The Project Gutenberg ebook of The Koran

servants.
Moreover, we have made the Book an heritage to those of our servants whom we

have chosen. Some of them injure themselves by evil deeds; others keep the

midway between good and evil; and others, by the permission of God, outstrip

in goodness; this is the great merit!

shall they be decked therein, and therein shall their raiment be of silk:

Verily our Lord is Gracious, Grateful,

therein no toil shall reach us, and therein no weariness shall touch us."

shall aught of its torment be made light to them. Thus reward we every

infidel!
And therein shall they cry aloud, "Take us hence, O our Lord! righteousness

will we work, and not what we wrought of old."�"Prolonged we not your days

that whoever would be warned might be warned therein? And the preacher came

to you�
Taste it then."�There is no protector for the unjust.

He knoweth the very secrets of the breast.

not, on him shall be his unbelief; and their unbelief shall only increase for

the unbelievers, hatred at the hands of their Lord:�and their unbelief shall

only increase for the unbelievers their own perdition!

of the earth they have created? Had they a share in the creation of the

Heavens? Have we given them a Book in which they can find proofs that they

are to be called on? Nay, the wicked promise one another only deceits.

and if they were passing away none could hold them back but He: for He is

Kind, Gracious.
They swore by God with their mightiest oath that should a preacher come to

them they would yield to guidance more than any people: but when the preacher

came to them it only increased in them their estrangement,
Their haughtiness on earth and their plotting of evil! But the plotting of

evil shall only enmesh those who make use of it.5 Look they then for aught

but God's way6 of dealing with the peoples of old? Thou shalt not find any

change in the way of God,�

those who flourished before them, though mightier in strength than they? God

is not to be frustrated by aught in the Heavens or in the Earth; for He is

the All-knowing, the All-mighty.

not leave even a reptile on the back of the earth! But to an appointed time

doth He respite them.
And when their time shall come, then verily God's eye is on his servants.

_______________________

originated with Zayd.

the Nile, Tigris, inland lakes, etc. 3 The Gospel.

from the Cave of Hira, to the north and west of which there is a prospect

thus described by Burckhardt (Travels, p. 176). "The country before us had a

dreary aspect, not a single green spot being visible; barren, black, and grey

hills, and white sandy valleys were the only objects in sight."
5 Lit. shall encompass its people.
6 Method of dealing, i.e., first warning, then punishing.

SURA VII.�AL ARAF [LXXXVII.]

be no difficulty in thy breast concerning it: to the intent that thou mayest

warn thereby, and that it may be a monition to the faithful.
Follow ye what hath been sent down to you from your Lord; and follow no

masters beside Him. How little will ye be monished!

midday slumber, did our wrath reach them!

have been impious."

been sent, and of the sent ones themselves will we certainly demand a

reckoning.
And with knowledge will we tell them of their deeds, for we were not absent

from them.

heavy, these are they who shall be happy.

souls, for that to our signs they were unjust:

supports of life. How little do ye give thanks!

yourselves unto Adam: and they prostrated them all in worship, save Eblis: He

was not among those who prostrated themselves.
To him said God: "What hath hindered thee from prostrating thyself in worship

at my bidding?" He said, "Nobler am I than he: me hast thou created of fire;

of clay hast thou created him."
He said, "Get thee down hence: Paradise is no place for thy pride: Get thee

gone then; one of the despised shalt thou be."

dead."
He said, "One of the respited shalt thou be."

path will I lay wait for them:

their right hand, and from their left, and thou shalt not find the greater

part of them to be thankful."
He said, "Go forth from it, a scorned, a banished one! Whoever of them shall

follow thee, I will surely fill hell with you, one and all.

but to this tree approach not, lest ye become of the unjust doers."

from them both. And he said, "This tree3 hath your Lord forbidden you, only

lest ye should become angels, or lest ye should become immortals."
And he sware to them both, "Verily I am unto you one who counselleth aright."
So he beguiled them by deceits: and when they had tasted of the tree, their

nakedness appeared to them, and they began to sew together upon themselves

the leaves of the garden. And their Lord called to them, "Did I not forbid

you this tree, and did I not say to you, 'Verily, Satan is your declared

enemy.' "
They said, "O our Lord! With ourselves have we dealt unjustly: if thou

forgive us not and have pity on us, we shall surely be of those who perish."

shall be your dwelling, and your provision for a season."

be taken forth."

nakedness, and splendid garments; but the raiment of piety�this is best. This

is one of the signs of God, that man haply may reflect.
O children of Adam! let not Satan bring you into trouble, as he drove forth

your parents from the Garden, by despoiling them of their raiment, that he

might cause them to see their nakedness: He truly seeth you, he and his

comrades, whence ye see not them. Verily, we have made the Satans tutelars of

those who believe not.
And when the wicked commit some filthy deed, they say, "We found our fathers

practising it, and to us hath God commanded it"�SAY: God enjoineth not filthy

deeds. Will ye speak of God ye know not what?
SAY: My Lord hath enjoined what is right. Turn your faces therefore towards

every place where he is worshipped5 and call upon him with sincere religion.

