Title: The Speeches & Table-Talk of the Prophet Mohammad
Author: Allah, Muhammad ibn 'Abd
Language: English
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  THE

  SPEECHES & TABLE-TALK

  OF THE

  PROPHET MOHAMMAD

  _Chosen and Translated, with Introduction and Notes_,

  BY

  STANLEY LANE-POOLE

  _London_
  MACMILLAN AND CO.
  1882


_GOD! THERE IS NO GOD BUT HE, THE LIVING, THE STEADFAST! SLUMBER
SEIZETH HIM NOT, NOR SLEEP. WHATSOEVER IS IN THE HEAVENS, AND
WHATSOEVER IS IN THE EARTH, IS HIS. WHO IS THERE THAT SHALL PLEAD WITH
HIM SAVE BY HIS LEAVE? HE KNOWETH WHAT WAS BEFORE THEM AND WHAT SHALL
COME AFTER THEM, AND THEY COMPASS NOT AUGHT OF HIS KNOWLEDGE, BUT WHAT
HE WILLETH. HIS THRONE OVERSPREADETH THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, AND THE
KEEPING OF BOTH IS NO BURDEN TO HIM: AND HE IS THE HIGH, THE GREAT!_

                                              THE THRONE VERSE, ii. 256.



INTRODUCTION.


The aim of this little volume is to present all that is most enduring
and memorable in the public orations and private sayings of the
prophet Mohammad in such a form that the general reader may be tempted
to learn a little of what a great man was and of what made him
great. At present, it must be allowed that although “Auld Mahound”
is a household word, he is very little more than a word. Things are
constantly being said, written, and preached about the Arab prophet
and the religion he taught, of which an elementary acquaintance with
him would show the absurdity. No one would dare to treat the ordinary
classics of European literature in this fashion; or, if he did, his
exposure would immediately ensue. What I wish to do is to enable any
one, at the cost of the least possible exertion, to put himself into
a position to judge of popular fallacies about Mohammad and his
creed as surely and certainly as he can judge of errors in ordinary
education and scholarship. I do not wish to mention the Korān by name
more than can be helped, for I have observed that the word has a
deterrent effect upon readers who like their literary food light and
easy of digestion. It cannot, however, be disguised that a great deal
of this book consists of the Korān, and it may therefore be as well
to explain away as far as possible the prejudice which the ill-fated
name is apt to excite. It is not easy to say for how much of this
prejudice the standard English translator is responsible. The patient
and meritorious George Sale put the Korān into tangled English and
heavy quarto,--people read quartos then and did not call them _éditions
de luxe_,--his version then appeared in a clumsy octavo, with most
undesirable type and paper; finally it has come out in a cheap edition,
of which it need only be said that utility rather than taste has been
consulted. One can hardly blame any one for refusing to look even at
the outsides of these volumes. And the inside,--not the mere outward
inside, if I may so say, the type and paper,--but the heart of hearts,
the matter itself, is by no means calculated to tempt a reluctant
reader. The Korān is there arranged according to the orthodox form,
instead of in chronological order,--it must be allowed that the
chronological order was not discovered in Sale’s time,--and the result
is that impression of chaotic indefiniteness which impressed Carlyle
so strongly, and which Carlyle has impressed upon most of the present
generation. A large disorderly collection of prophetic rhapsody did not
prove inviting, as the state of popular knowledge about Mohammad very
clearly shows.

The attitude of the multitude towards Sale’s Korān was on the whole
reasonable. But if the faults that were found there are shown to belong
to Sale and not to the Korān, or only partly to it, the attitude
should change. In the first place, the Korān is not a large book, and
in the second, it is by no means so disorderly and anarchic as is
commonly supposed. Reckoned by the number of verses, the Korān is only
two-thirds of the length of the New Testament, or, if the wearisome
stories of the Jewish patriarchs which Mohammad told and retold are
omitted, it is no more than the Gospels and Acts. It has been remarked
that the Sunday edition of the _New York Herald_ is three times as
long. But the real permanent contents of the Korān may be taken at
far less even than this estimate. The book is full--I will not say
of vain repetitions, for in teaching and preaching repetition is
necessary--but of reiterations of certain cardinal articles of faith,
and certain standard demonstrations of these articles by the analogy of
nature. Like the numerous stories borrowed by Mohammad from the Talmud,
which have little but an antiquarian interest, many of these reiterated
arguments and illustrations may with advantage be passed over. There
is also a considerable portion of the Korān which is devoted to the
exposure and confutation of those who, from political, commercial, or
religious motives, made it their business to thwart Mohammad in his
efforts to reform his people. These personal, one might say party,
speeches are valuable only to the biographer and historian of the
times. They throw but little light on the character of the man Mohammad
himself. They show him, indeed, to be--what we knew him before--a
sensitive, irritable man, keenly alive to ridicule and scorn. But for
this purpose one instance is sufficient. We do not form our estimate
of a great statesman from his moments of irritation, but from those
larger utterances which reveal the results of a life’s study of men and
government. So with Mohammad, we may abandon the personal and temporary
element in the Korān, and base our judgment upon those utterances
which stand for all time, and deal not with individuals or classes,
but with man as he is, in Arabia or England, or where we will. This
position is not taken with the object of saving Mohammad from himself.
His attacks upon his opponents will bear comparison with those of
other statesmen. They are doubtless couched in more barbaric language
than we are accustomed to, and where we insinuate, Mohammad curses
outright. But in the face of a treacherous and malignant opposition,
the Arabian prophet comported himself with singular self-restraint. He
only threatened hell-fire, and people of all denominations are still
threatened with that every Sunday, to say nothing of Lent. Leaving out
the Jewish stories, needless repetitions, and temporary exhortations
or personal vindications, the speeches of Mohammad may be set forth
in very moderate compass. One speech--_sura_, or chapter, as it is
generally called--follows another so much to the same effect, that a
limited number will be found to contain all the ideas which a minute
study of the whole Korān could collect. I believe there is nothing
important, either in doctrine or style, which is not contained in the
twenty-eight speeches which fill the first hundred and thirty pages of
this small volume. If I were a Mohammadan, I think I could accept the
present collection as a sufficient representation of what the Korān
teaches.

The obscurity of the Korān is largely due to its ordinary arrangement.
This consists merely in putting the longest chapters first and the
shortest last. The Mohammadans appear to be contented with this curious
order, which after all is not more remarkable than that of some other
sacred books. German criticism, however, has discovered the method of
arranging the Korān in approximately chronological sequence. To explain
how this is established would carry me too far, but the results are
certain. We can state positively that the chapters of the Korān--or,
as I prefer to call them, the speeches of Mohammad--fall into certain
definite chronological groups, and if we cannot arrange each individual
speech in its precise place, we can at least tell to which group,
extending over but few years, it belongs. The effect of this critical
arrangement is to throw a perfectly clear light on the development
of Mohammad’s teaching, and the changes in his style and method.
When the Korān is thus arranged--as it is in Mr. Rodwell’s charming
version, which deserves to be better read than it is--the impression
of anarchy disappears, and we see only the growth of a remarkable
mind, the alternations of weakness and strength in a gifted soul, the
inevitable inconsistencies of a great man. I do not believe any one who
reads the speeches of Mohammad as I have arranged them in Professor
Nöldeke’s chronological order will say that they have no definite aim
or coherence. They may be monotonous, and often they are rambling, but
their intention and sequence of thought are to me clear as noonday.

It is something more, however, than any supposed length or obscurity
that has hitherto scared people from the Koran. The truth is that the
atmosphere of our Arabian prophet’s thoughts is so different from what
we breathe ourselves, that it needs a certain effort to transplant
ourselves into it. That it can be done, and done triumphantly, may be
proved by Mr. Browning’s _Saul_, as Semitic a poem as ever came from
the desert itself. We see the whole life and character of the Bedawy in
these lines:--

    Oh, our manhood’s prime vigour! No spirit feels waste,
    Not a muscle is stopped in its playing nor sinew unbraced.
    Oh, the wild joys of living! the leaping from rock unto rock,
    The strong rending of boughs from the fir-tree, the cool silver
      shock
    Of the plunge in the pool’s living water, the hunt of the bear,
    And the sultriness showing the lion is couched in his lair.
    And the meal, the rich dates yellowed over with gold dust divine,
    And the locust flesh steeped in the pitcher, the deep draught of
      wine,
    And the sleep in the dried river-channel, where bulrushes tell
    That the water was wont to go warbling so softly and well.
    How good is man’s life, the mere living! how fit to employ
    All the heart and the soul and the senses for ever in joy.

It is not easy to catch the Arab spirit as Mr. Browning has caught it.
Arab poetry is a sealed book to most, even among special Orientalists;
they construe it, but it does not move them. The cause is to be found
in the abrupt transition of thought which is required if we would enter
into the spirit of desert song. The Arab stands in direct contrast to
ourselves of the north. He is not in the least like an Englishman. His
mind travels by entirely different routes from ours, and his body is
built up of much more inflammable materials. His free desert air makes
him impatient of control in a degree which we can scarcely understand
in an organised community. It is difficult now to conceive a nation
without cabinets and secretaries of State and policemen, yet to the
Arab these things were not only unknown but inconceivable. He lived
the free aimless satisfied life of a child. He was supremely content
with the exquisite sense of simple existence, and was happy because
he lived. Throughout a life that was full of energy, of passion, of
strong endeavour after his ideal of desert perfectness, there was yet
a restful sense of satisfied enjoyment, a feeling that life was of a
surety well worth living. What his ideal was, and how different from
any of the ideals of to-day, we know from his own poetry. It was, not
in the gentler virtues that he prided himself:--

    Had I been a son of Māzin, there had not plundered my herds
      the sons of the child of the dust, Dhuhl, son of Sheybān.
    There had straightway arisen to help me a heavy-handed kin,
      good smiters when help is needed, though the feeble bend to the
        blow:
    Men who, when Evil bares before them his hindmost teeth,
      fly gaily to meet him in companies or alone.
    They ask not their brother, when he lays before them his wrong
      in his trouble, to give them proof of the truth of what he says.
    But as for my people, though their number be not small,
      they are good for naught against evil, however light it be;
    They requite with forgiveness the wrong of those that do them wrong,
      and the evil deeds of the evil they meet with kindness and love!
    As though thy Lord had created among the sons of men
      themselves alone to fear him, and never one man more.
    Would that I had in their stead a folk who, when they ride forth,
      strike swiftly and hard, on horse or on camel borne!

The ideal warrior, however, is not always so fierce as this, as may be
seen in the following lament for a departed hero, where a gentler touch
mingles in its warlike manliness:--

    But know ye if Abdallah be gone, and his place a void?
      no weakling, unsure of hand, and no holder-back was he!
    Alert, keen, his loins well girt, his leg to the middle bare,
      unblemished and clean of limb, a climber to all things high:
    No wailer before ill-luck, one mindful in all he did,
      to think how his work to-day would live in to-morrow’s tale.
    Content to bear hunger’s pain, though meat lay beneath his hand,
      to labour in ragged shirt that those whom he served might rest.
    If Dearth laid her hand on him, and Famine devoured his store,
      he gave but the gladlier what little to him they spared.
    He dealt as a youth with Youth, until, when his head grew hoar,
      and age gathered o’er his brow, to Lightness he said--Begone!

The fierceness of the Arab warrior was tempered by those virtues in
which more civilised nations are found wanting. If he was swift to
strike, the Arab was also prompt to succour, ready to give shelter
and protection even to his worst enemy. The hospitality of the Arab
is a proverb, but unlike many proverbs it is strictly true. The
last milch-camel must be killed rather than the duties of the host
neglected. The chief of a clan--not necessarily the richest man in it,
but the strongest and wisest--set the example in all Arab virtues, and
his tent was so placed in the camp that it was the first the enemy
would attack, and also the first that the wayworn traveller would
approach. Beacons were lighted hard by to guide wanderers to the
hospitable haven, and any man, of whatever condition, who came to the
Arab nobleman’s tent and said, “I throw myself on your honour,” was
safe from pursuit even at the cost of his host’s life. Honour, like
hospitality, meant more than it does now; and the Arab chieftain’s
pledge of welcome meant protection, unswerving fidelity, help, and
succour. Like his pride of birth, devotion to the clan, courage, and
generosity, this hospitable trusty friendship of the Arab belongs no
doubt to the barbarous virtues of the old world; but it is just these
parts of barbarism which civilisation might profitably emulate.

As a friend and as an enemy there was no ambiguity about the Arab. In
both relations he was frank, generous, and fearless. And the same may
be said of his love. The Arab of the Days of Ignorance, as Mohammadans
style the time before the birth of their prophet, was the forerunner
of the best side of mediæval chivalry, which indeed is forced to own
an Arabian origin. The Arab chief was as much a knight-errant in love
as he was a chivalrous opponent in fight. The position of the women
of Arabia before the coming of Mohammad has often been commiserated.
That women were probably held in low esteem in the town-life which
formed an important factor in the Arabian polity is probably true;
savage virtues are apt to disappear in the civilised society of cities.
But poetry is a good test of a nation’s character,--not, perhaps, of
a highly civilised nation, for then affectation and the _vogue_ come
into play,--but undoubtedly of a partly savage nation, where poets only
say what they and their fellow men feel. Arabian poetry is full of a
chivalrous reverence for women. Allowing for difference of language
and the varieties of human nature, it is much more reverent than a
great deal of the poetry of our own country to-day. In the old days,
says an ancient writer, the true Arab had but one love, and her he
loved till death. The Bedawy or Arab of the desert, though he was not
above a certain amount of gallantry of a romantic and exciting order,
regarded women as divinities to be worshipped, not as chattels to
possess. The poems are full of instances of the courtly respect, “full
of state and ancientry,” displayed by the heroes of the desert towards
defenceless maidens, and the mere existence of so general an ideal of
conduct in the poems is a strong argument for Arab chivalry; for with
the Arabs the abyss between the ideal accepted of the mind and the
attaining thereof in action was narrower than it is among more advanced
nations. We remember the story of Antar, the Bayard of pagan Arabia,
who gave his life to guard some helpless women; and recall these verses
of Muweylik, which breathe a tender chivalrous regret for an only
love:--

    Take thou thy way by the grave wherein thy dear one lies--
      Umm el-´Alā--and lift up thy voice: ah! if she could hear!
    How art thou come, for very fearful wast thou, to dwell
      in a land where not the most valiant goes but with quaking heart?
    God’s love be thine and His mercy, O thou dear lost one!
      not meet for thee is the place of shadow and loneliness.
    And a little one hast thou left behind--God’s ruth on her!
      she knows not what to bewail thee means, yet weeps for thee,
    For she misses those sweet ways of thine which thou hadst with her,
      and the long night wails, and we strive to hush her to sleep in
        vain.
    When her crying smites in the night upon my sleepless ears,
      straightway mine eyes brimful are filled from the well of tears.

If anywhere poetry is a gauge of national character, it was so in
Arabia, for nowhere was it more a part of the national life. That
line, “to think how his work to-day would live in to-morrow’s tale,”
is a true touch. The Arabs were before all things a poetical people.
It is not easy to judge of this poetry in translation, even in the
fine renderings which I have taken above from Mr. C. J. Lyall, but its
effect on the Arabs themselves was unmistakeable. Damiri has a saying,
“Wisdom hath alighted on three things, the brain of the Franks, the
hands of the Chinese, and the tongue of the Arabs,” and the last is
not the least true. They had an annual fair, the _Académie française_
of Arabia, where the poets of rival clans recited their masterpieces
before immense audiences, and received the summary criticism of the
multitude. This fair of Okadh was a literary congress, without formal
judges, but with unbounded influence. It was here that the polished
heroes of the desert determined points of grammar and prosody; here
the seven “Golden Songs” were sung, although (alas for the legend!)
they were _not_ afterwards suspended in the Kaaba; and here “a magical
language, the language of the Hijaz,” was built out of the dialects of
Arabia and made ready to the skilful hand of Mohammad, that he might
conquer the world with his Korān.

Hitherto we have been looking at but one side of Arab life. The Bedawis
were indeed the bulk of the race and furnished the swords of the Muslim
conquests; but there was also a vigorous town-life in Arabia, and the
citizens waxed rich with the gains of their trafficking. For through
Arabia ran the trade-route between east and west: it was the Arab
traders who carried the produce of the Yemen to the markets of Syria;
and how ancient was their commerce one may divine from the words of a
poet of Judaea, spoken more than a thousand years before the coming of
Mohammad--

    Wedan and Javan from San´a paid for thy produce:
      sword-blades, cassia, and calamus were in thy trafficking.
    Dedan was thy merchant in saddle-cloths for riding.
    Arabia and all the merchants of Kedar, they were the merchants of
        thy hand;
      in lambs and rams and goats, in these were they thy merchants.
    The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants;
      with the chief of all spices, and with every precious stone,
      and gold, they paid for thy produce.

                                          EZEKIEL xxvii. 19-22.

Mekka was the centre of this trading life, the typical Arab city of
old times, a stirring little town, with its caravans bringing the
silks and woven stuffs of Syria and the far-famed damask, and carrying
away the sweet-smelling produce of Arabia, frankincense, cinnamon,
sandal-wood, aloe and myrrh, and the dates and leather and metals of
the south, and the goods that came to the Yemen from Africa and even
India; its assemblies of merchant-princes in the Council Hall near the
Kaaba; and again its young poets running over with love and gallantry;
its Greek and Persian slave-girls brightening the luxurious banquet
with their native songs, when as yet there was no Arab school of music
and the monotonous but not unmelodious chant of the camel-driver was
the national song of Arabia; and its club, where busy men spent their
idle hours in playing chess and draughts, or in gossiping with their
acquaintance. It was a little republic of commerce, too much infected
with the luxuries and refinements of the states it traded with,
yet retaining enough of the free Arab nature to redeem it from the
charge of effeminacy. Mekka was a home of music and poetry, and this
characteristic lasted into Muslim times. There is a story of a certain
stonemason who had a wonderful gift of singing. When he was at work
the young men used to come and importune him, and bring him gifts of
money and food to induce him to sing. He would then make a stipulation
that they should first help him with his work. And forthwith they
would strip off their cloaks, and the stones would gather round him
rapidly. Then he would mount a rock and sing, whilst the whole hill was
coloured red and yellow with the variegated garments of his audience.
It was, however, in this town-life that the worst qualities of the
Arab came out; it was here that his raging passion for dicing and his
thirst for wine were most prominent. In the desert there was no great
opportunity for indulging in either luxury, but in a town which often
welcomed a caravan bringing goods to the value of twenty thousand pound
such excesses were to be looked for. Excited by the songs of the Greek
slave-girls, and the fumes of mellow wine, the Mekkan would throw the
dice till, like the German of Tacitus, he had staked and lost his own
liberty.

But Mekka was more than a centre of trade and of song. It was the focus
of the religion of the Arabs. Thither the tribes went up every year
to kiss the black stone which had fallen from heaven in the primeval
days of Adam, and to make the seven circuits of the Kaaba, naked,--for
they would not approach God in the garments in which they had done
their sins,--and to perform the other ceremonies of the pilgrimage. The
Kaaba, a cubical building in the centre of Mekka, was the most sacred
temple in all Arabia, and it gave its sanctity to all the district
around. It was built, saith tradition, by Adam from a heavenly model,
and then rebuilt from time to time by Seth and Abraham and Ishmael,
and less reverend persons, and it contained the sacred things of the
land. Here was the black stone, here the great god of red agate, and
the three hundred and sixty idols, one for each day of the year, which
Mohammad afterwards destroyed in one day. Here was Abraham’s stone, and
that other which marked the tomb of Ishmael, and hard by was Zemzem,
the God-sent spring which gushed from the sand when the forefather of
the Arabs was perishing of thirst.

The religion of the ancient Arabs, little as we know of it, is
especially interesting inasmuch as the Arabs longest retained the
original Semitic character, and hence probably the original Semitic
religion; and thus in the ancient cult of Arabia we may see the
religion once professed by Chaldeans, Canaanites, Israelites, and
Phœnicians. This ancient religion “rises little higher than animistic
polydaemonism; it is a collection of tribal religions standing side
by side, only loosely united, though there are traces of a once closer
connection.” The great objects of worship were the sun, and the stars,
and the three moon-goddesses,--El-Lāt, the bright moon, Menāh, the
dark, and El-´Uzza, the union of the two--whilst a lower cultus of
trees, stones, and mountains shows that the religion had not quite
risen above simple fetishism. There are traces of a belief in a supreme
God behind this pantheon, and the moon-goddesses and other divinities
were regarded as daughters of the Most High God (Allāh ta´āla). The
various deities (but not the supreme Allāh) had their fanes where
human sacrifices, though rare, were not unknown; and their cult was
superintended by a hereditary line of seers, who were held in great
reverence, but never developed into a priestly caste.

Besides the tribal gods, individual households had their special
_penates_, to whom was due the first and the last salām of the
returning or outgoing master. But in spite of all this superstitious
apparatus the Arabs were never a religious people. In the old days,
as now, they were reckless, sceptical, materialistic. They had their
gods and their divining arrows, but they were ready to demolish both
if the responses proved contrary to their wishes. An Arab, who wished
to avenge the death of his father, went to consult the square block
of white stone called El-Khalasa, by means of divining arrows. Three
times he tried, and each time he drew the arrow forbidding vengeance.
Then he broke the arrows, and flung them in the face of the idol,
crying, “Wretch! if it had been _your_ father who was murdered, you
would not have forbidden me to avenge him!” The great majority believed
in no future life, nor in a reckoning day of good and evil. If a few
tied camels to the graves of the dead that the corpse might ride
mounted to the judgment-seat, they must have done so more by force of
superstitious habit than anything else.

Christianity and Judaism had made but small impress upon the Arabs.
There were Jewish tribes in the north, and there is evidence in
the Korān and elsewhere that the traditions and rites of Judaism
were widely known in Arabia. But the creed was too narrow and too
exclusively national to commend itself to the majority of the people.
Christianity fared even worse. Whether or not St. Paul went there,
it is at least certain that very little effect was produced by the
preaching of Christianity in Arabia. We hear of Christians on the
borders, and even two or three among the Mekkans, and bishops and
churches are spoken of at Dhafār and Nejrān. But the Christianity that
the Arabs knew was, like the Judaism of the northern tribes, a very
imperfect reflection of the faith it professed to be. It had become
a thing of the head instead of the heart, and the refinements of
monophysite and monothelite doctrines gained no hold on the Arab mind.

Thus Judaism and Christianity, though they were well known, and
furnished many of the ideas and most of the ceremonies of Islām, were
never able to effect any general settlement in Arabia. The common Arabs
did not care much about any religion, and the finer spirits found
the wrangling dogmatism of the Christian and the narrow isolation of
the Jew little to their mind. For there were men before the time of
Mohammad who were dissatisfied with the low fetishism in which their
countrymen were plunged, and who protested emphatically against the
idle and often cruel superstitions of the Arabs. Not to refer to
the prophets, who, as the Korān relates, were sent in old times to
the tribes of Ad and Thamūd to convert them, there was, immediately
before the preaching of Mohammad, a general feeling that a change was
at hand; a prophet was expected, and women were anxiously hoping for
male children, if so be they might mother the Apostle of God; and the
more thoughtful minds, tinged with traditions of Judaism, were seeking
for what they called the “religion of Abraham.” These men were called
“Hanīfs,” or “incliners,” and their religion seems to have consisted
chiefly in a negative position,--in denying the superstition of the
Arabs, and in only asserting the existence of one sole-ruling God whose
absolute slaves are all mankind--without being able to decide on any
minor doctrines, or to determine in what manner this One God was to
be worshipped. So long as the Hanīfs could give their countrymen no
more definite creed than this, their influence was limited to a few
inquiring and doubting minds. It was reserved for Mohammad to formulate
the faith of the Hanīfs in the dogmas of Islām.

It is essential to bear in mind all these surroundings of Mohammad if
we would understand his position and influence. A desert Arab in love
of liberty and worship of nature’s beauty, but lacking something of
the frank chivalrous spirit of the desert warrior--more a saint than
a knight,--yet possessing a patient determined perseverance which
belonged to the life of the town, a moral force which the roaming
Bedawy did not need, Mohammad owed something to either side of Arabian
life; whilst without the influence of other religions, especially the
Jewish, he could never have come forward as the preacher of Islām. Even
the old nature worship of the Arabs had its share in the new religion,
and no faith was made up of more varied materials than that which
Mohammad impressed upon so large a portion of mankind.

Of his early life very little is known. He was born in A.D. 571, and
came of the noble tribe of the Koreysh, who had long been guardians of
the sacred Kaaba. He lost both his parents early, and as his branch
of the tribe had become poor, his duty was to betake himself to the
hillsides and pasture the flocks of his neighbours. In after years he
would look back with pleasure on these days, and say that God took
never a prophet save from among the sheep-folds. The life on the hills
gave him the true shepherd’s eye for nature which is seen in every
speech of the Korān; and it was in those solitary watches under the
silent sky, with none near to distract him, that he began those earnest
communings with his soul which made him in the end the prophet of his
nation. Beyond this shepherd life and his later and more adventurous
trade of camel-driver to the Syrian caravans of his rich cousin,
Khadīja, whom he presently married at the age of twenty-five, there
is little that can be positively asserted of Mohammad’s youth. He must
have witnessed the poets’ contests at the Fair of ´Okadh, and listened
to the earnest talk of the Jews and Hanīfs who visited the markets;
he may have heard a little, dimly, of Jesus of Nazareth; what he did
we know not; what he was is expressed in the nickname by which he was
known--“El-Amīn,” the Trusty.

“Mohammad was of the middle height, rather thin, but broad of
shoulders, wide of chest, strong of bone and muscle. His head was
massive, strongly developed. Dark hair, slightly curled, flowed in
a dense mass almost to his shoulders; even in advanced age it was
sprinkled with only about twenty gray hairs, produced by the agonies of
his ‘Revelations.’ His face was oval-shaped, slightly tawny of colour.
Fine long arched eyebrows were divided by a vein, which throbbed
visibly in moments of passion. Great black restless eyes shone out from
under long heavy eyelashes. His nose was large, slightly aquiline.
His teeth, upon which he bestowed great care, were well set, dazzling
white. A full beard framed his manly face. His skin was clear and soft,
his complexion ‘red and white,’ his hands were as ‘silk and satin,’
even as those of a woman. His step was quick and elastic, yet firm as
that of one who steps ‘from a high to a low place.’ In turning his face
he would also turn his whole body. His whole gait and presence were
dignified and imposing. His countenance was mild and pensive. His laugh
was rarely more than a smile.

“In his habits he was extremely simple, though he bestowed great care
on his person. His eating and drinking, his dress and his furniture
retained, even when he had reached the fulness of power, their almost
primitive nature. The only luxuries he indulged in were, besides arms,
which he highly prized, a pair of yellow boots, a present from the
Negus of Abyssinia. Perfumes, however, he loved passionately, being
most sensitive to smells. Strong drink he abhorred.

“His constitution was extremely delicate. He was nervously afraid of
bodily pain; he would sob and roar under it. Eminently unpractical
in all common things of life, he was gifted with mighty powers of
imagination, elevation of mind, delicacy and refinement of feeling.
‘He is more modest than a virgin behind her curtain,’ it was said of
him. He was most indulgent to his inferiors, and would never allow
his awkward little page to be scolded whatever he did. ‘Ten years,’
said Anas his servant, ‘was I about the Prophet, and he never said
as much as “uff” to me.’ He was very affectionate towards his family.
One of his boys died on his breast in the smoky house of the nurse, a
blacksmith’s wife. He was very fond of children; he would stop them in
the streets and pat their little heads. He never struck any one in his
life. The worst expression he ever made use of in conversation was,
‘What has come to him? may his forehead be darkened with mud!’ When
asked to curse some one, he replied, ‘I have not been sent to curse,
but to be a mercy to mankind.’ ‘He visited the sick, followed any bier
he met, accepted the invitation of a slave to dinner, mended his own
clothes, milked the goats, and waited upon himself,’ relates summarily
another tradition. He never first withdrew his hand out of another
man’s palm, and turned not before the other had turned.

