CHAP. VII.
Intitled, Al Araf
[a]
; revealed at Mecca
[b]
.
In the name of the most merciful God.
[a] Al Arâf signifies the partition between paradise and hell, which is mentioned in this chapter [1] .
[1] See the Prel. Disc. §. IV. p. 94.
[b] Some however except five or eight verses, begin at these words, And ask them concerning the city, &c.
[c] The signification of those letters the more sober Mohammedans confess God alone knows. Some, however, imagine they stand for Allah, Gabriel, Mohammed, on whom be peace.
[d] Which our vengeance overtook by night;] As it did the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, to whom Lot was sent.
[e] Or while they were reposing themselves at noon;] As happened to the Midianites, to whom Shoaib preached.
[f] See the Prelim. Disc. Sect. IV. p. 89.
[g] See chap. 2. p. 4, &c.
[h] Verily thou shalt be one of those who are respited;] As the time till which the devil is reprieved is not particularly expressed, the commentators suppose his request was not wholly granted; but agree that he shall die, as well as other creatures, at the second sound of the trumpet [2] .
[2] Al Beidawi, See the Prelim. Disc. §. IV. p 83, and D’Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Eblis
[a] I will come upon them from before, and from behind, and from their right hands, and from their left, &c.] i.e. I will attack them on every side that I shall be able. The other two ways, viz. from above and from under their feet, are omitted, say the commentators, to shew that the devil’s power is limited [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi.
[b] The Mohammedan gospel of Barnabas tells us that the sentence which God pronounced on the serpent for introducing the devil into paradise [2] was, that he should not only be turned out of paradise, but that he should have his legs cut off by the angel Michael, with the sword of God; and that the devil himself, since he had rendered our first parents unclean, was condemned to eat the excrements of them and all their posterity; which two last circumstances I do not remember to have read elsewhere. The words of the manuscript are these: Y llamó [Dios] a la serpiente, y a Michael, aquel que tiene la espada de Dios, y le dixo; Aquesta sierpe es acelerada, echala la primera del parayso, y cortale las piernas, y si quisiere caminar, arrastrara la vida por tierra. Y llamó à Satanas, el qual vino riendo, y dixole; Porque tu reprobo has engañado a aquestos, y los has hecho immundos? Yo quiero que toda immundicia suya, y de todos sus hijos, en saliendo de sus cuerpos entre por tu boca, porque en verdad ellos haran penitencia, y tu quedaras harto de immundicia.
[2] See the notes to chap. II. p. 5.
[c] Their nakedness appeared unto them;] Which they had not perceived before; being clothed, as some say, with light, or garments of paradise, which fell from them on their disobedience. Yahya imagines their nakedness was hidden by their hair.
[d] The leaves of paradise;] Which it is said were fig-leaves [3] .
[3] Idem.
[e] We have sent down unto you apparel;] Not only proper materials, but also ingenuity of mind and dexterity of hand to make use of them [4] .
[4] Idem.
[f] Whereas ye see not them;] Because of the subtlety of their bodies, and their being void of all colour [5] .
[5] Jallalo’ddin.
[a] Take your decent apparel at every place of worship, &c.] This passage was revealed to reprove an immodest custom of the pagan Arabs, who used to encompass the Caaba naked, because clothes, they said, were the signs of their disobedience to God [1] . The Sonna orders that, when a man goes to prayers, he should put on his better apparel, out of respect to the divine majesty before whom he is to appear. But as the Mohammedans think it indecent, on the one hand, to come into God’s presence in a slovenly manner, so they imagine, on the other, that they ought not to appear before him in habits too rich or sumptuous, and particularly in clothes adorned with gold or silver, lest they should seem proud.
[1] Idem. Al Beidawi.
[b] And eat and drink;] The sons of Amer, it is said, when they performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, used to eat no more than was absolutely necessary, and that not of the more delicious sort of food neither; which abstinence they looked upon as a piece of merit, but they are here told the contrary [2] .
[2] Idem.
[c] But peculiarly on the day of resurrection;] Because then the wicked, who also partook of the blessings of this life, will have no share in the enjoyments of the next.
[d] Our Messengers;] viz. The angel of death and his assistants.
[a] It shall curse its sister;] That is, the nation whose example betrayed them into their idolatry and other wickedness.
[b] It is doubled unto all;] Unto those who set the example, because they not only transgressed themselves, but were also the occasion of the others’ transgression; and unto those who followed them, because of their own infidelity and their imitating an ill example [1] .
[1] Idem.
[c] The gates of heaven shall not be opened unto them;] That is, when their souls shall, after death, ascend to heaven, they shall not be admitted, but shall be thrown down into the dungeon under the seventh earth [2] .
[2] Jallalo’ddin. See the Prelim. Disc.ubi sup. p. 78.
[d] This expression was probably taken from our Saviour’s words in the gospel [3] , tho’ it be proverbial in the east.
[3] Matth. xix. 24.
[e] And we will remove all grudges from their minds;] So that, whatever differences or animosities there had been between them in their lifetime, they shall now be forgotten, and give place to sincere love and amity. This Ali is said to have hoped would prove true to himself and his inveterate enemies, Othmân, Telha, and al Zobeir [4] .
[4] Al Beidawi.
[f] The inhabitants;] Literally, the companions.
[g] This cryer, some say, will be the angel Israfil.
