Possessed."
So we seized him and his hosts and cast them into the sea; for of all blame was he worthy.
And in Ad: when we sent against them the desolating blast:
It touched not aught over which it came, but it turned it to dust.
And in Themoud:7 when it was said to them, "Enjoy yourselves for yet a while."
But they rebelled against their Lord's command: so the tempest took them as they watched its coming.8
They were not able to stand upright, and could not help themselves.
And we destroyed the people of Noah, before them; for an impious people were they.
And the Heaven-with our hands have we built it up, and given it its expanse;
And the Earth-we have stretched it out like a carpet; and how
smoothly have we spread it forth!
And of everything have we created pairs: that haply ye may reflect.
Fly then to God: I come to you from him a plain warner.
And set not up another god with God: I come to you from him a plain warner.
Even thus came there no apostle to those who flourished before them, but they exclaimed, "Sorcerer, or Possessed."
Have they made a legacy to one another of this scoff? Yes, they are a rebel people.
Turn away, then, from them, and thou shalt not incur reproach:
Yet warn them, for, in truth, warning will profit the believers.
I have not created Djinn and men, but that they should worship me:
I require not sustenance from them, neither require I that they feed me:
Verily, God is the sole sustainer: possessed of might: the unshaken!
Therefore to those who injure thee shall be a fate like the fate of
their fellows of old. Let them not challenge me to hasten it.
Woe then to the infidels, because of their threatened day.
1. Lit. (I swear) by those which scatter (i.e., the rain) with a scattering, (2) and by those which carry a burden, (3) and by those which run lightly, (4) and by those which divide a matter, or by command. The participles are all in the feminine: hence some interpret verse 1 of winds; verse 2 of clouds; verse 3 of ships; verse 4 of angels.
2. Comp. note at Sura lvi. 1, p. 65.
3. That is, this oath is for the confirmation of the truth, as ye are wont to confirm things one among another by an oath.
4. Comp. Sura xi. 72, and xv. 51. From the want of connection with what precedes, it is highly probable that the whole passage from verse 24 60 did not originally form a part of this Sura, but was added at a later period, perhaps in the recension of the text under Othman.
5. Lit. marked, with the names of the individuals to be slain, say the commentators.
6. Or, with his nobles.
7. For Ad and Themoud, see Sura xi.
8. That is, in broad daylight. Thus Beidh. Comp. Sura xlvi. 22.
SURA XLIV. THE MOUNTAIN
MECCA.-49 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
BY the MOUNTAIN,
And by the Book written
On an outspread roll,
And by the frequented fane,1
And by the lofty vault,
And by the swollen sea,
Verily, a chastisement from thy Lord is imminent,
And none shall put it back.
Reeling on that day the Heaven shall reel,
And stirring shall the mountains stir.2
And woe, on that day, to those who called the apostles liars,
Who plunged for pastime into vain disputes-
On that day shall they be thrust with thrusting to the fire of Hell:-
"This is the fire which ye treated as a lie.
What! is this magic, then? or, do ye not see it?
Burn ye therein: bear it patiently or impatiently 'twill be the same to you: for ye shall assuredly receive the reward of your doings."
But mid gardens and delights shall they dwell who have feared God,
Rejoicing in what their Lord hath given them; and that from the pain of hell- fire hath their Lord preserved them.
"Eat and drink with healthy enjoyment, in recompense for your deeds."
On couches ranged in rows shall they recline; and to the damsels with large dark eyes will we wed them.
And to those who have believed, whose offspring have followed them in the faith, will we again unite their offspring; nor of the meed of their works will we in the least defraud them. Pledged to God is every man for his actions and their desert.3
And fruits in abundance will we give them, and flesh as they shall desire:
Therein shall they pass to one another the cup which shall engender no light discourse, no motive to sin:
And youths shall go round among them beautiful as imbedded pearls:
And shall accost one another and ask mutual questions.
"A time indeed there was," will they say, "when we were full of care as to the future lot of our families;
But kind hath God been to us, and from the pestilential torment hath he preserved us;
For, heretofore we called upon Him-and He is the Beneficent, the Merciful."
Warn thou, then. For thou by the favour of thy Lord art neither soothsayer nor possessed.
Will they say, "A poet! let us await some adverse turn of his fortune?"
SAY, wait ye, and in sooth I too will wait with you.
Is it their dreams which inspire them with this? or is it that they are a perverse people?
Will they say, "He hath forged it (the Koran) himself?" Nay, rather it is that they believed not.
Let them then produce a discourse like it, if they speak the Truth.
Were they created by nothing? or were they the creators of themselves?