The Koran Part 63

(And if we pleased, we could from yourselves bring forth Angels to succeed you on earth:)16

And he shall be a sign of the last hour;17 doubt not then of it, and follow ye me: this is the right way;

And let not Satan turn you aside from it, for he is your manifest foe.

And when Jesus came with manifest proofs, he said, "Now am I come to you with wisdom; and a part of those things about which ye are at variance I will clear up to you; fear ye G.o.d therefore and obey me.

Verily, G.o.d is my Lord and your Lord; wherefore wors.h.i.+p ye him: this is a right way."

But the different parties18 fell into disputes among themselves; but woe to those who thus transgressed, because of the punishment of an afflictive day!

For what wait they but for the hour "to come suddenly on them, while they expect it not?"

Friends on that day shall become foes to one another, except the G.o.d- fearing:-

"O my servants! on this day shall no fear come upon you, neither shall ye be put to grief,

Who have believed in our signs and become Muslims:

Enter ye and your wives into Paradise, delighted."

Dishes and bowls of gold shall go round unto them: there shall they enjoy whatever their souls desire, and whatever their eyes delight in; and therein shall ye abide for ever.

This is Paradise, which ye have received as your heritage in recompense for your works;

Therein shall ye have fruits in abundance, of which ye shall eat.

But in the torment of h.e.l.l shall the wicked remain for ever:

It shall not be mitigated to them, and they shall be mute for despair therein,

For it is not we who have treated them unjustly, but it was they who were unjust to themselves.

And they shall cry: "O Malec!19 would that thy Lord would make an end of us!"

He saith: "Here must ye remain."

We have come to you with the truth (O Meccans), but most of you abhor the truth.

Have they drawn tight their toils for thee?20 We too will tighten ours.

Think they that we hear not their secrets and their private talk? Yes, and our angels who are at their sides write them down.

SAY: If the G.o.d of Mercy had a son, the first would I be to wors.h.i.+p him:

But far be the Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, the Lord of the Throne, from that which they impute to Him!

Wherefore let them alone, to plunge on, and sport, until they meet the day with which they are menaced.

He who is G.o.d in the Heavens is G.o.d in earth also: and He is the Wise, the Knowing.

And Blessed be He whose is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth and of all that is between them; for with Him is the knowledge of the Hour, and to Him shall ye be brought back.

The G.o.ds whom they call upon beside Him shall not be able to intercede for others: they only shall be able who bore witness to the truth and21 knew it."

If thou ask them who hath created them, they will be sure to say, "G.o.d." How then hold they false opinions?

And one22 saith, "O Lord! verily these are people who believe not."

Turn thou then from them, and say, "Peace:" In the end they shall know their folly.

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1 See Sura lxviii. I, p. 32.

2 Lit. it is in the Mother of the Book, i.e. the original of the Koran, preserved before G.o.d.

3 That is, of the birth of a female.

4 Lit. which he imputeth to the G.o.d of Mercy, as his likeness.

5 To authorise angel-wors.h.i.+p.

6 Supply, Mecca and Taief, we would have received it.

7 Lit. mercy, i.e. the gift and office of prophecy.

8 Lit. the two Easts, by which some understand the distance between the two solstices.

9 Comp. Suras xl. 77; xxiii. 97; x. 47; xxix. 53; x.x.xvii. 179; xiii. 42.

These pa.s.sages clearly show that Muhammad had at this period-towards the close of his Meccan period-full faith in his ultimate success, and in the fulfilment of his menaces against the unbelievers.

10 Lit. ye shall be examined in the end.

11 This verse is said (see Nold. p. 100, n.) to have been revealed in the temple at Jerusalem on the occasion of the night journey thither. See also Weil's Muhammed der Prophet, p. 374.

12 Lit. sister.

13 See Sura [lxxix.] xxviii. 39, n.

14 Comp. Gen. xli. 42.

15 This was a captious objection made to Muhammad by the idolaters of Mecca when he condemned their G.o.ds (Sura xxi. 98), as if they had said, "Jesus is wors.h.i.+pped as a G.o.d by the Christians: does he come under your anathema equally with our idols? we shall be content for our G.o.ds to be with him."

16 That is, as we caused Jesus to be born without a human father.

17 At his return to this earth. Some refer this to the Koran as revealing the last Hour. Lit. He (or It) is for knowledge of the Hour.