The Qur'an

1 The Arabic idiom for the enjoyment of property being to eat it up, Mohammed here gives the men permission to enjoy such por tion of their wives' dowries as the latter might be pleased to remit, and adds, with a sort of humour, the colloquial expression used by the Arabs when any one is eating. The sentence might be para phrased < and if they are kind enough to remit any portion of it of their own accord, then enjoy it, and much good may it do you ! ' 2 To idiots or persons of weak intellect. IV, n-i6. THE CHAPTER OF WOMEN. 73 God instructs you concerning your children ; for a male the like of the portion of two females, and if there be women above two, then let them have twothirds of what (the deceased) leaves ; and if there be but one, then let her have a half; and as to the parents, to each of them a sixth of what he leaves, if he has a son; but if he have no son, and his parents inherit, then let his mother have a third, and if he have brethren, let his mother have a sixth after pay ment of the bequest he bequeaths and of his debt.

Your parents or your children, ye know not which of them is nearest to you in usefulness : — an or dinance this from God ; verily, God is knowing and wise ! And ye shall have half of what your wives leave, if they have no son ; but if they have a son, then ye shall have a fourth of what they leave, after payment of the bequests they bequeath or of their debts. And they shall have a fourth of what ye leave, if ye have no son ; but if ye have a son, then let them have an eighth of what ye leave, after payment of the bequest ye bequeath and of your debts. [15] And if the man's or the woman's (property) be inherited by a kinsman who is neither parent nor child x, and he have a brother or sister, then let each of these two have a sixth ; but if they are more than that, let them share in a third after payment of the bequest he bequeaths and of his debts, without prejudice2, — an ordinance this from God, and God is knowing and clement! 1 The word in the original is that always used to express this relationship.

2 I. e. to the heirs. 74 THE QUR'AN. iv, 17-23. These be God's bounds, and whoso obeys God and the Apostle He will make him enter into gar dens beneath which rivers flow, and they shall dwell therein for aye ; — that is the mighty happiness. But whoso rebels against God and His Apostle, and transgresses His bounds, He will make him enter into fire, and dwell therein for aye ; and for him is shameful woe. Against those of your women who commit adultery, call witnesses four in number from among yourselves ; and if these bear witness, then keep the women in houses 1 until death release them, or God shall make for them a way. [20] And if two of you commit it, then hurt them both2; but if they turn again and amend, leave them alone, verily, God is easily turned, com passionate. God is only bound to turn again towards those who do evil through ignorance and then turn again. Surely, these will God turn again to, for God is knowing, wise. His turning again is not for those who do evil, until, when death comes before one of them, he says, 'Now I turn again ;' nor yet for those who die in misbelief. For such as these have we prepared a grievous woe.

O ye who believe ! it is not lawful for you to inherit women's estates against their will ; nor to 1 Women taken in adultery or fornication were at the beginning of Islam literally immured. 2 The commentators are not agreed as to the nature of the offence here referred to. The text, however, speaks of two of the masculine gender. The punishment to be inflicted is also the subject of dispute, the original merely saying, as I have translated it, ' hurt them/ hinder them *, that ye may go off with part of what ye brought them, unless they commit fornication manifestly; but associate with them in reason, for if ye are averse from them, it may be that ye are averse from something wherein God has put much good for you. But if ye wish to exchange one wife for another, and have given one of them a talent 2, then take not from it anything. What! would you take it for a calumny and a manifest crime3? [25] How can ye take it when one of you has gone in unto the other, and they have taken from you a rigid compact ? And do not marry women your fathers married,— except bygones, — for it is abominable and hateful, and an evil way; unlawful for you are your mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters, and your paternal aunts and maternal aunts, and your brother's daughters, and your sister's daughters, and your foster mothers, and your foster sisters, and your wives' mothers, and your step daughters who are your wards, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in ;

but if ye have not gone in unto them, then it is no crime in you ; and the lawful spouses of your sons from your own loins, and that ye form a con nexion between two sisters, — except bygones, — verily, God is forgiving, merciful ; and married women, save such as your right hands possess,— God's Book against you! — but lawful for you is

1 That is, from marrying again. 2 That is, a large dowry. 3 This question is ironical, and intended as a warning against bringing a false accusation of infidelity against a wife for the sake of keeping her dowry when divorced. 76 THE QUR'AN. iv, 28-35. all besides this, for you to seek them with your wealth, marrying them and not fornicating ; but such of them as ye have enjoyed, give them their hire as a lawful due ; for there is no crime in you about what ye agree between you after such lawful due, verily, God is knowing and wise. But whosoever of you cannot go the length of marrying marriageable women who believe, then take of what your right hands possess, of your maidens who believe ; — though God knows best about your faith. Ye come one from the other ; then marry them with the permission of their people, and give them their hire in reason, they being chaste and not fornicating, and not receivers of paramours. [30] But when they are married, if they commit fornication, then inflict upon them half the penalty for married women ; that is for whomsoever of you fears wrong ; but that ye should have patience is better for you, and God is forgiving and merciful.

God wishes to explain to you and to guide you into the ordinances of those who were before you, and to turn towards you, for God is knowing, wise. God wishes to turn towards you, but those who follow their lusts wish that ye should swerve with a mighty swerving! God wishes to make it light for you, for man was created weak. O ye who believe ! devour not your property amongst yourselves vainly, unless it be a mer chandise by mutual consent. And do not kill your selves ; verily, God is compassionate unto you. But whoso does that maliciously and unjustly, we will broil him with fire ; for that is easy with God. [35] If ye avoid great sins from which ye are for- bidden, we will cover your offences and make you enter with a noble entrance. And do not covet that by which God has preferred one of you over another. The men shall have a portion of what they earn, and the women a portion j of what they earn ; ask God for His grace, verily, To every one have we appointed kinsfolk as heirs of what parents and relatives and those with whom ye have joined right hands leave; so give them their portion, for, verily, God is over all a witness.

Men stand superior to women in that God hath preferred some of them over others, and in that they expend of their wealth : and the virtuous women, devoted, careful (in their husbands') absence, as God has cared for them. But those whose perverseness ye fear, admonish them and remove them into bed chambers and beat them ; but if they submit to you, then do not seek a way against them ; verily, God is high and great. And if ye fear a ^breach between the two1, then send a judge from his people and a judge from her people. If they wish for reconciliation, God will arrange between them ; verily, God is knowing and aware. [40] And serve God, and do not associate aught with Him ; and to your parents show kindness, and to kindred, and orphans, and the poor, and the neighbour who is akin, and the neighbour who is a stranger, and the companion who is strange, and the son of the road, and what your right hands possess 2, verily, God loves not him who is proud and boastful ; 1 Man and wife. 2 I. e. slaves. 78 THE QUR'AN. iv, 41-47.

who are miserly and bid men be miserly too, and who hide what God has given them of His grace; — but we have prepared for the misbelievers shame ful woe. And those who expend their wealth in alms for appearance sake before men, and who believe not in God nor in the last day; — but whosoever has Satan for his mate, an evil mate has he. What harm would it do them if they believed in God and in the last day, and expended in alms of what God has provided them with ? but God knows about them. Verily, God would not wrong by the weight of an atom; and if it's1 a good work, He will double it and bring from Himself a mighty hire. [45] How then when we bring from every nation a witness, and bring thee as a witness against these on the day when those who misbelieve and rebel against the Apostle would fain that the earth were levelled with them ? but they cannot hide the news from God. O ye who believe ! approach not prayer while ye are drunk, until ye well know what ye say; nor yet while polluted, — unless ye be passing by the way, — until ye have washed yourselves. But if ye are sick, or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy, or if ye have touched a woman, and ye cannot find water, then use good surface sand and wipe your faces and your hands therewith ; verily, God pardons and forgives.

Do ye not see those who have been given a portion of the Book ? they buy error, and they 1 The abbreviated form taku (for takun) is used in the Arabic. wish that ye may err from the way ! But God knows best who your enemies are, and God suffices as a patron, and sufficient is God as a help. And those who are Jews, and those who pervert the words from their places, and say, ' We hear but j we rebel, and do thou listen without hearing,' and j (who say) 'r&'hin&V distorting it with their tongues I and taunting about religion. But had they said, ' We hear and we obey, so listen and look upon us/ it would have been better for them and more up right ; — but may God curse them in their misbelief, for they will not believe except a few. [50] O ye who have been given the Book ! believe in what we have revealed, confirming what ye had before ; ere we deface your faces and turn them into hinder parts, or curse you as we cursed the fellows of the Sabbath 2 when God's command was done.

Verily, God pardons not associating aught with Him, but He pardons anything short of that to whomsoever He pleases ; but he who associates aught with God, he hath devised a mighty sin. Do ye not see those who purify themselves? nay, God purifies whom He will, and they shall not be wronged a straw3. Behold, how they devise against God a lie, and that is manifest sin enough. Do ye not see those to whom a portion of the Book has been given ? They believe in <7ibt4 and T&gh (it4, and they say of those who misbelieve, 1 See note 3, p. 14. 2 See Chapter II, verse 61. 8 The word in the original means a fibre in the cleft of a date stone, or the rush wick of a candle. 4 Idols of the ancient Arabs ; see p. 40. 80 THE QUR'AN. iv, 54-63. ' These are better guided in the way than those who be lieve.' [55] These are those whom God has cursed, and whom God has cursed no helper shall he find. Shall they have a portion of the kingdom ? Why even then they would not give to men a jot l.

Do they envy man for what God has given of His grace ? We have given to Abraham's people the Book and wisdom, and we have given them a mighty kingdom. And of them are some who believe therein, and of them are some who turn from it, but Hell is flaming enough for them. Verily, those who disbelieve in our signs, we will broil them with fire ; whenever their skins are well done, then we will change them for other skins, that they may taste the torment. Verily, God is glorious and wise. [60] But those who believe and do aright, we will make them enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, and they shall dwell therein for ever and aye, for them therein are pure wives, and we will make them enter into a shady shade. Verily, God bids you pay your trusts to their owners, and when ye judge between men to judge with justice. Verily, God, excellent is what He admonishes you with ; verily, God both hears and sees. O ye who believe! obey God, and obey the Apostle and those in authority amongst you ; and if ye quarrel about anything, refer to God and the Apostle, if ye believe in God and the last day; that is better and fairer as a settlement.

Do ye not see those who pretend that they believe in what has been revealed to them, and what was 1 Literally, a dent or cleft in a date stone. revealed before thee ; they wish to refer their judg ment to Ta^Mt \ but they are bidden to disbelieve therein, and Satan wishes to lead them into a remote error. And when it is said to them, ' Come round to what God has sent down and unto the Apostle,' thou seest the hypocrites turning from thee, turning away. [65] How then when there befalls them a mis chance through what their hands have sent on before ? then will they come to you, and swear by God, ' We meant naught but good and concord.' These, God knows what is in their hearts. Turn thou away from them and admonish them, and speak to them into' their souls with a searching word. We have never sent an apostle save that he should be obeyed by the permission of God ; and if they, when they have wronged themselves, come to thee and ask pardon of God, and the Apostle asks pardon for them, then they will find God easy to be turned, compassionate.

