C H A P . XXXVII.
Intitled, Thofe who rank themfelves in order ; revealed
at Mecca.
In the name of the mod merciful God.
BY the angels who rank themfelves in order *J; and by thofe who drive
forward and difpel the cloudsb ; and by thofe who read the K o r a n for an
admonition; verily your G o d is one : the L o r d of heaven and earth, and
of whatever is between them, and the L o r d of theeaft0. W e have adorned
the lower heaven with the ornament of the ftars : and we have placed therein a
guard, againft every rebellious devil; that they may not liften to the difcourfe
o f the exalted princes, (for they are darted at from every fide, to repel them,
and a lafting torment is prepared for them ;) except him who catcheth a word
by ftealth, and is purfued by a fhining flamed. Afk the M ecc an s , therefore,
whether they b.e ftronger by nature, or the angels whom we have created ? We
have furely created them of ftiff clay. Thou wondreft at G od’ s power and their
objlinacy but they mock at the arguments urged to convince them: when they are
warned, they do not take warning ; and when they fee any fign, they feoff
thereat, and fay, This is no other than manifeft forcery: after we fhall be
dead, and become duft and bones, fhall we really he railed to life, and our
fore-fathers alfo ? Anfwer, Yea: and ye /hall then he defpicable. There
fhall be but one blaft o f the trumpet, and they fhall fee themfelves ra ifed : and
they .fhall fay, Alas for us! this is the day of judgment ; this is the day of
diftinftion between the righteous and the wicked, which ye rejected as a falfhood.
Gather together thofe who have a died unjuftly, and their comerades, and the
idols which they worfhipped befides G o d , and diredl them in the way to hell:
and fet them before G od’ s tribun a l; for they fh a ll be called to account. What
aileth
a By the angels who rank themfelves in Srder,
&c ] Some underftand by thefe words the fouls
of men who range themfelves in obedience to
G od’s laws, and put away from them all infidelity
and corrupt doings; or the fouls o f thofe
who rank themfelves in battle array, to fight for
the true religion, and pujh on their horfes to
charge the infidels, fc 1.
b Who - drive forward the clvtids;] Or, who
put in motion all bodies, in the upper and lower
world, according to the divine command; or,
who keep off men from difobedience to G od,
by infpiring them with good thoughts and inclinations
; or, who* drive away the devils from
them, &c. 2.
c *fhe eafti] The original word, being in the
plural number, is fuppofed to fignify the different
points of the horizon, from whence the fun rifes
in the courfe of the year, which are in number
360 (equal to the number of days in the old civil
year) and have as many correlponding points
where it fucceflively fets, during that fpace 5.
Marracci groundlefly imagines this interpretation
to be built on the error of the plurality of
worlds4.
d See chap. 15. p. z i i .
aileth you that ye defend not one another ? But on this day they fhall fubmit
themfelves to the judgment o f G od : and they fhall draw nigh unto one another,
and fhall difpute among themfelves. A n d the feduced fhall f%y unto thofe who
[educed them, Verily ye came unto us with prefages of profperity ‘ j and thefedu~
cers fhall anfwer, Nay, rather ye were not true believers : for we had no
power over you to compel you j but ye were people who voluntarily tranf-
o-reffed: wherefore the fentence of our L o r d hath been ju-ftly pronounced
ao-ainft us, and we fhall furely tafte his vengeance. We feduced you ; . but
we alfo.. erred ourfelves. They fh a ll both therefore be_ made partakers of the
fame punifhment on that day. Thus will we deal with the wicked : becaufe,
when it is faid unto them, There is no god befides the true G o d , they
fwell with arrogance, and fay, Shall we abandon our gods for a diftradted
poet? Nay-, he cometh with the truth, and . beareth witnefs to the former
apoftles. Ye fhall furely taft the painful torment o f h e l l ; and ye fhall not
be rewarded, but according to your works. But as fo r the fincere fervants
of G o d , they fhall have a certain provifion in paradife, namely, delicious
fruits: and they fh a ll be honoured : they fh a ll be plac ed in gardens of plea-
fure, leaning on couches, oppofite to one another b: a cup fhall be carried
round unto them, filled from a limpid fountain, for the delight of thofe who
drink ; it fhall not opprefs the underftanding, neither fhall they be inebriated
therewith. And near them fh a ll lie the virgins o f paradife, refraining
their looks from beholding any befides their fpoufes, having large black eyes, and
refembling the eggs o f an ojlrich covered with fea th e rs from the d u ft'. And they
fhall turn the one unto the other, and ■ fhall afk one another queftions. And
one of them fhall fay, Verily I had an intimate friend while I lived in tjpe
world, who faid unto me, Art thou one of thofe who afierteft the truth o f the
refurrebiion ? After we fhall be dead, and reduced to duft and bones, fhall
we furely be judged ? ‘Then he fhall fay to his companions, Will ye look down ?
And he fhall look down, and fhall fee him in the midft of hell : and he
fhall fay unto him, By G o d , it wanted little but thou hadft drawn me into
ruin ; and had it not been for the grace of my L o r d , I had furely been
one of thofe who have been delivered up to eternal torment. Shall we die
any other than our firft death ; -or do we fuffer any punifhment ? Verily
this is great felicity : for the obtaining a felicity like this let the labourers labour.
Is this a better entertainment, or the tree of A l Z a k k u m d? Verily
we have defigned the fame for an occafion of difpute unto the unjuft'. It
is a tree which fiftieth from the bottom of hell: the fruit thereof refembleth
the
a With prefages of profperity i] Literally,from
the right-band. The words may alfo be ren-
dred, with force, to compel us; or, with an oath,
(wearing that ye were in the right.
b See chap. ic . p.212. not..e.
e Refembling the eggs of an oflricb, &c.J This
may feem an odd companion to an Europeans
but the orientals think nothing comes fo near
the colour of a'line woman’s skin, as that of an
oftrich’s ,egg when kept perfectly clean; '
d A l Zakkum.] There is a thorny tree fo called,
which grows in Tehama, and bears fruit like
an almond, but extremely bitter ;* and therefore
the fame name is given to. this infernal tree.
c An occafion of difpute;] The infidels not
conceiving how a tree could grow in hell,
where the Hones themfelves ferve for fewel.