CHAP. XXV.
Intitled, Al Forkan; revealed at Mecca.
In the name of the most merciful God.
[a] The Forkân;] Which is one of the names of the Korân. See the Prelim. Disc. §. III. p. 57.
[a] But are themselves created;] Being either the heavenly bodies, or idols, the works of men’s hands.
[b] See chap. 16. p. 223. It is supposed the Jews are particularly intended in this place; because they used to repeat passages of ancient history to Mohammed, on which he used to discourse and make observations [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi.
[c] He eateth food, and walketh in the streets;] Being subject to the same wants and infirmities of nature, and obliged to submit to the same low means of supporting himself and his family, with ourselves. The Meccans were acquainted with Mohammed, and with his circumstances and way of life, too well to change their old familiarity into the reverence due to the messenger of God; for a prophet hath no honour in his own country.
[a] We have made some of you an occasion of trial unto others;] Giving occasion of envy, repining, and malice; to the poor, mean, and sick, for example, when they compare their own condition with that of the rich, the noble, and those who are in health: and trying the people to whom prophets are sent, by those prophets [1] .
[1] Idem, Jallal.
[b] The day whereon they shall see the angels;] viz. At their death, or at the resurrection.
[c] A preferable place of repose at noon;] For the business of the day of judgment will be over by that time; and the blessed will pass their noon in paradise, and the damned in hell [2] .
[2] Iidem.
[d] The heaven shall be cloven in sunder, &c.] i.e. They shall part and make way for the clouds which shall descend with the angels, bearing the books wherein every man’s actions are recorded.
[e] The unjust person.] It is supposed by some that these words particularly relate to Okba Ebn Abi Moait, who used to be much in Mohammed’s company, and having once invited him to an entertainment, the prophet refused to taste of his meat unless he would profess Islâm; which accordingly he did. Soon after, Okba, meeting Obba Ebn Khalf, his intimate friend, and being reproached by him for changing his religion, assured him that he had not, but had only pronounced the profession of faith to engage Mohammed to eat with him, because he could not for shame let him go out of his house without eating. However, Obba protested that he would not be satisfied, unless he went to Mohammed, and set his foot on his neck, and spit in his face: which Okba, rather than break with his friend, performed in the public hall, where he found Mohammed sitting; whereupon the prophet told him that if ever he met him out of Mecca, he would cut off his head. And he was as good as his word: for Okba, being afterwards taken prisoner at the battle of Bedr, had his head struck off by Ali at Mohammed’s command. As for Obba, he received a wound from the prophet’s own hand, at the battle of Ohod, of which he died at his return to Mecca [3] .
[3] Al Beidawi. V. Gagnier, Vie de Mahom. vol. I. p. 362.
[f] Such a one;] According to the preceding note, this was Obba Ebn Khalf.
[a] Unless the Korân be revealed at once;] As were the Pentateuch, Psalms, and Gospel, according to the Mohammedan notion whereas it was twenty three years before the Korân was completely revealed [1] .
[1] See the Prelim. Disc. §. III. p. 64, &c.
[b] That we might confirm thy heart;] Both to infuse courage and constancy into thy mind, and to strengthen thy memory and understanding. For, say the commentators, the prophet’s receiving the divine direction, from time to time, how to behave, and to speak, on any emergency, and the frequent visits of the angel Gabriel, greatly encouraged and supported him under all his difficulties: and the revealing of the Korân by degrees was a great, and, to him, a necessary help for his retaining and understanding it; which it would have been impossible for him to have done with any exactness, had it been revealed at once; Mohammed’s case being entirely different from that of Moses, David, and Jesus, who could all read and write, whereas he was perfectly illiterate [2] .
[2] Al Beidawi, &c.
[c] Those who dwelt at al Rass;] The commentators are at a loss where to place al Rass. According to one opinion it was the name of a well (as the word signifies) near Midian, about which some idolaters having fixed their habitations, the prophet Shoaib was sent to preach to them; but they not believing on him, the well fell in, and they and their houses were all swallowed up. Another supposes it to have been in a town in Yamâma, where a remnant of the Thamûdites settled, to whom a prophet was also sent; but they slaying him, were utterly destroyed. Another thinks it was a well near Antioch, where Habîb al Najjâr (whose tomb is still to be seen there, beige frequently visited by Mohammedans) was martyred [3] . And a fourth takes al Rass to be a well in Hadramaut, by which dwelt some idolatrous Thamûdites, whose prophet was Handha, or Khantala (for I find the name written both ways) Ebn Safwân [4] . These people were first annoyed by certain monstrous birds, called Ankâ, which lodged in the mountain above them, and used to snatch away their children, when they wanted other prey; but this calamity was so far from humbling them, that on their prophet’s calling down a judgment upon them, they killed him, and were all destroyed [5] .
[3] Abu’lf. Geog. V. Vit. Saladini. p. 86.
[4] See chap. 22. p. 279. not. a.
[5] Al Beidawi, Jallalo’ddin.
[d] The city which was rained on by a fatal rain;] viz. Sodom; for the Koreish often passed by the place where it once stood, in the journeys they took to Syria for the sake of trade.
[a] Canst thou be his guardian? i.e. Dost thou expect to reclaim such a one from idolatry and infidelity?
[b] See chap. 7. p. 122. There is the same various reading here, as is mentioned in the notes to that passage.
[c] Pure water;] Properly, purifying water; which epithet may perhaps refer to the cleansing quality of that element, of so great use both on religious and on common occasions.
[d] To cattle and to men in great numbers;] That is, To such as live in the dry deserts, and are obliged to drink rain-water; which the inhabitants of towns, and places well-watered, have no occasion to do.
[e] Out of ingratitude;] Or, out of infidelity: for the old Arabs used to think themselves indebted for their rains, not to God, but to the influence of some particular stars [1] .
[1] See the Prelim. Disc. §. l. p. 31.
[f] We had sent a preacher unto every city;] And had not given thee, O Mohammed, the honour and trouble of being a preacher to the whole world in general.
[g] A bar;] To keep them asunder, and prevent their mixing with each other. The original word is barzakh; which has been already explained [2] .
[2] In not. ad cap. 23. p. 286.
[h] Of water;] With which Adam’s primitive clay was mixed; or, of seed. See chap. 24. p. 293.
[i] An assistant of the devil against his Lord;] Joining with him in his rebellion and infidelity. Some think Abu Jahl is particularly struck at in this passage. The words may also be translated, The unbeliever is contemptible in the sight of his Lord.
[a] Besides the conversion of him who shall take the way unto his Lord;] Seeking to draw near unto him, by embracing the religion taught by me his apostle; which is the best return I expect from you for my labours [1] . The passage, however, is capable of another meaning, viz. that Mohammed desires none to give, but him who shall contribute freely and voluntarily towards the advancement of God’s true religion.
[1] Al Beidawi.
[b] See chap. 17. p. 237.
[c] A lamp;] i.e. The sun.
[d] Peace;] This is intended here not as a salutation, but as a waiving all farther discourse and communication with the idolaters.
[e] See chap. 17. p. 230.
[f] God change their former evils into good;] Blotting out their former rebellion, on their repentance, and confirming and increasing their faith and obedience [2] .
[2] Idem.