When the two angels charged with taking account shall take it, one sitting on
the right hand, the other on the left:

Not a word doth he utter, but there is a watcher with him ready to note it
down:

And the stupor of certain death cometh upon him: "This is what thou wouldst
have shunned"-

And there shall be a blast on the trumpet,-it is the threatened day!

And every soul shall come,-an angel with it urging it along, and an angel to
witness against it5-

Saith he, "Of this day didst thou live in heedlessness: but we have taken off
thy veil from thee, and thy sight is becoming sharp this day."

And he who is at this side6 shall say, "This is what I am prepared with
against thee."

And God will say, "Cast into Hell, ye twain, every infidel, every hardened
one,

The hinderer of the good, the transgressor, the doubter,

Who set up other gods with God. Cast ye him into the fierce torment."

He who is at his side shall say, "O our Lord! I led him not astray, yet was
he in an error wide of truth."

He shall say, "Wrangle not in my presence. I had plied you beforehand with
menaces:

My doom changeth not, and I am not unjust to man."

On that day will we cry to Hell, "Art thou full?" And it shall say, "Are
there more?"7

And not far from thence shall Paradise be brought near unto the Pious:

- "This is what ye have been promised: to every one who hath turned in
penitence to God and kept his laws;

Who hath feared the God of Mercy in secret, and come to him with a contrite
heart:

Enter it in peace: this is the day of Eternity."

There shall they have all that they can desire: and our's will it be to
augment their bliss:

And how many generations have we destroyed ere the days of these (Meccans),
mightier than they in strength! Search ye then the land. Is there any escape?

Lo! herein is warning for him who hath a heart, or giveth ear, and is himself
an eye-witness.8

We created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six
days, and no weariness touched us.9

Wherefore put up with what they say, and celebrate the praise of thy Lord
before sunrise and before sunset:

And praise Him in the night: and perform the two final prostrations.

And list for the day whereon the crier shall cry from a place near to every
one alike:

The day on which men shall in truth hear that shout will be the day of their
coming forth from the grave.

Verily, we cause to live, and we cause to die. To us shall all return.

On the day when the earth shall swiftly cleave asunder over the dead, will
this gathering be easy to Us.

We know best what the infidels say: and thou art not to compel them.

Warn then by the Koran those who fear my menace.

_______________________

1 See Sura lxviii. I, p. 32.

2 See [lxvi.] xxv. 40.

3 See xliv. 36, p. 90.

4 The Resurrection.

5 Lit. a driver and a witness.

6 The Satan who is chained to him. Sura [lxxi.] xli. 24.

7 Lit. is there any addition? which some explain as if Hell enquired whether,
being already full, any addition could be made to its size. Comp. Prov. xxx.
15, and Othioth Derabbi Akiba, 8, 1: "That the Prince of Hell saith daily,
Give me food enough, is clear from what is said (Is. v. 14). Therefore Shaol
hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure, etc."


<< previous page | next page >>

Jump to page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | 151 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | 160 | 161 | 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 | 166 | 167 | 168 | 169 | 170 | 171 | 172 | 173 | 174 | 175 | 176 | 177 | 178 | 179 | 180 | 181 | 182 | 183 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 | 192 | 193 | 194 | 195 | 196 | 197 | 198 | 199 | 200 | 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205 | 206 | 207 | 208 | 209 | 210 | 211 | 212 | 213 | 214 | 215 | 216 | 217 | 218 | 219 | 220 | 221 | 222 | 223 | 224 | 225 | 226 | 227 | 228 | 229 | 230 | 231 | 232 | 233 | 234 | 235 | 236 | 237 | 238 | 239 | 240 | 241 | 242 | 243 | 244 | 245 | 246 | 247 | 248 | 249 | 250 | 251 | 252 | 253 | 254 | 255 | 256 | 257 | 258 | 259 | 260 | 261 | 262 | 263 | 264 | 265 | 266 | 267 | 268 | 269 | 270 | 271 |