sixth, after paying the bequests he shall have bequeathed, and his debts. As
to your fathers, or your children, ye know not which of them is the most
advantageous to you. This is the law of God. Verily, God is Knowing, Wise!

Half of what your wives leave shall be your's, if they have no issue; but if
they have issue, then a fourth of what they leave shall be your's, after
paying the bequests they shall bequeath, and debts.

And your wives shall have a fourth part of what ye leave, if ye have no
issue; but if ye have issue, then they shall have an eighth part of what ye
leave, after paying the bequests ye shall bequeath, and debts.

If a man or a woman make a distant relation their heir, and he or she have a
brother or a sister, each of these two shall have a sixth; but if there are
more than this, then shall they be sharers in a third, after payment of the
bequests he shall have bequeathed, and debts,

Without loss to any one. This is the ordinance of God, and God is Knowing,
Gracious!

These are the precepts of God; and whoso obeyeth God and his prophet, him
shall God bring into gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow, therein to
abide for ever: and this, the great blessedness!

And whoso shall rebel against God and his apostle, and shall break His
bounds, him shall God place in the fire to abide therein for ever; and his
shall be a shameful torment.

If any of your women be guilty of whoredom, then bring four witnesses against
them from among yourselves; and if they bear witness to the fact, shut them
up within their houses till death release them,4 or God make some way for
them.

And if two men among you commit the same crime, then punish them both; but if
they turn and amend, then let them be: for God is He who turneth, Merciful!

With God himself will the repentance of those who have done evil ignorantly,
and then turn speedily unto Him, be accepted. These! God will turn unto
them:for God is Knowing, Wise!

But no place of repentance shall there be for those who do evil, until, when
death is close to one of them, he saith, "Now verily am I turned to God;" nor
to those who die unbelievers. These! we have made ready for them a grievous
torment!

O believers! it is not allowed you to be heirs of your wives against their
will; nor to hinder them from marrying, in order to take from them part of
the dowry you had given them, unless they have been guilty of undoubted
lewdness; but associate kindly with them: for if ye are estranged from them,
haply ye are estranged from that in which God hath placed abundant good.

And if ye be desirous to exchange one wife for another, and have given one of
them a talent, make no deduction from it. Would ye take it by slandering her,
and with manifest wrong?

How, moreover, could ye take it, when one of you hath gone in unto the other,
and they have received from you a strict bond of union?

And marry not women whom your fathers have married: for this is a shame, and
hateful, and an evil way: though what is past5 may be allowed.

Forbidden to you are your mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters, and
your aunts, both on the father and mother's side, and your nieces on the
brother and sister's side, and your foster-mothers, and your foster-sisters,
and the mothers of your wives, 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, it shall be no sin in you to marry them;) and the wives of your sons
who proceed out of your loins; and ye may not have two sisters; except where
it is already done. Verily, God is Indulgent, Merciful!

Forbidden to you also are married women, except those who are in your hands
as slaves: This is the law of God for you. And it is allowed you, beside
this, to seek out wives by means of your wealth, with modest conduct, and
without fornication. And give those with whom ye have cohabited their dowry.
This is the law. But it shall be no crime in you to make agreements over and
above the law. Verily, God is Knowing, Wise!

And whoever of you is not rich enough to marry free believing women, then let
him marry such of your believing maidens as have fallen into your hands as
slaves; God well knoweth your faith. Ye are sprung the one from the other.
Marry them, then, with the leave of their masters, and give them a fair
dower: but let them be chaste and free from fornication, and not entertainers
of lovers.

If after marriage they commit adultery, then inflict upon them half the
penalty enacted for free married women. This law is for him among you who is
afraid of doing wrong:6 but if ye abstain,7 it will be better for you. And
God is Lenient, Merciful.

God desireth to make this known to you, and to guide you into the ways of
those who have been before you, and to turn Him unto you in mercy. And God is
Knowing, Wise!

God desireth thus to turn him unto you: but they who follow their own lusts,
desire that with great swerving should ye swerve! God desireth to make your
burden light: for man hath been created weak.

O believers! devour not each other's substance in mutual frivolities;8 unless
there be a trafficking among you by your own consent: and commit not
suicide:-of a truth God is merciful to you.

And whoever shall do this maliciously and wrongfully, we will in the end cast
him into the fire; for this is easy with God.

If ye avoid the great sins which ye are forbidden, we will blot out your
faults, and we will cause you to enter Paradise with honourable entry.

Covet not the gifts by which God hath raised some of you above others. The
men shall have a portion according to their deserts, and the women a portion
according to their deserts. Of God, therefore, ask his gifts. Verily, God
hath knowledge of all things.

To every one have we appointed kindred, as heirs of what parents and
relatives, and those with whom ye have joined right hands in contract, leave.
Give therefore, to each their portion. Verily, God witnesseth all things.

Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God hath
gifted the one above the other, and on account of the outlay they make from
their substance for them. Virtuous women are obedient, careful, during the
husband's absence, because God hath of them been careful.9 But chide those
for whose refractoriness ye have cause to fear; remove them into beds apart,
and scourage them: but if they are obedient to you, then seek not occasion
against them: verily, God is High, Great!

And if ye fear a breach between man and wife, then send a judge chosen from
his family, and a judge chosen from her family: if they are desirous of
agreement, God will effect a reconciliation between them; verily, God is
knowing, apprised of all!

Worship God, and join not aught with Him in worship. Be good to parents,10
and to kindred, and to orphans, and to the poor, and to a neighbour, whether
kinsman or new-comer, and to a fellow traveller, and to the wayfarer, and to
the slaves whom your right hands hold; verily, God loveth not the proud, the
vain boaster,

Who are niggardly themselves, and bid others be niggards, and hide away what
God of his bounty hath given them. We have made ready a shameful chastisement
for the unbelievers,

And for those who bestow their substance in alms to be seen of men, and
believe not in God and in the last day. Whoever hath Satan for his companion,
an evil companion hath he!

But what blessedness would be theirs, if they should believe in God and in
the last day, and bestow alms out of what God hath vouchsafed them; for God
taketh knowledge of them!

God truly will not wrong any one of the weight of a mote; and if there be any
good deed, he will repay it doubly; and from his presence shall be given a
great recompense.

How! when we shall bring up against them witnesses from all peoples, and when
we shall bring thee up as witness against these? On that day they who were
Infidels and rebelled against the prophet, shall wish that the earth were
levelled with them! But nothing shall they hide from God.

O ye true believers,11 come not to prayer when ye are drunken, but wait till
ye can understand what ye utter; nor when ye are polluted, unless ye be
travelling on the road, until ye have washed you. If ye be sick, or on a
journey, or have come from the unclean place, or have touched a woman, and ye
find not water, then rub pure sand, and bathe your face and your hands with
it: verily, God is Lenient, Merciful.

Hast thou not remarked those12 to whom a part of the Scriptures hath been
given? Vendors are they of error, and are desirous that ye go astray from the
way. But God knoweth your enemies; and God is a sufficient patron, and God is
a sufficient helper!

Among the Jews are those who displace the words of their Scriptures, and say,
"We have heard, and we have not obeyed. Hear thou, but as one that heareth
not; and LOOK AT US;"13 perplexing with their tongues, and wounding the Faith
by their revilings.

But if they would say, "We have heard, and we obey; hear thou, and REGARD
US;" it were better for them, and more right. But God hath cursed them for
their unbelief. Few only of them are believers!

O ye to whom the Scriptures have been given! believe in what we have sent
down confirmatory of the Scripture which is in your hands, ere we efface your
features, and twist your head round backward, or curse you as we cursed the
sabbath-breakers:14 and the command of God was carried into effect.

Verily, God will not forgive the union of other gods with Himself! But other
than this will forgive to whom He pleaseth. And He who uniteth gods with God
hath devised a great wickedness.

Hast thou not marked those who hold themselves to be righteous? But God
holdeth righteous whom He will; and they shall not be wronged the husk of a
date stone.

Behold how they devise a lie of God! Therein is wickedness manifest enough!

Hast thou not observed those to whom a part of the Scriptures hath been
given?15 They believe in Djibt and Thagout, and say of the infidels, "These
are guided in a batter path than those who hold the faith."

These are they whom God hath cursed: and for him whom God hath cursed, thou
shalt by on means find a helper.

Shall they have a share in the kingdom who would not bestow on their fellow
men even the speck in a date stone?

Envy they other men what God of his bounty hath given them? We gave of old
the Scriptures and wisdom to the line of Abraham, and we gave them a grand
kingdom:

-Some of them believe on the prophet and some turn aside from him:-the flame
of Hell is their sufficing punishment!

Those who disbelieve our signs we will in the end cast into the fire: so oft
as their skins shall be well burnt,16 we will change them for fresh skins,
that they may taste the torment. Verily God is Mighty, Wise!

But as for those who have believed, and done the things that are right, we
will bring being them into gardens 'neath which the rivers flow therein to
abide eternally;-therein shall they have wives of stainless purity: and we
will bring them into aye-shadowing shades.

Verily, God enjoineth you to give back your trusts to their owners, and when
ye judge between men, to judge with fairness. Excellent is the practice to
which God exhorteth you. God Heareth, Beholdeth!

O ye who believe! obey God and obey the apostle, and those among you invested
with authority; and if in aught ye differ, bring it before God and the
apostle, if ye believe in God and in the latter day. This is the best and
fairest way of settlement.

Hast thou not marked those who profess that they believe in what hath been
sent down to thee, and what hath been sent down before thee? Fain would they
be judged before Thagout, though commanded not to believe in him; and fain
would Satan make them wander with wanderings wide of truth.

And when it is said to them, "Accede to that which God hath sent down, and to
the apostle," thou seest the hypocrites avert them from thee with utter
aversion.

But how, when some misfortune shall fortune them, for their previous
handywork? Then will they come to thee, swearing by God, "We desire nothing
but to promote good and concord!"

These are they whose hearts God knoweth. Therefore break off from them, and
warn them, speak words that may penetrate their souls.

We have not sent any apostle but to be obeyed, it God so will: but if they,
after they have sinned to their own hurt by unbelief, come to thee and ask
pardon of God, and the apostle ask pardon for them, they shall surely find
that God is He who turneth unto man, Merciful.

And they will not-I swear by thy Lord-they will not believe, until they have
set thee up as judge between them on points where they differ. Then shall
they not find in their own minds any difficulty in thy decisions, and shall
submit with entire submission.

Had we laid down such a law for them as "Kill yourselves, or abandon your
dwellings," but few of them would have done it. But had they done that to
which they were exhorted, better and it been for them, and stronger for the
confirmation of their faith.

In that case we had surely given them from ourself a great recompense, and on
the straight path should we surely have guided them.

And whoever shall obey God and the Apostle, these shall be with those of the
Prophets, and of the Sincere, and of the Martyrs, and of the Just, to whom
God hath been gracious. These are a goodly band!

This is the bounty of God; and in knowledge doth God suffice.

O ye who believe! make use of precautions; and advance in detachments, or ,
advance in a body.

There is of you who will be a laggard: and if a reverse befall you he saith,
"Now hath God dealt graciously with me, since I was not with you in the
fight:"

But if a success from God betide you, he will say, as if there had never been
any friendship between you and him, "Would I had been with them! a rich prize
should I have won!"

Let those then fight on the path of God, who barter this present life for
that which is to come; for whoever fighteth on God's path, whether he be
slain or conquer, we will in the end give him a great reward.

But what hath come to you that ye fight not on the path of God, and for the
weak among men, women and children, who say, "O our Lord! bring us forth from
this city17 whose inhabitants are oppressors; give us a champion from thy
presence; and give us from thy presence a defender."

They who believe, fight on the path of God; and they who believe not, fight
on the path of Thagout: Fight therefore against the friends of Satan. Verily
craft of Satan shall be powerless!

Hast thou not marked those to whom it was said, "Withhold your hands awhile
from war; and observe prayer, and pay the stated alms." But when war is
commanded them, lo! a portion of them fear men as with the fear of God, or
with a yet greater fear, and say: "O our Lord! why hast thou commanded us
war? Couldst thou not have given us respite till our not distant end?" SAY:
Small the fruition of this world; but the next life is the true good for him
who feareth God! and ye shall not be wronged so much as the skin of a date
stone.

Wherever ye be, death will overtake you-although ye be in lofty towers! If
good fortune betide them, they say, "This is from God;" and if evil betide
them, they say, "This is from thee." SAY: All is from God: But what hath come
to these people that they are not near to understanding what is told them?

Whatever good betideth thee is from God, and whatever betideth thee of evil
is from thyself; and we have sent thee to mankind as an apostle: God is thy
sufficing witness.

Whoso obeyeth the Apostle, in so doing obeyeth God: and as to those who turn
back from thee, we have not sent thee to be their keeper.

Moreover, they say: "Obedience!" but when they come forth from thy presence,
a party of them brood by night over other than thy words; but God writeth
down what they brood over: therefore separate thyself from them, and put thou
thy trust in God. is a sufficient protector!

Can they not consider the Koran? Were it from any other than God, they would
surely have found in it many contradictions.

And when tidings, either of security or alarm, reach them, they tell them
abroad; but if they would report them to the apostle, and to those who are in
authority among them, those who desire information would learn it from them.
But for the goodness and mercy of God towards you, ye would have followed
Satan except a few!

Fight, therefore, on God's path: lay not burdens on any but thyself; and stir
up the faithful. The might of the infidels haply will god restrain, for God
is the stronger in prowess, and the stronger to punish.

He who shall mediate between men for a good purpose shall be the gainer by
it. But he who shall mediate with an evil mediation shall reap the fruit of
it. And God keepeth watch over everything.

