XXXI. SAY, Verily if mankind and the Jinn assembled together for the purpose of producing the like of this Kur-án,1 they could not produce the like thereof, although they helped one another.2 And We have explained unto men in this Ķur-án every kind of parable,3 but the greater number of men have refused [all else] save unbelief, And have said, 'We will by no means believe in thee until thou cause a fountain to gush forth for us from the earth, Or thou have a garden of palm-trees and grapes, and thou cause rivers to spring forth in the midst thereof in abundance, Or thou cause heaven to fall down upon us, as thou hast pretended, in pieces, or thou bring God and the angels before us, Or thou have a house of gold, or thou ascend into heaven, and we will not believe thy ascending until thou cause a book to descend unto us which we may read.' SAY, Extolled be the perfection of my Lord! Am I [aught] save a man, [sent] as a Messenger? And nothing hath hindered men from believing when the direction hath come unto them, but their saying, 'Hath God sent a man as a Messenger ?' 4 SAY, If there were upon the earth angels walking at ease,5 We had sent down unto them from heaven an angel as a Messenger. SAY, God is a sufficient witness between me and you: for He knoweth and seeth His servants. (xvii. 90–98.) 1 In eloquence. 2 [In orig. edition, and literally, 'Although some of them assisted others."] 3 That they may be admonished. 4 And not sent an angel? 5 Instead of mankind. 6 For no apostle is sent unto a people but one of their own kind. XXXII. And this Kur-án is not an invention 1 of one who is not God, but it hath been sent down as a confirmation of those books which have been before it, and an explanation of the Scripture -there is no doubt thereof-from the Lord of the Worlds. 4 Do they say, 'He2 hath forged it?' SAY, Then bring ye a Soorah like unto it and call whom ye can, other than God, if ye speak truth. Nay they have charged with falsehood that which they comprehend not, and the explanation thereof 5 hath not yet come unto them. In like manner did those who were before them charge their Messengers with falsehood; but see how was the end of the offenders! (x. 38-40.) XXXIII. If ye be in doubt concerning that which We have sent down unto Our servant Mohammad, bring ye a Soorah like unto it, and invoke your witnesses, other than God, if ye be speakers of truth. But if ye do it not (and do it ye shall not), fear the fire whose fuel is men and stones: it is prepared for the unbelievers. (ii. 21, 22.) XXXIV. Whatsoever verse We abrogate or cause thee to forget, We will produce one better than it or like unto it. Dost thou not know that God is all-powerful? Dost thou not know that to God belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and that beside God ye have no protector or defender? (ii. 100, 101.) XXXV. When We substitute a verse in the stead of a verse (and God best knoweth what He revealeth), they say, 'Thou art but a forger!'-but the greater number of them know not! SAY, The Holy Spirit Gabriel hath brought it down from thy Lord with truth, to stablish those who have believed, and as a direction and good tidings unto the Muslims. And We well know that they say, 'Only a man 1 teacheth him.' The tongue of him to whom they incline is foreign, and this is the perspicuous Arabic tongue. (xvi. 103-105). XXXVI. SAY, If the sea were ink, for writing the words of my Lord, the sea would be dried up or ever the words of my Lord were exhausted; and [so] if we brought its like in aid.2 1 Namely, a Christian slave whom the Prophet used to visit. [The Mekkans accounted for the production of the Kurán by an unlearned man like Moḥammad by ascribing it to the teaching of some Christian, (xviii. 109). whom is doubtful. Moḥammad's reply is that the Christian's was a foreign tongue, whilst the Kurán was in Arabic.] 2 ['As a further supply,' orig. ed.] THE RESURRECTION, PARADISE, AND HELL. XXXVII. +The Striking! what is the Striking? And what shall teach thee what the Striking is? It is a day when men shall be like scattered moths, And the mountains like carded wool! Then as for him whose balances are heavy, his shall be a life well-pleasing. As for him whose balances are light, his abode shall be the Pit. And what shall teach thee what that is? A raging fire! XXXVIII. (ci.) +When the earth is shaken with her shaking, On that day shall men come one by one to behold their works, And whosoever shall have wrought an ant's weight of good shall behold it, And whosoever shall have wrought an ant's weight of ill shall behold it. (xcix.) [Lit. 'Burdens:' explained by El-Beyḍáwee and others as buried treasures and as dead.] XXXIX. +When the heaven shall be cloven asunder, And when the graves shall be turned upside-down, In the form which pleased Him hath He fashioned thee. Verily there are watchers over you, Worthy recorders, Knowing what ye do. Verily in delight shall the righteous dwell; And verily the wicked in Hell[-Fire]; They shall be burnt at it on the day of doom, And they shall not be hidden from it. And what shall teach thee what the Day of Judgment is? Again: What shall teach thee what is the Day of Judgment? It is a day when one soul shall be powerless for another soul; and all on that day shall be in the hands of God. (lxxxii.) XL. When the sun shall be wrapped up, And when the stars shall fall down, And when the mountains shall be made to pass away, And when the camels ten months gone with young1 shall be neglected, And when the wild beasts shall be gathered together, And when the seas shall overflow,2 And when the souls shall be joined to their bodies, The most highly esteemed of pro- these renderings, and also 'be dried perty. up,' are supported by various autho2 ['Be set on fire,' orig. ed. Both rities. See Lane: Lex. voce sejera.] |