But no ! by thy Lord ! they will not believe, until they have made thee judge of what they differ on ; then they will not find in themselves aught to hinder what thou hast decreed, and they will submit with submission. But had we prescribed for them, ' Kill yourselves, or go ye forth out of your houses/ they would not have done it, save only a few of them ; but had they done what they are admonished, then it would have been better for them, and a more firm assurance. [70] And then we would surely have brought them from ourselves a mighty hire, and would have guided them into a right path. Whoso obeys God and the Apostle, these are 1 See note 2, p. 40. [61 G 82 THE QUR'AN. iv, 71-79. with those God has been pleased with, of prophets and confessors and martyrs and the righteous ; — a fair company are they. That is grace from God, and God knows well enough. O ye who believe ! take your precautions and sally in detachments or altogether. Verily, there is of you who tarries behind, and, if a mischance befalls you, says, ' God has been gracious to me, since I am not with them a martyr.'

[75] But if there befalls you grace from God, he would say — as though there were no friendship between you and him — ' O would that I had been with thee to attain this mighty happiness ! ' Let those then fight in God's way who sell this life of the world for the next ; and whoso fights in God's way, then, be he killed or be he victorious, we will give him a mighty hire. What ails you that ye do not fight in God's way, and for the weak men and women and children, who say, ' Lord, bring us out of this town l of oppressive folk, and make for us from Thee a patron, and make for us from Thee a help ?' Those who believe fight in the way of God ; and those who disbelieve fight in the way of 7ac^ut ; fight ye then against the friends of Satan, verily, Satan's tricks are weak. Do ye not see those to whom it is said, ' Restrain your hands, and be steadfast in prayer and give alms ;' and when it is prescribed for them to fight then a band of them fear men, as though it were the fear of God or a still stronger fear, and they say, ' O our Lord! why hast thou prescribed for us to fight,

couldst thou not let us abide till our near appointed time ?' Say, 'The enjoyment of this world is but slight, and the next is better for him who fears ;'- but they shall not be wronged a straw. [80] Wheresoe'er ye be death will overtake you, though ye were in lofty towers. And if a good thing befall them, they say, ' This is from God/ but if a bad thing, they say, ' This is from thee.' Say, ' It is all from God.' What ails these people ? they can hardly understand a tale. What befalls thee of good it is from God ; and what befalls thee of bad it is from thyself. We have sent thee to mankind as an apostle, and God sufficeth for a witness. Whoso obeys the prophet he has obeyed God ; and he who turns back — we have not sent thee to watch over them. They say, 'Obedience!' but when they sally forth from you, a company of them brood by night over something else than that which thou hast said ; but God writes down that over which they brood. Turn then from them and rely on God, for God sufficeth for a guardian. Do they not meditate on the Qur'&n ? if it were from other than God they would find in it many a discrepancy.

[85] And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear they publish it ; but if they were to report it to the Apostle and to those in authority amongst them, then those of them who would elicit it from them would know it ; but were it not for God's grace upon you and His mercy ye had fol lowed Satan, save a few. Fight, then, in the way of God ; impose not aught on any but thyself, and urge on the believers ; it may be that God will restrain the violence of those who misbelieve, for God is more violent and more severe to punish. Whoso intercedes with a good intercession shall have a portion therefrom ; but he who intercedes with a bad intercession shall have the like thereof, for God keeps watch over all things. And when ye are saluted with a salutation, salute with a better than it, or return it ; — verily, God of all things takes account. God, there is no God but He ! He will surely assemble you on the resurrection day, there is no doubt therein ; who is truer than God in his dis course ?

[90] Why are ye two parties about the hypocrites, when God hath overturned them for what they earned ? Do ye wish to guide those whom God hath led astray ? Whoso God hath led astray ye shall not surely find for him a path. They would fain that ye misbelieve as they misbelieve, that ye might be alike ; take ye not patrons from among them until they too flee in God's way ; but if they turn their backs, then seize them and kill them wheresoever ye find them, and take from them nei ther patron nor help, — save those who reach a people betwixt whom and you is an alliance — or who come to you while their bosoms prevent them from fighting you or fighting their own people. But had God pleased He would have given you domi nion over them, and they would surely have fought you. But if they retire from you and do not fight you, and offer you peace, — then God hath given you no way against them. Ye will find others who seek for quarter from you, and quarter from their own people ; whenever they return to sedition they shall be overturned therein : but if they retire not from you, nor offer you peace, nor restrain their hands, then seize them and kill them wheresoever ye find them ; — over these we have made for you manifest power.

It is not for a believer to kill a believer save by mistake ; and whosoever kills a believer by mistake then let him free a believing neck1 ; and the bloodmoney must be paid to his people save what they shall remit as alms. But if he be from a tribe hostile to you and yet a believer, then let him free a believing neck. And if it be a tribe betwixt whom and you there is an alliance, then let the blood-money be paid to his friends, and let him free a believing neck ; but he who cannot find the means, then let him fast for two consecutive months —a penance this from God, for God is knowing, wise. [95] And whoso kills a believer purposely, his reward is hell, to dwell therein for aye ; and God will be wrath with him, and curse him, and prepare for him a mighty woe. O ye who believe ! when ye are knocking about in the way of God be discerning, and do not say to him who offers you a salutation, ' Thou art no be liever/ craving after the chances of this world's life 2, for with God are many spoils ! So were ye aforetime, but God was gracious to you, be ye then discerning ; verily, God of what ye do is well aware.

2 Because a believer might not be attacked and plundered as an infidel might be. Not alike are those of the believers who sit at home without harm, and those who are strenuous in God's way with their wealth and their persons. God hath preferred those who are strenuous with their wealth and their persons to those who sit still, by many degrees, and to each hath God pro mised good, but God hath preferred the strenuous for a mighty hire over those who sit still, — degrees from him, and pardon and mercy, for God is for giving and merciful. Verily, the angels when they took the souls of those who had wronged themselves \ said, ' What state were ye in ?' they say, ' We were but weak in the earth ; ' they said, ' Was not God's earth wide enough for you to flee away therein ?' These are those whose resort is hell, and a bad journey shall it be ! [100] Save for the weak men, and women, and children, who could not compass any stratagem, and were not guided to a way ; these it may be God will pardon, for God both pardons and for gives.

Whosoever flees in the way of God shall find in the earth many a spacious refuge ; and he who goes forth from his house, fleeing unto God and His prophet, and then death catches him up, — his hire devolves on God, and God is forgiving and merciful. And when ye knock about in the earth, it is no crime to you that ye come short in prayer, if ye fear that those who disbelieve will set upon you ; verily, the misbelievers are your obvious foes. 1 Alluding to some half-hearted Muslims, slain at Bedr. When thou art amongst them, and standest up to pray with them, then let a party of them stand up with thee, and let them take their arms ; and when they adore, let them go behind you, and let another party who have not yet prayed come for ward and pray with thee ; and let them take their precautions and their arms. Fain would those who misbelieve that ye were careless of your arms and your baggage, that they might turn upon you with a single turning. And it is no crime to you if ye be annoyed with rain or be sick, that ye lay down your arms ; but take your precautions, — verily, God has prepared for those who misbelieve a shameful woe.

But when ye have fulfilled your prayer, remember God standing and sitting and lying on your sides; and when ye are in safety then be steadfast in prayer ; verily, prayer is for the believers prescribed and timed ! [105] And do not give way in pursuit of the people ; if ye suffer they shall surely suffer too, even as ye suffer ; and ye hope from God, but they hope not ! and God is knowing, wise. Verily, we have revealed to thee the Book in i truth that thou mayest judge between men of what God has shown thee ; so be not with the treacherous a disputant ; but ask God's pardon : verily, God is And wrangle not for those who defraud them selves ; for God loves not him who is a fraudulent sinner. They hide themselves from men ; but they cannot hide themselves from God, for He is with them while they brood at night over speeches '88 THE QUR'AN. iv, 108-116. that please Him not; — but God doth compass what they do ! Here are ye, wrangling for them about this world's life ;— but who shall wrangle with God for them on the day of judgment, or who shall be a guardian over them?

[no] Yet whoso does evil and wrongs himself, and then asks pardon of God, shall find God for giving and merciful ; and whoso commits a crime, he only commits it against himself, for God is knowing, wise. And whoso commits a fault or a sin and throws it on the innocent, he hath to bear a calumny and a manifest sin. Were it not for God's grace upon thee, and His mercy, a party of them would have tried to lead thee astray; but they only lead themselves astray; they shall not hurt you in aught: for God hath sent down upon thee the Book and the wisdom, and taught thee what thou didst not know, for God's grace was mighty on thee. There is no good in most of what they talk in private ; save in his who bids almsgiving, or kind ness, or reconciliation between men ; and whoso does this, craving the good pleasure of God, we will give to him a mighty hire. [115] But he who severs himself from the prophet after that we have made manifest to him the guidance, and follows other than the way of the believers, we will turn our backs on him as he hath turned his back ; and we will make him reach hell, and a bad journey shall it be.

Verily, God forgives not associating aught with Him, but He pardons anything short of that, to IV, Ii6-i24. THE CHAPTER OF WOMEN. 89 whomsoever He will ; but whoso associates aught with God, he hath erred a wide error. Verily, they call not beside Him on aught save females ; and they do not call ^ on aught save a rebellious devil. God curse him ! for he said, ' I will take from thy servants a portion due to me ; and I will lead them astray ; and I will stir up vain desires within them ; and I will order them and they shall surely crop the ears of cattle ; and I will order them and they shall surely alter God's creation1;' but he who takes the devil for his patron instead of God, he loses with a manifest loss. He promises them, and stirs up vain desires within them ; but the devil promises only to deceive. [120] These, their resort is hell; they shall not find an escape therefrom ! But those who believe, and do what is right, we will make them enter into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for aye, — God's promise in truth ; and who is truer than God in speech? Not for your vain desires, nor the vain desires of the people of the Book. He who doeth evil shall be recompensed therewith, and shall not find for him beside God a patron, or a help. But he who doeth good works, — be it male or female, — and believes, they shall enter into Paradise, and they shall not be wronged a jot.

Who has a better religion than he who resigns his face to God, and does good, and follows the faith of 1 The pagan Arabs used to cut off the ears of cattle, and mu tilate their slaves by branding, and filing their teeth, partly that they might recognise them and partly as a superstitious ceremony. See p. ii2, note i. Abraham, as a'Hanif ? — for God took Abraham as a friend. [125] And God's is what is in the heavens and in the earth, and God encompasses all things ! They will ask thee a decision about women ; say, ' God decides for you about them, and that which is rehearsed to you in the Book ; about orphan women to whom ye do not give what is prescribed for them, and whom ye are averse from marrying; and about weak children ; and that ye stand fairly by orphans ;— and what ye do of good, verily, that God knows/ And if a woman fears from her husband perverseness or aversion, it is no crime in them both that they should be reconciled to each other, for recon ciliation is best. For souls are prone to avarice ; but if ye act kindly and fear God, of what ye do He is aware.

Ye are not able, it may be, to act equitably to your wives, even though ye covet it ; do not however be quite partial, and leave one as it were in suspense ; but if ye be reconciled and fear, then God is for giving and merciful ; but if they separate, God can make both independent out of His abundance ; for God is abundant, wise. [130] God's is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth ! We have ordained to those who have been given the Book before you, and to you too that ye fear God ; — but if ye misbelieve, verily, God's is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth, and God is rich and to be praised ! God's is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth ! and God sufficeth for a guardian ! If He will He can make ye pass away, O men ! an4 can bring others; — God is able to do all that. He who wishes for a reward in this world, — with God is the reward of this world and of the next, and God both hears and sees.