“He was the most faithful protector of those he protected, the sweetest
and most agreeable in conversation. Those who saw him were suddenly
filled with reverence; those who came near him loved him; they who
described him would say, ‘I have never seen his like either before or
after.’ He was of great taciturnity, but when he spoke it was with
emphasis and deliberation, and no one could forget what he said. He
was, however, very nervous and restless withal; often low-spirited,
downcast, as to heart and eyes. Yet he would at times suddenly break
through these broodings, become gay, talkative, jocular, chiefly among
his own. He would then delight in telling little stories, fairy tales,
and the like. He would romp with the children and play with their toys.”

“He lived with his wives in a row of humble cottages, separated from
one another by palm-branches, cemented together with mud. He would
kindle the fire, sweep the floor, and milk the goats himself. The
little food he had was always shared with those who dropped in to
partake of it. Indeed, outside the prophet’s house was a bench or
gallery, on which were always to be found a number of poor, who lived
entirely upon his generosity, and were hence called ‘the people of
the bench.’ His ordinary food was dates and water, or barley bread;
milk and honey were luxuries of which he was fond, but which he rarely
allowed himself. The fare of the desert seemed most congenial to him,
even when he was sovereign of Arabia.”

Mohammad was forty before he began his mission of reform. He may long
have doubted and questioned with himself, but at least outwardly he
seems to have conformed to the popular religion. At length, as he was
keeping the sacred months, the God’s Truce of the Arabs, in prayer and
fasting on Mount Hirā, “a huge barren rock, torn by cleft and hollow
ravine, standing out solitary in the full white glare of the desert
sun,” he thought he heard a voice say “Cry.” “What shall I cry?” he
answered. And the voice said:--

    “Cry! in the name of thy Lord, who created--
    Created man from blood.
    Cry! for thy Lord is the Bountifullest!
    Who taught the pen,
    Taught man what he did not know.”

                                                  _Korān_, ch. xcvi.

At first he thought he was possessed with a devil, and the refuge of
suicide was often present to his mind. But yet again he heard the
voice--“Thou art the Messenger of God, and I am Gabriel.” He went back
to Khadīja, worn out in body and mind. “Wrap me, wrap me,” he cried.
And then the word came to him:--

    “O thou who art wrapped, rise up and warn!
    And thy Lord magnify,
    And thy raiment purify,
    And abomination shun!
    And grant not favours to gain increase!
    And wait for thy Lord!”

                                                  _Korān_, ch. lxxiv.

These are the first two revelations that came to Mohammad. That he
believed he heard them spoken by an angel from heaven is beyond doubt.
His temperament was nervous and excitable from a child up. It is said
he was subject to cataleptic fits, like Swedenborg; and at least it
is certain that his constitution was more delicately and highly strung
than most men’s. If it is any satisfaction to the incredulous to find
evidence of a special tendency towards hallucinations, the proofs are
at hand. But whether the “revelations” were subjective or not makes no
difference to the result. Whencesoever they came, they were real and
potent revelations to the man and to his people.

After this beginning of converse with the supernatural, or whatever we
prefer to term it, the course of Mohammad’s revelations--the speeches
which make up the Korān--flowed unbroken for twenty years and more.
They fall naturally into two great divisions--the period of struggle
at Mekka, and the period of triumph at Medina; and the characteristics
of the two are diverse as the circumstances which called them forth.
For whatever Mohammad himself thought of his revelations, to modern
criticism they are speeches or sermons strictly connected with the
religious and political circumstances of the speaker’s time. In the
first period we see a man possessed of a strong religious idea, an idea
dominating his life, and his one aim is to impress that idea on his
people, the inhabitants of Mekka. He preached to them in season and out
of season; whenever the spirit moved him he poured forth his burning
eloquence into the ears of a suspicious and incredulous audience. Three
years of unwearied effort produced the pitiful result of a score or so
of converts, mainly from the poorest classes. In the fifth year even
these were compelled by the persecutions of the Koreysh to take refuge
in Abyssinia--“a land of righteousness, wherein no man is wronged.”
Mohammad had by this time advanced from a mere inculcation of the
doctrine of one all-powerful God to a plain attack upon the idolatry of
the Mekkans; and the Koreysh, as guardians of the Kaaba and receivers
of the pilgrims’ tolls, were keenly alive to the consequences which
the overthrow of the sacred temple would entail upon its keepers. The
result of Mohammad’s bold denunciations was a cruel persecution of his
humbler followers, and their consequent flight to Abyssinia; he himself
was too nearly allied to powerful chiefs to be lightly injured in a
land where the blood-revenge held sway. Presently the devotion of the
prophet, his manly bearing under obloquy and reproach, and above all,
the winged words of his eloquence, brought several men of influence and
wealth into his faith, and in the sixth year of his mission Mohammad
found himself surrounded no longer by a crowd of slaves and beggars,
but by tried swordsmen, chiefs of great families, leaders in the
councils of Mekka; and the new sect performed their rites no more in
secret, but publicly at the Kaaba, in the face of the whole city. The
Koreysh resolved on stronger measures. After trying vainly to isolate
him from his family--the true Arab spirit of kindred was not so easily
shaken--they put the whole clan under a ban, and swore they would not
marry with them, nor buy nor sell with them, nor hold with them any
intercourse soever. To the credit of Mohammad and of his clan, only one
man of them refused to share his fate, though most of them did not hold
with his doctrines. Sooner than give up their kinsman, they went, every
man of them, save that one, into their own quarter of the city, and
there abode in banishment for two years. Starvation was busy with the
incarcerated family, when the Koreysh grew ashamed of their work, and
five chiefs arose and put on their armour and went to the ravine where
the banished people were shut up, and bade them come forth.

The time of inaction was followed by a time of sorrow. Mohammad
lost his wife and the aged chief, his uncle, who had hitherto been
his protector. All Mekka was against him, and in despair of heart
he journeyed to Taif, seventy miles away, and told his message to
another folk: but they stoned him for three miles from the town. The
time, however, was coming when a distant city would hold out welcoming
hands to the prophet whom Mekka and Taif had rejected. As he dwelt-on
disconsolately at Mekka, pilgrims from Yethrib (soon to be known as
Medina or Medīnet-en-Neby, “the Prophet’s City”) hearkened to the new
doctrine, and carried it home to their own folk. Jews had prepared the
way for Islām at Medina; the new religion did not seem preposterous to
those who had long heard of One God; and presently the Faithful began
to leave Mekka in small companies, and take refuge in the hospitable
city where their prophet was honoured. At length Mohammad, when like
the captain of a sinking ship he had seen his followers safely away,
accompanied by one faithful friend eluded the vigilance of the Koreysh,
and safely arrived at Medina in the early summer of 622. This is the
Hijra or “Flight” of Mohammad, from which the Muslims date their
history.

During these years of struggle and persecution at Mekka 90 out of
the 114 chapters or speeches which compose the Korān were revealed,
amounting to about two-thirds of the whole book. All these speeches
are inspired with but one great design, and are in strong contrast
with the complicated character of the later chapters issued at Medina.
In the Mekka chapters Mohammad appears in the unalloyed character of
a prophet: he has not yet assumed the functions of a statesman and
lawgiver. His object is not to give men a code or a constitution, but
to call them to the worship of the One God. There is hardly a word
of other doctrines, scarcely anything of ritual, or social or penal
regulations. Every speech is directed simply to the grand design of the
Prophet’s life, to convince men of the unutterable majesty of the One
God, who brooks no rivals. Mohammad appeals to the people to credit the
evidence of their own eyes; he calls to witness the wonders of nature,
the stars in their courses, the sun and the moon, the dawn cleaving
asunder the dark veil of night, the life-giving rain, the fruits of the
earth, life and death, change and decay--all are “signs of God’s power,
if only ye would understand.” Or he tells the people how it fared with
older generations, when prophets came to them and exhorted them to
believe in One God and do righteousness, and they rejected them; how
there fell upon the unbelieving nation grievous woe. How was it with
the people of Noah? he asks:--they were drowned in the flood because
they would not hearken to his words. And the people of the Cities of
the Plain? And Pharaoh and his host? And the old tribes of the Arabs
who would not hear the warnings of their prophets? One answer follows
each--there came upon them a great calamity. “These are the true
stories,” he cries, “and there is only One God! and yet ye turn aside.”
Eloquent appeals to the signs of nature, threats of a day of reckoning
to come, warnings drawn from the legends of the prophets, arguments for
the truth and reality of the revelation, make up the substance of this
first division of the Korān.

In the earliest group of speeches delivered at Mekka, forty-eight in
number, belonging to what is called the First Period, extending over
the first four years of Mohammad’s mission, we feel the poetry of the
man. Mohammad had not lived among the sheep-folds in vain, and spent
long solitary nights gazing at the silent heaven and watching the dawn
break over the mountains. This earliest portion of the Korān is one
long blazonry of nature’s beauty. How can you believe in aught but the
One omnipotent God when you see this glorious world around you and this
wondrous tent of heaven above you? is Mohammad’s frequent question to
his countrymen. “All things in heaven and earth supplicate Him; then
which of the bounties of your Lord will ye deny?” There is little but
this appeal to nature in the first part of the speeches at Mekka. The
prophet was in too exalted a state during these early years to stoop
to argument; he rather seeks to dazzle the sense with brilliant images
of God’s workings in creation. “Verily in the creation of the heavens
and the earth are signs to you, if ye would understand.” His sentences
have a rhythmical ring though they are not in true metre. The lines are
very short, yet with a musical cadence. The meaning is often but half
expressed. The poet seems impatiently to stop as if he despaired of
explaining himself: he has essayed a thing beyond words, has discovered
the impotence of language, and broken off with the sentence unfinished.
The style is throughout fiery and impassioned. The words are those of a
man whose whole heart is bent on convincing, and they carry with them
even now the impression of the burning vehemence with which they were
originally hurled forth. These earliest speeches are generally brief.
They are pitched too high to be long sustained. We feel we have here to
do with a poet as well as a preacher, and that his poetry costs him too
much to be spun out.

In urging to repentance and faith, Mohammad’s great weapon is the
judgment to come--the day of retribution, when all mankind shall be
arraigned before the throne of God; and those who have done good shall
be given the book of the record of their actions in their right hand,
and enjoy abiding happiness in gardens, under which the rivers flow;
whilst the wicked shall receive his damning record in his left hand,
and be dragged by heel and hair to hell, to broil therein for ever. The
day of judgment is a stern reality to Mohammad. It is never out of his
thoughts, and he says himself that if men realised what that day was,
they would weep much and laugh little. He is never tired of depicting
its terrors, and cannot find names enough to describe it. He calls it
the Hour, the Mighty Day, the great Calamity, the Inevitable Fact, the
Smiting, the Overwhelming, the Hard Day, the Promised Day, the Day of
Decision.

The high poetic fervour of the first group of Mekka speeches is to
some extent lost in the Second, and still more in the Third period,
corresponding to the fifth and sixth years, and from thence to the
Hijra, respectively, and each comprising twenty-one speeches. The
change is partly one of style, partly of matter. The verses and the
speeches themselves become longer and more rambling; the resonant oaths
by all the wonders of nature are exchanged for the mild asseveration,
“By the Korān.” There is more self-assertion and formality, and the
special words of God are as it were italicised by the prefixed verb,
“Say.” It must be remembered that the speeches of the Korān are
all supposed to be the utterances of God _in propriâ personâ_, of
whom Mohammad is only the mouthpiece. The apparent vindications and
laudations of the prophet himself are explicable from this point of
view; and the reader must never forget it when he is perplexed by the
“we” (God), and “thou” (Mohammad), and “ye” (the audience), of the
Korān. The most important alteration to be observed in the progress of
the orations at Mekka is the introduction of numerous stories derived,
with considerable corruptions, from the Jewish Haggadah. More than
fifteen hundred verses, nearly a quarter of the Kur-ān, are occupied
with wearisome repetitions of these legends. They are to be seen
methodically arranged in Lane’s _Selections from the Kur-ān_, and I
need only say that, with the exception of one or two typical examples
(like the speech called _The Moon_, p. 41), and a few digressions in
speeches (like _The Children of Israel_, p. 57) that were too important
to be omitted, these tales are excluded from the present collection.
Their only real interest is Mohammad’s use of them as evidence of the
continuity of revelation. He believed that all preceding prophets were
inspired of God, and that they taught the same faith as himself. From
Adam to Jesus they all brought their messages to their people, and were
rejected. He makes them exhort their people in precisely similar words
to those with which he exhorts the Koreysh. There is nothing new in his
own doctrine, he says, it is but the teaching of Abraham, of Moses, of
Christ, of all the prophets. But it is the last and best, the seal of
prophecy, after which no other will be given before the Great Day. It
supersedes or confirms all that goes before.

Quite half of the second group of Mekka speeches consists of these
Jewish legends. There are not so many in the third, and none in the
first. But if the Third does not contain quite so many of these tedious
fables, it is even tamer in style. Mohammad seems to be cataloguing the
signs of nature mechanically, and he is constantly recurring to the
charge of forgery which was often brought against him, or to the demand
for miracles, which he always frankly admitted he could not gratify. I
am only a warner, he said; I cannot show you a sign--a miracle--except
what ye see every day and night. Signs are with God: He who could make
the heavens could easily show you a sign if He pleased; beware, lest
one day ye see a sign indeed, and taste in hell that which ye called
a lie! That the old eloquence, in spite of repetition and wearing
trouble, was not dead, may be seen from the speech called _Thunder_ (p.
104), where the nature painting is as fine as anywhere in the Korān.

The first great division of Mohammad’s speeches, then, is oratorical
rather than dogmatic. He has a great dogma, indeed, and uses every
resource to recommend it. But there is little detail in these ninety
Mekka speeches. Hardly any definite laws or precepts are to be found
in them, and most of these in the speech entitled _The Children of
Israel_ (p. 57). Certain general rules of prayer are given, hospitality
and thrift are commended in a breath, “Let not thy hand be chained to
thy neck, nor yet stretch it out right open;” infanticide, inchastity,
homicide (save in blood-revenge), the robbing of orphans, a false
balance, usury, a broken covenant, and a proud stomach, are denounced;
certain foods are prohibited; and the whole duty of man is thus
briefly summed up:--“Say: I am only a man like you: I am inspired that
your God is but One God. Then let him who hopeth to meet his Lord do
righteousness, and join no (idol) in his worship of God.”

There is little here of a complicated ritual or a metaphysical
theology. Thus far the social and religious laws which we associate
with Islām are not found in the Mohammadan Bible. We hear only the
voice crying in the wilderness, “Hear ye, people! The Lord your God is
one Lord.”

Mohammad’s position at Medina was totally different from that he
occupied at Mekka. Instead of a struggling reformer, despised and
ridiculed by almost every man he met, he was a king, ruling a large
city with despotic power, and needing every resource of statecraft to
maintain order among its contentious elements. There was a large party,
known in the Korān as the “Disaffected” or “Hypocrites,” who found it
politic to profess Islām, but were ready to avail themselves of any
propitious occasion to overturn or injure it. Still more important
were the Jewish Arab tribes settled at Medina, who at first hoped to
find a tool to their hands in the new prophet, who seemed to teach
something very like Judaism; but who, when they found him unmanageable,
straightway turned upon him with double malignity, and exerted
themselves in all treacherous ways to countermine his authority and
help his enemies within and without the city. Mohammad has been blamed
for the severity with which he suppressed the rebellious parties in
his state, and the sentences of exile and death passed upon the Jews
have been regarded as proofs of a vindictive nature. An impartial study
of the facts of the case, however, shows plainly that strong measures
were needed for the preservation of the Muslim religion and polity; and
the vigorous blows struck by Mohammad at rebellion in the beginning
probably saved bloodshed afterwards. Whilst the prophet’s supremacy was
being established and maintained among the mixed population of Medina,
a vigorous warfare was carried on outside with his old persecutors, the
Koreysh. On the history of this war, consisting as it did mainly of
small raids and attacks upon caravans, I need not dwell. Its leading
features were the two battles of Bedr and Ohud, in the first of which
three hundred Muslims, though outnumbered at the odds of three to one,
were completely victorious (A.D. 624, A.H. 2); whilst at Ohud, being
outnumbered in the like proportion, and deserted by the “Disaffected”
party, they were almost as decisively defeated (A.H. 3). Two years
later the Koreysh gathered together their allies, advanced upon Medina,
and besieged it for fifteen days; but the foresight of Mohammad in
digging a trench, and the enthusiasm of the Muslims in defending it,
resisted all assaults, and the coming of the heavy storms for which
the climate of Medina is noted drove the enemy back to Mekka. The next
year (A.H. 6) a ten years’ truce (see _The Victory_, p. 124, and notes)
was concluded with the Koreysh, in pursuance of which a strange scene
took place in the following spring. It was agreed that Mohammad and
his people should perform the Lesser Pilgrimage, and that the Koreysh
should for that purpose vacate Mekka for three days. Accordingly in
March 629, about two thousand Muslims, with Mohammad at their head
on his famous camel, El-Kaswa,--the camel on which he had fled from
Mekka,--trooped down the valley and performed the rites which every
Muslim to this day observes.

“It was surely a strange sight which at this time presented itself
in the vale of Mekka, a sight unique in the history of the world.
The ancient city is for three days evacuated by all its inhabitants,
high and low, every house deserted; and as they retire, the exiled
converts, many years banished from their birthplace, approach in a
great body, accompanied by their allies, revisit the empty homes of
their childhood, and within the short allotted space fulfil the rites
of pilgrimage. The ousted inhabitants, climbing the heights around,
take refuge under tents or other shelter among the hills and glens;
and clustering on the overhanging peak of Abu-Kubeys, thence watch
the movements of the visitors beneath them, as with the Prophet at
their head they make the circuit of the Kaaba and the rapid procession
between Es-Safā and Marwah; and anxiously scan every figure if
perchance they may recognise among the worshippers some long lost
friend or relative. It was a scene rendered possible only by the throes
which gave birth to Islām.” When the three days were over, Mohammad
and his party peaceably returned to Medina, and the Mekkans re-entered
their homes. But this pilgrimage, and the self-restraint of the Muslims
therein, advanced the cause of Islām among its enemies. Converts
increased daily, and some leading men of the Koreysh went over to
Mohammad. The clans around were sending-in deputations of homage. But
the final keystone was set in the 8th year of the flight (A.D. 630),
when a body of Koreysh broke the truce by attacking an ally of the
Muslims, and Mohammad forthwith marched upon Mekka with ten thousand
men, and the city, despairing of defence, surrendered. The day of
Mohammad’s greatest triumph over his enemies was also the day of his
grandest victory over himself. He freely forgave the Koreysh all the
years of sorrow and cruel scorn in which they had afflicted him, and
gave an amnesty to the whole population of Mekka. Four criminals whom
justice condemned made up Mohammad’s proscription list when he entered
as a conqueror to the city of his bitterest enemies. The army followed
his example, and entered quietly and peaceably; no house was robbed,
no women insulted. One thing alone suffered destruction. Going to the
Kaaba, Mohammad stood before each of the three hundred and sixty idols,
and pointed to it with his staff, saying, “Truth is come, and falsehood
is fled away!” and at these words his attendants hewed them down,
and all the idols and household gods of Mekka and round about were
destroyed.

It was thus that Mohammad entered again his native city. Through all
the annals of conquest there is no triumphant entry comparable to this
one.

The taking of Mekka was soon followed by the adhesion of all Arabia.
Every reader knows the story of the spread of Islām. The tribes of
every part of the peninsula sent embassies to do homage to the prophet.
Arabia was not enough: Mohammad had written in his bold uncompromising
way to the great kings of the East--to the Persian Chosroes and the
Greek Emperor; and these little knew how soon his invitation to the
faith would be repeated, and how quickly Islām would be knocking at
their doors with no faltering hand.

The prophet’s career was near its end. In the tenth year of the
flight, twenty-three years after he had first felt the spirit move him
to preach to his people, he resolved once more to leave his adopted
city and go to Mekka to perform a farewell pilgrimage. And when the
rites were done in the valley of Minā, the prophet spake unto the
multitude--the forty thousand pilgrims--with solemn last words:

    Ye people, hearken to my words: for I know not whether after this
    year I shall ever be amongst you here again.

    Your lives and your property are sacred and inviolable amongst
    one another until the end of time.

    The Lord hath ordained to every man the share of his inheritance;
    a testament is not lawful to the prejudice of heirs.

    The child belongeth to the parent, and the violater of wedlock
    shall be stoned.

    Ye people, ye have rights demandable of your wives, and they have
    rights demandable of you. Treat your women well.

    And your slaves, see that ye feed them with such food as ye eat
    yourselves, and clothe them with the stuff ye wear. And if they
    commit a fault which ye are not willing to forgive, then sell
    them, for they are the servants of the Lord and are not to be
    tormented.

    Ye people! hearken unto my speech and comprehend it. Know that
    every Muslim is the brother of every other Muslim. All of you are
    on the same equality: ye are one brotherhood.

Then looking up to heaven he cried, “O Lord, I have delivered my
message and fulfilled my mission.” And all the multitude answered,
“Yea, verily hast thou!”--“O Lord, I beseech thee, bear Thou witness
to it!” and, like Moses, he lifted up his hands and blessed the people.
Three months more and Mohammad was dead,--A.H. 11, A.D. 632.

And when it was noised abroad that the prophet was dead, Omar, the
fiery-hearted, the Simon Peter of Islām, rushed among the people and
fiercely told them they lied; it could not be true. And Abu-Bekr came
and said, “Ye people! he that hath worshipped Mohammad, let him know
that Mohammad is dead; but he that hath worshipped God, that the Lord
liveth and doth not die.”

       *       *       *       *       *

The altered circumstances of Mohammad’s life at Medina produced
a corresponding change in his speeches. They are now not so much
exhortations to unbelievers as directions and encouragements to the
faithful; and instead of being one complete oration, as most of the
early speeches are, they are a collection of isolated “rulings” on
various points of conduct. The prophet’s house at Medina became a court
of appeal for the whole body of Muslims. They came to him with all
their difficulties,--domestic, social, political, religious,--and asked
for direction. Then Mohammad said in few words what he thought right
and just; and these decisions have been treated as laws binding upon
the Mohammadan world for all time. It is fortunate that Mohammad was a
man of sound common sense, or the law of Islām would be a preposterous
medley. As it is, it seems clear that the prophet never wished to lay
down a code of law, and, instead of volunteering rules of conduct and
ritual, used to wait to have them extorted from him by questioning.
“God wishes to make things easy for you,” he says, “for man was created
weak.” He seems to have distrusted himself as a lawgiver, for there
is a tradition which relates a speech of his in which he cautions the
people against taking his decision on worldly affairs as infallible.
When he speaks of the things of God he is to be obeyed; but when he
deals with human affairs he is only a man like those about him. He was
contented to leave the ordinary Arab customs in force except when they
were manifestly unjust. The truth is that, as in the Mekka speeches
so in those of Medina, the legal and dogmatic element is curiously
small. The greater part of those long chapters uttered in fragments at
Medina, and then pieced together haphazard by the prophet’s amanuenses,
consists of diatribes against the Jews and hypocrites, reflections
on the conduct of the allies in battle, encouragement after defeat,
exhortations as to the future, besides a great deal of personal
matter--regulations of the prophet’s harem, vindications of his own
or his wives’ conduct,--and similar things of a temporary and local
interest. Though the style is monotonous and longwinded, like the third
Mekka period, there are still flashes of the old eloquence, though
perhaps it is less spontaneous than of old, such as we hear in the
chapter of _Light_--

    God is the light of the heavens and the earth; his light is as a
      niche in which is a lamp, and the lamp in a glass; the glass is
      as it were a glittering star: it is lit from a blessed tree, an
      olive neither of the east nor of the west, the oil thereof would
      well-nigh shine though no fire touched it--light upon light--God
      guideth to His light whom He pleaseth.
    In the houses God hath suffered to be raised, for His name to be
      commemorated therein, men magnify Him at morn and eve:
    Men whom neither merchandise nor trafficking divert from
      remembering God and being instant in prayer and giving alms,
      fearing a day when hearts and eyes shall quiver;
    That God may recompense them for the best that they have wrought,
      and give them increase of His grace; for God maketh provision for
      whom He pleaseth without count.
    But those who disbelieve are like a vapour in a plain: the thirsty
      thinketh it water, till, when he cometh to it, he findeth
      nothing; but he findeth God with him; and He will settle his
      account, for God is quick at reckoning:--
    Or like black night on a deep sea, which wave above wave doth
      cover, and cloud over wave, gloom upon gloom,--when one putteth
      out his hand he can scarcely see it; for to whom God giveth not
      light, he hath no light.
    Hast thou not seen that what is in the heavens and the earth
      magnifieth God, and the birds on the wing? each one knoweth its
      prayer and its praise, and God knoweth what they do:
    God’s is the empire of the heavens and the earth, and to Him must
      all things return!
    Hast thou not seen that God driveth the clouds, and then joineth
      them, and then heapeth them up, and thou mayest see the rain
      coming forth from their midst; and He sendeth down from the
      heaven mountain-clouds with hail therein, and He maketh it
      fall on whom He pleaseth, and He turneth it away from whom He
      pleaseth: the flashing of His lightning well nigh consumeth the
      eyes!

                                                            xxiv. 35-43.

The actual legal residue in the Medina chapters is singularly small.
Chapters ii., iv., and v., contain nearly all the law of the Korān; but
it must be allowed they are very long chapters, and form nearly a tenth
part of it. Their practical import,--the definite ruling of Mohammad
on dogmatic, ritual, civil, and criminal matters,--is collected in pp.
133-144, and need not be repeated here. The conclusion, however, is
worth pointing clearly. The Korān does not contain, even in outline,
the elaborate ritual and complicated law which now passes under the
name of Islām. It contains merely those decisions which happened to be
called for at Medina. Mohammad himself knew that it did not provide for
every emergency, and recommended a principle of analogical deduction to
guide his followers when they were in doubt. This analogical deduction
has been the ruin of Islām. Commentators and jurists have set their
nimble wits to work to extract from the Korān legal decisions which an
ordinary mind could never discover there; and the whole structure of
modern Mohammadanism has been built upon this foundation of sand. The
Korān is not responsible for it.

There is, however, another source of information about Mohammad’s
teaching and practice which is largely responsible for the present
form of the once simple creed of Mekka. Besides the public speeches
which were held to be directly inspired by God, and indeed copied from
a book supposed to exist in the handwriting of God,--the chapters
of the Korān,--there were many sayings of Mohammad which were said
in a private unofficial way in his circle of intimate friends, and
which were almost as carefully treasured up as the others. These are
the Traditions, or as I may call them, the Table-Talk of Mohammad,
for they correspond more nearly to what we mean by table-talk than
any other form of composition. The Table-Talk of Mohammad deals with
the most minute and delicate circumstances of life, and is much more
serviceable to the lawyer than the Korān itself. The sayings are
very numerous and very detailed; but how far they are genuine it is
not easy to determine. The Korān is known beyond any doubt to be at
this moment, in all practical respects, identical with the prophet’s
words as collected immediately after his death. How it was edited and
collected may be read elsewhere. The only point to be here insisted
on is that its genuineness is above suspicion. Unfortunately, as much
cannot be said for the Traditions. They were collected at a late
period, subjected to a totally useless and preposterous criticism, and
thus reduced from 600,000 to 7275, without becoming in the least more
trustworthy in the process. It is almost impossible now to sift them
with any certainty. All we can go upon is internal evidence, and a few
obvious contradictions in date--as when people relate things which
they apparently heard before they were born. Beyond this, criticism
is helpless, and all we can do is what I have done here--to collect
those which strike the attention and do not seem peculiarly improbable,
and accept them provisionally as possibly correct reports of
Mohammad’s table-talk. There are six standard collections of orthodox
traditions, but those on pp. 147-182 are taken from an abridgment, the
Mishkāt-el-Masābīh, which Captain A. N. Matthews had the patience to
translate and publish at Calcutta in 1809. In the midst of such doubt,
they are sufficient for the purpose of illustration, without any
pretence of completeness or critical precision.

In conclusion, let us banish from our minds any conception of the
Korān as a code of law, or a systematic exposition of a creed. It is
neither of these. Let us only think of a simple enthusiast confronted
with many and varied difficulties, and trying to meet them as best
he could by the inward light that guided him. The guidance was not
perfect, we know, and there is much that is blameworthy in Mohammad;
but whatever we believe of him, let it be granted that his errors were
not the result of premeditated imposition, but were the mistakes of an
ignorant, impressible, superstitious, but nevertheless noble and great
man.

