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

CHAT. V. AL KORAJ^. 93
believe ; write us down therefore with those who bear witness to the truth :
and what should hinder us from believing in God, and the truth which
hath come unto us, and from earnestly desiring that our Lord would in^
troduce us into paradise with the righteous people? Therefore hath God
rewarded them, for what they have said, with gardens through which
rivers flow; they shall continue therein for ever; and this is the reward
of the righteous. But they who believe not, and accuse our signs of false-
hood, they shall be the companions of hell. true believers, forbid not
the good things which God hath allowed you;^ but transgress not, for God
loveth not the transgressors. And eat of what God hath given you for
food that which is lawful and good: and fear God, in whom ye believe*
God will not punish you for an inconsiderate word in your oaths ;^ but he
will punish you for what ye solemnly swear with deliberation. And the
expiation of such an oath shall be the feeding of ten poor men with such
moderate yboc/ as ye feed your own families withal; or to clothe them ;" or
to free the neck of a true believer from captivity/ : but he who shall not find
wherewith to perform one of these three things shall fast three days.** This
is the expiation of your oaths, when ye swear inadverte}itly. Therefore
keep your oaths. Thus God declareth unto you his signs, that ye may
give thanks. O true believers, surely wine, and lots,° and images,"* and
divining arrows,® are an abomination of the work of Satan ; therefore avoid
them, that ye may prosper. Satan seeketh to sow dissension and hatred
among you, by means of wine and lots, and to divex't you from remembering
heard Jaafar Ebn Taleb, who fled to that country in the first flight, * read the 29th
and 30th, and afterwards the 18th and 19th chapters of the Koran; on hearing of
which the king and the rest of the company burst into tears, and confessed what
was written therein to be conformable to truth ; that prince himself, in particular,
becoming a proselyte to ^MohammedJsm : * or else, thirty, or as others say, seventy
persons, sent ambassadors to Jlohammed by the same king of Ethiopia, to whom
the prophet himself read the 36th chapter, intitled Y. S. Whereupon they began
to weep, saying, How like is this to that which was revealed unto Jesus 1 and imme-
diately professed themselves Moslems.*
y These words were revealed, when certain of ^lohammed's companions agreed
to oblige themselves to continual fasting and watching, and to abstain from women,
eating flesh, sleeping on beds, and other lawful enjoyments of life, in imitation of
some self-denying Christians ; but this the prophet disapproved, declaring, that he
would have no monks in his religion.^
' See chap. ii. p. 26.
• The commentators give us the different opinions of the doctors, as to the
quantity of food and clothes to be given in this case ; which 1 think scarcely worth
trauicribing.
'' That is, three days together, says Abu Hanifa, But this is not observed in
practice, being neither explicitly commanded in the Koran, nor ordered in the
Sonna.8
« That is, all inebriating liquors, and games of chance. See the Prelim. Disc.
lect. V. and chap. ii. p. 25.
'' Al Beidawi and some other commentators expound this of idols; but others,
with m< re probability, of the canned pieces, or men, with which the pagan Arabs
played at chess, being little figures of men, elephants, horses, and dromedaries ; and
this is supposed to be the only thing which Mohammed disliked in that game : for
which reason the Sonnites play with plain pieces of wood, or ivory; but the Persians
and Indians, who are not so scrupulous, still make use of the carved ones.*
• See the Prelim. Disc, sect, v.
• See the Prelim. Disc. sect. ii. » Al Beidawi, al Thalabi. Vide Abulfed. Vit
Moh. p. 25, &c. ^Marracc. Prodr. ad Refut. Alcor. part 1. p. 45. * Al Beidawi,
Jallalo'ddin. Vide Marracc. ubi eijp, ^ Jallalo'ddin, Al Beidawi. ^ Al Beidawi.
* Vide Prelim. Disc. sect. t.