[h] And men shall stand on al Arâf;] Al Arâf is the name of the wall or partition which, as Mohammed taught, will separate paradise from hell [5] . But as to the persons who are to be placed thereon the commentators differ, as has been elsewhere observed [6] .
[5] See the Prelim. Disc. §. IV. p 94.
[6] See ibid.
[i] Who shall know every one of them by their marks;] i.e. Who shall distinguish the blessed from the damned by their proper characteristics; such as the whiteness and splendour of the faces of the former, and the blackness of those of the latter [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi.
[a] Yet they shall not enter therein, although they earnestly desire it;] From this circumstance it seems that their opinion is the most probable, who make this intermediate partition a sort of purgatory for those, who tho’ they deserve not to be sent to hell, yet have not merits sufficient to gain them immediate admittance into paradise, and will be tantalized here for a certain time with a bare view of the felicity of that place.
[b] Certain men;] That is, the chiefs and ringleaders of the infidels [2] .
[2] Idem.
[c] On whom ye sware that God would not bestow mercy;] These were the inferior and poorer among the believers, whom they despised in their lifetimes as unworthy of God’s favour.
[d] Enter ye into paradise, &c.] These words are directed, by an apostrophe, to the poor and despised believers above mentioned. Some commentators, however, imagine these and the next preceding words are to be understood of those who will be confined in al Arâf; and that the damned will, in return for their reproachful speech, swear that they shall never enter paradise themselves; whereupon God of his mercy shall order them to be admitted by these words [3] .
[3] Idem.
[e] Or of that which God hath bestowed on you;] i.e. Of the other liquors or fruits of paradise. Compare this passage with the parable of Dives and Lazarus.
[f] The interpretation thereof;] That is, the event of the promises and menaces therein.
[g] See Chap. 6. p. 101. not. c.
[a] Who transgress;] Behaving themselves arrogantly while they pray; or praying with an obstreperous voice, or a multitude of words and vain repetitions [1] .
[1] Idem.
[b] After its reformation;] i.e. After that God hath sent his prophets, and revealed his laws, for the reformation and amendment of mankind.
[c] Spread abroad;] Or ranging over a large extent of land. Some copies, instead of noshran, which is the reading I have here followed, have boshran, which signifies good tidings; the rising of the wind in such a manner being the forerunner of rain.
[d] Before his mercy;] That is, rain. For the east wind, says al Beidâwi, raises the clouds, the north wind drives them together, the south wind agitates them, so as to make the rain fall, and the south-wind disperses them again [2] .
[2] Idem.
[e] A dead country;] Or a dry and parched land.
[f] See the Prelim. Disc. §. IV. p; 79, 83, &c.
[g]
Noah the son of Lamech, according to the Mohammedan writers, was one
of the six principal prophets
[3]
,
tho’ he had no written revelations delivered
to him
[4]
,
and the first who appeared after his great grandfather Edrîs or
Enoch. They also say he was by trade a carpenter, which they infer from his
building the ark, and that the year of his mission was the fiftieth, or, as
others say, the fortieth of his age
[5]
.
That Noah was a preacher of righteousness unto the wicked antediluvians
is testified by scripture
[6]
.
The eastern Christians say that when God ordered
Noah to build the ark, he also directed him to make an instrument of wood,
such as they make use of at this day in the east, instead of bells, to call
the people to church, and named in Arabic Nâkûs, and in modern Greek Semandra;
on which he was to strike three times every day, not only to call together the
workmen that were building the ark, but to give him an opportunity of daily
admonishing his people of the impending danger of the Deluge, which would
certainly destroy them if they did not repent
[7]
.
Some Mohammedan authors pretend Noah was sent to convert Zohâk, one of
the Persian kings of the first race, who refused to hearken to him; and that
he afterwards preached God’s unity publickly
[8]
.
[3] See the Prelim. Disc. p. 75.
[4] V. Reland. de relig. Moh. p. 34.
[5] Al Zamakhshari.
[6] 2 Pet. ii. 5.
[7] Eutych. Annal. p. 37.
[8] V. D’Herbel. Bibl. Orient. p. 675.
[h] Serve God, ye have no other God but him;] From these words, and other passages of the Korân where Noah’s preaching is mentioned, it appears that, according to Mohammed’s opinion, a principal crime of the antediluvians was idolatry [9] .
[9] See chap. 71. and the Prelim. Disc. §. p. 19.
[i] The great day;] viz. Either the day of resurrection, or that whereon the Flood was to begin.
[k] By a man;] For, said they, if God had pleased, he would have sent an angel, and not a man; since we never heard of such an instance in the times of our fathers [10] .
[10] Al Beidawi.
[a] And those who were with him in the ark;] That is, those who believed on him, and entered into that vessel with him. Tho’ there be a tradition among the Mohammedans, said to have been received from the prophet himself, and conformable to the scripture, that eight persons, and no more, were saved in the ark, yet some of them report the number variously. One says they were but six, another ten, another twelve, another seventy-eight, and another four-score, half men and half women [1] , and that one of them was the elder Jorham [2] , the preserver, as some pretend, of the Arabian language [3] .
[1] Al Zamakhshari, Jallalo’ddin, Ebn Shohnam.
[2] Idem. See the Prelim. Disc. §. I. p 8.
[3] V. Pocock. Orat. præfix. carm. Tograi.