                                                           _March 1882._



REFERENCES.


In the _Introduction_, pp. xviii.-xxv. and xliv.-xlviii., appeared
before in my Introduction to Lane’s _Selections from the Kur-ān_,
2nd ed. (Trübner’s Oriental series, 1879), to which I must refer the
reader for further information on Mohammad and Islām, and especially
concerning the portions of the Korān dealing with the Jewish legends
purposely omitted from the present work. Pp. xxxv.-xxxviii. reproduce
a few paragraphs from the _Edinburgh Review_, No. 316, October 1881,
p. 371, ff. The Arab poetry quoted in the Introduction is from the
admirable versions contributed by Mr. C. J. Lyall to the Journal of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1877 and 1881. The description of Mohammad’s
person and mode of life, pp. xxvii.-xxix., is from E. Deutsch,
_Literary Remains_, p. 70, ff; and R. Bosworth Smith, _Mohammed and
Mohammedanism_, 2d ed., p. 131; to which, and to the Rev. E. Sell’s
_Faith of Islam_, in many respects the best treatise on the Mohammadan
religion, as it now is, that has appeared in recent years, the reader
is referred for much concerning modern and historical Mohammadanism
which is beyond the design of the present volume.

In the text, I must acknowledge my general indebtedness to the
versions of George Sale and the Rev. J. M. Rodwell for many valuable
interpretations; but I wish especially to record my obligations to
Prof. E. H. Palmer, in respect of some fine renderings which he has
been the first to use in his translation of the Korān for the series of
_Sacred Books of the East_, and which I have not hesitated to adopt.

                                                                S. L.-P.



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS.


                                                                    PAGE

  INTRODUCTION                                                         v

    The Korān is capable of adequate representation in small compass
      and approximately chronological order. The original audience of
      Mohammad’s speeches: Arabian characteristics in desert-life and
      town-life, poetry and religion. Mohammad’s early life, person
      and habits, call to preach, and work at Mekka. The three periods
      of Mekka speeches. Change of position at Medina, and consequent
      change in oratory. The Medina speeches. Incompleteness of the law
      of the Korān. The Traditions or Table-talk.
    References                                                       lvi
    Analytical Table of Contents                                    lvii

  THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA
  I.--_THE POETIC PERIOD._ Aet. 40-44, A.D. 609-613                    1

    THE NIGHT (xcii.)                                                  3
      The difference between the good and the wicked in their lives and
        their future states; warning of hell and promise of heaven.
    THE COUNTRY (xc)                                                   5
      The steep road to the life to come is by charity and faith.
    THE SMITING (ci.)                                                  7
      The terrors of the Judgment Day and the Bottomless Pit.
    THE QUAKING (xcix.)                                                8
      Signs of the Last Day, when all secrets shall be revealed.
    THE RENDING ASUNDER (lxxxii.)                                      9
      Signs of the Last Day; man’s unbelief; angels record his actions,
        by which his fate shall be decided.
    THE CHARGERS (c.)                                                 11
      Man’s ingratitude towards God will be exposed on the Last Day.
    SUPPORT (cvii.)                                                   12
      Uncharitable hypocrites denounced.
    THE BACKBITER (civ.)                                              13
      The covetous slanderer shall be cast into Blasting Hell.
    THE SPLENDOUR OF MORNING (xciii.)                                 14
      The goodness of God towards Mohammad must be imitated towards
        others.
    THE MOST HIGH (lxxxvii.)                                          15
      God the Creator is to be magnified. Mohammad is enjoined to
        admonish the people; the opposite fates of those who hearken
        and those who turn away; the message is the same as that
        delivered by Abraham and Moses.
    THE WRAPPING (lxxxi.)                                             17
      Signs of the Last Day. Authenticity of the Korān: Mohammad
        neither mad nor possessed. The Korān a reminder, but man is
        powerless to follow it except by God’s decree.
    THE NEWS (lxxviii.)                                               19
      Men dispute about the Last Day: yet it shall come as surely as
        God created all things. The last trump and the gathering of
        mankind to judgment. Description of the torments of Hell and
        the delights of Paradise.
    THE FACT (lvi.)                                                   22
      Signs of the Last Day. The three kinds of men--prophets,
        righteous, and wicked--and the future state of each. The power
        of God shown in creation. The Korān true and sacred. The state
        after death.
    THE MERCIFUL (lv.)                                                27
      A _Benedicite_ reciting the works of God, and the Judgment and
        Paradise and Hell, with a refrain challenging genii and mankind
        to deny His signs.
    THE UNITY (cxii.)                                                 32
      A profession of faith in one God.
    THE FĀTIHAH (i.)                                                  33
      A prayer for guidance and help: the Muslim _Paternoster_.

  THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA
  II.--_THE RHETORICAL PERIOD._ Aet. 44-46, A.D. 613-615              35

    THE KINGDOM (lxvii.)                                              37
      The power of God shown in creation; Hell the reward of those who
        disbelieve in God’s messengers and discredit His signs. None
        but God knows when the Last Day will be.
    THE MOON (liv.)                                                   41
      The Judgment approaches, but men will not heed the warning, and
        call it a lie and magic. Even so did former generations reject
        their apostles: the people of Noah, Ad, Thamūd, Lot, Pharaoh;
        and there came upon all of them a grievous punishment. Neither
        shall the men of Mekka escape. Refrain: the certainty of
        punishment and the heedlessness of man.
    K. (l.)                                                           45
      Why is the Resurrection so incredible? Does not God continually
        create and re-create? Former generations were equally
        incredulous, but they all found the threat of punishment was
        true. So shall it be again. The recording angels shall bear
        witness, and hell shall be filled. Who can escape God, who
        created all things, and to whom all things must one day return?
    Y.S. (xxxvi.)                                                     49
      Mohammad a true messenger from God to warn the people, whose
        ancestors would not be warned. God hardens their hearts so that
        they cannot believe. Everything is written down in the Book
        of God. Just so did the people of Antioch reject the apostles
        of Jesus, and stoned the only convert among themselves; and
        there came a shout from heaven and exterminated them. Why do
        not men reflect on such warnings? Signs of the Resurrection are
        seen in the revival of spring and the growth of plants, and
        the alternations of night and day, and the changes of the sun
        and moon, and the ships that sail on the sea. Yet they are not
        convinced! The Last Day shall come upon them suddenly. Paradise
        and Hell. The Korān not a poem, but a plain warning of God’s
        might and judgment to come. Their idols need protection instead
        of giving it. God who first made life can quicken it again: his
        “Fiat” is instantly carried out.
    THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL (xvii.)                                    57
      The dream of the journey to Jerusalem. The two sins of the
        children of Israel and their punishments. The Korān gives
        promise of a great reward for righteousness and an aching
        torment for disbelief. Each man shall be judged by his own
        deeds, and none shall be punished for another’s sin; nor was
        any folk destroyed without warning. Kindness and respect to
        parents, and duty to kinsfolk and travellers and the poor;
        hospitality, yet without waste; faithfulness in engagements,
        and honesty in trading, enjoined. Idolatry, infanticide,
        inchastity, homicide (except in a just cause and in fair
        retaliation), and abusing orphans’ trust, and pride, forbidden.
        The angels are not the daughters of God: He has no partner,
        and the whole creation worships Him. But God hardens people’s
        hearts so that they turn away from the Korān. The Resurrection
        is nearer than they think. The faithful must speak pleasantly
        and not wrangle. Mohammad has no power to compel belief. The
        false gods themselves dread God’s torment. The power of working
        miracles was not given to Mohammad, because the people of yore
        always disbelieved in them: so Thamūd with the miraculous
        camel. The story of the devil’s original enmity to Adam; but
        the devil cannot protect his followers against God, to whom
        belongs all power on land and sea, and whose is the Judgment.
        Mohammad nearly tempted to temporize. Prayer at sunset and dawn
        and night vigils commended. Man’s insincerity. The spirit sent
        from God. The Korān inimitable. The demand for miracles and for
        angelic messengers repudiated. The fate of those who disbelieve
        in the resurrection. Moses and Pharaoh: the consequences of
        unbelief. The Korān divided for convenience. The solace of the
        faithful. God and the Merciful the same deity.

  THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA
  III.--_THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD._ Aet. 46-53, A.D. 615-622          73

    THE BELIEVER (xl.)                                                75
      The revelation is from God. Former generations rejected their
        apostles and were punished. The angels praise God. The despair
        of the damned. The great tryst: the judgment of God is
        unerring. The generations of yore were greater than those of
        to-day: yet nothing could save them from God. The history of
        Moses and Pharaoh and the Egyptian convert, and the evil fate
        of the infidels. The proud shall not win in the end. Praise
        of God in His attributes. Hell is the goal of idolaters and
        polytheists. Patience enjoined upon Mohammad. The signs of
        God’s might and the dire consequences of doubting it.
    JONAH (x.)                                                        87
      Repudiation of sorcery. Signs of God’s power, and the
        consequences of believing and disbelieving them. Insincerity
        of man: but former generations were destroyed for unbelief.
        Mohammad has no power to speak the Korān save as God reveals
        it. Idolatry ridiculed. Miracles disclaimed. Man believes when
        he is in danger, and disbelieves when he is rescued. The life
        of this world like grass that will be mown to-morrow. The
        reward of well and evil doing and the judgment of idolaters.
        God’s might in creation. The Korān no forgery, as will be
        plainly seen one day. Every nation has its apostle and its
        appointed term, which cannot be hastened or retarded. Now the
        people are warned, and all they do is seen of God. God’s power:
        He has no Son. The story of Noah and the ark, and Moses and the
        magicians, and the passage of the Red Sea, and the establishing
        of the Children of Israel. The people of Jonah. God compels
        unbelief or belief as He pleases, and none can believe without
        His permission. The signs of God are in the heavens and the
        earth. True worship.
    THUNDER (xiii.)                                                  104
      The mighty works of God. The punishment of unbelief. Miracles
        disclaimed. The omniscience and unvariableness of God, the
        hurler of thunder and lightning and the giver of rain. The
        reward of the faithful; the torment of apostates. God misleads
        whom He will, and, if He pleased, could guide all mankind
        aright. Apostles have been mocked at before: and the mockers
        were punished. Paradise. Mohammad’s task is only to warn: it is
        God’s business to punish.

  SPEECHES OF MEDINA
  _THE PERIOD OF HARANGUE._ Aet. 53-63, A.D. 622-632                 113

    DECEPTION (lxiv.)                                                115
      God’s power in creation. Former apostles were rejected. The
        resurrection, though disbelieved, is a fact--a day when people
        shall find their hopes are deceptive. Paradise and Hell. All
        things are ordained by God. Obedience to God and the apostle
        enjoined. The pleasures of this world are to be distrusted, but
        the fear of God and almsgiving commendable.
    IRON (lvii.)                                                     118
      Praise of God and exhortation to belief and almsgiving and
        fighting for the faith. The future state of the faithful and
        of the hypocrites. The charitable shall be doubly rewarded.
        The present life only a pastime and delusion. Everything
        predestined. The sending of the apostles, of Noah, Abraham, and
        Jesus. Asceticism repudiated. Exhortation to faith and fear.
    THE VICTORY (xlviii.)                                            124
      A victory was given to encourage the faithful. Commendation of
        those who pledged themselves to support Mohammad and rebuke
        to the desert Arabs who held aloof (on the occasion of the
        expedition to Hudeybia); they shall not share in the spoil
        (of Khaibar). Promise of booty. The truce (of Hudeybia).
        The opposition to Mohammad’s pilgrimage to Mekka shall be
        withdrawn; and a victory shall soon be won. The devotion of the
        faithful and their likeness.
    HELP (cx.)                                                       130
      Exhortation to praise God in the hour of triumph.

  THE LAW GIVEN AT MEDINA                                            131

    RELIGIOUS LAW                                                    133
      Creed and good works. Prayer. Alms. Fast. Pilgrimage. Fighting
        for the faith. Sacred month. Forbidden food. Oaths. Wine.
        Gambling. Statues. Divination.
    CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW                                           139
      Homicide; the blood-wit; murder; retaliation. Fighting against
        the faith. Theft. Usury. Marriage; adultery; divorce; slander.
        Testaments and heirs. Maintenance for widows. Testimony.
        Freeing slaves. Asylum. Small offences and great.

  THE TABLE-TALK OF MOHAMMAD                                         145

    Concerning prayer                                                149
    Of charity                                                       151
    Of fasting                                                       153
    Of reading the Korān                                             154
    Of labour and profit                                             155
    Of fighting for the faith                                        159
    Of judgments                                                     160
    Of women and slaves                                              161
    Of dumb animals                                                  164
    Of hospitality                                                   165
    Of government                                                    166
    Of vanities and sundry matters                                   168
    Of death                                                         172
    Of the state after death                                         175
    Of destiny                                                       180

  NOTES                                                              183

    THE MEKKA SPEECHES, I--THE POETIC PERIOD                         183
    THE MEKKA SPEECHES, II--THE RHETORICAL PERIOD                    187
    THE MEKKA SPEECHES, III--THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD                190
    THE MEDINA SPEECHES, THE PERIOD OF HARANGUE                      192
    THE LAW GIVEN AT MEDINA                                          193
    TABLE-TALK OF MOHAMMAD                                           195

  INDEX OF CHAPTERS OF THE KORĀN TRANSLATED IN THIS VOLUME           196

  THE GOLDEN TREASURY SERIES                                           1

  TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE



  THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA

  I. THE POETIC PERIOD

  _Aet._ 40-44
  A.D. 609-613



THE NIGHT.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    By the NIGHT when she spreadeth her veil,
    By the DAY when it is manifested,
    By what made the male and the female:
    Verily your aims are diverse.

    Then as for him who giveth alms and feareth God,
    And putteth his faith in the Best,
    We will speed him onward to ease.
    And as for him who is covetous and desirous of riches,
    And denieth the Best,
    We will speed him onward to trouble;
    And his riches shall not avail him when he falleth down into Hell.
    Verily ours is the guiding,
    And ours the latter and the former life.

    And I have warned you of a flaming fire:
    None shall be burned in it but the wretch,
    Who hath called it a lie and turned his back.
    But the righteous shall be guided away from it--
    He that giveth his substance in charity,
    And doeth no man a kindness in hope of reward,
    But only in seeking the face of his Lord the Most High;
    And in the end he shall surely be well pleased.

                                                                (xcii.)



THE COUNTRY.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    I swear by this COUNTRY--
    And thou art a dweller in this country--
    And by father and child!
    Verily we have created man amid trouble:--
    Doth he think that no one shall prevail against him?
    He saith “I have squandered riches in abundance:”
    Doth he think that no one seeth him?
    Have we not made him two eyes,
    And a tongue and two lips,
    And pointed him out the two highways?
    Yet he doth not attempt the steep one.
    And what shall teach thee what the steep one is?
    The ransoming of captives,
    Or feeding on the day of famine
    The orphan of thy kindred
    Or the poor that lieth in the dust;
    Finally, to be of those who believe, and enjoin steadfastness on
      each other, and enjoin mercy on each other:--
    These are the people of the right hand.
    And those who disbelieve in our signs, they are the people of the
      left:
    Over them a Fire closeth.

                                                                  (xc.)



THE SMITING.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    THE SMITING! what is the Smiting?
    And what shall teach thee what the Smiting is?
    The Day when men shall be like scattered moths,
    And the mountains like carded wool!
    Then as for him whose scales are heavy--his shall be a life
      well-pleasing.
    And as for him whose scales are light--his abode shall be the
      Bottomless Pit.
    And what shall teach thee what that is?
    A Raging Fire!

                                                                  (ci.)



THE QUAKING.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    When the earth shall quake with her QUAKING,
    And when the earth hath cast forth her burdens,
    And man shall say, “What aileth her?”
    On that day shall she tell out her tidings,
    Because thy Lord doth inspire her.
    On that day shall men come in companies to behold their works,
    And whosoever hath wrought an ant’s weight of good shall behold it,
    And whosoever hath wrought an ant’s weight of evil shall behold it.

                                                                (xcix.)



THE RENDING ASUNDER.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    When the Heaven is RENT ASUNDER,
    And when the stars are scattered,
    And when the seas are let loose,
    And when the tombs are turned upside-down,
    The soul shall know what it hath done and left undone.
    O man! what hath deceived thee respecting thy Lord, the Generous;
    Who created thee, and fashioned thee, and moulded thee aright?
    In what form it pleased him He builded thee.
    Nay! but ye take the Judgment for a lie!
    But verily there are watchers over you--
    Worthy reporters--
    Knowing what ye do.
    Verily the righteous shall be in delight,
    And the wicked in Hell-Fire:
    They shall be burnt at it on the day of doom,
    And they shall not be hidden from it.
    What shall teach thee what is the Day of Judgment?
    Again, what shall teach thee what is the Day of Judgment?
    A day when no soul can avail aught for another soul, for the
      ordering on that day is with God.

                                                              (lxxxii.)



THE CHARGERS.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    By the CHARGERS that pant,
    And the hoofs that strike fire,
    And the scourers at dawn,
    Who stir up the dust with it,
    And cleave through a host with it!

    Verily Man is thankless towards his Lord,
    And verily he is witness thereof,
    And verily in his love of weal he is grasping.
    Doth he not know?--when what is in the tombs shall be laid open,
    And what is in men’s breasts shall be laid bare;
    Verily on that day their Lord shall know them well!

                                                                    (c.)



SUPPORT.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    What thinkest thou of him who calleth the Day of Judgment a lie?
    He it is who driveth away the orphan,
    And is not urgent for the feeding of the poor.
    Woe then to those who pray,
    Those who are careless in their prayers,
    Who make a pretence,
    But withhold SUPPORT.

                                                                (cvii.)



THE BACKBITER.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    Woe to every BACKBITER, slanderer!
    Who hath heaped up riches and counted them over!
    He thinketh that his riches have made him everlasting:
    Nay! he shall surely be cast into Blasting Hell.
    And what shall teach thee what Blasting Hell is?
    The fire of God kindled,
    Which reaches over the hearts;
    Verily it is closed over them [like a tent],
    With stays well-stretched.

                                                                  (civ.)



THE SPLENDOUR OF MORNING.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    By the SPLENDOUR OF MORNING,
    And the still of night!
    Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee nor hated thee;
    And the future will surely be better for thee than the present,
    And thy Lord will surely give to thee and thou wilt be well pleased.
    Did He not find thee an orphan and sheltered thee,
    And found thee erring and guided thee,
    And found thee poor and enriched thee?
    Then as for the orphan, oppress him not,
    And as for him who asketh of thee, chide him not away,
    And as for the bounty of thy Lord, tell of it.

                                                                (xciii.)



THE MOST HIGH.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    Magnify the name of thy LORD, THE MOST HIGH,
    Who created, and fashioned,
    And decreed, and guided,
    Who bringeth forth the pasturage,
    Then turneth it dry and brown.

    We will make thee cry aloud, and thou shalt not forget,
    Except what God pleaseth; verily He knoweth the plain and the
      hidden.
    And we will speed thee to ease.
    Admonish, therefore,--verily admonishing profiteth,--
    Whoso feareth God will mind;
    And there will turn away from it only the wretch
    Who shall broil upon the mighty fire;
    And then shall neither die therein, nor live.
    Happy is he who purifieth himself,
    And remembereth the name of his Lord, and prayeth.
    But ye prefer the life of this world,
    Though the life to come is better and more enduring.
    Truly this is in the books of eld,
    The books of Abraham and Moses.

                                                              (lxxxvii.)



THE WRAPPING.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    When the sun shall be WRAPPED UP,
    And when the stars shall fall down,
    And when the mountains shall be removed,
    And when the ten-month camels shall be neglected,
    And when the wild beasts shall be huddled together,
    And when the seas shall boil over,
    And when souls shall be joined to their bodies,
    And when the child that was buried alive shall be asked
    For what crime she was slain;
    And when the Books shall be laid open,
    And when the sky shall be peeled off,
    And when Hell shall be set a-blaze,
    And when Paradise shall be brought near,--
    The soul shall know what it hath wrought.

    And I swear by the stars that hide,
    That move swiftly and hide,
    And by the darkening night,
    And by the breath of dawn,--
    Verily this is the word of a noble messenger,
    Strong, firm in the favour of the Lord of the Throne,
    Obeyed and trusted.
    And your companion is not mad:
    Of a surety he saw [the Angel] on the clear horizon:
    And he is not mistrusted as to the unseen,
    Nor is his the speech of a pelted devil.
    Then whither go ye?
    Verily this is but a Reminder to the worlds,
    To whomsoever of you chooseth to walk aright:
    But ye shall not choose it, except God choose it, the Lord of the
      worlds.

                                                                (lxxxi.)



THE NEWS.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    Of what do they question together?
    Of the great NEWS,
    About which they dispute?
    Nay, but they shall know!
    Again,--Nay, but they shall know!
    Have we not made the earth as a bed?
    And the mountains as tent-pegs?
    And created you in pairs,
    And made your sleep for rest,
    And made the night for a mantle,
    And made the day for bread-winning,
    And built above you seven firmaments,
    And put therein a burning lamp,
    And sent down water pouring from the squeezed clouds
    To bring forth grain and herb withal,
    And gardens thick with trees?

    Lo! the Day of Decision is appointed--
    The day when there shall be a blowing of the trumpet, and ye shall
      come in troops,
    And the heavens shall be opened, and be full of gates,
    And the mountains shall be removed, and turn into mist.
    Verily Hell lieth in wait,
    The goal for rebels,
    To abide therein for ages;
    They shall not taste therein coolness nor drink,
    Save scalding water and running sores,--
    A meet reward!
    Verily they did not expect the reckoning,
    And they denied our signs with lies;
    But everything have we recorded in a book:--
    “Taste then: for we will only add torment to you.”
    Verily for the pious is a place of joy,
    Gardens and vineyards,
    And full-bosomed girls, their mates,
    And a cup brimming over:
    There shall they hear neither folly nor lying;--
    A reward of thy Lord--a gift sufficient,
    Of the Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and of what is between
      them, the Merciful!
    They shall not obtain speech of him:--
    On the day when the Spirit and the Angels shall stand in ranks,
      they shall have no utterance, save he to whom the Merciful shall
      give leave, and who speaketh rightly.
    That is the day of truth! Then he that chooseth, let him make for
      his Lord as his goal.
    Verily we warn you of torment nigh at hand;
    On the day when man shall see what his hands have sent before him,
      and the unbeliever shall say, “Oh! that I were dust.”

                                                              (lxxviii.)



THE FACT.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    When the FACT becomes fact,
    None shall deny it is a fact,--
    Abasing,--exalting!
    When the earth shall be shaken in a shock,
    And the mountains shall be powdered in powder,
    And become like flying dust,
    And ye shall be three kinds.

    Then the people of the right hand--what people of good omen!
    And the people of the left hand--what people of ill omen!
    And the outstrippers, still outstripping:--
    These are the nearest [to God],
    In gardens of delight;
    A crowd of the men of yore,
    And a few of the latter days;
    Upon inwrought couches,
    Reclining thereon face to face.
    Youths ever young shall go unto them round about
    With goblets and ewers and a cup of flowing wine,--
    Their heads shall not ache with it, neither shall they be confused;
    And fruits of their choice,
    And flesh of birds to their desire;
    And damsels with bright eyes like hidden pearls,--
    A reward for what they have wrought.
    They shall hear no folly therein, nor any sin,
    But only the greeting, “Peace! peace!”

    And the people of the right hand--what people of good omen!
    Amid thornless lote-trees,
    And bananas laden with fruit,
    And shade outspread,
    And water flowing,
    And fruit abundant,
    Never failing, nor forbidden,
    And wives exalted--
    Verily we produced them specially
    And made them virgins,
    Amorous, of equal age,
    For the people of the right hand,--
    A crowd of the men of yore,
    And a crowd of the latter days.
    But the people of the left hand--what people of ill omen!--
    Amid burning wind and scalding water,
    And a shade of black smoke,
    Not cool or grateful!
    Verily, before that, they were prosperous;
    But they persisted in the most grievous sin,
    And used to say,
    “When we have died, and become dust and bones, shall we indeed be
      raised again,
    And our fathers the men of yore?”
    Say: Verily those of yore and of the latter days
    Shall surely be gathered to the trysting-place of a day which is
      known.
    Then ye, O ye who err and call it a lie,
    Shall surely eat of the tree of Zakkūm,
    And fill your bellies with it,
    And drink upon it scalding water,--
    Drink like the thirsty camel:--
    This shall be their entertainment on the Day of Judgment!

    It is we who created you; why then will ye not believe?
    Have ye considered the germs of life--
    Is it ye who create them, or are we the creators?
    It is we who have decreed death among you; yet are we not debarred
    From changing you for your likes, or producing you how ye know not.
    But ye have known the first creation: why will ye not mind?
    Have ye considered what ye sow?
    Is it ye who raise it, or are we the raisers thereof?
    If we pleased we could surely make it dry, so that ye would stop
      and marvel, [saying]
    “We have spent, yet we are forbidden [the fruits].”
    Have ye considered the water ye drink?
    Is it ye who send it down from the clouds, or do we send it down?
    If we pleased we could make it salt; why will ye not be thankful?
    Have ye considered the fire which ye kindle?
    Is it ye who make the wood that produces it, or do we make it?
    It is we who have made it for a reminder and a benefit to the
      traveller.
    Then magnify the name of thy Lord the Most Great.

    And I swear by the setting-places of the stars,
    And that, if ye knew it, is verily a mighty oath,
    Verily this is the honourable Korān,
    Written in the preserved Book:
    Let none touch it but the purified,--
    A revelation from the Lord of the worlds.
    Will ye then disdain this discourse,
    And make it your daily bread to discredit it?
    Why then when the dying man’s soul has come up to his throat,
    And ye at the moment are watching,--
    And we are nearer to him than ye, although ye see us not,--
    Why, if ye are to have no Judgment,
    Do ye not cause that soul to return, if ye speak the truth?
    But if he be one of those brought nearest to God,
    There is rest for him and sweet odour and a garden of delights.
    And if he be of the people of the right hand,
    [He shall be greeted with] “Peace to thee,” from the people of the
      right.
    And if he be of those who call it a lie,
    The erring,
    Then an entertainment of scalding water,
    And broiling in Hell.
    Verily this is assured truth!
    So magnify the name of thy Lord the Most Great.

                                                                  (lvi.)



THE MERCIFUL.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    THE MERCIFUL hath taught the Korān;
    He created man,
    Taught him clear speech;
    The sun and the moon in their courses,
    And the plants and the trees do homage.
    And the Heaven, He raised it, and appointed the balance.
    (That ye should not transgress in the balance:--
    But weigh ye justly and stint not the balance.)
    And the Earth, He prepared it for living things,
    Therein is fruit, and the palm with sheaths,
    And grain with its husk, and the fragrant herb:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    He created man of clay like a pot,
    And He created the Jinn of clear fire:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    Lord of the two Easts,
    And Lord of the two Wests:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    He has let loose the two seas which meet together;
    Yet between them is a barrier they cannot pass:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    He bringeth up therefrom pearls great and small:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    And His are the ships towering on the sea like mountains:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    All on the earth passeth away,
    But the face of thy Lord abideth endued with majesty and honour:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    All things in the Heaven and Earth supplicate Him, every day is He
     at work:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    We will apply ourselves to you, O ye two notables:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    O company of Jinn and men, if ye are able to compass the boundaries
      of the Heavens and of the Earth, then compass them; but ye shall
      not compass them, save in our might:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    There shall be shot at you a flash of fire and molten brass; ye
      cannot defend yourselves:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    And when the Heaven shall be rent and become rosy like a red hide:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    On that day neither man nor Jinn shall be asked about their sin:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    The sinners shall be known by their signs, and they shall be seized
      by the forelock and the feet:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    “This is Hell which the sinners took for a lie,”
    To and fro shall they wander between it and water scalding hot:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    But for him who feareth the majesty of his Lord [shall be] two
      gardens:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    With trees branched over:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    And therein two flowing wells:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    And therein of every fruit two kinds:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    Reclining on couches with linings of brocade and the fruit of the
      gardens to their hand:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    Therein the shy-eyed maidens neither man nor Jinn hath touched
      before:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    Like rubies and pearls:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    Shall the reward of good be aught but good?
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    And beside these shall be two other gardens:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    Dark green in hue:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    With gushing wells therein:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    Therein fruit and palm and pomegranate:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    Therein the best and comeliest maids:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    Bright-eyed, kept in tents:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    Man hath not touched them before, nor Jinn:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    Reclining on green cushions and fine carpets:
    _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_
    Blessed be the name of thy Lord endued with majesty and honour.

