CHAP. LXXXVI. Intitled, The Star which appeared by Night; revealed at MECCA. In the name of the most merciful GOD. By the heaven, and that which appeareth by night; but what shall cause thee to understand what that which appeareth by night is? It is the star of piercing brightness: every soul hath a guardian set over it. Let a man consider, therefore, of what he is created. He is created of seed poured forth, issuing from the loins, and the breast-bones'. Verily GOD is able to restore him to life, the day whereon all secret thoughts and actions shall be examined into; and he shall have no power to defend himself, nor any protector. By the heaven, which returneth the rain; and by the earth, which openeth to let forth vegetables and springs: verily this is a discourse distinguishing good from evil; and it is not composed with lightness. Verily the infidels are laying a plot to frustrate my designs: but I will lay a plot for their ruin. Wherefore, O prophet, bear with the unbelievers; let them alone awhile. The star of piercing brightness.] Some take the words to signify any bright star, without restriction: but others think some particular star or stars to be thereby intended; which one supposes to be the morning star, (peculiarly called al Târek, or The appearing by night;) another Saturn, (that planet being by the Arabs surnamed al Thakeb, or the Piercing, as it was by the Greeks, Phænon, or the shining;) and a third, the Pleiades. r From the loins, and the breastbones.] i. e. From the loins of the man, and the breast-bones of the woman (1). Which returneth the rain.] Or, as some expound it, Which performeth its periodic motion, returning to the point from whence it began the same. The words seem designed to express the alternate returns of the different seasons of the year. (1) Al BEIDAWI, YAHYA. CHAP. LXXXVII. Intitled, The most High'; revealed at MECCA. In the name of the most merciful GOD. PRAISE the name of thy LORD, the most High; who hath created and completely formed his creatures; and who determineth them to various ends", and directeth them to attain the same"; and who produceth the pasture for cattle, and afterwards rendereth the same dry stubble of a dusky hue. We will enable thee to rehearse our revelations * and thou shalt not forget any part thereof, except what God shall please; for he knoweth that which is manifest, and that which is hidden. And we will facilitate unto thee the most easy way. Wherefore admonish thy people, if thy admonition shall be profitable unto them. Whoso feareth GOD, he will be admonished: but the most wretched unbeliever will turn away therefrom; who shall be cast to be broiled in the greater fire of hell, wherein he shall not die, neither shall he live. Now hath he attained felicity who is purified by faith, and who remembereth the name of his LORD, and prayeth. But ye prefer this present life: yet the life to come is better, and more durable. Verily this is written in the ancient books, the books of ABRAHAM and MOSES. CHAP. LXXXVIII. Intitled, The Overwhelming; revealed at In the name of the most merciful God. b HATH the news of the overwhelming day of judgment reached thee? The countenances of some, on that day, shall be cast down; labouring and toiling they shall be cast into scorching fire to be broiled: they shall be given to drink of a boiling fountain: they shall have no food, but of dry thorns and thistles; which shall not fatten, neither shall they satisfy hunger. But the countenances of others, on that day, shall be joyful; well pleased with their past endeavour: they shall be placed in a lofty garden, wherein thou shalt hear no vain discourse: therein shall be a running fountain: therein shall be raised beds, and goblets placed before them, and cushions laid in order, and carpets ready spread. Do they not consider the camels", how they are a The overwhelming.] This is a name, or epithet, of the last day; because it will suddenly overwhelm all creatures with fear and astonishment. It is also a name, or epithet, of hellfire. Labouring and toiling.] i. e. Dragging their chains, and labouring through hell-fire, as camels labour through mud, &c. Or, Employing and fatiguing themselves in what shall not avail them (1). c Dry thorns and thistles.] Such as the camels eat when green and tender. Some take the original word, al Darî, for the name of a thorny tree. d Do they not consider the camels, &c.] These animals are of such use, or rather necessity, in the east, that the creation of a species so wonderfully adapted to those countries, is a very proper instance, to an Arabian, of the power and wisdom of God. Some, however, think the clouds (1) Al BEIDAW1. created; and the heaven, how it is raised; and the mountains, how they are fixed; and the earth, how it is extended? Wherefore warn thy Wherefore warn thy people; for thou art a warner only thou art not empowered to act with authority over them. But whoever shall turn back, and disbelieve, GOD shall punish him with the greater punishment of the life to come. Verily unto us shall they return: then shall it be our part to bring them to account. (which the original word Ibl also sig- and be an infidel: