486 A l K O R A N . C hap. 85.
which t-hey keep hidden in their breajls. Wherefore denounce unto them a
grievous punifhment, except thofe who believe and do good works ; for them
is prepared a never failing reward.
CHA P . LXXXV.
Intitled, The Celeftial Signs; revealed at Mecca.
In the name of the moft merciful G od.
BY the heaven adorned with figns *; by the promifed day of judgment; by
the witnefs, and the witnefled11; curfed were the contrivers of the pit % of
fire fupplied with fewel ■, when they fat round the fame, and were witnefies of
what they did againft the true believers“: and they afflifted them for no o-
ther reafon, but becaufe they believed in the mighty, the glorious G o d , unto
whom belongeth the. kingdom of heaven and earth: and G od is witnefs of all
things. Verily for thofe Who perfecute the true believers of either fex, and afterwards
repent not, is prepared the torment of hell; and they Jhall fujfer the
pain of burninge. But for thofe who believe, and do that which is right, are
defined gardens beneath which rivers flow : this Jhall he great felicity. Verily
the vengeance of thy L o rd is fevere. He createth, and he reftoreth to
life:
* Signs ;] The original word properly fignifies pie who are affembled on thofe days, isle A
towers i which feme interpret of real towers1, c The contrivers of the pit i] Literally, the lords
wherein it is fuppofed the angels keep guard* ; of the pit. Thele were the minifters of the
and Others, ofrhe liars o f the firft magnitude: hut perfecution raifed by DhuNowas, king of Ya-
the generality of expofitors underftand thereby man, who was of the Jewifh religion, againft
the twelve figns of the zodiac, wherein the the inhabitants of Najran >• for they having em-
planets make their feveral ftations». braced Gbriftiaiity (at that time the true religib
tfre mitnefs, and the witniffedl] The mean- on, by the confeffion of Mohammed h i m fell) the
ing of thefe words is very uncertain, and the bigotted tyrant commanded all thofe, who would
explications of the commentators confequently notrenounce their faith, to be caft into a pit, or
vary. One thinks the witnefs to be Mohammed, trench, filled with fire, and there burnt to alhes f .
and that which is born witnefs of, to be the re- Others, however, tell the ftory with different
furreEtion, or the profejfors of the Mohammedan circumftances s.
fa ith ; or elfe that thefe latter are the witnefs, and d And were witneffes of wbat they did againft the
the profeflors of every other religion, thofe who true believers i] Or, as fome choofe to underftand
will be nitnejfed againft by them. ' Another fup- the words, And jhall be witneffes againft tbem-
pofes the witnefs to be the guardian angel, and his felves, at the day of judgment, of their unjuft treat-
charge the perfon witneffed againft. Another ex- ment of the true believers.
pounds the words of the day of Arafat, the 9th » They jhall fuffer the pain of burning;] Which
o f Dhu'ihajja, and of the day of flaying the vie- pain, it is faid, the perfecutors of the Chriftiau
tims, which is the day following! or elfe o f Fri- martyrs abovementioned felt in this life s the fire
day, the day of the weekly affembling of the burfting forth upon them from the pit, and con-
Mohammedans at their mofques, and of the peo- fuming them 7.
C ha p . 86. A I K O R A IT. 4 8 7
life : he is inclined to forgive, and gracious: the pofieffor o f the glorious
throne 5 who effedteth that which he pleafeth. Hath not the ftory o f the hofts,
o f P haraoh1, and of T hamud“, reached thee? Yet the unbelievers ceafe
not to accufe the divine revelations o f fallhood: but G od encompafieth them
behind, that they cannot efcape. ‘ Verily th at which they reject is a glorious
K oran 5 the original whereof is written in a table kept in heavenc.
1 See chap. 7. p. 128,&c. leaft change or corruption. See the Prelim.
1 See ibid. p. 124, tfic. Difc. §. III. p. 64, and §. IV. p. 75.
c Kept in heavens'] And preferved from the
CHAP. LXXXVI.
Intitled, The Star which appeareth by night; revealed at
M e c c a .
In the name of the moft merciful G o d .
BY the heaven, and that which appeareth by n ight: but what fhall caufe thee
to underftand what that which appeareth by night is ? it is the ftar o f piercing
brightnels1 : every foul hath a guardian fet over it. Let a man confider,
therefore, o f what he is created. He is created o f feed poured forth, ifluing
from the loins, and the breaft-bones b. Verily God is able to reftore him to life,
the day whereon all fecret thoughts and adtions fhall be examined into ; and he
fhall have no power to defend himfelf, nor any protedtor. By the heaven which
returneth the ra in c ; and by the earth which openeth to let fo rth vegetables and
fprings: verily this is a difeourfe diftinguifhing goodfrom e v il; and it is not com-
pofed with lightnefs. Verily the infidels are laying a plot Is fru ftra te my defigns:
but I will lay a plot fo r their ruin. Wherefore, 0 prophet, bear with the
unbelievers: let them alone a while.
• The Jiar of piercing brightnefs;] Some take the 6 From the loins, and the breaft-bones j] i. e.
words to fignify any bright ftar, without reftriai- From the loins of the man, and the breaft-bones
on : but others think fome particular ftar or ftars o f the woman *.
to be thereby intended; which one fuppofes to c Which returneth the rain ;] Or, as fome ey-
be the morning ftar, (peculiarly called al larek, pound it, Which performeth its periodic /notion,
or the appearing by night;) another, Saturn, (that returning to the point from whence it began the
planet being by the Arabs furnamed al lhakeb, or fame. The words feem deiigned to exprefs the
the piercing, as it was by the Greeks, Phanon, alternate returns of the different feafons of the
©r the (hining; ) and a third, the Pleiades. year.
1 A l B e i d a w i * Y a h y a .