them wifh to enter into a garden of delight ? By no means : verily we have
created them of that which they know“. I fwear k by the L ord of the
eaft and of the weft', that we are able to deflroy them, and to fubftitute
better than them in their room ; neither are we to be prevented, if we fhall
■ pleafe fo to do. Wherefore fuffer them to wade in vain difputes, and to
amufe themfelves with fport r until they meet their day with which they
have been threatened •, the day whereon they Ihall come forth haftily from
their graves, as though they were troops haftening to their ftandard : their looks
Jhall be downcaft ; ignominy fhall attend them. This is the day with which
they have been threatened.
» Peril] me have created them ef that which * IJwear; ] Or, 1 wilt not fioear, Sec. See
they knew,] Viz. O f filthy feed, which beers chap. 56.?. 436, not. f.
no relation or refemblance to holy beings : c O f the eaft and of the weft j ]: The original
wherefore it is necefiary for him who would words are in the plural number, and fignify the
hope to be an inhabitant of paradife, to perfect different points of the horizon at which the fun.
himfelf in faith and fpiritual vertues, to fit rifes and fets in the courfe of the year. See.
himfelf for that place ' . chap. 57. p. 3.66. not. c.
1 A l Beidawi .
CHAP . LXXI.
Intitled, N oah; revealed at Mecca.
In the name of the moft merciful G od.
VErily we fent N o a h unto his people, faying, Warn thy people, before a
grievous punilhment overtake them. N oah faid, O my people, verily
I am a public warner unto you ; wherefore ferve G o d , and fear him, and
obey me: he will forgive you part of your fins “, and will grant you refpite
until a determined time : for G o d ’ s determined time, when it cometh, fliall
not be deferred ; if ye were men of underftanding, ye would know this. He
faid, L o r d , verily I have called my people night and day ; but my calling
only increafeth their averfion : and whenfoever I call them to the true faith,
-that thou mayeft forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears, and cover
themfelves with their garments, and perfift in their infidelity, and proudly
difdain my counfd. Moreover I invited them openly, and I fpake to them a-
gain in public ; and I alfo lecretly admonifhed them in private: and I faid.
Beg pardon of your L o r d ; for he is inclined to forgive ; and he will caufe
the heaven to pour down rain plentifully upon you, and will give you increafe
of wealth and of children *; and he will provide you gardens, and
furnifli
a Part of your Jim',] »■ e. Your part fine; wraith and of children jJ Tt is faid; that after
which are done away by the profeffion of the Noah had for a long time preached to them in.
true faith. vain, Goo fhut up the heaven for forty years,
. And he w ill caufe the heaven to rain plenti- and rendred their women barren
fully upon you, and w ill give you increafe. of
1 Idem,
furnifh you with rivers! What aileth you, that ye hope not for benevolence
in G od a; fince he hath created you varioufly b? Do ye not fee how G od
hath created the feven heavens, one above another; and hath placed the
moon therein for a light, and hath appointed the fun for a taper?
G od hath alfo produced and caufed you to fpring forth from the earth :
hereafter he will caufe you to return into the fame; and he will again take
you thence, by bringing you forth from your graves. And G od hath fpread the
earth as a carpet for you, that ye may walk therein through fpacious paths.
N o ah faid, L o r d , verily they are difobedient unto me; and they follow
him whofe riches and children do no other than increafe his perdition. And
they devifed a dangerous plot againjl N oah: and the chief men faid to the
others, Ye fhall by no means leave your gods; neither fhall ye forfake
W a d d , nor Sow a , nor Y a g h u t h , ffnd Y a u k , and N esr c. And they fe-
duced many ; (for thou fhalr only increafe error in the wicked :) becaufe of
their fins they were drowned, and eaft into the fire of hell; and they found
none to proteft them againft G o d . And N o a h faid, L o r d , leave not any
families of the unbelievers on the earth : for if thou leave them, they will
duce thy fervants, and will beget none but a wicked and unbelieving off-
fpringd. L o r d , forgive me and my parents", and every one who fhall enter
my houfe f, being a true believer, and the true believers of both fexes; and
add unto the unjuft doers nothing but deftruftion.
a What ailetb you, that ye hope not for bene-
valence in G od?J i. e. That God will accept
and amply reward thafe who ferve him ? For
fome fuppofe Noah's people made him this an-
fwer, I f what we now follow be the truth, we
ought not to forfake it ; but i f it be falfe, how
w ill God accept, or be favourable unto us, who
have rebelled againjl him 1 ?
b Hath created you variouJly\\ That is, as the
commentators expound it, by various fteps or
changes, from the- original matter, till ye became
perfeft men
c Thefe were five idols worlhipped by the
Antediluvians, and afterwards by the ancient A-
1 Idem. * See chap. 22. p. 274. and cht
rabs. See the Prelim. Difc. §. 1. p. 19.
d L ord, leave not any families of the unbelievers,
Sec. ] They fay Noah preferred not this
prayer for the deilruftion of his people till after
he had tried them for nine hundred and fifty
years, and found them incorrigible reprobates.
e My parents; ] His father Lamech, and his
mother, whofe name was Shamkha, the daughter
of Enojh, being true believers.
f. My houfe; ] The commentators are uncertain
whether Noah's dwelling-houfe be here
meant, or the temple he had built for the wor-
fhip o f G od, or the ark.
>. 23. p. 281, &c.
CHAP. LXXII.
Intitled, The Genii; revealed at M e c c a .
In the name of the moft merciful G od.
SA Y , It hath been revealed unto me that a company of genii attentively
heard me reading the Koran*, and faid, Verily we have heard an admira-
O o o 2 ble
* See chap. 46. p. 40S. net. d.