•thofe who accufed the ■ prophets of impofture! This Jhall he a day whereon
they {hall not fpeak to any purpofe ; neither lhall they be permitted to excufe
themfelves Wo be, on that day, unto thofe who actufed the prophets ot
ampofture > This Jhall be the day of reparation: we will affemble both you
and your predeceffors. Wherefore, if ye have any cunning ftratagem,
employ ftratagems againft me. Wo be, on that day, unto thofc who ac-
cafed the prophets of impofture 1 But the pious Jhall dwell anndft (hades and
fountains, ana fruits of the kinds which they {hall defire : and it Jhall be find
unto them, Eat and drink with eafy.digeftion, in recompenfe for that which ye
have wrought •, for thus do we reward the righteoi# doers. Wo be, on that
dav' unto thofe who accufed the prophets of impofture! Eat, O unbelievers,
■ and enjoy the pleafures of this UJ% for a little while: verily ye are wicked
men. Wo be, on that day, unto thofe who accufed the prophets of lmpoi-
ture ! And when it is faid unto them, Bow down ; they do not bow down,
-ffo be, on that day, unto thofe who accufed the prophets of impofture . m
what new revelation will they believe, after this?
CHAP. LXXVffl.
Intitled, The News ; revealed at Mecca.
In the name of the moll merciful G o d.
* Oncerning what do the unbelievers a(k queftions of one another? Con-
\ , cerning the great news of the refurredtion, about which they difagree.
Affuredly they lhall hereafter know the truth thereof. Again, Affuredly they
fhall hereafter know the truth thereof. Have we not made the earth for a
bed and the mountains for ftakes to fix tbefame*? And have we not created
vou of twofexes; and appointed your fleep for reft; and made the night
a garment,/» cover you -, and deftined the day to the gaining your livelihood •,
and built over you feven folid heavens •, and placed therein a burning lamp?
And do we not fend down from the clouds preffing forth rain, water pouring
down in abundance, that we may thereby produce com, and herbs, and
gardens planted thick with trees? Verily the day of feparation is a fixed
period: the day whereon the trumpet lhall found, and ye lhall come in
troops to judgment; and the heaven lhall be opened, and lhall be full of gates
for the angels to pafs through * and the mountains lhall pafs away, and become
as a vapour i verily hell lhall be a place of ambulh, a receptacle for
thé tranfgreffors, who fhall remain therein for ages: they lhall not tafte any
refrelhment therein, or any drink, except boiling water, and filthy corruption:
a fit recompenfe for their deeds 1 For they hoped that they Ihould not
* Ses-chap. i f . p. 2 i 5. and chap. 31. p. 335.
be brought to an account, and they disbelieved our figns, accufing them of fal-
fhood. But every thing have we computed, and written down. Tafte, therefore:
we will not add unto you any other than torment a. But for the pious is
prepared a.place of blils: gardens planted with trees, and vineyards, and damfels
with levelling breafts, of equal age with themfelves, and a full cup. They
lhall hear no vain difcourfe there, nor any fallhopd. This Jhall be their
recompenfe from thy L o r d ; a gift:fully fufficient: from the L ord of heaven and
earth, and of whatever is between them ; the Merciful. The inhabitants of
heaven or of earth lhall not dare to demand audience of him : the day
whereon the lpirit Gabriel, and the other angels lhall ftand in order,
they lhall not fpeak in behalf of themfelves or others, except he only to
whom the Merciful lhall grant permifiion, and who lhallfay that which is right.
This is the infallible day. Whofo, therefore, willeth, let him return unto
his L o r d . Verily we threaten you with a punilhment nigh at hand : the day
whereon, a man lhall behold the good or evil deeds which his hands have fenc
before him; and the unbeliever, lhall fay, Wpuld to. G od I were duft 1
* We w ill not add unto'you any other than hell; they being hereby allured that' every.
torment; ] This, fay the commentators, is the change in their torments will be for the
moil fevere and terrible fentence in the whole worfe.
Koran, pronounced againft the inhabitants of
C H A P. LXXIX.
Intitled, Thofe who tear forth j revealed at Meccav
In-the name of the moil merciful G o a
BY the angels who tear forth the fouls of fame with violence ; and by thofe
who draw forth the fouls of others with gentlenefsa; by thofe who glide
fwimmingly through the a ir with the commands o f God-, and thofe who precede
and ulher the righteous to paradife and thofe who fubordinately govern
the affairs of this world: on a certain day, the difturbing blajl of the trumpet
lhall difturb the univerfe and the fubfequent blaß lhall follow it. On that
day
9 By the angels who tear forth the fouls of fome pull 1 .
with violence, See. ] Thefe are. the angel o f There are fevml other interpretations of this
death, and his affiftants* who will take the: whole paffage; ifome expounding all the five-
fouls of the wicked in a rough and cruel man* parts of the oath o f the fears', others of the fouls
ner, from the inmoft part, of their bodies, as a of men, others of the fouls of warriors in par-
man draggs up a thing from the bottom of the. ticular, and others of war-horfes: a detail of
fea; but will take the fouls of the good in a which, I apprehend, would rather tire tham
gentle and eafy manner, from their lips, as pleafe.
when a man draws a bucket of water at one
1 41 BsiDAWi,