If ye are greeted with a greeting, then greet ye with a better greeting, or
at least return it: God taketh count of all things.

God! there is no god but He! He will certainly assemble you on the day of
resurrection. There is no doubt of it. And whose word is more true than
God's?

Why are ye two parties on the subject of the hypocrites, when God hath cast
them off for their doings? Desire ye to guide those whom god hath led astray?
But for him whom God leadeth astray, thou shalt by no means find a pathway.

They desire that ye should be infidels as they are infidels, and that ye
should be alike. Take therefore none of them for friends, till they have fled
their homes for the cause of God. If they turn back, then seize them, and
slay them wherever ye find them; but take none of them as friends or helpers,

Except those who shall seek and asylum among your allies, and those who come
over to you-their hearts forbidding them to make war on you, or to make war
on their own people. Had God pleased, he would have given them power against
you, and they would have made war upon you! But, if they depart from you, and
make not war against you and offer you peace, the God alloweth you no
occasion against them.

Ye will find others who seek to gain your confidence as well as that of their
own people: So oft as they return to sedition, they shall be overthrown in
it: But if they leave you not, nor propose terms or peace to you nor withhold
their hands, then seize them, and slay them, wherever ye find them. Over
these have we given you undoubted power.

A believer killeth not a believer but by mischance: and whoso killeth a
believer by mischance shall be bound to free a believer from slavery; and the
blood-money shall be paid to the family of the slain, unless they convert it
into alms. But if the slain believer be of a hostile people, then let him
confer freedom on a slave who is a believer; and if he be of a people between
whom and yourselves there is an alliance, then let the blood-money be paid to
his family, and let him set free a slave who is a believer: and let him who
hath not the means, fast two consecutive months. This is the penance enjoined
by God; and God is Knowing, Wise!

But whoever shall kill a believer of set purpose, his recompense shall be
hell; for ever shall he abide in it; God shall be wrathful with him, and
shall curse him, and shall get ready for him a great torment.

O believers! when ye go forth to the fight for the cause of God, be
discerning, and say not to every one who meeteth you with a greeting, "Thou
art not a believer"18 in your greed after the chance good things of this
present life! With God are abundant spoils. Such hath been your wont in times
past; but god hath been gracious to you. Be discerning, then, for God well
knoweth what ye do.

Those believers who sit at home free from trouble, and those who do valiantly
in the cause of God with their substance and their persons, shall not be
treated alike. God hath assigned to those who contend earnestly with their
persons and with their substance, a rank above those who sit at home. Goodly
promises hath He made to all. But God hath assigned to the strenuous a rich
recompense, above those who sit still at home,

Rank of his own bestowal, and forgiveness, and mercy; for God is Indulgent,
Merciful.

The angels,19 when they took the souls of those who had been unjust to their
own weal, demanded, "What hath been your state?"20 They said, "We were the
weak ones21 of the earth." They replied, "Was not God's earth broad enough
for you to flee away in?" These! their home shall be Hell, and evil the
passage to it-

Except the men and women and children who were not able, through their
weakness, to find the means of escape, and were not guided on their way.
These haply God will forgive: for God is Forgiving, Gracious.

Whoever flieth his country for the cause of God, will find in the earth many
under like compulsion, and abundant resources; and if any one shall quit his
home and fly to God and his apostle, and then death overtake him,-his reward
from God is sure: for God is Gracious, Merciful!

And when ye go forth to war in the land, it shall be no crime in you to cut
short your prayers,22 if ye fear lest the infidels come upon you; Verily, the
infidels are your undoubted enemies!

And when thou, O apostle! shalt be among them, and shalt pray with them, then
let a party of them rise up with thee, but let them take their arms; and when
they shall have made their prostrations, let them retire to your rear: then
let another party that hath not prayed come forward, and let them pray with
you; but let them take their precautions and their arms. Pleased would the
infidels be for you to neglect your arms and your baggage, that they might
turn upon you at once! And it shall be no crime in you to lay down your arms
if rain annoy you, or if ye be sick. But take your precautions.23 Verily, God
hath made ready a shameful torment for the infidels.

And when ye shall have ended the prayer, make mention of God, standing, and
sitting, and reclining: and as soon as ye are secure, observe prayer; for to
the faithful, prayer is a prescribed duty, and for stated hours.

Slacken not in pursuit of the foe. If ye suffer, assuredly they suffer also
as ye suffer; but ye hope from God for what they cannot hope! And God is
Knowing, Wise!

Verily, we have sent down the Book to thee with the truth, thou that mayest
judge between men according as God hath given thee insight: But with the
deceitful ones dispute not: and implore pardon of God. Verily, God is
Forgiving, Merciful.24

And plead not with us for those who are self-deceivers; for God loveth not
him who is deceitful, criminal.

From men they hide themselves; but they cannot hide themselves from God: and
when they hold nightly discourses which please Him not, He is with them. God
is round about their doings!

Oh! ye are they who plead in their favour in this present life; but who shall
plead with God for them on the day of the resurrection? Who will be the
guardian over them?

Yet he who doth evil, or shall have acted against his own weal, and then
shall ask pardon of God, will find God Forgiving, Merciful:

And whoever committeth a crime, committeth it to his own hurt. And God is
Knowing, Wise!

And whoever committeth an involuntary fault or a crime, and then layeth it on
the innocent, shall surely bear the guilt of calumny and of a manifest crime.

But for the grace and mercy of God upon thee, a party among them had resolved
to mislead thee, but they shall only mislead themselves; nor in aught shall
they harm thee. God hath caused the Book and the wisdom to descend upon thee:
and what thou knowest not He hath caused thee to know: and the grace of God
toward thee hath been great.

In most of their secret talk is nothing good; but only in his who enjoineth
almsgiving, or that which is right, or concord among men. Whoso doth this,
out of desire to please God, we will give him at the last a great reward:

But whoso shall sever himself from the prophet after that "the guidance" hath
been manifested to him, and shall follow any other path than that of the
faithful, we will turn our back on him as he hath turned his back on us, and
we will cast him into Hell;-an evil journey thither!

God truly will not forgive the joining other gods with Himself. Other sins He
will forgive to whom He will: but he who joineth gods with God, hath erred
with far-gone error.

They call, beside Him, upon mere goddesses! they invoke a rebel Satan!

On them is the malison of God. For he said, "A portion of thy servants will I
surely take, and will lead them astray, and will stir desires within them,
and will command them and they shall cut the ears of animals;25 and I will
command them, and they shall alter the creation of God."26 He who taketh
Satan rather than God for his patron, is ruined with palpable ruin:

He hath made them promises, and he hath stirred desires within them; but
Satan promiseth, only to beguile!

These! their dwelling Hell! no escape shall they find from it!

But they who believe and do the things that are right, we will bring them
into gardens beneath which the rivers flow; For ever shall they abide
therein. Truly it is the promise of God: And whose word is more sure than
God's?

Not according to your wishes, or the wishes of the people of the Book, shall
these things be. He who doth evil shall be recompensed for it. Patron or
helper, beside God, shall he find none.

But whoso doth the things that are right, whether male or female, and he or
she a believer,-these shall enter Paradise, nor shall they be wronged the
skin of a date stone.

And who hath a better religion than he who resigneth himself to God, who doth
what is good, and followeth the faith of Abraham in all sincerity? And God
took Abraham for his friend.

All that is in the Heavens and all that is on the Earth is God's: and God
encompasseth all things!

Moreover, they will consult thee in regard to women: SAY: God hath instructed
you about them; and His will is rehearsed to you, in the Book, concerning
female orphans to whom ye give not their legal due, and whom ye refuse to
marry; also with regard to weak children; and that ye deal with fairness
towards orphans. Ye cannot do a good action, but verily God knoweth it.

And if a wife fear ill usage or aversion on the part of her husband, then
shall it be no fault in them if they can agree with mutual agreement, for
agreement is best. Men's souls are prone to avarice; but if ye act kindly and
fear God, then, verily, your actions are not unnoticed by God!

And ye will not have it at all in your power to treat your wives alike, even
though you fain would do so; but yield not wholly to disinclination, so that
ye leave one of them as it were in suspense; if ye come to an understanding,
and fear God, then, verily, God is Forgiving, Merciful;

But if they separate, God can compensate both out of His abundance; for God
is Vast, Wise;

And whatever is in the Heavens and in the Earth is God's! We have already
enjoined those to whom the Scriptures were given before you, and yourselves,
to fear God. But if ye become unbelievers, yet know that whatever is in the
Heavens and in the Earth is God's: and God is Rich, Praiseworthy.

All that is in Heaven and all that is in Earth is God's! God is a sufficient
protector!

If he pleased, he could cause you to pass away, O mankind! and create others
in your stead: for this hath God power.

If any one desire the reward of this world, yet with God is the reward of
this world and of the next! And God Heareth, Beholdeth.

O ye who believe! stand fast to justice, when ye bear witness before God,
though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kindred, whether
the party be rich or poor. God is nearer than you to both. Therefore follow
not passion, lest ye swerve from truth. And if ye wrest your testimony or
stand aloof, God verily is well aware of what ye do.

O ye who believe! believe in God and his Apostle, and the Book which he hath
sent down to his Apostle, and the Book which he hath sent down aforetime.
Whoever believeth not on God and his Angels and his Books and his Apostles,
and in the last day, he verily hath erred with far-gone error.

Verily, they who believed, then became unbelievers, then believed, and again
became unbelievers, and then increased their unbelief-it is not God who will
forgive them or guide them into the way.

Announce27 to the hypocrites that a dolorous torment doth await them.

Those who take the unbelievers for friends besides the faithful-do they seek
honour at their hands? Verily, all honour belongeth unto God!

And already hath He sent this down to you in the Book28 "WHEN YE SHALL HEAR
THE SIGNS OF GOD THEY SHALL NOT BE BELIEVED BUT SHALL BE MOCKED AT." Sit ye
not therefore with such, until they engage in other discourse; otherwise, ye
will become like them. Verily God will gather the hypocrites and the infidels
all together in Hell.

They watch you narrowly. Then if God grant you a victory, they say, "Are we
not with you?" and if the infidels meet with a success, they say to them,
"Were we not superior to you: and did we not defend you from those
believers?" God shall judge betwixt ye on the day of the resurrection, and
God will by no means make a way for the infidels over the believers.

The hypocrites would deceive God, but He will deceive them! When they stand
up for prayer, they stand carelessly, to be seen of men, and they remember
God but little:

Wavering between the one and the other-belonging neither to these nor those!
and by no means shalt thou find a path for him whom God misleadeth.

O believers! take not infidels for friends rather than believers. Would ye
furnish God with clear right to punish you?

Verily the hypocrites shall be in the lowest abyss of the fire: and, by no
means shalt thou find a helper for them;

Save for those who turn and amend, and lay fast hold on God, and approve the
sincerity of their religion to God; these shall be numbered with the
faithful, and God will at last bestow on the faithful a great reward.

Why should God inflict a chastisement upon you, if ye are grateful, and
believe? God is Grateful, Wise!

God loveth not that evil be matter of public talk, unless any one hath been
wronged: God it is who Heareth, Knoweth!

Whether ye publish what is good, or conceal it, or pardon evil, verily God is
Pardoning, Powerful!

Of a truth they who believe not on God and his Apostles, and seek to separate
God from his Apostles, and say, "Some we believe, and some we believe not,"
and desire to take a middle way;

These! they are veritable infidels! and for the infidels have we prepared a
shameful punishment.

And they who believe on God and his Apostles, and make no difference between
them these! we will bestow on them their reward at last. God is Gracious,
Merciful!

The people of the Book will ask of thee to cause a Book to come down unto
them out of Heaven. But a greater thing than this did they ask of Moses! for
they said, "Shew us God plainly!" and for this their wickedness did the fire-
storm lay hold on them. Then took they the calf as the object of their
worship, after that our clear tokens had come to them; but we forgave them
this, and conferred on Moses undoubted power.

And we uplifted the mountain 29 over them when we made a covenant with them,
and we said to them, "Enter the gate adoring:"and we said to them,
"Transgress not on the Sabbath," and we received from them a strict covenant.

So, for that they have broken their covenant, and have rejected the signs of
God, and have put the prophets to death unjustly, saying the while, "Our
hearts are uncircumcised,"-Nay, but God hath sealed them up for their
unbelief, so that but few believe.

And for their unbelief,-and for their having spoken against Mary a grievous
calumny,-

And for their saying, "Verily we have slain the Messiah, Jesus the son of
Mary, an Apostle of God." Yet they slew him not, and they crucified him not,
but they had only his likeness.30 And they who differed about him were in
doubt concerning him: No sure knowledge had they about him, but followed only
an opinion, and they did not really slay him, but God took him up to Himself.
And God is Mighty, Wise!

There shall not be one of the people of the Book but shall believe in Him
before his death, and in the day of resurrection, He will be a witness
against them.

For the wickedness of certain Jews, and because they turn many from the way
of God, we have forbidden them goodly viands which had been before allowed
them.

And because they have taken usury, though they were forbidden it, and have
devoured men's substance in frivolity, we have got ready for the infidels
among them a grievous torment.

But their men of solid knowledge, and the believers who believe in that which
hath been sent down to thee, and in what hath been sent down before thee, and
who observe prayer, and pay the alms of obligation, and believe in God and
the latter day,-these! we will give them a great reward.

Verily we have revealed to thee as we revealed to Noah and the Prophets after
him, and as we revealed to Abraham, and Ismaël, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the
tribes, and Jesus, and Job, and Jonah, and Aaron, and Solomon; and to David
gave we Psalms.

