The unbelievers fay unto thofe who believe, Follow our way ; and we will
bear your fins. Howbeit they fhall not bear any part of.,their fins ; for they are
liars : but they fhall furely bear .their own burdens,- and-father burdens befides
their own burdens* ; and they fhall be examined, on the day of refurreftion
concerning that which they have falfely devifed. We heretofore fent N oah
unto his people ; and he tarried among them one thoufand years, fave fifty
years b : and the deluge took them away, while they were a thing unjuftly ;
but we delivered him and thofe who were in the ark, and We made the
fame' a fign unto all creatures. We alfo fent A b r a h a m ; when he faidunto
his people, Serve G o d , and fear him : this will be bettef for you ; .if'ye
underftand. Ye only worfhip idols befides G o d , and forge a lie. , Verily
thofe which ye worfhip, befides G o d , are not able to make any provilion
for you : feek therefore your provifion from G od ; and: ferve him, and give
thanks unto him ; unto him fhall ye return. If ye charge me with impofture *,
verily fundry nations before you likewife charged their prophets with impofture :
but public preaching only is incumbent on an apoftle. Do they riot fee how
G od produceth creatures, and afterwards reftoreth them ' ? Verily this is
eafy with G od. .Say, Go through the earth, and fee how he originally produceth
creatures : afterwards will G od reproduce another produftion ; for God
is almighty. He will punifh whom he pleàfeth, and he will have mercy on
whom he pleafeth. Before him fhall ye be brought at the day of judgment :
and ye fhall not efcape his reach, either in earth, or in heavenf ; neither
fhall ye have any. patron or. defender befides G od. As for thofe who be-
lieve not in the figns of G od, or that they fhall meet him at the refur*
rètlim,
a Other burthens beftdes their own j] viz. The
guilt of feducing others, which ihall be added
to the guilt of their own obftinacy, without di-
miniihing the guilt of fuch as Ihall be feduced
■ by them.
b Noah tarried among his people nine hundred
and fifty years 5] This is true, if the whole
life of Noah be reckoned j and accordingly Abu l-
feda fays he was fent to preach in his two hundred
and fiftieth year, and that he lived in all
. nine hundred and fifty: ' but the text feeming to
fpeak of thofe years only, which he fpent in
preaching to the wicked antediluvians, the commentators
fuppofe him to have lived much
longer. Some fay the whole length of his life
was a thoufand and fifty years j that his million
happened in the fortieth year of his age', and
that he lived after the flood fixty years I : and
others give different numbers; one, in particular,
-pretending that Noah lived near fixteen hundred
.years *.
This cirCumflarice, fays A l Beidawi, was
t mentioned to incourage' Mohammed, and to af-
;iure. him. that G od, who fupportèd Noah fb
many years againft the oppofition and plots of
the antediluvian infidels, would not fail to defend
him againft all attempts of the idolatrous
Meccans and their partifans.
c !The fame*] i. e. The ark.
d I f ye charge me with impofture, &c.] This
feems to be part of Abraham's fpeech to his people:
but fome fuppofe that G od here fpeaks,
by way of apdftrophe, firft to the Koreijb, and
afterwards to Mohammed; and that the parcn-
thefis is continued to thefe words, And the. an-
fwer o f his people was no other» &c. In which
cafe we fhould have faid, I f ye charge Mohammed
your apoftle with impofture, &c.
e Do they not fee how G o d produceth creatures,
arid afterwards reftoreth them f ] The infidels are
bid to confider how G od caufeth the fruits of
the earth to fpring forth, and reneweth them
every year, as in the preceding j which is an
argument of his power to raife man, whom he
created at firft, to life again after death, at his
own appointed time.
f See pfalm cxxxix. 7, &c.
1 .Idem, A l ‘Z ai/iakh. 2 C aab, dpudYIbyzm.
region, they Ihall defpair of my mercy, and for them is a painful punifh-
mcr.t prepared. And the anfwer of his people was no other than that they
faid,'Slay him, or burn him. But G od faved him from the fire*. Verily
herein were figns unto people who believed. And A braham faid, Ye
have taken idols, befides G o d , to 'cement affe&ion between you in this life':
but on the day of refurredtion, the one of you Ihall deny the other, and the
one of you fhall curfe the other ; and your abode fhall be hell ‘fire, and
there fhall be none to deliver you., And LpT believed on .him. And
Abraham faid, Verily I fly from my people, unto the place which my L o rd
hath commanded me-, for.he is the mighty, the wife. And we gave hirri
Isa a c , and J a c o b ; and we placed among his defcendants the gift of prophecy
and the fcriptures: and we gave him his reward in this world,; and
in the next he fhall be one of the righteous. We alfo fent L o t ; when
he faid unto his people, Do ye commit filthineis which no creature hath
committed before you? Do ye approach luftfully unto men, and lay wait
in the highways', and commit wickednefs in your aflembly*? And the
anfwer of' his people was no other than that they faid, Bring down the vengeance
of G od upon us, if thou fpeakeft truth. Lori,aid, O L o r d , defend
me againft the corrupt people. And when our meflengers came unto
A b r a h am with good tidings'1, they faid, We will furely deftroy the inhabitants
of this city; for the inhabitants thereof are unjuft doers. A braham
anfwered. Verily L o t dwelleth there. They replied, We well know who
dwelleth therein : we will furely deliver him and his family, except his wife ;
fhe fhall be one of thofe who remain behind. And when our meflengers
came unto L o t , he was troubled for them, and his arm was ftraitened concerning
them e. But they faid, Fear not, neither be grieved ; for we will
deliver thee and thy family, except thy wife; fo r fhe fhall be one of thofe
who remain behind. We will furely bring down upon the’ inhabitant, of
this city vengeance from heaven, for that they have been wicked doers;
and we have left thereof a manifeft fign £ unto people who underftand..
And unto the inhabitants o f M a d ia n we fent their brother S h o a ib ; and he
faid unto them, O my people, ferve G od, and expedt the laft day; and
tranfgrefs not, afting corruptly in the earth. But they accufed. him of impofture
; wherefore a ftorm from heaven 8 afiailed them, and in'fhe morning
they were found in their dwellings dead and proftrate. And we alfo. de-
Jlroyed the tribes o f A d, andTHAMUD; and this is well known unto you
from what yet remains o f their dwellings. And S a t a n prepared their works
for them, and turned them afide from the way of tru th ; although they
were
See.ebap.,21. p. 269,
b And lay wait in, t he highway i] Same fuppofe
the Sodomites robbed and murdered the
paflcngers j others, that they, unnaturally a-
bufed their bodies.
,c And contmlt .'wickednefs. inyojir ajfembly ;]
Their meetings, .being fccnes of bbfcenity and
riot!' * . '
d See chape 11 . p. 182,' &ci
' See ib. p, 1 S3.
f Wehaveleft thereof a jig n i]v iz. The dory of
its deftruéiiôn, handed down by common tradition,;
or elfe its ruips, or fome other footfteps
of this lignai judgment :. it being pretended that;
lèverai o f the Hones, which felffrom heaven on
thofe. cities,.are.llill...to .be feen, and that the
ground where they flood appears burnt and
blackiih. ...
. sl-Spnchajjl ■ AiBh/.A.’V \