CHAP. XXIII.
Intitled, The True Believers; revealed at Mecca.
In the name of the most merciful God.
[a] A sure receptacle;] viz. The womb.
[b] By another creation;] i.e. Producing a perfect man, composed of soul and body.
[c] See chap. 6. p. 108, not. e.
[d] Seven heavens;] Literally, seven paths; by which the heavens are meant, because, according to some expositors they are the paths of the angels and of the celestial bodies: tho’ the original word also signifies things which are folded or placed like stories one above another, as the Mohammedans suppose the heavens to be.
[e] A tree springing from mount Sinai;] viz. The olive. The gardens near this mountain are yet famous for the excellent fruit-trees of almost all sorts which grow there [1] .
[1] V. Voyages de Thevenot, liv. 2. ch. 9.
[f] On them, and on ships are ye carried;] The beast more particularly meant in this place is the camel, which is chiefly used for carriage in the east; being called by the Arabs, the land-ship, on which they pass those seas of sand, the deserts.
[g] See chap. 11. p. 178, &c.
[a] Another generation;] Namely, the tribe of Ad, or of Thamud.
[b] An apostle;] viz. The prophet Hûd, or Sâleh.
[c] Other generations;] As the Sodomites, Midianites, &c.
[d]
An elevated part of the earth;] The commentators tell us the place here intended is Jerusalem, or
Damascus, or Ramlah, or Palestine, or Egypt
[1]
.
But perhaps the passage means the hill to which the virgin Mary retired
to be delivered, according to the Mohammedan tradition
[2]
.
[1] Al Beidawi, Jallalo’ddin.
[2] See chap. 19. p. 250.
[e] O apostles, eat of those things which are good, &c.] These words are addressed to the apostles in general, to whom it was permitted to eat of all clean and wholesome food; and were spoken to them severally at the time of their respective mission. Some, however, think them directed particularly to the virgin Mary and Jesus, or singly to the latter (in which case the plural number must be used out of respect only,) proposing the practice of the prophets for their imitation. Mohammed probably designed in this passage to condemn the abstinence observed by the Christian monks [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi.
[a] See chap. 21. p. 272.
[b] Until a certain time;] i.e. Till they shall be slain, or shall die a natural death.
[c] A severe punishment;] By which is intended either the overthrow at Bedr, where several of the chief Korashites lost their lives; or the famine with which the Meccans were afflicted, at the prayer of the prophet, conceived in these words, O God, set thy foot strongly on Modar (an ancestor of the Koreish), and give them years like the years of Joseph: whereupon so great a dearth ensued, that they were obliged to feed on dogs, carrion, and burnt bones [2] .
[2] Idem.
[d] If the truth had followed their desires, &c.] That is, If there had been a plurality of gods, as the idolaters contend [3] : or, if the doctrine taught by Mohammed had been agreeable to their inclinations, &c.
[3] See chap. 21. p. 266.
[a] The calamity which had befallen them;] viz. The famine. It is said that the Meccans being reduced to eat ilhiz, which is a sort of miserable food made of blood and camels’ hair, used by the Arabs in time of scarcity, Abu Sofiân came to Mohammed, and said, Tell me, I adjure thee by God and the relation that is between us, dost thou think thou art sent as a mercy unto all creatures; since thou hast slain the fathers with the sword and the children with hunger [1] ?
[1] Al Beidawi.
[b] We formerly chastised them with a punishment;] Namely, the slaughter at Bedr.
[c]
A severe
punishment;] viz. Famine; which is more terrible than the calamities of war
[2]
.
According to these explications, the passage must have been revealed at
Medina; unless it be taken in a prophetical sense.
[2] Idem.
[d] Every god had taken away that which he had created;] And set up a distinct creation and kingdom of his own.
[e] See chap. 17. p. 231.
[f] Turn aside evil with that which is better;] That is, By forgiving injuries, and returning of good for them: which rule is to be qualified, however, with this proviso; that the true religion receive no prejudice by such mildness and clemency [3] .
[3] Idem.
[a] That they be not present with me;] To besiege me: or, as it may also be translated, That they hurt me not.
[b] In professing the true faith which I have neglected;] Or, as the word may also import, In the world which I have left; that is, during the further term of life which shall be granted me, and from which I have been cut off [1] .
[1] Idem.
[c]
Behind them there shall be a bar;] The original word barzakh, here translated bar, primarily signifies
any partition, or interstice, which divides one thing from another; but is
used by the Arabs not always in the same, and sometimes in an obscure sense.
They seem generally to express by it what the Greeks did by the word Hades;
one while using it for the place of the dead, another while for the time of
their continuance in that state, another while for the state itself. It is
defined by their critics to be the interval or space between this world and
the next, or between death and the resurrection; every person who dies being
said to enter into al barzakh; or, as the Greek expresses it, Ἡμεῖς δεδώκάμεν σοι τὸν κάνθαρον καὶ εὖξαι πρὸς τὸν κύρίον σου, καὶ σφράξον
[2]
.
One lexicographer
[3]
tells us that in the Korân it denotes the grave: but the
commentators on this passage expound it a bar, or invincible obstacle, cutting
off all possibility of return into the world, after death. See chap. 25.
where the word again occurs.
Some interpreters understand the words we have rendered behind them, to
mean before them, (it being one of those words, of which there are several in
the Arabic tongue, that have direct contrary significations) considering al
Barzakh as a future space, and lying before, and not behind them.
[2] V. Pocock. not. in Port. Mosis. p. 248, &c., and the Prelim Disc. §. IV. p. 77.
[3] Ebn Maruf, apud Gol. Lex. Arab. col. 254.
[d] See the Prelim. Disc. §. IV. p. 89.
[e] They suffered you to forget my admonition;] Being unable to prevail on you by their remonstrances, because of the contempt wherein ye held them.
[a] A day or part of a day;] The time will seem thus short to them in comparison to the eternal duration of their torments, or because the time of their living in the world was the time of their joy and pleasure; it being usual for the Arabs to describe what they like as of short, and what they dislike, as of long continuance.
[b] Ask those who keep account;] That is, the angels, who keep account of the length of men’s lives and of their works, or any other who may have leisure to compute; and not us, whose torments distract our thoughts and attention.