As he created you, to him shall ye return: some hath he guided, and some hath

he justly left in error, because they have taken the Satans as their tutelars

beside God, and have deemed that they were guided aright.
O children of Adam! wear your goodly apparel when ye repair to any mosque,6

and eat ye and drink; but exceed not, for He loveth not those who exceed.

He hath provided for his servants? SAY: These are for the faithful in this

present life, but above all on the day of the resurrection. Thus make we our

signs plain for people of knowledge.

iniquity, and unjust violence, and to associate with God that for which He

hath sent down no warranty, and to speak of God that ye know not.
Every nation hath its set time. And when their time is come, they shall not

retard it an hour; and they shall not advance it.

rehearsing my signs to you; and whoso shall fear God and do good works, no

fear shall be upon them, neither shall they be put to grief.
But they who charge our signs with falsehood, and turn away from them in

their pride, shall be inmates of the fire: for ever shall they abide therein.

lies? To them shall a portion here below be assigned in accordance with the

Book of our decrees, until the time when our messengers,7 as they receive

their souls, shall say, "Where are they on whom ye called beside God?" They

shall say: "Gone from us." And they shall witness against themselves that

they were infidels.

who have preceded you. So oft as a fresh generation entereth, it shall curse

its sister, until when they have all reached it, the last comers shall say to

the former, 'O our Lord! these are they who led us astray: assign them

therefore a double torment of the fire:"' He will say, "Ye shall all have

double." But of this are ye ignorant.

us? Taste ye therefore the torment for that which ye have done."

from them in their pride, Heaven's gates shall not be opened to them, nor

shall they enter Paradise, until the camel8 passeth through the eye of the

needle. After this sort will we recompense the transgressors.

After this sort will we recompense the evil doers.

will lay on no one a burden beyond his power) These shall be inmates of

Paradise: for ever shall they abide therein;
And we will remove whatever rancour was in their bosoms: rivers shall roll at

their feet: and they shall say, "Praise be to God who hath guided us hither!

We had not been guided had not God guided us! Of a surety the Apostles of our

Lord came to us with truth." And a voice shall cry to them, "This is

Paradise, of which, as the meed of your works, ye are made heirs."
And the inmates of Paradise shall cry to the inmates of the fire, "Now have

we found what our Lord promised us to be true. Have ye too found what your

Lord promised you to be true?" And they shall answer, "Yes." And a Herald

shall proclaim between them: "The curse of God be upon the evil doers,

believe not in the life to come!"

who will know all,10 by their tokens, and they shall cry to the inmates of

Paradise, "Peace be on you!" but they shall not yet enter it, although they

long to do so.

say, "O our Lord! place us not with the offending people."

their tokens, "Your amassings and your pride have availed you nothing.

Paradise! where no fear shall be upon you, neither shall ye be put to grief."

us some water, or of the refreshments12 God hath given you?" They shall say,

"Truly God hath forbidden both to unbelievers,
Who made their religion a sport and pastime, and whom the life of the world

hath deceived." This day therefore will we forget them, as they forgot the

meeting of this their day, and as they did deny our signs.
And now have we brought them the Book: with knowledge have we explained it; a

guidance and a mercy to them that believe.

interpretation13 shall come, they who aforetime were oblivious of it shall

say, "The Prophets of our Lord did indeed bring the truth; shall we have any

intercessor to intercede for us? or could we not be sent back? Then would we

act otherwise than we have acted." But they have ruined themselves; and the

deities of their own devising have fled from them!

mounted the throne: He throweth the veil of night over the day: it pursueth

it swiftly: and he created the sun and the moon and the stars, subjected to

laws by His behest: Is not all creation and its empire His? Blessed be God

the Lord of the Worlds!
Call upon your Lord with lowliness and in secret, for He loveth not

transgressors.

call on Him with fear and longing desire: Verily the mercy of God is nigh

unto the righteous.
And He it is who sendeth forth the winds as the heralds of his compassion,14

until they bring up the laden clouds, which we drive along to some dead land

and send down water thereon, by which we cause an upgrowth of all kinds of

fruit.�Thus will we bring forth the dead. Haply ye will reflect.

and in that which is bad, they spring forth but scantily. Thus do We

diversify our signs for those who are thankful.
Of old sent We Noah to his people,15 and he said, "O my people! worship God.

