C H A P . L I I .
Infilled, The Mountain; revealed at M e c c a .
In the name o f the moft merciful G o d.
EY the, mountain of Sinai ; and by the book written in an expanded
g y p ; and by the vifited houfe b; and by the elevated roof of heaven
-, and by the fwelling ocean : verily the punilhment of thy L ord will
Purely defcend ; there Jhall he none to with-hold it. On that day the heaven
(hall be (haken, and lhall reel; and the mountains (hall walk and
pafs away. And on that day woe be unto thofe who accufed God’s apoftles
of impofture ; who amufed themfelves in wading in vain difputes! On that
' day (hall they be driven and thruft into the fire of‘hell ; and it fhall befatd
unto them, This I the fire which ye denied as a fiction. Is this a magic
illufion ? Or do ye not fee ? Enter the fame to be fcorched: whether ye
bear -tour torments patiently, or impatiently, it will he equal unto you : ye
(hall Purely receive the reward of that which ye have wrought. But the
pious fhall dwell amidft gardens and pleafures j delighting themfelves in what
their Lord (hall have given them : and their L ord lhall deliver them from the
pains of hell. And it fhall "be faid unto them, Eat and drink with eafy B
eeftion •, becaufe of that which ye have wrought: leaning on couches dif-
pofed in order: and we will efpoufe them unto virgins-, having large black
eyes. And unto thofe who believe, and whole off-fpring follow them m
die faith, we will join their off-fpring in paradife: and we will not diminilh
unto them ought of the merit of their works. (Every man is given in pledge
for that which he (hall have wrought“.) And we will give them fruits in
abundance, and flelh of the kinds which they (hall defire. They lhall prefent
unto one another therein a cup of wine, wherein there (hall be no vain dif-
courfe, nor any incitement unto wickednefs. And youths appointed to attend
them,’ (hall go round them: beautiful as pearls hidden -in their Jhell. And
they (hall approach unto one another, and lhall ask mutual queftions. And they
(hall fay Verily we were heretofore amidft our family, in great dread with re-
* ftntrn.
a By the book» &c.] The book here intended,
according to different opinions, is either the
book.or.regifter wherein every man’s adtions are
recorded ; or the preferved table, • containing
G od’s decrees; or the book of the law, which
was written by God, Mofes hearing the creaking
of the pen ; or elfe the Koran
0 The v i f ted houfe;] i. e. The Caaba, fo much
yifited by^pilgrims; or, as fome rather think,
the original model of that houfe in heaven, called
al Dordh, which is vifited and compared by
the angels, as the.other is by men 2.
' c Every man is given in pledge for that which
heJhall have wrought;] i. e Every man is pledged
unto G od for his behaviour : and if he does
well,- he redeems his pledge ; but if evil, he
forfeits it.
gardto our ft ate after death : but God hath been gracious unto us, and hath delivered
us from the pain of burning fire : for we called on him heretofore s and he
is the beneficent, the merciful. Wherefore do thou, 0 prophet, admonilh
thy people. Thou art not, by the grace "of thy L ord, a foothfayer, or a
madman. Do they fay, He is a poet: we wait, concerning him, fome ad*
verfe turn of fortune ? Say, Wait ye my ruin: verily I wait, with you, the
time of your definition. Do their mature underftandings bid them fay this ;
or are they people who perverfely tranfgrefs ? Do they fay, He hath forged
the Koran? Verily they believe not. Let them produce a difeourfe like
unto it, if they fpeak truth. Were they created by nothing ; or were
they the creators of themfelves ? Did they create the heavens and the earth ?
Verily they are not firmly perfuaded that Goo hath created them*. Are
the (tores of thy L ord in their hands ? Are they the fupreme difpenfers of
all things ? Have they a ladder, whereby they may afeend to heaven, and
hear the difeourfes of the angels ? Let one, therefore, who hath heard them,
produce an evident proof thereof. Hath God daughters,' and have ye fonsb?
Doft thou ask them a reward for thy preaching ? but they are laden with
debts. Are the fecrets of futurity with them ; and do they tranferibe the
fame from the table of God-s decrees ? Do they feek to lay a plot againft
thee ? But the unbelievers are they who fhall be circumvented c.:/ Have they
any god, befides God ? Far be God exalted above the idols which they
afiociate with him\ If they fhould fee a fragment of the heaven falling
down upon them, they would fay, It is only a thick cloudd. Wherefore
leave them, until, they arrive at their day wherein they lhall fwoon for fear':
a day, in which their fubtle contrivances (hall not avail them at all, neither
(hall they be protefted. And thofe who aft unjuttly lhall furely fufier
another punifhment befides thisf : but the greater part of them do not un-
derftand. And wait thou patiently the judgment of thy L ord concerning
them ; for thou art in our eye1: and celebrate the praife of thy L ord, when
thou rifeft up ; and praife him in the night-feafon, and when the ftars begin
to difappear.
* They are not firmly perfuaded that G od hath heaven falling on them, they would not believe
treated them ;] For tho’ they confefs this with it till they were crulhed to death by it '.
their tongues, yet they deny it by their averfe- ' The day wherein they p a ll fwoon for fear ;]
nefs to render him his due worlhip. i. e. At the firft found of the trumpet 2.
b See chap. 16. p. 218, Sec. f Another punijhment befides this;] That is,
I See chap.- 8. p. 142, Stc. Befides the punilhment to which they lhall be
* I f they fhould fee a fragment of the heaven doomed at the day of judgment, they lhall be
falling down on them, &c.] This was one of the previoufly chaftifed by calamities in this life, as
judgments which the idolatrous Meccans defied the daughter at Bedr, and the feven years famine,
Mohammed to bring down upon them j and yet, and alfo after their death, by the examination
fays the text, if they Ihould fee a part of the of the fepulchre 3.
’ ^ /B eidawi. j See the Prelim. Difc. IV. p . 82. 3 A l Beidawi,
I i i C H A P .