0 ye who believe ! be ye steadfast in justice, witnessing before God though it be against your selves, or your parents, or your kindred, be it rich or poor, for God is nearer akin than either. Follow not, then, lusts, so as to act partially; but if ye swerve or turn aside, God of what ye do is well aware. [135] O ye who believe ! believe in God and His apostles, and the Book which He hath revealed to His Apostle, and the Book which He sent down before ; for whoso disbelieves in God, and His angels, and His Apostle, and the last day, has erred a wide error. Verily, those who believe and then misbelieve, and then believe and then misbelieve, and then increase in misbelief, God will never pardon them, nor will He guide them in the path. Give to the hypocrites the glad tidings that for them is grievous woe ! Those who take the misbelievers for their patron rather than believers, — do they crave honour from them ? Verily, honour is altogether God's ! He hath revealed this to you in the Book1, that when ye hear the signs of God disbelieved in and mocked at, then sit ye not down with them until they plunge into another discourse, for verily, then ye would be like them. Verily, God will gather the hypocrites and misbelievers into hell together.

1 Chap. VI, v. 67, which chronologically precedes the present ; see Introduction. [140] Those who lie in wait for you, and if the victory be yours from God, say, 'Were we not with you ? ' and if the misbelievers have a chance, they say, ' Did we not get the mastery over you, and defend you from the believers ?' But God shall judge between you on the resurrection day; for God will not give the misbelievers a way against believers. Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive God, but He deceives them ; and when they rise up to pray, they rise up lazily to be seen of men, and do not remember God, except a few; wavering between the two, neither to these nor yet to those ! but whomso ever God doth lead astray thou shall not find for him a way. O ye who believe ! take not misbelievers for patrons rather than believers; do ye wish to make for God a power against you ? Verily, the hypocrites are in the lowest depths of hell-fire, and thou shalt not find for them a help. [145] Save those who turn again, and do right, and take tight hold on God, and are sincere in religion to God ; these are with the believers, and God will give to the believers mighty hire.

Why should God punish you, if ye are grateful and believe ? for God is grateful and knowing. God loves not publicity of evil speech, unless one has been wronged ; for God both hears and knows. If ye display good or hide it, or pardon evil, verily, God is pardoning and powerful ! Verily, those who disbelieve in God and His apostles desire to make a distinction between God and His apostles, and say, 'We believe in part and disbelieve in part, and desire to take a midway course between the two :' [150] these are the misbelievers, and we have prepared for misbelievers shameful woe! But those who believe in God and His apostles, and who do not make a distinction be tween any one of them, — to these we will give their hire, for God is forgiving and merciful ! The people of the Book will ask thee to bring down for them a book from heaven; but they asked Moses a greater thing than that, for they said, 'Show us God openly;' but the thunderbolt caught them in their injustice. Then they took the calf, after what had come to them of manifest signs ; but we pardoned that, and gave Moses obvious authority. And we held over them the mountain 1 at their compact, and said to them, ' Enter ye the door adoring;' and we said to them, 'Transgress not on the Sabbath day/ and we took from them a rigid compact.

But for that they broke their compact, and for their misbelief in God's signs, and for their killing the prophets undeservedly, and for their saying, * Our [ hearts are uncircumcised,' — nay, God hath stamped \ on them their misbelief, so that they cannot believe 1 except a few, — [155] and for their misbelief, and for their saying about Mary a mighty calumny, and for their saying, ' Verily, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the apostle of God,' .... but they did not kill him, and they did not crucify himx but a similitude was made for them. And verily, those who differ about him are in doubt con cerning him ; they have no knowledge concerning him, but only follow an opinion. They did not kill 1 See note, p. 8. 94 THE QUR'AN. iv, 156-163. him, for sure ! nay, God raised him up unto Him self ; for God is mighty and wise l ! And there shall not be one of the people of the Book but shall believe in him before his death2; and on the day of judgment he shall be a witness against them. And for the injustice of those who are Jews have we forbidden them good things which we had made lawful for them, and for their obstructing so much the way of God, and for their taking usury when we had forbidden it, and for their devouring the wealth of people in vain, — but we have prepared for those of them who misbelieve a grievous woe.

[160] But those amongst them who are firm in knowledge, and the believers who believe in what is revealed to thee, let what is revealed before thee, and the steadfast in prayer, and the givers of alms, and the believers in God and the last day, — unto these we will give a mighty hire. Verily, we have inspired thee as we inspired Noah and the prophets after him, and as we inspired Abraham, and Ishmael, and Jacob, and the tribes, and Jesus, and Job, and Jonas, and Aaron, and Solomon ; and to David did we give Psalms. Of apostles we have already told thee of some before ; and of apostles some we have not told thee of ; - But Moses did God speak to, speaking ; — apostles giving glad tidings and warning, that men should have no argument against God, after the apostles, for God is mighty, wise ! 1 See p. 53, note 3. * This may allude to the time of his death after his second advent, when he shall slay the antichrist. But God bears witness to what He has revealed to thee : He revealed it in His knowledge, and the angels bear witness too ; though God is witness enough.

[165] Verily, those who misbelieve and obstruct the way of God, have erred a wide error. Verily, those who misbelieve and are unjust, God will not pardon them, nor will He guide them on the road — save the road to hell, to dwell therein for aye ; — that is easy enough to God ! O ye folk ! the Apostle has come to you with truth from your Lord : believe then, for it is better for you. But if ye misbelieve, then God's is what is in the heavens and the earth, and God is knowing, wise. O ye people of the Book ! do not exceed in your religion, nor say against God aught save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, is but the apostle of God and His Word, which He cast into ; Mary and a spirit from Him ; believe then in God and His apostles, and say not * Three.' Have done ! it were better for you. God is only one God, celebrated be His praise that He should beget a Son! His is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth ; and God sufficeth for a guardian.

[170] The Messiah doth surely not disdain to be a servant of God, nor do the angels who are nigh to Him ; and whosoever disdains His service and is too proud, He will gather them altogether to Himself. But as for those who believe and do what is right, He will pay their hire and will give increase to them of His grace. But as for those who disdain and are too proud, He will punish them with a grievous woe, and they shall not find for them other than God a patron or a help. 96 THE QUR'AN. iv, i^-V, 2. O ye folk ! proof has come to you from your Lord, and we have sent down to you manifest light. As for those who believe in God, and take tight hold of Him, He will make them enter into mercy from Him and grace ; and He will guide them to Himself by a right way. [175] They will ask thee for a decision ; say, 'God will give you a decision concerning remote kinship1.' If a man perish and have no child, but have a sister, let her have half of what he leaves ; and he shall be her heir, if she have no son. But if there be two sisters, let them both have two thirds of what he leaves ; and if there be brethren, both men and women, let the male have like the portion of two females. God makes this manifest to you lest ye err ; for God all things doth know.

IN the name of the merciful and compassionate God. O ye who believe ! fulfil your compacts. — Lawful for you are brute beasts, save what is here recited to you, not allowing you the chase while ye are on pilgrimage; verily, God ordaineth what He will. O ye who believe ! do not deem the monuments of God to be lawful, nor the sacred month 2, nor the offering, nor its neck garlands, nor those who sojourn at the sacred house, craving grace from their Lord and His pleasure. 1 See note i, p. 73. 2 Mu'harram. But when ye are in lawful state again, then chase ; and let not ill-will against the people who turned you from the Sacred Mosque1 make you transgress ; but help one another in righteousness and piety, and do not help one another to sin and enmity; but fear God, — verily, God is keen to punish. Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that which is devoted to other than God, and the strangled and the knocked down, and that which falls down, and the gored, and what wild beasts have eaten — except what ye slaughter in time — and what is sacrificed to idols2, and dividing carcases by arrows3.

To-day shall those who disbelieve in your religion despair; do ye not then fear them, but fear me — [5] To-day is perfected for you your religion, and fulfilled upon you is my favour, and I am pleased for you to have Islam for a religion. But he who is forced by hunger, not inclined wilfully to sin, verily, God is forgiving, compassionate. They will ask thee what is lawful for them ? say, ' Lawful for you are good things and what ye have taught beasts of prey (to catch), training them like dogs ; — ye teach them as God taught you ; — so eat of what they catch for you, and mention the .name of God over it, and fear God, for verily, God is swift in reckoning up.' Lawful for you to-day are good things, and the food of those to whom the Book has been given is 1 The Quraish, who sent to meet Mohammed with 1400 men at 'Hudaibiyeh to prevent him from approaching Mecca, A. H. 6. 2 Literally, < stones set up/ Dolmens and the like, which are so common throughout Arabia. 3 By the game of maisar, see p. 32.

98 THE QUR'AN. v, 7-13. lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them; and chaste women of those who believe, and chaste women of those to whom the Book has been given before you, — when you have given them their hire, living chastely and not fornicating, and not taking para mours. But whoso disbelieves in the faith, of a truth his work is vain, and he shall be in the next life of those who lose. O ye who believe ! when ye rise up to prayer wash your faces, and your hands as far as the elbows, and wipe your heads, and your feet down to the ankles. And if ye are polluted, then purify your selves. But if ye are sick, or on a journey, or if one of you comes from the privy, or if ye have touched women and cannot find water, then take fine surface sand and wipe your faces and your hands therewith. Gocl does not wish to make any hindrance for you ; but He wishes to purify you and to fulfil his favour upon you ; haply ye may give thanks. [TO] Remember the favour of God to you and His covenant which He covenanted with you, when ye said, 'We hear and we obey1;' and fear God, verily, God knows the nature of men's breasts.

0 ye who believe ! stand steadfast to God as witnesses with justice ; and let not ill-will towards people make you sin by not acting with equity. Act with equity, that is nearer to piety, and fear God ; for God is aware of what ye do. God has promised to those who believe and work righteousness, that for them is pardon and a mighty hire. But those who disbelieve and call our signs lies, these are the fellows of hell. 1 Referring to the oath of fidelity which Mohammed's adherents took at 'Akabah. V, i4-i8. THE CHAPTER OF THE TABLE. 99 O ye who believe ! remember God's favour towards you, when a people intended to stretch their hands against you, but He withheld their hands from you1 ; and upon God let believers rely. [15] God did take a compact from the children of Israel, and raised up of them twelve wardens ; and God said, ' Verily, I am with you, if ye be steadfast in prayer, and give alms, and believe in my apostles, and assist them, and lend to God a goodly loan ; then will I cover your offences and make you enter gardens beneath which rivers flow : and whoso dis believes after that, he hath erred from the level way.

And for that they broke their compact, we cursed them, and placed in their hearts hardness, so that they perverted the words from their places, and forgot a portion of what they were reminded of2. But thou wilt not cease to light upon treachery amongst them, save a few of them ; but pardon them and shun them ; verily, God loves the kind. And of those who say, ' Verily, we are Christians/ we have taken a compact ; but they have forgotten a portion of what they were reminded of ; wherefore have we excited amongst them enmity and hatred till the resurrection day; but God will tell them of what they have done. 0 ye people of the Book ! our Apostle has come to you to explain to you much of what ye had hidden of the Book, and to pardon much. There has come to you from God a light, and a perspicuous 1 Various stories are told in explanation of this passage, but they are all obviously apocryphal, the angel Gabriel intervening to prevent some mischief either to the Apostle or his followers. 1 That is, the text foretelling the coming of Mohammed ; see Introduction.

