CHAP. LI.
Intitled, The Dispersing; revealed at Mecca.
In the name of the most merciful God.
[a] By the winds dispersing and scattering the dust;] Or, by the women who bring forth or scatter children, &c.
[a] By the clouds bearing a load of rain;] Or, By the women bearing a burthen in their womb, or the winds bearing the clouds, &c.
[b] By the ships running swiftly in the sea;] Or, By the winds passing swiftly in the air, or the stars moving swiftly in their courses, &c.
[c] By the angels who distribute things, &c.] Or, By the winds which distribute the rain, &c.
[d] By the heavens furnished with paths;] i.e. The paths or orbs of the stars, or the streaks which appear in the sky like paths, being thin and extended clouds.
[e] Ye widely differ in what ye say;] Concerning Mohammed, or the Korân, or the resurrection and day of judgment; speaking variously and inconsistently of them.
[f] They slept but a small part of the night;] Spending the greater part in prayer and religious meditation.
[g] Your sustenance is in the heaven; and also that which ye are promised;] i.e. Your food cometh from above, whence proceedeth the change of seasons and rain; and your future reward is also there, that is to say, in paradise, which is situate above the seven heavens.
[h] According to what ye yourselves speak;] That is, without any doubt or reserved meaning, as ye affirm a truth unto one another.
[i] See chap. 11. p. 182, and chap. 15. p. 212.
[k] They said, Fear not.] Some add, that to remove Abraham’s fear, Gabriel, who was one of these strangers, touched the calf with his wing, and it immediately rose up and walked to its dam; upon which Abraham knew them to be the messengers of God [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi.
[l] And she smote her face;] This, some pretend, she did for shame, because she felt her courses coming upon her.
[a] See chap. 7. p. 123, &c.
[b] For a time;] i.e. For three days. See chap. 11. p. 182.
[c] While they looked on;] For this calamity happened in the daytime.
[d] Two kinds;] As for example: male and female; the heaven and the earth; the sun and the moon; light and darkness; plains and mountains; winter and summer; sweet and bitter, &c [1] .
[1] Jallalo’ddin.