27& A l K O R A N . C hap. 2 i .
And we delivered him, and L ot, by bringing them into the land wherein we
have blefled all creatures’ . And We beftowed on him I s a a c , and J a c o b as
an additional gift: and we made all of them righteous perfons. We alfo
made them models of religion b, that th'py might direft others by our command
: and we infpired into them the doing of good works, and the ob-
fervance of prayer, and the giving of alms; and they ferved us. And unto
L o t we gave wifdom and knowledge, ‘land, we delivered him out of the city
which committed filthy crimes ; for they were a wicked and infolent people'' :'
and we led him into our mercy ; for he was' an upright perfon. And remember
N o a h , when he called fo r definition on his peopled, before the prophets
dbovementioned; and we heard him, and delivered him and his family frorn
a great ftrait: and we protefted him from the people who accufed our figns
of falfhood ; for they were a wicked people, wherefore we drowned them all.
And remember D a v i d , and S o l o m o n , when they pronounced judgment concerning
a field, when the lheep of certain people had fed therein by night,
having no lliepherd ; and we were witnefies of their judgment!:" and we o-ave
the underftanding thereof unto S o l o m o n '. And on all of them we beftowed
wifdom, and knowledge. And we compelled the mountains to praife us with
David ; and the birds alfof : and we did this. And we taught him the
- fart
birds ; but after wandering for fome time through
the air, he-fell down on a mountain with fuch-a
force, that he made it lhake, whereto, (as fome
fancy), a paflage in the. Koran 1 alludes, which
may be tranllated, although their contrivances be
fuch, as to make the mountains tremble.
Nimrod, difappointed in his defign of making
war,with God, turned his arms againft Abraham,
who, being a great prince, raifed forces to defend
himfelf; but God, dividing Nimrod's fub-
je£ts, and confounding their language, deprived
him of the greater part of his people, and
plagued thofe who adhered to him by fwarms of
gnats, which deftroyed almoft all of them : and
one of thofe gnats having entred into the nof-
tril, or ear, of Nimrod, penetrated to one of
the membranes of his brain, where, growing1
bigger every day, it gave him fuch intolerable
pain, that he was obliged to caufe his head to be
beaten with a mallet, in order to procure fome
eafe, which torture he fuffered four hundred
years ; G od being willing to punifli, by one of
the filial left of his creatures, him who infolehtly
boafted himfelf to be lord of all 2. A Syrian calendar
places the death of Nimrod, as if the time were
well known, on the eighth.of Thamuz, or July 3:
a 'The land'wherein we have bleffed all creatures
;] i. e. Paleftine', in which country the
greater part of the prophets appeared.
b See chap. 2. p. 16.
■; e See chap. 7. p.125, &c. and chap. 11. p. 183;
d See chap. 8. p. 147. not. c.
e When they pronounced judgment concerning a
field, &c.] Some lheep, in their Ihepherd’s ab-
fenee, having broken into another man’s field (or
Vineyard, lay others,) by night, and eat up the
corn, a difpute arofe thereupon: and the caufe
being brought before David and Solomon, the former
faid, that the owner of the land lhould take
the lheep, in compenfation of the damage which
he had fuftained; but Solomon, who was then
but eleven years old, was of opinion that it
would be more juft for the owner of the field to
take only the profit of the lheep, viz. their
milk, lambs, and wool, till the Ihepherd lhould,
by his own labour and at his own expence, put
the field into as good condition as when the
lheep entred itV after which the lheep might
be returned to their mailer. And this judgment
of Solomon was approved by David him-
felf as better than his own 4.