Of some apostles we have told thee before: of other apostles we have not told
thee-And discoursing did God discourse with Moses-

Apostles charged to announce and to warn, that men, after those apostles,
might have no plea against God. And God is Mighty, Wise!

But God is himself witness of what He hath sent down to thee: In His
knowledge hath He sent it down to thee. The angels are also its witnesses:
but God is a sufficient witness!

Verily, they who believe not and pervert from the way of God, have indeed
erred with error wide of truth.

Verily, those who believe not, and act wrongfully, God will never pardon, and
never will he guide them on path,

Than the path to Hell, in which they shall abide for ever! And this is easy
for God.

O men! now hath an apostle come to you with truth from your Lord. Believe
then, it will be better for you. But if ye believe not, then, all that is in
the Heavens and the Earth is God's; and God is Knowing, Wise!

O ye people of the Book! overstep not bounds in your religion;31 and of God,
speak only truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of God,
and his Word which he conveyed into Mary, and a Spirit32 proceeding from
himself. Believe therefore in God and his apostles, and say not, "Three:"
(there is a Trinity)-Forbear-it will be better for you. God is only one God!
Far be it from His glory that He should have a son! His, whatever is in the
Heavens, and whatever is in the Earth! And God is a sufficient Guardian.

The Messiah disdaineth not to be a servant of God, nor do the angels who are
nigh unto Him.

And whoso disdaineth His service, and is filled with pride, God will gather
them all to Himself.

And to those who believe and do the things that are right, will He pay them
their due recompense, and out of His bounty will He increase them: but as for
those who are disdainful and proud, with a grievous chastisement will He
chastise them;

And none beside God shall they find to protect or to help them.

O men! now hath a proof come to you from your Lord, and we have sent down to
you a clear light. As to those who believe in God and lay fast hold on Him,
these will He cause to enter into his mercy and grace, and along the straight
way unto Himself will He guide them.

They will consult thee. SAY: God instructeth you as to distant kindred. If a
man die childless, but have a sister, half what he shall have shall be her's;
and if she die childless he shall be her heir. But if there be two sisters,
two-third parts of what he shall have shall be theirs; and if there be both
brothers and sisters, the male shall have the portion of two females. God
teacheth you plainly, that ye err not! God knoweth all things.

_______________________

1 Most of the events alluded to in this Sura fall between the end of the
third and the close of the fifth year after the Flight to Medina.

2 Muhammad assumed to himself the privilege of having a yet greater number of
wives. But in doing so, he was probably actuated by a desire for male
offspring. Chadijah was his only wife until quite a late period of his
career. Comp. Arbah Turim. Ev. Hazaer 1, "A man may marry many wives, for
Rabba saith it is lawful to do so, if he can provide for them. Nevertheless,
the wise men have given good advice, that a man should not marry more than
four wives." See also Yad Hachazakah Hilchoth Ishuth. 14, 3.

3 Verses 8 and 12 are said by the commentators to have been revealed in
consequence of the complaints of Omm Kuhha that, in accordance with the ante-
Islamitic custom, she had been excluded from any portion of her deceased
husband's property. The unsatisfactory nature of the Muhammadan traditions
may be inferred from the fact, that no less than six different names are
assigned to him. It is, however, probable that these and similar laws
relative to inheritances were given at a time when many heads of families had
fallen, as at Ohod, in battle. This remark applies to verses 33-45.

4 Women found guilty of adultery and fornication were punished at the first
rise of Islam, by being literally immured. But this was exchanged, in the
case of a maiden, for one year's banishment and 100 stripes; and in the case
of a married woman, for stoning.

5 What took place in the times of ignorance, previous to the revelation of
the Koran. See Freytag's Einl. p. 201, as to the incestuous nature of the
ante-Islamitic Arabian marriages.

6 By marrying without means adequate to the support of a free wife, or by
remaining single.

7 From marrying slaves.

8 Games of chance, usury, etc.

9 By providing for them a home and the protection of a husband. Or, of that
which God would have them care for.

10 An undutiful child is very seldom heard of among the Egyptians, or the
Arabs in general. Sons scarcely ever sit, or sit, or eat, or smoke, in the
presence of the father unless bidden to do so; and they often wait upon him
and upon his guests at meals and on other occasions: they do not cease to act
thus when they have become men. Lane's Mod. Egypt. vol. i. p. 69.

11 The Koranic precepts as to prayer savour of Jewish origin. Thus, "Prayer
should be said standing" is a Rabbinic precept.-Comp. Sura [xci.] ii. 240.-
Misch.Berachoth 10-may be shortened in dangerous places, ib. iv. 10-is
forbidden to the drunken, ib. 31, 2. Erubin, 64-and to the polluted;
Berachoth iii. 4-and is to be preceded, in this case, by washings with water
or sand. See Sura xvii. 110, note 2, p. 173. 1 Cor. xi. 21.

12 The Jews and their Rabbis.

13 See Sura [xci.] ii. 98.

14 Lit. the companions of the sabbath. See [xci.] ii. 61.

15 This refers to certain renegade Jews, who out of hatred against Muhammad,
went over to the Koreisch. See Nöldeke. p. 149.

16 Lit. ripened.

17 Mecca.

18 And therefore a fit subject for plunder.

19 Some of the Meccans after embracing Islam did not thoroughly break with
the infidels and fly their country. These persons were miraculously slain by
angels at Bedr. Others suppose the angels to be Nakir and Monkir, who examine
the dead in the grave.

20 That is, to what religion did ye belong?

21 And therefore could not resist the unbelievers.

22 Thus the Rabbins Tr. Berachoth, iv. 4, "He that goeth in a dangerous place
may pray a short prayer."

23 See Mischna Tr. Berachoth, 10.

24 This verse is said to have been revealed when Muhammad was about to acquit
a Muslim who had committed theft, and laid the guilt at the door of a Jew.
But the particulars are given in a very contradictory manner. See Nöldeke, p.
151.

25 In allusion to an idolatrous and superstitious custom of the old Arabians.

26 By the mutilation of slaves, branding their bodies, filing the teeth, etc.

27 See Sura lxxxiv. 24, p. 47, note.

28 Sura vi.

29 See Sura [xci.] ii.7.

30 Lit. one was made to appear to them like (Jesus). Comp. [xcvii.] iii.48.
Photius, Bibl. Cod. cxiv.says that the Apocr. Book, [Greek text]-This
individual according to the Basilidans was-Simon of Cyrene; according to the
Evang. Barnab‘, Judas.-Mani, Ep. Fund. ap. Evodium: "Princeps itaque
tenebrarum cruci est affixus, idemque coronam spineam portavit."

31 By believing too much, like the Christians who regarded Jesus as God; or
too little, like the Jews who would not believe on Muhammad.

32 That is, a Being possessing a Spirit.

SURA LXV.-DIVORCE1 [CI.]

MECCA.-12 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O PROPHET! when ye divorce women, divorce them at their special times. And
reckon those times exactly, and fear God your Lord. Put them not forth from
their houses, nor allow them to depart, unless they have committed a proven
adultery. This is the precept of God; and whoso transgresseth the precept of
God, assuredly imperilleth his own self. Thou knowest not whether, after
this, God may not cause something new to occur which may bring you together
again.

And when they have reached their set time, then either keep them with
kindness, or in kindness part from them. And take upright witnesses from
among you, and bear witness as unto God. This is a caution for him who
believeth in God and in the latter day. And whoso feareth God, to him will He
grant a prosperous issue, and will provide for him whence he reckoned not
upon it.

And for him who putteth his trust in Him will God be all-sufficient. God
truly will attain his purpose. For everything hath God assigned a period.

As to such of your wives as have no hope of the recurrence of their times, if
ye have doubts in regard to them, then reckon three months, and let the same
be the term of those who have not yet had them. And as to those who are with
child, their period shall be until they are delivered of their burden. God
will make His command easy to him who feareth Him.

This is God's command which He hath sent down to you: Whoso feareth God, his
evil deeds will He cancel and will increase his reward.

Lodge the divorced wherever ye lodge, according to your means; and distress
them not by putting them to straits. And if they are pregnant, then be at
charges for the them till they are delivered of their burden; and if they
suckle your children, then pay them their hire and consult among yourselves,
and act generously: And if herin ye meet with obstacles, then let another
female suckle for him.

Let him who hath abundance of his abundance; let him, too, whose store is
scanty, give of what God hath vouchsafed to him. God imposeth burdens only
according to the means which He hath given. God will cause ease to succeed
difficulties.

How many cities have turned aside from the command of their Lord and of his
apostles! Therefore did we reckon with them in a severe reckoning, and
chastised them with a stern chastisement;

And they tasted the harmfulness of their own conduct: and the end of their
conduct was ruin.

A vehement chastisement hath God prepared for them! Fear God, then, O ye men
of understanding!2

Believers! Now hath God sent down to you a warning! a prophet, who reciteth
to you the clear signs of God, that he may bring those who believe, and do
the things that are right, out of the darkness into the light. And-whoso
believeth in God, and doeth the things that are right, God will cause them to
enter the gardens beneath which the rivers flow, to remain therein for aye! A
goodly provision now hath God made for him.

It is God who hath created seven heavens and as many earths.3 The Divine
command cometh down through them all, that ye may know that God hath power
over all things, and that God in his knowledge embraceth all things!

_______________________

1 Comp. Sura [xci.] ii. 228, which this Sura is perhaps intended to
supplement. Wahidi and Beidhawi state that it was revealed on account of Ibn
Omar who had divorced his wife at improper time, and was obliged to take her
again.

2 In order to make good the rhyme, verse 10 ought to be continued to the end
of the first clause of verse II.

3 Lit. and of the earth, their likes. The style of this verse resembles that
of the Meccan Suras. Hence, probably; a tradition in Omar ben Muhammad makes
the whole Sura Meccan.

SURA LIX.-THE EMIGRATION [CII.]

MEDINA.-24 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

ALL that is in the Heavens and all that is on the Earth praiseth God! He, the
Mighty, the Wise!

He it is who caused the unbelievers among the people of the Book to quit
their homes and join those who had EMIGRATED previously.1 Ye did not think
that they would quit them; and they on their part thought that their
fortresses would protect them against God: But God came upon them whence they
looked not for Him, and cast such fear into their hearts that by their own
hands as well as by the hands of the victorious believers they demolished
their houses! Profit by this example ye who are men of insight!

And were it not that God had decreed their exile, surely in this world would
he have chastised them: but in the world to come the chastisement of the fire
awaiteth them.

This because they set them against God and his apostle; and whoso setteth him
against God. . . . ! God truly is vehement in punishing.

Your cutting down some of their palm trees and sparing others was by God's
permission, and to put the wicked to shame.

After the spoils of these Jews which God hath assigned to his apostle, ye
pressed not with horse or camel.2 But God giveth his apostles power over what
he will. God is Almighty.

The spoil taken from the people of the towns and assigned by God to his
apostle, belongeth to God, and to the apostle, and to his kindred, and to the
orphan, and to the poor, and to the wayfarer, that none of it may circulate
among such of you only as are rich: What the apostle hath given you, take:
What he hath refused you, refuse: And fear ye God, for God is severe in
punishing.

To the poor refugees (Mohadjerin) also doth a part belong, who have been
driven from their homes and their substance, and who seek favour from God and
his goodwill, and aid God and his apostle. These are the men of genuine
virtue.

They of Medina who had been in possession of their abodes and embraced the
faith before them, cherish those who take refuge with them; and they find not
in their breasts any desire for what hath fallen to their share: they prefer
them before themselves, though poverty be their own lot. And with such as are
preserved from their own covetousness shall it be well.

And they who have come after them into the faith say, "O our Lord! forgive us
and our brethren who have preceded us in the faith, and put not into our
hearts ill-will against those who believe. O our Lord! thou verily art Kind,
Merciful."

Hast thou not observed the disaffected saying to their unbelieving brethren3
among the people of the Book, "If ye be driven forth, we will go forth with
you; and in what concerneth you, never will we obey any one; and if ye be
attacked we will certainly come to your help." But God is witness that they
are liars.

No! if they were driven forth, they would not share their banishment; if they
were attacked they would not help them, or if they help them they will surely
turn their backs: then would they remain unhelped.

Assuredly the fear of you is more intense in their hearts than the fear of
God! This because they are a people devoid of discernment.

They (the Jews) will not fight against you in a body except in fenced towns
or from behind walls. Mighty is their valour among themselves! thou thinkest
them united-but their hearts are divided. This for that they are a people who
understand not.

They act like those who lately preceded them,4 who also tasted the result of
their doings; and a grievous chastisement awaiteth them-

Like Satan when he saith to a man, "Be an infidel:" and when he hath become
an infidel, he saith, "I share not thy guilt:5 verily, I fear God the Lord of
the Worlds."

Of both, therefore, shall the end be that they dwell for ever in the fire:
This is the recompense of the evil doers.

O ye who believe! fear God. And let every soul look well to what it sendeth
on before for the morrow. And fear ye God: Verily, God is cognisant of what
ye do.

And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to
forget their proper selves. Such men are the evil doers.

The inmates of the Fire and the inmates of Paradise are not to be held equal.
The inmates of Paradise only shall be the blissful.

Had we sent down this Koran on some mountain, thou wouldst certainly have
seen it humbling itself6 and cleaving asunder for the fear of God. Such are
the parables we propose to men in order that they may reflect.

He is God beside whom there is no god. He knoweth things visible and
invisible: He is the Compassionate, the Merciful.

