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

6 AL KORAN. CHAP, n,
earth,* and a provision for a season. And Adam learned words of prayer
from his Lord, and God turned unto him, for he is easy to be reconciled
and merciful. "We said. Get ye all down from hence ; hereafter shall there
come unto you a direction from me,^ and whoever shall follow my direction,
on them shall no fear come, neither shall they be grieved ; but they who
shall be unbelievers, and accuse our signs'^ of Msehood, they shall be the
companions of hell fire, therein shall they remain for ever. cliildren of
feael,' remember my favour wherewith I have favoured you ; and perform
your covenant with me, and I will perfonn my covenant with you ; and
revere me : and believe in the revelation which I have sent do-wm, con-
firming that which is with you, and be not the first who believe not therein,
neither exchange my signs for a small price ; t and fear me. Clothe not the
tj-uth with vanity, neither conceal the tinith against your own knowledge ;
oljscrve the stated times of prayer, and pay your legal alms, and bow down
yourselves with those who bow down. Will ye command men to do
justice, and forget your own souls 1 yet ye read the book of the law : do ye
not therefore understand 1 Ask help with perseverance and prayer ; this
indeed is gi-ievous imless to the humble, who seriously think they shall
meet their Lord, and that to him they shall return. children of Israel,
remember my favour wherewith I have favoured you, and that I have pre-
fen-ed you above all nations ; ch'ead the day wherein one soul shall not
make satisfaction for another soul, neither shall any intercession be accepted
from them, nor shall any compensation be received, neither shall they be
helped. Remember when we delivered you from the people of Pharaoh,
who grievously oppressed you, they slew your male childi-en, and let your
females live : therein was a great trial from your Lord. And when we
divided the sea for you and delivered you, and drowned Pharaoh's people
while ye looked on."^ And when we treated with Moses forty nights;
isle of Ceylon, thence named Pico de Adam, and by tlie Arab writers Rahun, being
somewhat above two spans long' (though others say it is seventy cubits long, and
that when Adam set one foot here, he had the other in the sea);^ and too little, if
Eve were of so enormous a size, as it is said, that when her head lay on one hill near
Mecca, her knees rested on two others in the plain, about two musicet shots asunder.'
* " We said to them, Get ye down. You have been mutual enemies. The earth
shall be your habitation, and your inheritance, till the time." — Savary.
e God here promises Adam that his will should be revealed to him and his posterity ;
which promise the Mohammedans believe was fulfilled at several times by the minis-
try of several pniphets from Adam himself, who was the first, to Mohammed, who
was the last. The number of books revealed unto Adam they say was ten.^
^ This word has various significations in the Koran ; sometimes, as in this passage,
it signifies divine revelation or scripture in general ; sometimes the verses of the Koran
in particular ; and at other times visible miracles. But the sense is easily distinguished
by the context.
' The Jews are here called upon to receive the Koran, as verifying and confiiming
the Pentateuch, particularly with respect to the unity of God and the mission of
Mohammed.' And they are exhorted not to conceal the passages of their law, which
bear witness to those truths, nor to corrupt them by publishing false copies of the
Pentateuch, for which the writers were but poorly paid.'
f " Corrupt not my doctrine for vile gain. Fear me." — Savary.
^ See the story of Moses and Pharaoh more particularly related chap. vii.
and XX. &c.
7 Monconys, Voyage, part I. p. 372, &c. See Knox's Account of Ceylon. ^ Anci-
ennes Relations des Indes, &c. p. 3. » Monconys, ubi sup. ^ Vide Hettinger, Hist.
Orient, p. 11. Reland, de Kelig. Mohammed, p. 21. ' Yahya. * Jallalo'ddin.