Book; God guides thereby those who follow His pleasure to the way of peace, and brings them into a right way. They misbelieve who say, ' Verily, God is the Messiah the son of Mary ;' say, ' Who has any hold on God, if he wished to destroy the Messiah the son of Mary, and his mother, and those who are on earth altogether ? ' [20] God's is the kingdom1 of the heavens and the earth and what is between the two ; He createth what He will, for God is mighty over all ! But the Jews and the Christians say, ' We are the sons of God and His beloved.' Say, 'Why then does He punish you for your sins ? nay, ye are mortals of those whom He has created ! He pardons whom He pleases, and punishes whom He pleases ; for God's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and what is between the two, and unto Him the journey is. O people of the Book ! our Apostle has come to you, explaining to you the interval of apostles ; lest ye say, ' There came not to us a herald of glad tidings nor a warner.' But there has come to you now a herald of glad tidings and a warner, and God is mighty over all !

When Moses said to his people, * O my people ! remember the favour of God towards you when He made amongst you prophets, and made for you kings, and brought you what never was brought to any body in the worlds. O my people ! enter the Holy Land which God has prescribed for you ; and be ye not thrust back upon your hinder parts and retreat losers. [25] They said, ' O Moses ! verily, therein is a people, giants ; and we will surely not enter therein until they go out from thence ; but if they go out then we will enter in.' Then said two men of those who fear, — God had been gracious to them both,— ' Enter ye upon them by the door, and when ye have entered it, verily, ye shall be victorious ; and upon God do ye rely if ye be believers.' They said, ' O Moses ! we shall never enter it so long as they are therein ; so, go thou and thy Lord and fight ye twain ; verily, we will sit down here.' Said he, ' My Lord, verily, I can control only myself and my brother ; therefore part us from these sinful people.' He said, * Then, verily, it is forbidden them ; for forty years shall they wander about in the earth ; so vex not thyself for the sinful people.'

[30] Recite to them the story of the two sons of Adam ; truly when they offered an offering and it was accepted from one of them, and was not accepted from the other, that one said, 'I will surely kill thee;' he said, ' God only accepts from those who fear. If thou dost stretch forth to me thine hand to kill me, I will not stretch forth mine hand to kill thee ; verily, I fear God the Lord of the worlds ; verily, I wish that thou mayest draw upon thee my sin and thy sin, and be of the fellows of the Fire, for that is the reward of the unjust.' But his soul allowed him to slay his brother, and he slew him, and in the morn ing he was of those who lose. And God sent a crow to scratch in the earth and show him how he might hide his brother's shame, he said, ' Alas, for me ! Am I too helpless to become like this crow and hide my brother's shame ?' and in the morning he was of those who did repent. [35] For this cause have we prescribed to the children of Israel that whoso kills a soul, unless it

102 THE QUR'AN. v, 35-44- be for another soul or for violence in the land, it is as though he had killed men altogether ; but whoso saves one, it is as though he saved men altogether. Our apostles came to them with manifest signs ; then, verily, many of them did after that commit excesses in the earth. The reward of those who make war against God and His Apostle, and strive after violence in the earth, is only that they shall be slaughtered or crucified, or their hands cut off and their feet on alter nate sides, or that they shall be banished from the land ; — that is a disgrace for them in this world, and for them in the next is mighty woe ; save for those who repent before ye have them in your power, for know ye that God is forgiving, merciful. O ye who believe ! fear God and crave the means to approach Him, and be strenuous in His way, haply ye will prosper then. [40] Verily, those who disbelieve, even though they had what is in the earth, all of it, and the like thereof with it, to offer as a ransom from the punish ment of the resurrection day, it would not be accepted from them ; but for them is grievous woe. They may wish to go forth from the Fire, but they shall not go forth therefrom, for them is lasting woe.

The man thief and the woman thief, cut off the hands of both as a punishment, for that they have erred ; — an example from God, for God is mighty, wise. But whoso turns again after his injustice and acts aright, verily, God will turn to him, for, verily, God is forgiving, merciful. Do ye not know that God, His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth ; He punishes whom He pleases, and forgives whom He pleases, for God is mighty over all ? [45] O thou Apostle ! let not those grieve thee who vie in misbelief; or those who say with their mouths ' We believe/ but their hearts do not believe ; or of those who are Jews, listeners to a lie, — listeners to other people, but who come not to thee. They pervert the words from their places and say, ' If this is what ye are given, take it ; but if ye are not given it, then beware ! ' but he whom God wishes to mislead, thou canst do nothing with God for him ; these are those whose hearts God wishes not to purify, for them in this world is disgrace, and for them in the next is mighty woe, — listeners to a lie, eaters of unlawful things !

But if they come to thee, then judge between them or turn aside from them ; but if thou turnest aside from them they shall not harm thee at all, but if thou judgest, then judge between them with justice, verily, God loves the just. Bat how should they make thee their judge, when they have the law wherein is God's judgment ? Yet they turn back after that, for they do not believe. Verily, we have revealed the law in which is guidance and light ; the prophets who were resigned did judge thereby those who were Jews, as did the masters 1 and doctors by what they remembered of the Book of God and by what they were witnesses of. Fear not men, but fear me, and sell not my signs for a little price ; for whoso will not judge by what God has revealed, these be the misbelievers. 1 See note 2, p. 56. We have prescribed for thee therein ' a life for a life, and an eye for an eye, and a nose for a nose, and an ear for an ear, and a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds retaliation ;' but whoso remits it, it is an expiation for him, but he whoso will not judge by what God has revealed, these be the unjust.

[50] And we followed up the footsteps of these (prophets) with Jesus the son of Mary, confirming that which was before him and the law, and we brought him the gospel, wherein is guidance and light, verifying what was before it of the law, and a guidance and an admonition unto those who fear. Then let the people of the gospel judge by that which is revealed therein, for whoso will not judge by what God has revealed, these be the evildoers. We have revealed to thee the Book in truth veri fying what was before it, and preserving it; judge then between them by what God has revealed, and follow not their lusts, turning away from what is given to thee of the truth. For each one of you have we made a law and a pathway; and had God pleased He would have made you one nation, but He will surely try you concerning that which He has brought you. Be ye therefore emulous in good deeds ; to God is your return alto gether, and He will let you know concerning that wherein ye do dispute. Wherefore judge thou between them by what God has revealed, and follow not their lusts ; but beware lest they mislead thee from part of what God has revealed to thee; yet if they turn back, then know that God wishes to fall on them for some sins of theirs, — verily, many men are evildoers.

[55] Is it the judgment of the Ignorance they crave1? but who is better than God to judge for people who are sure ? O ye who believe! take not the Jews and Chris tians for your patrons : they are patrons of each other; but whoso amongst you takes them for patrons, verily, he is of them, and, verily, God guides not an unjust people. Thou wilt see those in whose hearts is a sickness vieing with them; they say, 'We fear lest there befall us a reverse.' It may be God will give the victory, or an order from Himself, and they may awake repenting of what they thought in secret to themselves. Those who believe say, 'Are these they who swore by God with their most strenuous oath that they were surely with you ?' — their works are in vain and they shall wake the losers. O ye who believe ! whoso is turned away from his religion — God will bring (instead) a people2 whom He loves and who love Him, lowly to be lievers, lofty to unbelievers, strenuous in the way of God, fearing not the blame of him who blames. That is God's grace! He gives it unto whom He pleases, for God both comprehends and knows.

[60] God only is your patron, and His Apostle and those who believe, who are steadfast in prayer and give alms, bowing down. Whoso taketh as patrons God and His apostles and those who believe ;- verily, God's crew, they are victorious ! O ye who believe ! take not for patrons those who j The time before the Mohammedan dispensation is always so called. 2 I. e. to take his place. io6 THE QUR'AN. v, 62-69. take your religion for a jest or a sport, from amongst those who have been given the Book before and the misbelievers ; but fear God if ye be believers. Nor those who, when ye call to prayer, take it for a jest and a sport; that is because they are a people who do not understand. Say, ' O people of the Book ! do ye disavow us, for aught but that we believe in God, and what was revealed to us before, and for that most of you are evildoers ?' [65] Say, 'Can I declare unto you something worse than retribution from God ?' Whomsoever God has cursed and been wroth with — and he has made of them apes and swine — and who worship Tag/tut, they are in a worse plight and are more erring from the level path. When they come to you they say, 1 We believe;' but they entered in with unbelief, and they went out therewith, and God knows best what they did hide.

Thou wilt see many of them vieing in sin and enmity, and in eating unlawful things, — evil is it that they have done. The masters and their doctors prohibit them from speaking sin and eating unlawful things, — evil is what they have performed. The Jews say, ' God's hand is fettered;' their hands are fettered and they are cursed for what they said; nay! His hands are outspread, He expends how He pleases ! and that which has been sent down to thee from thy Lord will surely increase many of them in their rebellion and misbelief, for we have cast amongst them enmity and hatred till the resur rection day. Whenever they light a fire l for war, 1 The ancient Arabs always lit a beacon-fire as a proclamation of war, or a notice of the approach of an enemy. God puts it out; they strive for corruption in the earth, but God loves not the corrupt. [70] But did the people of the Book believe and fear, we would cover their offences, and we would make them enter into gardens of pleasure ; and were they steadfast in the law and the gospel, and what has been sent down to them from their Lord, they should eat from above them and below them. Amongst them are a nation who are moderate, but many of them — bad is what they do.

O thou Apostle ! preach what has been revealed to thee from thy Lord ; if thou do it not thou hast not preached His message, and God will not hold thee free from men ; for God guides not people who misbelieve. Say, ' O people of the Book ! ye rest on naught until ye stand fast by the law and the gospel, and what is revealed to you from your Lord.' But what has been revealed to thee from thy Lord will of a surety increase many of them in rebellion and mis belief, vex not thyself then for a people who misbelieve. Verily, those who believe and those who are Jews, and the Sabseans, and the Christians, whosoever believes in God and the last day, and does what is right, there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. We took a compact of the children of Israel, and we sent to them apostles ; every time there came to them an apostle with what their souls loved not, a part of them they did call liars and a part of them they slew. [75] And they reckoned that there would be no disturbance ; but they were blind and deaf ! and then

io8 THE QUR'AN. v, 75-83. God turned again towards them : and then many amongst them were blind and deaf! but God saw what they did. They misbelieve who say, 'Verily, God is the Messiah the son of Mary;' but the Messiah said, 'O children of Israel! worship God, my Lord and your Lord;' verily, he who associates aught with God, God hath forbidden him Paradise, and his resort is the Fire, and the unjust shall have none to help them. They misbelieve who say, ' Verily, God is the third of three;' for there is no God but one, and if they do not desist from what they say, there shall touch those who misbelieve amongst them grievous woe. Will they not turn again towards God and ask pardon of Him ? for God is forgiving and merciful. The Messiah the son of Mary is only a prophet: prophets before him have passed away ; and his mother was a confessor; they used both to eat food. — See how we explain to them the signs, yet see how they turn aside ! [80] Say, 'Will ye serve, other than God, what can neither hurt you nor profit you ?' but God, He both hears and knows.

Say, ' O people of the Book ! exceed not the truth in your religion, and follow not the lusts of a people who have erred before, and who lead many astray, and who go away from the level path.' Those of the children of Israel who disbelieved were cursed by the tongue of David and Jesus the son of Mary ; that is because they rebelled and did transgress ; they would not desist from the wrong they did; evil is that which they did. Thou wilt see many of them taking those who disbelieve for their patrons ; evil is that which their souls have sent before them, for God's wrath is on them, and in the torment shall they dwell for aye. But had they believed in God and the prophet, and what was revealed to him, they had not taken these for their patrons ; but many of them are evildoers. [85] Thou wilt surely find that the strongest in enmity against those who believe are the Jews and the idolaters ; and thou wilt find the nearest in love to those who believe to be those who say, ' We are Christians ;' that is because there are amongst them priests and monks, and because they are not proud.