                                                                  (lv.)



THE UNITY.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    Say: He is ONE God;
    God the Eternal.
    He begetteth not, nor is begotten;
    Nor is there one like unto Him.

                                                                (cxii.)



THE FĀTIHAH.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds!
    The Compassionate, the Merciful!
    King of the day of judgment!
    Thee we worship, and Thee we ask for help.
    Guide us in the straight way,
    The way of those to whom Thou art gracious;
    Not of those upon whom is Thy wrath nor of the erring.

                                                                    (i.)



  THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA

  II. THE RHETORICAL PERIOD

  _Aet._ 44-46
  A.D. 613-615



THE KINGDOM.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    Blessed be He in whose hand is the KINGDOM: and He is powerful over
      all;
    Who created death and life to prove you which of you is best in
      actions, and He is the Mighty, the Very Forgiving;
    Who hath created seven heavens in stages: thou seest no fault in
      the creation of the Merciful; but lift up thine eyes again; dost
      thou see any cracks?
    Then lift up the eyes again twice; thy sight will recoil to thee
      dazzled and dim.
    Moreover, we have decked the lower heaven with lamps, and have made
      them for pelting the devils, and we have prepared for them the
      torment of the flame.
    And for those who disbelieve in their Lord, the torment of Hell:
      and evil the journey to it!
    When they shall be cast into it, they shall hark to its braying as
      it boileth;--
    It shall well-nigh burst with fury! Every time a troop is thrown
      into it, its keepers shall ask them, “Did not a warner come to
      you?”
    They shall say, “Yea! a warner came to us; but we took him for a
      liar, and said, ‘God hath not sent down anything. Verily, ye are
      only in great error.’”
    And they shall say, “Had we but hearkened or understood, we had not
      been among the people of the flame!”
    And they will confess their sins: so a curse on the people of the
      flame!
    Verily they who fear their Lord in secret, for them is
      forgiveness--a great reward.
    And whether ye hide your speech, or say it aloud, verily He knoweth
      well the secrets of the breast!
    What! shall He not know, who created? and He is the subtle, the
      well-aware!
    It is He who hath made the earth smooth for you: so walk on its
      sides, and eat of what He hath provided--and unto Him shall be
      the resurrection.
    Are ye sure that He who is in the Heaven will not make the earth
      sink with you? and behold, it shall quake!
    Or are ye sure that He who is in the Heaven will not send against
      you a sand-storm,--so shall ye know about the warning!
    And assuredly those who were before them called it a lie, and how
      was it with their denial?
    Or do they not look up at the birds over their heads, flapping
      their wings? None supporteth them but the Merciful: verily He
      seeth all.
    Who is it that will be a host for you, to defend you, if not the
      Merciful? verily the unbelievers are in naught but delusion!
    Who is it that will provide for you, if He withhold His provision?
      Nay, they persist in pride and running away!
    Is he, then, who goeth grovelling on his face better guided than he
      who goeth upright on a straight path?
    Say: it is He who produced you and made you hearing and sight and
      heart--little are ye thankful!
    Say: it is He who sowed you in the earth, and to Him shall ye be
      gathered.
    But they say, “When shall this threat be, if ye are speakers of
      truth?”
    Say: the knowledge thereof is with God alone, and I am naught but a
      plain warner.
    But when they shall see it nigh, the countenance of those who
      disbelieved shall be evil,--and it shall be said, “This is what
      ye called for.”
    Say: Have ye considered--whether God destroy me and those with me,
      or whether we win mercy--still who will save the unbelievers from
      aching torment?
    Say: He is the Merciful: we believe in Him, and in Him we put our
      trust--and ye shall soon know which it is that is in manifest
      error!
    Say: Have ye considered if your waters should sink away to-morrow,
      who will bring you running water?

                                                                (lxvii.)



THE MOON.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    The Hour approacheth and the MOON is cleft asunder.
    But if they see a sign they turn aside, and say “Useless magic!”
    And they call it a lie, and follow their own lusts:--but everything
      is ordained.
    Yet there came to them messages of forbiddance--
    Wisdom supreme--but warners serve not!
    Then turn from them: the Day when the Summoner shall summon to a
      matter of trouble,
    With eyes cast down shall they come forth from their graves, as if
      they were scattered locusts,
    Hurrying headlong to the summoner: the unbelievers shall say, “This
      is a hard day!”

    The people of Noah, before them, called it a lie, and they called
      our servant a liar, and said, “Mad!” and he was rejected.
    Then he besought his Lord, “Verily I am overpowered: defend me.”
    So we opened the gates of heaven with water pouring forth,
    And we made the earth break out in springs, and the waters met by
      an order foreordained;
    And we carried him on a vessel of planks and nails,
    Which sailed on beneath our eyes;--a reward for him who had been
      disbelieved.
    And we left it as a sign; but doth any one mind?
    _And what was my torment and warning?_
    _And we have made the Korān easy for reminding; but doth anyone
      mind?_

    Ad called it a lie; _but what was my torment and warning?_
    Lo, we sent against them a biting wind on a day of settled ill-luck.
    It tore men away as though they were trunks of palm-trees torn-up.
    _But what was my torment and warning?_
    _And we have made the Korān easy for reminding; but doth any one
      mind?_

    Thamūd called the warning a lie:
    And they said, “A single mortal from among ourselves shall we
      follow? verily then we should be in error and madness.
    Is the reminding committed to him alone among us? Nay, he is an
      insolent liar.”
    They shall know to-morrow about the insolent liar!
    Lo! we will send the she-camel to prove them: so mark them well,
      and be patient.
    And predict to them that the water shall be divided between
      themselves and her, every draught taken in turn.
    But they called their companion, and he took and hamstrung her--
    _And what was my torment and warning?_
    Lo! we sent against them one shout; and they became like the dry
      sticks of the hurdle-maker.
    _And we have made the Korān easy for reminding; but doth any one
      mind?_

    The people of Lot called the warning a lie;--
    Lo! we sent a sand-storm against them, except the family of Lot,
      whom we delivered at daybreak
    As a favour from us; thus do we reward the thankful.
    And he had warned them of our attack, but they misdoubted the
      warning;
    And they sought his guests, so we put out their eyes.
    “_So taste ye my torment and warning!_”
    And in the morning there overtook them a punishment abiding.
    “_So taste my torment and warning._”
    _And we have made the Korān easy for reminding; but doth any one
      mind?_

    And there came a warning to the people of Pharaoh:
    They called our signs all a lie: so we gripped them with the grip
      of omnipotent might.

    Are your unbelievers better men than those? Is there immunity for
      you in the Books?
    Do they say, “We are a company able to defend itself?”
    They shall all be routed, and turn their backs.
    Nay, but the Hour is their threatened time, and the Hour shall be
      most grievous and bitter.
    Verily the sinners are in error and madness!
    One day they shall be dragged into the fire on their faces: “_Taste
      ye the touch of Hell._”

    Verily all things have we created by a decree,
    And our command is but one moment, like the twinkling of an eye.
    And we have destroyed the like of you:--_but doth any one mind?_
    And everything that they do is in the Books;
    Everything, little and great, is written down.
    Verily the pious shall be amid gardens and rivers,
    In the seat of truth, before the King Omnipotent.

                                                                  (liv.)



K.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    K. By the glorious Korān.
    Nay, they marvel that a warner from among themselves hath come to
      them: and the unbelievers say, “This is a marvellous thing!
    When we are dead and are become dust!--that is a far-fetched
      return!”
    We know what the earth consumeth of them, and with us is a book
      that keepeth count.
    Nay, they called the truth a lie when it came to them, but they are
      in a perplexed state.
    Will they not look up to the heaven above them, how we built it,
      and beautified it, and there are no flaws therein?
    And we spread out the earth, and cast stable mountains upon it, and
      caused to grow there plants of all beauteous kinds,
    For consideration and warning to every repentant servant.
    And we sent down water from heaven as a blessing, and caused
      thereby gardens and harvest grain to grow,
    And tall palm-trees with spathes heaped up,
    A provision for our servants; and revived thereby a barren land.
      Like that shall the resurrection be.
    Before them the people of Noah and the people of Er-Rass and Thamūd
      called the prophets liars,
    And Ad, and Pharaoh, and the brethren of Lot, and the people of the
      grove, and the people of Tubba´--one and all called the apostles
      liars,--and found the threat true.
    Were we then impotent as to the first creation? yet they are in
      doubt about a new creation.
    We created man, and we know what his soul whispereth, and we are
      nearer to him than his jugular vein.

    When the two note-takers take note, sitting on the right hand and
      on the left,
    Not a word doth he utter, but a watcher is by him ready.
    And the stupor of death shall come in truth;--“this is what thou
      would’st have avoided.”
    And the trumpet shall be blown,--that is the Day of the Threat!
    And every soul shall come, along with a driver and a witness--
    “Thou didst not heed this: so we have taken away from thee thy
      veil, and to-day thy sight is keen.”
    And his companion shall say, “This is what I am ready to witness.”
    “Cast ye into Hell every unbelieving rebel,
    Hinderer of the good, transgressor, doubter,
    Who setteth up other gods with God; cast ye him into the fierce
      torment.”
    His companion shall say, “O our Lord! I misled him not; but he was
      in fathomless error.”
    God shall say, “Wrangle not before me, for I charged you before
      about the threat.
    My word does not change, and I am not unjust to my servants.”
    On that day will we say to Hell, “Art thou full?” and it shall say,
      “Is there more?”
    And Paradise shall be brought nigh to the righteous, not afar:--
    “This is what ye were promised, unto every one who turneth himself
      to God and keepeth His laws,
    Who feareth the Merciful in secret, and cometh with a contrite
      heart;
    Enter it in peace:”--that is the Day of Eternity!
    They shall have what they please therein, and increase at our hands.

    And how many generations have we destroyed before them, mightier
      than they in valour! then seek through the land--is there any
      refuge?
    Verily in that is a warning to him who hath a heart, or giveth ear,
      and is a beholder.
    And We created the heavens, and the earth, and what is between
      them, in six days, and no weariness touched us.
    Then be patient with what they say, magnify thy Lord with praise
      before the rising of the sun and its setting,
    And in the night magnify Him, and in the endings of the prayers.
    And give ear to the day when the crier shall cry from a near place,
    The day when they shall hear the shout in truth--that is the day of
      resurrection!
    Verily it is we who give life and death, and to us do all return.
    The day when the earth shall gape asunder over them suddenly--that
      is the gathering easy to us!
    We know well what they say: and thou art not a tyrant over them.
    But warn by the Korān him who feareth the threat.

                                                                    (l.)



Y. S.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    Y. S. By the wise Korān!
    Verily thou art of the Messengers
    Upon the straight way.
    A revelation of the Mighty, the Merciful:--
    To warn a people whose fathers were not warned, and themselves are
      heedless.
    Our word has proved true against the most of them; yet they will
      not believe!
    Verily we have put shackles on their necks, reaching to the chin,
      and their heads are tied back;
    And we have put a barrier before them and a barrier behind them,
      and we have covered them so that they see not;
    And it is all one to them whether thou warn them or warn them not:
      they will not believe.
    Thou wilt only warn to good purpose him who followeth the monition
      and feareth the Merciful in secret: so tell him good tidings of
      forgiveness and a noble reward.
    Verily it is we who quicken the dead, and write down the deeds they
      have sent before them and the vestiges they leave behind them;
      and everything do we set down in the plain Exemplar.

    And frame for them a parable--the people of the town [of Antioch],
      when the Apostles came to it;
    When we sent unto them two, and they called them liars; so we
      strengthened them with a third, and they said, “Verily we are
      sent unto you.”
    The people said, “Ye are only men like us; and the Merciful hath
      not revealed aught; in sooth ye are only lying.”
    They said, “Our Lord knoweth that we are indeed sent unto you;
    And there is naught laid upon us but to announce a plain message.”
    The people said, “Of a truth we have drawn an evil augury from
      you: unless ye desist, we will surely stone you, and a painful
      punishment shall surely betide you from us.”
    They said, “Your evil augury is with yourselves! If ye be
      warned?--Nay! ye are an ignorant people.”
    And there came from the furthest part of the city a man running: he
      said, “O my people! follow the Apostles,
    Follow those who ask you not for recompense, and who are guided
      aright.
    And what is in me, that I should not worship Him who made me and to
      whom ye must return?
    Shall I take gods beside Him? If the Merciful be pleased to afflict
      me, their intercession will not avail me aught, nor will they
      deliver me;
    Verily in that case I should be in a manifest error.
    Verily I believe in your Lord: therefore hear ye me.”--
    It was said, “Enter into Paradise,” and he said, “Would that my
      people knew
    How that my Lord hath forgiven me and hath made me one of the
      honoured!”
    And afterwards we sent not down upon his people armies out of
      heaven nor what we were wont to send down:
    It was but one shout, and lo, they were extinct!

    O the pity of men! No apostle cometh to them but they laugh him to
      scorn.
    Do they not consider how many generations we have destroyed before
      them?
    Verily they shall not return to them,
    But gathered together before us shall they all be arraigned.

    And a sign for them is the dead earth which we quicken and bring
      thereforth grain, and they eat of it;
    And we make therein gardens of palm-trees and vines, and cause
      springs to gush forth therein;
    That they may eat of its fruits, and of the labour of their hands:
      and will they not be thankful?
    Extolled be the glory of Him who hath created all sorts of what the
      earth beareth, and of men’s selves, and of that they know not of!
    And a sign for them is the night. We draw away the day from it, and
      lo! they are in darkness;
    And the sun hasteneth to her resting-place.--This is the ordinance
      of the Mighty, the Wise!--
    And for the moon we have decreed his mansions, till he is wasted to
      the likeness of a withered palm-branch.
    It is not meet that the sun should overtake the moon, nor the night
      outstrip the day; but each doth swim in its sphere.
    And it is a sign for them that we carry their offspring in the
      burthened ship;
    And that we create for them the like of it to ride on;
    And if we please, we drown them, and there is no succour for them,
      nor are they delivered,
    Save in our mercy, and for a transient joy.
    And when it is said to them, “Fear what is before you and what is
      behind you; haply ye may obtain mercy:”
    Thou bringest not one sign of the signs of their Lord but they turn
      away from it!
    And when it is said to them, “Give alms of what God hath bestowed
      on you,” they who disbelieve say to those who believe, “Shall we
      feed him whom God can feed if He pleases? verily ye are only in
      manifest error.”

    And they say “When will this threat come to pass, if ye be speakers
      of truth?”
    They await but a single blast; it shall smite them whilst they are
      wrangling,
    And they shall not be able to make their wills, and unto their
      families they shall not return.
    And the trumpet shall be blown, and behold they shall hasten out of
      the graves to their Lord:
    Saying, “Oh, woe is us! who hath roused us from our sleeping-place?
      This is what the Merciful threatened; and the apostles spake
      truth.”
    There shall be but one blast, and, lo! all are arraigned before us;
    And on that day no soul shall be wronged at all, nor shall ye be
      recompensed save for what ye have wrought.

    Verily on that day the people of Paradise shall, be happy in their
      pursuits,
    They and their wives reclining on couches in the shade;
    They have fruit there and whatsoever they demand:
    “Peace” is their greeting from a merciful Lord.

    “Separate ye this day, O ye sinners!
    Did I not charge you, O sons of Adam, not to serve the
      Devil,--surely he is your open enemy,--
    But to worship Me: this is the straight way?
    Yet he led away a great multitude of you: had ye no wits?
    This is Hell, which ye were threatened with:
    Roast there to-day, because ye did not believe.”
    On that day will we set a seal on their mouths, but their hands
      shall speak to us, and their feet shall bear witness of what they
      have earned for themselves.
    And if we pleased, we could put out their eyes, and still would
      they hasten on their way: but how would they see?
    And if we pleased we could transform them as they stand so that
      they could not go on or turn back;
    And him whom we make old, we bow down his body: have they no wits?

    We have not taught [Mohammad] poetry, nor would it befit him. It is
      only a warning and a plain Korān,
    To warn whosoever liveth: and the sentence shall be carried out
      upon the unbelievers.
    Do they not see that we have created for them, of what our hands
      have made, the cattle which they possess?
    And we have subdued them unto them, and some of them are for riding
      and of some they eat,
    And they have in them profit and milk to drink: and will they not
      be thankful?
    But they have taken other gods beside God, if haply they may be
      holpen:
    They are not able to help them; yet they themselves are an army
      arrayed for their defence.

    But let not their speech grieve thee: verily, we know what they
      hide and what they show!
    Doth not man see that we created him from a germ? Yet, behold he is
      an open adversary,
    And he putteth arguments to us, and forgetteth his creation,
      saying, “Who can quicken bones that are rotten?”
    Say: He who first made them to be shall quicken them: for all
      creating He knoweth well;--
    Who made for you fire from a green tree, and behold, ye kindle with
      it;
    And is not He who created the Heavens and the Earth able to create
      their like? Yea! for He is the wise Creator.
    His command, when he willeth a thing, is only to say to it “BE,”
      and it is!

    Then extolled be the Perfection of Him in whose hand is the empire
      over all, and to whom ye must return.

                                                                (xxxvi.)



THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    Extolled be the glory of Him who conveyed his servant by night from
      the Sacred Mosque to the furthest mosque, whose precincts we have
      blessed, to show him our signs! Verily, He it is who heareth and
      seeth!
    And we gave the Book of the Law to Moses and made it a guide to the
      CHILDREN OF ISRAEL--“Take ye no guardian beside Me,
    Seed of those whom we bare [in the ark] with Noah! Verily he was a
      grateful servant!”
    And we ordained for the Children of Israel in the Book,--“Ye shall
      surely work iniquity in the earth twice, and ye shall be puffed
      up with a mighty arrogance.”
    So when the threat came to pass for the first of the two sins, we
      sent upon you servants of ours armed with grievous punishment;
      and they went among your houses, and the threat was carried out.
    Then in turn we gave you victory over them, and helped you with
      riches and sons, and made you a very numerous host.
    If ye do well, ye will do well to your own souls, and if ye do ill,
      it will be to them also. And when the threat came to pass for the
      second sin,--[the enemy came] to afflict you, and to enter the
      mosque as they entered it the first time, and to utterly destroy
      what they had overpowered.
    Haply your Lord will have mercy on you! and if ye turn, we will
      turn; but we have made Hell for a prison for the unbelievers.

    Verily this Korān guideth to the right way and giveth good tidings
      to believers,
    Who do that which is right, that for them is a great reward;
    And that for those who believe not in the life to come, we have
      made ready an aching torment.

    Man prayeth for evil as he prayeth for good: for man was ever hasty.

    We have made the night and the day for two signs: then we blot out
      the sign of the night, and make the sign of the day manifest,
      that ye may seek bounty from your Lord, and may know the number
      of the years and the reckoning of time; and we have defined
      everything definitely.
    And every man’s fate we have fastened about his neck. And we will
      bring to him on the day of Resurrection a book which shall be
      offered to him open:--
    “Read thy Book: thou thyself art accountant enough against thyself
      this day.”
    He who is guided, for his own good only shall he be guided, and he
      who erreth but to his own hurt; and one burthened soul shall not
      be burthened with another’s burthen.

    And we did not punish until we had sent an apostle.
    And when we resolved to destroy a city, we enjoined its men of
      wealth, but they disobeyed therein; so the sentence proved true,
      and we destroyed it utterly.
    How many generations have we swept away since Noah! and thy Lord
      knoweth and seeth enough of the sins of His servants.

    Whoso desireth the present life, we will present him with what we
      please therein, to whom we choose: finally, we will make Hell for
      him to roast in, disgraced and banished:
    But whoso desireth the life to come, and striveth after it
      strenuously, and he a believer,--the endeavour of these shall be
      acceptable:
    To all, to these and those, will we extend the gifts of thy Lord;
      and the gifts of thy Lord are not limited.
    See how we have made some of them excellent above others! but the
      life to come is greater in degrees and greater in excellence.

    Set no other god with God, lest thou sit down disgraced and
      defenceless.
    Thy Lord hath ordained that ye worship none but Him; and kindness
      to your parents, whether one or both of them attain old age with
      thee: then say not to them, “Fie!” neither reproach them; but
      speak to them generous words,
    And droop the wing of humility to them out of compassion, and say,
      “Lord, have compassion on them, like as they fostered me when I
      was little.”
    (Your Lord knoweth perfectly what is in your souls, whether ye be
      well-doers;
    And verily He is forgiving to the repentant.)
    And render to thy kinsman his due, and to the poor and to the son
      of the road (but lavish not wastefully;
    Truly the wasteful are brothers of the Devil, and the Devil is
      ungrateful to his Lord:)
    But if thou turnest away from them, to seek the mercy which thou
      hopest from thy Lord, yet speak to them gentle words.
    And let not thy hand be chained to thy neck; nor yet stretch
      it forth right open, or thou wilt sit down in reproach and
      destitution.
    Verily thy Lord will be openhanded with provision for whom He
      pleaseth, or He will be sparing; He knoweth and seeth His
      servants.
    And slay not your children for fear of want: we will provide for
      them. Beware! verily killing them is a great sin.
    And draw not near to inchastity; verily it is a foul thing, and
      evil is the course.
    And slay not the soul whom God hath forbidden you to slay, unless
      for a just cause: and whosoever shall be slain wrongfully, we
      give his heir the right [of retaliation]; but let him not exceed
      in slaying; verily he is protected.
    And approach not the substance of the orphan, except to make it
      better, till he cometh to maturity: and observe your covenants;
      verily covenants shall be inquired of hereafter.
    And give full measure when ye measure, weigh with an even balance;
      that is best and fairest in the end.
    And follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge: verily the
      hearing, and the sight, and the heart,--all of them shall be
      inquired of.
    And walk not proudly on the earth: verily thou shalt never cleave
      the earth, nor reach to the mountains in height!
    All that is evil in thy Lord’s eye, an abomination.

    That is part of the wisdom which thy Lord hath revealed to thee.
      And make no other god beside God, or thou wilt be thrown into
      Hell in reproach and banishment.
    Hath then the Lord assigned to you sons, and shall He take for
      himself daughters from among the angels? verily ye do say a
      tremendous saying!
    And we made variations in this Korān to warn them; yet it only
      increaseth their repulsion.
    Say: If there were other gods with Him, as ye say, they would then
      seek occasion against the Lord of the throne.
    Extolled be His glory, and be He greatly exalted far above what
      they say!
    The seven heavens, and the earth, and all that is therein, magnify
      Him, and there is naught but magnifieth His praise; only ye
      understand not their worship. Verily He is forbearing, forgiving.
    When thou declaimest the Korān, we put between thee and those who
      believe not in the life to come a close veil;
    And we put coverings over their hearts, lest they should understand
      it, and deafness in their ears.
    And when thou tellest of thy Lord in the Korān as One, they turn
      their backs in repulsion.
    We know well what they listen for, when they listen to thee, and
      when they whisper apart, when the wicked say, “Ye do but follow a
      man enchanted.”
    See what comparisons they make for thee! but they wander and cannot
      find the way.

    They say, “What! when we have become bones and dust, shall we
      forsooth be raised as a new creature?”
    Say: Yes! were ye stones, or iron, or any creature, the hardest [to
      raise again] that your minds can imagine. But they will say, “Who
      shall restore us?” Say: He who began you in the beginning! And
      they will wag their heads at thee and say, “When shall this be?”
      Say: Maybe it is nigh at hand.--
    A day when God shall summon you and ye shall answer with His
      praise; and ye shall think that ye have tarried but a little
      while.
    And say to my servants that they speak pleasantly: verily the Devil
      provoketh strife among them; verily the Devil is man’s open enemy.
    Your Lord knoweth you well; if He please He will have mercy on you;
      or if He please He will torment you; and we have not sent thee to
      be our governor over them!
    Thy Lord knoweth well who is in the heavens and in the earth. And
      we distinguished some of the prophets above others, and we gave
      to David the Psalms.
    Say: Call ye upon those whom ye profess beside Him; but they will
      have no power to put away trouble from you or alter it.
    Those whom they invoke do themselves strive for access to their
      Lord, which of them shall be nearest: and they hope for His mercy
      and fear His torment: verily the torment of thy Lord is to be
      dreaded.
    There is no city but we will destroy it before the Day of
      Resurrection, or torment it with grievous torment. That is
      written in the Book.

    Nothing hindered our sending thee with signs but that the people of
      yore called them lies. We gave Thamūd the she-camel before their
      very eyes, but they maltreated her; and we send not [a prophet]
      with signs except to terrify.
    And when we said to thee, “Verily thy Lord encompasseth
      mankind;”--and we made the vision which we showed thee, and
      the accursed tree in the Korān, only to prove men; and we will
      terrify them; but it shall only add to their great disobedience.
    And when we said to the angels, “Bow down to Adam:” and they all
      bowed down save Iblīs: who said, “What! shall I bow down to him
      whom thou hast created of clay?”
    And said, “Dost thou consider this one whom thou hast honoured
      above me? Verily, if thou didst spare me till the day of
      Resurrection, I would utterly destroy his offspring, all but a
      few!”
    God said, “Begone; but whosoever of them followeth thee, verily,
      Hell is to be your reward--reward enough!
    And tempt whom thou canst of them by thy voice; and assail them
      with thy horsemen and thy footmen, and share with them in their
      riches and their children, and make them promises. (But the
      Devil’s promises are deceitful.)
    Verily thou hast no power over my servants: and thy Lord sufficeth
      for a defender.”
    It is your Lord who driveth your ships on the sea, that ye may seek
      of His abundance, verily He is merciful to you.
    And when a harm befalleth you at sea, they whom ye call on beside
      Him are missing! Then when He bringeth you safe to land, ye stand
      aloof: for man was ever thankless.
    Are ye sure that He will not swallow you up on the shore, or send
      a sand-storm against you? then ye would not find for you any
      defender.
    Or are ye sure that He will not turn you back again to sea, and
      send against you a storm of wind and drown you, because ye were
      thankless? Then shall ye find for yourselves no helper against us.
    And we have honoured the sons of Adam; and we have borne them on
      the land and on the sea, and have fed them with good things, and
      distinguished them above many of our creatures.

    On a day we will summon all men with their scripture: then whoso is
      given his book into his right hand,--these shall read their book
      and not be wronged a whit.
    And he who has been blind in this life shall be blind in the life
      to come, and miss the road yet more.
    And verily they had well-nigh tempted thee from what we revealed to
      thee, to forge against us something false; and then they would
      have taken thee to friend;
    And had we not prevented thee, thou hadst well-nigh inclined to
      them a little:
    In that case we would have made thee to taste of torment double in
      life and double in death, then should’st thou find for thyself no
      helper against us.
    And they well-nigh frightened thee from the land, to drive thee out
      of it; but if they had, they should only have tarried a little
      while behind thee.
    [This was our] custom with our apostles whom we sent before thee,
      and thou shalt find no changing in our custom.

    Perform prayer from the setting of the sun till the fall of night,
      and the recital at dawn,--verily the recital at dawn is witnessed:
    And watch thou part of the night as a voluntary service; it may be
      that thy Lord will raise thee to a place of praise:
    And say: O my Lord, cause me to enter with a right entry, and to
      come forth with a right forthcoming, and grant me from thyself a
      power of defence.
    And say: Truth is come and falsehood is fled away: verily falsehood
      is a fleeting thing.

