truth rs come unto them, they fay, This is a piece of forcery 1 and we
believe not therein. And they fay, Had this K oran been fent down unto
fome great man of either of the two cities *, we would have received it. Do
they diftribute the mercy of thy L ord b ? We diftribute their necefiary pro-
vifion among them, in this prefent life, and we raife fome of them feveral. degrees
above the others, that the one of them may take the other to lerve him •
and the mercy of thy L ord is more valuable than the riches which they
gather together. If it were not that mankind would have become one fed of
infidels, verily we had given unto thofe who believe not in the Merciful
roofs of filver to their houfes, and flairs of fiver, by which they might
afcend thereto, and doors of filver to their houfes, and couches of filver, for
them to lean on ; and ornaments of gold: for all this is the provilion of the
prefent life; but the next life with thy L ord Jhall be for thofe who fear him.
Whoever lhall withdraw from the admonition of the Merciful, we will chain a
devil unto him ; and he lhall be his infeparable companion : (and the devils
fhall turn them afide from the way of truth ; yet they lhall imagine them-
felves to be rightly directed:) until, when he lhall appear before us at the laß
day, he lhall fay unto the devil % Would to G od that between me and thee
there was the diflance of the eaft from the weft ! Oh how wretched a companion
art thou! But wifhes lhall not avail you on this day, fince ye have been
unjuft; for ye (hall be partakers of the fame punilhment. Canft thou, 0
prophet, make the deaf to hear, or canft thou diredt the blind, and him who
is in a manifeft error ? Whether we take thee away, we will furely take ven-
- geance on them; or whether we caufe thee to fee the punijhment with which
we have threatened them, executed, we will certainly prevail over them.
Wherefore hold faft the doSrine which hath been revealed unto thee ■, for thou
art in a right way: and it is a memorial unto thee and thy people, and
hereafter fhall ye be examined concerning your obfervance .thereof. And afk our
. apoftles whom we have fent before thee d, whether we have appointed gods for
them to worlhip, befides the Merciful. We formerly fent M oses with our
figns unto P haraoh and his princes, and he faid, Verily I am the apoftleof
the L ord of all creatures. And when he came unto them with our figns,
behold, they laughed him to fcorn; although we fhewed them no fign, but
sit was greater than the other ": and we inflifted a punilhmentf on them’ that
peradvencure they might be converted. And they faid unto M oses, O magician,
I Had the Koran been fent down unto fome great ons which they taught, and their learned men a.
. man of either of the two cities;] r. To one of ( But it was greater than the other;] Literally!
.the principal inhabitants of Mecca, or of TSyef; Than its fifter. The meaning is, that the mira-
fuch as at Walid Ebn at Mogheira, or Qrwa Ebn cles were all, very great and copfiderahle, or, as
Mafud the Ibakifite 1 • the French may exprefs k, by a phrafe nearly'the
'‘ th e mercy of thy Lord ;] By this expreffion fame, let uns plus grands que les autres. ; ■
the prophetic office is here particularly intended. t A punijhment;] viz. The fucceffive plagues
c See chap. I9\P*25,4. which they fuffered, previous to their final ded
Asb our apoftles whom we have fent before ftrudlioniu the red fea.
■ jihee»] That is, Ask thofe who profefs the rcligi-
1 A l Bzibawi. * Idem. ] a i l a l i . fSV.
cian, pray unto thy L o r d for us, according to the covenant which he hath
made with thee; for we will certainly be direfted. But when we took the
plague from off them, behold, they brake their promife. And P haraoh
made proclamation among his people, faying, O my people, is not the kingdom
of E gypt mine,' and thele rivers * which flow beneath me ? Do ye not
fee ? Am not I better than this M oses ; who is a contemptible perfon, and
can fcarce exprefs himfelf intelligiblyb ? Have bracelets of gold, therefore,
been put upon him" ; or do the angels attend him in orderly procelfion ?
And P h arao h perfuaded his people to light behaviour; and they obeyed
him: for they were a wicked people. And when they had provoked us to
wrath, we took vengeance on them, and we drowned them all: and we
made them a precedent, and an example unto others. And when the fon of
Mary was propofed for an example; behold, thy people cried out through
excefs of joy thereatd; and they faid, Are our gods better, or he? They have
propofed this inftance unto thee no otherwife than for an occafion of difpute .
yea, they are contentious men. J esus is no other than a fervant, whom
we favoured with the gift of prophecy 5 and we appointed him for an example
" unto the children of Israel : (if we pleafed, verily we could
from your felves produce angels, to fucceed you in the earthf :) and he Jhall
be a fign of the approach of the laji hour5; wherefore doubt not thereof.
And follow me : this is the right way. And let not Sa tan caufe you to
turn afide: for he is your open enemy. And when J esus came with evident
miracles, he faid, Now am I come unto you with wifdomb j and to explain
.unto
a Thefe rivers ;] To wit, The Nile and its
branches 1.
b See chap. 20. p. 257. not. e.
c Have bracelets of gold been put upon him ?"]
Such bracelets were fome of the injignia of
royalty : for when the Egyptians raifed a perfon
to the dignity of a prince, they put a collar or
chain of gold about his neck 2, and bracelets of
gold on his wrifts 3.
d When the fon of Mary was propofed for an
example, &c.] This paifage is generally fup-
pofed to have been revealed on occafion of an
objection made by one Ebn al Zabdri to thofe
words in the 21 ft. chapter4, by which all in
general, who were worfliipped as deities, befides
G od, are doomed to hell: whereupon the
infidels cried out, We are contented that our gods
Jhould be with Jefus; for he alfo is worjbipped as
G od Some, however, are of opinion it
might have been revealed in anfwer to certain
idolaters, who faid that the Chrijlians, who received
the feriptures, worfhipped Jefus, fuppofing
him to be the fon of G od; whereas.the angels
were more worthy of that honour than he 6.
c An example;] Or an inftance of our power,
by his miraculous birth.
f We could from your felves produce angels, &c.]
As ealily as we produced Jefus without a father 7.
The intent of the words is to lhew how juft
and reafonable it is to think, that the angels
fhould bear the relation o f children to men, rather
than to G od ; they being his creatures, as
well as men, and equally in his power.
g He Jhall be a fign of the approach of the loft
hour',] For fome time before the refurredlion'
Jefus is to defeend on earth, according to the
Mohammedans, near Damafcus 8, or, as fome fay,
near a rock in the holy land named Afik, with
a lance in his hand, wherewith he is to kill
Antichrifi, whom he will encounter at Ludd, or
Lydda, a fmall town not far from Joppa9.
They add, that he will arrive at Jerufalem at the
time of morning prayer, that he lhall perform
his devotions after the Mohammedan inftitution,
and officiate inftead of the Imam, who lhall
give place to him; that he will break down the
crofs, and deftroy the churches of the Chrijlians,
of whom he will alfo make a general llaughter,
excepting only fuch as lhall profefs Ifldm, & c 1 ° .
h Now Am 1 come unto you with wijdom;J That
is, with a book of revelations, and an excellent
fyftem of religion.
1 Idem. 2 See Genef. x l i . 42. 3 A lB e i d a w i , J a l l a l o ’ d d in . * See p. 273.
1 Ja l l a l o ’d d in , ^ / B e i d a w i . 6 Idem. 7 Idem. 8 See the Prel. Difc. §. IV. p. 81.
9 See ib. p. 80. 10 A l B e i d aw i .