He is God beside whom there is no god: He is the King, the Holy, the
Peaceful, the Faithful, the Guardian, the Mighty, the Strong, the Most High!
Far be the Glory of God from that which they unite with Him!

He is God, the Producer, the Maker, the Fashioner! To Him are ascribed
excellent titles. Whatever is in the Heavens and in the Earth praiseth Him.
He is the Mighty, the Wise!

_______________________

1 The Jews of Nadhir, three miles from Medina, had broken a treaty made with
Muhammad, and in the month RabŒ of the fourth year of the Hejira were
besieged by him and driven first to the Jews of Kainoka, who had emigrated
previously, under compulsion, after the battle of Bedr, and subsequently out
of Arabia. Weil, Life of M. p.137.n.

2 On which account these spoils were entirely assigned to Muhammad, and not
divided in the usual manner. See Sura [xcv.] viii. 42. Weil, p. 138, 184.

3 To the Jews of the tribe of Nadhir.

4 The idolaters slain at Bedr (Djal.) or the Jews of Kainoka, who had been
plundered previously to those of Nadhir.

5 Lit. I am clear of thee.

6 This may be derived from the Rabbinical idea that Mount Sinai was chosen,
on account of its lowness, to be the scene of the revelation to Moses, in
order to shew that God loves the humble.

SURA XXXIII.-THE CONFEDERATES1 [CIII.]

MEDINA.-73 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O PROPHET, fear thou God, and obey not the unbelievers and the hypocrites;-
Truly God is Knowing, Wise:

But follow what is revealed to thee from thy Lord: Cognisant truly is He of
all your actions-

And put thou thy trust in God, for a sufficient guardian is God.

God hath not given a man two hearts within him; neither hath he made your
wives whom ye divorce2 to be as your mothers; nor hath he made your adopted
sons to be as your own sons. Such words are indeed in your mouths; but God
speaketh the truth, and in the right way He guideth.

Name them after their fathers: this will be more right before God. But if ye
know not who their fathers are, then let them be your brethren in the faith,
and your comrades. And unless made with intent of heart, mistakes in this
matter shall be no crime in you: for God is Lenient, Merciful.

Nearer of kin to the faithful is the Prophet, than they are to their own
selves. His wives are their mothers. According to the Book of God, they who
are related by blood, are nearer the one to the other than other believers,
and than those who have fled their country3 for the cause of God: but
whatever kindness ye shew to your kindred, shall be noted down in the Book.

And remember that we have entered into covenant with the Prophets, and with
thee, and with Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus, Son of Mary: and we
formed with them a strict covenant,

That God may question the men of truth as to their truth.4 But a sore torment
hath He prepared for the unbelievers.

O believers!5 remember the goodness of God towards you, when the armies came
against you, and we sent against them a blast, and hosts that ye saw not; for
the eye of God was upon your doings:

When they assailed you from above you, and from below you,6 and when your
eyes became distracted, and your hearts came up into your throat, and ye
thought divers thoughts of God:

Then were the faithful tried, and with strong quaking did they quake:

And when the disaffected and the diseased7 of heart said, "God and his
Apostle have made us but a cheating promise:"

And when a party of them said, "O people of Yathrib!8 there is no place of
safety for you here;9 therefore return into the city." And another party of
you asked the prophet's leave to return, saying, "Our houses are left
defenceless." No! they were not left defenceless: but their sole thought was
to flee away.

If the enemy had effected an entry at all points, and they (the disaffected)
had been asked to promote confusion, they would have done so; but only a
short time would they have remained in it.-(Medina).10

They had before pledged themselves to God that they would not turn their
backs; and a pledge given to God must be enquired of.

SAY: Flight shall not profit you; if ye have fled the death or the slaughter,
yet even then, but a little while shall ye enjoy your good things!

SAY: Who is he that will screen you from God, whether He choose to bring evil
on you, or to shew you mercy? None beside God shall they find to be their
patron or helper.

God well knoweth those among you who cause hindrances, and those who say to
their brethren, "Come hither to us;" and who come not to the fight except a
little.

It is out of covetousness in your regard: for when an alarm cometh, thou
mayest see them look to thee, and roll their eyes like him on whom the
shadows of death have fallen! Yet, when the alarm is passed, with sharp
tongues will they assail you, covetous of the best of the spoil. No faith
have these! God will make their doings of no avail! And easy is this with
God.

They thought that the CONFEDERATES would never retire:11 and were the
confederates to come again, they would fain be dwelling among the Arabs of
the desert, and there ask news about you! for though they were with you, they
fought not except a little.

A noble pattern had ye in God's Apostle, for all who hope in God, and in the
latter day, and oft remember God!

And when the faithful saw the confederates, they said, "This is what God and
His Apostle promised us,12 and God and His Apostle spoke truly:" and it only
increased their faith and self-devotion.

Some were there among the faithful who made good what they had promised to
God. Some have fulfilled their course, and others await its fulfilment, and
have not been changelings who change-

That God may reward the faithful for their faithfulness, and may punish the
hypocrites, if He so please, or be turned unto them: for God is Forgiving,
Merciful.

And God drove back the infidels in their wrath; they won no advantage; God
sufficed the faithful in the fight: for God is Strong, Mighty!

And He caused those of the people of the Book (the Jews), who had aided the
confederates, to come down out of their fortresses, and cast dismay into
their hearts: some ye slew, others ye took prisoners.13

And He gave you their land, and their dwellings, and their wealth, for an
heritage-even a land on which ye had never set foot: for the might of God is
equal to all things.

O Prophet! say to thy wives,14 If ye desire this present life and its
braveries, come then, I will provide for you, and dismiss you with an
honourable dismissal.

But if ye desire God and His Apostle, and a home in the next life, then,
truly, hath God prepared for those of you who are virtuous, a great reward.

O wives of the Prophet! should any of you be guilty of a proven lewdness,
doubly shall her chastisement be doubled: and with God this is easy.

But whoever of you shall obey God and His Apostle, and shall do that which is
right, twice over will we give her her reward, and we have prepared for her a
noble provision.

O wives of the Prophet! ye are not as other women. If ye fear God, be not too
complaisant of speech, lest the man of unhealthy heart should lust after you,
but speak with discreet speech.

And abide still in your houses, and go not in public decked as in the days of
your former ignorance,15 but observe prayer, and pay the impost, and obey God
and the Apostle: for God only desireth to put away filthiness from you16 as
his household, and with cleansing to cleanse you.

And recollect what is rehearsed to you in your houses of the Book of God, and
of wisdom: for God is keen-sighted, cognisant of all.

Truly the men who resign themselves to God (Muslims), and the women who
resign themselves, and the believing men and the believing women, and the
devout men and the devout women, and the men of truth, and the women of
truth, and the patient men and the patient women, and the humble men and the
humble women, and the men who give alms and the women who give alms, and the
men who fast and the women who fast, and the chaste men and the chaste women,
and the men and the women who oft remember God: for them hath God prepared
forgiveness and a rich recompense.

And it is not for a believer, man or woman, to have any choice in their
affairs, when God and His Apostle have decreed a matter: and whoever
disobeyeth God and His Apostle, erreth with palpable error.

And, remember, when thou saidst to him unto whom God had shewn favour,17 and
to whom thou also hadst shewn favour, "Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear
God;" and thou didst hide in thy mind what God would bring to light.18 and
thou didst fear man; but more right had it been to fear God. And when Zaid
had settled concerning her to divorce her, we married her to thee, that it
might not be a crime in the faithful to marry the wives of their adopted
sons, when they have settled the affair concerning them. And the behest of
God is to be performed.

No blame attacheth to the prophet where God hath given him a permission. Such
was the way of God with those prophets who flourished before thee; for God's
behest is a fixed decree-

Who fulfilled the mission with which God had charged them,19 and feared Him,
and feared none but God. And God taketh a sufficient account.

Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Apostle of
God, and the seal of the prophets: and God knoweth all things.

O Believers! remember God with frequent remembrance, and praise Him morning
and evening.

He blesseth you, and His angels intercede for you, that He may bring you
forth out of darkness into light: and Merciful is He to the Believers.

Their greeting on the day when they shall meet Him shall be "Peace!" And He
hath got ready for them a noble recompense.

O Prophet ! we have sent thee to be a witness, and a herald of glad tidings,
and a warner;

And one who, through His own permission, summoneth to God, and a light-giving
torch.

Announce, therefore, to believers, that great boons do await them from God;

And obey not the Infidels and Hypocrites-yet abstain from injuring them: and
put thou thy trust in God, for God is a sufficient guardian.

O Believers! when ye marry believing women, and then divorce them before ye
have consummated the marriage, ye have no term prescribed you, which ye must
fulfil towards them: provide for them, and dismiss them with a reputable
dismissal.

O Prophet! we allow thee thy wives whom thou hast dowered, and the slaves
whom thy right hand possesseth out of the booty which God hath granted thee,
and the daughters of thy uncle, and of thy paternal and maternal aunts who
fled with thee to Medina, and any believing woman who hath given herself up
to the Prophet, if the Prophet desired to wed her-a Privilege for thee above
the rest of the Faithful.

We well know what we have settled for them, in regard to their wives and to
the slaves whom their right hands hold, that there may be no fault on thy
part:20 and God is Indulgent, Merciful!

Thou mayst decline for the present whom thou wilt of them, and thou mayest
take to thy bed her whom thou wilt, and whomsoever thou shalt long for of
those thou shalt have before neglected; and this shall not be a crime in
thee. Thus will it be easier to give them the desire of their eyes, and not
to put them to grief, and to satisfy them with what thou shalt accord to each
of them. God knoweth what is in your hearts, and God is Knowing, Gracious.

It is not permitted thee to take other wives hereafter,21 nor to change thy
present wives for other women, though their beauty charm thee, except slaves
whom thy right hand shall possess.22 And God watcheth all things.

O Believers! enter not into the houses of the Prophet,23 save by his leave,
for a meal, without waiting his time. When ye are invited then enter, and
when ye have eaten then disperse at once.24 And engage not in familiar talk,
for this would cause the Prophet trouble, and he would be ashamed to bid you
go; but God is not ashamed to say the truth. And when ye would ask any gift
of his wives, ask it from behind a veil. Purer will this be for your hearts
and for their hearts. And ye must not trouble the Apostle of God, nor marry
his wives, after him, for ever. This would be a grave offence with God.

Whether ye bring a matter to the light or hide it, God truly hath knowledge
of all things.

No blame shall attach to them (your wives) for speaking to their fathers
unveiled, or to their sons, or to their brothers, or to their brothers' sons,
or to their sisters' sons, or to their women, or to the slaves whom their
right hands hold. And fear ye God: for God witnesseth all things.

Verily, God and His Angels bless the Prophet! Bless ye Him, O Believers, and
salute Him with salutations of Peace.

Verily, they who affront God and His Apostle, the curse of God is on them in
this world, and in the world to come: and He hath prepared for them a
shameful chastisement.

And they who shall affront believing men and believing women, for no fault of
theirs, they shall surely bear the guilt of slander, and of a clear wrong.

O Prophet! speak to thy wives and to thy daughters,25 and to the wives of the
Faithful, that they let their veils fall low. Thus will they more easily be
known, and they will not be affronted. God is Indulgent, Merciful!

If the Hypocrites, and the men of tainted heart, and the stirrers of sedition
in Medina desist not, we will surely stir thee up against them. Then shall
they not be suffered to dwell near thee therein, but a little while:

Cursed wherever they are found; they shall be seized and slain with
slaughter!

Such hath been the way of God with those who lived before them; and no change
canst thou find in the way of God.

Men will ask thee of "the Hour." SAY: The knowledge of it is with God alone:
and who can tell thee whether haply the Hour be not nigh at hand?

Verily, God hath cursed the Infidels, and hath got ready for them the flame:

For aye shall they abide therein; none to befriend them, no helper shall they
find!

On the day when their faces shall be rolled in the fire, they shall cry: "Oh!
would that we had obeyed God, and obeyed the Apostle!"

And they shall say: "Oh our Lord! indeed we obeyed our chiefs and our great
ones, and they misled us from the way of God-

O our Lord! give them a double chastisement, and curse them with a heavy
curse."

O Believers! be not like those who affronted Moses.26 But God cleared him
from what they said of him, and of God was he highly esteemed.

O Believers! fear God, and speak with well-guided speech.

That God may bless your doings for you, and forgive you your sins. And whoso
obeyeth God and His Apostle with great bliss shall be blessed.

Verily, we proposed to the Heavens, and to the Earth, and to the Mountains to
receive the Faith, but they refused the burden, and they feared to receive
it. Man undertook to bear it, but hath proved unjust, senseless!

Therefore will God punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women,
and the men and the women who join gods with God; but to the believing men
and women will God turn him: for God is Indulgent, Merciful!

_______________________

1 Medina was besieged, when this Sura was revealed, by certain confederate
tribes at the instigation of the Jews, an. Hej. 5. The first nine verses,
however, have no immediate reference to this event, but to Muhammad's
cotemporary marriage with Zeinab. See below, verse 37.

2 The Arabians had been accustomed, before the time of Muhammad, to divorce
their wives with the words,-thy back be to me as the back of my mother. The
drift and motive of this passage is explained by verse 37 below. It had also
been the custom to hold adopted sons to be as nearly related to them as their
natural ones. See Sura lviii. 2, p. 451.

