The Koran
CHAPTER LIV.
ENTITLED, THE MOON; REVEALED AT MECCA.
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
The hour of judgment approacheth; and the moon hath been split in sunder:
but if the unbelievers see a sign, they turn aside, saying, This is a powerful
charm. And they accuse thee, O Mohammed, of imposture, and follow their
own lusts: but everything will be immutably fixed. And now hath a message
come unto them, wherein is a determent from obstinate infidelity; the same
being consummate wisdom: but warners profit them not; wherefore do thou
withdraw from them. The day whereon the summoner shall summon mankind to
an ungrateful business, they shall come forth from their graves with downcast
looks: numerous as locusts scattered far abroad; hastening with terror
unto the summoner. The unbelievers shall say, this is a day of distress.
The people of Noah accused that prophet of imposture, before thy people
rejected thee: they accused our servant of imposture, saying, He is a madman;
and he was rejected with reproach. He called, therefore, upon his Lord,
saying, Verily, I am overpowered, wherefore avenge me. So we opened the
gates of heaven with water pouring down, and we caused the earth to break
forth into springs; so that the water of heaven and earth met, according
to the decree which had been established. And we bare him on a vessel composed
of planks and nails; which moved forward under our eyes: as a recompense
unto him who had been ungratefully rejected. And we left the said vessel
for a sign. but is any one warned thereby? And how severe was my vengeance
and my threatening! Now have we made the Koran easy for admonition; but
is any one admonished thereby? Ad charged their prophet with imposture:
but how severe was my vengeance and my threatening! Verily we sent against
them a roaring wind, on a day of continued ill luck: it carried men away,
as though they had been roots of palm-trees forcibly torn up. And how severe
was my vengeance and my threatening! Now have we made the Koran easy for
admonition: but is anyone admonished thereby? Thamud charged the admonitions
of their prophet with falsehood, and said, Shall we follow a single man
among us? verily we should then be guilty of error and preposterous madness:
is the office of admonition committed unto him preferably to the rest of
us? Nay; he is a liar and an insolent fellow. But God said to Saleh, To-morrow
shall they know who is the liar and the insolent person: for we will surely
send the she-camel for a trial of them; and do thou observe them, and bear
their insults with patience: and prophesy unto them that the water shall
be divided between them, and each portion shall be sat down to alternately.
And they called their companion: and he took a sword, and slew her. But
how severe was my vengeance and my threatening! For we sent against them
one cry of the angel Gabriel, and they became like the dry sticks used
by him who buildeth a fold for cattle. And now have we made the Koran easy
for admonition: but is any one admonished thereby? The people of Lot charged
his preaching with falsehood: but we sent against them a wind driving a
shower of stones, which destroyed them all except the family of Lot; whom
we delivered early in the morning, through favor from us. Thus do we reward
those who are thankful. And Lot had warned them of our severity in chastising;
but they doubted of that warning. And they demanded his guests of him,
that they might abuse them: but we put out their eyes, saying, Taste my
vengeance, and my threatening. And early in the morning a lasting punishment
surprised them. Taste, therefore, my vengeance, and my threatening. Now
have we made the Koran easy for admonition: but is any one admonished thereby?
The warning of Moses also came unto the people of Pharaoh; but they charged
every one of our signs with imposture: wherefore we chastised them with
a mighty and irresistible chastisement. Are your unbelievers, O Meccans,
better than these? Is immunity from punishment promised unto you in the
scriptures? Do they say, We are a body of men able to prevail against our
enemies? The multitude shall surely be put to flight, and shall turn their
back. But the hour of judgment is their threatened time of punishment:
and that hour shall be more grievous and more bitter than their afflictions
in this life. Verily the wicked wander in error, and shall be tormented
hereafter in burning flames. On that day they shall be dragged into the
fire on their faces; and it shall be said unto them, Taste ye the touch
of hell. All things have we created bound by a fixed decree: and our command
is no more than a single word, like the twinkling of an eye. We have formerly
destroyed nations like unto you; but is any of you warned by their example?
Everything which they do is recorded in the books kept by the guardian
angels: and every action, both small and great, is written down in the
preserved table. Moreover the pious shall dwell among gardens and rivers,
in the assembly of truth, in the presence of a most potent king.
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