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

CHAP. IV. AL KOKAJy. 77
sent down." And whosoever believetli not in GoD, and his angels, and hia
scriptures, and his apostles, and the last day, he surely erreth in a wide
mistake. Moreover they who believed, and afterwards became iufidels,
and then believed again, and after that disbelieved, and increased in infi-
delity,*^ God will by no means forgive them, nor dii-ect them into the rifjht
way. Declare imto the ungodly ^ that they shall suffer a painful punish-
ment. They who take the unbelievers for their protectors, besides the
faitafiU, do they seek for power with them ? since all power belongeth imto
God. And he hath ah-eady revealed unto you, in the book of the Korda^
the following passage — When ye shall hear the signs of God, they shall not
be believed, but they shall be laughed to scom. Therefore sit not with
them who believe not, until they engage in different discourse ; for if ye do
ye will certainly become like unto them. God will surely gather the
ungodly aud the unbelievers together in helL They who wait to observe
what hfalleth you, if victory be granted you from God, say, Were we not
with you 1 ^ But if any advantage happen to the infidels, they say unto
them, Were we not superior to you,^ and have we not defended you against
the beUevers ? God shall judge between you on the day of resurrection :
and God wUl not gi-ant the unbelievers means to prevail over the faithful.
The hypocrites act deceitfully with God, but he wiU deceive them; and
when they stand up to pray, they stand carelessly, affecting to be seen of
men, and remember not God, unless a little,'* wavering between /aiVi and
infidelity, and adhering neither unto these nor unto those : '' and for him
whom God shall lead astray thou shalt find no true path. O true
believers, take not the unbelievers for your protectors, besides the faithful.
Will ye fm-nish God with an evident argument of impiety against youl
^Moreover the hypocrites shall be in the lowest bottom of hell fire,° and
thou shalt not find any to help them thence. But they who repent and
amend, and adhere firmly unto God, and approve the sincerity of their
religion to God, they shall be numbered with the faithful ; and God will
• It is said that Abdallah Ebn Salam and his companions told Mohammed that
they believed in him, and his Koran, and in Moses, and the Pentateuch, and iu
Ezra, but no farther; whereupon this passage was revealed, declaring that a
partial faith is little better than none at all, and that a true believer must believe
in all God's prophets and revelations without exception.'
' These were the Jews, who first believed in Moses, and afterwards fell into idol-
atry by worshipping the golden calf: and though they repented of that, yet in after
ages rejected the prophets who were sent to them, and particularly Jesus the son
of Mary, and now filled up the measure of their unbelief by rejecting of Mohammed.'
" Mohammed here means those who hypocritically pretended to believe in him bu»
really did not, and by their treachery did great mischief to his party.'
^ In the Koran, chap. vi.
y i. e. Did we not assist you? Therefore give us a part of the spoil.*
» Would not our army have cut you off, if it had not been for our faint assistance,
or raihcr desertion, of the Moslems, and our disheartening them?*
» That is, with the tongue, and not with the heart.
i> Halting between two opinions, and being staunch friends neither to the Moslems
nor the infidels.
« See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv.
1 Idem. * Idem. » Idem, * Idem.