And when they hear what has been revealed to the prophet, you will see their eyes gush with tears at what they recognise as truth therein ; and they will say, ' O our Lord ! we believe, so write us down amongst the witnesses. Why should we not believe in God and the truth that is given to us, nor desire that our Lord should make us enter with the upright people?' Therefore has God rewarded them, for what they said, with gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for aye ; that is the reward of those who do good ; but those who disbelieve and say our signs are lies, they are the fellows of hell. O ye who believe ! forbid not the good things which God has made lawful for you, nor transgress ; verily, God loves not the transgressors. [90] But eat of what God has provided you law fully of good things ; and fear God, in whom ye believe. God will not catch you up for a casual word in your oaths, but He will catch you up for having what ye make deliberate oaths about ; and the ex piation thereof is to feed ten poor men with the middling food ye feed your families withal, or to clothe them, or to free a neck1; but he who has not the means, then let him fast three days. That is the expiation of your oaths, when ye have sworn to keep your oaths ; thus does God explain to you His signs, — haply ye may be grateful.

O ye who believe! verily, wine, and el maisar2, and statues3, and divining (arrows) are only an abomi nation of Satan's work ; avoid them then that haply ye may prosper. Satan only desires to place enmity and hatred between you by wine and maisar, and to turn you from the remembrance of God and from prayer ; but will ye not desist, and obey God, and obey the apostles, and beware, for if ye turn back then know that our Apostle has only his message to preach ? There is no crime in those who believe and do right, for having tasted food, when they fear God, and believe, and do what is right, and then fear Him, and believe, and then fear, and do good, for God loves those who do good. [95] O ye who believe ! God will try you with something of the game that your hands and your lances take, that God may know who fears Him in secret ; and whoso transgresses after that, for him is grievous woe. 0 ye who believe ! kill not game while ye are on 1 I. e. from the yoke of captivity. 2 See note 4, p. 32.

3 This has been thought by strict Musselmans to exclude the game of chess. Sunnis, however, play the game with plain pieces like drafts, though Persians and Indians are not so scrupulous. pilgrimage. But he amongst you who kills it pur posely, his compensation is the like of that which he has killed, in sheep — of which two equitable persons amongst you shall be judge — an offering brought to the Kaabah ; or as an expiation, the food of poor persons, or an equivalent thereof in fasting, that he may taste the evil result of his deed. God pardons bygones; but whoso returns, God will take vengeance on him, for God is mighty and the avenger. Lawful for you is the game of the sea, and to eat thereof; a provision for you and for travellers ; but forbidden you is the game of the land while ye are on pilgrimage ; so fear God to whom ye shall be gathered. God has made the Kaabah, the sacred House, to be a station for men, and the sacred month, and the offering and its neck garland ; this is that ye may know that God knows what is in the heavens and what is in the earth, and that God knows all things. Know that God is keen to punish, but that God is forgiving, merciful.

The Apostle has only to preach his message, but God knows what ye show and what ye hide. [100] Say, ' The vile shall not be deemed equal with the good, although the abundance of the vile please thee.' Fear God then, O ye who have minds ! haply ye may prosper. O ye who believe ! ask not about things which if they be shown to you will pain you ; but if ye ask about them when the (whole) Qur'an is revealed, they shall be shown to you. God pardons that, for God is forgiving and clement. People before you have asked about that, yet on the morrow did they dis believe therein. And God has not ordained any Ba'hirah or Saibah, nor Wazilah nor 'Hami1, but those who misbelieve invent a lie against God, for most of them do not understand. And when it is said to them, ' Come round to what God has revealed unto His Apostle,' they say, ' Enough for us is what we found our fathers agreed upon/ What ! though their fathers knew nothing and were not guided. 0 ye who believe ! mind yourselves ; he who errs can do you no hurt when ye are guided : unto God is your return altogether, and He will declare to you that which ye do not know.

[105] O ye who believe ! let there be a testimony between you when any one of you is on the point of death — at the time he makes his will — two equitable persons from amongst you ; or two others from some other folk, if ye be knocking about in the land, and the calamity of death befall you ; ye shall shut them both up after prayer, and they shall both swear by 1 These were the names given to certain animals which were marked and allowed to graze at liberty. Ba'hirah was the name given to a camel which had had ten young ones ; her ear was then slit and she was turned loose to feed. When she died her flesh was eaten by the men only, the women being forbidden to touch it. There were, however, cases in which any she-camel was so called and treated. Saibah signifies merely a camel turned loose, her being so turned out was generally in fulfilment of a vow. Wazilah was a term applied to any cattle, including sheep and goats, and generally meant a beast who had brought forth a male and female at the seventh parturition. 'Kami was a stallion camel which, after begetting ten young ones, was turned loose. As all these customs were connected with the idolatrous superstitions of the pagan Arabs, and tended to keep alive the rites and beliefs of paganism, Mohammed forbade them, with other similar super stitions.

V, io6-uo. THE CHAPTER OF THE TABLE. 113 God, if ye doubt them, (saying), ' We will not sell (our testimony) for a price, though it were to a re lative, nor will we hide God's testimony, verily, then, we should be among sinners.' But if it shall be lit upon that they too have deserved the imputation of sin, then let two others stand up in their place with those who think them deserving of the imputation, the nearest two in kin, and they shall both swear by God, ' Indeed, our testimony is truer than the testi mony of those two, and we have not transgressed, for then we should surely be of the unjust :' thus is it easier for men to bear testimony according to the purport thereof, else must they fear lest an oath be given to rebut their own oath ; but let them fear God and listen, for God guides not the people who do ill. On the day when God shall assemble the apostles and shall say, ' How were ye answered ?' they will say, ' We have no knowledge; verily, thou art He who knoweth the unseen/ When God said, 'O Jesus, son of Mary! remem ber my favours towards thee and towards thy mother, when I aided thee with the Holy Ghost, till thou didst speak to men in the cradle and when grown up.

[no] ' And when I taught thee the Book and wisdom and the law and the gospel ; when thou didst create of clay, as it were, the likeness of a bird, by my power, and didst blow thereon, it became a bird ; and thou didst heal the blind from birth, and the leprous by my permission ; and when thou didst bring forth the dead by my permission ; and when I did ward off the children of Israel from thee, when thou didst come to them with manifest signs, and those who [6] I misbelieved amongst them said, "This is naught but obvious magic." 'And when I inspired the apostles that they should believe in him and in my Apostle, they said, " We believe; do thou bear witness that we are resigned." When the apostles said, * O Jesus, son of Mary ! is thy Lord able to send down to us a table from heaven?' he said, ' Fear God, if ye be believers;' and they said, ' We desire to eat therefrom that our hearts may be at rest, and that we may know that what thou hast told us is the truth, and that we may be thereby amongst the witnesses.' Said Jesus the son of Mary, ' O God, our Lord ! send down to us a table from heaven to be to us as a festival, — to the first of us and to the last, and a sign from Thee, — and grant us provision, for Thou art the best of providers.'

[115] God said, 'Verily, I am about to send it down to you ; but whoso disbelieves amongst you after that, verily, I will torment him with the torment which I have not tormented any one with in all the worlds/ And when God said, ' O Jesus, son of Mary ! is it thou who didst say to men, take me and my mother for two gods, beside God?' He said, ' I celebrate Thy praise ! what ails me that I should say what I have no right to ? If I had said it, Thou wouldst have known it ; Thou knowest what is in my soul, but I know not what is in Thy soul ; verily, Thou art one who knoweth the unseen. I never told them save what Thou didst bid me, — " Worship God, my Lord and your Lord," and I was a witness against them so long as I was amongst them ; but when Thou didst take me away to thyself Thou wert the watcher over them, for Thou art witness over all. If Thou shouldst punish them, verily, they are Thy servants ; if Thou shouldst forgive them, verily, Thou art the mighty and the wise.' God said, * This is the day when their confession shall profit the confessors, for them are gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever and for aye/

God is well pleased with them, and they well pleased with Him ; that is the mighty happiness. [120] God's is the kingdom of the heavens, and the earth, and all that is therein, and He is mighty over all.

IN the name of the merciful and compassionate God! Praise belongs to God who created the heavens and the earth, and brought into being the darkness and the light2. Yet do those who misbelieve hold Him to have peers. He it is who created you from clay; then He decreed a term, — a term3 ordained with Him. And yet ye doubt thereof. He is God in the heavens and the earth. He knows your secret conduct and your plain, and He knows what ye earn4. 1 So called from the mention which it contains of the super stitious customs of the Arabs with regard to their cattle. 2 Said to be a protest against the dualistic doctrine that Light and Darkness were two co-eternal principles. 3 I.e. a term for your life and another for your resurrection. * By good or evil works. Il6 THE QURAN. VI, 4-12. There came not to them any sign of the signs of their Lord, but they turned away ; [5] and they have called the truth a lie now that it has come to them, but there shall come to them the message of that at which they mocked. Do not they see how many a generation we have destroyed before them, whom we had settled in the earth as we have not settled for you, and sent the rain of heaven upon them in copious showers, and made the waters flow beneath them ? Then we destroyed them in their sins, and raised up other generations after them.

Had we sent down to thee a book on paper, and they had touched it with their hands, still those who misbelieve would have said, ' This is naught but obvious magic.' They say, ' Why has not an angel been sent down to him ?' but if we had sent down an angel, the affair would have been decided, and then they would have had no respite. And had we made him 1 an angel, we should have made him as a man too ; and we would have made perplexing for them that which they deem perplexing now. [10] There have been prophets before thee mocked at, but that encompassed them which the scoffers among them mocked at. Say, * Go about in the earth, then wilt thou see how has been the end of those who called them liars/ Say, ' Whose is what is in the heavens and the earth ?' Say, ' God's, who has imposed mercy on himself/ 1 I.e. the prophet. He will surely gather you together for the resur rection day. There is no doubt in that, but those who waste their souls1 will not believe. His is whatsoever dwells in the night or in the day, He both hears and knows.

Say, * Other than God shall I take for a patron, the Originator of the heavens and the earth ? He feedeth men, but is not fed.' Say, * I am bidden to be the first of those resigned;' and it was said to me, ' Be not thou of the idolaters/ [15] Say, * I fear, if I rebel against my Lord, the torment of the mighty day.' • Whomsoever it is averted from on that day, God will have had mercy on ; and that is obvious happiness. And if God touch thee with harm, there is none to take it off but He ; and if He touch thee with good, He is mighty over all. He is sovereign over His servants, He is the wise, the aware ! Say, ' What is the greatest witness ?' Say, ' God is witness between you and me.' This Qur'an was inspired to me to warn you and those it reaches. Do ye really bear witness that with God are other gods ? Say, ' I bear not witness thereto :' say, 'He is but one God, and I am clear of your associating (gods with him).' [20] Those to whom we have brought the Book know him2 as they know their sons; — those who lose their souls do not believe.

