The Koran
CHAPTER XLI.
ENTITLED, ARE DISTINCTLY EXPLAINED; REVEALED AT MECCA.
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
H. M. This is a revelation from the most Merciful: a book the verses whereof are distinctly explained, an Arabic Koran for the instruction of people who understand; bearing good tidings, and denouncing threats: but the greater part of them turn aside, and hearken not thereto. And they say, Our hearts are veiled from the doctrine to which thou invitest us; and there is a deafness in our ears, and a curtain between us and thee: wherefore act thou as thou shalt think fit; for we shall act according to our own sentiments. Say, Verily I am only a man like you. It is revealed unto me that your God is one God: wherefore direct your way straight unto him; and ask pardon of him for what is past. And woe be to the idolaters; who give not the appointed alms, and believe not in the life to come! But as to those who believe and work righteousness; they shall receive an everlasting reward. Say, Do ye indeed disbelieve in him who created the earth in two days; and do ye set up equals unto him? He is the Lord of all creatures. And he placed in the earth mountains firmly rooted, rising above the same: and he blessed it; and provided therein the food of the creatures designed to be the inhabitants thereof, in four days; equally for those who ask. Then he set his mind to the creation of heaven; and it was smoke: and he said unto it, and to the earth, Come, either obediently, or against your will. They answered, We come, obedient to thy command. And he formed them into seven heavens, in two days; and revealed unto every heaven its office. And we adorned the lower heaven with lights, and placed therein a guard of angels. This is the disposition of the mighty, the wise God. If the Meccans withdraw from these instructions, say, I denounce unto you a sudden destruction, like the destruction of Ad and Thamud. When the apostles came unto them before them and behind them, saying, Worship God alone; they answered, if our Lord had been pleased to send messengers, he had surely sent angels: and we believe not the message with which ye are sent. As to the tribe of Ad, they behaved insolently in the earth, without reason, and said, Who is more mighty than we in strength? Did they not see that God, who had created them, was more mighty than they in strength? And they knowingly rejected our signs. Wherefore we sent against them a piercing wind, on days of ill luck, that we might make them taste the punishment of shame in this world: but the punishment of the life to come will be more shameful; and they shall not be protected therefrom. And as to Thamud, we directed them; but they loved blindness better than the true direction: wherefore the terrible noise of an ignominious punishment assailed them, for that which they had deserved; but we delivered those who believed and feared God. And warn them of the day, on which the enemies of God shall be gathered together unto hell fire, and shall march in distinct bands; until, when they shall arrive thereat, their ears, and their eyes, and their skins shall bear witness against them of that which they shall have wrought. And they shall say unto their skins, Wherefore do ye bear witness against us? They shall answer, God hath caused us to speak, who giveth speech unto all things: he created you the first time; and unto him are ye returned. Ye did not hide yourselves, while ye sinned, so that your ears, and your eyes, and your skins could not bear witness against you: but ye thought that God was ignorant of many things which ye did. This was your opinion, which ye imagined of your Lord: it hath ruined you; and ye are become lost people. Whether they bear their torment, hell fire shall be their abode; or whether they beg for favor, they shall not obtain favor. And we will give them the devils to be their companions; for they dressed up for them the false notions which they entertained of this present world, and of that which is to come, and the sentence justly fitteth them, which was formerly pronounced on the nations of genii and men who were before them; for they perished. The unbelievers say, Hearken not unto this Koran, but use vain discourse during the reading thereof; that ye may overcome the voice of the reader by your scoffs and laughter. Wherefore we will surely cause the unbelievers to taste a grievous punishment, and we will certainly reward them for the evils which they shall have wrought. This shall be the reward of the enemies of God, namely, hell fire; therein is prepared for them an everlasting abode, as a reward for that they have wittingly rejected our signs. And the infidels shall say in hell, O Lord, show us the two who seduced us, of the genii and men, and we will cast them under our feet, that they may become most base and despicable. As for those who say, Our Lord is God, and who behave uprightly; the angels shall descend unto them, and