and celebrate the praife of thy L o r d before the
rifing of the fun, and before the fetting thereof, and praife him in the hours
of the night, and in the extremities of the day % that thou mayeft be well-
pleafed with the profpeil o f receiving favour from G od. And call-not
thine eyes on that which we have granted divers of the unbelievers to enjoy,
namely, the fplendor of this prefent life f, that we may prove them thereby:
for the provifion of thy L o r d 1 is better, and more permanent. Command
thy family to obferve prayer; and do thou perfevere therein. We require
not of thee that thou labour to gain neceffary provifions fo r thy fe l f and family:
we will provide for thee ; for the profperous ifiue fhall attend on piety1, the
unbelievers fay, Unlefs he come unto us with a fign from his L o r d , we mil
not believe on him. Hath not a flain declaration come unto them, of that
which is contained in the former volumes o f fcripture, by the revelation of the
K oran ? If we had deftroyed them by a judgment before the fame had been
revealed,
“ See chap. 7. p. 1 18.
. b See chap. 2. p. 6.
c See the Prelim. Difc. §. IV. p. 85.
4 In whofe dwellings they walk ;] Seeing the
footfteps of their deftruflion j as of the tribes of
Ad, and Tbamud.
c 'the extremities of the day i] i. e. Evening
-and morning; which times are repeated as the
principal hours of prayer. But fome fuppofe
thefe words intend the prayer of noon; the ill'll
half of the day ending, and the fecond half beginning
at that time 1. ■
2 See chap. 15.'
f Cafl not thine eyes on that which we hove
granted divers of them to enjoy, &c. j That is,
Do not envy or covet their pomp and profperity
in this world 2.
8 The provifion of thy L ord;] viz. The reward
laid np for thee in the next life.- or the
gift of prophecy, .and the revelations with which
G od has favoured thee.
h It is faid that when Mohammed's family
were in any limit or affliction, he ufed to. older
them to go to prayers, and to repeat this
Verfe'3.
1 Iidem. (S. 2t3-: ‘ 3 Al B eidawi .
2 1 . A l K O R A N . 265
revealed, they would have faid, at the refurreftion, O L ord, how could we believe
fince thou didft not fend unto us an apoftle, that we might follow thy figns, before
we were humbled and covered with lhame ? Say, Each o f us wait the
ijfue: wait therefore; for ye fhall furely know hereafter who have been the
followers of the even way, andwho hath been rightly direfted.
CHAP. XXI.
Intitled, The Prophetsa; revealeda i M e c c a .
In the name of the moft merciful G od.
* fT p H E time o f giving up their account draweth nigh, unto the people »ƒ XVII
I M ecca ; while they are funk in negligence, turning afide from the
conftderation thereof. No admonition cometh unto them from their L o r d ,
being lately revealed in the K o r a n , but when they hear it, they turn it to
fport: their hearts are taken up with delights. And they who aft unjuftly
difcourfe privately together, faying, Is this M o h am m ed any more than a man
like yourfelves ? Will ye therefore come to hear a piece of forcery, when
ye plainly perceive it to be fo ? Say, My L or d knoweth whatever is fpoken
in heaven and on earth: it is he who heareth and knoweth. But they fay, The
Kor an is a confufed heap of dreams: nay, he hath forged it •, nay, he is a
poet4: let him come unto us therefore with fome miracle, in like manner as
the former prophets were fent. None of the cities which we have deftroyed,
believed the miracles which they faw performed, before them : will thefe therefore
believe, i f they fee a miracle ? We fent none as our apofiles before thee,
other than men, unto whom we revealed our will. Afk thole who are acquainted
with the fcripture, if ye know not this. We gave them not a body
which could be fupported without their eating food ; neither were they immortal.
But we made good our promife unto them : wherefore we delivered
them, and thofe whom we pleafed ; but we deftroyed the exorbitant
tranfgreflbrs. Now have we fent down unto you, O K or eish, the book of
the K o r a n ; wherein there is honourable mention of you: will ye not therefore
underftand ? And how many cities have we overthrown, which were ungodly
s and caufed other nations to rife up after them ? And when they felt
our fevere vengeance, behold, they fled fwiftly from thofe cities. And the angels
faid, fcoffingly, unto them, Do not fly ; but return to that wherein ye delighted,
and to your habitations : peradventure ye will be afked b. They anfwer-
M m ed,
4 The chapter bears this title, becaufe fome cerning the prefent pofture of affairs, by way of
particulars relating to feveral of the ancient pro- confultation: or, that ye may he examined as to
phets, are here recited. your deeds, that ye may receive the reward
Peradventure ye will he asked;] i. e. Con- thereof1.
Jdem, J ai. x. a lo'ddi rt, al Z amakh.