J. F. Campbell Collection > Koran: or, Alcoran of Mohammed

CHAP. n. AL KOIIAK 3
they reply, Yerily -v^e are men of integrity.' Are not they themselves
con-upt doers 1 but they are not sensible thereof. And when one saith
unto them, Beliove ye as others™ believe ; they answer. Shall we believe
as fools believe ? Are not they themselves fools 1 but they know it not.
When they meet those who believe, they say, We do believe : but when
they retire privately to their devils," they say. We really hold vdth. jon,
and only mock at those people : God shall mock at them, and continue
them in their impiety ; they shall wander in confusion. These are the
men who have purchased ei-ror at the price of true dii-ection : but their
traffic hath not been gainful, neither have they been rightly directed.
They are like unto one who kindleth a fire," and when it hath enlight-
ened all around him,^ God taketh away their light '^ and leaveth them
in darkness, they shall not see ; they are deaf, dumb, and blind, therefore
will they not repent. Or like a stormy cloud from heaven, fraught with
dai-kness, thunder, and lightning,"" they put their fingers in their ears,
because of the noise of the thunder, for fear of death ; God encompasseth
the infidels : the lightning wanteth but little of taking away their sif^ht ;
so often as it enlighteneth them, they walk therein, but when darkness
Cometh on them, they stand still ; and if God so pleased, he would certainly
deprive them of their hearing and their sight, for God is almighty. O men
of Mecca, serve your Lord who hath created you, and those who have been
before you : peradventure ye will fear him ; who hath spread the earth as
a bed for you, and the heaven as a covering, and hath caused water to
descend from heaven, and thereby produced fi-uits for your sustenance.
Set not up therefore any equals unto God, against yoiir own knowledge.
If ye be in doubt concerning that revelation which we have sent down unto
our servant, produce a chapter like unto it, and call upon your witnesses,
' According to the explication in the preceding note, this word must be trans-
lated reformers, who promote true piety by their doctrine and example.
™ The first companions and followers of Mohammed.*
° The prophet, making use of the liberty zealots of all religions have, by pre-
scription, of giving ill language, bestows this name on the Jewish rabbins and
Christian priests ; though he seems chiefly to mean the former, against whom he
Lad by much the greater spleen.
° In this passage, Mohammed compares those who believed not in him to a man
who wants to kindle a fire, hut as soon as it burns up, and the flames give a light,
shuts his eyes, lest he should see. As if he had said, You, O Arabians, have long
desired a prophet of your own nation, and now I am sent unto you, and have plainly
proved my mission by the excellence of my doctrine and revelation, you resist con-
viction, and refuse to believe in me ; therefore shall God leave you in your ignorance.
p The sense seems to be here imperfect, and may be completed, by adding the
words, ne turns from it, shuts his eyes, or the like.
<> That is of the believers, to whom the word their, being in the plural, seems to
refer; though it is not unusual for Mohammed, in aifectation of the prophetic style,
suddenly to change the number against all rules of grammar.
' Here he compares the unbelieving Arabs to peo))le caught in a violent storm.
To perceive the beauty of this comparison, it must be observed, that the Moham-
medan doctors say, this tempest is a type or image of the Koran itself: the thun-
der signifying the threats therein contained ; the lightning, the promises; and the
darkness,'the mysteries. The terror of the threats makes them stop their ears,
unwilling to hea'r truths so disagreeable ; when the promises are read to them they
attend with pleasure; but when any thing mysterious or diflScult of belief occurs,
they stand stock still, and will not submit to be directed.
8 Jallalo'ddin.