fac-similé
Sale, 1734
CHAP. XXXVII.
Intitled, Those who rank themselves in order;
revealed at Mecca.
In the name of the most merciful God.
notes originales
[a] By the angels who rank themselves in order;] Some understand by these words the souls of men who range themselves in obedience to God’s laws, and put away from them all infidelity and corrupt doings; or the souls of those who rank themselves in battle array, to fight for the true religion, and push on their horses to charge the infidels, &c [1] .
[1] Al Beidâwi
[b] Who drive forward and dispel the clouds;] Or, who put in motion all bodies, in the upper and lower world, according to the divine command; or, who keep off men from disobedience to God, by inspiring them with good thoughts and inclinations; or, who drive away the devils from them, &c [2] .
[2] Idem.
[c] The east;] The original word, being in the plural number, is supposed to signify the different points of the horizon from whence the sun rises in the course of the year, which are in number 360 (equal to the number of days in the old civil year), and have as many corresponding points where it successively sets, during that space [3] . Marracci groundlessly imagines this interpretation to be built on the error of the plurality of worlds [4] .
[3] Idem, Yahya.
[4] Marracc. in Alc. p. 589.
[d] See chap. 15. p. 211.
[a] With presages of prosperity;] Literally, from the right hand. The words may also be rendered, with force, to compel us; or, with an oath, swearing that ye were in the right.
[b] See chap. 15. p. 212. not. e.
[c] Resembling the eggs of an ostrich, &c.] This may seem an odd comparison to an European; but the orientals think nothing comes so near the colour of a fine woman’s skin as that of an ostrich’s egg when kept perfectly clean.
[d] Al Zakkûm.] There is a thorny tree so called, which grows in Tehâma, and bears fruit like an almond, but extremely bitter; and therefore the same name is given to this infernal tree.
[e] An occasion of dispute;] The infidels not conceiving how a tree could grow in hell, where the stones themselves serve for fewel.
[a] Of devils;] Or of serpents ugly to behold; the original word signifies both.
[b] Afterwards shall they return into hell.] Some suppose that the entertainment mentioned will be the welcome given the damned before they enter that place; and others, that they will be suffered to come out of hell from time to time, to drink their scalding liquor.
[c] Abraham also was of his religion;] For Noah and he agreed in the fundamental points both of faith and practice; tho’ the space between them was no less than 2640 years [1] .
[1] Al Beidawi.
[d] And he observed the stars, and said, I shall be sick;] He made as if he gathered so much from the aspect of the heavens (the people being greatly addicted to the superstitions of astrology) and made it his excuse for being absent from their festival, to which they had invited him.
[e] And they turned their backs; &c.] Fearing he had some contagious distemper [2] .
[2] Idem.
[f] See chap. 21. p. 268, &c.
[g] Unto my Lord;] i. e. Whither he hath commanded me.
[h] To years of discretion;] He was then thirteen years old [3] .
[3] Idem.
[a]
I dreamed that I should sacrifice thee, &c.]
The commentators say, that Abraham was ordered in a vision, which he
saw on the eighth night of the month Dhu’lhajja, to sacrifice his son; and to
assure him that this was not from the devil, as he was inclined to suspect,
the same vision was repeated a second time the next night, when he knew it to
be from God, and also a third time the night following, when he resolved to
obey it, and to sacrifice his son; and hence some think the 8th, 9th, and
10th days of Dhu’lhajja are called Yawm altarwiya, yawm arafat, and yawm
alnehr, that is, the day of the vision, the day of knowledge, and the day of
the sacrifice.
It is the most received opinion among the Mohammedans that the son whom
Abraham offered was Ismael, and not Isaac, Ismael being his only son at that
time: for the promise of Isaac’s birth is mentioned lower, as subsequent in
time to this transaction. They also allege the testimony of their prophet,
who is reported to have said, I am the son of the two who were offered in
sacrifice; meaning his great ancestor, Ismael, and his own father Abd’allah:
for Abd’almotalleb had made a vow that if God would permit him to find out and
open the well Zemzem, and should give him ten sons, he would sacrifice one of
them. Accordingly, when he had obtained his desire in both respects, he cast
lots on his sons, and the lot falling on Abd’allah, he redeemed him by
offering a hundred camels, which was therefore ordered to be the price of a
man’s blood in the Sonna
[1]
.
[1] Idem, Jallalo’ddin, al Zamakh.
[b] And had laid him prostrate of his face.] The commentators add, that Abraham went so far as to draw the knife with all his strength across the lad’s throat, but was miraculously hindered from hurting him [2] .
[2] Idem, Jallalo’ddin.