3 The Mohadjers-those who had emigrated with Muhammad from Mecca. This verse
abrogates Sura [xcv.] viii. 73.

4 How they have discharged their prophetic functions.

5 Verses 9-33 have reference to the events of the year Hej. 5, towards the
close. See next note. His. 688; Waq. 4 f.

6 In the engagement which took place under the walls of Medina, some of the
enemy were posted on a height to the east of the city, others in a valley on
the west. The besiegers were 12,000, the Muslims 3,000 strong, when a violent
storm, which upset the tents, put out the camp fires, and blinded the eyes of
the confederates with sand, turned the scale of victory against them.
Muhammad ascribes the storm to angelic agency.

7 That is, with infidelity.

8 The ancient name of El-Medina.

9 In the trenches which had been dug around the city by the advice of Salmân,
the Persian.

10 They would speedily have quitted the city to attack the faithful in the
trenches.

11 That is, raise the siege.

12 That is, that through trials we should attain to Paradise, v. 29.

13 After the siege of Medina had been raised, Muhammad made a successful
expedition against the Jews of Koreidha, for their treason and violation of
treaties.

14 Muhammad's wives having caused him much annoyance by demands of rich
dresses, etc., he gave them the choice of continuing with him as before, or
of divorce. They chose the former. See Abulfeda's Hist. Moh. p. 77, and
Gagnier's Vie de Moh. i. 4, chap. ii.

15 That is, Idolatry. Acts xvii. 30. Freytag (Einl. p. 453) thinks that
previous to Islam, the Arabian women went in public unveiled.

16 The pronoun is in the pl. masc., whereas the pl. fem. is used in the
previous part of the verse. The partisans of Ali quote this passage to prove
the intimate union of Ali and his posterity with the Prophet.

17 That is, to Zaid. The favour of God to Zaid consisted in having caused him
to become a Muslim: the favour of Muhammad in adopting him as his son. Zaid
and Abu Lahab (Sura cxi. p. 29) are the only contemporaries of Muhammad
mentioned by name in the Koran.

18 Thy plan to obtain Zeinab, or Zenobia, Zaid's wife, as thy wife.

19 Lit, who brought the messages of God.

20 If thou makest use of the special prerogative (conferred in verse 49).

21 He had nine wives at this period, beside slaves. The number of wives
allowed to the faithful is four. See note, p. 411. 22 The first slave whom
Muhammad took to wife was Raihana, at the conquest of the Banu Koreidha. His.
693. Weil, 170.

23 Verses 53-55 refer to the conduct of the guests at Muhammad's house after
his marriage with Zeinab. Albuhari passim. Muslim i. 824 ff. Wah. Comp.
Caussir, iii. 151.

24 Ullmann, p. 263, quotes a similar precept from the Talmud, "Do all that
the master of the house biddeth, but wait not to be asked to depart."

25 This verse cannot be of later date than Hej. 8, when Muhammad's daughter
Omm Kulthum died. leaving only Fatima.

26 This may refer to the charge of adultery said by the Rabbins to have been
brought by Korah against Moses. Comp. Tr. Sanhedrin, fol. 110a. and Numbers
xii. 1. The verse is said to have been revealed on account of aspersions
thrown on Muhammad for unfairly dividing spoils, whereupon he said, "God be
merciful to my brother Moses. He was wronged more than this, and bore it with
patience."

SURA LXIII.1-THE HYPOCRITES [CIV.]

MEDINA.-11 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHEN the Hypocrites come to thee, they say, "We bear witness that thou art
the Sent One of God." God knoweth that thou art His Sent One: but God beareth
witness that the HYPOCRITES do surely lie.

Their faith2 have they used as a cloak, and they turn aside others from the
way of God! Evil are all their doings.

This, for that they believed, then became unbelievers!Therefore hath a seal
been set upon their hearts, and they understand not.

When thou seest them, their persons make thee marvel; and if they speak, thou
listenest with pleasure to their discourse. Like timbers are they leaning
against a wall!3 They think that every shout is against them. They are
enemies-Beware of them then-God do battle with them! How false are they!

And when it is said to them, "Come, the Apostle of God will ask pardon for
you," they turn their heads aside, and thou seest them withdraw in their
pride.

Alike shall it be to them whether thou ask forgiveness for them, or ask it
not. By no means will God forgive them: God hath no guidance for a perverse
people.

These are they who say to you of Medina, "Spend not aught upon those who are
with the Apostle of God, and they will be forced to quit him." Yet the
treasures of the Heavens and of the Earth are God's! But the Hypocrites have
no understanding.

They say: "If we return to the city, the mightier will assuredly drive out
the weaker from it." But might is with God, and with the Apostle, and with
the Faithful! Yet the Hypocrites understand not.

O ye who believe! let not your wealth and your children delude you into
forgetfulness of God. Whoever shall act thus, shall surely suffer loss.

And expend in the cause of God out of that with which we have supplied you,
ere death surprise each one of you, and he say, "O Lord! wilt thou not
respite me to a term not far distant, that I may give alms, and become one of
the just?"

And by no means will God respite a soul when its hour hath come! And God is
fully cognisant of what ye do.

_______________________

1 Revealed shortly after the expedition against the Banu 'l Mustaliq in Hej.
6. See Nöld. p. 156 n. The "Hypocrites" mentioned in the later Suras are the
disaffected portion of the population of Medina, who covertly opposed the
claims of Muhammad to temporal authority over that city. They were gradually
absorbed, as the authority of Islam increased.

2 Or, in accordance with another reading, oaths. Comp. Ps. cix. 18.

3 Like timbers or joists supported in a wall or leaned against it, i.e.,
their persons are bulky, but their hearts so hypocritical and cowardly that
they are afraid of the slightest noise. In the original, saïkat is perhaps an
allusion to the shout of Gabriel, that is to exterminate the wicked.

SURA XXIV.-LIGHT [CV.]

MEDINA.-64 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

A SURA which we have sent down and sanctioned! Clear signs have we sent down
therein, that ye may take warning.

The whore and the whoremonger-scourge each of them with an hundred stripes;
and let not compassion keep you from carrying out the sentence of God, if ye
believe in God and the last day: And let some of the faithful witness their
chastisement.1

The whoremonger shall not marry other than a whore or an idolatress; and the
whore shall not marry other than a whoremonger or an idolater. Such alliances
are forbidden to the faithful.

They who defame virtuous women,2 and bring not four witnesses, scourge them
with fourscore stripes, and receive ye not their testimony for ever, for
these are perverse persons-

Save those who afterwards repent and live virtuously; for truly God is
Lenient, Merciful!

And they who shall accuse their wives, and have no witnesses but themselves,
the testimony of each of them shall be a testimony by God four times
repeated, that he is indeed of them that speak the truth.3

And the fifth time that the malison of God be upon him, if he be of them that
lie.

But it shall avert the chastisement from her if she testify a testimony four
times repeated, by God, that he is of them that lie;

And a fifth time to call down the wrath of God on her, if he have spoken the
truth.

And but for the goodness and mercy of God towards you, and that God is He who
loveth to turn, Wise . . . . !

Of a truth, they who advanced that lie4 were a large number of you; but
regard it not as an evil to you. No, it is an advantage to you.5 To every man
among them shall it be done according to the offence he hath committed; and
as to that person6 among them who took on himself to aggravate it, a sore
punishment doth await him.

Did not the faithful of both sexes, when ye heard of this, form a favourable
judgment in their own minds, and say,

"This is a manifest lie?"

Have they brought four witnesses of the fact? If they cannot produce the
witnesses, they are the liars in the sight of God.

And but for the goodness of God towards you, and His mercy in this world and
in the next, a severe punishment had come upon you for that which ye spread
abroad, when ye uttered with your tongues, and spake with your mouths that of
which ye had no knowledge. Ye deemed it to be a light matter, but with God it
was a grave one.

And did ye say when ye heard it, "It is not for us to talk of this affair! O
God! By thy Glory, this is a gross calumny?"

God hath warned you that ye go not back to the like of this for ever, if ye
be believers:

And God maketh His signs clear to you: for God is Knowing, Wise.

But as for those who love that foul calumnies should go forth against those
who believe, a grievous chastisement awaits them

In this world and in the next. And God hath knowledge, but ye have not.

And but for the goodness of God towards you and His Mercy, and that God is
Kind, Merciful . . . !

O ye who believe! follow not the steps of Satan, for whosoever shall follow
the steps of Satan, he will enjoin on him what is base and blameworthy; and
but for the goodness of God towards you,7 and His mercy, no one of you had
been cleansed for ever: but God maketh whom He will to be clean, and God
Heareth, Knoweth.

And let not persons of wealth and means among you swear that they will not
give to their kindred, to the poor, and to those who have fled their homes in
the cause of God; let them rather pardon and pass over the offence.8 Desire
ye not that God should forgive you? And God is Gracious, Merciful!

Verily, they who throw out charges against virtuous but careless women, who
yet are believers, shall be cursed in this world and in the world to come;
and a terrible punishment doth await them.

Their own tongues, and hands, and feet, shall one day bear witness against
them of their own doings.9

On that day will God pay them their just due, and they shall know that God is
the clear Truth itself.

Bad women for bad men, and bad men for bad women; but virtuous women for
virtuous men, and virtuous men for virtuous women! These shall be cleared
from calumnies; theirs shall be forgiveness and an honourable provision.

O ye who believe! enter not into other houses10 than your own, until ye have
asked leave, and have saluted its inmates. This will be best for you: haply
ye will bear this in mind.

And if ye find no one therein, then enter it not till leave be given you; and
if it be said to you, "Go ye back," then go ye back. This will be more
blameless in you, and God knoweth what ye do.

There shall be no harm in your entering houses in which no one dwelleth, for
the supply of your needs: and God knoweth what ye do openly and what ye hide.

Speak unto the believers that they restrain their eyes and observe
continence. Thus will they be more pure. God is well aware of what they do.

And speak to the believing women that they refrain their eyes, and observe
continence; and that they display not their ornaments, except those which are
external; and that they throw their veils over their bosoms, and display not
their ornaments, except to their husbands or their fathers, or their
husbands' fathers, or their sons, or their husbands' sons, or their brothers,
or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or their
slaves, or male domestics who have no natural force, or to children who note
not women's nakedness. And let them not strike their feet together, so as to
discover their hidden ornaments.11 And be ye all turned to God, O ye
Believers! that it may be well with you.

And marry those among you who are single, and your good servants, and the
handmaidens. If they are poor, God of His bounty will enrich them. God is
all-bounteous, Knowing.

And let those who cannot find a match12 live in continence till God of His
bounty shall enrich them. And to those of your slaves who desire a deed of
manumission, execute it for them, if ye know good in them, and give them a
portion of the wealth of God which He hath given you.13 Force not your female
slaves into sin, in order that ye may gain the casual fruitions of this
world, if they wish to preserve their modesty. Yet if any one compel them,
then Verily to them, after their compulsion, will God be Forgiving, Merciful.

And now have we sent down to you clear signs, and an instance from among
those who flourished before you, and a caution for the God-fearing.14

God is the LIGHT of the Heavens and of the Earth. His Light is like a niche
in which is a lamp-the lamp encased in glass-the glass, as it were, a
glistening star. From a blessed tree is it lighted, the olive neither of the
East nor of the West, whose oil would well nigh shine out, even though fire
touched it not! It is light upon light. God guideth whom He will to His
light, and God setteth forth parables to men, for God knoweth all things.

In the temples which God hath allowed to be reared, that His name may therein
be remembered, do men praise Him morn and even.

Men whom neither merchandise nor traffic beguile from the remembrance of God,
and from the observance of prayer, and the payment of the stated alms,
through fear of the day when hearts shall throb and eyes shall roll:

That for their most excellent works may God recompense them, and of His
bounty increase it to them more and more: for God maketh provision for whom
He pleaseth without measure.

But as to the infidels, their works are like the vapour in a plain which the
thirsty dreameth to be water, until when he cometh unto it, he findeth it not
aught, but findeth that God is with him; and He fully payeth him his account:
for swift to take account is God:

Or like the darkness on the deep sea when covered by billows riding upon
billows, above which are clouds: darkness upon darkness. When a man reacheth
forth his hand, he cannot nearly see it! He to whom God shall not give light,
no light at all hath he!

Hast thou not seen how all in the Heavens and in the Earth uttereth the
praise of God?-the very birds as they spread their wings? Every creature
knoweth its prayer and its praise! and God knoweth what they do.

God's, the Kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth: and unto God the final
return!

Hast thou not seen that God driveth clouds lightly forward, then gathereth
them together, then pileth them in masses? And then thou seest the rain
forthcoming from their midst; and He causeth clouds like mountains charged
with hail, to descend from the heaven, and He maketh it to fall on whom He
will, and from whom He will He turneth it aside.-The brightness of His
lightning all but taketh away the sight!

God causeth the day and the night to take their turn. Verily in this is
teaching for men of insight. And God hath created every animal of water.15
Some go upon the belly; some go upon two feet; some go upon four feet. God
hath created what He pleased. Aye, God hath power over all things.

Now have we sent down distinct signs.-And God guideth whom He will into the
right path:

For there are who say "We believe on God and on the Apostle, and we obey;"
yet, after this, a part of them turn back.16 But these are not of the
faithful.

And when they are summoned before God and His Apostle that He may judge
between them, lo! a part of them withdraw:

But had the truth been on their side, they would have come to Him, obedient.

What! are they diseased of heart? Do they doubt? Are they afraid that God and
His Apostles will deal unfairly with them? Nay, themselves are the unjust
doers.

The words of the believers, when called to God and His Apostle that He may
judge between them, are only to say, "We have heard, and we obey:" these are
they with whom it shall be well.

And whoso shall obey God, and His Apostle, and shall dread God and fear Him,
these are they that shall be the blissful.

