The Koran Part 122

Lost are they who, in their ignorance, have foolishly slain their children, and have forbidden that which G.o.d hath given them for food, devising an untruth against G.o.d! Now have they erred; and they were not rightly guided.

He it is who produceth gardens of the vine trellised and untrellised, and the palm trees, and the corn of various food, and olives, and pomegranates, like and unlike. Eat of their fruit when they bear fruit, and pay the due thereof on the day of its ingathering: and be not prodigal, for G.o.d loveth not the prodigal.

And there are cattle for burdens and for journeys. Eat of what G.o.d hath given you for food; and follow not the steps of Satan, for he is your declared enemy.

You have four sorts of cattle in pairs: of sheep a pair, and of goats a pair.

SAY: Hath He forbidden the two males or the two females; or that which the wombs of the two females enclose? Tell me with knowledge, if ye speak the truth:

And of camels a pair, and of oxen a pair. SAY: Hath He forbidden the two males or the two females; or that which the wombs of the two females enclose?36 Were ye witnesses when G.o.d enjoined you this? Who then is more wicked than he who, in his ignorance, inventeth a lie against G.o.d, to mislead men? G.o.d truly guideth not the wicked.

SAY: I find not in what hath been revealed to me aught forbidden to the eater to eat, except it be that which dieth of itself, or blood poured forth, or swine's flesh; for this is unclean or profane, being slain in the name of other than G.o.d. But whoso shall be a forced partaker, if it be without wilfulness, and not in transgression,-verily, thy Lord is Indulgent, Merciful!

To the Jews did we forbid every beast having an entire hoof, and of both bullocks and sheep we forbade them the fat, save what might be on their backs, or their entrails, and the fat attached to the bone. With this have we recompensed them, because of their transgression: and verily, we are indeed equitable.

If they treat thee as an impostor, then SAY: Your Lord is of all-embracing mercy: but his severity shall not be turned aside from the wicked.

They who add G.o.ds to G.o.d will say, "If G.o.d had pleased, neither we nor our fathers had given him companions, nor should we have interdicted anything."

Thus did they who flourished before them charge with imposture, until they had tasted our severity! SAY: Have ye any knowledge that ye can produce to us? Verily, ye follow only a conceit: ye utter only lies!

SAY: Peremptory proof is G.o.d's! Had He pleased He had guided you all aright.

SAY: Bring hither your witnesses who can witness that G.o.d hath forbidden these animals; but if they bear witness, witness not thou with them, nor witness to the conceits of those who charge our signs with falsehood, and who believe not in the life to come, and give equals to our Lord.

SAY: Come, I will rehea.r.s.e what your Lord hath made binding on you-that ye a.s.sign not aught to Him as partner; and that ye be good to your parents; and that ye slay not your children, because of poverty: for them and for you will we provide:37 and that ye come not near to pollutions, outward or inward:38 and that ye slay not anyone whom G.o.d hath forbidden you, unless for a just cause. This hath he enjoined on you, to the intent that ye may understand.

And come not nigh to the substance of the orphan, but to improve it, until he come of age: and use a full measure, and a just balance: We will not task a soul beyond its ability. And when ye give judgment, observe justice, even though it be the affair of a kinsman, and fulfil the covenant of G.o.d. This hath G.o.d enjoined you for your monition-

And, "this is my right way." Follow it then; and follow not other paths lest ye be scattered from His path. This hath he enjoined you, that ye may fear Him.

Then39 gave we the Book to Moses-complete for him who should do right, and a decision for all matters, and a guidance, and a mercy, that they might believe in the meeting with their Lord.

Blessed, too, this Book which we have sent down. Wherefore follow it and fear G.o.d, that ye may find mercy:

Lest ye should say, "The Scriptures were indeed sent down only unto two peoples before us, but we were not able to go deep into their studies:"40

Or lest ye should say, "If a book had been sent down to us, we had surely followed the guidance better than they." But now hath a clear exposition come to you from your Lord, and a guidance and a mercy. Who then is more wicked than he who treateth the signs of G.o.d as lies, and turneth aside from them?

We will recompense those who turn aside from our signs with an evil punishment, because they have turned aside.

What wait they for, but the coming of the angels to them, or the coming of thy Lord Himself, or that some of the sings of the Lord should come to pa.s.s?