    And we send down from the Korān healing and mercy to the faithful;
      but it shall only add to the ruin of the wicked.
    And when we are gracious to man, he turneth away and standeth
      aloof; but when evil touches him he is in despair.
    Say: Every one doeth after his own fashion, but your Lord knoweth
      perfectly who is best guided on the road.
    And they will ask thee of the Spirit; Say: The Spirit cometh at my
      Lord’s behest, and ye are given but scant knowledge.
    And assuredly, if we pleased we could take away what we have
      revealed to thee: then wouldst thou not find for thyself a
      defender against us,
    Save in mercy from thy Lord; verily His bounty towards thee is
      great.
    Say: Surely if mankind and the Jinn united in order to produce the
      like of this Korān, they could not produce its like, though they
      helped one another.
    We have varied every kind of parable for men in this Korān, but
      most men consent only to discredit it.
    And they say, “We will by no means believe in thee till thou makest
      a spring to gush forth for us from the earth;
    Or till there cometh to thee a garden of palm-trees and grapes, and
      thou makest rivers to gush forth abundantly in its midst;
    Or thou make the heaven to fall down in pieces upon us, as thou
      pretendest; or bring God and the angels before us;
    Or thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend up into Heaven; and we
      will not believe in thy ascent until thou send down to us a book
      which we may read.” Say: Extolled be the glory of my Lord! Am I
      aught save a man, a messenger?
    And nothing prevented men from believing, when the guidance came to
      them, but their saying, “Hath God sent a mere man as a messenger?”
    Say: Had there been angels upon the earth walking at ease, we had
      surely sent them an angel from heaven as an apostle.
    Say: God is witness enough between me and you: verily He knoweth
      and seeth His servants.
    And whom God guideth, he is guided, and whom He misleadeth, thou
      shalt find him no protectors beside Him; and we will gather them
      on the day of Resurrection upon their faces, blind, and dumb, and
      deaf, hell is their abode; so oft as its fire dieth down, we will
      stir up the flame.
    This is their reward, for that they believed not our signs, and
      said, “When we are become bones and dust, shall we indeed be
      raised a new creature?”
    Do they not see that God, who created the heavens and the earth is
      able to create their likes? and He hath made an appointed term
      for them: there is no doubt of it; but the wicked consent only to
      deny it!
    Say: If ye possessed the treasures of the mercy of thy Lord, ye
      would then assuredly keep them, in fear of spending: for man is
      niggardly.

    Heretofore We brought to Moses nine evident signs: Ask then the
      Children of Israel [the story]--when he came unto them, and
      Pharaoh said unto him, “Verily I consider thee to be bewitched, O
      Moses.”
    He said, “Thou knowest that none hath sent these down as proofs
      but the Lord of the heavens and the earth; and verily I consider
      thee, O Pharaoh, accursed.”
    So he sought to drive them out of the land; but we drowned him and
      those with him, every one.
    And after this we said to the Children of Israel, “Dwell ye in the
      land, and when the promise of the life to come befalleth, we will
      bring you in a troop to judgment.”
    And in truth have we sent down [the Korān], and in truth came it
      down, and we have sent thee only to give good tidings and to warn.
    And the Korān have we divided that thou mayest recite it unto men
      by degrees; and we have sent it down by [separate] sendings.
    Say: Believe ye therein or believe ye not;--those verily to whom
      knowledge hath been given before, when it is told to them, fall
      down on their faces in adoration, and say, “Extolled be the glory
      of our Lord! verily the promise of our Lord is accomplished.”
    And they fall down upon their faces weeping, and it increaseth
      their humility.

    Say: Call upon God, or call upon the Merciful, whichever ye call
      Him by; for His are the goodliest names. And be not loud in thy
      prayer, nor yet mutter it low; but follow a course between.
    And Say: Praise be to God who hath not taken a son, and who hath no
      partner in the Kingdom, and no protector hath He for abasement;
      and glorify Him gloriously.

                                                                (xvii.)



  THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA

  III. THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD

  _Aet._ 46-53
  A.D. 615-622



THE BELIEVER.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    H. M. The revelation of the Book is from God the Mighty, the Wise,
    Forgiver of sin, and accepter of repentance,--heavy in punishment,
    Long-suffering: there is no God but He, to whom is your journeying.
    None dispute about the signs of God save those who disbelieve; but
      let not their trafficking in the land deceive thee.
    Before them the people of Noah, and the allies after them, denied,
      and every folk hath purposed against its apostle to overmaster
      him, and they argued with falsehood to rebut the truth therewith;
      but I did overmaster them and how great was my punishment!
    And thus was the sentence of thy Lord accomplished upon those who
      disbelieved, that they should be inmates of the Fire!

    They that bear the Throne and they that are round about it magnify
      the praise of their Lord and believe in Him and beg forgiveness
      for those who believe:--“O our Lord! thou embracest all things in
      mercy and knowledge, give pardon to those who repent and follow
      thy path, and keep them from the torment of hell,
    O our Lord, and bring them into the gardens of eternity which thou
      hast promised to them and to the just among their fathers and
      their wives and their offspring; verily thou art the Mighty, the
      Wise;
    And keep them from evil; for he whom thou keepest from evil on that
      day, on him hast thou had mercy--and that is the great prize!”

    Verily to those who disbelieve shall come a voice, “Surely the
      hatred of God is greater than your hatred among yourselves, when
      ye are called to the faith, and disbelieve.”
    They shall say, “O our Lord, twice hast thou given us death, and
      twice hast thou given us life: and we acknowledge our sins: is
      there then a way to escape?”--
    “That hath befallen you because when one God was proclaimed, ye
      disbelieved: but when Partners were ascribed to Him, ye believed:
      but judgment belongeth unto God, the High, the Great.”
    It is He who showeth you His signs, and sendeth down to you
      provision from heaven: but none mindeth except the repentant.

    Then call on God with due obedience, though loth be the infidels;
    Of high degree, Lord of the throne; He sendeth down the Spirit at
      His will upon whom He pleaseth of His servants to warn men of the
      day of the Tryst:--
    The day when they shall come forth, and when nothing of theirs
      shall be hidden from God. Whose is the kingship on that day? It
      is God’s, the One, the Conqueror!
    The day every soul shall be rewarded for what it hath earned: no
      injustice shall there be on that day! Verily God is swift to
      reckon.
    And warn them of the approaching Day, when their hearts shall choke
      in their throats,
    When the wicked have no friend nor intercessor to prevail.
    He knoweth the deceitful of eye, and what the breast concealeth,
    And God judgeth with truth; but those gods whom they call on beside
      Him cannot judge aught. Verily it is God that heareth and seeth!

    Have they not journeyed in the earth, and seen what was the end
      of those who were before them? Those were mightier than they in
      strength, and in their footprints on the earth: but God overtook
      them in their sins, and there was none to keep them from God.
    That was because apostles had come to them with manifestations, and
      they believed not: but God overtook them; verily He is strong and
      heavy in punishment.

    We sent Moses of old with our signs and with plain authority,
    To Pharaoh, and Haman, and Korah: and they said, “A lying wizard.”
    And when he came to them with truth from us they said, “Slay the
      sons of those who believe with them, and spare their women;” but
      the plot of the unbelievers was at fault:
    And Pharaoh said, “Let me alone to kill Moses; and let him call
      upon his Lord: verily I fear lest he change your religion, or
      cause iniquity in the earth.”
    And Moses said, “Verily I take refuge with my Lord and your
      Lord from every one puffed up who believeth not in the day of
      reckoning.”
    And there spake a man of the family of Pharaoh, a BELIEVER, who
      concealed his faith, “Will ye kill a man because he saith my Lord
      is God, when he hath come unto you with manifestations from your
      Lord? for if he be a liar, upon him alone is his lie, but if he
      be a man of truth, somewhat of that which he threateneth will
      befall you. Verily God guideth not him who is an outrageous liar.
    O my people, to-day is the kingdom yours who are uppermost in the
      earth! but who will defend us against the might of God if it come
      upon us?” Pharaoh said, “I will only show you what I think, and I
      will not guide you save in a right way.”
    Then said he who believed, “O my people, verily I fear for you the
      like of the day of the allies,
    The like of the state of the people of Noah, and Ad, and Thamūd,
    And of those who came after them; and God willeth not injustice to
      His servants.
    And, O my people! verily I fear for you the day of crying out:
    The day when ye shall turn your backs in flight, ye shall have no
      protector against God; and he whom God misleads, no guide has he.
    Moreover, Joseph came unto you before with manifestations; but ye
      ceased not to doubt about [the message] he brought you, until
      when he died ye said, ‘God will by no means send an apostle after
      him.’ Thus God misleadeth him who is an outrageous doubter.
    They who dispute about the signs of God, and no proof coming to
      them, are very hateful to God and to those who believe. Thus God
      sealeth the heart of all who are puffed up and arrogant.”
    And Pharaoh said, “O Haman, build me a tower, mayhap I shall reach
      the avenues,
    The avenues of the heavens, and may ascend to the God of Moses: but
      verily I hold him a liar.”
    And thus the wickedness of his deed seemed good to Pharaoh, and he
      was turned away from the right path; but the plot of Pharaoh only
      came to ruin.
    And he who believed said, “O my people, follow me: I will guide you
      the right way.
    O my people, the life of this world is but a passing joy; but the
      life to come, that is the abode imperishable.
    Whosoever doeth evil shall not be rewarded save with its like;
      and whosoever doeth right, whether male or female, being a
      believer--these shall enter paradise; and be provided therein
      without count.
    And O my people! how is it that I bid you to salvation, but that ye
      bid me to the Fire?
    Ye call me to disbelieve in God and join to Him that of which
      I have no knowledge: and I call you to the Mighty, the Very
      Forgiving.
    There is no doubt but that those ye call me to are not to be called
      on in this world or in the world to come, and that we shall
      return unto God, and the transgressors shall be inmates of the
      Fire.
    Then shall ye call to mind what I said to you: and I commit my case
      to God: verily God regardeth His servants.”
    So God kept him from the evil which they devised, and there
      encompassed the people of Pharaoh the woeful torment--
    The Fire, to which they shall be exposed morning and evening; and
      on the day when the Hour cometh--“Enter, ye people of Pharaoh,
      into the sorest torment.”
    And when they shall wrangle together in the fire, the feeble shall
      say to those who were puffed up, “Verily we followed you: will ye
      then remove from us aught of the Fire?”
    And those who were puffed up will say, “Verily we are all in it.
      Behold! God hath judged between His servants.”
    And they who are in the Fire shall say to the keepers of Hell,
      “Call on your Lord, that He remit us one day from the torment.”
    The keepers shall say, “Did there not come to you your apostles
      with manifestations?” They shall say, “Yea.” The keepers shall
      say, “Call then,” but the cry of the unbelievers shall be vain.

    Verily we will help our apostles and those who believe, both in the
      life of this world and on the day when the witness shall stand
      forth;--
    A day whereon the excuse of the wicked shall not profit them; but
      they shall have the curse and the abode of woe.
    And of old gave we Moses the guidance, and the Children of Israel
      made we heirs of the Book,--a guidance and a warning to those who
      have understanding.
    Be patient, therefore; verily the promise of God is true; and seek
      pardon for thy sins, and magnify the praises of thy Lord at eve
      and early morn.
    Verily those who dispute about the signs of God, without proof
      reaching them, there is naught in their breasts but pride: and
      they shall not win. But seek refuge with God; verily, He heareth
      and seeth.

    Surely the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than
      the creation of man. But most men do not know.
    Moreover the blind and the seeing are not equal, nor the sinner and
      they who believe and do the things that are right;--little do
      they mind!
    Verily the Hour is assuredly coming: there is no doubt of it;--but
      most men do not believe.
    And your Lord saith, “Call upon me;--I will hearken unto you: but
      as to those who are too puffed up for my service, they shall
      enter Hell in contempt.”

    It is God who made you the night to rest in, and the day for
      seeing: verily God is bounteous to man, but most men are not
      thankful.
    That is God your Lord, Creator of all things: there is no god but
      He: then why do ye turn away?
    Thus do they turn away who gainsay the signs of God--
    God, who made you the earth for a resting-place and the heaven for
      a tent, and formed you and made goodly your forms and provided
      you with good things--that is God, your Lord.
    Then blessed be God, the Lord of the worlds!
    He is the Living One. No god is there but He! then call upon Him,
      purifying your service to Him. Praise be to God, the Lord of the
      worlds!
    Say: Verily I am forbidden to serve those whom ye call on beside
      God, since there came to me manifestations from my Lord, and I am
      bidden to resign myself to the Lord of the worlds.
    He it is who created you of dust, then of a germ, then of blood;
      then bringeth you forth a babe: then ye come to your strength,
      then ye become old men (but some of you die before) and reach the
      appointed term: haply ye will understand!
    It is He who giveth life and death; and when He decreeth a thing,
      He only saith to it, “Be,” and it is.

    Hast thou not beheld those who cavil at the signs of God, how they
      are turned aside?
    They who call the Book, and that with which we have sent our
      apostles, a lie: they shall soon know!
    When the shackles shall be on their necks, and the chains, whilst
      they are dragged into Hell--then in the fire shall they be
      burned--
    Then shall it be said to them, “Where is that which ye joined in
      worship beside God?” They shall say, “They are lost to us, Nay!
      we did not call before upon anything.” Thus God misleadeth the
      unbelievers.
    “That is because ye exulted on earth in what was not true, and
      because ye were insolent.”
    Enter the gates of Hell to abide therein for ever: and wretched is
      the abode of the proud!

    But be thou patient: verily the promise of God is true: and whether
      we show thee part of what we threatened them, or whether we make
      thee to die; yet to us shall they return.
    We have sent apostles before thee. Of some we have told thee and
      of some we have not told thee: but no apostle was able to bring
      a sign unless by the permission of God. But when God’s behest
      cometh, everything is decided with truth: and those perish who
      think it vain.

    It is God who hath made for you the cattle, some to ride and some
      to eat,
    (And ye have profit from them) and to attain by them the aims of
      your hearts, for on them and in ships are ye borne:
    And He showeth you His signs: which then of the signs of God will
      ye deny?
    Have they not journeyed in the earth, and seen what was the end of
      those who were before them? They were in number more than they,
      and mightier in strength, and in their footprints on the earth:
      but what they had earned availed them nothing;
    And when their apostles came to them with manifestations, they
      exulted in what knowledge they had; but that which they had
      scoffed at encompassed them.
    And when they beheld our might they said, “We believe in God alone,
      and we disbelieve in what we joined in worship with Him.”
    And naught availed their faith, after they witnessed our might.
      Such the way of God which was reserved for his servants--and
      therein the unbelievers have lost.

                                                                  (xl.)



JONAH.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    A. L. R. These are the signs of the wise Book!
    Is it a matter of wonder to the people that we revealed to a man
      from among themselves, “Warn the people; and bring good tidings
      to those who believe, that the reward of their good faith is
      with their Lord?” The unbelievers say, “Lo! this is an evident
      sorcerer!”

    Verily your Lord is God, who made the heavens and the earth in six
      days--then ascended the throne to govern all things: there is
      none to plead with Him save by His permission.--This is God, your
      Lord! then worship ye Him: will ye not mind?
    Unto Him shall ye all return by the sure promise of God: behold!
      He produces a creature, then maketh it return again, that He may
      reward with equity those who believe and do the things that are
      right: but those who believe not, for them is the scalding drink,
      and an aching torment--because they did not believe.
    It is He who hath made the sun for shining, and the moon for light,
      and ordained him mansions that ye may learn the number of years
      and the reckoning of time. God did not create that but in truth.
      He maketh His signs plain to a people who know.
    Verily in the alterations of the night and the day, and in all
      that God created in the heavens and the earth, are signs to a
      godfearing folk.

    Verily they who do not hope to meet us, and are satisfied with the
      life of this world, and are content with it, and they who are
      careless of our signs,--
    Their dwelling-place is the Fire, for what they have earned.
    Verily they who believe and do the things that are right, their
      Lord shall guide them because of their faith; beneath them rivers
      shall flow in gardens of delight:
    Their cry therein shall be, “Extolled be thy glory, O God!” and
      their salutation therein shall be “Peace!”
    And the end of their cry shall be, “Praise to God, Lord of the
      worlds!”
    And if God should hasten woe upon men as they fain would hasten
      weal, verily their appointed term is decreed for them! therefore
      we leave those who hope not to meet us groping in their
      disobedience.
    Moreover, when affliction toucheth man, he calleth us upon his
      side, sitting, or standing; and when we take away his affliction
      from him, he passeth on as though he had not called us in the
      affliction that touched him! Thus do the deeds of transgressors
      seem good to them!
    We have destroyed generations before you, when they sinned and
      their apostles came to them with manifestations and they would
      not believe;--thus do we requite the sinful folk.
    Then we made you their successors in the earth after them, to see
      how ye would act.
    But when our manifest signs are recited to them, they who hope not
      to meet us say, “Bring a different Korān from this, or change
      it.” Say: It is not for me to change it of mine own will. I
      follow only what is revealed to me: verily I fear if I disobey my
      Lord the torment of the great Day.
    Say: If God pleased, I had not recited it to you nor taught it you;
      and already I had dwelt a lifetime amongst you before that: have
      ye then no wits?
    And who is more wicked than he who forgeth a lie against God, or
      saith His signs are lies? Surely the sinners shall not prosper!
    And they worship beside God that which cannot hurt them or help
      them; and they say, “These shall be our pleaders with God.” Say:
      Will ye tell God of anything He doth not know in the heavens and
      in the earth? Extolled be His glory! and far be He above what
      they associate with Him!
    Men were of only one religion: then they differed, and had not a
      decree gone forth from thy Lord, there had certainly been made a
      decision between them of that whereon they differed.
    And they say, “Had a sign been sent down to him from his Lord
      ...”--but say: The unseen is with God alone: wait, therefore;
      verily I am waiting with you.
    And when we caused men to taste of mercy after affliction had
      touched them, behold! they have a plot against our signs! Say:
      God is quick at plotting! verily our messengers write down what
      ye plot.

    He it is who maketh you journey by land and sea, until, when ye are
      in ships--and they run with them before a fair wind, and they
      rejoice thereat, there cometh upon them a violent wind, and the
      waves come upon them from every side, and they suppose they are
      sore pressed therewith; they call on God, offering Him sincere
      religion:--“Do thou but deliver us from this, and we will indeed
      be of the thankful.”
    But when we have delivered them, lo, they transgress unjustly on
      the earth! O ye people! ye wrong your own souls only for the
      enjoyment of the life of this world: then to us shall ye return;
      and we will tell you what ye have done.

    The likeness of the life of this world is as the water which we
      send down from the heaven, and there mingleth with it the produce
      of the earth of which men and cattle eat, until when the earth
      hath put on its blazonry and is arrayed, and its inhabitants
      think it is they who ordain it, our command cometh to it by
      night or day, and we make it mown down, as if it had not teemed
      yesterday! Thus do we explain our signs to a reflecting folk.

    And God calleth you unto the abode of peace: and guideth whom He
      will into the straight way:
    To those who have done well, weal and to spare,
    Neither blackness shall cover their faces nor shame! these are the
      inmates of Paradise, to abide therein for ever.
    And as for those who have earned evil, the recompense of evil is
      its like; shame shall cover them--no defender shall they have
      against God--as though their faces were darkened with the gloom
      of night: these are the inmates of the Fire to abide therein for
      ever.
    And on the day we will gather them all together, then will we say
      to those who made Partners with God, “To your place, ye and your
      Partners!” and we will separate between them; and their partners
      shall say, “Ye worshipped not us,
    And God is witness enough between us and you that we were
      indifferent to your worship!”
    Then shall every soul make proof of what it hath sent on before,
      and they shall be brought back to God their true Master, and what
      they devised shall vanish from them.

    Say: Who provideth you from the heaven and the earth? who is king
      over hearing and sight? and who bringeth forth the living from
      the dead and bringeth forth the dead from the living? and who
      ruleth all things? And they shall say, “God:” then say: Do ye not
      fear?
    So that is God your true Lord: and after the truth, what is there
      but error? How then are ye turned away?
    Thus is the word of thy Lord fulfilled upon those who work
      iniquity: they shall not believe.
    Say: Is there any of the Partners [of God] who can produce a
      creature, then bring it back again? Say: God produceth a creature
      then bringeth it back again: how then are ye deceived?
    Say: Is there any of the Partners who guideth to the truth? Say:
      God guideth unto the truth. Is he who guideth to the truth the
      worthier to be followed, or he who guideth not except he be
      guided? What is in you so to judge?
    And most of them only follow a fancy: but a fancy profiteth nothing
      against the truth! verily God knoweth what they do.

    Moreover this Korān could not have been devised without God: but it
      confirmeth what preceded it, and explaineth the Scripture--there
      is no doubt therein--from the Lord of the worlds.
    Do they say, “He hath devised it himself?” Say: Then bring a
      chapter like it: and call on whom ye can beside God, if ye be
      speakers of truth.
    Nay, they call all that a lie, of which they compass not the
      knowledge, though the explanation of it hath not yet been given
      them; so did those who were before them call the Scriptures lies:
      but see what was the end of the wicked!
    And some of them believe in it, and some of them believe not in it.
      But thy Lord knoweth best about the evildoers.
    And if they call thee a liar, say, I have my work, and ye have your
      work: ye are clear of what I work, and I am clear of what ye work.
    And some of them hearken to thee; but canst thou make the deaf hear
      if they have no wits?
    And some of them regard thee; but canst thou guide the blind when
      they see not?
    Verily God doth not wrong man a whit, but men wrong themselves.

    And on a day He will gather them, as though they had tarried but an
      hour of the day: they shall know one another! They are lost who
      denied the meeting with God and were not guided!
    Whether we show thee part of what we threatened against them,
      or whether we take thee to ourself [before], to us is their
      return--then shall God be witness of what they have done.
    And every nation hath its apostle; and when their apostle is come,
      it is decided between them with equity, and they are not wronged.
    Yet they say, “When will this promise be, if ye be speakers of
      truth?”
    Say: I have no power for myself for woe or weal, except as God
      pleaseth. Every people hath its appointed term: when their term
      is come, they shall not put it off nor hasten it an hour.
    Say: Bethink ye, if the torment of God come upon you by night or by
      day, what portion of it will the sinners willingly hasten on?
    When it happeneth, will ye believe it then? Yet would ye fain
      hasten it on!
    Then shall it be said to those who transgressed, “Taste ye the
      torment of eternity! Shall ye be rewarded save according to what
      ye have earned?”
    They would fain know of thee if this is true. Say: Yea, by my Lord,
      it is indeed true, and ye cannot weaken Him.
    And if every soul that transgressed owned all that is on earth, he
      would assuredly give it in ransom; and they will declare their
      repentance when they have seen the torment: and there shall be a
      decision between them with equity, and they shall not be wronged.
    Is not indeed whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth God’s? Is
      not indeed the promise of God true? But most of them do not know!
    He giveth life and death, and to Him shall ye return.

    O ye people! now hath a warning come to you from your Lord, and a
      healing for what is in your breasts, and a guidance and a mercy
      to the believers.
    Say: By the grace of God and his mercy! And in that let them
      therefore rejoice: this is better than what they heap up.
    Say: Do ye consider what God hath sent down to you for provision:
      but ye made thereof unlawful and lawful? Say, did God permit you?
      or do ye forge against God?
    But what will they think on the day of resurrection who forge a lie
      against God? Truly God is full of bounty towards man; but most of
      them are not thankful.
    Thou shalt not be in any business, and thou shalt not read from the
      Korān, and ye shall not do any deed, but we are witness against
      you when ye are engaged therein; and there escapeth not thy Lord
      an ant’s weight in earth or in heaven: and there is nothing
      lesser or greater than that, but it is in the plain Book.
    Are not they truly the friends of God on whom is no fear neither
      are they sorrowful--
    They who believed and feared God,--
    For them are good tidings in the life of this world, and in the
      life to come there is no changing in God’s sentences. That is the
      great prize!

    And let not their discourse grieve thee: verily all power belongeth
      to God, He it is who heareth and knoweth.
    Doth not whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the earth
      belong to God? then what do they follow who call upon Partners
      beside God? verily they follow but a fancy; and verily they are
      naught but liars.
    It is He who made you the night to rest in, and the day for seeing:
      verily in that are signs to a folk that can hear!

    They say, “God hath taken him a son.” Extolled be his glory! He is
      the Self-sufficient, all that is in the heavens, and all that
      is in the earth is his! ye have no warranty for this! do ye say
      about God that which ye know not?
    Say: Verily they who forge this lie against God shall not prosper:--
    A passing joy in this world, then to us they return; and then we
      will make them taste the grievous torment, because they did not
      believe.

    And tell them the story of Noah, when he said to his people,--“O
      my people! though my dwelling with you and my warning you of the
      signs of God hath been grievous to you, yet in God do I put my
      trust: so gather together your case and your Partners; then will
      not your case fall upon you in the dark: then decide about me and
      delay not.
    And if ye turn, yet ask I no reward from you: my reward is with God
      alone, and I am commanded to be of those who are resigned.”
    But they called him a liar, so we delivered him and those who were
      with him in the ship, and we made them to survive; and we drowned
      those who had called our signs lies: see then what was the end of
      those who were warned!

    Then after him, we sent apostles to their people, and they came to
      them with manifestations: but they would not believe in what they
      had denied before: thus do we put a seal upon the hearts of the
      transgressors.
    Then sent we, after them, Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and his nobles
      with our signs; but they were puffed up and were a sinful folk.
    And when the truth came to them from us, they said, “This is clear
      sorcery indeed.”
    Moses said, “Say ye of the truth when it is come to you, Is this
      sorcery?--but sorcerers shall not prosper.”
    They said, “Art thou come to us to hinder us from what we found
      our fathers in, and in order that for you twain there shall be
      majesty in the land? but we are not going to believe in you!”
    And Pharaoh said, “Fetch me every wise sorcerer.” And when the
      sorcerers came, Moses said to them, “Cast down what ye have to
      cast.”
    And when they had cast them down, Moses said, “What ye come with is
      sorcery: verily God will make it vain; aye, God doth not prosper
      the work of evildoers;
    And God will establish the truth by his word, though loth be the
      sinners.”
    And none believed in Moses but the children of his own folk, for
      fear of Pharaoh and his nobles, lest he should afflict them: for
      of a truth Pharaoh was mighty in the earth, and verily he was of
      the transgressors.
    And Moses said, “O my people! if ye believe in God, put your trust
      in Him, if ye are resigned.”
    And they said, “In God do we put our trust. O our Lord, make us not
      a trial to the folk of the wicked,
    And deliver us in Thy mercy from the folk of the unbelievers.”
    Then revealed we to Moses and to his brother: “Build houses for
      your people in Egypt, and make your houses with a Kibla, and
      perform prayer, and give good tidings to the believers.”
    And Moses said, “O our Lord, thou hast indeed given to Pharaoh and
      his nobles adornments and riches in the life of this world: O
      our Lord! may they err from thy way; O our Lord, confound their
      riches, and harden their hearts, so shall they not believe until
      they see the aching torment.”
    God said: “Your prayer is heard, then stand ye upright, and follow
      not the path of those who know not.”
    And we brought the Children of Israel across the sea; and Pharaoh
      and his host followed them, eager and hostile, until when
      drowning overtook him he said, “I believe that there is no God
      but He in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am one of
      the resigned.”
    “Now! thou hast been rebellious aforetime, and wast one of the
      evildoers,
    This day will we raise thee in thy flesh, to be a sign to those who
      come after thee: but verily many men are heedless of our signs!”
    Moreover we lodged the Children of Israel in a firm abode, and
      provided them with good things: and they did not differ until the
      knowledge came to them; verily thy Lord will decide between them
      on the Day of Resurrection concerning that on which they differed.

    And if thou art in doubt of what we have sent down to thee, inquire
      of those who read the Scriptures before thee. Now hath truth come
      unto thee from thy Lord: then be not thou of those who doubt,
    Neither be of those who deny the signs of God lest thou be among
      the losers.
    Verily they against whom the word of thy Lord is passed shall not
      believe,--
    Though there came unto them every kind of sign,--till they behold
      the aching torment.
    Else any city had believed, and its faith had benefited it:--save
      the people of JONAH; when they believed, we took away from them
      the torment of shame in the life of this world, and provided for
      them awhile.
    But if thy Lord pleased, verily all who are in the earth had
      believed together. Then canst thou compel men to become believers?
    It is not in a soul to believe but by the permission of God: and He
      shall lay His curse on those who have no wits.
    Say: Look upon that which is in the heavens and in the earth: but
      signs and warners avail not a folk that will not believe!
    What then can they expect but the like of the days of those who
      passed away before them? Say: Wait ye,--I too am waiting with you.
    Then will we deliver our apostles and those who believe: thus is it
      binding on us to deliver the faithful.
    Say: O ye people! if ye are in doubt of my religion, I do not
      worship those whom ye worship beside God; but I worship God, who
      taketh you away; and I am commanded to be of the faithful.
    And set thy face towards religion as a Hanīf, and be not of those
      idolaters:
    And invoke not beside God that which can neither help nor hurt; for
      if thou do, thou wilt certainly be of the wicked.
    And if God touch thee with affliction, there is none to remove it
      but He. And if He desire thy good, there is none to hinder His
      bounty--He will confer it on whom He pleaseth of his servants:
      and He is the Forgiving, the Merciful!
    Say: O ye people! now hath truth come unto you from your Lord; then
      he who is guided, is guided only for his own behoof: but he who
      erreth doth err only against himself; and I am no governor over
      you!
    And follow what is revealed to thee: and be patient till God
      judgeth; and He is the best of judges.

