what they affirm of him! And peace he on his apoftles ! And praife be
unto G od, the L ord of all creatures!
CHAP. XXXVIII.
Intitled S ; revealed ^ M ecca.
In the name of the moft merciful G od.
By the K o r a n full of admonition b. Verily the unbelievers are addic-
ted to pride and contention. How many generations have we deftroy-
ed before them ; and they cried for mercy > but it was not a time to efcape.
They wonder that a warner from among themfelves hath come unto them.
And the unbelievers Laid, This 7nan is a forcerer, and a liar : doth he
affirm the gods to be but one G od ? Surely this is a wonderful thing.
And the chief men among them departed c, faying to one anotherGo, and
perfevere in the worfhip of your gods: verily this is the thing which is de-
fignedd* We have not heard any thing like this in the laft religion' : this
no other than a falfe contrivance. Hath an admonition been fent unto
him preferably to any other among us? Verily they are in a doubt concerning
my admonition: but they have not yet tailed my vengeance. Are
the treafuries of the mercy of thy L o r d , the mighty, the munificent G od , in
their hands ? Is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and of whatever
is between them, in their pofleffion ? If it be fo, let them afcend by
Heps unto heaven. But any army of the confederates ffiall even here be put
to flight. The people of N o a h , and the tribe of A d , and P h a r a o h the
contriver of the flakesf, and the T h a m u d , and the people of L ot,
' '• ■ ■ 111; .• •, . I I I -'and
a The meaning of this letter is unknown 1 :
fome ' guefs it .Hands for Sidk, i. e. Truth ; or
for Sadaka, i. e. he (viz. Mohammed) fpeaketh the
truth : and others propofe different conjectures,
all equally uncertain.
b By the Koran, M M .Something mult be
underftood to anfwer this oath, which the
com mentators varioufly : fupply.
- c The chief men among them departed, &c.]
On the converfion of Omar, the Koreijbbtmg
greatly irritated, the moft eoniiderable of them
went in a body to Abu Taleb, to complain
to. him of his nephew Mohammed's proceedings
; but being confounded and ^ut to filence
by the prophet’s arguments, they left the af-
fembly, and encouraged one another in their
©bllinacy ’2. •. -
1 See the Brel. Difc. §. III. jfl 59, &V.
* Be id aw i .
d This is the thing which is defigned j] Namely,
T o draw us from their worlhip.
e In the laß religion;] i. e. In the religion
which we received, from our fathers; or, in the
religion o f Jesus, which was the laft before the
million o f Mohammed 3.
{ The contriver of the flakes ;] For they fay
Pharaoh ufed to tie thofe he had a mind to punifli,
by the hands and feet to four Hakes fixed in the
ground, and fo tormented them *. Some interpret
the words, which may alfo be tranflated
the lord or maßen of the flakes, figuratively,1 of
the firm eftablilhmertt of Pharaoh's kingdom ;
becaufe the Arabs fix their tents with Hakes ' :
but they may poffibly intend that prince’s obftina-
cy, and hardnefs of heart.
* Beidawi. 3 Idem. J a l l a l o ’d dinand
the inhabitants of the wood near Madian*, uccukAthe prophets of im-
p0ftUre before thern : thefe were the confederates againfi the mejfengers of God.
All of them did no other than accufe their apoftles of falfhood : wherefore-
my vengeance hath been juftly executed upon them. And thefe wait only for
one founding of the trumpet ; which there ffiall be no deferring. And they
fcoffingly fay, O L o rd, haften our fentence unto us, before the day of account.
Do thou patiently bear that which they utter : and remind them of our
fervant D a v i d , indued with ftrength6; for he teas one who ferioufly turned
himfelf unto God. We compelled the mountains ,to>' celebrate our praife
with him, in the evening and at fun-rife, and alfo the birds, which gathered
themfelves together unto him' :... all of them returned frequently unto him
for this purpofe. And we eftabliffied his kingdom, and gave him wifdom
and eloquence of fpeech. Hath the ftory of the two adversariesd come to
thy knowledge ; when they afcended over thé wall into the upper apartment,
when they went in unto D a v id , and he was afraid of them '? They laid,
Fear not : we are two adverfaries who have a controverfy to. be decided.
The one of us hath wronged the other : wherefore judge between us with
truth, and be not unjuft ; and diredt us into the even way. This my brother
had ninety and nine-ffieep ; and I had only one ewe : and he laid,
Give her me to keep ; and he prevailed againft mé in thedifcourfe which
we had together. D av id anfwered, Verily he hath wronged, thee, ' in demanding
thine ewe as an addition to his own ffieep : and many of them
who are concerned together in bufinefs, wrong one another, except , thofe
who believe and do that which is right; but how few are they ! And D a v id
perceived that we~ had tried him by this parable, and he afked pardon of-
his L ord : and he fell down and bowed himfelf, . and. repentedf. Wherefore
we forgave him this fault.-, and he Jhafl be admitted to approach near unto
us, and Jhall have an excellent place of abode in paradife.. O D a v id ,
verily we have appointed thee a fovereign prince in the earth : judge therefore
between men with truth ; and follow not thy own luft, left it caufe thee
to err from the way of G od : for thofe who err from the way of G o d , fliall
fuffer a fevere puniffiment, becaufe they have forgotten the day of account.
a See chap. 15. p. 213.
b Indued with ftrength j] The commentators
fuppofe that ability to undergo the frequent
pra&ice of religious exercifes is here meant- They
fay David ufed to fafl every other day, and to
fpend one half of the night in prayer 1..
c See chap. 21. p. 270.
d The two adverfaries ;] Thefe were two angels,
who. came unto David in the lhape of men,
to demand judgment in the feigned controverfy
aftermentioned. It is no other than Nathan s
parable to David a.little difguifed.
e He was afraid of them ;] Becaufe they came
fuddenly upon him, on a day of privacy} when
the doors were guarded, and no perfon admitted
to diflurb his devotions. For David, they lay,
divided his time regularly,. fetting apart'one day.
for the fervice of G od, another day for rendring
juflice to his people, another day for preaching
to them, and another day for his own affairs3.
f And David perceived that we had tried him,'
&c.] The crime of which David had been guilty,
was th£ taking the wife of Uriah, and ordering
her husband to be fet in the front of the
battle to be flain |.
Some fuppofe this flory was told to ferve as
an admonition to Mohammed, who, it feems,
was apt to covet what was another’s.
1 Iidem In terp. * 2 Sam. xii. i f / B e id aw i , J a l l a l o ’ d d in , 4 Iidem.