CHAP. XIV.
Intitled, Abraham
[a]
; revealed at Mecca.
In the name of the most merciful God.
[a] Mention is made of this patriarch towards the end of the chapter.
[b] See the Prelim. Disc. §. III. p. 59, &c.
[c] That he might declare their duty plainly unto them;] That so they might not only perfectly and readily understand those revelations themselves, but might also be able to translate and interpret them unto others [1] .
[1] Idem.
[d] The favours of God;] Literally, the days of God; which may also be translated, the battles of God (the Arabs using the word day to signify a remarkable engagement, as the Italians do giornata, and the French, journée,) or his wonderful acts manifested in the various success of former nations in their wars [2] .
[2] Idem.
[e] See chap. 7. p. 130, &c.
[f] See ibid. p. 122, &c.
[a] Parts of your sins;] That is, such of them as were committed directly against God, which are immediately cancelled by faith, or embracing Islâm; but not the crimes of injustice, and oppression, which were committed against man [1] : for to obtain remission of these last, besides faith, repentance and restitution, according to a man’s ability, are also necessary.
[1] Al Beidawi.
[b] They asked assistance of God;] The commentators are uncertain whether these were the prophets, who begged assistance against their enemies; or the infidels, who called for God’s decision between themselves and them; or both. And some suppose this verse has no connection with the preceding, but is spoken of the people of Mecca, who begged rain in a great drought with which they were afflicted at the prayer of their prophet, but could not obtain it [2] .
[2] Idem.
[c] Filthy water;] Which will issue from the bodies of the damned, mixed with purulent matter and blood.
[a] The weak among them shall say unto those who behaved themselves arrogantly;] i.e. The more simple and inferior people shall say to their teachers and princes who seduced them to idolatry, and confirmed them in their obstinate infidelity.
[b] If God had directed us aright, we had certainly directed you;] That is, We made the same choice for you, as we did for ourselves: and had not God permitted us to fall into error, we had not seduced you.
[c] Wherefore accuse not me, &c.] Lay not the blame on my temptations, but blame your own folly in obeying and trusting in me, who had openly professed myself your irreconcilable enemy.
[d] I do now renounce your having associated me with God heretofore;] Or I do now declare myself clear of your having obeyed me, preferably to God, and worshipped idols at my instigation. Or the words may be translated, I believed not heretofore in that Being with whom ye did associate me; intimating his first disobedience in refusing to worship Adam at God’s command [1] .
[1] Idem.
[e] See chap. 10. p. 167.
[f] What is particularly intended in this passage by the good word, and the evil word, the expositors differ. But the first seems to mean the profession of God’s unity; the inviting others to the true religion, or the Korân it self; and the latter, the acknowledging a plurality of gods, the seducing of others to idolatry, or the obstinate opposition of God’s prophets [2] .
[2] Idem, Jallalo’ddin.
[g] And in that which is to come;] Jallalo’ddin supposes the sepulchre to be here understood; in which place when the true believers come to be examined by the two angels concerning their faith, they will answer properly and without hesitation; which the infidels will not be able to do [3] .
[3] See the Prelim. Disc. §. IV. p. 76.
[h] Hast thou not considered those who have changed the grace of God to infidelity, &c.] That is, who requite his favours with disobedience and incredulity. Or, whose ingratitude obliged God to deprive them of the blessings he had bestowed on them; as he did the Meccans, who thought God had placed them in the sacred territory, and given them the custody of the Caaba, and abundant provision of all necessaries and conveniences of life, and had also honoured them by the mission of Mohammed, yet in return for all this became obstinate unbelievers, and persecuted his apostle; for which they were not only punished by a famine of seven years, but also by the loss and disgrace they sustained at Bedr; so that they who had before been celebrated for their prosperity, were not stripped of that, and become conspicuous only for their infidelity [1] . If this be the drift of the passage, it could not have been revealed at Mecca, as the rest of the chapter is agreed to be; wherefore some suppose this verse and the next to have been revealed at Medina.
[1] Al Beidawi.
[a] He obligeth;] The word used here, and in the following sentences, is sakhkhara, which signifies forcibly to press into any service [2] .
[2] See chap. 2. p. 19. not. d.
[b] This land;] viz. The territory of Mecca. See the Prelim. Disc. §. IV.
[c] And my children;] This prayer, it seems, was not heard as to all his posterity, particularly as to the descendants of Ismael; tho’ some pretend that these latter did not worship images, but only paid a superstitious veneration to certain stones, which they set up and compassed, as representations of the Caaba [3] .
[3] Al Beidawi. See the Prelim. Disc. §. I. p. 20, 21.
[d] Thou wilt be gracious and merciful;] That is, by disposing him to repentance. But Jallalo’ddin supposes these words were spoken by Abraham before he knew that God would not pardon idolatry.
[e] Some of my offspring;] i.e. Ismael and his posterity. The Mohammedans say, that Hagar, his mother, belonged to Sarah, who gave her to Abraham; and that, on her bearing him this son, Sarah became so jealous of her, that she prevailed on her husband to turn them both out of doors; whereupon he sent them to the territory of Mecca, where God caused the fountain of Zemzem to spring forth for their relief, in consideration of which the Jorhamites, who were the masters of the country, permitted them to settle among them [4] .
[4] Idem.
[f] The hearts of some men;] Had he said the hearts of men, absolutely, the Persians and the Romans would also have treated them as friends; and both the Jews and Christians would have made their pilgrimages to Mecca [5] .
[5] Idem, Jallalo’ddin.
[a] Bestow on them fruits;] This part of the prayer was granted; Mecca being so plentifully supplied, that the fruits of spring, summer, and autumn, are to be found there at one and the same time [1] .
[1] Idem.
[b] And a part of my posterity;] For he knew by revelation that some of them would be infidels.
[c] Forgive me, and my parents;] Abraham put up this petition to God before he knew that his parents were the enemies of God [2] . Some suppose his mother was a true believer, and therefore read it in the singular, and my father. Others fancy that by his parents the patriarch here means Adam and Eve [3] .
[2] See chap. 9. p. 164.
[3] Jallalo’ddin, Al Beidawi.
[d] That no reverse should befal you;] That is, That ye should not taste of death, but continue in this world for ever; or that ye should not after death be raised to judgment [4] .
[4] Iidem, Al Zamakhshari, Yahya.
[e] The dwellings of those who had treated their own souls unjustly;] viz. Of the Adites and Thamûdites.
[f] And it appeared plainly unto you how we had dwelt with them;] Not only by the histories of those people revealed in the Korân, but also by the monuments remaining of them (as the houses of the Thamûdites,) and the traditions preserved among you of the terrible judgments which befel them.
[g] When the earth shall be changed into another earth, and the heavens into other heavens;] This the Mohammedans suppose will come to pass at the last day; the earth becoming white and even, or, as some will have it, of silver; and the heavens of gold [5] .
[5] Iidem, V. Prelim. Disc. §. IV. p. 86.