                                                                    (x.)



THE THUNDER.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    A. L. M. R. These are the Signs of the Book! and that which was
      sent down to thee from thy Lord is the truth: but most men do not
      believe.
    It is God who raised the heavens without pillars that ye can see;
      then ascended the Throne, and subdued the sun and the moon: each
      runneth to its appointed goal, to rule every thing, to manifest
      signs. Haply ye will be convinced of meeting your Lord!
    And it is He who spread out the earth, and put thereon firm
      mountains, and rivers; and of every fruit He hath made therein
      two kinds: He maketh the night to cover the day; verily in that
      are signs for reflecting folk.
    And on the earth are neighbouring tracts, and gardens of grapes,
      and corn, and palms clustered and not clustered at the root;
      they are watered by the same water, yet we make some better than
      others for food: verily in that are signs for folk that have
      wits.
    If ever thou dost wonder, wonderful is their saying, “What! when we
      have become dust, shall we indeed become a new creation?”
    These are they who disbelieve in their Lord: and these shall have
      the shackles on their necks, and these shall be the inmates of
      the fire to abide therein for ever.
    They will bid thee hasten evil rather than good: examples have
      passed away before them; and verily thy Lord is full of
      forgiveness unto men despite their iniquity; and verily thy Lord
      is heavy in punishing.
    And they who disbelieve say, “Unless a sign be sent down to him
      from his Lord ...” Thou art but a warner, and to every people its
      guide.
    God knoweth what every woman beareth, and the decrease of the wombs
      and the increase; for the pattern of all things is with Him,
    Who knoweth the hidden and the seen, the Great, the Most High.
    Equal is he of you who concealeth his words and he that proclaimeth
      them: he who hideth by night, and he who goeth abroad by day.
    Each hath angels before him and behind him, who watch over him by
      God’s command. Verily God doth not change towards a people, till
      they change themselves; and when God willeth evil unto a people,
      there is no averting it, nor have they any protector beside Him.

    It is He who showeth you the lightning for fear and hope [of rain],
      and gathereth the lowering clouds,
    And the THUNDER magnifieth His praise, and the angels, for awe of
      Him, and He sendeth His thunderbolts and smiteth therewith whom
      He pleaseth:--and they are wrangling about God! but strong is His
      might!
    Unto Him is the true cry: but those whom they cry to beside Him
      shall answer them naught save as one who stretcheth forth his
      hands to the water that it may reach his mouth, but it doth not
      reach it! The cry of the unbelievers is but in error.
    And unto God bow down all things in the heavens and the earth,
      willingly or unwillingly, and their shadows at morn and eve!

    Say: Who is Lord of the heavens and the earth? Say: God. Say: Why
      then have ye taken beside Him Patrons who are powerless for weal
      or woe to themselves? Say: What! are the blind and the seeing
      alike? or are darkness and light the same? or have they made
      Partners for God, who create as He creates, so that they confuse
      the creation? Say: God is the Creator of all things, He is the
      One, the Conqueror.
    He sendeth down water from heaven; and the valleys flow in their
      degree, and the torrent beareth along foaming froth, and from
      the [ore] which they burn in the fire, desiring ornaments or
      necessaries, a scum like it ariseth. So doth God liken truth and
      falsehood. As to the scum it passeth off as refuse, and as to
      what profiteth man it remaineth on the earth. Thus doth God frame
      parables. For those who respond to their Lord, good; but those
      who respond not to Him, had they all that the earth containeth
      and its like beside it, they would surely give it in ransom:
      these shall have an evil reckoning, and Hell shall be their
      home,--and wretched the bed!
    Is he who knoweth that what hath been sent down to thee from thy
      Lord is naught but the truth, like to him who is blind? but men
      of understanding alone will mind,
    Who fulfil their covenant with God and break not the compact;
    And who join what God hath bidden to be joined, and who fear their
      Lord and dread the evil reckoning;
    And who are patient, seeking the face of their Lord, and perform
      prayer and give alms secretly and openly of what we have provided
      them, and turn away evil with good: for these is the reward of
      the Abode,--
    Gardens of eternity, into which they shall enter together with
      those who were just of their fathers and their wives and their
      offspring: and the angels shall go in unto them at every gate
      [saying]:--
    “Peace be upon you! because ye were patient.” And pleasant is the
      reward of the Abode!
    But those who break God’s covenant after they have pledged it, and
      cut asunder what God hath bidden to be joined, and work iniquity
      in the earth, for these is a curse and a sore abode!

    God is lavish with provision to whom He pleaseth, or He stinteth
      it. And they rejoice in the life of this world; but the life of
      this world is but a passing joy to the life to come.
    And they who disbelieve say, “Unless a sign be sent down to him
      from his Lord ...” Say: God truly misleadeth whom He will; and He
      guideth to himself those who repent,
    Who believe, and whose hearts are at peace in the remembrance of
      God! yea, in the remembrance of God shall the hearts be at peace
      of those who believe and do the things that are right--good
      betide them, and happy be their goal!
    Thus have we sent thee among a nation, before whom other nations
      have passed away, that thou mayest tell them what we have
      inspired thee with: yet they disbelieve in the Merciful! Say: He
      is my Lord--there is no God but Him. In Him do I put my trust,
      and unto Him is my return.
    Though there were a Korān by which the mountains were removed or
      the earth cloven or the dead given speech--Nay! to God belongeth
      the rule in all: know not they who believe, that if God pleased,
      He would certainly have guided men in all?

    And calamity shall not cease to befal the unbelievers for what they
      have done, or settle hard by their dwellings, until the promise
      of God shall come to pass. Verily God will not fail in what He
      promised.
    Before thee apostles have been mocked at--and long I suffered those
      who disbelieved; then I took hold of them; and how great was my
      punishment!
    Who then is he that is standing over every soul to mark what it
      hath earned? Yet they made Partners with God! Say: Name them!
      could ye inform him of what He knoweth not in the earth, or are
      they aught beyond words? Nay, their artifice commended itself to
      those who disbelieve; and they are turned aside from the road;
      and whom God misleadeth, he hath no guide.
    Torment is theirs in the life of this world, and assuredly the
      torment of the world to come shall be worse, and they shall have
      no one to ward them from God.

    A likeness of the Paradise which is promised to those that fear
      God:--The rivers flow beneath it; its food and its shades are
      everlasting. That is the end of those who fear God: but the end
      of the unbelievers is the Fire.

    They to whom we have given the Book rejoice in what hath been sent
      down to thee, yet some of the confederates deny a part of it.
      Say: I am commanded only to worship God, and not to associate any
      with Him: on Him I cry, and unto Him is my goal.
    Thus have we sent down the Korān as an Arabic judgment; and
      assuredly, if thou followed their desires after the knowledge had
      come to thee, thou shouldst have no protector nor warder against
      God.
    And we have sent apostles before thee, and gave them wives and
      offspring. But to no apostle was it given to bring a sign save by
      God’s permission: to each age its Book.
    God wipeth out or confirmeth what He pleaseth, and with Him is the
      Mother of the Book.
    And whether we show thee somewhat of that which we promised them,
      or take thee hence before; verily, it is thine to announce only,
      and ours to take account.
    See they not that we come into the land and cut down its chiefs?
      And when God judgeth, there is none to reverse His sentence: and
      He is swift to reckon.
    And those who were before them plotted: but God’s is the master
      plot: He knoweth what every one soul earneth, and the infidels
      shall know for whom is the reward of the abode.
    And those who disbelieve shall say, “Thou art not sent from God.”
      Say: God is witness enough between me and you, and he that hath
      knowledge of the Book.

                                                                  (xii.)



  THE SPEECHES OF MEDINA

  THE PERIOD OF HARANGUE

  _Aet._ 53-63
  A.H. 1-11 = A.D. 622-632



DECEPTION.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    All that is in the heavens, and all that is in the earth,
      magnifieth God: His is the kingdom, His is the praise, and He is
      powerful over all things.
    It is He who hath created you; and one of you is an unbeliever, and
      another a believer; and God seeth what ye do.
    He created the heavens and the earth in truth; and He hath
      fashioned you and made goodly your forms; and to Him is your
      journeying.
    He knoweth what is in the heavens and the earth; and He knoweth
      what ye hide and what ye manifest; and God knoweth well the
      secrets of the breast.

    Hath not the story come to you of those who disbelieved aforetime,
      and tasted the evil fruit of their doings, and received an aching
      torment?
    That was because when their apostles had come to them with
      manifestations, they said, “Shall mortal men guide us?” And they
      believed not and turned their backs. But God had no need of them;
      and God is Self-sufficient and worthy to be praised!
    The unbelievers pretend that they shall by no means be raised
      again. Say: Nay, by my Lord, but ye shall be raised; then shall
      ye certainly be told of what ye have done: and that is easy with
      God.
    Believe then in God and His Apostle, and in the light which we have
      sent down; for God knoweth perfectly what ye do.
    The day when He shall gather you together for the Day of Assembly,
      that is the day of DECEPTION. And whoso believeth in God and
      doeth that which is right, God shall take away his sins, and He
      will bring him into the gardens beneath which rivers flow, to
      dwell there evermore: that is the great prize!
    But those who believe not, but deny our signs--those shall be the
      inmates of the fire, to dwell therein for ever; and evil is their
      journey.
    There happeneth no misfortune but by God’s permission; and whoso
      believeth in God, He guideth his heart; and God knoweth all
      things.
    Obey God, therefore, and obey the Apostle: but if ye turn away, our
      Apostle is only charged with a plain message:--
    God, there is no God but He! Then in God let the faithful trust.
    O ye who believe! verily in your wives and your children ye have an
      adversary, wherefore beware of them. But if ye relent and pardon
      and forgive, then verily God too is Forgiving and Merciful.
    Your wealth and your children are but a snare: but God, with Him is
      the great reward.
    Then fear God with all your might, and hear and obey, and give
      alms for your own sakes; and whoso is saved from his own
      covetousness,--these it is who prosper.
    If ye lend God a good loan, He will double it to you, and will
      forgive you: for God is Grateful, Mild,
    Knowing the secret and the open; the Mighty, the Wise!

                                                                (lxiv.)



IRON.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    All that is in the heavens and the earth magnifieth God, and He is
      the Mighty, the Wise.
    His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, He giveth life and
      giveth death, and He is powerful over all things.
    He is the first and the last, the seen and the unseen, and all
      things doth He know.
    It is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then
      ascended the Throne; He knoweth what goeth into the earth and
      what cometh out of it, and what cometh down from the sky and what
      riseth up into it; and He is with you, wherever ye be; and God
      seeth what ye do.
    His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and to God shall
      all things return.
    He maketh the night to follow the day, and He maketh the day to
      follow the night, and He knoweth the secrets of the breast.

    Believe in God and His apostle, and give alms of what He hath made
      you to inherit; for to those of you who believe and give alms
      shall be a great reward.
    What aileth you that ye do not believe in God and His Apostle who
      calleth you to believe in your Lord? He hath already accepted
      your covenant if ye believe.
    It is He who hath sent down to His servant manifest signs to lead
      you from darkness into light: for God is indeed kind and merciful
      towards you.
    And what aileth you that ye give not alms in the path of God, when
      God’s is the heritage of the heavens and the earth? Those of
      you who give before the victory, and fight, shall not be deemed
      equal,--they are of nobler degree than those who give afterwards
      and fight. Yet to all hath God promised the beauteous reward; and
      God knoweth what ye do.
    Who is he who will lend God a good loan?--He will double it for
      him, and his shall be a noble recompense.

    The day ye shall see the faithful, men and women, their light
      running in front and on their right hand--“Glad tidings for you
      this day!--gardens whereunder rivers flow, to abide therein for
      ever:” that is the great prize!
    The day when the hypocrites, men and women, will say to those who
      believe, “Stay for us, that we may kindle our light from yours.”
      It shall be said, “Go back and find a light.” And there shall
      be set up between them a wall, with a gate in it; and inside,
      within it, shall be Mercy, and outside, in front of it, Torment!
      They shall cry out, “Were we not with you?” The others shall say,
      “Yea! but ye fell into temptation, and waited, and doubted, and
      your desires deceived you, till the behest of God came,--and the
      arch-tempter beguiled you from God.”
    And on that day no ransom shall be accepted from you, nor from
      those who disbelieved--your goal is the Fire, which is your
      master; and evil is the journey thereto.
    Hath not the Hour come to those who believe, to humble their hearts
      to the warning of God and the truth which He hath sent down?
      and that they may not be like those who received the Scripture
      aforetime, whose lives were prolonged, but their hearts were
      hardened, and many of them were disobedient.
    Know that God quickeneth the earth after its death: now have we
      made clear to you the signs,--haply ye have wits!
    Verily the charitable, both men and women, and they who lend God
      a good loan, it shall be doubled to them, and theirs shall be a
      noble recompense.
    And they who believe in God and His Apostle, these are the
      truth-tellers and the witnesses before their Lord: they have
      their reward and their light. And they who disbelieve and deny
      our signs--these are the inmates of Hell!
    Know that the life of this world is but a game and pastime and show
      and boast among you; and multiplying riches and children is like
      rain, whose vegetation delighteth the infidels--then they wither
      away, and thou seest them all yellow, and they become chaff. And
      in the life to come is grievous torment,
    Or else forgiveness from God and His approval: but the life of this
      world is naught but a delusive joy.
    Strive together for forgiveness from your Lord and Paradise, whose
      width is as the width of heaven and earth, prepared for those who
      believe in God and in His Apostle. That is the grace of God! who
      giveth it to whom He pleaseth; and God is the fount of boundless
      grace.
    There happeneth no misfortune on the earth or to yourselves, but it
      is written in the Book before we created it: verily that is easy
      to God!--
    That ye may not grieve over what is beyond you, nor exult over what
      cometh to you; for God loveth not any presumptuous boasters,
    Who are covetous and commend covetousness to men. But whoso turneth
      away,--verily God is Rich and worthy to be praised.
    We sent Our Apostles with manifestations, and We sent down by them
      the Book and the Balance, that men might stand upright in equity,
      and We sent down IRON, wherein is great strength and uses for
      men,--and that God might know who would help Him and His Apostles
      in secret: verily God is strong and mighty.
    And we sent Noah and Abraham, and we gave their seed prophecy
      in the Scripture: and some of them are guided, but many are
      disobedient.
    Then we sent our apostles in their footsteps, and we sent Jesus the
      Son of Mary, and gave him the Gospel, and put in the hearts of
      those that follow him kindness and pitifulness; but monkery, they
      invented it themselves! We prescribed it not to them--save only
      to seek the approval of God, but they did not observe this with
      due observance. Yet we gave their reward to those of them that
      believed, but many of them were transgressors.
    O ye who believe, fear God and believe in His Apostle; He will
      give you a double portion of His mercy, and will set you a light
      to walk by, and will forgive you: for God is forgiving and
      merciful:--
    That the People of the Scripture may know that they have not power
      over aught of God’s grace; and that grace is in the hands of God
      alone, who giveth to whom He pleaseth: and God is the fount of
      boundless grace.

                                                                (lvii.)



THE VICTORY.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    Verily we have won for thee a clear VICTORY--
    That God may forgive thee thy former and latter sins, and fulfil
      His grace to thee, and guide thee on the straight way,
    And that God may help thee mightily.
    He it is who sent down peace into the hearts of the faithful, to
      strengthen their faith with faith, (for God’s are the armies of
      the heavens and the earth, and God is All-knowing and Wise:)
    To bring the faithful, men and women, into gardens beneath which
      rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever, and to take away their
      offences; and that is the great prize with God:
    And to torment the hypocrites and the idolaters, men and women, who
      think of God an evil thought; there shall come upon them a turn
      of evil, and God is wroth with them and hath cursed them, and
      hath prepared Hell for them, and evil shall be their journey.
    God’s are the armies of the heavens and the earth, and God is
      Mighty and Wise!

    Verily we have sent thee as a witness and a herald of gladness and
      a warner,
    That ye may believe in God and in His Apostle; and may revere Him,
      and honour Him, and magnify Him morning and evening.
    In truth, they who swear fealty to thee, do but swear fealty to
      God: the hand of God is upon their hands! Whosoever therefore
      breaketh it, breaketh it only to his own hurt; but whosoever is
      true to what he hath covenanted with God, He will give him a
      great reward.

    The Arabs of the desert who were left behind will say to thee, “Our
      property and our families employed us; so ask pardon for us.”
      They speak with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Say:
      But who can obtain aught for you from God, if He design for you
      harm, or design for you benefit? Nay, God is acquainted with what
      ye do!
    Nay, ye thought that the Apostles and the faithful would not come
      back to their families any more, and that seemed good in your
      hearts, and ye thought an evil thought, and ye are a lost people.
    And whosoever believeth not in God and His Apostle ... verily we
      have made ready a flame for the unbelievers!
    And God’s is the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth; He
      forgiveth whom He will, and He tormenteth whom He will: and God
      is Forgiving, Merciful!
    They who were left behind will say when ye go forth to the spoil
      to take it, “Let us follow you.” They would fain change the Word
      of God. Say: Ye shall by no means follow us; thus hath God said
      already. Then they will say, “Nay, ye are jealous of us.” Nay,
      they are men of but little understanding.
    Say to those who were left behind of the Arabs of the desert, Ye
      shall be called out against a people of mighty valour; ye shall
      fight with them, or they shall profess Islam. If, therefore, ye
      obey, God will bring you a goodly reward; but if ye turn your
      backs as ye turned your backs before, He will torment you with
      aching torment.
    For the blind it is no crime, and for the lame no crime, and for
      the sick no crime [to turn the back.] And whoso obeyeth God and
      His Apostle He shall bring him into gardens whereunder rivers
      flow: but whoso turneth his back, He will torment him with aching
      torment.

    Well-pleased was God with the believers, when they sware fealty
      to thee under the tree; and He knew what was in their hearts:
      therefore did He send down tranquillity upon them, and rewarded
      them with a victory near at hand,
    And many spoils to take, for God is Mighty and Wise!
    God promised you many spoils to take, and sped this for you; (and
      He held back men’s hands from you, that it might be a sign to the
      faithful, and that He might guide you on the straight way;)
    And other spoils which ye could not take: but now hath God
      compassed it, for God is powerful over all.
    If the unbelievers had fought against you, they would assuredly
      have turned their backs; then would they have met with no
      protector or helper.
    This is God’s way which prevailed before: and no changing wilt thou
      find in God’s way.
    And He it was who held back their hands from you, and your hands
      from them, in the valley of Mekka, after that He had given you
      the victory over them; for God ever seeth what ye do.
    These are they who believed not, and kept you away from the Sacred
      Mosque, as well as the offering, which was prevented from
      reaching its destination. And but for the faithful men and women,
      whom ye did not know and might have trampled, so that guilt might
      have lighted on you on their account without your knowledge, that
      God might bring whom He pleased into His mercy; had they been
      separate, we had surely punished the unbelievers among them with
      a grievous torment.
    When the unbelievers had put disdain in their hearts,--the disdain
      of ignorance,--God sent down His tranquillity on His Apostle and
      the faithful, and fixed firmly in them the word of piety, for
      they were most worthy and fit for it, and God well knoweth all
      things.
    Now hath God spoken truth to His Apostle in the night vision: “Ye
      shall surely enter the Sacred Mosque, if God please, safe, with
      shaven heads, or hair cut; ye shall not fear, for He knoweth what
      ye do not know; and He hath ordained you, besides that, a victory
      near at hand.”
    It is He who hath sent his Apostle with the guidance and the
      religion of truth, to make it triumph over every religion; and
      God is witness enough!

    Mohammad is the Apostle of God, and those of his party are vehement
      against the infidels, but compassionate to one another. Thou
      mayest see them bowing down, worshipping, seeking grace from God,
      and His approval; their tokens are on their faces--the traces
      of their prostrations. This is their likeness in the Torah, and
      their likeness in the Gospel, like a seed which putteth forth its
      stalk, and strengtheneth it, and it groweth stout, and standeth
      up upon its stem, rejoicing the sowers--to anger unbelievers
      thereby. To those among them who believe, and do the things that
      are right, God hath promised forgiveness and a mighty reward.

                                                              (xlviii.)



HELP.

_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._


    When the HELP of God and victory come,
    And thou seest the people entering the religion of God in troops;
    Then magnify the praises of thy Lord, and seek forgiveness of Him;
      verily He is ever relenting.

                                                                  (cx.)



THE LAW GIVEN AT MEDINA


RELIGIOUS LAW.

It is not righteousness that ye turn your face towards the east or
the west, but righteousness is [in] him who believeth in God and the
Last Day, and the Angels, and the Scripture, and the Prophets, and
who giveth wealth for the love of God to his kinsfolk and to orphans
and the needy and the son of the road and them that ask and for the
freeing of slaves, and who is instant in prayer, and giveth the alms;
and those who fulfil their covenant when they covenant, and the patient
in adversity and affliction and in time of violence, these are they who
are true, and these are they who fear God.--ii. 172.

Say: We believe in God, and what hath been sent down to thee, and what
was sent down to Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the
tribes, and what was given to Moses, and to Jesus, and the prophets
from their Lord,--we make no distinction between any of them,--and to
Him are we resigned: and whoso desireth other than Resignation [Islām]
for a religion, it shall certainly not be accepted from him, and in the
life to come he shall be among the losers.--iii. 78, 79.

Observe the prayers, and the middle prayer, and stand instant before
God. And if ye fear, then afoot or mounted; but when ye are safe
remember God, how he taught you what ye did not know.--ii. 239, 240.

When the call to prayer soundeth on the Day of Congregation (Friday),
then hasten to remember God, and abandon business; that is better for
you if ye only knew: and when prayer is done, disperse in the land and
seek of the bounty of God.--lxii. 9, 10.

Turn thy face towards the Sacred Mosque; wherever ye be, turn your
faces thitherwards.--ii. 139.

Give alms on the path of God, and let not your hands cast you into
destruction; but do good, for God loveth those who do good; and
accomplish the pilgrimage and the visit to God: but if ye be besieged,
then [send] what is easiest as an offering.--ii. 191.

They will ask thee what it is they must give in alms. Say: Let what
good ye give be for parents, and kinsfolk, and the orphan, and the
needy, and the son of the road; and what good ye do, verily God knoweth
it.--ii. 211.

They will ask thee what they shall expend in alms; say, The
surplus.--ii. 216.

If ye give alms openly, it is well; but if ye conceal it, and give it
to the poor, it is better for you, and will take away from you some of
your sins: and God knoweth what ye do.--ii. 273.

O ye who believe, make not your alms of no effect by taunts and
vexation, like him who spendeth what he hath to be seen of men, and
believeth not in God and the Last Day: for his likeness is as the
likeness of a stone with earth upon it, and a heavy rain falleth upon
it and leaveth it bare; they accomplish nothing with what they earn,
for God guideth not the people that disbelieve. And the likeness of
those who expend their wealth for the sake of pleasing God and for the
certainty of their souls is as the likeness of a garden on a hill: a
heavy rain falleth on it and it bringeth forth its fruit twofold; and
if no heavy rain falleth on it, then the dew falleth; and God seeth
what ye do.--ii. 266, 267.

Kind speech and forgiveness is better than alms which vexation
followeth; and God is rich and ruthful.--ii. 265.

O ye who believe, there is prescribed for you the fast as it was
prescribed for those before you; maybe ye will fear God for a certain
number of days, but he amongst you who is sick or on a journey may
fast a [like] number of other days. And for those who are able to
fast [and do not], the expiation is feeding a poor man; but he who
voluntarily doeth a good act, it is better for him; and to fast
is better for you, if ye only knew. The month of Ramadān, wherein
the Korān was sent down for guidance to men, and for proofs of the
guidance, and the distinguishing [of good and evil]; whoso amongst you
seeth this month, let him fast it; but he who is sick or on a journey,
a [like] number of other days:--God wisheth for you what is easy, and
wisheth not for you what is difficult--that ye may fulfil the number,
and magnify God, in that He hath guided you;--and maybe ye will be
thankful.--ii. 179-181.

Proclaim among the people a Pilgrimage: let them come to thee on foot
and on every fleet camel, coming by every deep pass, to be present
at its benefits to them, and to make mention of God’s name at the
appointed days over the beasts with which He hath provided them: then
eat thereof, and feed the poor and needy; then let them end the neglect
of their persons, and pay their vows, and make the circuit of the
ancient House.--xxii. 28-30.

He only shall visit the Mosques of God who believeth in God and the
Last Day, and is instant in prayer, and payeth the alms, and feareth
God only.--ix. 18.

Do ye place the giving drink to the pilgrims, and the visiting of the
Sacred Mosque, on the same level with him who believeth in God and the
Last Day, and fighteth on the path of God? They are not equal in the
sight of God.--ix. 19.

Fight in the path of God with those who fight with you;--but exceed
not; verily God loveth not those who exceed.--And kill them wheresoever
ye find them, and thrust them out from whence they thrust you out;
for dissent is worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred
Mosque, unless they fight you there: but if they fight you, then kill
them: such is the reward of the infidels! But if they desist, then
verily God is forgiving and merciful.--But fight them till there be no
dissent, and the worship be only to God;--but, if they desist, then let
there be no hostility save against the transgressors.--ii. 186-189.

They will ask thee of the sacred month, and fighting therein; say,
Fighting therein is a great sin; but turning people away from God’s
path, and disbelief in Him and in the Sacred Mosque, and turning His
people out therefrom, is a greater in God’s sight, and dissent is a
greater sin than slaughter.--ii. 214.

Forbidden to you is that which dieth of itself, and blood, and the
flesh of swine, and that which is dedicated to other than God, and what
is strangled, and what is killed by a blow, or by falling, and what
is gored, and what wild beasts have preyed on--except what ye kill in
time--and what is sacrificed to idols; and to divide by [the divination
of] arrows, that is transgression in you.--v. 4.

Make not God the butt of your oaths, that ye will be pious and fear
God, and make peace among men, for God heareth and knoweth.--ii. 224.

O ye who believe, verily wine and gambling and statues and divining
arrows are only an abomination of the devil’s making: avoid them then;
haply ye may prosper.--v. 92.


CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW.

It is not for a believer to kill a believer, but by mistake; and whoso
killeth a believer by mistake must free a believing slave; and the
blood-wit must be paid to his family, unless they remit it in alms; but
if he be of a people hostile to you, and yet a believer, then let him
only free a believing slave, and if it be a tribe between whom and you
there is an alliance, then let the blood-wit be paid to his family, and
let him free a believing slave; but if he cannot find the means, then
let him fast for two consecutive months--a penance from God: for God
is all-knowing and wise. And whoso killeth a believer on purpose, his
reward is Hell, to abide therein for ever, and God will be wroth with
him, and curse him, and prepare for him a mighty torment.--iv. 94, 95.

O ye who believe! Retaliation is prescribed for you for the slain: the
free for the free, the slave for the slave, the woman for the woman,
yet for him who is remitted aught by his brother, shall be prosecution
in reason, and payment in generosity.--ii. 173.

He who slayeth a soul, unless it be for another soul, or for wickedness
in the land, is as though he had slain all mankind; and he who saveth a
soul alive is as though he had saved the lives of all mankind.--v. 35.

The reward of those who war against God and His apostle, and work evil
in the earth, is but that they shall be killed or crucified, or that
their hands and feet shall be cut off alternately, or that they shall
be banished from the land--that is their disgrace in this world, and in
the next they shall have a mighty torment.--v. 37.

