4^2 A l K O R A N . C h a p . 6 8 .
Modems, as with the wicked* ? What aileth you that ye judge thus ? Have ye
a book from heaven, wherein-ye read that ye are therein promifed that which ye
fhall clioofe? Orhavqy ^received oaths which.lhallbe binding upon us to the day of
refurredtion, that ye fhall enjoy what ye imagine ? Ask them,whichof them w ill
he the voucher of this. Or have they, companions b who -will vouch fo r them ?
Let them produce their companions, therefore, if they fpeak truth. On a certain
day the leg fhall be made barec 5 and they fhall be called upon to worihip,
but they fhall not be a b l e T h e i r looks Jhall be caft down s-ignominy fhall
attend them : for that they were invited to the worfhip o f G od, while they
were in fafety, hut would not hear. Let me alone, therefore, with him who
accufeth this new revelation of impafture. We will lead them gradually to
defiruCtion, by ways which they know not“ : and I will bear with them for a
longtime-, for myfiratagem is effe&ual. Doft thou ask them any reward
f o r thy preaching? But they are laden with debts. A r e thefecrets of futurity
with them ; jand do they tranfcribe the fame from the table o f God's dec
r e e s * ? Wherefore patiently wait the judgment of thy L ord: and be not
like him who was fwallowed by the fifhs; when he cried unto G od , being
inwardly vexed. Had not grace from his L ord reached him, he had finely
been caft forth on the naked fhore, covered with fhame : but his-Lord
chofe him, and made him one of the righteous. It wanteth little but that the
unbelievers ftrike thee down with dieir malicious looks, when they hear the
admonition o f the K o r a n ; and they fay, He is certainly diftrafted: but ic
is no other than an admonition unto all creatures.
. Shall we deal with the Moflems as with the
wicked?] This paflage was revealed in anfwerto
the infidels, who faid, i f we Jhall be raijed again,
^Mohammed and bis followers imagine, they w ill
not excel us; but we Jhall certainly be in a better
condition than they in the next world, as we are
in this r.
b Have they companions ?\ Or/ as iome interpret
the- word, idols; which can make their
condition, in the next life, equal to that of the
Mojlems ? _ .
I The leg Jhall be made bare; J This expreffi-
on is ufed to fignify a grievous and terrible calamity
: thus they fay, War has made bare the
leg, when they would exprefs the fury and rage
©f battle 2.
d They Jhall be called upon to worjhip, but they
Jhall not be able; ] Becaufe the time of acceptance
fhall be paft. A l Beidawi is uncertain whether
the words refpeft the day of judgment, or
the article of death: but Jallalo'ddin fuppofes
them to relate to the former, and adds that the
infidels fhall not be able to perform the aft of a-
doration, becaufe their backs fhall become ftifF
and inflexible.
0 By ways which they know noti] i. e. By granting
them long life and profperity in this world ;
which will deceive them to their ruin.
f See chap. 52. p. 425.
g Be not like him who was Jwallowed by the
JiJh j] That is, Be not impatient and pettifli, as
Jonas was. See chap. 21. p. 272.
* ///Be i d aw i . * Idemt J a l l a d .
CHAP.
C hap. 69. A l K O R A N . 4 6 3
C H A P . LXIX.
In tit led, The Infallible 3 revealed at M,e c c a .
In the name of the moll merciful God.
TH E infallible1 ! What is the infallible ? And What lhall caufe thee
to underftand what the infallible is,? The tribes o f T h a mud and A d
denied as a falfhood the day- which fhall ftrikeb metis hearts with terror. But
T hamud were deftroyed by a terrible noife : and A d were deftroyed by a
roaring and furious wind ; which G od caufed to aflail them for feven nights
and eight days fucceffively : thou mighteft have feen people, during the fame,
lying proftrate, as though they had been the roots of hollow palm-trees ' ;
and couldeft thou have feen any of them remaining? P haraoh alfo, and
thofe who were before him, and the cities which were overthrown d,-werb guilty
of fin; and they feverally were difobedient to the apoftle of their L ord ;
wherefore he chaftifed them with an abundant chaftifement. When the water
o f the.deluge arofe, we carried you in the ark which fwam thereon; that we
might make the fame a memorial unto you,, and the retaining ear might retain
it. And when one blaft fhall found the trumpet, and the earth fhall be
moved fr om its place, and the mountains alfo, and lhall be dallied in pieces at
one ftroke: on that day the inevitable hour o f judgment fhall-fuddeniy come ; and
the heavens lhall cleave in filhder, and lhall fall in pieces, on that day : and the'
angels Jhall be on the lides thereof'; and eight lhall bear the throne of thy
L ord, above them, on that day fr On that day- ye lhall be prefented before
the judgment fea t o f G od -„ and none of yourfecret aSlions Jhall be hidden. And
he who lhall have his book delivered into his right hand, fhall la y ,. Take ye,
read this my book ; verily I thought that I fhould be brought to this my account
:
d The cities which were overthrown; ] Viz.
Sodom, and Gomorrah. See chap. 9. p. 158.
not. a.
e The angels Jhall be on the fide s thereof ', ]
Thefe words feem to intimate the death of the
angels, at the demolition of their habitation ;
befide the ruins whereof they fhall lie like
dead bodies. *
f Eight angels Jhall bear the throne of thy
L ord, on that day;] The number of thofe who
bear it at prefent being generally fuppofed to
be but four ; to whom four more will be added
at the laft day, for the grandeur of the occa-
fion 2,
a The - infallible; ] The original word al
Hakkat is one o f the names or epithets of the
day of judgment. As the root from which it
is derived fignifies not only to be or come to pajs
of tiecejjity, but alfo to verify, fome rather think
that day to be fo-called'becaufe-it will verify, and
Jhew the truth of what men doubt of in this
life; viz. the refurreftion of the dead, their
being brought to. account, and the confequent
rewards and punifhments 1.
b The day which Jhall ftrike f\ Arab, al Kariat,
or the Jlriking; which is another name or epithet
of the lait day.
* See chap. 54. p. 429.