Who is more unjust than he who forges against God a lie, or says His signs are lies ? verily, the unjust shall not prosper. 1 I.e. their innate propensities to good and their reason. n8 THE QUR'AN. ¥1,22-31. On the day when we shall gather them all together, then shall we say to those who have associated others with ourself, 'Where are your associates whom ye did pretend?' Then they will have no excuse but to say, ' By God our Lord, we did not associate (others with thee) ! ' See how they lie against them selves, and how what they did forge deserts them ! [25] And they are some who listen unto thee, but we have placed a veil upon their hearts lest they should understand it, and in their ears is dulness of hearing ; and though they saw each sign they would not believe therein ; until when they come to thee to wrangle with thee, the unbelievers say, ' These are but old folks' tales.' They forbid it and they avoid it; — but they destroy none but themselves ; yet they do not perceive. But couldst thou see when they are set over the fire and say, ' Would that we were sent back ! we would not call our Lord's signs lies, but we would be of the believers ? ' Nay ! now is shown to them what they did hide before ; and could they be sent back, they would return to that they were forbidden, for they are very liars.

They say there is naught but this life of ours in the world and we shall not be raised. [30] But couldst thou see when they are set before their Lord; he says, * Is not this the truth ?' They say, ' Yea, by our Lord ! ' he says, ' Then taste the tor ment, for that ye did misbelieve !' Losers are they who disbelieved in meeting God, until when the hour comes suddenly upon them they say, 'Woe is us for our neglect thereof!' for they shall bear their burdens on their backs, evil is what they bear. The life of this world is nothing but a game and a sport, and surely the next abode were better for those who fear. What ! do they not understand ? Full well we know that verily that which they say grieves thee ; but they do not call thee only a liar, for the unjust gainsay the signs of God. Called liars too were apostles before thee ; but they were patient of being called liars and of being hurt until our help came to them ; for there is none to change the words of God — now has there come to thee the story of those He sent.

[35] And if their turning from thee be hard for thee, and if thou canst seek for a shaft down into the earth, or a ladder up into the sky, to bring them a sign — but if God pleased He would bring them all to guidance, be thou not then of the ignorant. He only answers the prayer of those who listen ; but the dead will God raise up, then unto Him shall they return. They say, 'Unless there be sent down some sign from his Lord ' — say, ' Verily, God is able to send down a sign, but most of them do not know.' There is not a beast upon the earth nor a bird that flies with both its wings, but is a nation like to you ; we have omitted nothing from the Book ; then to their Lord shall they be gathered. Those who say our signs are lies — deafness, dumbness, in the dark! whom He pleases does God lead astray, and whom He pleases He places on the right way. [40] Say, ' Look you now ! if there should come God's torment, or there should come to you the hour, on other than God would ye call, if ye do tell the truth ?' Nay, it is on Him that ye would call,

and He will avert that which ye call upon Him for if He but please ; and ye shall forget that which ye did associate with Him. Ere this we sent unto nations before thee, and we caught them in distress and trouble that haply they might humble themselves. And do they not, when our violence falls upon them, humble themselves ? but their hearts were hard, and Satan made seemly to them that which they had done. And when they forgot what they were reminded of, we opened for them the gates of everything, until when they rejoiced at what they had, we caught them up suddenly, and lo ! they were in despair. [45] And the uttermost part of the people who did wrong were cut off; praise be to God, Lord of the worlds ! Say, ' Look you now ! if God should catch your hearing and your sight, and should set a seal upon your hearts — who is god but God to bring you it again ?' Say, 'Look you now! if God's torment should come upon you suddenly or openly, would any perish save the people who do wrong ? ' We do not send our messengers save as heralds of glad tidings and of warning, and whoso believes and acts aright, there is no fear for them, and they shall not be grieved, but those who say our signs are lies, torment shall touch them, for that they have done so wrong.

[50] Say, ' I do not say to you, mine are the treasuries of God, nor that I know the unseen ; I do not say to you, I am an angel — if I follow aught but what I am inspired with—:' say, ' Is the blind equal to him who sees — ?' what ! do ye not reflect ? Admonish therewith those who fear that they shall be gathered unto their Lord ; there is no patron for them but Him, and no intercessor; haply they may fear. Repulse not those who call upon their Lord in the morning and in the evening, desiring His face ; they have no reckoning against thee at all, and thou hast no reckoning against them at all ; — repulse them and thou wilt be of the unjust. So have we tried some of them by others, that they may say, ' Are these those unto whom God has been gracious amongst ourselves?' Does not God know those who give thanks ? And when those who believe in our signs come to thee, say, ' Peace be on you ! God hath prescribed for Himself mercy ; verily, he of you who does evil in ignorance, and then turns again and does right,— verily, He is forgiving and merciful.'

[55] Thus do we detail our signs, that the way of the sinners may be made plain. Say, ( I am forbidden to worship those ye call upon beside God ;' say, ' I will not follow your lusts, for then should I err and not be of the guided.' Say, * I stand on a manifestation from my Lord, which ye call a lie. I have not with me what ye fain would hasten on, that the matter might be settled between me and you ; but God knows best who are the unjust/ With Him are the keys1 of the unseen. None knows them save He ; He knows what is in the 1 Most of the Mohammedan commentators say this word means ' treasuries/ The allusion, however, is obviously to the Rab binical tradition of the three keys, in the hands of God. land and in the sea ; and there falls not a leaf save that He knows it ; nor a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor aught that is moist, nor aught that is dry, save that is in His perspicuous Book. [60] He it is who takes you to Himself at night1, and knows what ye have gained in the day; then He raises you up again, that your appointed time may be fulfilled ; then unto Him is your return, and then will He inform you of what ye have done.

He triumphs over His servants; He sends to them guardian angels, until, when death comes to anyone of you, our messengers take him away; they pass not over any one, and then are they returned to God, their true sovereign. Is not His the rule? but He is very quick at reckoning up. Say, ' Who rescues you from the darkness of the land and of the sea ?' ye call upon Him in humility and in secret, ' Indeed, if He would rescue us from this, we will surely be of those who give Him thanks.' Say, ' God rescues from the darkness thereof, and from every trouble, yet ye associate others with Him.' [65] Say, ' He is able to send torment on you from above you and from beneath your feet, and to confuse you in sects, and to make some of you taste the violence of others/ See how we turn about the signs, that haply they may discriminate. Thy people called it a lie, and yet it is the truth. Say, * I have not charge over you ; to every prophecy is a set time, and in the end ye shall know.' When thou dost see those who plunge deeply into the discussion of our signs, turn from them until they plunge deeply into some other discourse ; for it may be that Satan may make thee forget ; but sit not, after thou hast remembered, with the unjust people.

Those who fear are not bound to take account of them at all, but mind ! — haply they may fear. Leave those who have taken their religion for a play and a sport, whom this world's life hath de ceived, and remind them thereby that a soul shall be given up for what it has earned ; nor has it, beside God, patron or intercessor ; and though it should compensate with the fullest compensation, it would not be accepted. Those who are given up for what they have gained, for them is a drink of boiling water, and grievous woe for that they have mis believed. [70] Say, ' Shall we call on what neither profits us nor harms us, and be thrown back upon our heels after God has guided us, like him whom Satan hath led away bewildered in the earth, who has companions who call him to guidance, "Come to us?"' Say, ' Verily, God's guidance is the guidance, and we are bidden to resign ourselves unto the Lord of the worlds, and be ye steadfast in prayer and fear Him, for He it is to whom we shall be gathered.' He it is who has created the heavens and the earth in truth ; and on the day when He says, 'BE,' then it is. His word is truth ; to Him is the kingdom on the day when the trumpets shall be blown ; the knower of the unseen and of the evident ; He is wise and well aware.

When Abraham said to his father Azar l, ' Dost thou take idols for gods ? verily, I see thee and thy people in obvious error/ [75] Thus did we show Abraham the kingdom of heaven and of the earth, that he should be of those who are sure. And when the night overshadowed him he saw a star and said, ' This is my Lord ;' but when it set he said, ' I love not those that set/ And when he saw the moon beginning to rise he said, * This is my Lord ;' but when it set he said, ' If God my Lord guides me not I shall surely be of the people who err/ And when he saw the sun beginning to rise he said, 'This is my Lord, this is greatest of all ;' but when it set he said, ' O my people ! verily, I am clear of what ye associate with God; verily, I have turned my face to him who originated the heaven and the earth, as a 'Hanif, and I am not of the idolaters/ [80] And his people disputed with him ; — he said, ' Do ye dispute with me concerning God, when He has guided me ? but I fear not what ye associate with Him unless my Lord should wish for anything. My Lord doth comprehend all things in His know ledge, will ye not then remember ? How should I fear what ye associate with Him, when ye yourselves fear not to associate with God what He has sent down to you no power to do ? Which then of the two sects is worthier of belief, if indeed ye know ?'

Those who believe and do not obscure their faith with wrong, they are those who shall have security, and they are guided. 1 The Hebrew Terah is in Arabic Tar ah. Eusebius gives the form Athar, which may in some measure account for the name here given. These are our arguments which we gave to Abraham against his people ; — we raise the rank of whom we will ; verily, thy Lord is wise and know ing. And we gave to him Isaac and Jacob, each did we guide. And Noah we guided before and all his seed, — David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron, — for thus do we reward those who do good. [85] And Zachariah and John and Jesus and Elias, all righteous ones; and Ishmael and Elisha and Jonas and Lot, each one have we pre ferred above the worlds ; and of their fathers and their seed and brethren ; we have chosen them and guided them into a right way. That is God's guidance ; He guides those whom He will of His servants; and if they associate aught with Him, — vain is that which they have worked.

It is to these we give the Book and judgment and prophecy; and if these disbelieve therein we have given them in charge to a people who shall not disbelieve. [90] It is these that God hath guided, and by their guidance be thou led. Say, ' I will not ask you for it a hire : it is naught save a reminder to the worlds/ They do not prize God at His true worth when they say, * God has never revealed to mortal anything.' Say, * Who revealed the Book wherewith Moses came, a light and a guidance unto men ? Ye put it on papers which ye show, though ye hide much l ; 1 The Jews are here, as frequently in the Qur'an, accused of suppressing and altering those parts of their scriptures which referred, according to the Mussulman theory, to the mission of Mohammed. and ye are taught what ye knew not, neither you nor your fathers/ Say, ' God/ then leave them in their discussion to play. This is the Book which we have revealed, a bless ing and a confirmation to those which were before it, and that the mother of cities1 may be warned, with those who are round about her. Those who believe in the last day believe therein, and they unto their prayers will keep.

Who is more unjust than he who devises against God a lie, or says, ' I am inspired2,' when he was not inspired at all ? and who says, ' I will bring do\vn the like of what God has sent down ;' but didst thou see when the unjust are in the floods of death, and the angels stretch forth their hands, * Give ye forth your souls ; to-day shall ye be recompensed with the torment of disgrace, for that ye did say against God what was not true, and were too proud to hear His signs3. And ye come now single-handed as we created you at first, and ye have left behind your backs that which we granted you ; and we see not with you your intercessors whom ye pretended were partners 4 amongst you ; betwixt you have the ties 2 This refers to Abdallah ibn Sa'hd ibn Abi Sar'h, who acted as amanuensis to Mohammed, and when he came to the words ' We have created man from an extract of clay . . . . , then we produced it another creation/ he said, 'and blessed be God, best of creators/ and Mohammed told him to write that down too ; whereupon he boasted that he also had been inspired with this sentence which Mohammed acknowledged to be part of the Qur'an.