And they have sworn by God, with a most solemn oath, that if thou give them
the word, they will certainly march forth. Say: swear ye not: of more worth
is obedience. Verily, God is well aware of what ye do.

SAY: Obey God and obey the Apostle. Suppose that ye turn back, still the
burden of his duty is on him only, and the burden of your duty rests on you.
If ye obey Him, ye shall have guidance: but plain preaching is all that
devolves upon the Apostle.

God hath promised to those of you who believe and do the things that are
right, that He will cause them to succeed others in the land, as He gave
succession to those who were before them, and that He will establish for them
that religion which they delight in, and that after their fears He will give
them security in exchange. They shall worship Me: nought shall they join with
Me: And whoso, after this, believe not, they will be the impious.

But observe prayer, and pay the stated alms, and obey the Apostle, that haply
ye may find mercy.

Let not the Infidels think that they can weaken God on His own Earth: their
dwelling place shall be the Fire! and right wretched the journey!

O ye who believe! let your slaves, and those of you who have not come of age,
ask leave of you, three times a day, ere they come into your presence;-before
the morning prayer, and when ye lay aside your garments at mid-day, and after
the evening prayer. These are your three times of privacy. No blame shall
attach to you or to them, if after these times, when ye go your rounds of
attendance on one another, they come in without permission. Thus doth God
make clear to you His signs: and God is Knowing, Wise!

And when your children come of age, let them ask leave to come into your
presence, as they who were before them asked it. Thus doth God make clear to
you his signs: and God is Knowing, Wise.

As to women who are past childbearing, and have no hope of marriage, no blame
shall attach to them if they lay aside their outer garments, but so as not to
shew their ornaments. Yet if they abstain from this, it will be better for
them: and God Heareth, Knoweth.

No crime17 shall it be in the blind, or in the lame, or in the sick, to eat
at your tables: or in yourselves, if ye eat in your own houses, or in the
houses of your fathers, or of your mothers, or of your brothers, or of your
sisters, or of your uncles on the father's side, or of your aunts on the
father's side, or of your uncles on the mother's side, or of your aunts on
the mother's side, or in those of which ye possess the keys, or in the house
of your friend. No blame shall attach to you whether ye eat together or
apart.

And when ye enter houses, salute one another with a good and blessed greeting
as from God. Thus doth God make clear to you His signs, that haply ye may
comprehend them.

Verily, they only are believers who believe in God and His Apostle, and who,
when they are with him upon any affair of common interest, depart not until
they have sought his leave. Yes, they who ask leave of thee, are those who
believe in God and His Apostle. And when they ask leave of Thee on account of
any affairs of their own, then grant it to those of them whom thou wilt, and
ask indulgence for them of God: for God is Indulgent, Merciful.

Address not the Apostle as ye address one another.18 God knoweth those of you
who withdraw quietly from the assemblies, screening themselves behind others.
And let those who transgress his command beware, lest some present trouble
befall them, or a grievous chastisement befall them, hereafter.

Is not whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth God's? He knoweth your state;
and one day shall men be assembled before Him, and He will tell them of what
they have done: for God knoweth all things.

_______________________

1 With this verse commences the reference to the scandal against Ayesha, to
which verses 6-9 read like a later addition. See His. 731 ff. Albuhari,
passim. Muslim ii. 628 ff. Tirm. 524. Tabari and Weil, p. 151.

2 Said to refer to Hilal ben Umaiya (Muslim i. 886. Tirm. 523. Annasai, 409
f. Assamarq.) who had accused his wife of adultery. Two of these
commentators, however, give the name of another Muslim as the person
intended.

3 Comp. Numb. v. ii, 31, with which Muhammad must have been acquainted.

4 The rumour of improper intimacy between Ayesha and Safwan Ibn El Moattal,
during Muhammad's return from the expedition against the tribe of Mostaliq
(an. Hej. 9), in which he was separated from her for an entire day, which she
passed in the company of Safwan, who had found her when accidentally left
behind. Verses 4-26 were revealed shortly after the return.

5 Whose characters are cleared.

6 Abdallah Ibn Obba. (Abulf. p. 83.)

7 Comp. verse 10, 11 (n.).

8 Abubekr had been desirous to punish one of his relatives, Mestah, who had
propagated the scandal against Ayesha, by refusing him gifts or alms.

9 "The very members of a man shall testify against him, for thus we read
(Jer. xliii. 12), Ye are yourselves my witnesses saith the Lord." Chagiga,
16. Thaanith, 11a.

10 It was the custom in Arabia, before Islam, to enter houses without
permission. Freyt. Einl. p. 216.

11 That is, the anklets. Comp. Isai. iii. 16, 18

12 On account of poverty.

13 Comp. Deut. xv. 12 15.

14 The meaning probably is, that the scandal raised against Ayesha resembled
the scandal in the case of Joseph in Egypt, and of the Virgin Mary, detailed
in previous suras.

15 An idea perhaps derived from Gen. i. 20, 21. Comp. Tr. Cholin, fol. 27a.

16 Verses 46-56 obviously refer to a period, perhaps that between the battle
of Ohod and the end of the war of the Ditch, when Muhammad's prospects were
overclouded and the confidence of his followers shaken.

17 This verse was intended to relieve the scruples of the Muslims, who.
following the superstitious customs of the Arabs, thought that they ought not
to admit the blind, etc. to their tables, to eat alone, or in a house of
which they were entrusted with the key, etc.

18 Lit. make not the calling of the Apostle among you, like the calling of
some of you to others, i.e., address him by some respectful and honourable
title. Thus in the Talmud, "It is forbidden to a disciple to call his Rabbi
by name even when he is not in his presence;" and again: "Neither is he to
salute his Rabbi, nor to return his salutation, in the same way that
salutations are given and returned among friends." "Whoever despises the wise
men hath no portion in the world to come." See Hilchoth Torah, c.5.

SURA LVIII.-SHE WHO PLEADED [CVI.]

MEDINA.-22 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

God hath heard the words of HER1 WHO PLEADED with thee against her husband,
and made her plaint to God; and God hath heard your mutual intercourse: for
God Heareth, Beholdeth.

As to those of you who put away their wives by saying, "Be thou to me as my
mother's back" their mothers2 they are not; they only are their mothers who
gave them birth! they certainly say a blameworthy thing and an untruth:

But truly, God is Forgiving, Indulgent.

And those who thus put away their wives, and afterwards would recall their
words, must free a captive before they can come together again. To this are
ye warned to conform: and God is aware of what ye do.

And he who findeth not a captive to set free, shall fast two months in
succession before they two come together. And he who shall not be able to do
so, shall feed sixty poor men. This, that he may believe in God and His
Apostle. These are the statutes of God: and for the unbelievers is an
afflictive chastisement!

Truly they who oppose God and His Apostle shall be brought low, as those who
were before them were brought low. And now have we sent down demonstrative
signs: and, for the Infidels is a shameful chastisement.

On the day when God shall raise them all to life, and shall tell them of
their doings. God hath taken count of them, though they have forgotten them!
and God is witness over all things.

Dost thou not see that God knoweth all that is in the Heavens and all that is
in the Earth? Three persons speak not privately together, but He is their
fourth; nor five, but He is their sixth; nor fewer nor more, but wherever
they be He is with them. Then on the day of resurrection He will tell them of
their deeds: for God knoweth all things.

Hast thou not marked those who have been forbidden secret talk, and return to
what they have been forbidden, and talk privately together with wickedness,
and hate, and disobedience towards the Apostle? And when they come to thee,
they greet thee not as God greeteth thee:3 and they say among themselves,
"Why doth not God punish us for what we say?" Hell shall be their meed:4 they
shall be burned at its fire: and a wretched passage thither!

O Believers! when ye hold private converse together, let it not be with
wickedness, and hate, and disobedience towards the Apostle; but let your
private talk be with justice and the fear of God: aye, fear ye God unto whom
ye shall be gathered!

Only of Satan is this clandestine talk, that he may bring the faithful to
grief: but, unless by God's permission, not aught shall he harm them! in God
then let the faithful trust.

O ye who believe! when it is said to you, "Make room in your assemblies,"
then make ye room. God will make room for you in Paradise! And when it is
said to you, "Rise up," then rise ye up. God will uplift those of you who
believe, and those to whom "the Knowledge" is given, to lofty grades! and God
is cognisant of your actions.

O ye who believe! when ye go to confer in private with the Apostle, give alms
before such conference. Better will this be for you, and more pure. But if ye
have not the means, then truly God is Lenient, Merciful.

Do ye hesitate to give alms previously to your private conference? Then if ye
do it not (and God will excuse it in you), at least observe prayer, and pay
the stated impost, and obey God and His Apostle: for God is cognisant of your
actions.

Hast thou not remarked those who make friends of that people with whom God is
angered? They are neither of your party nor of theirs; and they swear to a
lie,5 knowing it to be such.

God hath got ready for them a severe torment: for, evil is that they do.

They make a cloak of their faith, and turn others aside from the way of God:
wherefore a shameful torment awaiteth them.

Not at all shall their wealth or their children avail them aught against God.
Companions shall they be of the fire: they shall abide therein for ever.

On the day when God shall raise them all, they will swear to Him as they now
swear to you, deeming that it will avail them.  Are they not-yes they-the
liars?

Satan hath gotten mastery over them, and made them forget the remembrance of
God. These are Satan's party. What! shall not verily the party of Satan be
for ever lost.

Verily, they who oppose God and His Apostle shall be among the most vile. God
hath written this decree: "I will surely prevail, and my Apostles also."
Truly God is Strong, Mighty.

Thou shalt not find that any of those who believe in God, and in the last
day, love him who opposeth God and His Apostle, even though they be their
fathers, or their sons, or their brethren, or their nearest kin. On the
hearts of these hath God graven the Faith, and with His own Spirit hath He
strengthened them; and He will bring them into gardens, beneath whose shades
the rivers flow, to remain therein eternally. God is well pleased in them,
and they in Him. These are God's party! Shall not, of a truth, a party of God
be for ever blessed?

_______________________

1 Khaula, daughter of Thalaba, who had been divorced by the formula in verse
2, which was understood among the Arabs to imply perpetual separation. This
Muhammad had asserted in her case; but in consequence of the woman's prayers,
etc., a relaxation of the law, on fulfilment of the conditions mentioned in
verses 4, 5, was hereby allowed. None of the earlier traditions fix any date
for this Sura, though later authorities (Weil, 184) fix the end of Hej. 6, or
the beginning of Hej. 7.-The subject matter is in part similar to that of
Sura xxiv.

2 See Sura [ciii.] xxxiii. 4.

3 Instead of saying, Es-salam aleika, "Peace be on thee," the Infidels and
Jews said, Es-sam aleika, "a plague, or poison on thee." See Geiger, p. 18.

4 Lit. sufficiency.

5 The Jews swear that they are Muslims.

SURA XXII.-THE PILGRIMAGE [CVII.]

MEDINA.1-78 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O MEN of Mecca, fear your Lord. Verily, the earthquake of the last Hour will
be a tremendous thing!

On the day when ye shall behold it, every suckling woman shall forsake her
sucking babe; and every woman that hath a burden in her womb shall cast her
burden; and thou shalt see men drunken, yet are they not drunken: but it is
the mighty chastisement of God!

There is a man2 who, without knowledge, wrangleth about God, and followeth
every rebellious Satan;

Concerning whom it is decreed, that he shall surely beguile and guide into
the torment of the Flame, whoever shall take him for his Lord.

O men! if ye doubt as to the resurrection, yet, of a truth, have We created
you of dust, then of the moist germs of life, then of clots of blood, then of
pieces of flesh shapen and unshapen, that We might give you proofs of our
power! And We cause one sex or the other, at our pleasure, to abide in the
womb until the appointed time; then We bring you forth infants; then permit
you to reach your age of strength; and one of you dieth, and another of you
liveth on to an age so abject that all his former knowledge is clean
forgotten!3 And thou hast seen the earth dried up and barren: but when We
send down the rain upon it, it stirreth and swelleth, and groweth every kind
of luxuriant herb.

This, for that God is the Truth, and that it is He who quickeneth the dead,-
and that He hath power over everything:

And that "the Hour" will indeed come-there is no doubt of it-and that God
will wake up to life those who are in the tombs.

A man there is who disputeth about God without knowledge or guidance or
enlightening Book,

Turning aside in scorn to mislead others from the way of God! Disgrace shall
be his in this world; and on the day of the resurrection, We will make him
taste the torment of the burning:-

"This, for thy handywork of old! for God is not unjust to His servants."

There are some who serve God in a single point. If good come upon one of
them, he resteth in it; but if trial come upon him, he turneth him round (to
infidelity) with the loss both of this world and of the next! This same is
the clear ruin!

He calleth upon that beside God which can neither hurt him nor profit him.
This same is the far-gone error!

He calleth on him who would sooner hurt than profit him. Surely, bad the
lord, and, surely, bad the vassal!

But God will bring in those who shall believe and do the things that are
right, into gardens 'neath which the rivers flow: for God doth that which He
pleaseth.

Let him who thinketh that God will not help His Apostle in this world and in
the next, stretch a cord aloft as if to destroy himself; then let him cut it,
and see whether his devices can bring that4 to nought at which he was angry!

Thus send we down the Koran with its clear signs (verses): and because God
guideth whom He pleaseth.

As to those who believe, and the Jews, and the Sabeites,5 and the Christians,
and the Magians, and those who join other gods with God, of a truth, God
shall decide between them on the day of resurrection: for God is witness of
all things.

Seest thou not that all in the Heavens and all on the Earth adoreth God? the
sun and the moon and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and the
beasts, and many men? But of many is chastisement the due:

And whom God shall disgrace there shall be none to honour: God doth that
which pleaseth Him.