[b] Ad was an ancient and potent tribe of Arabs [4] , and zealous idolaters [5] . They chiefly worshipped four deities, Sâkia, Hâfedha, Râzeka and Sâlema; the first, as they imagined, supplying them with rain, the second preserving them from all dangers abroad, the third providing food for their sustenance, and the fourth restoring them to health when afflicted with sickness [6] , according to the signification of the several names.
[4] See the Prelim. Disc. §. I. p 6, 7.
[5] Abulfeda
[6] V. D’Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Houd.
[c] Hûd,] Generally supposed to be the same person with Heber [7] ; but others say he was the son of Abda’llah, the son of Ribâh, the son of Kholûd, the son of Ad, the son of Aws or Uz, the son of Aram, the son of Sem [8] .
[7] See the Prel. Disc. p. 6.
[8] Al Beidawi.
[d] These words were added because some of the principal men among them believed on Hûd, one of whom was Morthed Ebn Saad [9] .
[9] Idem.
[e] The successors unto the people of Noah;] Dwelling in the habitations of the antediluvians, who preceded them not many centuries, or having the chief sway in the earth after them. For the kingdom of Shedâd, the son of Ad, is said to have extended from the sands of Alaj to the trees of Omân [10] .
[10] Idem.
[f] See the Prelim. Disc. p. 7.
[g] Concerning the names which ye have named, &c.] That is, concerning the idols and imaginary objects of your worship, to which ye wickedly gave the names, attributes, and honour due to the only true God.
[a]
The dreadful destruction of the Adites we have mentioned in another
place
[1]
,
and shall only add here some further circumstances of that calamity,
and which differ a little from what is there said; for the Arab writers
acknowledge many inconsistencies in the histories of these ancient tribes
[2]
.
The tribe of Ad having been for their incredulity previously chastised
with a three years’ drought, sent Kail Ebn Ithar and Morthed Ebn Saad, with
seventy other principal men, to the temple of Mecca to obtain rain. Mecca was
then in the hands of the tribe of Amalek whose prince was Moâwiyah Ebn Becr;
and he, being without the city when the embassadors arrived, entertained them
there for a month in so hospitable a manner that they had forgotten the
business they came about had not the king reminded them of it, not as from
himself, lest they should think he wanted to be rid of them, but by some
verses which he put into the mouth of a singing woman. At which, being roused
from their lethargy, Morthed told them the only way they had to obtain what
they wanted would be to repent and obey their prophet; but this displeasing
the rest, they desired Moâwiyah to imprison him, lest he should go with them;
which being done, Kail with the rest entering Mecca, begged of God that he
would send rain to the people of Ad. Whereupon three clouds appeared, a white
one, a red one, and a black one; and a voice from heaven ordered Kail to
choose which he would. Kail failed not to make choice of the last, thinking
it to be laden with the most rain; but when this cloud came over them, it
proved to be fraught with the divine vengeance, and a tempest broke forth from
it which destroyed them all
[3]
.
[1] Prelim. Disc. p. 6.
[2] Al Beidawi, V. D’Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Houd.
[3] See the Prelim. Disc. p. 7.
[b] Thamûd was another tribe of the ancient Arabs who fell into idolatry. See the Prelim. Disc. §. I. p. 7.
[c] Sâleh.] Al Beidâwi deduces his genealogy thus. Sâleh, the son of Obeid, the son of Asaf, the son of Masekh, the son of Obeid, the son of Hâdher, the son of Thamûd [4] .
[4] Abulfeda, Al Zamakhshari. V. D’Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Saleh.
[d] The Thamûdites, insisting on a miracle, proposed to Sâleh that he should go with them to their festival, and that they should call on their gods, and he on his, promising to follow that deity which should answer. But after they had called on their idols a long time to no purpose, Jonda Ebn Amru, their prince, pointed to a rock standing by itself, and bade Sâleh cause a she-camel big with young to come forth from it, solemnly engaging that, if he did, he would believe, and his people promised the same. Whereupon Sâleh asked it of God, and presently the rock, after several throes as if in labour, was delivered of a she-camel answering the description of Jonda, which immediately brought forth a young one, ready weaned, and, as some say, as big as herself. Jonda, seeing this miracle, believed on the prophet, and some few with him; but the greater part of the Thamûdites remained, notwithstanding, incredulous. Of this camel the commentators tell several very absurd stories: as that, when she went to drink, she never raised her head from the well or river till she had drunk up all the water in it, and then she offered herself to be milked, the people drawing from her as much milk as they pleased; and some say that she went about the town crying aloud, If any wants milk let him come forth [5] .
[5] See the Prel. Disc. p. 7.
[e] The tribe of Thamûd dwelt first in the country of the Adites, but their numbers increasing, they removed to the territory of Hejr for the sake of the mountains, where they cut themselves habitations in the rocks, to be seen at this day.
[a] And they cut off the feet of the camel.] This extraordinary camel frighting the other cattle from their pasture, a certain rich woman named Oneiza Omm Ganem, having four daughters, dressed them out and offered one Kedâr his choice of them if he would kill the camel. Whereupon he chose one, and with the assistance of eight other men, hamstrung and killed the dam, and pursuing the young one, which fled to the mountain, killed that also and divided his flesh among them [1] . Others tell the story somewhat differently, adding Sadaka Bint al Mokhtâr as a joint conspiratress with Oneiza, and pretending that the young one was not killed; for they say that having fled to a certain mountain named Kâra, he there cried three times, and Saleh bade them catch him if they could, for then there might be hopes of their avoiding the divine vengeance; but this they were not able to do, the rock opening after he had cried, and receiving him within it [2] .
