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

118 AL KORAN. CHAP. vii.
your declared enemy'? They answered, Lord, we have dealt unjustly
with our own souls ; and if thou forgive us not, and be not merciful unto
us, we shall surely be of those who perish. God said, Get ye down, the
cue of you an enemy unto the other , and ye shall have a dwelling-place
upon the earth, and a provision for a season. He said, Therein shall ye
live, and therei-n shall ye die, and from thence shall ye be taken forth at
the resurrection. O children of Adam, we have sent down unto you
apparel,^ to conceal your nakedness, and fair garments ; but the clothing of
piety is better. This is one of the signs of God ; that ])eradventure ye
may consider. O children of Adam, let not Satan seduce you, as he
expelled your parents out of paradise, by stri[)ping them of their clothing,
that he might show them their nakedness : verily he seeth you, both he
and his companions, whereas ye see not them.' — We have appointed the
devils to he patrons of those who believe not : and when they commit a
filthy action, they say, We found our fathei's practising the same ; and
God hath commanded us to do it. Say, Verily God commandeth not filthy
actions. Do ye speak concei-ning God that which ye know not ? Say,
Aly Loud hath commanded me to observe justice ; therefore set your faces
to pray at every place of worship, and call upon him, approving unto him
the sincerity of your religion. As he produced you at first, so unto him
shall ye return. A part o/ mankind hath he directed ; and a part hath
been justly led into error, because they have taken the devils for their
patrons besides God, and imagine they are rightly directed. O children
of Adam, take your decent apparel at every place of worship,™ and eat
and drink,'' but be not guilty of excess ; for he loveth not those who are
guilty of excess. Say, Who hath forbidden the decent apparel of God,
which he hath produced for his servants, and the good things which he hath
provided for food ] Say, these things are for those who believe, in this
present life, hut peculiarly on the day of resurrection." Thus do we
distinctly exjjlain our signs unto people who understand. Say, Verily
my Lord hath forbidden filthy actions, both that which is discovered
thereof, and that which is concealed, and also iniquity, and unjust violence ;
^ Not only proper materials, but also ingenuity of mind and dexterity of hand to
make use of them.^
1 Because of the subtlety of their bodies, and their being void of all colour.*
"> This passage was revealed to reprove an immodest custom of the pagan Arabs,
who used to encompass the Caaba naked, because clothes, they said, were the signs
of their disobedience to God.' The Sonna orders that when a man goes to prayers
he should put on his better apparel, out of respect to the divine majesty before whom
he is to appear. But as the Mohammedans think it indecent, on the one hand, to
oome into God's presence in a slovenly manner; so they imagine, on the other, that
they ought not to appear before him in habits too rich or sumptuous, and particu-
larly in clothes adorned with gold or silver, lest they should seem proud.
1 The sons of Amer, it is said, when they performed the pilgrimage to Mecca,
used to eat no more than was absolutely necessary, and that not of the more deli-
cious sort of food neither; which abstinence they looked upon as apiece of merit,
but they are here told the contrary.*
» Because then the wicked, who also partook of the blessings of this life, will have
no share in the enjoyments of the next.
' See the notes to chap. ii. p. 5. * Jallalo'ddin. * Idem, Al Beidawi. !
« lidera. j