These, the Faithful and the Infidels, are the two disputants who dispute
concerning their Lord: but for those who have disbelieved, garments of fire
shall be cut out; the boiling water shall be poured down upon their heads:

All that is in their bowels, and their skins, shall be dissolved: and there
are maces of iron for them!

So oft as they, for very anguish, would fain come forth thence, back shall
they be turned into it: and-"Taste ye the torment of the burning."

But God will bring in those who shall have believed, and done the things that
are right, into gardens 'neath which the rivers flow. Adorned shall they be
therein with golden bracelets and with pearls, and their raiment therein
shall be of silk;

For they were guided to the best of words; guided to the glorious path!

But those who believe not, and seduce others from the way of God, and from
the Holy Mosque which we have appointed to all men, alike for those who abide
therein, and for the stranger;

And those who seek impiously to profane it, we will cause to taste a grievous
punishment.

And call to mind when we assigned the site of the House6 to Abraham and said:
"Unite not aught with Me in worship, and cleanse My House for those who go in
procession round it, and who stand or bow in worship:"-

And proclaim to the peoples a PILGRIMAGE: Let them come to thee on foot and
on every fleet7 camel, arriving by every deep defile:

That they may bear witness of its benefits to them, and may make mention of
God's name on the appointed days,8 over the brute beasts with which He hath
supplied them for sustenance: Therefore eat thereof yourselves, and feed the
needy, the poor:

Then let them bring the neglect of their persons to a close,9 and let them
pay their vows, and circuit the ancient House.

This do. And he that respecteth the sacred ordinances of God, this will be
best for him with his Lord. The flesh of cattle is allowed you, save of those
already specified to you. Shun ye, therefore, the pollutions of idols; and
shun ye the word of falsehood;

Sound in faith Godward, uniting no god with Him; for whoever uniteth gods
with God, is like that which falleth from on high, and the birds snatch it
away, or the wind wafteth it to a distant place.

This do. And they who respect the rites of God, perform an action which
proceedeth from piety of heart.

Ye may obtain advantages from the cattle up to the set time for slaying them:
then, the place for sacrificing them is at the ancient House.

And to every people have we appointed rites, that they may commemorate the
name of God over the brute beasts which He hath provided for them. And your
God is the one God. To Him, therefore, surrender yourselves: and bear thou
good tidings to those who humble them,-

Whose hearts, when mention is made of God, thrill with awe; and to those who
remain steadfast under all that be-falleth them, and observe prayer, and give
alms of that with which we have supplied them.

And the camels have we appointed you for the sacrifice to God: much good have
ye in them. Make mention, therefore, of the name of God over them when ye
slay them, as they stand in a row; and when they are fallen over on their
sides, eat of them, and feed him who is content and asketh not, and him who
asketh. Thus have We subjected them to you, to the intent ye should be
thankful.10

By no means can their flesh reach unto God, neither their blood; but piety on
your part reacheth Him. Thus hath He subjected them to you, that ye might
magnify God for His guidance: moreover, announce to those who do good deeds-

That God will ward off mischief from believers: for God loveth not the false,
the Infidel.

A sanction is given to those who, because they have suffered outrages, have
taken up arms; and verily, God is well able to succour them:

Those who have been driven forth from their homes wrongfully, only because
they say "Our Lord is the God." And if God had not repelled some men by
others, cloisters, and churches, and oratories, and mosques, wherein the name
of God is ever commemorated, would surely have been destroyed. And him who
helpeth God will God surely help:11 for God is right Strong, Mighty:-

Those who, if we establish them in this land, will observe prayer, and pay
the alms of obligation, and enjoin what is right, and forbid what is evil.
And the final issue of all things is unto God.

Moreover, if they charge thee with imposture, then already, before them, the
people of Noah, and Ad and Themoud, and the people of Abraham, and the people
of Lot, and the dwellers in Madian, have charged their prophets with
imposture! Moses, too, was charged with imposture! And I bore long with the
unbelievers; then seize on them: and how great was the change I wrought!

And how many cities which had been ungodly, and whose roofs are now laid low
in ruin, have We destroyed! And wells have been abandoned and lofty castles!

Have they not journeyed through the land? Have they not hearts to understand
with, or ears to hear with? It is not that to these sights their eyes are
blind, but the hearts in their breasts are blind!

And they will bid thee to hasten the chastisement. But God cannot fail His
threat. And verily, a day with thy Lord is as a thousand years,12 as ye
reckon them!

How many cities have I long borne with, wicked though they were, yet then
laid hold on them to chastise them! Unto Me shall all return.

SAY: O men! I am only your open warner:

And they who believe and do the things that are right, shall have forgiveness
and an honourable provision;

But those who strive to invalidate our signs shall be inmates of Hell.

We have not sent any apostle or prophet before thee, among whose desires
Satan injected not some wrong desire, but God shall bring to nought that
which Satan had suggested. Thus shall God affirm His revelations13 for God is
Knowing, Wise!

That He may make that which Satan hath injected, a trial to those in whose
hearts is a disease, and whose hearts are hardened.-Verily, the wicked are in
a far-gone severance from the truth!-

And that they to whom "the Knowledge" hath been given, may know that the
Koran is the truth from thy Lord, and may believe in it, and their hearts may
acquiesce in it: for God is surely the guider of those who believe, into the
straight path.

But the Infidels will not cease to doubt concerning it, until "the Hour" come
suddenly upon them, or until the chastisement of the day of desolation come
upon them.

On that day the Kingdom shall be God's: He shall judge between them: and they
who shall have believed and done the things that are right, shall be in
gardens of delight:

But they who were Infidels and treated our signs as lies-these then-their's a
shameful chastisement!

And as to those who fled their country for the cause of God, and were
afterwards slain, or died, surely with goodly provision will God provide for
them! for verily, God! He, surely, is the best of providers!

He will assuredly bring them in with an in-bringing that shall please them
well: for verily, God is right Knowing, Gracious.

So shall it be. And whoever in making exact reprisal for injury done him,
shall again be wronged, God will assuredly aid him: for God is most Merciful,
Gracious.

So shall it be; for that God causeth the night to enter in upon the day, and
He causeth the day to enter in upon the night: and for that God Heareth,
Seeth.

So shall it be, for that God is the truth; and because what they call on
beside Him is vanity: and because God is the Lofty, the Mighty!

Seest thou not that God sendeth down water from Heaven, and that on the
morrow the earth is clad with verdure? for God is benignant, cognisant of
all.

His, all in the Heavens and all on Earth: and verily, God! He assuredly is
the Rich, the Praiseworthy!

Seest thou not that God hath put under you whatever is in the earth; and the
ships which traverse the sea at His bidding? And He holdeth back the heaven
that it fall not on the earth, unless He permit it! for God is right Gracious
to mankind, Merciful.

And He it is who hath given you life, then will cause you to die, then will
give you life-of a truth man is all ungrateful.

To every people have we appointed observances which they observe. Therefore,
let them not dispute this matter with thee, but bid them to thy Lord, for
thou art on the right way:

But if they debate with thee, then Say: God best knoweth what ye do!

God will judge between you on the day of resurrection, as to the matters
wherein ye differ.

Knowest thou not that God knoweth whatever is in the Heaven and on the Earth?
This truly is written in the Book: this truly is easy for God.

They worship beside God, that for which He hath sent down no warranty, and
that of which they have no knowledge: but for those who commit this wrong, no
helper!

And when our clear signs are rehearsed to them, thou mayst perceive disdain
in the countenances of the Infidels. Scarce can they refrain from rushing to
attack those who rehearse our signs to them! SAY: Shall I tell you of worse
than this? The fire which God hath threatened to those who believe not!
Wretched the passage thither!

O men! a parable is set forth to you, wherefore hearken to it. Verily, they
on whom ye call beside God, cannot create a fly, though they assemble for it;
and if the fly carry off aught from them, they cannot take it away from it!
Weak the suppliant and the supplicated!

Unworthy the estimate they form of God!14 for God is right Powerful, Mighty!

God chooseth messengers from among the angels and from among men: verily, God
Heareth, Seeth.

He knoweth what is before them and what is behind them; and unto God shall
all things return.

Believers! bow down and prostrate yourselves and worship your Lord, and work
righteousness that you may fare well.

And do valiantly in the cause of God as it behoveth you to do for Him. He
hath elected you, and hath not laid on you any hardship in religion, the
Faith of your father Abraham. He hath named you the Muslims

Heretofore and in this Book, that the Apostles may be a witness against you,
and that ye may be witnesses against the rest of mankind. Therefore observe
prayer, and pay the legal impost, and cleave fast to God. He is your liege
Lord-a goodly Lord, and a goodly Helper!

_______________________

1 This Sura is generally said to have been revealed at Mecca,-but this is
probably only the case with verses 1-24; 43-56; 60-65; 67-75. Mr. Muir places
it at the close of the Meccan Suras of the fifth period. See Nöld, p. 158.

2 Said to be Abu Jahl. See Sura xcvi. p. 20, n. 2.

3 Lit. so that after knowledge he knoweth not aught.

4 The teachings and progress of Islam.

5 See Sura [xci.] ii. 59. The Sabeites were probably Hanyfs. See Pref.

6 The Kaaba. Sharastani informs us that there was an opinion prevalent among
the Arabs, that the walking round the Kaaba, and other ceremonies, were
symbolic of the motion of the planets and of other astronomical facts.
Watwat, Mabahij al Fikr., Lib. i., c. 2, says that "most Arabic tribes were
originally star-worshippers, Sabeans. The people of Saba worshipped the Sun,
the tribes of Asad and Kaninah the Moon, etc. etc. At a later period they all
sunk into idolatry, and in the time of Muhammad, the idols round the Kaaba
amounted to 360."

7 Lit. thin, with the implied sense of fleet.

8 The ten first days of the Dhu'lhajja. For the ceremonies, see Freytag's
Einleitung, p. 418; Burton's Pilgrimage, vol. iii.; Sale's Notes and Prelim.
Disc.

9 That is, the uncut beards, nails, etc.

10 Offerings of animals are by no means confined to Mecca and the Pilgrimage.
"It is not uncommon," says Mr. Lane, "without any definite view but that of
obtaining general blessings, to make vows (of animals): and sometimes a
peasant vows that he will sacrifice, for the sake of a saint, a calf which he
possesses, as soon as it is grown and fatted. It is let loose, by consent of
all his neighbours, to pasture where it will, even in fields of young wheat;
and at last, after it has been sacrificed, a public feast is made of its
meat. Many a large bull is thus given away." Modern Egyptians, i. 307.
Compare Dr. Gobat's Abyssinia, p. 294, 7, for similar customs among
Christians of probably Arabian extraction. Five or six thousand animals are
said to have been slain in the valley of Mina by the pilgrims of the year
1854. (See Lieut. Burton's Pilgrimage, iii. p. 313.) The victim is considered
by the devout as an expression of their conviction that death is their desert
at the hands of God.

11 See Ibn Batoutah, iv. 106. (Par. ed.)

12 Comp. Sur. xxxii. 4, p. 190.

13 The ayats, signs or verses of the Koran. It is said by tradition that
Muhammad was consoled by this revelation for the Satanic suggestion mentioned
Sur. liii. 20, p. 70 (n.). But in this view of the text, for among whose
desires, or affections, we should render when he recited.

14 Lit. they measure not God with truth of His measurement.

SURA XLVIII.-THE VICTORY [CVIII.]

MEDINA.-29 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Verily, We have won for thee an undoubted VICTORY1-

In token that God forgiveth thy earlier and later faults, and fulfilleth His
goodness to thee, and guideth thee on the right way,

And that God succoureth thee with a mighty succour.

He it is who sendeth down a spirit of secure repose into the hearts of the
faithful that they might add faith to their faith; (for God's are the armies
of the Heavens and of the Earth: and God is Knowing, Wise:)

And that He may bring the believing men and the believing women into gardens
'neath whose trees the rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever, and that He
may cancel their evil deeds: for this is the great bliss with God:

And that He may punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women, and
the men and women who join other gods with God, and think evil thoughts of
Him. Theirs shall be a round of evil; and God is angry with them and curseth
them, and hath prepared Hell for them: and, an evil journey thither!

The armies of the Heavens and of the Earth are God's, and God is Mighty,
Wise!

Verily, we have sent thee to be a witness and a herald of good (an
announcer), and a warner,

That ye may believe on God and on His Apostle; and may assist Him, and honour
Him, and praise him, morning and evening.

In truth, they who plighted fealty to thee, really plighted that fealty to
God: the hand of God was over their hands! Whoever, therefore, shall break
his oath shall only break it to his own hurt; but whoever shall be true to
his engagement with God, He will give him a great reward.

The Arabs who took not the field with you,2 will say to thee,3 "We were
engaged with our property and our families; therefore ask thou pardon for
us." They speak with their tongues what is not in their hearts. SAY: And who
can have any power over God in your behalf, whether he will you some loss, or
whether he will you an advantage? Yes, God is acquainted with your doings.

But ye thought that the Apostle and the faithful could never more come back
to their families; and your hearts were pleased at this; and ye thought an
evil thought of this expedition, and ye became an undone people:

For, whoso believeth not in God, and His Apostle. . . .  Verily, we have got
ready the flame for the Infidels!

And God's is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth: Whom He will He
forgiveth, and whom He will He punisheth: and God is Gracious, Merciful!

They who took not the field with you will say, when ye go forth to the spoil
to take it, "Let us follow you." Fain would they change the word of God.4
SAY: Ye shall by no means follow us: thus hath God said already. They will
say, "Nay, ye are jealous of us." Nay! they are men of little understanding.

