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Sale, 1734

CHAP. LXXXI.

Intitled, The Folding up; revealed at Mecca.


In the name of the most merciful God.
WHEN the sun shall be folded up [a] ; and when the stars shall fall; and when the mountains shall be made to pass away; and when the camels ten months gone with young shall be neglected [b] ; and when the wild beasts shall be gathered together [c] ; and when the seas shall boil [d] ; and when the souls shall be joined again to their bodies; and when the girl who hath been buried alive shall be asked for what crime she was put to death [e] ; and when the books shall be laid open; and when the heaven shall be removed [f] ; and when hell shall burn fiercely; and when paradise shall be brought near; every soul shall know what it hath wrought. Verily I swear [g] by the stars which are retrograde, which move swiftly, and which hide themselves [h] ; and by the night, when it cometh on; and by the morning, when it appeareth; that these are the words of an honourable messenger [i] , indued with strength, of established dignity in the sight of the possessor of the throne, obeyed by the angels under his authority, and faithful: and your companion Mohammed is not distracted. He had already seen him in the clear horizon [k] : and he suspected not [l] the secrets revealed unto him. Neither [483] are these the words of an accursed devil [a] . Whither, therefore, are you going? This is no other than an admonition unto all creatures; unto him among you who shall be willing to walk uprightly: but ye shall not will, unless God willeth, the Lord of all creatures.

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[a] When the sun shall be folded up;] As a garment that is to be laid by.

[b] See the Prelim. Disc. §. IV. p. 82.

[c] See ibid. p. 83 and 86.

[d] See ibid. p. 82.

[e] The damsel who hath been buried alive;] For it was customary among the ancient Arabs to bury their daughters alive as soon as they were born; for fear they should be impoverished by providing for them, or should suffer disgrace on their account. See chap. 16. p. 218.

[f] When the heaven shall be removed,] Or plucked away from its place, as the skin is plucked off from a camel which is flaying; for that is the proper signification of the verb here used. Marracci fancies the passage alludes to that in the Psalms [1] , where, according to the versions of the Septuagint and the Vulgate, God is said to have stretched out the heaven like a skin. [2]

[1] Psalm civ. 2.

[2]

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

[h] By the stars which are retrograde, &c.] Some understand hereby the stars in general, but the more exact commentators, five of the planets, viz. the two which accompany the sun, and the three superior planets; which have both a retrograde and a direct motion, and hide themselves in the rays of the sun, or when they set.

[i] An honourable messenger;] i.e. Gabriel.

[k] See chap. 53. p. 426.

[l] He suspected not;] Some copies, by a change of one letter only, instead of dhanînin, read danînin; and then the words should be rendered, He is not tenacious of, or grudges not to communicate to you, the secret revelations which he has received.

[a] Neither are these the words of an accursed devil,] Who has overheard, by stealth, the discourse of the angels. The verse is an answer to a calumny of the infidels, who said the Korân was only a piece of divination, or magic; for the Arabs suppose the soothsayer, or magician, receives his intelligence from those evil spirits, who are continually listening to learn what they can from the inhabitants of heaven.