[1] Abulfeda.
[2] Al Beidawi. V. D’Herbel. ubi supra.
[b] And insolently transgressed the command of their Lord, &c.) Defying the vengeance with which they were threatened; because they trusted in their strong dwellings hewn in the rocks, saying that the tribe of Ad perished only because their houses were not built with sufficient strength [3] .
[3] Al Kessai.
[c] A terrible noise from heaven;] Like violent and repeated claps of thunder, which some say was no other than the voice of the angel Gabriel [4] , and which rent their hearts [5] . It is said that after they had killed the camel, Sâleh told them that on the morrow their faces should become yellow, the next day red, and the third day black, and that on the fourth God’s vengeance should light on them; and that the first three signs happening accordingly, they sought to put him to death, but God delivered him by sending him into Palestine [6] .
[4] See the Prelim. Disc. p.
[5] Abulfeda, Al Beidawi.
[6] Al Beidawi.
[d] Mohammed, in the expedition of Tabûc, which he undertook against the Greeks in the ninth year of the Hejra, passing by Hejr, where this ancient tribe had dwelt, forbade his army, tho’ much distressed with heat and thirst, to draw any water there, but ordered them if they had drunk of that water to bring it up again, or if they had kneaded any meal with it, to give it to their camels [7] ; and wrapping up his face in his garment, he set spurs to his mule, crying out, Enter not the houses of those wicked men, but rather weep, lest that happen unto you which befell them. and having so said, he continued galloping full speed with his face muffled up, till he had passed the valley [8] .
[7] Abulfed., vit. Moh. p. 124.
[8] Al Bokhari.
[e] Whether this speech was made by Saleh to them at parting, as seems most probable, or after the judgment had fallen on them, the commentators are not agreed.
[f] Lot.] The commentators say, conformably to the scripture, that Lot was the son of Haran, the son of Azer or Terah, and consequently Abraham’s nephew, who brought him with him from Chaldea into Palestine, where they say he was sent by God to reclaim the inhabitants of Sodom and the other neighbouring cities which were overthrown with it, from the unnatural vice to which they were addicted [9] . And this Mohammedan tradition seems to be countenanced by the words of the apostle, that this righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearinng vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds [10] ; whence it is probable that he omitted no opportunity of endeavouring their reformation. The story of Lot is told with further circumstances in the eleventh chapter.
[9] V. D’Herbelot. Bibl. Orient. Loth
[10] 2 Pet. ii. 8.
[a] Expel them, &c.] viz. Lot, and those who believe on him.
[b] See chap. II.
[c] See ibid.
[d]
Madian,] Or Midian, was a city of Hejâz, and the habitation of a tribe or the
same name, the descendants of Midian, the son of Abraham by Keturah
[1]
,
who
afterwards coalesced with the Ismaelites, as it seems; Moses naming the same
merchants who sold Joseph to Potiphar, in one place Ismaelites
[2]
,
and in
another Midianites
[3]
.
This city was situated on the red sea, south-east of mount Sinai, and is
doubtless the same with the Modiana of Ptolemy; what was remaining of it in
Mohammed’s time was soon after demolished in the succeeding wars
[4]
,
and it
remains desolate to this day. The people of the country pretend to shew the
well whence Moses watered Jethro’s flocks
[5]
.
[1] Gen. xxv. 2.
[2] Gen. xxxix. I.
[3] Gen. xxxvii. 36.
[4] V. Golii not. in Alfrag. p. 143.
[5] Abulfeda Desc. Arab. p. 42. Geogr. Nub. p. 109.
[e] Shoaib.] Some Mohammedan writers make him the son of Mikaïl, the son of Yashjar, the son of Madian [6] ; and they generally suppose him to be the same person with the father-in-law of Moses, who is named in scripture Reuel or Raguel, and Jethro [7] . But Ahmed Ebn Abd’alhalim charges those who entertain this opinion with ignorance. Al Kessâi says that his father’s name was Sanûn, and that he was first called Boyûn, and afterwards Shoaib: and adds that he was a comely person, but spare and lean, very thoughtful and of few words. Doctor Prideaux writes this name, after the French translation, Chaib [8] .
[6] Al Beidawi, Tarikh Montakhab.
[7] Exod. ii. 18, iii. 1.
[8] Life of Mahom. p. 24.
[f] An evident demonstration;] This demonstration the commentators suppose to have been a power of working miracles, tho’ the Korân mentions none in particular. However, they say (after the Jews) that he gave his son-in-law that wonder-working rod [9] , with which he performed all those miracles in Egypt and the desart, and also excellent advice and instructions [10] , whence he had the surname of Khatîb al anbiyâ, or the preacher to the prophets [11] .
[9] Al Beidawi. V. Shalshel. hakkab. p. 12.
[10] Exod. xvii. 13, &c.
[11] V. D’Herbelot. Bibl. Orient. Sohaib.
[g] Give full measure and just weight, &c.] For one of the great crimes which the Midianites were guilty of was the using of diverse measures and weights, a great and a small, buying by one and selling by another [12] .
