Therein shall receive them beauteous damsels, refraining their eyes from beholding any besides their spouses: whom no man shall have deflowered before them, neither any genius: (Which, therefore, of your LORD'S benefits will ye ungratefully deny?) Having complexions like rubies and pearls.

Which, therefore, of your LORD'S benefits will ye ungratefully deny?

60 Shall the reward of good works be any other good?

Which, therefore, of your LORD'S benefits will ye ungratefully deny?

And besides these there shall be two other gardens: (Which, therefore, of your LORD'S benefits will ye ungratefully deny?) Of a dark green.

Which, therefore, of your LORD'S benefits will ye ungratefully deny?

In each of them shall be two fountains pouring forth plenty of water.

Which, therefore, of your LORD'S benefits will ye ungratefully deny?

In each of them shall be fruits, and palm-trees, and pomegranates.

Which, therefore, of your LORD'S benefits will ye ungratefully deny?

70 Therein shall be agreeable and beauteous damsels: Which, therefore, of your LORD'S benefits will ye ungratefully deny?

Having fine black eyes, and kept in pavilions from public view: Which, therefore, of your LORD'S benefits will ye ungratefully deny?

Whom no man shall have deflowered before their destined spouses, nor any genius.

Which, therefore, of your LORD'S benefits will ye ungratefully deny?

Therein shall they delight themselves, lying on green cushions and beautiful carpets.

Which, therefore, of your LORD'S benefits will ye ungratefully deny?

Blessed be the name of thy LORD, possessed of glory and honour!

CHAPTER LVI.

ENt.i.tLED, THE INEVITABLE; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL G.o.d.

WHEN the inevitable day of judgment shall suddenly come, no soul shall charge the prediction of its coming with falsehood: it will abase some, and exalt others.

When the earth shall be shaken with a violent shock; and the mountains shall be dashed in pieces, and shall become as dust scattered abroad; and ye shall be separated into three distinct cla.s.ses: the companions of the right hand; (how happy shall the companions of the right hand be!) and the companions of the left hand (how miserable shall the companions of the left hand be!), 10 and those who have preceded others in the faith shall precede them to paradise.

These are they who shall approach near unto G.o.d: they shall dwell in gardens of delight: (There shall be many of the former religions; and few of the last.) Reposing on couches adorned with gold and precious stones; sitting opposite to one another thereon.

Youths which shall continue in their bloom forever, shall go round about to attend them, with goblets, and beakers, and a cup of flowing wine: their heads shall not ache by drinking the same, neither shall their reason be disturbed: 20 and with fruits of the sorts which they shall choose, and the flesh of birds of the kind which they shall desire.

And there shall accompany them fair damsels having large black eyes; resembling pearls hidden in their sh.e.l.ls: as a reward for that which they shall have wrought.

They shall not hear therein any vain discourse, or any charge of sin; but only the salutation, Peace! Peace!

And the companions of the right hand (how happy shall the companions of the right hand be!) shall have their abode among lote-trees free from thorns, and trees of mauz loaded regularly with their produce from top to bottom; 30 under an extended shade, near a flowing water, and amidst fruits in abundance, which shall not fail, nor shall be forbidden to be gathered: and they shall repose themselves on lofty beds.

Verily we have created the damsels of paradise by a peculiar creation; and we have made them virgins, beloved by their husbands, of equal age with them; for the delight of the companions of the right hand.

There shall be many of the former religions, 40 and many of the latter.

And the companions of the left hand (how miserable shall the companions of the left hand be!) shall dwell amidst burning winds, and scalding water, under the shade of a black smoke, neither cool nor agreeable.

For they enjoyed the pleasures of life before this, while on earth; and obstinately persisted in a heinous wickedness: and they said, After we shall have died, and become dust and bones, shall we surely be raised to life?

Shall our forefathers also be raised with us?

Say, Verily both the first and the last 50 shall surely be gathered together to judgment, at the prefixed time of a known day.

