lievers. They who behaved themfelves arrogantly fhall fay unto thofe who
were efteemed weak, Did we turn you a fide from the true direction, after it
had come unto you ? On the contrary, ye afted wickedly o f your own fr ee
choice. And they who were efteemed weak fhall fay unto thofe who behaved
with arrogance, Nay, but the crafty plot which ye devifed by night
and by day, occafioned our ruin ; when ye commanded us that we fhould
not believe in G o d , and that we fhould fet up other gods as equals unto him;
And they fhall conceal their repentance *, after they fhall have feen the
punilhment prepared fo r them. And we will put yokes on the necks of thofe
who fhall have difbelieved : fhall they be rewarded any otherwife than according
to what they fhall have wrought ? We have fent no Warner unto any city,
but the inhabitants thereof who lived in affluence faid, Verily we believe not
that with which ye are fent. And thofe o f M e c c a alfo fay, We abound in
riches and children more than ye ; and we fhall not be punifhed hereafter.
Anfwer, Verily my L o r d will beftow provifion in abundance unto whom
he pleafeth, and will be fparing unto whom he pleafeth : but the greater
part of men know not this. Neither your riches nor your children are the
things which fhall -caufe you to draw nigh unto us with a near approach:
only whoever believeth, and worketh righteoufnefs, they fhall receive a double
reward for that which they fhall have wrought; and they fhall dwell in fe-
curity, in the upper apartments o f paradife. But they who fhall endeavour
to render our figns of none effeft, fhall be delivered up to punilhment. Say,
Verily my L o r d will beftow provifion in abundance unto whom he pleafeth
o f his fervants, and will be fparing unto whom he pleafeth : and whatever
thing ye fhall give in alms, he will return i t ; and he is the beft provider of
food. On a certain day he fhall gather them all together : then fhall he fay
unto the angels, Did thefe worfhip you ? A n d the angels fhall anfwer,
G o d forbid ! thou art our friend, and not thefe ; but they worfhipped devils
; the greater part of them believed in them. On this day the one of
you fhall not be able either to profit or to hurt the other. And we will
fay unto thofe who have afted unjuftly, Tafte ye the pain of h ell fire, which
ye rejefted as a falfhood. When our evident figns are‘read unto them, they
fay o f thee, O M ohammed, This is no other than a man, who feeketh to
turn you afide from the gods which your fathers worfhipped. And they fay
o f the K oran, This is no other than a lie blafphemoufly forged. And the unbelievers
fay of the truth, when it is come unto them, This is no other than
manifeft forcery: yet we have given them no books o f fcripture wherein to
exercife themfelves, nor have we fent unto them any Warner before thee.
They who were before them in like manner accufed their prophets of im-
pofture ; but thefe have not arrived unto the tenth part of the riches and
firength which we had beftowed on the fo rm e r : and they accufed my apoftles
of impofture ■, and how fev e r e was my vengeance ! Say, Verily I advife you
unto one thing, namely, that ye ftand before G o d by two and two, and finglyb;
and
a See chap. 10. p. 171. not. a. or fingly, &c.j i. e. That ye fet your lelves
” That ye Jiand before God by two and two, to deliberate and judge of me and my pretenlions
and then confider ferioully, and you w ill fin d that there is no madnels in
your companion M ohammed | he is no other than a Warner unto you, fent
before a fevere punilhment. Say, I alk not of you any reward fo r my preaching
* i it is your own, either to g iv e or n o tb; my reward is to be expected
from G o d alone; and he is witnefs over all things. Say, Verily my L o r d
fendeth down the truth to his prophets: he is the knower of fecrets. Say,
Truth is come, and fallhood is vanilhed, and fhall not return any more. Say,
If I err, verily I fhall err only againft my own foul; but if I be rightly directed,
it w ill be by that which my L o r d revealeth unto me ; for he is ready
to hear, and nigh unto thofe. who call upon him. If thou couldft fee, when the
unbelievers fhall tremble % and fh a ll fin d no refuge,. and fhall be taken from
a near place d, and lhall fay, We believe in him! But how fhall they receive
the faith from a diftant place b; fince they had before denied him, and reviled
the myfteries of faith, from a diftant place ? And a bar fhall be placed between
.them and that which they fhall defire ; as it hath been done with thofe
who behaved like them heretofore; becaufe they have been in a doubt which
hath caufed fcandal.
fions coolly and fincerely, as in the fight of God,
without paflion or prejudice. The reafon why
they are ordered to confider either alone, or by
two and two, at moll;, together, is, becaufe in
larger aflemblies, where noife, paflion, and prejudice
generally prevail, men have not that freedom
of judgment which they have in private T.
a I ask not of you any reward, & c . J Mohammed,
having in the preceding words anfwered the
imputation of madnefs, or vain enthufiafm, by>
appealing to their cooler thoughts of him and
his aftions, endeavours, by thefe, to clear him-
felf of the fufpicion of any worldly view or in-
tereft, declaring that he defired no falary or fupport
from them, for executing his commillion,
but expedled his wages from God alone.
b See chap 25. p. 301.
c When the unbelievers Jhall tremble;] viz.
At their death, or the day o f judgment, or the
battle of Bedr 2.:
d And Jhall be taken from a near place ;] That
is, from the outfide of the earth to the infide
thereof; or, from-before God’s tribunal to hell
fire ; or,- from the plain of Bedr to the well into
which the dead bodies of theflain were thrown3.
e From a diftant place \\ i.'e. When they are
in the other world ; whereas faith is to be received
in this.
1 A l Beidawi. * Idem. 3 Idem.
C H A P . XXXV.
Inttiled, The Creator a; revealed at Mecca.
In the name of the moft merciful G od.
PR A IS E be unto G o d , the Creator of heaven and earth ; who maketh the
angels to meffengers, furnilhed with two, and three, and four pair of wings” :
G o d
1 Some intitle this chapter The Angels: both b Furnijhed with two, three, and four pair of
words occur in the firft verie. wings i] That is, Some angels have a greater,
and