[12] V. ib. Al Beidawi. See Deut. xxv. 13, 14.
[h] See before, p. 122. not. b.
[i] Beset not every way, threatening the passenger;] Robbing on the highway, it seems, was another crying sin frequent among these people. But some of the commentators interpret this passage figuratively, of their besetting the way of truth, and threatening those who gave ear to the remonstrances of Shoaib [13] .
[13] Idem.
[a] A storm from heaven;] Like that which destroyed the Thamûdites. Some suppose it to have been an earthquake, for the original word signifies either or both; and both these dreadful calamities may well be supposed to have jointly executed the divine vengeance.
[b] The stratagem of God;] Hereby is figuratively expressed the manner of God’s dealing with proud and ungrateful men, by suffering them to fill up the measure of their iniquity, without vouchsafing to bring them to a sense of their condition by chastisements and afflictions till they find themselves utterly lost, when they least expect it [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi.
[a] Pharaoh.] This was the common title or name of the kings of Egypt (signifying king in the Coptic tongue), as Ptolemy was in after times; and as Cæsar was that of the Roman emperors, and Khosrû that of the kings of Persia. But which of the kings of Egypt this Pharaoh of Moses was, is uncertain. Not to mention the opinions of the European writers, those of the east generally suppose him to have been al Walîd, who, according to some, was an Arab of the tribe of Ad, or, according to others, the son of Masáb, the son of Riyân, the son of Walîd [1] , the Amalekite [2] . There are historians, however, who suppose Kabûs, the brother and predecessor of al Walîd, was the prince we are speaking of; and pretend he lived six hundred and twenty years, and reigned four hundred. Which is more reasonable, at least, than the opinion of those who imagine it was his father Masáb, or grand-father Riyân [3] . Abulfeda says that Masáb being one hundred and seventy years old, and having no child, while he kept the herds saw a cow calve, and heard her say, at the same time, O Masáb, be not grieved, for thou shalt have a wicked son, who will be at length cast into hell. And he accordingly had this Walid, who afterwards coming to be king of Egypt, proved an impious tyrant.
[1] See the Prelim. Disc. p. 8.
[2] Abulfeda, &c.
[3] Kitâb tafsîr lebâb, & al keshâf.
[b] Who treated them unjustly;] By not believing therein.
[c] A visible serpent;] The Arab writers tell enormous fables of this serpent or dragon. For they say that he was hairy, and of so prodigious a size, that when he opened his mouth, his jaws were fourscore cubits asunder, and when he laid his lower jaw on the ground, his upper reached to the top of the palace; that Pharaoh seeing this monster make toward him, fled from it, and was so terribly frightened that he befouled himself; and that the whole assembly also betaking themselves to their heels, no less than twenty-five thousand of them lost their lives in the press. They add that Pharaoh upon this adjured Moses by God who had sent him, to take away the serpent, and promised he would believe on him, and let the Israelites go; but when Moses had done what he requested, he relapsed, and grew as hardened as before [4] .
[4] Al Beidawi.
[d] He drew forth his hand and it became white;] There is a tradition that Moses was a very swarthy man; and that when he put his hand into his bosom, and drew it out again, it became extremely white and splendid, surpassing the brightness of the sun [5] . Marracci [6] says we do not read in scripture that Moses shewed this sign before Pharaoh. It is true, the scripture does not expressly say so, but it seems to be no more than a necessary inference from that passage where God tells Moses that if they will not hearken to the first sign, they will believe the latter sign, and if they will not believe these two signs, then directs him to turn the water into blood [7] .
[5] Idem.
[6] In Alc. p. 284.
[7] Exod. iv. 8, 9.
[e] The magicians;] The Arabian writers name several of these magicians, besides their chief priest Simeon, viz. Sadûr and Ghadûr, Jaath and Mosfa, Warân and Zamân, each of whom came attended with their disciples, amounting in all to several thousands [8] .
[8] V. D’Herbelot. Bibl. Orient. p. 643, &c. Al Kessai.
[a] And they performed a great enchantment.] They provided themselves with a great number of thick ropes and long pieces of wood, which they contrived, by some means, to move, and make them twist themselves one over the other, and so imposed on the beholders, who at a distance took them to be true serpents [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi. V. D’Herbelot, ubi sup. and Koran; c. 20.
[b] Behold, it swallowed up the rods, &c.] The expositors add, that when this serpent had swallowed up all the rods and cords, he made directly towards the assembly, and put them into so great a terror that they fled, and a considerable number were killed in the crowd; then Moses took it up, and it became a rod in his hand as before. Whereupon the magicians declared that it could be no enchantment, because in such case their rods and cords would not have disappeared [2] .
[2] Al Beidawi.
[c] And the magicians prostrated themselves worshipping, &c.] It seems probable that all the magicians were not converted by this miracle, for some writers introduce Sadûr and Ghadûr only, acknowledging Moses’s miracle to be wrought by the power of God. These two, they say, were brothers, and the sons of a famous magician, then dead; but on their being sent for to court on this occasion, their mother persuaded them to go to their father’s tomb to ask his advice. Being come to the tomb, the father answered their call; and when they had acquainted him with the affair, he told them that they should inform themselves whether the rod of which they spoke became a serpent while its masters slept, or only when they were awake; for, said he, enchantments have no effect while the enchanter is asleep, and therefore if it be otherwise in this case, you may be assured that they act by a divine power. These two magicians then, arriving at the capital of Egypt, on inquiry found, to their great astonishment, that when Moses and Aaron went to rest, their rod became a serpent, and guarded them while they slept [3] . And this was the first step towards their conversion.