Then ye, O men, who have erred, and denied the resurrection as a falsehood, shall surely eat of the fruit of the tree of al Zakk.u.m, and shall fill your bellies therewith: and ye shall drink thereon boiling water; and ye shall drink as a thirsty camel drinketh.

This shall be their entertainment on the day of judgment.

We have created you: will ye not therefore believe that we can raise you from the dead?

What think ye? The seed which ye emit, do ye create the same, or are we the creators thereof?

60 We have decreed death unto you all: and we shall not be prevented.

We are able to subst.i.tute others like unto you in your stead, and to produce you again in the condition or form which ye know not.

Ye know the original production by creation; will ye not therefore consider that we are able to produce you by resuscitation?

What think ye? The grain which ye sow, do ye cause the same to spring forth, or do we cause it to spring forth?

If we pleased, verily we could render the same dry and fruitless, so that ye would not cease to wonder, saying, Verily we have contracted debts for seed and labor, but we are not permitted to reap the fruit thereof.

What think ye? The water which ye drink, do ye send down the same from the clouds, or are we the senders thereof?

70 If we pleased, we could render the same brackish: will ye not therefore give thanks?

What think ye? The fire which ye strike, do ye produce the tree whence ye obtain the same, or are we the producers thereof?

We have ordained the same for an admonition, and an advantage to those who travel through the deserts.

Wherefore praise the name of thy LORD, the great G.o.d.

Moreover I swear by the setting of the stars; (and it is surely a great oath, if ye knew it;) that this is the excellent Koran, the original whereof is written in the preserved book: none shall touch the same, except those who are clean.

80 It is a revelation from the LORD of all creatures.

Will ye, therefore, despise this new revelation?

And do ye make this return for your food which ye receive from G.o.d, that ye deny yourselves to be obliged to him for the same?

When the soul of a dying person cometh up to his throat, and ye at the same time are looking on; (and we are nigher unto him than ye, but ye see not his true condition;) would ye not, if ye are not to be rewarded for your action hereafter, cause the same to return into the body, if ye speak the truth?

And whether he be of those who shall approach near unto G.o.d, his reward shall be rest, and mercy, and a garden of delights: 90 or whether he be of the companions of the right hand, he shall be saluted with the salutation, Peace be unto thee! by the companions of the right hand, his brethren: or whether he be of those who have rejected the true faith, and gone astray, his entertainment shall consist of boiling water, and the burning of h.e.l.l fire.

Verily this is a certain truth.

Wherefore praise the name of thy LORD, the great G.o.d.

CHAPTER LVII.

ENt.i.tLED, IRON; REVEALED AT MECCA, OR AT MEDINA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL G.o.d.

WHATEVER is in heaven and earth singeth praise unto G.o.d; and he is mighty and wise.

His is the kingdom of heaven and earth; he giveth life, and he putteth to death; and he is almighty.

He is the first, and the last; the manifest and the hidden: and he knoweth all things.

It is he who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then ascended his throne. He knoweth that which entereth into the earth, and that which issueth out of the same, and that which descendeth from heaven, and that which ascendeth thereto; and he is with you, wheresoever ye be: for G.o.d seeth that which ye do.

His is the kingdom of heavens and earth; and unto G.o.d shall all things return.

He causeth the night to succeed the day, and he causeth the day to succeed the night; and he knowest the innermost part of men's b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Believe in G.o.d and his apostle, and lay out in alms a part of the wealth whereof G.o.d hath made you inheritors: for unto such of you as believe, and bestow alms, shall be given a great reward.

And what aileth you, that ye believe not in G.o.d, when the apostle inviteth you to believe in your LORD; and he hath received your covenant concerning this matter, if ye believe any proposition?

It is he who hath sent down unto his servant evident signs, that he may lead you out of darkness into light; for G.o.d is compa.s.sionate and merciful unto you.