Ye have no God but Him: indeed I fear for you the chastisement of the great

day."
The chiefs of his people said, "We clearly see that thou art in a palpable

error."
He said, "There is no error in me, O my people! but I am a messenger from the

Lord of the Worlds.
I bring to you the messages of my Lord, and I give you friendly counsel; for

I know from God what ye know not.

yourselves, that he may warn you, and that ye may fear for yourselves, and

that haply ye may find mercy?"
But they treated him as a liar: so we delivered him and those who were with

him in the ark, and we drowned those who charged our signs with falsehood;

for they were a blind people.
And to Ad16 we sent their brother Houd.17 "O my people!" said he, "worship

God: ye have no other god than Him: Will ye not then fear Him?"

thou art unsound of mind; and we surely deem thee an impostor."

Apostle from the Lord of the Worlds.

counsellor.

yourselves that He may warn you? Remember how he hath made you the successors

of the people of Noah, and increased you in tallness of stature. Remember

then the favours of God, that it may haply be well with you."

and leave what our fathers worshipped? Then bring that upon us with which

thou threatenest us, if thou be a man of truth."
He said, "Vengeance and wrath shall suddenly light on you from your Lord. Do

ye dispute with me about names that you and your fathers have given your

idols, and for which God hath sent you down no warranty? Wait ye then, and I

too will wait with you."

cut off, to the last man, those who had treated our signs as lies, and who

were not believers.
And to Themoud we sent their brother Saleh.19 He said, O my people! worship

God: ye have no other god than Him: now hath a clear proof of my mission come

to you from your Lord, this she-camel of God being a sign to you: therefore

let her go at large to pasture on God's earth: and touch her not to harm her,

lest a grievous chastisement seize you.
And remember how he hath made you successors to the Adites, and given you

dwellings on the earth, so that on its plains ye build castles, and hew out

houses in the hills. And bear in mind the benefits of God, and lay not the

earth waste with deeds of licence.

esteemed weak, even to those of them who believed, "What! know ye for certain

that Saleh is sent by his Lord?" They said, "Truly we believe in that with

which he hath been sent."

and said, "O Saleh, let thy menaces be accomplished upon us if thou art one

of the Sent Ones."
Then the earthquake surprised them; and in the morning they were found dead

on their faces in their dwellings.

you the message of my Lord: and I gave you faithful counsel, but ye love not

faithful counsellors.20
We also sent Lot, when he said to his people, commit ye this filthy deed in

which no creature hath gone before you?

to excess.

for they are men who vaunt them pure."

lingered:

God; ye have no other God than Him: now hath a clear sign come to you from

your Lord: give therefore the full in measures and weights; take from no man

his chattels, and commit no disorder on the earth after it has been made so

good. This will be better for you, if you will believe it.
And lay not in ambush by every road in menacing sort; nor mislead him who

believeth in God, from His way, nor seek to make it crooked; and remember

when ye were few and that he multiplied you, and behold what hath been the

end of the authors of disorder!

believe not, then wait steadfastly until God shall judge between us, for He

is the best of judges."
Said the chiefs of his people puffed up with pride, "We will surely banish

thee, O Shoaib, and thy fellow-believers from our cities, unless indeed ye

shall come back to our religion." "What!" said he, "though we abhor it?
Now shall we have devised a lie concerning God, if after he hath delivered us

from your religion we shall return to it; nor can we return to it, unless by

the will of God our Lord: our Lord embraceth all things in his ken. In God

have we put our trust: O our Lord! decide between us and between our people,

with truth; for the best to decide art Thou."
And the chiefs of his people who believed not, said, "If ye follow Shoaib, ye

shall then surely perish."

dead on their faces, in their dwellings.

dwelt in them: they who treated Shoaib as an impostor, were they that

perished.
So he turned away from them and said, O my people! I proclaimed to you the

messages of my Lord, and I counselled you aright; but how should I be grieved

for a people who do not believe?
Nor did we ever send a prophet to any city without afflicting its people with

adversity and trouble, that haply they might humble them.22

old did troubles and blessings befall our fathers:" therefore did we seize

upon them suddenly when they were unaware.
But if that the people of these cities had believed and feared us, we would

surely have laid open to them blessings out of the Heaven and the Earth: but

they treated our signs as lies, and we took vengeance on them for their

deeds.
Were the people, therefore, of those cities secure that our wrath would not

light on them by night, while they were slumbering?
Were the people of those cities secure that our wrath would not light on them

in broad day, while they were disporting themselves?

But none deem themselves secure from the deep counsel of God, save those who

perish.
Is it not proved to those who inherit this land after its ancient occupants,

that if we please we can smite them for their sins, and put a seal upon their

hearts, that they hearken not?
We will tell thee the stories of these cities. Their apostles came to them

with clear proofs of their mission; but they would not believe in what they

had before treated as imposture.�Thus doth God seal up the hearts of the

unbelievers�

to be perverse.

acted unjustly in their regard. But see what was the end of the corrupt