And that He hath created the sexes, male and female,

From the diffused germs of life,9

And that with Him is the second creation,

And that He enricheth and causeth to possess,

And that He is the Lord of Sirius,10

And that it was He who destroyed the ancient Adites,

And the people of Themoud and left not one survivor,

And before them the people of Noah who were most wicked and most perverse.

And it was He who destroyed the cities that were overthrown.

So that that which covered them covered them.

Which then of thy Lord's benefits wilt thou make a matter of doubt?11

He who warneth you is one of the warners of old.

The day that must draw nigh, draweth nigh already: and yet none but God can
reveal its time.

Is it at these sayings that ye marvel?

And that ye laugh and weep not?

And that ye are triflers?

Prostrate yourselves then to God and worship.


_______________________

1 This Sura was revealed at about the time of the first emigration of
Muhammad's followers to Abyssinia, A. 5. The manner in which the Prophet
cancelled the objectionable verses 19, 20, is the strongest proof of his
sincerity (as also is the opening of Sura 1xxx.) at this period. Had he not
done so, nothing would have been easier for him than to have effected a
reconciliation with the powerful party in Mecca, who had recently compelled
his followers to emigrate.

2 The Angel Gabriel, to the meaning of whose name, as the strong one of God,
these words probably allude.

3 That is, Beyond which neither men nor angels can pass (Djelal). The
original word is also rendered, the Lote-Tree of the extremity, or of the
loftiest spot in Paradise, in the seventh Heaven, on the right hand of the
throne of God. Its leaves are fabled to be as numerous as the members of the
whole human family, and each leaf to bear the name of an individual. This
tree is shaken on the night of the 15th of Ramadan every year a little after
sunset, when the leaves on which are inscribed the names of those who are to
die in the ensuing year fall, either wholly withered, or with more or less
green remaining, according to the months or weeks the person has yet to live.

4 The Sidrah is a prickly plum, which is called Ber in India, the zizyphus
Jujuba of Linnæus. A decoction of the leaves is used in India to wash the
dead, on account of the sacredness of the tree.

5 Hosts of adoring angels, by which the tree was masked.

6 Al-Lat or El-Lat, probably the Alilat of Herodotus (iii. 8) was an idol at
Nakhlah, a place east of the present site of Mecca. Al-Ozza was an idol of
the Kinanah tribe; but its hereditary priests were the Banu Solaym, who were
stationed along the mercantile road to Syria in the neighbourhood of Chaibar.

7 When at the first recital of this Sura, the prophet had reached this verse,
he continued,

These are the exalted females, [or, sublime swans, i.e., mounting nearer and
nearer to God]

And truly their intercession may be expected.

These words, however, which were received by the idolaters with great
exultation, were disowned by Muhammad in the course of a few days as a
Satanic suggestion, and replaced by the text as it now stands. The
probability is that the difficulties of his position led him to attempt a
compromise of which he speedily repented. In the Suras subsequent to this
period the denunciations of idolatry become much sterner and clearer. The
authorities are given by Weil, Sprenger and Muir. See Sura [lxvii.] xvii. 74-
76.

8 Verses 26-33 are probably later than the previous part of the Sura, but
inserted with reference to it. Some (as Omar b. Muhammad and 1tq.) consider
verse 33, or (as Itq.36) verses 34-42, or (as Omar b. Muhammad) the whole
Sura, to have originated at Medina.

9 Ex spermate cum seminatum fuerit.

10 The Dog-star, worshipped by the Arabians.

11 Compare the refrain in Sura lv. p. 74.




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