[3] D’Herbel. ubi sup.
[d] This is a plot which ye have contrived, &c.] i.e. This is a confederacy between you and Moses, entered into before ye left the city to go to the place of appointment, to turn out the Copts, or native Egyptians, and establish the Israelites in their stead [4] .
[4] Al Beidawi.
[e] That is, your right hands and your left feet.
[f] A will I cause you all to be crucified;] Some say Pharaoh was the first inventor of this ignominious and painful punishment.
[g] Some think these converted magicians were executed accordingly; but others deny it, and say that the king was not able to put them to death, insisting on these words of the Korân [5] , You two, and they who follow you, shall overcome.
[5] Chap. 28.
[a] The gods;] Which were the stars, or other idols. But some of the commentators, from certain impious expressions of this prince, recorded in the Korân [1] , whereby he sets up himself as the only god of his subjects, suppose that he was the object of their worship, and therefore instead of alihataca, thy gods, readilahataca, thy worship [2] .
[1] Ibid. and chap. 26, &c.
[2] Al Beidawi.
[b] We will cause their male children to be slain, &c.] That is, we will continue to make use of the same cruel policy to keep the Israelites in subjection, as we have hitherto done. The commentators say that Pharaoh came to this resolution because he had either been admonished in a dream, or by the astrologers or diviners, that one of that nation should subvert his kingdom [3] .
[3] Idem, Jallalo’ddin.
[c] To the ill luck of Moses, &c.] Looking on him and his followers as the occasion of those calamities. The original word properly signifies to take an ominous and sinister presage of any future event, from the flight of birds, or the like.
[d] Was not their ill luck with God?] By whose will and decree they were so afflicted, as a punishment for their wickedness.
[e] A flood;] This inundation, they say, was occasioned by unusual rains, which continued eight days together, and the overflowing of the Nile; and not only covered their lands, but came into their houses, and rose as high as their backs and necks; but the children of Israel had no rain in their quarters [4] . As there is no mention of any such miraculous inundation in the Mosaic writings, some have imagined this plague to have been either a pestilence, or the small-pox, or some other epidemical distemper [5] . For the word tufân, which is used in this place, and is generally rendered a deluge, may also signify any other universal destruction or mortality.
[4] Iidem, Abulfed.
[5] Al Beidawi.
[f] Lice:] Some will have these insects to have been a larger sort of tick; others, the young locusts before they have wings [6] .
[6] Idem.
[g] The plague;] viz. Any of the calamities already mentioned, or the pestilence which God sent upon them afterwards.
[a] See this wonderful event more particularly described in the tenth and twentieth chapters.
[b] The eastern parts of the earth and the western parts thereof;] That is, the land of Syria, of which the eastern geographers reckon Palestine a part, and wherein the commentators say the children of Israel succeeded the kings of Egypt and the Amalekites [1] .
[1] Idem.
[c] And we destroyed the structures which Pharaoh and his people had made, &c.] Particularly the lofty tower which Pharaoh caused to be built, that he might attack the God of Moses [2] .
[2] V. Kor. ch. 28, and 40.
[d] And they came unto a people who worshipped idols.] These people some will have to be of the tribe of Amalek, whom Moses was commanded to destroy, and others of the tribe of Lakhm. Their idols, it is said, were images of oxen, which gave the first hint to the making of the golden calf [3] .
[3] Al Beidawi.
[e] And we appointed unto Moses a fast of thirty nights, and we compleated them by adding of ten more, &c.] The commentators say that God, having promised Moses to give him the law, directed him to prepare himself for the high favour of speaking with God in person by a fast of thirty days; and that Moses accordingly fasted the whole month of Dhu’lkaada; but not liking the savour of his breath, he rubbed his teeth with a dentifrice, upon which the angels told him that his breath before had the odour of musk [4] , but that his rubbing his teeth had taken it away. Whereupon God ordered him to fast ten days more, which he did; and these were the first ten days of the succeeding month Dhu’lhajja. Others, however, suppose that Moses was commanded to fast and pray thirty days only, and that during the other ten God discoursed with him [5] .
[4] See the Prelim. Disc. §. IV. p 109.
[5] Al Beidawi, Jallalo’ddin.
[f] And his Lord spake unto him;] Without the mediation of any other, and face to face, as he speaks unto the angels [6] .
[6] Al Beidawi. V. D’Herbel. Bibl. Orient. p. 650.
[g] The mountain;] This mountain the Mohammedans name al Zabir.
[h] When his Lord appeared with glory in the mount;] Or, as it is literally, unto the mount. For some of the expositors pretend that God indued the mountain with life and the sense of seeing.
[a] I am the first of true believers.] This is not to be taken strictly. See the like expression in chap. 6. p. 100.
[b] The Mohammedans have a tradition that Moses asked to see God on the day of Arafat, and that he received the law on the day they slay the victims at the pilgrimage of Mecca, which days are the ninth and tenth of Dhu’lhajja.