f We compelled the’mountains to praife us with
David, and.the birds alfo;] Mohammed, it feemsy
taking the vifions of the Talmudifis for truth, believed
that when David was fatigued w-ith-dinging
pfalms, the mountains, birds, anddther parts
of the creation, both’animate and inanimate, relieved
him in chanting the divine' prai lest This
.. ’ conference
1 Cap. 14. p. 2:6g. ‘i
3 V. Hyde, ibid. p- J^.
% V. D’Herbel.- Bibl. Orient. ArtNemrod,. Hype, iibi fu.pta,
4 Al B e i d a w i , J a l l a l o ’ d d in , & c. ‘
Q h %>a -an A l K O R A N . . 271
art of making! coats of mail for you1, that they may defend you in your
wars: will ye therefore be thankful ? And unto S o l o m o n we fubjeEled a ftrong
wind-; it- ran at his command to the land whereon we had beftowed our blef-
fing 'cJ and we < knew all things. And we alfo JubjeSed unto his command
divers of the devils, .Who might dive to get pearls for him, and perform other
work befidgs this4 ; and we watched over them'. And remember J o b f ;
when he Cried unto his -L ord,, faying, Verily evil hath afflifted me: but thou
art the moft merciful of thofe who- (hew mercy. Wherefore we heard him,
and relieved him from the evil which was upon him: and we reftored unto him
his family, and as many more with them, through our mercy, and for an
admonitioni unto thofe who ferve G od. And remember I s m a e l , and
E d r is ,
confequenqe thçjtais draw from the words of
the pfalmift, when h e . calls on the feveral parts
of nature to join with him in celebrating the
praiffe oF God 1 ; it being their perverfe cuftom
to expound palfages in the moft literal manner,
which cannot bear a literal fenfe without a mani-
fefl abfurdity ; and, on-the contrary, to turn the
plainéft palfages into allegorical fancies.
3 The 'art o f Waking coats of mail ;] Men, before
his iriVenting them, 'tiling to arm- them-
felves with, broad platei of metal. Left this fable
lhould -want- fomething of the marvellous, one
writer tells us*, thait the iron which David ufed,
becifrie foft in his hands like wax
b A ftrong wind‘,] Which tranlported his
throne'owith! prodigious >fwrftnéfs. Some fay,
this-wind.vfcasfviolent?'«?? gtintie, juft as ;Solomon
pleafcd ihs: a
c To'•.the Tand -whereon' we had' beftowed our
bleffing ;] viz. Paleftine ■: whither the wind
brought:, bafak ■ Solothon'^ throne in the evening,
after having carried it to a diftant country in thé
morning.
;d And performother work ;] Such as the building
of cities and palaces, the fetching Of rare
pièces of art From foreign countries, and the
like. ■ ; ■;
c And we watched over them ;] Left they lhould
fwerve from his orders, otdo mifchief according
to their natural inclinations. Jallaidddin fays, that
when they had finilhed any pieèe of building,
they, pulled it down before night, if they were
not imployed in fomething new.
f The MThamffiedan writers .tell us, that Job
was of the race of ÈfaUi arid was blelfed with
a numerous family, and abundant riches ; but
that G od proved him, by taking away all that
he had, even his children, who were killed by
the fall ;of a houfe ; notwithftanding which he
continued to ferve God, and to return him thanks,
as ufual: that he was then ftruclc with a filthy
difeafe, his body being full of worms, and fo
offenlive, that as he lay on the dunghil none
could bear to come near him: that his wife, however,
(whom fome call R a bm a t the daughter of
E p h r a im the Ion of J o fe p h , and others M a k h i r
the .daughter of M a n a jfe s ) .attended. him with
great patience,, fupporting him with what Ihe
earned by her labour ; but that the devil appearing
to her one day, after having reminded
her of her paft pro/perity, promifed, her that if
Ihe would worlhip him, he would reftore all they
had loft; whereupon Ihe asked her husband’s
confent, who was fo angry at the propofal, that
he fwore, if he recovéred, 'to give his wife a
hundred ftripès : that J o b Having pronounced
the prayer- recorded in this paifag’e, Gód ferit
Gabriel, who. taking him by the hand raifed hirn
up; and at the fame time a fountain fprang up at
his’ feet, of which having drank, the worms’ fell
off his body, and wa/hing therein he recovered
his former health and beatity : that God then reftored
all to him double; his wife alfo’becoming
young arid handfome again, arid bearing him
twenty fix fons1: and that Job, to fatisfy his
oath, was direfted by God to ftrike her one
blow with a palm-branch having a hundred
leaves 4. Some,- to exprefs the great riches
which were beftowed on Job after his fuftei-
ings, fay he had two threlhing floors, one for
wheat, and the other for barley, and that God
fént two clouds which rained gold on the one,
and filver on thé other; till they ran over s. Thé
traditions- differ as to the continuance of Job's
calamities; one will have it to be eighteen years,
another thirteen, another three, and another
exactly feven years feven months and feven
hours. i
1 See PJalm. cxlviii. * Tarikh MontaPkab. V. D’H erbel.-p .2 8 4 . 3 See chap. 27.
Al Beid aw i, J allalo’ddin, Abu’lfeda, & c. See D ’H erbel. Bibl. Orient ' Art. Aioub.
Jallalo’ddin.