PART THE FIRST.

THE OPENING PRAYER,1

EL-FATIHAH.

I.

IN the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds,2

The Compassionate, the Merciful,

The King of the day of judgment.

Thee do we worship, and of Thee seek we help.

Guide us in the right way,

The way of those to whom Thou hast been gracious,

Not of those with whom Thou art wroth, nor of the

(4)

PREMONITION.

II.

A.L.M. Respecting this Book there is no doubt; 2 it is a guidance for them that fear Him,

Who believe in the unseen, and perform the prayer, and of what We have bestowed on them expend,

And who believe in that which hath been sent down to thee, and what hath been sent down before thee,5 and have firm assurance of the life to come.

Those follow a right direction from their Lord, and those are they who shall prosper.

As for those who have disbelieved, it will be equal to them whether thou admonish them or admonish them not: they will not believe.

God hath sealed their hearts and their ears, and over their eyes is a covering, and for them is [ordained] a great punishment.

(ii. 1-6.)

1 God knoweth best what He meaneth

by these letters.

2 That it is from God.

3 In the resurrection and paradise and hell.

4 The Kur-án.

5 The Pentateuch and the Gospel and other books.

(5)

GOD.

III.

SAY, He is God, One [God];

God, the Eternal.

He begetteth not nor is begotten,

And there is none equal unto Him. (cxii.)1

IV.

The Throne-Verse.2

God! There is no God but He, the Ever-Living, the Ever-Subsisting. Slumber seizeth Him not, nor sleep. To Him belongeth whatsoever is in the Heavens and whatsoever is in the Earth. Who is he that shall intercede with Him, unless by His permission? He knoweth what [hath been] before them and what [shall be] after them, and they shall not compass aught of His knowledge save what He willeth. His Throne comprehendeth the Heavens and the Earth, and the care of them burdeneth Him not. And He is the High, the Great.

1 This chapter is held in particular veneration by the Moḥammadans, and declared, by a tradition of their prophet, to be equal in value to a third part of the whole Korân.-S.

2 One of the most admired passages in the Ķur-án, recited (though not by all Muslims) at the close of each of

(ii. 256.)

the five daily prayers, and often engraved on an ornament of gold or silver or a precious stone to be worn as an amulet.

The seven heavens and earths in comparison with the Throne are nought but as seven dirhems [silver coins] cast into a shield.'-Trad.

V.

†SAY, O God, to whom belongeth dominion, Thou givest dominion to whom Thou wilt, and from whom Thou wilt Thou takest it away; Thou exaltest whom Thou wilt, and whom Thou wilt Thou humblest. In Thy hand is good. Verily Thou art all-powerful.

Thou causest the night to pass into the day, and Thou causest the day to pass into the night; and Thou bringest forth the living from the dead, and Thou bringest forth the dead from the living; and thou givest sustenance to whom Thou wilt without measure. (iii. 25, 26.)

VI.

Blessed be He in whose hand is the dominion and who is all-powerful;1

Who hath created death and life, that He may prove you, which of you [will be] best in works: and He is the Mighty, the Very-Forgiving:

Who hath created seven heavens, one above another. Thou seest not any fault in the creation of the Compassionate. But lift up the eyes again to heaven. Dost thou see any fissures ?

Then lift up the eyes again twice; the sight shall return unto thee dull and dim. (lxvii. 1-4.)

VII.

Verily your Lord is God, who created the heavens and the earth in six days: then He ascended the throne. He causeth the night to cover the day; it followeth it swiftly: and He created the sun and the moon and the stars, made subject utterly to His command. Do not the whole creation and command belong to Him? Lord of the Worlds.

1

Blessed be God, the (vii. 52.)

[* Able to do everything,' orig. ed. Lit. 'potent over everything.']

VIII.

We have placed in heaven the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and adorned them for the beholders with the constellations; And We have guarded them (by means of shooting stars) from every accursed devil,1

Excepting him who listeneth by stealth, whom a manifest shooting star pursueth.

We have also spread forth the earth, and thrown thereon firm mountains, and We have caused to spring forth in it every kind [of green thing] weighed.3

And We have provided for you therein necessaries of life, and for him whom ye do not sustain ;*

4

And there is not a thing but the storehouses thereof are with Us, and We send it not down save in determined quantities. We also send the fertilizing winds,5 and We send down water from heaven, and give you to drink thereof; and ye are not the storers of it.

And verily We give life and death, and We are the heirs of all the creation.

We also know those who have gone before you, and We know those who follow after [you].

And verily thy Lord will assemble them together: for He is Wise, Knowing. (xv. 16-25.)

1 Lit. 'driven away with stones.' This expression alludes to a tradition, that Abraham, when the devil tempted him to disobey God, in not sacrificing his son, drove the fiend away by throwing stones at him; in memory of which, the Mohammadans, at the pilgrimage of Mecca, throw a certain number of stones at the devil, with certain ceremonies, in the valley of Mina.-S. The devils, or evil jinn, it is said, had liberty to enter any of the seven heavens till the birth of Jesus, when they were excluded from three of them; on the birth of Mohammad they were forbidden the other four. They continue, however, to ascend to the confines of the lowest heaven,

and there, listening to the conversation of the angels respecting things decreed by God, obtain knowledge of futurity, which they sometimes impart to men, who by means of talismans or certain invocations make them to serve the purposes of magical performances. Shooting stars are often hurled at the devils when they thus listen.

2 That it may not move with its inhabitants.

3 Or determined.

4 Slaves and beasts and cattle: for it is God only who sustaineth them. 5 Which cause the clouds to fill with water.