8 This word is nearly always used for the verses of the Qur'an. 4 That is, partners with God, idols; to associate being the usual phrase in the Qur'an for idolatry. been cut asunder ; and strayed away from you is what ye did pretend.' [95] Verily, God it is who cleaves out the grain and the date-stone ; He brings forth the living from the dead, and it is He who brings the dead from the living. There is God! how then can ye be beguiled ? He it is who cleaves out the morning, and makes night a repose, and the sun and the moon two reckonings — that is the decree of the mighty, the wise ! He it is who made for you stars that ye might be guided thereby in the darkness of the land and of the sea. Now have we detailed the signs unto a people who do know. He it is who made you spring from one soul, and gave you a settlement and a depository1. Now have we detailed the signs unto a people who discern. He it is who sends down from the heavens water; and we bring forth therewith growths of everything ; and we bring forth therefrom green things, wherefrom we bring forth grain in full ear ; and the palm, from its spathe come clusters within reach ; and gardens of grapes and olives and pomegranates, alike and unlike; — behold its fruit when it fruits and ripens ! verily, in that ye have a sign for the people who believe.

[100] Yet they made the ^inn2 partners with 1 In the womb. 2 Supernatural beings created, like the devils, of fire instead of clay, and possessed of miraculous powers. They are devoutly believed in by Muslims, and are supposed to be subject to the same controlling laws as mankind, and to have also had prophets sent to them. They are probably a survival of some old worship God, though He created them! and they ascribed to Him sons and daughters, though they have no knowledge ; celebrated be His praise ! and exalted be He above what they attribute to Him! The inventor of the heavens and the earth ! how can He have a son, when He has no female companion, and when He has created everything, and everything He knows ? There is God for you, — your Lord ! There is no god but He, the Creator of everything; then worship Him, for He o'er everything keeps guard ! Sight perceives Him not, but He perceives men's sights ; for He is the subtle, the aware. Now has an insight from your Lord come unto you, and he who looks therewith it is for himself; but he who is blind thereto, it is against his soul ; and I am not your keeper.

[105] Thus do we turn about the signs, that they may say, ' Thou hast studied/ and that we may explain to those who know. Follow what is revealed to thee from thy Lord ; there is no god but He, and shun the idolaters. But had God pleased, they would not have asso ciated aught with Him ; but we have not made thee a keeper over them, nor art thou for them a warder. Do not abuse those who call on other than God, for then they may abuse God openly in their igno rance. So do we make seemly to every nation their work, then unto their Lord is their return, and He will inform them of what they have done. of the powers of nature. The word ginn is the same as that which in the old translation of the Arabian Nights is rendered ' genie.' They swore by God with their most strenuous oath, that if there come to them a sign they will indeed believe therein. Say, ' Signs are only in God's hands ; - - but what will make you under stand that even when one has come, they will not believe ?'

[no] We will overturn their hearts and their eye sights, even as they believed not at first ; and we will leave them, in their rebellion, blindly wandering on. And had we sent down unto them the angels, or the dead had spoken to them, or we had gathered everything unto them in hosts 1, they would not have believed unless that God pleased — but most of them are ignorant. So have we made for every prophet an enemy, — devils of men and ^inns ; some of them inspire others with specious speech to lead astray ; but had thy Lord pleased they would not have done it.; so leave them with what they do devise. And let the hearts of those who believe not in the hereafter listen to it; and let them be well pleased with it ; and let them gain what they may gain ! Of other than God shall I crave a decree, when it is He who has sent down to you the Book in detail, and those to whom we gave the Book know that it is sent down from thy Lord, in truth ? be thou not then of those who doubt.

[115] The words of thy Lord are fulfilled in truth and justice; there is none to change His words, for He both hears and knows. But if thou followest most of those who are in the L This word may also be rendered ' before them ' or ' a surety ' (for the truth of the revelation). land, they will lead thee astray from the path of God ; they only follow suspicion and they only (rest on) conjecture. Thy Lord, He knows best who errs from His path, and He knows best the guided. Eat then of what God's name has been pro nounced over, if ye believe in His signs. What ails you that ye do not eat from what God's name is pronounced over, when He has detailed to you what is unlawful for you ? Save what ye are forced to ; but, verily, many will lead you astray by their fancies, without knowledge. Verily, thy Lord knows best the transgressors. [120] Leave alone the outside of sin and the inside thereof; verily, those who earn sin shall be recompensed for what they have gained. But eat not of what the name of God has not been pronounced over, for, verily, it is an abomination. Verily, the devils inspire their friends that they may wrangle with you ; but if ye obey them, verily, ye are idolaters.

Is he who was dead and we have quickened him, and made for him a light, that he might walk therein amongst men, like him whose likeness is in the darkness whence he cannot come forth ? Thus is made seemly to the misbelievers what they have done. And thus have we placed in every town the great sinners thereof, that they may use craft therein ; but they use not craft except against themselves, although they do not understand. And when there comes to them a sign, they say, ' We will not believe until we are brought like what the apostles were brought ;' God knows best where to put His message. There shall befall those who sin, meanness in God's eyes, and grievous torment for the craft they used. [125] Whomsoever God wishes to guide, He expands His breast to Islam ; but whomsoever He wishes to lead astray, He makes his breast tight and straight, as though he would mount up into heaven1; thus does God set His horror on those who do not believe. This is the way of thy Lord — straight. We have detailed the signs unto a mindful people ; for them is an abode of peace ; and their Lord, He is their patron for what they have done.

And on the day when He shall gather them all together, ' O assembly of the ^inns ! ye have got much out of mankind/ And their clients from among mankind shall say, ' O our Lord ! much ad vantage had we one from another;' but we reached our appointed time which thou hadst appointed for us. Says He, ' The fire is your resort, to dwell therein for aye ! save what God pleases ; verily, thy Lord is wise and knowing/ Thus do we make some of the unjust patrons of the others, for that which they have earned. [130] O assembly of ^inns and men! did there not come to you apostles from among yourselves, relating to you our signs, and warning you of the meeting of this very day of yours ? They say, ' We bear witness against ourselves/ The life of this world deceived them, and they bear witness against themselves that they were unbelievers. 1 That is, makes him appear as one who would attempt some great but impossible thing and fails therein. That is because thy Lord would never destroy towns unjustly while their people are careless ; but for every one are degrees of what they have done ; and thy Lord is not careless of that which they do.

Thy Lord is rich, merciful ; if He pleases He will take you off, and will cause what He pleases to succeed you ; even as He raised you up from the seed of other people. Verily, what ye are promised will surely come, nor can ye frustrate it. [135] Say, 'O my people! act according to your power, verily, I am acting too ; and soon shall ye know whose is the future of the abode!' verily, the unjust shall not prosper. They set apart for God, from what He raises of tilth and of cattle, a portion, and they say, ' This is God's ;' — as they pretend — 'and this is for our asso ciates1;' but that which is for their associates reaches not to God, and that which was for God does reach to their associates ; — evil is it what they judge2. Thus too have their associates made seemly to many of the idolaters the killing of their children 3, 1 I. e. the idols. 1 The pagan Arabs used to set apart certain of the produce of their fields to Allah the chief God, and other portions to minor deities of their pantheon. The fruits of the portion of the latter were reserved for the priests, who were careful to restore to their lot anything that might have fallen into that of Allah, but seldom troubled themselves to do the converse. This custom survives to a certain extent in the desert to the present day, where one tree in every district is devoted to patron saints, and allowed to grow untouched, although the others in the neighbourhood are hacked to pieces as food for camels.

3 Alluding both to human sacrifices to idols and the cruel cus tom of burying female children alive. See Introduction. to destroy them, and to obscure for them their religion1 ; but had God pleased they would not have done it, leave them alone and that which they have forged. And they say, ' These cattle and tilth are inviolable; none shall taste thereof, save such as we please '- as they pretend — and there are cattle whose backs are prohibited, and cattle over whom God's name is not pronounced, — forging a lie against Him! He shall reward them for what they have forged. [140] And they say, ' What is in the wombs of these cattle is unlawful for our wives, but if it be (born) dead, then are they partners therein.' He will reward them for their attribution; verily, He is wise and knowing. Losers are they who kill their children foolishly, without knowledge, and who prohibit what God has bestowed upon them, forging a lie against God ; they have erred and are not guided. He it is who brought forth gardens with trailed2 and untrailed vines, and the palms and corn land, with various food, and olives, and pomegranates, alike and unlike. Eat from the fruit thereof whene'er it fruits, and bring the dues thereof on the day of harvest, and be not extravagant; verily, He loves not the extravagant.

Of cattle are there some to ride on and to spread3. Eat of what God has bestowed upon you, and follow 1 That is, to obscure what little trace it had of the original faith of Abraham the 'Hanif. 2 Trailed over an 'Arish, that is, a sort of hut made of boughs. 3 That is, spread out when slaughtered, or from the hides and wool, &c., of which a bed (farsh) is made. not the footsteps of Satan ; verily, he is to you an open foe. Eight pairs, — of sheep two, and of goats two ; say, (Are the two males unlawful, or the two females, or what the wombs of the two females contain ? inform me with knowledge if ye tell the truth.' [145] And of camels two, and cows two ; say, ' Are the two males unlawful, or the two females, or what the wombs of the two females contain ? Were ye wit nesses when God ordained for you these ? — Then who is more unjust than he who devises a lie against God, to lead men astray without knowledge ? verily, God guides not the unjust people1.' Say, ' I cannot find in what I am inspired with any thing unlawful for the taster to taste ; unless it be dead (of itself), or blood that has been shed, or the flesh of swine, — for that is a horror — or an abomina tion that is consecrated to other than God. But he who is forced, not wilfully nor transgressing, — then, verily, thy Lord is forgiving and merciful.'

To those who were Jews did we prohibit every thing that hath a solid hoof; and of oxen and sheep did we prohibit to them the fat, save what the backs of both do bear, or the inwards, or what is mixed with bone ; with that did we recompense them for their rebellion, for, verily, we are true. And if they give thee the lie, say, ' Your Lord is of ample mercy, nor shall His violence be turned back from the sinful people/ 1 The Arabs alternately made it unlawful to eat the males, and then the young of these four kinds of cattle. Mohammed in this passage shows the absurdity of their custom by pointing out the difficulty of deciding which is lawful and unlawful in the case of eight pairs. Those who associate others with God will say, * Had God pleased, we had not so associated, nor our fathers ; nor should we have forbidden aught.' Thus did they give the lie to those who came before them, until they tasted of our violence ! Say, ' Have ye any knowledge ? if so, bring it forth to us : ye only follow suspicion, and ye do but conjecture.'

[150] Say, ' God's is the searching argument; and had He pleased He would have guided you all/ Say, ' Come on then with your witnesses, who bear witness that God has prohibited these!' but if they do bear witness, bear thou not witness with them ; nor follow the lust of those who say our signs are lies, and those who do not believe in the last day, or those who for their Lord make peers. Say, ' Come ! I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you, that ye may not associate aught with Him, and (may show) kindness to your parents, and not kill your children through poverty; — we will provide for you and them ; — and draw not nigh to flagrant sins, either apparent or concealed, and kill not the soul, which God hath forbidden save by right l ; that is what God ordains you, haply ye may understand/ And draw not nigh unto the wealth of the orphan, save so as to better it, until he reaches full age ; and give weight and measure with justice. We do not compel the soul save what it can compass ; and when ye pronounce, then be just, though it be in the case of a relative.