[c] A noble victim;] The epithet of great or noble is here added, either because it was large and fat, or because it was accepted as the ransom of a prophet. Some suppose this victim was a ram, and, if we may believe a common tradition, the very same which Abel sacrificed, having been brought to Abraham out of paradise; others fancy it was a wild-goat, which came down from mount Thabîr, near Mecca, for the Mohammedans lay the scene of this transaction in the valley of Mina; as a proof of which they tell us that the horns of the victim were hung upon the spout of the Caaba, where they remained till they were burnt, together with that building, in the days of Abda’llah Ebn Zobeir [3] ; tho’ others assure us that they had been before taken down by Mohammed himself, to remove all occasion of idolatry [4] .
[3] Iidem.
[4] V. D’Herb. Bibl. Orient. Art. Ismail.
[d] Elias;] This prophet the Mohammedans generally suppose to be the same with al Khedr, and confound him with Phineas [1] , and sometimes with Edris, or Enoch. Some say he was the son of Yasin, and nearly related to Aaron; and others suppose him to have been a different person. He was sent to the inhabitants of Baalbec, in Syria, the Heliopolis of the Greeks, to reclaim them from the worship of their idol Baal, or the sun, whose name makes part of that of the city, which was anciently called Becc [2] .
[1] See chap. 18. p. 245. not. a.
[2] Jallal. Al Beidawi.
[a] Ilyasin;] The commentators do not well know what to make of this word. Some think it is the plural of Elias, or, as the Arabs write it, Ilyâs, and that both that prophet and his followers, or those who resembled him, are meant thereby; others divide the word, and read âl Yasîn, i.e. the family of Yasin, who was the father of Elias according to an opinion mentioned above; and others imagine it signifies Mohammed, or the Korân, or some other book of scripture. But the most probable conjecture is that Ilyâs and Ilyâsin are the same name, or design one and the same person, as Sinai and Sinin denote one and the same mountain; the last syllable being added here, to keep up the rhyme or cadence, at the close of the verse.
[b] See chap. 7. p. 125, &c., and chap. 11. p. 183, &c.
[c] See chap. 10. p. 174.
[d] See chap. 21. p. 272.
[e] They cast lots;] Al Beidawi says the ship stood stock-still, wherefore they concluded that they had a fugitive servant on board, and cast lots to find him out.
[f] He was condemned;] i.e. He was taken by the lot.
[g] The fish swallowed him;] When the lot fell on Jonas he cried out, I am the fugitive; and immediately threw himself into the sea [3] .
[3] Iidem.
[h] One of those who praised God;] The words seem to relate particularly to Jonas’s supplication while in the whale’s belly [4] .
[4] See chap. 21. p. 272.
[i]
He was sick;] By reason of what he had suffered; his body becoming like that of a
new-born child
[5]
.
It is said that the fish, after it had swallowed Jonas, swam
after the ship with its head above water, that the prophet might breathe, who
continued to praise God till the fish came to land and vomited him out.
The opinions of the Mohammedan writers as to the time Jonas continued in
the fish’s belly differ very much: some suppose it was part of a day, others
three days, others seven, others twenty, and others forty
[6]
.
[5] Al Beidawi.
[6] Idem.
[k] A gourd;] The original word signifies a plant which spreads itself upon the ground, having no erect stalk or stem to support it, and particularly a gourd; tho’ some imagine Jonas’s plant to have been a fig, and others the small tree or shrub called Mauz [1] , which bears very large leaves, and excellent fruit [2] . The commentators add, that this plant withered the next morning, and that Jonas being much concerned at it, God made a remonstrance to him in behalf of the Ninivites, agreeable to what is recorded in scripture.
[1] Idem.
[2] V. J. Leon. Descr. Afric. lib. 9. Gab. Sionit. de Urb. Orient. ad calcem Geogr. Nub. p. 55, & Hottinger. Hist. Orient. p. 78, &c.
[a] See chap. 16. p. 218.
[b] The Genii;] That is, the angels, who are also comprehended under the name of genii, being a species of them. Some say that the infidels went so far as to assert that God and the devil were brothers [3] , which blasphemous expression may have been occasioned by the magian notions.
[3] Al Beidawi.
[c] There is none of us but hath an appointed place, &c.] These words are supposed to be spoken by the angels, disclaiming the worship paid to them by the idolaters, and declaring that they have each their station and office appointed them by God, whose commands they are at all times ready to execute, and whose praises they continually sing. There are some expositors, however, who think they are the words of Mohammed and his followers; the meaning being, that each of them has a place destined for him in paradise, and that they are the men who range themselves in order before God, to worship and pray to him, and who celebrate his praise by rejecting every false notion derogatory to the divine wisdom and power.