the fhe-camel for a trial of them * ; and do thou obferve them, and bear
their infults with patience: and prophefy unto them that the water [hall be
divided between themb, and each portion /hall be fat down to alternately. And
they called their companionc: and he took a fword4, and flew her. But
how fevere was my vengeance, and my threatening ! For we fent againft
them one cry of the angel G a b r i e l , and they became like the dry flicks
ufed by him who buildeth a fold for cattle And now have we made the
K oran eafy for admonition: but is any one admoniihed thereby? .The
people of L ot charged his preaching with falfhood : but we fent againft
them a wind driving a Ihower of {tones, which dejlroyed them all except the
family of L ot ; whom we delivered early in the morning, through favour
from us. Thus do we reward,thofe who are thankful. And L o t had warned
them of our feverity in chajlifing ; but they doubted of that warning.
And they demanded his guefts of him, that they might abufe them: but we
put out their eyesf, faying, Tafte my vengeance, and my threatening. And
early in the morning a lading punifhment8 furprized them. Tafte, therefore,
my vengeance, and my threatening. Now have we made the K oran
eafy for admonition : but is any one admoniihed thereby ? The warning of
M o s e s alfo came unto the people of P haraoh ; to they charged every one of
our figns with impofture : wherefore we chaftifed them with a mighty and irre-
fiftible chaftifement. Are your unbelievers, 0 M e c c a n s , better than thefe ? Is
immunity -from punifhment promifed unto you in the fcriptures ? Do they
fay, We are a body of men able to prevail againft our enemies ? The multitude
fhall furely be put to flight, and fhall turn their back J, But the
hour of judgment is their threatened time of punifhment4: and that hour
fhall be more grievous and more bitter than their afflictions in this life. Verily
the wicked wander in error, and Jhall be tormented hereafter in burn-
4‘‘See chap. 7. p. 124, Sec.
b The water Jhall be divided between them j]|
That is, between the Thamudites and the camel.
.See chap. 26. p. 306. not. b.
c Their companion $•] Namely Kodar Ebn S a left,
who was not an Arab, but a Arranger dwelling
3mong the Tbamudites. See chap. 7. p. 125..
not. a.
d He took a fword;] Or, as the word alfo
imports, He became refolute.and daring.
e Like the dry Jlicks ufed by him who buildeth
a fold for cattle i] The words may fignify either
the dry boughs with which, in the eaft, they
make folds or inclofures, to fence their cattle
from wind and cold; ox the ftubble and other
fluff with which they litter them in thofe folds
during the winter feafon.
f We put out their eyes;] So that their fockets
-became filled up even with the other parts of
their faces. This, It is laid, was done by one
ftroke of the wing of the angel Gabriel. See
chap. 11. p. 183.
8 A lajiing punifhment j] Under which they
fhall continue till they receive their full punifh-
ment in hell.
h The multitude (hall furely be put to flight;] This
prophecy was fulfilled by the 'overthrow of
the Koreifh at Bedr. It is-related, from a tradition
of Omart that when this paffage was revealed,
Mohammed profeffed himfelf to be ignorant
of its true meaning; but on the day of the
battle of Bedr, he repeated thefe words as he
was putting on his coat of mail l .
1 The hour \ of judgment is their threatened time
of punijhmeut;] i. e. The time when they fhaH
receive their full punifhment; what they fuffer
in this world being only the fore-runner or earned
of what they fhall feel in the next.
A l Be 1 dawi .
ing flames. On that day they fhall be dragged into the fire on their faces;
and it fhall be faid unto them, Tafte ye the touch of hell. All things have
we created bound by a fixed decree : and our command is no more than a
Angle word*, like the twinkling of an eye. We have formerly deftroyed
nations like unto you but is any of you warned by their example? Every
thing which they do is recorded in the books kept by the guardian angels :
and every action, both fmall and great, is written down in the preferved table.
Moreover the pious Jhall dwell among gardens and rivers, in the afiembly
of truth, in the prefence of a moft potent king.
a Our command is no more than a Jingle word;] Jingle a£ly exerted in a moment. Some fuppofe
Viz. Kun, i. e. Be. The paffage may alfo be it refers to the bufinefsof the day of judgmentx.
rendered. The execution of our purpofe is but a
1 Idem.
C H A P . LV.
Intitled, The Merciful; revealed at Mecca1.
In the name o f the moft merciful G od.
T H E Merciful hath taught his fervant the K oran. He created mairr
he hath taught him dillindt fpeeeh. The fun and. the moon run
their courfes according to a certain rule: and the vegetables which creep-
on 0 ? ground, and the trees fubmit to his difpojttion. He alfo raifed the
heaven; and he appointed the balanceb, that ye fhould not tranfgrefs in re-
fpedt to the balance: wherefore obferve a juft weight; and diminifti not
the balance. And the earth hath he prepared for living creatures : therein
are various fruits, and palm-trees bearing fheaths of flowers ; and grain
having chaff, and leaves. Which, therefore, of your L ord*S benefits will
ye ungratefully denyc? He created man of dried clay like an-earthen veffelr
but he created the genii of fire clear from fmokfe. Which, therefore, of
your L ord’s benefits will ye ungratefully deny ? He is the L ord of the
caft, and the L ord of the weft d. Which, therefore* of your L ord’s benefits
* Moft of the commentators doubt whether
this chapter was revealed at Mecca or at Medinaj
or partly at the one place, and partly at the other.
b The balance;] Or juftice and equity in mutual
dealings.
c Which therefore of your L ordV benefits w ill
ye ungratefully deny f ] The words are diredled
to the two fpecies'of rational creatures, men and
genii; the verb and the pronoun being in the
dual number.
This verfe is intercalated, or repeated by way
of burden, throughout the whole chapter no lefs
than thirty one times, which was done, as Mar-
racci gueffes, in imitation of David 1.
d The eaft and the weft;] The original words
are: both in the dual number, and fignify the different
points of the horizon at which the fun-
rifes and fets at the fummer and winter folftice.
See chap. 37. p. 366. not. c.
See Pfalm. cxxxvi.