And God's compact fulfil ye; that is what He 1 That is, commit no homicide unless it be by legal execution or the slaying of infidels in war. THE QUR'AN. vi, 154-160. ordained you, haply ye may be mindful. Verily, this is my right way ; follow it then, and follow not various paths, to separate yourselves from His way ; that is what He has ordained you, haply ye may fear! [155] Then we gave Moses the Book, complete for him who acts aright, and a decision and a guidance and a mercy; haply in the meeting of their Lord they will believe. This is the Book which we have sent down ; it is a blessing ; follow it then and fear ; haply ye may obtain mercy. Lest ye say, ' The Book was only sent down to two sects before us ; verily, we, for what they read, care naught/ Or, lest ye should say, ' Had we had a book revealed to us we should surely have been more guided than they;' but there is come to them a manifest sign from their Lord, and a guidance and a mercy; who then is more unjust than he who calls God's signs lies, and turns from them? we will reward those who turn from our signs with an evil punishment for that they turned away.

What do they expect but that the angels should come for them, or that thy Lord should come, or that some signs1 of thy Lord should come ? On the day when some signs do come, its faith shall profit no soul which did not believe before, unless it has earned some good by its faith. Say, ' Wait ye expectant, then we wait expectant too.' [160] Verily, those who divided their religion and became sects, thou hast not to do with them, their 1 Signs of the approach of the day of judgment. matter is in God's hands, He will yet inform them of that which they have done. He who brings a good work shall have ten like it; but he who brings a bad work shall be recompensed only with the like thereof, for they shall not be wronged. Say, ' As for me, my Lord has guided me to the right way, a right religion, — the faith of Abraham the 'Hanif, for he was not of the idolaters/ Say, ' Verily, my prayers and my devotion and my life and my death belong to God, the Lord of the worlds. He has no partner; that is what I am bidden ; for I am first of those who are resigned/

Say, ' Other than God shall I crave for a Lord when He is Lord of all?' but no soul shall earn aught save against itself1; nor shall one bearing a burden bear the burden of another ; and then unto your Lord is your return, and He will inform you concerning that whereon ye do dispute. [165] He it is who made you vicegerents, and raised some of you above others in degree, to try you by that which he has brought you ; — verily, thy Lord is swift to punish, but, verily, He is forgiving and merciful. 1 Not receive the recompense of other than persons' evil actions. THE QUR'AN. vii, i-n.

IN the name of the merciful and compassionate God. A. L. M. S. A book revealed to thee, — so let there be no straitness in thy breast, that thou mayest warn thereby, — and a reminder to the believers. Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord, and follow not beside Him patrons ; little is it that ye mind. Yet how many a town have we destroyed, and our violence came upon it by night, or while they slept at noon ; and their cry, when our violence came upon them, was only to say, 'Verily, we were unjust!' [5] But we will of a surety question those to whom the prophets were sent, and we will narrate to them with knowledge, for we were not absent. The balance on that day is true, and whosesoever scales are heavy, they are prosperous ; but whosesoever scales are light, they it is who lose themselves, for that they did act unjustly by our signs. We have established you in the earth, and we have made for you therein livelihoods; little is it that ye thank; [10] and we created you, then we fashioned you, then we said unto the angels, ' Adore Adam/ and they adored, save I bits, who was not of those who did adore.

Said He, * What hinders thee from adoring when 1 The name of the bridge between heaven and hell described in this chapter. I order thee ?' he said, ' I am better than he ; Thou hast created me from fire, and him Thou hast created out of clay/ Said He, 'Then go down therefrom; what ails thee that thou shouldst be big with pride therein ? go forth ! verily, thou art of the little ones.' He said, ' Respite me until the day when they shall be raised.' He said, 'Verily, thou art of the respited;' [15] said he, ' For that Thou hast led me into error, I will lie in wait for them in Thy straight path ; then I will surely come to them, from before them and from behind them; and most of them Thou shalt not find thankful.' He said, ' Go forth there from, despised, expelled ; whoso follows thee, I will surely fill hell with you altogether. But, O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in Paradise and eat from whence ye will, but draw not nigh unto this tree or ye will be of the unjust.' But Satan whispered to them to display to them what was kept back from them of their shame, and he said, ' Your Lord has only forbidden you this tree lest ye should be twain angels, or should become of the immortals;' [20] and he swore to them both, 'Verily, I am unto you a sincere adviser;' and he beguiled them by deceit, and when they twain tasted of the tree, their shame was shown them, and they began to stitch upon themselves the leaves of the garden.

And their Lord called unto them, ' Did I not forbid you from that tree there, and say to you, Verily, Satan is to you an open foe ?' They said, ' O our Lord ! we have wronged ourselves — and if Thou dost not forgive us and have mercy on us, we shall surely be of those who are lost!' He said, * Go ye down, one of you to the other a foe ; but for you in

the earth there is an abode, and a provision for a season/ He said, ' Therein shall ye live and therein shall ye die, from it shall ye be brought forth.' [25] O sons of Adam! we have sent down to you garments wherewith to cover your shame, and plumage l ; but the garment of piety, that is better. That is one of the signs of God, haply ye may remember. O sons of Adam ! let not Satan infatuate you as he drove your parents out of Paradise, stripping from them their garments, and showing them their shame ; verily, he sees you — he and his tribe, from whence ye cannot see them. Verily, we have made the devils patrons of those who do not believe, and when they commit an abomination they say, 'We found our fathers at this, and God bade us do it.' Say, ' God bids you not to do abomination ; do ye say against God that which ye do not know ?' Say, ' My Lord bids only justice : — set steadfastly you faces at every mosque and pray to Him, being sincere in your religion. As He brought you forth in the beginning, shall ye return. A sect He guides, and for a sect of them was error due ; verily, they did take the devils for their patrons instead of God, and they did count that they were guided.'

O sons of Adam ! take your ornaments to every mosque 2 ; and eat and drink, but do not be extra vagant, for He loves not the extravagant. [30] Say, ' Who has prohibited the ornaments of God which He brought forth for His servants, and the good things of His providing ?' say, ' On the day of 1 I.e. fine dresses. 2 That is, wear your best apparel in the mosque. judgment they shall only be for those who believed when in the life of this world V Thus do we detail the signs unto a people that do know. Say, 'My Lord has only prohibited abominable deeds, the apparent thereof and the concealed thereof, and sin, and greed for that which is not right, and associating with God what He has sent down no power for, and saying against God that which ye do not know.' Every nation has its appointed time, and when their appointed time comes they cannot keep it back an hour, nor can they bring it on. O sons of Adam ! verily, there will come to you apostles from amongst you, narrating unto you my signs ; then whoso fears God and does what is right, there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. But those who say my signs are lies, and who are too big with pride for them, these are the fellows of the Fire, they shall dwell therein for aye !

[35] Who is more unjust than he who devises against God a lie, or says His signs are lies ? These, their portion of the Book shall reach them 2, until when our messengers come to take their souls away, and say, 'Where is what ye used to call upon instead of God ?' they say, * They have strayed away from us;' and they shall bear witness against themselves that they have been misbelievers. He will say, * Enter ye — amongst the nations who 1 Whereas now idolaters share in the good things of this world ; but on the day of judgment those only shall enjoy them who were believers here. 2 That is, they shall have whatever portion of good or evil is written for them in the book of their fate. have passed away before you, both of^inns1 and men — into the fire ;' whenever a nation enters therein, it curses its mate 2 ; until, when they have all reached it, the last of them will say unto the first, ' O our Lord ! these it was who led us astray, give them double torment of the fire !' He will say, * To each of you double ! but ye do not know.' And the first of them will say unto the last, 'Ye have no preference over us, so taste ye the torment for that which ye have earned !?

Verily, those who say our signs are lies and are too big with pride for them ; for these the doors of heaven shall not be opened, and they shall not enter into Paradise until a camel shall pass into a needle's eye. It is thus that we reward the sinners ; for them is a couch of hell-fire, with an awning above them ! thus do we reward the unjust ! [40] But those who believe and do what is right— we will not oblige a soul more than its capacity — they are the fellows of Paradise, they shall dwell therein for aye. We will strip away what ill feeling is in their breasts — there shall flow beneath them rivers, and they shall say, * Praise belongs to God who guided us to this ! for we should not have been guided had not God guided us ! — the apostles of our Lord did come to us with truth ! ' And it shall be cried out to them, ' This is Paradise which ye have as an in heritance for that which ye have done !' And the fellows of Paradise will call out to the fellows of the Fire, * We have now found that what our Lord promised us is true ; have ye found that what your

1 See p. 127, note 2. 2 Literally, his sister. Lord promised you is true ? ' They will say, * Yea ! ' And a crier from amongst them will cry out, ' The curse of God is on the unjust who turn from the way of God and crave to make it crooked, while in the hereafter they do disbelieve !' And betwixt the two there is a veil, and on al Aaraf are men who know each by marks ; and they shall cry out to the fellows of Paradise/ Peace be upon you !' they cannot enter it although they so desire. [45] But when their sight is turned towards the fellows of the Fire, they say, ' O our Lord ! place us not with the unjust people/ And the fellows on al Aaraf will cry out to the men whom they know by their marks, and say, * Of no avail to you were your collections, and what ye were so big with pride about ; are these those ye swore that God would not extend mercy to ? Enter ye Paradise ; there is no fear for you, nor shall ye be grieved.'

But the fellows of the Fire shall cry out to the fellows of Paradise, ' Pour out upon us water, or something of what God has provided you with V They will say, ' God has prohibited them both to those who misbelieve ; who took their religion for a sport and a play ; whom the life of the world beguiled.' — To-day do we forget them as they forgot the meeting of this day, and for that they did deny our signs ! [50] Now we have brought them a book explain ing it in knowledge, a guidance and a mercy to a people who believe. Do they wait now for aught but its interpreta tion ? — on the day when its interpretation shall come, 1 The fruits of Paradise. 144 THE QUR'AN. vii, 51-57. those who forgot it before will say, ' There did come to us the apostles of our Lord in truth, have we intercessors to intercede for us ? or, could we return, we would do otherwise than we did/ They have lost themselves, and that which they devised has strayed away from them. Verily, your Lord is God who created the heavens and the earth in six days ; then He made for the Throne1. He covers night with the day — it pur sues it incessantly — and the sun and the moon and the stars are subject to His bidding. Aye ! — His is the creation and the bidding, — blessed be God the Lord of the worlds !

Call on your Lord humbly and secretly, verily, He loves not the transgressors. And do not evil in the earth after it has been righted ; and call upon Him with fear and earnestness ; verily, the mercy of God is nigh unto those who do well. [55] He it is who sends forth the winds as heralds before His mercy; until when they lift the heavy cloud which we drive to a dead land, and send down thereon water, and bring forth therewith every kind of fruit ; — thus do we bring forth the dead ; haply ye may remember. And the good land brings forth its vegetation by the permission of its Lord ; and that which is vile brings forth naught but scarcity. Thus do we turn about our signs for a people who are grateful. We did send Noah unto his people, and he said, ( O my people ! serve God, ye have no god but Him ; verily, I fear for you the torment of the mighty day/ Said the chiefs of his people, ' Verily, 1 The highest heaven is so called. we do surely see you in obvious error.' Said he, 'O my people! there is no error in me; but I am an apostle from the Lord of the worlds. [60] I preach to you the messages of my Lord, and I give you sincere advice ; and I know from God what ye know not. What ! do ye wonder that there came to you a reminder from your Lord by a man from amongst yourselves, to warn you, and that ye may fear ? but haply ye may receive mercy.'