CHAP. XCVI.
Intitled, Congealed Blood ; revealed at Mecca5.
In the name of the moll merciful G od.
RE AD, in the name of thy L o r d , who hath created a ll things ; who
hath created man of congealed blood t. Read, by thy mold beneficent
L ord c ; who taught the,ufe of the pen ; who teacheth man that which he
knoweth not. Affuredly. Verily man becometh infolent, becaufe he feeth him-
felf abound in riches a. Verily unto thy L o r d Jhall he the return o f all.
What thinkeft thou as to him who forbiddeth our fervant, when he prayethe ?
What thinkeft thou ■, if he follow the right direftion.; or command piety ?
What thinkeft thou ; if he accufe the divine revelations of falfhood, and turn his
back? Doth he not know that G od feeth ? Affuredly. Verily, if he forbear
not, we will dragg him by the forelock f, the lying, finful forelock. And
let him call his council s to his afftftance: we alfo will call the infernal guards
to caft him into hell. Affuredly. Obey him not: but continue to adore G od ;
and draw nigh unto him.
* The firft five verfes of this chapter, ending
with the words, Who taught man that which he
knew not, are generally allowed to be the firft
paffage of the Koran which was revealed, tho’
fome give this honour to the 74th chapter, and
others to the firft, the next, they fay, being
the 68th. '
b O f congealed blood;] All men being created
of thick or concreted blood J, except only A-
dam, Eve, and Jefusz .
c Read, by thy moft beneficent L ord j] Thefe
words, containing a repetition of the command,
are fupptffed to be a reply to Mohammed, who in
anfwer to the former words fpoken by the angel,
had declared that he could not read, being perfectly
illiterate; and intimate a promife that
G od, who had infpired man with the art of
writing, would gracioufly remedy this defeat in
him 3.
d Verily man becometh infolent, &c.] The commentators
agree the remaining part of the chapter
to have been revealed againft Abu Jahl,
Mohammed's great adverfary.
e He who forbiddeth our fervant when he prayeth
j] For Abu Jahl threatened that i f he catch-
ed Mohammed in the adl of adoration, he would
fet his, foot on his neck: but when he came and
faw him in that pofture, he fuddenly turned
back as in a fright j and being asked what was
the matter, faid, there was a ditch of fire between
himfelf and Mohammed, and a terrible
appearance of troops, to defend him 4.
See chap, n . p. 181. not. h.
g Let him call his council j ] i. e. The council
or aflembly of the principal Meccans, the
far greater part of whom adhered to Abu
Jahl.
1 See (hap* z z ,p . 274; 2 Yahya. 3 A l Be id aw i. 4 Id em .
c h a p . xcvn.
Intitled, al K adr; where it was revealed is difputed.
In the name of the moft merciful G od.
T TE rily we fent down the K o r a n in the night of al K a d r *. And what
V make thee underftand how excellent the night of al K a d r is ? The
night of a l K a d r is better than a thoufand months. Therein do the angels
defcend, and the fpint G a b r ie l alfo, by the permiffion of their L ord, w ith
his decrees concerning every matter *>. It is peace, until the rifmg of the
morn. °
i a The night of al Kadr.] The word a l Kadr fig-
nifies power, and honour or dignity, and alfo the<ZZ-
vine decree; and the night is fo named either from
its excellence above all other nights in the year,
or becaufe, as the Mohammedans believe, the
divine decrees for the enfuing year are annually
on this night fixed and fettled, or taken from
the preferved table by G od’s throne, and given
to the angels to be executed *. On this night
Mohammed received his firft revelations; when
the Koran, fay the commentators, was fent down
from the aforefaid table, entire and in one vo-
1 See chap. 44. p. 401.
lume, to the loweft heaven, from whence Gabriel
revealed it to Mohammed by parcels, as oc-
cafion required.
The Mojlem do&ors are not agreed where to
fix the night of - al Kadr: the greater part are
of opinion that it is one of the ten laft nights of
Ramadan, and, as is commonly believed, the
7th of thofe nights, reckoning backwards; by
which means it will fall between the 23d and
24th days of that month *.
* See the preceding note, and chap. 44. p.
401.
* A l Z amakh. A l Beidawi, Ja l la l .
c h a p. xcvm.
Intitled, The Evidence4; where it was revealed is difputed.
In the name of the moft merciful G o d .
T h E unbelievers among thofe to whom the fcriptures were o-iVen and
among the idolaters, did not ftagger V until the clear evidence I had
S * f come
* ,Som' . ,intitle this chapter, from the firft nimoufly believed and expefled the comimr o f
™ , . tvj • ‘ ,hat ProPhet. until which time they declared
D,d not Jhgger s ] i. e. Did not waver m they would perfevere in their refpeöive relisri-
their religion, or m their promifes to follow the on,, and then would follow him : but when he
truth, when an apoftle Ihould come unto them, came, they rejefied him through envy 1
For the commentators pretend that before the . - Tbe clear evidences] Viz. Mohammed, or the
appearance of Mohammed, the Jews and Chrifii- Koran.
anst as well as the worihippers of idols, una-
« j- - * 1 lidem.