On the day when some of thy Lord's signs shall come to pa.s.s, its faith shall not profit a soul which believed not before, nor wrought good works in virtue of its faith. SAY: Wait ye. Verily, we will wait also.

As to those who split up their religion and become sects, have thou nothing to do with them: their affair is with G.o.d only. Hereafter shall he tell them what they have done.

He who shall present himself with good works shall receive a tenfold reward; but he who shall present himself with evil works shall receive none other than a like punishment: and they shall not be treated unjustly.

SAY: As for me, my Lord hath guided me into a straight path; a true religion, the creed of Abraham, the sound in faith; for he was not of those who join G.o.ds with G.o.d.

SAY: My prayers and my wors.h.i.+p and my life and my death are unto G.o.d, Lord of the Worlds. He hath no a.s.sociate. This am I commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims.

SAY: Shall I seek any other Lord than G.o.d, when He is Lord of all things? No soul shall labour but for itself; and no burdened one shall bear another's burden. At last ye shall return to your Lord, and he will declare that to you about which you differ.

And it is He who hath made you the successors of others on the earth, and hath raised some of you above others by various grades, that he may prove you by his gifts. Verily thy Lord is swift to punish. But He is also Gracious, Merciful!

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1 Lit. their affair would have been decided. In that case there would no longer have been an opportunity for the warnings of the prophets and for repentance, but the angels would at once have executed the divine judgments.

2 See Sura xli. 13, p. 193.

3 See Sura [xc.] xiii. 36.

4 This denunciation is repeated in eleven other pa.s.sages of the Koran, and coupled with the known reverence of the early Muslims for what they considered as the word of G.o.d, must have greatly tended to secure the revelations of the Prophet from being in any way tampered with and corrupted.

5 They are self-convicted of their own hypocrisy and of the hollowness of their professions.

6 The Resurrection, etc.

7 Abu Jahl had said: "Muhammad speaks truth, and he never said a falsehood; but, if the Banu Chosai, who enjoy already the offices of bearing the standard, of providing the pilgrims with water, and of keeping the keys of the Kaaba, should also obtain the Prophets.h.i.+p, what would remain for the other Koreisch." Kashaf in 1.

8 See Sura lii. 38, p. 65. These pa.s.sages may allude to the ladder set up in a tower by Wacih ben Salamah, one of the ancient doorkeepers of the Caaba, by which he professed to mount up to G.o.d and receive divine Oracles. Freyt.

Einl. p. 371.

9 A community. Comp. Prov. x.x.x. 25, 26. Animals as well as mankind are under the control of G.o.d, are held within the limits of his decrees, are accountable to him, and will stand before him in the judgment.

10 Of the Eternal decrees.

11 Or, embellished, made it fair-seeming.

12 Lit. openly, i.e. preceded by some sign.

13 The Rabbins speak of the three keys in the hand of G.o.d. Tr. Tanith, fol.

x.

14 On the preserved tablet, on which are written the decrees of G.o.d.

15 That is, during sleep. See Sura x.x.xix. 43, p. 258. Or, layeth to rest.

Mar. renders literally, defungi faciet vos, id est, obdormiscere. Thus also Beidh. But see the use of the same word in the next verse.

16 Or, to perplex you (by dividing you into) sects.

17 Comp. Sura [cx.] 1x. 13.

18 Azar. This form is probably borrowed from Athar, as Terah is called by Eusebius. See Maracci Prodr. iv. 90. Compare a similar narrative (Midr.

Rabbah on Gen. par. 17) in which Abraham is given over by his idolatrous father Zarah to Nimrod, who says, "We will adore the Fire:" "Rather," said Abraham, "the water which puts out fire." "The Water then"-"Rather the clouds that bear the water." "The Clouds then"-"Rather the wind which scatters the clouds." "The Wind then"-"Rather man who endures the wind." Whereupon Abraham was thrown into the furnace. It is quite possible that in what follows, Muhammad may have intended to imply that Abraham had renounced the Sabian starwors.h.i.+p of his fathers, and to vindicate him from the habit of consulting the stars attributed to him by the Talmudists. Shabbath, fol. 156, col. 1.

"Abraham replied, I have consulted my Astrology." Comp. Ras.h.i.+ on Gen. xv. 5.

See Maim. Yad Hachaz. vii. 6.