The man thief and the woman thief, cut off the hands of both in
requital for what they have done; an example from God, for God is
mighty and wise.--v. 42.

They who devour usury shall not rise again, save as he riseth whom the
Devil hath smitten with his touch; that is because they say, “Selling
is only like usury:” but God hath allowed selling, and forbidden
usury.--ii. 276.

If ye fear that ye cannot do justice between orphans, then marry such
women as are lawful to you, by twos or threes or fours; and if ye fear
ye cannot be equitable, then only one, or what [slaves] your right
hands possess: that is the chief thing--that ye be not unfair.--iv. 3.

Marry those of you who are single, and the good among your servants,
and your handmaidens. If they be poor, God of his bounty will enrich
them, and God is liberal, wise. And let those who cannot find a match,
live in chastity, till God of His bounty shall enrich them.--xxiv. 32.

Wed not idolatrous women until they believe, for surely a believing
handmaiden is better than an idolatress, although she captivate you.
And wed not idolaters until they believe, for a believing slave is
better than an idolater, although he charm you.--ii. 220.

Divorce may be twice: then take them in reason or let them go with
kindness. It is not lawful for you to take from them aught of what
ye have given them, unless both fear that they cannot keep God’s
bounds. But if he divorce her [a third time], she is not lawful to him
afterwards, until she marry another husband; but if he also divorce
her, it is no crime in them both to come together again.--ii. 229, 230.

And for the divorced there should be a maintenance in reason, a duty
this on those who fear God.--ii. 242.

Against those of your women who commit adultery, summon witnesses four
in number from among you; and if these bear witness [to the crime],
then keep the women in houses till death release them, or God make a
way for them.--iv. 19.

They who slander chaste women, and bring not four witnesses, scourge
them with fourscore stripes, and receive not their testimony for ever,
for these are the transgressors:--save those who afterwards repent and
do what is right--for God is forgiving, merciful.--xxiv. 4.

It is prescribed for you that, when one of you is at the point of
death, if he leave property, the legacy is to his parents and to his
kindred in reason--a duty upon those that fear God.--ii. 176.

God ordereth you concerning your children: for a male, the equal of
the portion of two females, and if there be more than two women, let
them have two-thirds of what [the deceased] hath left; and if there
be only one, then let her have the half; and for the parents, for
each of them a sixth of what he hath left, if he hath issue; but if
he hath no issue, and his parents inherit, then let his mother have
a third; and if he hath brethren, let his mother have a sixth, after
payment of any bequest he may have bequeathed, or debts. Your parents
and your children, ye know not which is the more helpful to you. An
ordinance from God: verily God is all-knowing and wise! And yours is
half of what your wives leave, if they have no issue; but if they have
issue, then ye shall have a fourth of what they leave, after payment
of any bequests they may bequeath, or their debts; and they shall have
a fourth of what ye leave, if ye have no issue; but if ye have issue,
then let them have an eighth of what ye leave, after paying of any
bequest ye may bequeath, or debts. And if the man’s or the woman’s heir
be a collateral kinsman, and he (or she) have a brother or a sister,
then let each of these two have a sixth; but if they are more than
that, let them share a third, after payment of any bequests he may
bequeath, or debts, without prejudice; an ordinance from God, and God
is wise and clement!

These are God’s statutes, and whoso obeyeth God and the Apostle, He
will bring him into gardens, whereunder rivers flow, to abide therein
for aye,--that is the great prize! But whoso rebelleth against God
and his Apostle, and transgresseth His statutes, He will bring him
into fire, to dwell therein for aye; and his shall be a shameful
torment.--iv. 12-18.

Those of you who die and leave wives, should leave their wives
maintenance for a year, without driving them out [from their homes]:
but if they go out, there is no crime in you for what they do for
themselves in reason; and God is mighty and wise.--ii. 241.

If a man perish and leave no issue, but leave a sister, then hers
is half of what he leaves, and he shall be her heir, if she have no
issue; but if there be two sisters, let them have two-thirds of what he
leaves, and if there be brethren, both men and women, let the male have
the equal of the portion of two females. God maketh this plain to you,
lest ye err; and God knoweth all things.--iv. 176.

O ye who believe! stand fast by justice, bearing witness before God,
though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kindred,
whether it be rich or poor; for God is worthier than they.--iv. 134.

To those of your slaves who desire a deed [for buying their freedom],
write it for them, if ye know good in them, and give them a portion of
the wealth of God which He hath given you.--xxiv. 33.

If any of the idolaters seek refuge with thee, grant him refuge,
that he may hear the word of God; then let him reach his place in
safety.--ix. 6.

God wisheth to make it light for you, for man was created weak.--iv. 32.

If ye shun great sins which ye are forbidden, we will cover your
offences, and make you enter Paradise with a noble entrance.--iv. 35.



THE TABLE-TALK OF MOHAMMAD.


When God created the creation He wrote a book, which is near him upon
the sovran Throne; and what is written in it is this: _Verily my
compassion overcometh my wrath_.

       *       *       *       *       *

Say not, if people do good to us, we will do good to them, and if
people oppress us, we will oppress them: but resolve that if people do
good to you, you will do good to them, and if they oppress you, oppress
them not again.

       *       *       *       *       *

God saith: Whoso doth one good act, for him are ten rewards, and I also
give more to whomsoever I will; and whoso doth ill, its retaliation is
equal to it, or else I forgive him; and he who seeketh to approach me
one cubit, I will seek to approach him two fathoms; and he who walketh
towards me, I will run towards him; and he who cometh before me with
the earth full of sins, but joineth no Partner to me, I will come
before him with an equal front of forgiveness.

       *       *       *       *       *

There are seven people whom God will draw under His own shadow, on that
Day when there will be no other shadow: one a just king; another, who
hath employed himself in devotion from his youth; the third, who fixeth
his heart on the Mosque till he return to it; the fourth, two men whose
friendship is to please God, whether together or separate; the fifth, a
man who remembereth God when he is alone, and weepeth; the sixth, a man
who is tempted by a rich and beautiful woman, and saith, Verily I fear
God! the seventh, a man who hath given alms and concealed it, so that
his left hand knoweth not what his right hand doeth.

       *       *       *       *       *

The most excellent of all actions is to befriend any one on God’s
account, and to be at enmity with whosoever is the enemy of God.

       *       *       *       *       *

Verily ye are in an age in which if ye abandon one-tenth of what is
ordered, ye will be ruined. After this a time will come when he who
shall observe one-tenth of what is now ordered will be redeemed.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Concerning Prayer._

Angels come amongst you both night and day; then those of the night
ascend to heaven, and God asketh them how they left His creatures: they
say, We left them at prayer, and we found them at prayer.

       *       *       *       *       *

The rewards for the prayers which are performed by people assembled
together are double of those which are said at home.

       *       *       *       *       *

Ye must not say your prayers at the rising or the setting of the sun:
so when a limb of the sun appeareth, leave your prayers until her whole
orb is up: and when the sun beginneth to set, quit your prayers until
the whole orb hath disappeared; for, verily she riseth between the two
horns of the Devil.

       *       *       *       *       *

No neglect of duty is imputable during sleep; for neglect can only
take place when one is awake: therefore, when any of you forget your
prayers, say them when ye recollect.

       *       *       *       *       *

When any one of you goeth to sleep, the Devil tieth three knots upon
his neck; and saith over every knot, “The night is long, sleep.”
Therefore, if a servant awake and remember God, it openeth one knot,
and if he perform the ablution, it openeth another; and if he say
prayers it openeth the other; and he riseth in the morning in gladness
and purity:--otherwise he riseth in a lethargic state.

       *       *       *       *       *

When a Muslim performeth the ablution, it washeth from his face those
faults which he may have cast his eyes upon; and when he washeth his
hands, it removeth the faults they may have committed, and when he
washeth his feet, it dispelleth the faults towards which they may
have carried him: so that he will rise up in purity from the place of
ablution.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Charity._

When God created the earth, it began to shake and tremble; then God
created mountains, and put them upon the earth, and the land became
firm and fixed; and the angels were astonished at the hardness of the
hills, and said, “O God, is there anything of thy creation harder than
hills?” and God said, “Yes, water is harder than the hills, because it
breaketh them.” Then the angel said, “O Lord, is there anything of thy
creation harder than water?” He said, “Yes, wind overcometh water: it
doth agitate it and put it in motion.” They said, “O our Lord! is there
anything of thy creation harder than wind?” He said, “Yes, the children
of Adam giving alms: those who give with their right hand, and conceal
from their left, overcome all.”

       *       *       *       *       *

The liberal man is near the pleasure of God and is near Paradise, which
he shall enter into, and is near the hearts of men as a friend, and he
is distant from hell; but the niggard is far from God’s pleasure and
from paradise, and far from the hearts of men, and near the Fire; and
verily a liberal ignorant man is more beloved by God than a niggardly
worshipper.

       *       *       *       *       *

A man’s giving in alms one piece of silver in his lifetime is better
for him than giving one hundred when about to die.

       *       *       *       *       *

Think not that any good act is contemptible, though it be but your
brother’s coming to you with an open countenance and good humour.

       *       *       *       *       *

There is alms for a man’s every joint, every day in which the sun
riseth; doing justice between two people is alms; and assisting a man
upon his beast, and his baggage, is alms; and pure words, for which are
rewards; and answering a questioner with mildness is alms, and every
step which is made toward prayer is alms, and removing that which is an
inconvenience to man, such as stones and thorns, is alms.

       *       *       *       *       *

The people of the Prophet’s house killed a goat, and the Prophet said,
“What remaineth of it?” They said, “Nothing but the shoulder; for they
have sent the whole to the poor and neighbours, except a shoulder which
remaineth.” The Prophet said, “Nay, it is the whole goat that remaineth
except its shoulder: that remaineth which they have given away, the
rewards of which will be eternal, and what remaineth in the house is
fleeting.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Feed the hungry, visit the sick, and free the captive if he be unjustly
bound.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Fasting._

A keeper of fasts, who doth not abandon lying and slandering, God
careth not about his leaving off eating and drinking.

       *       *       *       *       *

Keep fast and eat also, stay awake at night and sleep also, because
verily there is a duty on you to your body, not to labour overmuch, so
that ye may not get ill and destroy yourselves; and verily there is a
duty on you to your eyes, ye must sometimes sleep and give them rest;
and verily there is a duty on you to your wife, and to your visitors
and guests that come to see you; ye must talk to them; and nobody hath
kept fast who fasted always; the fast of three days in every month is
equal to constant fasting: then keep three days’ fast in every month.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Reading the Korān._

The state of a Muslim who readeth the Korān is like the orange fruit,
whose smell and taste are pleasant; and that of a Muslim who doth not
read the Korān, is like a date which hath no smell, but a sweet taste;
and the condition of any hypocrite who doth not read the Korān is
like the colocynth which hath no smell, but a bitter taste; and the
hypocrite who readeth the Korān is like the sweet bazil, whose smell is
sweet, but taste bitter.

       *       *       *       *       *

Read the Korān constantly; I sware by Him in the hands of whose might
is my life, verily the Korān runneth away faster than a camel which is
not tied by the leg.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Labour and Profit._

Verily the best things which ye eat are those which ye earn yourselves
or which your children earn.

       *       *       *       *       *

Verily it is better for one of you to take a rope and bring a bundle
of wood upon his back and sell it, in which case God guardeth his
honour, than to beg of people, whether they give him or not; if they do
not give him, his reputation suffereth and he returneth disappointed;
and if they give him, it is worse than that, for it layeth him under
obligations.

       *       *       *       *       *

A man came to the Prophet, begging of him something, and the Prophet
said, “Have you nothing at home?” He said, “Yes, there is a large
carpet, with one part of which I cover myself, and spread the other,
and there is a wooden cup in which I drink water.” Then the Prophet
said, “Bring me the carpet and the cup.” And the man brought them, and
the Prophet took them in his hand and said, “Who will buy them?” A man
said, “I will take them at one silver piece.” He said, “Who will give
more?” This he repeated twice or thrice. Another man said, “I will
take them for two pieces of silver.” Then the Prophet gave the carpet
and cup to that man, and took the two pieces of silver, and gave them
to the helper, and said, “Buy food with one of these pieces, and give
it to your family, that they may make it their sustenance for a few
days; and buy a hatchet with the other piece and bring it to me.” And
the man brought it; and the Prophet put a handle to it with his own
hands, and then said, “Go, cut wood, and sell it, and let me not see
you for fifteen days.” Then the man went cutting wood, and selling
it; and he came to the Prophet, when verily he had got ten pieces of
silver, and he bought a garment with part of it, and food with part.
Then the Prophet said, “This cutting and selling of wood, and making
your livelihood by it, is better for you than coming on the day of
resurrection with black marks on your face.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Acts of begging are scratches and wounds by which a man woundeth his
own face; then he who wisheth to guard his face from scratches and
wounds must not beg, unless that a man asketh from his prince, or in an
affair in which there is no remedy.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Prophet hath cursed ten persons on account of wine: one, the first
extractor of the juice of the grape for others; the second for himself;
the third the drinker of it; the fourth the bearer of it; the fifth the
person to whom it is brought; the sixth the waiter; the seventh the
seller of it; the eighth the eater of its price; the ninth the buyer of
it; the tenth that person who hath purchased it for another.

       *       *       *       *       *

Merchants shall be raised up liars on the Day of Resurrection, except
he who abstaineth from that which is unlawful, and doth not swear
falsely, but speaketh true in the price of his goods.

       *       *       *       *       *

The taker of interest and the giver of it, and the writer of its papers
and the witness to it, are equal in crime.

       *       *       *       *       *

The holder of a monopoly is a sinner and offender.

       *       *       *       *       *

The bringers of grain to the city to sell at a cheap rate gain immense
advantage by it, and he who keepeth back grain in order to sell at a
high rate is cursed.

       *       *       *       *       *

He who desireth that God should redeem him from the sorrows and
difficulties of the Day of Resurrection, must delay in calling on poor
debtors, or forgive the debt in part or whole.

       *       *       *       *       *

A martyr shall be pardoned every fault but debt.

       *       *       *       *       *

Whosoever has a thing with which to discharge a debt, and refuseth to
do it, it is right to dishonour and punish him.

       *       *       *       *       *

A bier was brought to the Prophet, to say prayers over it. He said,
“Hath he left any debts?” They said, “Yes.” He said, “Hath he left
anything to discharge them?” They said, “No.” The Prophet said, “Say ye
prayers over him, I shall not.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Give the labourer his wage before his perspiration be dry.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Fighting for the Faith._

We came out with the Prophet, with a part of the army, and a man passed
by a cavern in which was water and verdure, and he said in his heart,
“I shall stay here, and retire from the world.” Then he asked the
Prophet’s permission to live in the cavern; but he said, “Verily I have
not been sent on the Jewish religion, nor the Christian, to quit the
delights of society; but I have been sent on the religion inclining to
truth, and that which is easy, wherein is no difficulty or austerity. I
swear by God, in whose hand is my life, that marching about morning and
evening to fight for religion is better than the world and everything
that is in it: and verily the standing of one of you in the line of
battle is better than supererogatory prayers performed in your house
for sixty years.”

       *       *       *       *       *

When the Prophet sent an army out to fight, he would say, March in
the name of God and by His aid and on the religion of the Messenger
of God. Kill not the old man who cannot fight, nor young children nor
women; and steal not the spoils of war, but put your spoils together;
and quarrel not amongst yourselves, but be good to one another, for God
loveth the doer of good.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Judgments._

The first judgment that God will pass on man at the Day of Resurrection
will be for murder.

       *       *       *       *       *

Whosoever throweth himself from the top of a mountain and killeth
himself is in Hell Fire for ever; and whosoever killeth himself with
iron, his iron shall be in his hand, and he will stab his belly with it
in Hell Fire everlastingly.

       *       *       *       *       *

No judge must decide between two persons whilst he is angry.

       *       *       *       *       *

There is no judge who hath decided between men, whether just or unjust,
but will come to God’s court on the Day of Resurrection held by the
neck by an angel; and the angel will raise his head towards the heavens
and wait for God’s orders; and if God ordereth to throw him into hell,
the angel will do it from a height of forty years’ journey.

       *       *       *       *       *

Verily there will come on a just judge at the Day of Resurrection such
fear and horror, that he will wish, Would to God that I had not decided
between two persons in a trial for a single date.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Women and Slaves._

The world and all things in it are valuable, but the most valuable
thing in the world is a virtuous woman.

       *       *       *       *       *

I have not left any calamity more hurtful to man than woman.

       *       *       *       *       *

A Muslim cannot obtain (after righteousness) anything better than a
well-disposed, beautiful wife: such a wife as, when ordered by her
husband to do anything, obeyeth; and if her husband look at her, is
happy; and if her husband swear by her to do a thing, she doth it to
make his oath true; and if he be absent from her, she wisheth him well
in her own person by guarding herself from inchastity, and taketh care
of his property.

       *       *       *       *       *

Verily the best of women are those who are content with little.

       *       *       *       *       *

Admonish your wives with kindness; for women were created out of a
crooked rib of Adam, therefore if ye wish to straighten it, ye will
break it; and if ye let it alone, it will be always crooked.

       *       *       *       *       *

Every woman who dieth, and her husband is pleased with her, shall enter
into paradise.

       *       *       *       *       *

That which is lawful but disliked by God is divorce.

       *       *       *       *       *

A woman may be married by four qualifications: one, on account of
her money; another, on account of the nobility of her pedigree;
another, on account of her beauty; a fourth, on account of her faith;
therefore look out for religious women, but if ye do it from any other
consideration, may your hands be rubbed in dirt.

       *       *       *       *       *

A widow shall not be married until she be consulted; nor shall a virgin
be married until her consent be asked, whose consent is by her silence.

       *       *       *       *       *

When the Prophet was informed that the people of Persia had made the
daughter of Chosroes their Queen, he said, The tribe that constitutes a
woman its ruler will not find redemption.

       *       *       *       *       *

Do not prevent your women from coming to the mosque; but their homes
are better for them.

       *       *       *       *       *

O assembly of women, give alms, although it be of your gold and silver
ornaments; for verily ye are mostly of Hell on the Day of Resurrection.

       *       *       *       *       *

When ye return from a journey and enter your town at night, go not to
your houses, so that your wives may have time to comb their dishevelled
hair.

       *       *       *       *       *

God has ordained that your brothers should be your slaves: therefore
him whom God hath ordained to be the slave of his brother, his brother
must give him of the food which he eateth himself, and of the clothes
wherewith he clotheth himself, and not order him to do anything beyond
his power, and if he doth order such a work, he must himself assist him
in doing it.

       *       *       *       *       *

He who beateth his slave without fault, or slappeth him in the face,
his atonement for this is freeing him.

       *       *       *       *       *

A man who behaveth ill to his slave will not enter into paradise.

       *       *       *       *       *

Forgive thy servant seventy times a day.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Dumb Animals._

Fear God in respect of animals: ride them when they are fit to be
ridden, and get off when they are tired.

       *       *       *       *       *

A man came before the Prophet with a carpet, and said, “O Prophet! I
passed through a wood, and heard the voices of the young of birds; and
I took and put them into my carpet; and their mother came fluttering
round my head, and I uncovered the young, and the mother fell down upon
them, then I wrapped them up in my carpet; and there are the young
which I have.” Then the Prophet said, “Put them down.” And when he did
so, their mother joined them: and the Prophet said, “Do you wonder at
the affection of the mother towards her young? I swear by Him who hath
sent me, verily God is more loving to His servants than the mother to
these young birds. Return them to the place from which ye took them,
and let their mother be with them.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Verily there are rewards for our doing good to dumb animals, and giving
them water to drink. An adulteress was forgiven who passed by a dog at
a well; for the dog was holding out his tongue from thirst, which was
near killing him; and the woman took off her boot, and tied it to the
end of her garment, and drew water for the dog, and gave him to drink;
and she was forgiven for that act.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Hospitality._

When a man cometh into his house and remembereth God and repeateth His
name at eating his meals, the Devil saith to his followers, “Here is no
place for you to stay in to-night, nor is there any supper for you.”
And when a man cometh into his house without remembering God’s name,
the Devil saith to his followers, “You have got a place to spend the
night in.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Whosoever believeth in God and the Day of Resurrection must respect his
guest, and the time of being kind to him is one day and one night, and
the period of entertaining him is three days, and after that, if he
doth it longer, he benefiteth him more. It is not right for a guest to
stay in the house of the host so long as to inconvenience him.

       *       *       *       *       *

I heard this, that God is pure, and loveth purity; and God is liberal,
and loveth liberality; God is munificent, and loveth munificence: then
keep the courts of your house clean, and do not be like Jews who do not
clean the courts of their houses.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Government._

Government is a trust from God, and verily government will be at the
Day of Resurrection a cause of inquiry, unless he who hath taken it be
worthy of it and have acted justly and done good.

       *       *       *       *       *

Verily a king is God’s shadow upon the earth; and every one oppressed
turneth to him: then when the king doeth justice, for him are rewards
and gratitude from his subject: but, if the king oppresseth, on him is
his sin, and for the oppressed resignation.

       *       *       *       *       *

That is the best of men who disliketh power. Beware! ye are all
guardians; and ye will be asked about your subjects: then the leader
is the guardian of the subject, and he will be asked respecting the
subject; and a man is a shepherd to his own family, and will be asked
how they behaved, and his conduct to them; and a wife is guardian to
her husband’s house and children, and will be interrogated about them;
and a slave is a shepherd to his master’s property, and will be asked
about it, whether he took good care of it or not.

       *       *       *       *       *

There is no prince who oppresseth the subject and dieth, but God
forbiddeth Paradise to him.

       *       *       *       *       *

If a negro slave is appointed to rule over you, hear him, and obey him,
though his head should be like a dried grape.

       *       *       *       *       *

There is no obedience due to sinful commands, nor to any other than
what is lawful.

       *       *       *       *       *

O Prophet of God, if we have princes over us, wanting our rights, and
withholding our rights from us, then what do you order us? He said,
“Ye must hear them and obey their orders: it is on them to be just and
good, and on you to be obedient and submissive.”

       *       *       *       *       *

He is not strong or powerful who throws people down, but he is strong
who withholds himself from anger.

       *       *       *       *       *

When one of you getteth angry, he must sit down, and if his anger goeth
away from sitting, so much the better; if not, let him lie down.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Vanities and Sundry Matters._

The angels are not with the company with which is a dog nor with the
company with which is a bell.

       *       *       *       *       *

A bell is the Devil’s musical instrument.

       *       *       *       *       *

The angels do not enter a house in which is a dog, nor that in which
there are pictures.

       *       *       *       *       *

Every painter is in Hell Fire; and God will appoint a person at the Day
of Resurrection for every picture he shall have drawn, to punish him,
and they will punish him in Hell. Then if you must make pictures, make
them of trees and things without souls.

       *       *       *       *       *

Whosoever shall tell a dream, not having dreamt, shall be put to the
trouble at the Day of Resurrection of joining two barleycorns; and he
can by no means do it; and he will be punished. And whosoever listeneth
to others’ conversation, who dislike to be heard by him, and avoid him,
boiling lead will be poured into his ears at the Day of Resurrection.
And whosoever draweth a picture shall be punished by ordering him to
breathe a spirit into it, and this he can never do, and so he will be
punished as long as God wills.

       *       *       *       *       *

O servants of God use medicine: because God hath not created a pain
without a remedy for it, to be the means of curing it, except age; for
that is a pain without a remedy.

       *       *       *       *       *

He who is not loving to God’s creatures and to his own children, God
will not be loving to him.

       *       *       *       *       *

The truest words spoken by any poet are those of Lebīd, who said, “Know
that everything is vanity except God.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Verily he who believeth fighteth with his sword and tongue: I swear by
God, verily abuse of infidels in verse is worse to them than arrows.

       *       *       *       *       *

Meekness and shame are two branches of faith, and vain talking and
embellishing are two branches of hypocrisy.

       *       *       *       *       *

The calamity of knowledge is forgetfulness, and to lose knowledge is
this, to speak of it to the unworthy.

       *       *       *       *       *

Whoso pursueth the road of knowledge, God will direct him to the road
of Paradise; and verily the angels spread their arms to receive him who
seeketh after knowledge; and everything in heaven and earth will ask
grace for him; and verily the superiority of a learned man over a mere
worshipper is like that of the full moon over all the stars.

       *       *       *       *       *

Hearing is not like seeing: verily God acquainted Moses of his tribe’s
worshipping a calf, but he did not throw down the tables; but when
Moses went to his tribe, and saw with his eyes the calf they had made,
he threw down the tables and broke them.

       *       *       *       *       *

Be not extravagant in praising me, as the Christians are in praising
Jesus, Mary’s Son, by calling him God, and the Son of God; I am only
the Lord’s servant; then call me the servant of God, and His messenger.

       *       *       *       *       *

It was asked, “O Messenger of God, what relation is most worthy of
doing good to?” He said, “Your mother,” this he repeated thrice:
“and after her your father, and after him your other relations by
propinquity.”

       *       *       *       *       *

God’s pleasure is in a father’s pleasure, and God’s displeasure is a
father’s displeasure.

       *       *       *       *       *

Verily one of you is a mirror to his brother: Then if he see a vice in
his brother he must tell him to get rid of it.

       *       *       *       *       *

The best person near God is the best amongst his friends; and the best
of neighbours near God is the best person in his own neighbourhood.

       *       *       *       *       *

Deliberation in undertaking is pleasing to God, and haste is pleasing
to the devil.

       *       *       *       *       *

The heart of the old is always young in two things, in love for the
world and length of hope.

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Death._

Wish not for death any one of you; either a doer of good works,
for peradventure he may increase them by an increase of life; or
an offender, for perhaps he may obtain the forgiveness of God by
repentance.

       *       *       *       *       *

When the soul is taken from the body, the eyes follow it, and look
towards it: on this account the eyes remain open.

       *       *       *       *       *

When a believer is nearly dead, angels of mercy come, clothed in white
silk garments, and say to the soul of the dying man, “Come out, O
thou who art satisfied with God, and with whom He is satisfied; come
out to rest, which is with God, and the sustenance of God’s mercy and
compassion, and to the Lord, who is not angry.” Then the soul cometh
out like the smell of the best musk, so that verily it is handed from
one angel to another, till they bring it to the doors of the celestial
regions. Then the angels say, “What a wonderful pleasant smell this is
which is come to you from the earth!” Then they bring it to the souls
of the faithful, and they are very happy at its coming; more than ye
are at the coming of one of your family after a long journey. And the
souls of the faithful ask it, “What hath such an one done, and such an
one? how are they?” and they mention the names of their friends who are
left in the world. And some of them say, “Let it alone, do not ask it,
because it was grieved in the world, and came from thence aggrieved;
ask it when it is at rest.” Then the soul saith when it is at ease,
“Verily such an one about whom ye ask is dead.” And as they do not see
him amongst themselves, they say to one another, “Surely he was carried
to his mother, which is Hell Fire.”

And verily when an infidel is near death, angels of punishment
come to him, clothed in sackcloth, and say to his soul, “Come out,
thou discontented, and with whom God is displeased; come to God’s
punishments.” Then it cometh out with a disagreeable smell, worse than
the worst stench of a dead body, until they bring it upon the earth,
and they say, “What an extraordinary bad smell this is;” till they
bring it to the souls of the infidels.

       *       *       *       *       *

A bier was passing, and the Prophet stood up for it; and we stood with
him and said, “O Prophet! verily this bier is of a Jewish woman; we
must not respect it.” Then the Prophet said, “Verily death is dreadful:
therefore when ye see a bier stand up.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Do not abuse or speak ill of the dead, because they have arrived at
what they sent before them; they have received the rewards of their
actions; if the reward is good, you must not mention them as sinful;
and if it is bad, perhaps they may be forgiven, but if not, your
mentioning their badness is of no use.

       *       *       *       *       *

Sit not upon graves, nor say your prayers fronting them.

       *       *       *       *       *

Whoso consoleth one in misfortune, for him is a reward equal to that of
the sufferer.

       *       *       *       *       *

Whoso comforteth a woman who has lost her child will be covered with a
garment in Paradise.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Prophet passed by graves in Medina, and turned his face towards
them, and said, “Peace be to you, O people of the graves. God forgive
us and you! Ye have passed on before us, and we are following you.”