and GoD shall also punish him, &c. By which exception some suppose that power is here given to Mohammed to chastise obstinate infidels and apostates. CHAP. LXXXIX. Intitled, The Day-break; revealed at MECCA'. In the name of the most merciful GOD. BY By the day-break, and ten nights; by that which is double, and that which is single"; and by the night when it cometh on: is there not in this an oath formed with understanding? Hast thou not considered how thy LORD dealt with AD, the f Some are of opinion this chapter was revealed at Medina. The ten nights.] That is, the ten nights of Dhu'lhajja, or the tenth of that month, (whence some understand the day-break mentioned just before, of the morning of that day, or of the preceding;) or the nights of the 10th of Moharram; or, as others rather think, the 10th, 11th, and 12th of Dhu'lhajja. All which are days peculiarly sacred among the Mohammedans. h By that which is double, and that which is single.] These words are (1) See chap. li. p. 384. variously interpreted. Some understand thereby all things in general; some, all created beings, (which are said to have been created by pairs, or of two kinds) (1), and the Creator, who is single; some, of the primum mobile, and the other orbs; some, of the constellations, and the planets; some, of the nights before-mentioned, taken either together or singly and some, of the day of slaying the victims, (the 10th of Dhu'lhajja,) and of the day of Arafat, which is the day before, &c. (2). (2) Al ZAMAKH. m people of IREM', adorned with lofty buildings, the like whereof hath not been erected in the land1? and with THAMUD, who hewed the rocks in the valley into houses; and with PHARAOH, the contriver of the stakes", who had behaved insolently in the earth, and multiplied corruption therein? Wherefore thy LORD poured on them various kinds of chastisement: for thy LORD is surely in a watch Irem] Was the name of the territory or city of the Adites, and of the garden mentioned in the next note, which were so called from Irem, or Aram, the grandfather of Ad, their progenitor. Some think Aram himself to be here meant, and his name to be added to signify. the ancient Adites, his immediate descendants, and to distinguish them from the latter tribe of that name (1): but the adjective and relative joined to the word are, in the original, of the feminine gender, which seems to contradict this opinion. Adorned with lofty buildings.] Or, pillars. Some imagine these words are used to express the great size and strength of the old Adites (2); and then they should be translated, Who were of enormous stature. But the more exact commentators take the passage to relate to the sumptuous palace and delightful gardens built and made by Sheddâd, the son of Ad. For they say Ad left two sons, Sheddâd and Sheddid, who reigned jointly after his decease, and extended their power over the greater part of the world but Sheddid dying, his brother became sole monarch; who, having heard of the celestial paradise, made a garden, in imitation thereof, in the déserts of Aden, and called it Irem, after the name of his greatgrandfather. When it was finished, he set out, with a great attendance, to take a view of it; but when they were come within a day's journey of the place, they were all destroyed by a terrible, noise from heaven. Al Beidâwi adds, that one Abda'llah Ebn Kelabah (whom, after D'Herbelot, I have elsewhere named Colabah) (3), accidentally hit on this wonderful place as he was seeking a camel. The like whereof hath not been erected in the land.] If we suppose the preceding words to relate to the vast stature of the Adites, these must be translated, The like of whom have not been created, &c. m Who hewed the rocks in the valley.] The learned Greaves, in his translation of Abu'lfeda's description of Arabia (4), has falsely rendered these words, which are there quoted, Quibus petræ vallis responsum dederunt, i. e. To whom the rocks of the valley returned answer: which slip being made by so great a man, I do not at all wonder that la Roque, and Petis de la Croix, from whose Latin version, and with whose assistance, la Roque made his French translation of the aforesaid treatise, have been led into the same mistake, and rendered those words, A qui les pierres de la valée rendirent réponse (5). The valley here meant, say the commentators (6), is Wâdi 'lkora, lying about one day's journey (7), (not five and upwards, as Abu'lfeda will have it) from al Hejr. " See chap. xxxviii. Various kinds.] The original word signifies a mixture, and also a scourge of platted thongs: whence some suppose the chastisement of this life is here represented by a scourge, and intimated to be as much lighter than that of the next life, as scourging is lighter than death (8). (1) Al BEIDAWI, JALLALO'DDIN. (2) Idem. See the Prelim. Disc. Sect, I.. p. 13. (3) Ibid. p. 12. (4) Page 43. It was published by Dr. HUDSON, in the third Vol. of the Geographiæ veteris Scriptor. Gr. minor. (5) Descr. de l'Arabie, mise à la suite du Voyage de la Palestine, par LA ROQUE, p. 35. (6) JALLALO'DDIN, Al BEIDAWI. (7) EBN HAWKAL, apud ABUL'F. ubi supr. Geogr. Nub. p. 110. (8) Al BEIDAWI. |