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

4 AL KORAN. cii4.p. ii.
besides God,* if ye say tinith. But if ye do it not, nor sliall ever be abh
to do it ; justly fear the fii'e whose fuel is men and stones, prepared fur the
unbelievers. But bear good tidings unto those who believe, and do good
works, that they shall have gardens watered by rivers ; so often as they eat
of the fruit thereof for sustenance, they sliall say, this is what we have for-
merly eaten of; and they shall be supplied with several sorts of fruit
having a mutual resemblance to one another.'' There shall they enjoy
wives subject to no imp'irity, and there shall they continue for ever.
Moreover, God will not be ashamed to propound in a parable a gnat,* or
even a more despicable thing : " for they who believe will know it to be
the truth from their Lord ; but the unbelievers will say, What meaneth
God by this parable ? he will thereby mislead many, and will direct
many thereby : but he will not mislead any thereby, except the trans-
gressors, who make void tlie covenant of God after the estaljlishing thereof,
and cut in sunder that which God hatli commanded to be joined, and act
coiTuptly in the earth ; they shall perish. How is it that ye believe not io
God 1 Since ye were dead, and he gave you life ;^ he will hereafter cause
you to die, and will again restore you to life ; then shall ye return unto
him. It is he who hath created {nv you whatsoever is on earth, and then
set his mind to the crecUinn of heaven, and formed it into seven heavens ;
he knoweth all things. "When thy Lord said unto the angels, T am going
to place a substitute on earth ; ^ they said, Wilt thou place there one who
* {. e. Your false gods and idols.
Some comraentators * approve of this sense, supposing the fruits of paradise,
though of various tastes, are alike in colour and outward appearance: Imt oiIkts »
think the meaning to be, that the inhabitants of that place will find their fruits of
the same or tlie like kinds, as they used to eat while ou earth.
* " God is no more ashamed to propound a gnat as a parable, than to use a more
.liETuiticil illustration." — Snvary.
f Ills was revealed to take off an objection made to the Koran by the infidels,
condescending to speak of such insignificant insects, as the spider, the pismire,
^.le bee, &c.'
* i. e. Ye were dead while in the loins of your fathers, and he gave you life in
your mothers' wombs ; and after death ye shall be again raised at the resurrection.'
y Concerning the creation of Adam, here intimated, the Mohammedans have se-
veral peculiar traditions. They say the angels Gabriel, Michael, and Israfil were
sent by God, one after another, to fetch for that purpose seven handfuls of earth
from diiferent depths, and of different colours; (whence some account for the various
complexions of mankind ; *) but the earth being apprehensive of the consequence,
and desiring them to represent her fear to God, that the creature he designed to form
would rebel against him, and draw down his curse upon her, they returne<l without
performing God's command ; whereupon he sent Azrail on the same errand, who
executed his commission without remorse; for which reason, God appointed that
angel to separate the souls from the bodies, being therefore called the angel of
death. The earth he had taken was carried into Arabia, to a place between Mecca
and Tayef, where being first kneaded by the angels, it was afterwards fashioned by
God himself into a human form, and left to dry * for the space of forty days, or,
as others say, as many years ; the angels in the mean time often visiting it, and
Eblis (then one of the angels who are nearest to God's presence, afterwards the
devil) among the rest: but he, not contented with looking ou it, kicked it with his
foot till it rung, and knowing God designed that creature to be his superior, took
a secret resolution never to ackn(jwledge him as .such. After this, God animated
the figure of clay, and endued it with an intelligent soul, and when he had placed
him in paradise, formed Eve out of his left side."
9 Jallalo'ddin. ^ Al Zamakh.shari. » Yahya. ' Jallalo'ddin. * Al Termedi,
from a tradition of Abu Musa al Ashari. * Koriin, c. 55. * Khond amir. Jal-
lalo'ddin. Comment, in Koran, &c. Vide D'lierbelot, Biblioth. Orient, p. 35.