SAY to those Arabs of the desert, who took not the field, ye shall be called
forth against a people of mighty valour. Ye shall do battle with them, or
they shall profess Islam. If ye obey, a goodly recompense will God give you;
but if ye turn back, as ye turned back aforetime, He will chastise you with a
sore chastisement.

It shall be no crime on the part of the blind, the lame, or the sick, if they
go not to the fight. But whoso shall obey God and His Apostle, he shall bring
him into the gardens 'neath which the rivers flow: but whoso shall turn back,
He will punish him with a sore punishment.

Well pleased now hath God been with the believers when they plighted fealty
to thee under the tree;5 and He knew what was in their hearts: therefore did
He send down upon them a spirit of secure repose, and rewarded them with a
speedy victory,

And with the rich booty which they took: for God is Mighty, Wise!

God promised you the taking of a rich booty6 and sped it to you; and He
withheld men's hands from you, for a sign to the faithful, and that He might
guide you along the right way:-

And other booty, over which ye have not yet had power: but now hath God
compassed them for you; for God is over all things Potent.

If the Infidels shall fight against you, they shall assuredly turn their
backs; then, neither protector nor helper shall they find!

Such is God's method carried into effect of old; no change canst thou find in
God's mode of dealing.

And He it was who held their hands from you and your hands from them in the
valley of Mecca,7 after that He had given you the victory over them: for God
saw what ye did.

These are they who believed not, and kept you away from the sacred Mosque, as
well as the offering which was prevented from reaching the place of
sacrifice. And had it not been that ye would have trodden down believers,
both men and women, whom ye knew not, so that a crime might have lighted on
you without your knowledge on their account, and that God would bring whom He
will within His mercy, this would have been otherwise ordered. Had they been
apart,8 we had surely punished such of them as believed not, with a sore
punishment.

When the unbelievers had fostered rage in their hearts-the rage of ignorance
(of heathens)-God sent down His peace on His Apostle and on the faithful, and
stablished in them the word of piety, for they were most worthy and deserving
of it: and God knoweth all things.

Now hath God in truth made good to His Apostle the dream9 in which he said,
"Ye shall surely enter the sacred Mosque, if God will, in full security,
having your heads shaved and your hair cut: ye shall not fear; for He knoweth
what ye know not; and He hath ordained you, beside this, a speedy victory."

It is He who hath sent His Apostle with "the Guidance," and the religion of
truth, that He may exalt it above every religion. And enough for thee is this
testimony on the part of God.

Muhammad is the Apostle of God; and his comrades are vehement against the
infidels, but full of tenderness among themselves. Thou mayst see them bowing
down, prostrating themselves, imploring favours from God, and His acceptance.
Their tokens10 are on their faces, the marks of their prostrations. This is
their picture in the Law, and their picture in the Evangel:11 they are as the
seed which putteth forth its stalk; then strengtheneth it, and it groweth
stout, and riseth upon its stem,12 rejoicing the husbandman-that the infidels
may be wrathful at them. To such of them as believe and do the things that
are right, hath God promised forgiveness and a noble recompense.

_______________________

1 This Sura was probably revealed shortly after the peace of Hudaibiya. Ann.
Hej. 6. Some commentators, however, understand the Victory of the taking of
Mecca two years-later the preterite being used in the prophetic style for the
future-others of the taking of Chaibar, or Muta (?), a town of the Roman
empire.

2 Lit. were left behind.

3 On the return to Medina. See Weil's Leben M. p. 173 (n.).

4 The law relative to booty, viz. that those who were not at Hudaibiya should
have no share in the booty to be obtained from the Jews at Chaibar. Muhammad
marched against them in Hej. 7.

5 When the rumour reached Muhammad at Hudaibiya that Othman Ibn Affan, whom
he had sent to inform the Meccans that he was merely coming to visit their
temple, and with peaceable intentions, had been slain by them.

6 At Chaibar.

7 The valley of Mecca may mean Hudaibiya. But the commentators explain this
verse of different events. It probably, however, refers to the 50 (according
to Djalalein 80) prisoners whom Muhammad dismissed freely at Hudaibiya.

8 Had the believers been separate from the infidels.

9 This dream Muhammad had at Medina, before he set out for al Hudaibiya. His
followers expected its fulfilment within the year, but when the truce
frustrated their hopes, this verse was revealed to pacify them.

10 Dust from the pavement. The Muhammadans who say their prayers on carpets
often place little bricks before them which they touch in prostration with
their forehead.

11 Comp. Mark iv. 28.

12 Lit. legs.

SURA LXVI.-THE FORBIDDING [CIX.]

MEDINA.-12 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHY,1 O Prophet! dost thou hold that to be FORBIDDEN which God hath made
lawful to thee, from a desire to please thy wives, since God is Lenient,
Merciful?

God hath allowed you release from your oaths; and God is your master: and He
is the Knowing, Wise.

When the prophet told a recent occurrence as a secret to one of his wives,
and when she divulged it and God informed him of this, he acquainted her with
part and withheld part.2 And when he had told her of it, she said, "Who told
thee this?" He said, "The Knowing, the Sage hath told it me.

"If ye both be turned to God in penitence, for now have your hearts gone
astray . . . .3 but if ye conspire against the Prophet, then know that God is
his Protector, and Gabriel, and every just man among the faithful; and the
angels are his helpers besides.

"Haply if he put you both away, his Lord will give him in exchange other
wives better than you, Muslims, believers, devout, penitent, obedient,
observant of fasting, both known of men and virgins."

O Believers! save yourselves and your families from the fire whose fuel is
men and stones, over which are set angels fierce and mighty: they disobey not
God in what He hath commanded them, but execute His behests.

O ye Infidels! make no excuses for yourselves this day; ye shall surely be
recompensed according to your works.

O Believers! turn to God with the turning of true penitence; haply your Lord
will cancel your evil deeds, and will bring you into the gardens 'neath which
the rivers flow, on the day when God will not shame the Prophet, nor those
who have shared his faith: their light shall run before them, and on their
right hands! they shall say, "Lord perfect our light, and pardon us: for thou
hast power over all things."

O Prophet! make war on the infidels and hypocrites, and deal rigorously with
them. Hell shall be their abode! and wretched the passage to it!

God setteth forth as an example to unbelievers the wife of Noah and the wife
of Lot; they were under two of our righteous servants, both of whom they
deceived: but their husbands availed them nought against God: and it shall be
said "Enter ye into the fire with those who enter."

God also holdeth forth to those who believe the example of the wife of
Pharaoh,4 when she said, "Lord, build me an house with thee in Paradise, and
deliver me from Pharaoh and his doings; and deliver me from the wicked:"

And Mary, the daughter of Imran, who kept her maidenhood, and into whose
womb5 we breathed of our spirit, and who believed in the words of her Lord
and His Scriptures, and was one of the devout.

_______________________

1 The first verses of this Sura were revealed (Hej. 7.) on occasion of
Muhammad's reviving affection for Mary, a Copt slave sent him by the governor
of Egypt, from whom he had recently (verse 3) sworn to his wife Hafsa to
separate entirely. Hafsa, who had been greatly incensed at their amour, of
which Muhammad had himself informed her, communicated the matter in
confidence to Ayesha, from whose altered manner, probably, the prophet found
that his secret had been betrayed. To free Muhammad from his obligation to
Hafsa was the object of this chapter.

2 Muhammad withheld the fact that Ayesha, as well as God, was his informant,
but taxed Hafsa with not having kept his secret.

3 Supply God will pardon you.

4 Asia, a name, perhaps, corrupted from that of Pharaoh's daughter Bithiah. 1
Chron. iv.18.

5 See Sura xxi. 91. Lit. quae rimam suam tuita est, in quam (rimam)
inflavimus Spiritus nostri partem. Thus Beidh.

SURA1 LX.-SHE WHO IS TRIED [CX.]

MEDINA.-13 Versus

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O YE who believe! take not my foe2 and your foe for friends, shewing them
kindness, although they believe not that truth which hath come to you: they
drive forth the Apostles and yourselves because ye believe in God your Lord!
If ye go forth to fight on my way, and from a desire to please me, and shew
them kindness in private, I well know what ye conceal, and what ye discover!
Whoso doth this hath already gone astray from the even way.

If they meet with you they will prove your foes: hand and tongue will they
put forth for your hurt, and will desire that you become infidels again.

Neither your kindred nor your children shall at all avail you on the day of
the resurrection. A severance between you will it make! and your actions doth
God behold.

A good example had ye in Abraham,3 and in those who followed him, when they
said to their people, "Verily, we are clear of you, and of what ye worship
beside God: we renounce you: and between us and hath hatred and enmity sprung
up for ever, until ye believe in God alone." Yet imitate not the language of
Abraham to his Father, "I will pray for thy forgiveness, but not aught shall
I obtain for thee from God."4 O our Lord! in thee do we trust! to thee do we
turn! to thee we shall come back at the last.

O our Lord! expose us not for trial to the unbelievers, and forgive us: for
thou art the Mighty, the Wise!

A good example had ye in them, for all who hope in God and in the last day.
But let who will turn back, God truly is the Rich, the Praiseworthy!

God will, perhaps, establish good will between yourselves and those of them
whom ye take to be your enemies:5 God is Powerful: and God is Gracious,
Merciful.

God doth not forbid you to deal with kindness and fairness toward those who
have not made war upon you on account of your religion, or driven you forth
from your homes: for God loveth those who act with fairness.>Only doth God
forbid you to make friends of those who, on account of your religion, have
warred against you, and have driven you forth from your homes, and have aided
those who drove you forth: and whoever maketh friends of them are wrong-
doers.

O Believers!6 when believing women come over to you as refugees (Mohadjers),
then make TRIAL of them. God best knoweth their faith; but if ye have also
ascertained their faith, let them not go back to the infidels; they are not
lawful for them, nor are the unbelievers lawful for these women. But give
them back what they have spent for their dowers. No crime shall it be in you
to marry them, provided ye give them their dowers. Do not retain any right in
the infidel women, but demand back what you have spent for their dowers, and
let the unbelievers demand back what they have spent for their wives.7 This
is the ordinance of God which He ordaineth among you: and God is Knowing,
Wise.

And if any of your wives escape from you to the Infidels from whom ye
afterwards take any spoil, then give to those whose wives shall have fled
away, the like of what they shall have spent for their dowers; and fear God
in whom ye believe.

O Prophet! when believing women come to thee, and pledge themselves that they
will not associate aught with God, and that they will not steal or commit
adultery, nor kill their children, nor bring scandalous charges,8 nor disobey
thee in what is right, then plight thou thy faith to them, and ask pardon for
them of God: for God is Indulgent, Merciful!

O Believers! enter not into amity with those against whom God is angered;
they despair of the life to come, even as the Infidels despair of the inmates
of the tombs.

_______________________

1 Revealed probably as far as verse 9 (Ramadhan Hej. 8) shortly before the
taking of Mecca.

2 Haleb (?) Ben Abu Baltaa had informed the Koreisch of an intended surprise
of Mecca on the part of Muhammad, with the view of making terms for his own
family who had been left there. The offence was pardoned, but the revelation
was nevertheless published with the view of preventing similar acts of
treachery in future.

3 Speaking of the representatives of the different religious systems
prevalent in the Roman Empire, as Orpheus, Abraham, Christ, Apollonius of
Tyana, enshrined among the household deities of Alexander Severus, Mr. Milman
remarks (Hist. of Christianity, ii. p. 231) that "It is singular that
Abraham, rather than Moses, was placed at the head of Judaism: it is possible
that the traditionary sanctity which attached to the first parent of the
Jewish people, and of many of the Arab tribes, and which was afterwards
embodied in the Koran, was floating in the East, and would comprehend, as it
were, the opinions, not only of the Jews, but of a much wider circle of the
Syrian natives."

4 Sura [cxiii.] ix. 115.

5 That is, by their conversion hereafter.

6 Said (see Nöld. p. 163) to have been revealed at, or shortly after, the
peace of Hudaibiya. According to the terms then agreed upon, a mutual
restitution of property was to take place.

7 Who are converted to Islam.

8 Lit. with a calumny which they have devised between their hands and their
feet. Said to have been revealed at the taking of Mecca. Tab. Beidh.

SURA1 CX.-HELP [CXI.]

MEDINA.-3 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

WHEN the HELP of God and the victory arrive,

And thou seest men entering the religion of God by troops;

Then utter the praise of thy Lord, implore His pardon; for He loveth to turn
in mercy.

_______________________

1 This Sura was revealed at the taking of Mecca, and is supposed to have
given Muhammad warning of his death.

SURA XLIX.-THE APARTMENTS [CXII.]

MEDINA.-18 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O BELIEVERS! enter not upon any affair ere God and His Apostle1 permit you;
and fear ye God: for God Heareth, Knoweth.2

O Believers! raise not your voices above the voice of the Prophet, neither
speak loud to him as ye speak loud one to another, lest your works come to
nought, and ye unaware of it.

They who lower their voices in the presence of the Apostle of God, are the
persons whose hearts God hath inclined to piety. Forgiveness shall be theirs
and a rich reward.

They who call out to thee while thou art within3 thine APARTMENTS, have most
of them no right perception of what is due to thee.

But if they wait patiently till thou come forth to them, it were far better
for them. But God is Indulgent, Merciful.

O Believers! if any bad man4 come to you with news, clear it up at once, lest
through ignorance ye harm others, and speedily have to repent of what ye have
done.

And know that an Apostle of God is among you! should he give way to you in