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Sale, 1734

CHAP. LXXV.

Intitled, The Resurrection; revealed at Mecca.


In the name of the most merciful God.
VERILY I swear [a] by the day of resurrection; and I swear by [b] : doth man think that we will not gather his bones together? Yea: we are able to put together the smallest bones of his [474] fingers. But man chooseth to be wicked, for the time which is before him. He asketh, When will the day of resurrection be? But when the sight shall be dazzled, and the moon shall be eclipsed, and the sun and the moon shall be in conjunction [a] ; on that day man shall say, Where is a place of refuge? By no means: there shall be no place to fly unto. With thy Lord shall be the sure mansion of rest on that day: on that day shall a man be told that which he hath done first and last [b] . Yea; a man shall be an evidence against himself: and though he offer his excuses, they shall not be received. Move not thy tongue, O Mohammed, in repeating the revelations brought thee by Gabriel, before he shall have finished the same, that thou mayest quickly commit them to memory: for the collecting the Koran in thy mind, and the teaching thee the true reading thereof, are incumbent on us. But when we shall have read the same unto thee by the tongue of the angel, do thou follow the reading thereof: and afterwards it shall be our part to explain it unto thee. By no means shalt thou be thus hasty for the future. But ye love that which hasteneth away [c] , and neglect the life to come. Some countenances on that day shall be bright, looking towards their Lord: and some countenances, on that day, shall be dismal: they shall think that a crushing calamity shall be brought upon them. Assuredly. When a man’s soul shall come up to his throat, in his last agony, and the standers-by shall say, Who bringeth a charm to recover him? and shall think it to be his departure out of this world; and one leg shall be joined with the other leg [d] : on that day unto thy Lord shall he be driven. For he believed not [e] , neither did he pray; but he accused God’s apostle of imposture, and turned back from obeying him: then he departed unto his family, walking with a haughty mien. Wherefore, wo be unto thee; wo! And again, wo be unto thee; wo! Doth man think that he shall be left at full liberty, without controul? Was he not a drop of seed, which was emitted? Afterwards he became a little coagulated blood, and God formed him, and fashioned him with just proportion; and made of him two sexes, the male and the female. Is not he who hath done this able to quicken the dead?

notes originales réduire la fenêtre

[a] I swear;] Or, I will not swear. See chap. 56. p. 436. not. f.

[b] The soul which accuseth itself;] Being conscious of having offended, and of failing of perfection, notwithstanding its endeavours to do its duty; or, the pious soul which shall blame others, at the last day, for having been remiss in their devotions, &c. Some understand the words of the soul of Adam, in particular; who is continually blaming himself for having lost paradise by his disobedience [1] .

[1] Idem.

[a] And the sun and the moon shall be in conjunction;] Rising both in the west [1] : which conjunction is no contradiction to what is mentioned just before, of the moon’s being eclipsed; because those words are not to be understood of a regular eclipse, but metaphorically, of the moon’s losing her light at the last day in a preternatural manner. Some think the meaning rather to be, that the sun and the moon shall be joined in the loss of their light [2] .

[1] See the Prelim. Disc. p. 79.

[2] Al Beidawi.

[b] That which he hath done first and last;] Or, the good which he hath done, and that which he hath left undone, &c.

[c] Ye love that which hasteneth away;] i.e. The fleeting pleasures of this life. The words intimate the natural hastiness and impatience of man [3] , who takes up with a present enjoyment, tho’ short and bitter in its consequences, rather than wait for real happiness in futurity.

[3] See chap. 17. p. 228.

[d] And one leg shall be joined with the other leg;] i.e. And when he shall stretch forth his legs together, as is usual with dying persons. The words may also be translated, And when one affliction shall be joined with another affliction.

[e] He believed not;] Or, He did not give alms; or, He was not a man of veracity. Some suppose Abu Jahl, and others one Adi Ebn Rabîa, to be particularly inveighed against in this chapter.