gar drive him not away; and as for the favour of thy Lord discourse thereof. THE OPENING CHAPTER In the name of the merciful and compassionate God. Praise belongs to God, the Lord of the worlds, the merciful, the compassionate, the ruler of the day of judgment ! Thee we serve and Thee we ask for aid. Guide us in the right path, the path of those Thou art gracious to; not of those Thou art wroth with; nor of those who err. THE CHAPTER OF MISBELIEVERS IN the name of the merciful and compassionate God. Say, 'O ye misbelievers! I do not serve what ye serve; nor will ye serve what I serve; nor will I serve what ye serve; nor will ye serve what I serve;-ye have your religion, and I have my religion!' THE CHAPTER OF UNITY In the name of the merciful and compassionate God. God the Eternal! He begets not and is not begotten! Nor is there like unto Him any one!' THE CHAPTER OF NECESSARIES In the name of the merciful and compassionate God. Hast thou considered him who calls the judgment a lie? He it is who pushes the orphan away; and urges not (others) to feed the poor. But woe to those who pray and who are careless in their prayers, Who pretend and withhold necessaries.' 1 Or, 'alms.' The word might be rendered 'resources.' THE CHAPTER OF THE NIGHT In the name of the merciful and compassionate God. And the day when it is displayed! And by what created male and female! Verily, your efforts are diverse! But as for him who gives alms and fears God, And believes in the best, We will send him easily to ease! But as for him who is niggardly, And calls the good a lie, We will send him easily to difficulty! And his wealth shall not avail him Verily, it is for us to guide; And, verily, ours are the hereafter and the former life! None shall broil thereon, but the most wretched, who says it is a lie and turns his back. But the pious shall be kept away from it, he who gives his wealth in alms, and who gives no favour to any one for the sake of reward, but only craving the face of his Lord most High; in the end he shall be well pleased! THE CHAPTER OF THE LAND In the name of the merciful and compassionate God. I need not swear by the Lord of this land,' and thou a dweller in this land"! Nor by the begetter and what he begets! We have surely created man in trouble. Does he think that none can do aught against him? He says, 'I have wasted wealth in plenty;' does he think that no one sees him? Have we not made for him two eyes and a tongue, and two lips? and guided him in the two highways? but he will not attempt the steep! And what shall make thee know what the steep is? It is freeing captives, or feeding on the day of famine, an orphan who is akin, or a poor man who lies in the dust; and again (it is) to be of these who believe and encourage each other to patience, and encourage each other to mercy, these are the fellows of the right! But those who disbelieve in our signs, they are the fellows of the left, for them is fire that closes in! THE CHAPTER HE FROWNED IN the name of the merciful and compassionate God. He frowned and turned his back, for that there came to him a blind man1! But what should make thee know whether haply he may be purified? or may be mindful and the reminder profit him? But as for him who is wealthy, thou dost attend to him; and thou dost not care that he is not purified; but as for him who comes to thee earnestly fearing the while, from him thou art diverted! Nay! verily, it is a memorial; and whoso pleases will remember it. In honored pages exalted, purified, in the hands of noble, righteous scribes! May man be killed! how ungrateful he is! Of what did He create him? Of a clot. He created him and fated him; then the path He did make easy for him; then He killed him, and laid him in the tomb; then when He pleases will He raise him up again. Nay, he has not fulfilled his bidding! But let man look unto his foods. Verily, we have poured 1 One Abdallah ibn Umm Maktum, a poor blind man, once interrupted Mohammed while the latter was in conversation with Walid ibn Mughairah and some others of the Qurâis chiefs. The prophet taking no notice of him, the blind man raised his voice and earnestly begged for religious instruction, but Mohammed, annoyed at the interruption, frowned and turned away. This passage is a reprimand to the prophet for his conduct on the occasion. Afterwards, whenever he saw the blind Abdallah, Mohammed used to say, 'Welcome to him on whose account my Lord reproved me!' and subsequently made him governor of Medinah. the water out in torrents: then we have cleft the earth asunder, and made to grow therefrom the grain, and the grape, and the hay, and the olive, and the palm, and gardens closely planted, and fruits, and grass, a provision for you and for your cattle! But when the stunning noise shall come, on the day when man shall flee from his brother and his mother and his father and his spouse and his sons! Every man among them on that day shall have a business to employ him. Faces on that day shall be bright,-laughing, joyous! and faces shall have dust upon them,-darkness shall cover them! those are the wicked misbelievers! THE CHAPTER OF THE SMITING IN the name of the merciful and compassionate God. What is the smiting? And what shall make thee know what the smiting is? The day when men shall be like scattered moths; and the mountains shall be like flocks of carded wool! And as for him whose balance is heavy, he shall be in a well-pleasing life. But as for him whose balance is light, his dwelling shall be the pit of hell. And who shall make thee know what it is?—a burning fire! THE CHAPTER OF THE CLEAVING ASUNDER IN the name of the merciful and compassionate God. And when the stars are scattered, And when the seas gush together, And when the tombs are turned upside down, The soul shall know what it has sent on or kept back! O man! what has seduced thee concerning thy generous Lord, who created thee, and fashioned thee, and gave thee symmetry, and in what form He pleased composed thee? Nay, but ye call the judgment a lie! but over you are guardians set,'-noble, writing down! they know what ye do! Verily, the righteous are in pleasure, and, verily, the wicked are in hell; they shall broil therein upon the judgment day; nor shall they be absent therefrom! And what shall make thee know what is the judgment day? Again, what shall make thee know what is the judgment day? a day when no soul shall control aught for another; and the bidding on that day belongs to God! THE CHAPTER OF THE FOLDING UP In the name of the merciful and compassionate God. When the sun is folded up, And when the stars do fall, And when the mountains are moved, And when the she-camels ten months gone with young shall be neglected,1 And when the beasts shall be crowded together,' And when the seas shall surge up, And when souls shall be paired with bodies, And when the child who was buried alive shall be asked for what sin she was slain, And when the pages shall be spread out, And when hell shall be set ablaze, And when Paradise shall be brought nigh. The soul shall know what it has produced! I need not swear by the stars that slink back, moving swiftly, slinking into their dens! Nor by the night when darkness draws on! Nor by the morn when it first breathes up! Verily, it is the speech of a noble apostle, mighty, standing sure with the Lord of the throne, obeyed and trusty too! Your comrade is not mad; he saw him3 on the plain horizon, nor does he grudge to communicate the unseen. 1 The recording angels. 1 Such camels being among the most valuable of an Arab's possessions, neglect of them must imply some terribly engrossing calamity. The terrors of the judgment day will drive all the wild beasts together for mutual shelter. Gabriel. |