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

CHAP. VII. AL KORAN. 119
and hath forbidden you to associate with God that concerning -which he
hath sent you down no authority, or to speak of God that which ye know
not. Unto eveiy nation tliere is a prefixed term ; * therefore when their
term is expired, they sliall not have respite for an hour, neither shall they
be anticipated. O childi-en of Adam, verily apostles from among you shall
come unto you, who shall expound my signs unto you : whosoever there-
fore shall fear God and amend, there shall come no fear on them, neither
shall they be grieved. But they who shall accuse our signs of falsehood,
and shall proudly reject them, they shall be the companions of hell fire :
they shall remain therein for ever. And who is more unjust than he who
deviseth a lie concerning God, or accuseth his signs of imposture 1 Unto
these shall be given their portion of worldly happiness, according to what is
written in the book of God's decrees, until our messengers ^ come unto them,
aw J shall cause them to die ; saying, Where are the it/w^s which ye called upon,
besides God? They shall answer. They have disappeared from us. And they
shall bear witness against themselves that they were unbelievers. God shall
say unto them at the resurrection, Enter ye with the nations which have pre-
ceded you, of genii and of men, into hell fire : so often as one nation shall
enter, it shall curse its sister,'! until they shall all have successively entered
therein. The latter of them shall say of the former of them : Lord, these
have seduced us; therefore inflict on them a double punishment of the fh-e of
hell. God shall answer. It shall be doubled unto all : ^ but ye know it not :
and the former of them shall say unto the latter of them. Ye have not
therefore any favour above us ; taste the punishment for that which ye
have gained. Verily they who shall charge our signs with falsehood, and
shall proudly reject them, the gates of heaven shall not be opened imto
them,^ neither shall they enter into paradise, until a camel pass through
the eye of a needle,* and thus will we reward the -wicked doers. Their
couch shall be in hell, and over them sliall be coverings of fire; and thus
will we reward the unjust. But they who believe, and do that which is
right, (we will not load any soul but according to its ability,) they shall be
the companions of paradise ; they shall remain therein for ever. And we
will remove all grudges from their minds ; " rivers shall run at their feet,
* " The term of life is fixed. No one can either anticipate or protract it for a
single instant." — Savary.
P Viz., the anj^el of death and his assistants.
1 That is, the nation whose example betrayed them into their idolatry and other
wickedness.
' Unto those who set the example, because they not only transj^essed themselves,
but were also the occasion of the others' trangression ; and unto those who followed
them, because of their own infidelity, and their imitating an ill example.*
* That is, when their souls shall, after death, ascend to heaven, they shall not be
admitted, but shall be thrown down into the dungeon under the seventh earth.*
' This expression was probably taken from our Saviour's words in the gospel;''
though it be proverbial in the east.
" So that whatever differences or animosities there had been between them in
their lifetime, they shall now be forgotten, and give place to sincere love and amity.
* Jallalo'ddin, al Beidawi. • Jallalo'ddin. See the Prelim. Disc, ubi sup.
p. 66. 7 Matt. xix. 24.