[c] The tables;] These tables, according to some, were seven in number, and according to others ten. Nor are the commentators agreed whether they were cut out of a kind of lote-tree in paradise called al Sedra, or whether they were chrysolites, emeralds, rubies or common stone [1] . But they say that they were each ten or twelve cubits long; for they suppose that not only the ten commandments but the whole law was written thereon: and some add that the letters were cut quite through the tables, so that they might be read on both sides [2] -which is a fable of the Jews.
[1] Al Beidawi.
[2] V. D’Herbel. ubi supra
[d] An admonition concerning every matter, and a decision in every case;] That is, a perfect law comprehending all necessary instructions, as well in regard to religious and moral duties, as the administration of justice.
[e] I will shew you the dwelling of the wicked;] Viz. The desolate habitations of the Egyptians, or those of the impious tribes of Ad and Thamûd, or perhaps hell, the dwelling of the ungodly in the other world.
[f] A corporeal calf;] That is, as some understand it, consisting of flesh and blood; or, as others, being a mere body or mass of metal, without a soul [3] .
[3] Al Beidawi. See chap. 20, and the notes to chap. 2. p. 6, 7.
[g] Of their ornaments;] Such as their rings and bracelets of gold and silver [4] .
[4] V. ibid.
[h] Which loved;] See chap. 20, and the notes to chapter 2. p. 6, 7.
[i] Father Marracci seems not to have understood the meaning of this phrase, having literally translated the Arabic words, wa lamma sokita fi eidîhim, without any manner of sense, Et cum cadere factus fuisset in manibus eorum.
[a] Have ye hastened the command of your Lord?] By neglecting his precepts, and bringing down his swift vengeance on you.
[b] And he threw down the tables;] Which were all broken and taken up to heaven, except one only; and this, they say, contained the threats and judicial ordinances, and was afterwards put into the ark [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi. V. D’Herbel. ubi sup.
[c] Prevailed against me;] Literally, rendered me weak.
[d] See chap. 2. p. 7.
[e] The tables;] Or the fragments of that which was left.
[f] See chap. 2. p. 7. and chap. 4. p. 79.
[g] The illiterate prophet;] That is, Mohammed. See the Prelim. Disc. §. II. p.42.
[h] Written down;] i.e. Both foretold by name and certain description.
[i] See chap 3. p. 42.
[k] And will prohibit those which are bad;] As the eating of blood and swine’s flesh, and the taking of usury, &c.
[l] See chap. 2. p. 34.
[m] Unto you all;] That is, to all mankind in general, and not to one particular nation, as the former prophets were sent.
[a] Of the people of Moses there is a party who direct others with truth, &c.] viz. Those Jews who seemed better disposed than the rest of their brethren to receive Mohammed’s law; or perhaps such of them as had actually received it. Some imagine they were a Jewish nation dwelling somewhere beyond China, which Mohammed saw the night he made his journey to heaven, and who believed on him [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi.
[b]
And there gushed thereout twelve
fountains, &c.] See chap. 2. p. 8.
To what is said in the notes there, we may add that, according to a
certain tradition, the stone on which this miracle was wrought was thrown down
from paradise by Adam, and came into the possession of Shoaib, who gave it
with the rod to Moses; and that, according to another, the water issued thence
by three orifices on each of the four sides of the stone, making twelve in
all, and that it ran in so many rivulets to the quarter of each tribe in the
camp
[2]
.
[2] Idem.
[c] See chap. 2. p. 7.
[d] See this passage explained, ibid.
[e] Changed the expression into another, &c.] Professor Sike says, that being prone to leave spiritual for worldly matters, instead of Hittaton they said Hintaton, which signifies wheat [3] , and comes much nearer the true word than the expression I have in the last place quoted, set down from Jallalo’ddin. Whether he took this from the same commentator or not, does not certainly appear, tho’ he mentions him just before; but if he did, his copy must differ from that which I have followed.
[3] Sike, in not. ad Evang. Infant. p. 71.
[f] And ask them concerning the city, &c.] This city was Ailah or Elath, on the red Sea; tho’ some pretend it was Midian, and others Tiberias. The whole story is already given in the notes to chap. 2. p. 9. Some suppose the following five or eight verses to have been revealed at Medina.
[g] A party of them;] viz. The religious persons among them, who strictly observed the Sabbath, and endeavoured to reclaim the others, till they despaired of success. But some think these words were spoken by the offenders, in answer to the admonitions of the others.
[h] An excuse for us, &c.] That we have done our duty in dissuading them from their wickedness.
[a] See chap. 5. p. 91. not. h.
[b] And receive the temporal goods of this world;] By accepting of bribes for wresting judgment, and for corrupting the copies of the Pentateuch, and by extorting of usury, &c [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi.
[c] That they should not speak of God ought but the truth;] Particularly by giving out that God will forgive their corruption without sincere repentance and amendment.
[d] See chap. 2. p. 9. not. a.
[e] And when thy Lord drew forth their posterity from the loins of the sons of Adam, &c.] This was done in the plain of Dahia in India, or as others imagine, in a valley near Mecca. The commentators tell us that God stroked Adam’s back, and extracted from his loins his whole posterity, which should come into the world until the resurrection, one generation after another; that these men were actually assembled all together in the shape of small ants, which were indued with understanding; and that after they had, in the presence of angels, confessed their dependence on God, they were again caused to return into the loins of their great ancestor [2] . From this fiction it appears that the doctrine of pre-existence is not unknown to the Mohammedans; there is some little conformity between it and the modern theory of generation ex animalculis in semine marium.
