fee that we have ordained the night, that they may reft therein, and the
day giving open light ? Verily herein are figns unto people who believe. On
that day the trumpet Ihall be founded ; and whoever are in heaven and on
earth Ihall be ftruck with terror, except thofe whom God Ihall pleale to exempt
therefrom *: and all Ihall come before him, in humble guile. And thou
lhalt fee the mountains, and lhalt think them firmly fixed ; but they Ihall
pafs away, even as the clouds pafs away. Th is w ill be the work of God, who
hath rightly difpofed all things : and he is well acquainted with that which ye
do. Whoever Ihall have wrought righteoufnefs, Ihall receive a reward beyond
the defert thereof; and they Ihall be fecure from the terror of -that
dayb: but whoever Ihall have wrought evil, Ihall he thrown on their faces
into hell fire. Shall ye receive the reward o f any other than of that which
ye Ihall have wrought ? Verily I am commanded to worlhip the L ord of
this territory o f M e cca, who hath fanftified the fame : unto- him belong all
things. And I am commanded to be a Moflem, and to rehearfe the Koran:
he who Ihall be directed thereby., will be direfed to his own advantage; and
to him who Ihall go aftray, fay, Verily I am a warner only. And fay,
Praife be unto God ! he will fhew you his figns c, and ye Ihall know them:
and thy Lord is not regardlefs of that which they do.
* See the Prelim. Difc. §. IV. p. 82,
Some fay the perfons exempted from this general
confternation, will be the angels Gabriel\
Michael, Ifrafil, and Iz ra e l1 : others fuppofe
them to be the virgins of paradife, and the angels
who guard that place, and carry G od’s throne 2 ;
and others will have them to be the martyrs 3.
} They Jhall be fecure from the terror o f that
1 Jallalo’ddin, A l Beidawk
day ;] That is, from the fear of damnation, and
the other terrors which will difturb the wicked»
not. from the general terror or confternation be-
forementioned.
c He w ill fbew you his figns;] viz. The fuc-
celfes of the true believers againft the infidels»
and particularly the victory of Bedr.
2 Idem. 3 Ebn A bbas.
C HA P . XXVIII.
Inttiled. The Story a ; revealed at M e c c a b.
In the name of the moft merciful G od.
T. S. M c. Thefe are the figns of the perfpicuous book. We will difiate
unto thee, O M ohammed, feme parts of the hiftory of Moses and
Pharaoh, with truth; for the fake o f people who believe. Now Pharaoh
lifted himfelf up in thé land o f E g y p t -, and he caufed his fubjecfs to be
divided
a The title is taken from the a6t‘h verfe, beginning with thefe words, He who hath given
where Mofes is faid to have related the ftory of thee the Koran fo r a rule o f fa ith and praftice, 1
his adventures to Shoaib. &c.
y Some except a verfe, towards the latter end, See the Prelim. Pile. §. III. p. 59.
divided into parties *: he weakened one party of them b, by flaying their
male-children, and preferving their females alive ; for he was an opprefior.
And we were minded to be gracious unto thofe who were weakened in the
land, and to make them models of religion ; and to make them the heirs o f
the wealth o f P haraoh and his people % and. to eftablifh a place for them in
the earth ; and to Ihew P haraoh, and H aman d, and their forces, that
deftrublion o f their kingdom and nation by them, which they fought to avoide.
And we directed the mother of Moses by revelation, faying, Give him fuck:
and if thou feareft for him, call him into the river ; and fear not, neither
be afflifted ; for we will reftore him unto thee, and will appoint him one of
our apoftlesf. And when fh e had pu t the child in the ark, and had caft it into the
river, the family of Pharaoh took him up ; providence defigning that he
Ihould become an enemy, and a forrow unto them. Verily Pharaoh, and
Haman, and their forces were finners. And the wife of Pharaoh faid,
This child is a delight of the eye to me, and to thee 6: kill him not ; per-
adventure it may happen that he may be ferviceable unto us; or we may
adopt’him for our fon. And they perceived not the confequenee o f what they
were doing. And the heart of the mother of Moses became opprefied with
fe a r ; and fhe had almoft difeovered him, had we not armed her heart with
conftancy, that fhe might be one of thofe who believe the promifes o f G o d .
And fhe faid-unto his After, Follow him. And fhe watched him at a dif-
taace; and they perceived it not. And we differed him not to take the breafts
of the nurfes who were provided before his Jifter came u p * : and (he faid, Shall I di-
reft you unto feme of his nation, who may nurfe him for you, and will be careful
3 He divided his fubjelfs into parties ;J i. e. El- .
ther into companies, that they might the better
attend his «order and perform the fervides he exacted
of them; or into oppofite faftion^, to prevent
their attempting any thing againft him, to
deliver themfelves from his tyranny r.
b One party o f them j] viz. The Ifraelites.
c See chap. 26. p. 304.
. d Haman >] This name is given to Pharaoh's
chief minifter; from whence it is generally inn
ferred that Mohammed his here made Haman,
the favourite of Abafuerus king of Perfta, and
who indifputably lived many ages after Mofes,
to be that prophet’s contemporary; But'how pro-,
bable foeyer this miftake may feem to us, it will
be very hard, if not impoffible, to con vince a Mo-,
hanwiedam; of it j for, as has been- obferved in a
parallel cafe 2, two very different perfoils may
bear the fame najne 3; ;
That deftruft.ion by them, which-they fought to
avoid;] For Pharaoh had either-dreamed,- or
been told by fome diviners, that one of the Hebrew
nation fhould be the ruin of his kingdom ;
which prophecy is fuppofed to have been the
oceafion-df his cruelty to them *. This circum-
ftance is owing to the invention of the Jews 1 .
f It is related that the midwife appointed to
attend the Hebrew women, terrified by a light
which appeared between the eyes of Mofes at his
birth, and touched with an extraordinary affection
for the child, did not difeover him to the
officers,1 fo That his'mother‘kept him in her
houfe, and nurfed him three months; after which
it was impoffible for her to conceal him any
longer, the king then giving orders to make the
fearches more ftridlly
e This child is a delight o f our eye;] This hidden
affe&ion or admiration was railed in them
either by his uncommon beauty, or by the light
which Ihone on his forehead, or becaiife, when
they opened the ark, they found him fucking his
thumb, which fupplied him with milk 7.
h' See chap. 26. p. 25 8.
1 A l BeidaWi , * Seep. 38. not. b. 3 V. Reland, de Rel. Moham. p. 217.
See chap. 7. p. 130. 5 V. Shdlfhei.'hakkab, fr .w . & R: El ie z . Pirke, c. 48. 6 ^
Beidawi. See the notes to chap. 20. p. 258. 7 Idem, J a l.l a lo’d d i nv