shall say, Fear not, neither be ye grieved; but rejoice in the hopes of paradise, which ye have been promised. We are your friends in this life, and in that which is to come: therein shall ye have that which your souls shall desire, and therein shall ye obtain whatever ye shall ask for; as a gift from a gracious and merciful God. Who speaketh better than he who inviteth unto God, and worketh righteousness, and saith, I am a Moslem? Good and evil shall not be held equal. Turn away evil with that which is better; and behold the man between whom and thyself there was enmity, shall become, as it were, thy warmest friend: but none shall attain to this perfection, except they who are patient; nor shall any attain thereto, except he who is endued with a great happiness of temper. And if a malicious suggestion be offered unto thee from Satan, have recourse unto God; for it is he who heareth and knoweth. Among the signs of his power are the night, and the day, and the sun, and the moon. Worship not the sun, neither the moon: but worship God, who hath created them; if ye serve him. But if they proudly disdain his service; verily the angels, who are with thy Lord, praise him night and day, and are not wearied. And among his signs another is, that thou seest the land waste: but when we send down rain thereon, it is stirred and fermenteth. And he who quickeneth the earth, will surely quicken the dead; for he is almighty. Verily those who impiously wrong our signs, are not concealed from us. Is he, therefore, better, who shall be cast into hell fire, or he who shall appear secure on the day of resurrection? Work that which ye will: he certainly beholdeth whatever ye do. Verily they who believe not in the admonition of the Koran, after it hath come unto them, shall one day be discovered. It is certainly a book of infinite value; vanity shall not approach it, either from before it or from behind it: it is a revelation from a wise God, whose praise is justly to be celebrated. No other is said unto thee by the infidels of Mecca, than what hath been formerly said unto the apostles before thee: verily thy Lord is inclined to forgiveness, and is also able to chastise severely. If we had revealed the Koran in a foreign language, they had surely said, Unless the signs thereof be distinctly explained, we will not receive the same: is the book written in a foreign tongue, and the person unto whom it is directed an Arabian? Answer, It is, unto those who believe, a sure guide, and a remedy for doubt, and uncertainty: but unto those who believe not, it is a thickness of hearing in their ears, and it is a darkness which covereth them; these, are as they who are called unto from a distant place. We heretofore gave the book of the law unto Moses; and a dispute arose concerning the same: and if a previous decree had not proceeded from thy Lord, to respite the opposers of that revelation, verily the matter had been decided between them, by the destruction of the infidels; for they were in a very great doubt as to the same. He who doth right, doth it to the advantage of his own soul; and he who doth evil, doth it against the same: for thy Lord is not unjust towards his servants. (XXV.) Unto him is reserved the knowledge of the hour of judgment, and no fruit cometh forth from the knops which involve it; neither doth any female conceive in her womb, nor is she delivered of her burden, without his knowledge. On the day whereon he shall call them to him, saying, Where are my companions which ye ascribed unto me? they shall answer, We assure thee there is no witness of this matter among us: and the idols which they called on before, shall withdraw themselves from them; and they shall perceive that there will be no way to escape. Man is not wearied with asking good; but if evil befall him, he despondeth and despaireth. And if we cause him to taste mercy from us, after affliction hath touched him, he surely saith, This is due to me on account of my deserts: I do not think the hour of judgment will ever come; and if I be brought before my Lord, I shall surely attain, with him, the most excellent condition. But we will then declare unto those who shall not have believed, that which they have wrought; and we will surely cause them to taste a most severe punishment. When we confer favors on man, he turneth aside, and departeth without returning thanks: but when evil toucheth him, he is frequent at prayer. Say, What think ye? if the Koran be from God, and ye believe not therein; who will lie under a greater error, than he who dissenteth widely therefrom? Hereafter we will show them our signs in the regions of the earth, and in themselves; until it become manifest unto them that this book is the truth. Is it not sufficient for thee that thy Lord is witness of all things? Are they not in a doubt as to the meeting of their Lord at the resurrection? Doth not he encompass all things?
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