[2] Idem, Jallalo’ddin, Yahya. V. D’Herbelot. Bibl. Orient. p. 54.
[a] And relate unto the Jews the history of him unto whom we brought our signs, &c.] Some suppose the person here intended to be a Jewish rabbi, or one Ommeya Ebn Abi’lsalt, who read the scriptures, and found thereby that God would send a prophet about that time, and was in hopes that he might be the man; but when Mohammed declared his mission, believed not on him through envy. But according to the more general opinion, it was Balaam, the son of Beor, of the Canaanitish race, well acquainted with part at least of the scripture, having even been favoured with some revelations from God; who being requested by his nation to curse Moses and the children of Israel, refused it at first, saying, How can I curse those who are protected by the angels? But afterwards he was prevailed on by gifts; and he had no sooner done it, than he began to put out his tongue like a dog, and it hung down upon his breast [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi, Jallalo’ddin, Al Zamakhshari. V. D’Herbel. Bibl. Orient. Balaam
[b] But he inclined unto the earth, and followed his own desire;] Loving the wages of unrighteousness, and running greedily after error for reward [2] .
[2] 2 Pet. ii. v. Jude 11.
[c] God hath most excellent names;] Expressing his glorious attributes. Of these the Mohammedan Arabs have no less than ninety nine, which are reckoned up by Marracci [3] .
[3] In Alc. p. 414.
[d] Who use his name perversely;] As did Walid Ebn al Mogheira, who hearing Mohammed give God the title of al Rahmân, or the merciful, laughed aloud, saying he knew none of that name, except a certain man who dwelt in Yamama [4] ; or as the idolatrous Meccans did, who deduced the names of their idols from those of the true God; deriving, for example, Allât from Allah, al Uzza from al Azîz, the mighty, and Manât from al Mannân, the bountiful [5] .
[4] Marracc. vit. Moh. p. 19.
[5] Al Beidawi, Jallalo’ddin. See the Prelim. Disc. p. 18.
[e] Of those whom we have created there are a people who direct others with truth, &c.] As it is said a little above that God hath created many to eternal misery, so here he is said to have created others to eternal happiness [6] .
[6] Al Beidawi.
[f] We will suffer them to fall gradually into ruin, &c.] By flattering them with prosperity in this life, and permitting them to sin in an uninterrupted security; till they find themselves unexpectedly ruined [7] .
[7] Idem.
[g] Do they not consider that there is no devil in their companion? Viz. In Mohammed, whom they gave out to be possessed when he went up to mount Safâ, and from thence called to the several families of each respective tribe in order, to warn them of God’s vengeance if they continued in their idolatry [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi.
[a] After this;] i.e. After they have rejected the Korân. For what more evident revelation can they hereafter expect [2] ?
[2] Idem.
[b] The expectation thereof is grievous, in heaven and on earth;] Not only to men and genii, but to the angels also.
[c] But when it became more heavy;] That is, when the child grew bigger in her womb.
[d]
They attributed
companions unto him, &c.] For the explaining of this whole passage, the commentators tell the
following story.
They say, that when Eve was big with her first child, the devil came to
her and asked her whether she knew what she carried within her, and which way
she should be delivered of it, suggesting that possibly it might be a beast.
She, being unable to give an answer to this question, went in a fright to
Adam, and acquainted him with the matter, who, not knowing what to think of
it, grew sad and pensive. Whereupon the devil appeared to her again (or, as
others say, to Adam), and pretended that he by his prayers would obtain of God
that she might be safely delivered of a son in Adam’s likeness, provided they
would promise to name him Abda’lhareth, or the servant of al Hareth (which was
the devil’s name among the angels), instead of Abd’allah, or the servant of
God, as Adam had designed. This proposal was agreed to, and accordingly, when
the child was born, they gave it that name, upon which it immediately died
[3]
.
And with this Adam and Eve are here taxed, as an act of idolatry. The story
looks like a rabbinical fiction, and seems to have no other foundation than
Cain’s being called by Moses Obed adâmah, that is, a tiller of the ground,
which might be translated into Arabic by Abd’alhareth.
But al Beidawi, thinking it unlikely that a prophet (as Adam is, by the
Mohammedans, supposed to have been) should be guilty of such an action,
imagines the Korân in this place means Kosai, one of Mohammed’s ancestors, and
his wife, who begged issue of God, and having four sons granted them, called
their names Abd Menâf, Abd Shams, Abd’al Uzza, and Abd’al Dâr, after the names
of the four principal idols of the Koreish. And the following words also he
supposes to relate to their idolatrous posterity.
[3] Idem, Yahya. V. D’Herbelot. Bibl. Orient. p. 428, & Selden. de jure nat. see. Hebr. lib. 5. c. 8.
[a] Are servants like unto you;] Being subject to the absolute command of God. For the chief idols of the Arabs were the sun, moon, and stars [1] .
[1] See the Prelim. Disc. p. 15, &c.
[b] Use indulgence.] Or, as the words may also be translated, Take the superabundant overplus; meaning that Mohammed should accept such voluntary alms from the people as they could spare. But the passage, if taken in this sense, was abrogated by the precept of legal alms, which was given at Medina.
[c] Hast thou not put it together?] i.e. Hast thou not yet contrived what to say; or canst thou obtain no revelation from God