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of the State after Death._

To whomsoever God giveth wealth, and he doth not perform the charity
due from it, his wealth will be made into the shape of a serpent on
the Day of Resurrection, which shall not have any hair upon its head,
and this is a sign of its poison and long life, and it hath two black
spots upon its eyes, and it will be twisted round his neck like a
chain on the Day of Resurrection; then the serpent will seize the
man’s jaw-bones, and will say, “I am thy wealth, the charity for which
thou didst not give, and I am thy treasure, from which thou didst not
separate any alms.”

       *       *       *       *       *

The Prophet asked us, “Did any one of you dream?” We said, “No.” He
said, “But I did. Two men came to me and took hold of my hands, and
carried me to a pure land: and behold, there was a man sitting and
another standing: the first had an iron hook in his hand, and was
hooking the other in the lip, and split it to the back of the neck, and
then did the same with the other lip. While this was doing the first
healed, and the man kept on from one lip to the other.” I said, “What
is this?” They said, “Move on,” and we did so till we reached a man
sleeping on his back, and another standing at his head with a stone in
his hand, with which he was breaking the other’s head, and afterwards
rolled the stone about and then followed it, and had not yet returned,
when the man’s head was healed and well. Then he broke it again, and I
said, “What is this?” They said, “Walk on,” and we walked, till we came
to a hole like an oven, with its top narrow and its bottom wide, and
fire was burning under it, and there were naked men and women in it;
and when the fire burnt high the people mounted also, and when the fire
subsided they subsided also. Then I said “What is this?” They said,
“Move on,” and we went on till we came to a river of blood, with a man
standing in the middle of it, and another man on the bank, with stones
in his hands: and when the man in the river attempted to come out, the
other threw stones in his face, and made him return. And I said, “What
is this?” They said, “Advance,” and we moved forward, till we arrived
at a green garden, in which was a large tree, and an old man and
children sitting on the roots of it, and near it was a man lighting a
fire. Then I was carried upon the tree, and put into a house which was
in the middle of it,--a better house I have never seen: and there were
old men, young men, women, and children. After that they brought me
out of the house and carried me to the top of the tree, and put me into
a better house, where were old men and young men. And I said to my two
conductors, “Verily ye have shown me a great many things to-night, then
inform me of what I have seen.” They said, “Yes: as to the man whom you
saw with split lips, he was a liar, and will be treated in that way
till the Day of Resurrection; and the person you saw getting his head
broken is a man whom God taught the Korān, and he did not repeat it in
the night, nor practice what is in it by day, and he will be treated
as you saw till the Day of Resurrection; and the people you saw in
the oven are adulterers; and those you saw in the river are receivers
of usury; and the old man you saw under the tree is Abraham; and the
children around them are the children of men: and the person who was
lighting the fire was Mālik, the keeper of hell; and the first house
you entered was for the common believers; and as to the second house,
it is for the martyrs: and we who conducted you are one of us Gabriel,
and the other Michael; then raise up your head;” and I did so, and saw
above it as it were a cloud: and they said, “That is your dwelling.” I
said, “Call it here, that I may enter it;” and they said, “Verily your
life remaineth, but when you have completed it, you will come into your
house.”

       *       *       *       *       *

When God created Paradise, He said to Gabriel, “Go and look at it,”
then Gabriel went and looked at it and at the things which God had
prepared for the people of it. After that Gabriel came and said, “O my
Lord! I swear by thy glory no one will hear a description of Paradise
but will be ambitious of entering it.” After that God surrounded
Paradise with distress and troubles, and said, “O Gabriel, go and look
at Paradise.” And he went and looked, and then returned and said, “O my
Lord, I fear that verily no one will enter it.” And when God created
Hell Fire He said to Gabriel, “Go and take a look at it.” And he went
and looked at it, and returned and said, “O my Lord, I swear by thy
glory that no one who shall hear a description of Hell Fire will wish
to enter it.” Then God surrounded it with sins, desires, and vices,
after that said to Gabriel, “Go and look at Hell Fire,” and he went and
looked at it, and said, “O my Lord, I swear by thy glory I am afraid
that every one will enter Hell, because sins are so sweet that there is
none but will incline to them.”

       *       *       *       *       *

If ye knew what I know of the condition of the resurrection and
futurity, verily ye would weep much and laugh little.

       *       *       *       *       *

Then I said, “O messenger of God! shall we perish while the virtuous
are amongst us?” He said, Yes, when the wickedness shall be excessive,
verily there will be tribes of my sects that will consider the wearing
of silks and drinking liquor lawful, and will listen to the lute: and
there will be men with magnificent houses, and their milch animals will
come to them in the evening, full of milk, and a man will come begging
a little and they will say, Come to-morrow. Then God will quickly
send a punishment upon them, and will change others into the shape of
monkeys and swine, unto the Day of Resurrection.

       *       *       *       *       *

Verily among the signs of the Resurrection will be the taking away of
knowledge from amongst men; and their being in great ignorance and much
wickedness and much drinking of liquor, and diminution of men, and
there being many women; to such a degree that there will be fifty women
to one man, and he will work for a livelihood for the women.

       *       *       *       *       *

How can I be happy, when Isrāfīl hath put the trumpet to his mouth to
blow it, leaning his ear towards the true God for orders, and hath
already knit his brow, waiting in expectation of orders to blow it?

       *       *       *       *       *


_Of Destiny._

The hearts of men are at the disposal of God like unto one heart,
and He turneth them about in any way that He pleaseth. O Director of
hearts, turn our hearts to obey Thee.

       *       *       *       *       *

The first thing which God created was a pen, and He said to it,
“Write.” It said, “What shall I write?” And God said, “Write down the
quantity of every separate thing to be created.” And it wrote all that
was and all that will be to eternity.

       *       *       *       *       *

There is not one among you whose sitting-place is not written by God
whether in the fire or in Paradise. The Companions said, “O Prophet!
since God hath appointed our place, may we confide in this and abandon
our religious and moral duty?” He said, “No, because the happy will do
good works, and those who are of the miserable will do bad works.”

       *       *       *       *       *

The Prophet of God said that Adam and Moses (in the world of spirits)
maintained a debate before God, and Adam got the better of Moses; who
said, “Thou art that Adam whom God created by the power of His hands,
and breathed into thee from His own spirit, and made the angels bow
before thee, and gave thee an habitation in His own Paradise: after
that thou threwest man upon the earth, from the fault which thou
committedst.” Adam said, “Thou art that Moses whom God elected for His
prophecy, and to converse with, and He gave to thee twelve tables, in
which are explained everything, and God made thee His confidant, and
the bearer of His secrets: then how long was the Bible written before
I was created?” Moses said, “Forty years.” Then Adam said, “Didst thou
see in the Bible that Adam disobeyed God?” He said, “Yes.” Adam said,
“Dost thou then reproach me on a matter which God wrote in the Bible
forty years before creating me?”

       *       *       *       *       *

'Aïsha relates that the Prophet said to her, “Do you know, O 'Aïsha!
the excellence of this night?” (the fifteenth of Ramadān.) I said,
“What is it, O Prophet?” He said, “One thing in this night is, that
all the children of Adam to be born in the year are written down; and
also those who are to die in it, and all the actions of the children of
Adam are carried up to heaven in this night; and their allowances are
sent down.” Then I said, “O Prophet, do none enter Paradise except by
God’s mercy?” He said, “No, none enter except by God’s favour:” this
he said thrice. I said, “You, also, O Prophet! will you not enter into
Paradise, excepting by God’s compassion?” Then the Prophet put his hand
on his head, and said, “I shall not enter, except God cover me with His
mercy:” this he said thrice.

       *       *       *       *       *

A man asked the Prophet what was the mark whereby a man might know
the reality of his faith. He said, “If thou derive pleasure from the
good which thou hast done, and be grieved for the evil which thou hast
committed, thou art a true believer.” The man said, “What doth a fault
really consist in?” He said, “When anything pricketh thy conscience
forsake it.”

       *       *       *       *       *

I am no more than man: when I order you anything with respect to
religion, receive it, and when I order you about the affairs of the
world then I am nothing more than man.



NOTES.


THE MEKKA SPEECHES.
I.--THE POETIC PERIOD.

The rhyming prose in which the Korān is written may be seen to best
advantage in this earliest phase of Mohammad’s oratory, when the
sentences are short and the rhythm more _chantant_ than in the later
speeches. “The Smiting” (p. 7), will serve as a specimen of the sound
of the original Arabic, as far as it can be represented in Roman
characters:--

    _Bismi-llahi-r-rahmāni-r-rahīm_
    _El-kāri'atu mā-l-kāri'ah_
    _Wa-mā adrāka mā-l-kāri'ah_
    _Yawma yekūnu-n-nāsu ke-l-farāsi-l-mabthūth_
    _Wa-tekūnu-l-jibālu ke-l-'ihni-l-manfūsh_
    _Fe-amma men thekulet mawāzīnuhu fe-huwa fī 'īshetin rādiyeh_
    _Wa-amma men khaffet mawāzīnuhu fe-ummuhu hāwiyeh_
    _Wa-mā adrāka mā hiyeh_
    _Nārun hāmiyeh_

The effect of which may be thus roughly preserved in English:--

    In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
    The Smiting! What is the Smiting?
    And what shall teach thee what is the Smiting?
    The Day when men shall be like moths adrift,
    And the hills shall be like wool-flocks rift:
    Then as for him whose scales are heavy, his shall be a life of
      bliss:
    And as for him whose scales are light, a place in the Pit is his:
    And what shall teach thee what that place is--
    A Fire that blazes!

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 3. THE NIGHT.--The formula “_In the Name of God, the Compassionate,
the Merciful_,” precedes all the chapters of the Korān but one.
_We._--God speaks in the plural in the Korān.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 5. THE COUNTRY.--_The two highways_: the _steep one_ to heaven, and
the smooth one to hell.

P. 6. _The people of the right hand_--those that receive the book
of the record of their actions in their right hand--the blessed.
Contrariwise--_the people of the left hand_--the damned.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 7. THE SMITING.--One of many similar names for the Day of Judgment.
_The Bottomless Pit_, “El-Hāwiyeh,” is the lowest stage of the Hell of
the Korān.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 8. THE QUAKING.--_Burdens_, _i.e._ the dead. _Her tidings_: “The
tidings of the earth are these--she will bear witness to the actions of
every man and woman done upon her surface.”--Tradition of Mohammad.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 9. THE RENDING ASUNDER.--_Reporters_: two angels who note
respectively the good and the evil deeds and words of every man.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 13. THE BACKBITER.--This speech is said to have been levelled at a
personal enemy.

_Blasting Hell_, “El-Hutameh,” is the third stage of the Mohammadan
Inferno.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 14. THE SPLENDOUR OF MORNING.--Evidently uttered in a time of
despondency and with the intention of self-encouragement.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 15. THE MOST HIGH.--_The books of eld._ Mohammad asserted that his
doctrine was a revival of the religion of Abraham and the patriarchs,
as it was before the Jews corrupted it.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 17. THE WRAPPING.--A simile from the wrapping of a head in a turban.

_Camels ten months_ gone with young were the Arabs’ most valuable
property.

_The child that was buried alive._ Infanticide of female children was
among the crimes of the ancient Arab.

_The Books_--in which men’s actions are recorded.

_Stars that hide_, _i.e._ that set; or, as others say, “that
retrogress,” _i.e._ the planets.

P. 18. _Mad._ The people commonly believed Mohammad to be possessed
with a jinni (or genius).

_Pelted devil._ The evil jinn or devils are supposed to act the
eavesdropper on the confines of heaven, and to be driven away by
shooting stars.

_A reminder_, _scil._, of the true religion of Abraham and the
prophets, which men had forgotten. Cf. LANE: _Selections from the
Kur-ān_, lxxxi. 15, 47, 48 (2d ed., Trübner’s Oriental Series).

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 19. THE NEWS.--One of the many names which Mohammad employed to
bring home to his people the reality and fearfulness of the Last Day.

_Tent-pegs._ Mountains were believed to keep the earth steady, as pegs
do a tent.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 22. THE FACT.--One of the names of the Last Day: the event which
must inevitably happen.

_Abasing_ the sinners, and _exalting_ the righteous.

_Three kinds_: the “outstrippers,” the “people of the right hand,”
and the “people of the left hand.” In the original the same word means
“right hand” and “happiness,” or “good omen;” contrariwise, “left hand”
and “misfortune.” Cp. the use of _dexter_ and _sinister_. An instance
of Mohammad’s practice of playing upon the different senses of a word.

_The outstrippers_, _i.e._ those who are the first to adopt the true
religion--the prophets and apostles, who shall be rewarded by being
allowed to stand nearest to God in the next world. The following
fifteen lines describe their happy fate; after which, fourteen refer
to the _people of the right hand_, or ordinary believers; and then
seventeen lines to the _people of the left hand_, or damned.

P. 24. _Zakkūm_: A thorny tree with a bitter fruit, which grows up from
the bottomless pit.

P. 26. _Preserved Book._--Mohammad taught that every “revelation” in
the Korān was but a transcript from the pages of a great book, known as
the “_Mother of the Book_,” “preserved” under the throne of God. The
sentence, _Let none touch it but the purified_, is commonly inscribed
upon the cover of the Korān.

_Those brought nearest_, _i.e._ the _outstrippers_, or prophets.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 27. THE MERCIFUL.--_Then which of the bounties_, etc. A refrain or
burden of this kind is rare in the Korān, and is in no other instance
so often repeated. The _twain_ are mankind and the jinn (or genii).
“Jinn,” it may be remarked, is a plural, and the singular is “jinni” (a
genius), for the masculine, and “jinnīyeh” for the feminine.

_The two Easts._ The rising-places of the sun in summer and winter;
_the two Wests_, the corresponding setting-places.

P. 28. _Two notables_, or “weighty ones,” _i.e._ men and jinn.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 32. THE UNITY.--This profession of faith is held by Muslims to be
equal in value to a third of the whole Korān.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 33. THE FĀTIHAH, or “Opening” chapter, so called because it is
placed at the beginning of the authorised arrangement of the Korān. It
is the _Paternoster_ of Islam, and is repeated many times in the five
daily prayers of the Muslims, and on every solemn occasion.


THE MEKKA SPEECHES.
II.--THE RHETORICAL PERIOD.

P. 39. THE KINGDOM. _Say_: _i.e._ God bids Mohammad say. It must never
be forgotten that Mohammad is only supposed to recite what God wrote in
the Preserved Book (see note to p. 26) before the world began.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 41. THE MOON.--_Sign_, _i.e._ miracle, which Mohammad insistently
declared his inability to work.

_The Summoner_: the archangel Isrāfīl.

_Called it a lie_, _i.e._ denied the doctrine of one God and of a Day
of Judgment.

P. 42. _Ad_: an ancient Arab people, destroyed in prehistoric days. See
LANE: _Selections from the Kur-ān_, 60-62.

_Thamūd_: another tribe, which experienced a similar fate. See LANE,
_ibid._

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 45. K.--As to the meaning of this letter of the Arabic alphabet,
which gives a title to this speech, in the words of the Muslim
commentator, “God alone knoweth what He meaneth by it.”

_A warner from among themselves._ The Mekkans were offended that an
angel was not sent to them as an apostle, instead of a mere man.

_Marvellous thing_: the Resurrection.

P. 46. _The people of Tubba'_: the Himyarites of Arabia Felix.

_A driver and a witness._--Two angels, who are supposed to carry on the
ensuing colloquy with God.

P. 48. _A tyrant._--Mohammad was sent to warn, not to compel the
obedience and faith of his people.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 49. Y. S.--See note to K above, and to p. 87 below.

P. 50. _Plain Exemplar_: the _Preserved Book_, mentioned above (note to
p. 26).

P. 51. _Enter into Paradise_: the people had stoned him to death.

P. 52. _Her resting-place._--The sun is feminine in Arabic, and the
moon masculine.

P. 55. _Poetry._--It was a common charge against Mohammad that he was a
mad poet.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 57. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, otherwise called THE NIGHT JOURNEY,
from the reference in the first verse to a dream in which Mohammad saw
himself carried from the Kaaba (the _Sacred Mosque_) at Mekka, to the
Temple (the _Furthest Mosque_) at Jerusalem; upon which Mohammadan
theologians have raised a noble superstructure of fable. The first
verse is probably later than the rest. The _two sins_ and punishments
of the Jews have also greatly exercised the commentators’ minds. What
they were Mohammad probably did not very precisely know himself.

P. 60. _The son of the road_, _i.e._ the traveller.

P. 61. _A just cause_: apostacy, adultery, or murder.

P. 62. _Daughters from among the angels._--The Arabs worshipped the
angels and jinn as daughters of God; and it is against this polytheism
and blasphemous relationship that Mohammad protests, whilst he never
denies but contrariwise admits the existence of such spirits. Further
on (p. 64) he refers to these angels and other Arabian divinities, as
beings who are not to be invoked, since they can have no influence for
good or ill, and who themselves are in hope and fear of God’s mercy and
torment, like human beings. It should be noticed that hitherto Mohammad
has directed his preaching against disbelief in the One God, but has
not pointedly attacked the idolatry of the Mekkans. In Y. S., however,
he begins to speak of _other gods_ (p. 55), and in the Third or
Argumentative Period, the angels and jinn which the Mekkans worshipped,
and represented in the shape of idols, are frequently denounced,
especially under the name of _Partners_ (see pp. 76, 84, 90, 92, 93,
97, 98, 103, 106, etc.)

P. 65. _The accursed tree_: Zakkūm, see note to p. 24. The full Koranic
history of Adam and Eve, and how Iblīs, the father of the devils,
refused to do homage to the father of mankind, may be read in LANE’S
_Selections_, pp. 49-52.

P. 67. _Well-nigh tempted_: referring apparently to an inclination of
Mohammad to temporize with idolatry on a special occasion.

P. 68. _The Spirit_: Gabriel, the teacher of Mohammad, and the bearer
of revelations from God to His prophet.

P. 71. _Call upon God, or call upon the Merciful._--Mohammad’s use of
two general names for God had apparently caused some confusion among
the faithful, which this verse removed.

The “Children of Israel” speech is especially important, since it
contains more definite regulations of conduct than any other of the
orations delivered at Mekka.


THE MEKKA SPEECHES.
III.--THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD.

P. 76. THE BELIEVER. _Twice hast thou given us death_, etc.--Referring
to the absence of life before birth, and the deprivation of it at
death, and to the being quickened at birth, and raised again after
death.

P. 78. _Their footprints_, or vestiges: _i.e._ their buildings and
public works.

_Moses._ For the Koranic history of the Israelites, see LANE’S
_Selections_, pp. 97-131.

P. 84. _I am bidden to resign myself_: _i.e._ I am bidden to become a
Muslim, for _Muslim_ (Moslem or Musulman) means “one who is resigned,”
and _Islām_, belonging to the same root, signifies “resignation,” or
“self-surrender.” This is the correct name of the religion taught by
the Arabian prophet, who would have regarded the epithet “Mohammadan,”
as applied to the creed, or the professor thereof, as nothing short of
blasphemy.

       *       *       *       *       *

JONAH. P. 87. A. L. R.--Letters the import of which is as mysterious as
K. and Y. S. before, and A. L. M. R. afterwards. Nöldeke believes them
to be abbreviations of the names of the first reporters of the speeches.

P. 89. _I had dwelt a lifetime_: _i.e._ I should not have waited till I
was forty before I began preaching, if I was the designing impostor you
take me for.

P. 90. _Ye are in ships--and they run with them._--The reader must have
observed that sudden transitions from the second to the third person,
and from the singular to the plural, are very common in the Korān.
They may perhaps be regarded as convincing evidence of the fidelity of
Mohammad’s reporters.

P. 97. _God hath taken Him a son_: referring to the Christian doctrine.

P. 100. _Kibla_: The point towards which prayer must be said. See p.
134.

P. 101. _Now!_--The angel Gabriel is credited with this taunt.

       *       *       *       *       *

THUNDER. P. 104. A. L. M. R.--Mystic letters as above; perhaps for
AL-MogheyReh, as the first reporter of this particular speech.

P. 106. _Patrons_, _i.e._ Idols.

P. 108. _Join what God hath bidden to be joined_: _i.e._ believe in the
whole series of prophets, and join good works to faith.

P. 111. _Mother of the Book._--The Preserved Book mentioned before in
THE FACT (see note to p. 26).


THE MEDINA SPEECHES.
THE PERIOD OF HARANGUE.

DECEPTION. P. 117. _Obey God and obey the Apostle._--This is a
sure indication of the Medina origin of at least this verse, for
the self-importance of the phrase would have been inappropriate in
Mohammad’s weak and insignificant position at Mekka. (The speech is,
however, by some ascribed to the Mekka division.) Further on the
words _Believe in God and His Apostle_ (in IRON, p. 118), and _They
who swear fealty to thee do but swear fealty to God_ (in VICTORY, p.
125), indicate the same spirit of self-exaltation which began with the
prophet’s prosperity at Medina.

       *       *       *       *       *

IRON. P. 119. _Manifest signs_: the revelations contained in the Korān.

P. 122. _It is written in the Book_: _i.e._ Every event is set down in
the Preserved Book before the event itself is created.

_God is rich_: _i.e._ He has no need of your grudging alms.

       *       *       *       *       *

VICTORY. P. 124.--The victory in question was probably the peaceful
but real triumph of the Truce of Hudeybia, in A.H. 6; though some
commentators prefer to regard the speech as prophetical of the conquest
of Mekka two years later.

P. 125. _The Arabs of the desert who were left behind_ were certain
tribes who held aloof from the pilgrimage towards Mekka, which ended
in the Truce of Hudeybia. Mohammad punished them by refusing to allow
them to share in the booty which soon after fell to the faithful in the
Khaibar expedition; hence the reference on p. 126.

P. 128. _In the valley of Mekka_: referring to the Truce of Hudeybia.
_Kept you away from the Sacred Mosque_: the Koreysh refused to allow
Mohammad and his followers to enter Mekka or perform the pilgrimage;
whereupon the truce was concluded, by which the pilgrimage was to take
place (_Ye shall surely enter the Sacred Mosque_) in the following year
(see Introduction, p. xlv.)

P. 129. _Traces_: _i.e._ dust from touching the ground.

       *       *       *       *       *

P. 130. HELP.--Revealed after the conquest of Mekka, and shortly before
Mohammad’s death, and believed to have given him warning of it.


THE LAW GIVEN AT MEDINA.

The forty paragraphs arranged on pp. 133-144, contain, it is believed,
all the definite ordinances of Mohammad as set forth in the Medina
speeches, with the exception of some regulations relating to women. The
bulk of the Medina speeches are indeed rather collections of separate
decisions or “rulings” put together for convenience of reference by
the Muslims themselves than separate and complete orations. But as
the practical teaching is interspersed with frequent and verbose
prophetical legends of the kind with which the reader is already
perhaps only too familiar and with animadversions on the political
parties of Medina, and similar ephemeral matters, it has been thought
best to extract the marrow of these lengthy and composite harangues,
and place them in some sort of connected order. Chapter II., for
instance, “The Cow,” contains 286 verses; the first half is filled with
the usual arguments and illustrations, and the old stories about Adam
and Moses; whilst the second half contains a certain number of laws
and precepts mixed with many repetitions of the proofs and appeals to
reason which occur in most of the preceding speeches: altogether, 29
verses out of 286 are needed for the purpose of showing what Mohammad
actually prescribed in civil and religious law. For an account of the
modern interpretation of this law, see LANE’S _Modern Egyptians_,
5th ed. Ch. III.; SELL’S _Faith of Islam_; and HUGHES’ _Notes on
Mohammadanism_, 2d ed. 1877.

P. 134. _Observe the prayer, and the middle prayer._ It is not easy to
make out the five daily prayers of Islam in the Korān. In the speech
entitled “Hūd” (Mekka, Third Period, xi. 116) it is enjoined: “Observe
prayer at two ends of the day, and at two parts of the night”; and
again, in “T. H.” (xx. 130), the praises of God are to be celebrated
“before the rising of the sun and before its setting, and at times
of the night and at the ends of the day”; and in “The Greeks” (xxx.
17) praise is ordained “in the evening and in the morning, and at
the evening and at noon.” The Muslim commentators differ as to the
application of these injunctions to the five times of prayer recognized
throughout the Mohammadan world; which are (1) just after sunset, (2)
at nightfall, (3) at daybreak, (4) just after noon, and (5) in the
middle of the afternoon.

_Turn thy face towards the Sacred Mosque_: _i.e._ towards the Kaaba of
Mekka. Originally Mohammad placed the Kibla, or direction of prayer,
at Jerusalem; but after his disagreement with the Jews of Medina he
reverted to the old Mekkan temple as the focus of Islām.

P. 135. It is enacted (ii. 183) that the fast is to be observed from
the time when you can distinguish a white thread from a black thread in
the morning, till night; but from nightfall till dawn the Muslim may
eat and drink and enjoy himself.

P. 136. _Make mention of God’s name over the beasts_: _i.e._ Sacrifice
them, saying, “In the name of God.”

P. 140. The Korān contains a list of prohibited degrees (“Women,”
iv. 26, 27), which comprises mothers and stepmothers, daughters,
sisters, aunts, nieces, fostermothers, fostersisters, mothers-in-law,
stepdaughters, daughters-in-law, and two sisters, and other men’s wives.

P. 142. _Keep the women in houses._ Immuring was afterwards changed to
stoning both the man and the woman.


TABLE-TALK OF MOHAMMAD.

P. 147. _Retaliation is equal._--It is worth noticing, that while sin
is requited with equal punishment or with forgiveness, good deeds are
rewarded tenfold.

P. 150. _Rising or setting of the sun._--The exact moment was
forbidden, for fear of even the suspicion of sun-worship.

P. 164. It is recorded of the prophet, that when, being on a journey,
he alighted at any place, he did not say his prayers until he had
unsaddled his camel.


INDEX OF CHAPTERS OF THE KORĀN TRANSLATED IN THIS VOLUME.

        i. The Fātihah, p. 33.
        x. Jonah, 87.
     xiii. The Thunder, 104.
     xvii. The Children of Israel, 57.
    xxxvi. Y. S., 49.
       xl. The Believer, 75.
   xlviii. The Victory, 124.
        l. K., 45.
      liv. The Moon, 41.
       lv. The Merciful, 27.
      lvi. The Fact, 22.
     lvii. Iron, 118.
     lxiv. Deception, 115.
    lxvii. The Kingdom, 37.
  lxxviii. The News, 19.
    lxxxi. The Wrapping, 17.
   lxxxii. The Rending Asunder, 9.
  lxxxvii. The Most High, 15.
       xc. The Country, 5.
     xcii. The Night, 3.
    xciii. The Splendour of Morning, 14.
     xcix. The Quaking, 8.
        c. The Chargers, 11.
       ci. The Smiting, 7.
      civ. The Backbiter, 13.
     cvii. Support, 12.
       cx. Help, 130.
     cxii. The Unity, 32.


PORTIONS OF CHAPTERS, pp. 133-144.

    ii. The Cow, 133-144.
   iii. The Family of Imrān, 133.
    iv. Women, 139, 140, 142-144.
     v. The Table, 138,140.
    ix. Immunity, 136, 144.
  xxii. The Pilgrimage, 136.
  xxiv. The Light, 140, 141, 144.
  lxii. The Congregation, 134.

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE


This book was written with many words which are archaic or obsolete by
today's standards. However, all such words (other than transliterations
of Arabic) are listed in O.E.D., and have been maintained in this
book as they were in the original. The only changes to the text were
inserting omitted section and chapter titles in the Analytical Table
of Contents and in the Notes chapter, and correcting such titles in
those two locations when they did not match the corresponding titles
elsewhere in the text.

The line _In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful_ is used
as an introduction or prolog to all the chapters of the Koran, with
two exceptions: This line does not appear at the beginning of chapter
ix. (which does not appear in this book). And in the case of the first
chapter, Fatihah (which does appear in this book), this line is part
of the poetry, not a prolog or introduction. I have left the line in
the book at the beginning of Fatihah separated from the rest of the
chapter because that is the way it appeared in the original text. This
representation is incorrect, there should be no break from the rest of
the chapter.





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