is no G od but he. Why therefore are ye turned afide from the worfhip of him to
idolatry ? If ye- be ungrateful, verily G od hath no need of you ; yet he liketh
not ingratitude in his fervants: but if ye be thankful, he will be well pleafed with
you. A burthened foul fhall not bear the burthen of another: hereafter
fhall ye return unto your L o r d , and he fhall declare unto you that which
ye have wrought, and will reward you accordingly ; for he knoweth the inner-
mod parts of your breads. When harm befalleth a man, he calleth upon his
L ord and turneth unto him : yet afterwards, when G od hath bellowed on
him favour from himfelf, he forgetteth that Being which he invoked before %
and fetteth up equals unto G od, that he m*y feduce men from his way. Say
unto fuch a man, Enjoy this life in thy infidelity for a little while : but hereafter
ihalt thou furely be one of the inhabitants of hell fire. Shall he who giveth
himfelf up to prayer in the hours of the night, proftrate, and danding, and
who taketh heed as to the life to come, and hopeth for the mercy of his L ord,
he dealt with as the wicked unbeliever? Say, Shall they who know their duty,
and they who know it not, be held equal ? Verily the men of underftandmg
only will be warned. Say, O my fervants who believe, fear your L ord.
They who do good in this world, fhall obtain good in the next'2 ■, and G od’s
earth is fpaciousc: verily thofe who perfevere with patience fhall receive their
recompenfe without meafure. Say, I am commanded to worfhip G o d , and
to exhibit the pure religion unto him : and I am commanded to be the fitft
Modem'. Say, Verily I fear, if I he difobedient unto my L o r d , the punifli-
ment of the great day. Say, I worfhip G o d , exhibiting my religion pure unto
him: but do ye worfhip that which ye will, befides him. Say, Verily they will k
the lofers, who fhall lofe their own fouls, and their families, on the day of re-
furre&ion: is not this manifefl lofs ? Over them fhall be roofs of fire, and
under them Jhall be floors of fire. With this doth G od terrify his fervants:
wherefore, O'my fervants, fear me. But thofe who efchew the worfhip of
idols, and are turned unto G o d , fhall receive good tidings. Bear good tidings
therefore unto piy fervants, who hearken unto my word, and follow that which
is mod excellent therein: thefe are they whom G od direð, and thefe are
men of underdanding. Him therefore on whom the fentence of eternal pu-
nifhment fhall be juftly pronounced, canft thou, O M oham m ed , deliver him
who is def ined to dwell in the. fire of hell? But for thofe who fear their L ord
will be prepared high apartments in paradife, over which fhall be other apartments
built; and rivers fhall run beneath them : this is the projnife of God;
and G od will not be contrary to the promife. Doft thou not fee that G od fendeth
down water from heaven, and caufeth the fame to enter and form fources in the
earth;
» Be forgetteth that Being which he invoked before
;] Or, He forgetteth the evil which he before
Prayed againft.
They who do good, in this world, Jhall obtain
good in the next;] Or, They who do good, Jhall
nfdain good even, in this world.
£ God's earth is fpacious;] Wherefore let him
who cannot fafely exercife his religion where he
was born or relides, fly to a place of liberty and
fecurity l .
d ‘The firjt Moflem;] i. e. The firft of the
Koreijh who profefleth the true religion j or the
leader in chief of the Mojlems.
earth ; and produceth thereby corn of various forts ? Afterwards he caufeth
the fame to wither ; and thou feed it become yellow : afterwards he maketh it
crumble into dud. Verily herein is an indrudlion to men of underdanding.
Shall he, therefore, whofe bread God hath enlarged to receive the religion of
Islam, and who followeth the light from his L ord, be as he whofe heart is
hardened? But woe unto thofe whofe hearts are hardened againd the remembrance
of God ! they are in a manifed error. God hath revealed a mod excellent
difcourfe •, a book conformable to itfelf, and containing repeated admonitions.
The fkins of thofe who fear their L ord fhrink for fear thereat:
afterwards their fkins grow foft, and their hearts alfo, at the remembrance of
their L ord. This is the direction of God : he will diredt thereby whom he
pleafeth ; and whomfoever God fhall caufe to err, he fhall have no director
. Shall he therefore who fhall be obliged to fcreen himfeif with his
face * from the feverity of the punifhment on the day of refurredtion,
be as he who is fecure therefrom ? And it fhall be faid unto the ungodly,
Tade that which ye have deferved. Thofe who were before them,
accufed their .apoftles of impodure ; wherefore a punifhment came upon
them from whence they expedted it not : and God caufed them to
tade fhame in this prefent life; but the punifhment of the life to come
will certainly be greater. If they were men of underdanding, they would
know this. Now have we propofed unto mankind, in this Koran, every
kind of parable; that they may be warned: an Arabic Koran, wherein there
is no crookednefsb; that they may fear God. God propoundeth as a parable
a man who hath feveral companions which are at mutual variance, and a man
who committeth himfelf wholly to one perfonc: fhall thefe be held in equal
comparifon ? God forbid ! But the greater part of them do not underdand.
Verily thou, O M ohammed, fhalt die, and they alfo fhall die : and ye fhall
debate the matter d with one another before your L ord, at the day of refur-
re&ion. * Who is more unjud than he who uttereth a lie concerning God, XXIV-
and denieth the truth, when it cometh unto him ? Is there not a dwelling provided
in hell for the unbelievers ? But he who bringeth the truth, and giveth
credit thereto', thefe are they who fear G od ; they fhall obtain whatever they
fhall defire, in the fight of their L ord : this fhall be the recompenfe of the
righteous: that God may expiate from them the very word of that which they
C c c 2 have
a Who jhall fcreen himfelf with his face, &c.] d Te Jhall debate the matter, &c.] For the
For his hands lhall be chained to his neck, and prophet will reprefent his endeavours to reclaim
he lhall not be able to oppofe any thing but his them from idolatry, and their obitinacy: and
face to the fire 1. they will make frivolous excufes; as that they
b Wherein there is no crookednefs;] i. e. No obeyed their chiefs, and kept to the religion of
contradiflion, deleft, or doubt.. their fathers, &c i .
c G od propoundeth as a parable, &c.] This e He who bringeth the truth, and giveth credit
paflage reprefenttf the uncertainty of the idola- thereto i] i. e. Mohammed and his followers :
ter, who is diitrafted in the fervice of different fome fiappofe that by the latter words Abu Beer
mailers j and the fatisfaftion of mind which at- is particularly intended, becaufe he afferted the
tends the worfhipper of the only true G od 2. prophet’s veracity in refpect to his journey to
heaven.