10 And what aileth you, that ye contribute not of your substance for the defence of G.o.d'S true religion? Since unto G.o.d appertaineth the inheritance of heaven and earth. Those among you who shall have contributed and fought in defence of the faith, before the taking of Mecca, shall not be held equal with those who shall contribute and fight for the same afterwards. These shall be superior in degree unto those who shall contribute and fight for the propagation of the faith, after the above-mentioned success; but unto all hath G.o.d promised a most excellent reward; and G.o.d well knoweth that which ye do.

Who is he that will lend unto G.o.d an acceptable loan? for he will double the same unto him, and he shall receive moreover an honourable reward.

On a certain day, thou shalt see the true believers of both s.e.xes: their light shall run before them, and on their right hands; and it shall be said unto them, Good tidings unto you this day: gardens through which rivers flow; ye shall remain therein forever. This will be great felicity.

On that day the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women shall say unto those who believe, Stay for us, what we may borrow some of your light.

It shall be answered, Return back into the world, and seek light. And a high wall shall be set betwixt them, wherein shall be a gate, within which shall be mercy; and without it, over against the same, the torment of h.e.l.l.

The hypocrites shall call out unto the true believers, saying, Were we not with you? They shall answer, Yea; but ye seduced your own souls by your hypocrisy; and ye waited our ruin; and ye doubted concerning the faith; and your wishes deceived you, until the decree of G.o.d came, and ye died: and the deceiver deceived you concerning G.o.d.

This day, therefore, a ransom shall not be accepted of you, nor of those who have been unbelievers. Your abode shall be h.e.l.l fire: this is what ye have deserved; and an unhappy journey shall it be thither!

Is not the time yet come unto those who believe, that their hearts should humbly submit to the admonition of G.o.d, and to that truth which hath been revealed; and that they be not as those unto whom the scripture was given heretofore, and to whom the time of forbearance was prolonged, but their hearts were hardened, and many of them were wicked doers?

Know that G.o.d quickeneth the earth, after it hath been dead. Now have we distinctly declared our signs unto you, that ye may understand.

Verily as to the almsgivers, both men and women, and those who lend unto G.o.d an acceptable loan, he will double the same unto them; and they shall moreover receive an honourable reward.

And they who believe in G.o.d and his apostles, these are the men of veracity, and the witnesses in the presence of their LORD: they shall have their reward, and their light. But as to those who believe not, and accuse our signs of falsehood, they shall be the companions of h.e.l.l.

20 Know that this present life is only a toy and a vain amus.e.m.e.nt: and worldly pomp, and the affectation of glory among you, and the multiplying of riches and children, are as the plants nourished by the rain, the springing up whereof delighteth the husbandmen; afterwards they wither, so that thou seest the same turned yellow, and at length they become dry stubble. And in the life to come will be a severe punishment for those who covet worldly grandeur;and pardon from G.o.d, and favor for those who renounce it: for this present life is no other than a deceitful provision.

Hasten with emulation to obtain pardon from your LORD, and paradise, the extent whereof equalleth the extent of heaven and earth, prepared for those who believe in G.o.d and his apostles. This is the bounty of G.o.d: he will give the same unto whom he pleaseth; and G.o.d is endued with great bounty.

No accident happeneth in the earth, nor in your persons, but the same was entered in the book of our decrees, before we created it: verily this is easy with G.o.d: and this is written lest ye immoderately grieve for the good which escapeth you, or rejoice for that which happened unto you; for G.o.d loveth no proud or vain-glorious person, or those who are covetous, and command men covetousness. And whoso turneth aside from giving alms; verily G.o.d is self-sufficient, worthy to be praised.

We formerly sent our apostles with evident miracles and arguments; and we sent down with them the scriptures and the balance, that men might observe justice: and we sent them down iron, wherein is mighty strength for war, and various advantages unto mankind: that G.o.d may know who a.s.sisteth him and his apostles in secret; for G.o.d is strong and mighty.