into feven heavens, in two days’ ; and revealed unto every heaven its office.
And we adorned the lower heaven with lights, and placed therein a guard of
angelsb. This is the difpofition of the mighty, the wife God. If the
M e c c a n s withdraw from thefe infractions, fay, I denounce unto you a fudden
deftrudtion, like the deftrudtion of A d and T hamud. When the apoftles
came unto them before them and behind them', faying, Worfhip God alone;
they anfwered, If our L ord had been pleafed to fend meffengers, he had
furely fent angels: and we believe not the meffage with which ye are fent.
As to the tribe of A d, they behaved infolently in the earth, without reafon, and
faid, Who is more mighty than we in ftrength ? Did they not fee that God,
who had created them, was more mighty than they in ftrength ? And they
knowingly rejected our figns. Wherefore we fent againft them a piercing
wind, on days of ill luckd, that we might make them tafte the punilhment
of lhame in this world: but the punilhment of the life to come will be more
Ihameful; and they {hall not be protected therefrom. And as to T hamud,
we diretfted them ; but they loved blindnefs better than the true direction:
wherefore theterrible noife of an ignominious punilhment aflailed them, for that
which they had deferved ; but we delivered thofe who believed, and feared God'.
And warn them of the day, on which the enemies of G od lhall be gathered together
unto hell fire, and lhall march in diftindt bands ; until, when they lhall
arrive thereat, their ears, and their eyes, and their (kins lhall bearwitnefs againft
them of that which they lhall have wrought. And they lhall fay unto their
Ikins, Wherefore do ye bear witnefs againft us ? They lhall anfwer, God
hath caufed us to fpeak, who giveth fpeech unto all things: he created you
the firft time ; and unto him are ye returned. Ye did not hide your felves,
while ye finned, fo that your ears, and your eyes, and your Ikins could not
bear witnefs againft youf : but ye thought that G od was ignorant of many
things which ye did. This was your opinion, which ye imagined of your
L ord : it hath ruined you ; and ye are become loft people. Whether they
bear their torment, hell fire Jhall be their abode; or whether they beg for
favour, they lhall not obtain favour. And we will give them the devils to be
their companions ; for they drefied up for them thefalfe notions which they entertained
of this prefent world, and of that which is to come ; and the fentence
a In two Jays;] viz. On the fifth and fiixth
days of the week. It is faid the heavens were
created on Tburfday, and the fun, moon, and
ftars on Friday, in the evening of which laft
. day Adam was made 1.
11 See chap. 15. p. 211.
c Before them and behind them (] That is, on
every fide; perfuading and urging them continually,
and by arguments drawn from pail ex-,
amples, and the expectation of future rewards
or puniihments.
<f On days of ill lack',] It is laid that this
wind continued from Wednefday to Wednejday
indufive, being the latter end of the month
Sbawdl; and that a Wednefday is the day whereon
Gon fends down his judgments on a wicked
people ?.
' See chap. 7. p. 124, CSfo.
f Ye did not bide your felves fo that your ears,
and your eyes, and your skins could not bear witnefs
againft you;] i. e. Ye hid your crimes from
men, little thinking that your very members,
from which ye could not hide them, would rife
up as witneiles againfi you.
iuftly fitteth them, which was formerly pronounced on the nations of genii and
men who were before them for they perilhed. The unbelievers fay, Hearken
not unto this K oran : but ufe vain difcourfe #• during the reading thereof 1 that
ye may overcome the voice of the reader by your feoffs and laughter. Wherefore
we will furely caufe the unbelievers to tafte a grievous punilhment, and we
will certainly reward them for the evils which they lhall have wrought. This
fhall be the reward of the enemies of God, namely, hell fire •, therein is prepared
for them an everlafting abode, as a reward for that they have wittingly
reje&ed our figns. And the infidels lhall fay in hell, O L ord, Ihew us the two
who feduced us, of the genii and menb, and we will.caft them under our feet,
that they may become moft bafe and defpicable. As for thofe who fay, Our
L ord is God, and who behave uprightly ; the angels lhall defeend unto themc,
and Jhall fay, Fear not, neither be ye grieved ; but rejoice in the hopes of
paradife, which ye have been promifed. We are your friends in this life, and
in that which is to come : therein lhall ye have that which your fouls lhall
defire, and therein lhall ye obtain whatever ye lhall alk for ; as a gift from a
gracious, and merciful God. Who fpeaketh better than he who inviteth unto
God, and worketh righteoufnefs, and faith, I am a Modem ? Good and
evil lhall not be held equal. Turn away evil with that which is better •, and
behold, the man between whom and thyfelf there was enmity, ffall becomej
as it were, thy warmeft friend: but none lhall attain to this perfection, except
they who are patient -, nor lhall any attain thereto, except he who is indued
with a great happinefs of temper. And if a malicious fuggeftion be offered
unto thee from Sa t a n , have recourfe unto God j for it is he who heareth
and knoweth. Among the figns of his power are the night, and the day, and
the fun, and the moon. Worlhip not the fun, neither the moon : but wor-
lhip God, who hath created them ; if ye ferve him. But if they proudly dif-
dain his fervice-, verily the angels, who are with thy L ord, praife him night
and day, and are not wearied. And among his figns another is, that thou
leeft the land wafte: but when we fend down rain thereon, it is ftirred and
fermenteth. And he who quickeneth the earth, will furely quicken the dead j
for he is almighty. Verily thofe who impioully wrong our figns, are not concealed
from us. Is he, therefore, better, who lhall be caft into hell fire, or
he who lhall appear fecure on the day of refurreftion ? Work that which ye
will: he certainly beholdeth whatever ye do. Verily they who believe not in the
admonition of the Koran, after it hath come unto them, Jhall one day be difeover-
ed. It is certainly a book of infinite value: vanity lhall not approach it, either
from before it, or from behind itd: it is a revelation from a wife God ,
whofe
* Ufe vain difcourfe j] Or, Talk aloud. minds to good, to preferve them from temp-
L The two who feduced us, of the genii and tations, and to comfort them j or at the hour
tntnll j|e.T Thofe of either fpecies, who drew of death, to fupport them in their laft agony i
us into fin and ruin. Some fuppofe that the or at their coming forth from their graves, at
two more particularly intended here, areEblis therefurrefilion*.
and Cain',- the two authors of infidelity and mur- d Vanity fhall not approach it, eitherfrom before
der 1. it, or from behind it j] That is, It fhall not be
f The angels p a ll defeend unto them;] Either prevailed againft, or fruftrated by any means, or
while they are living on earth, to difpofe their in any refpefit whatever.
1 Idem, J a l l a l o ’ d»!» . * Idem.