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

218 AL KORAN. CHAP. xvi.
traffic ? (for they sliall not be able to elude the power of God,) or that he
will not chastise them by a gradual destruction 1 But your Lord is truly
gracious and merciful i?j yruntiny you respite. Do they not consider the
things which God hath created ; whose shadows are cast on the right hand
and on the left, worshipping God," * and become contracted 1 Whatever
moveth both in heaven and on earth worshijipeth God, and the angels also;
and they are not elated with pride, so as to disdain his service : they fear
their Lord, who is exalted above them, and perform that wliich they are
commanded. God said, Take not unto yourselves two gods ; for there is
but one God ; and revere me. Unto him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven
and on earth ; and unto him is obedience eternally due. Will ye therefore
fear a7iy besides God ? Whatever favours ye have received are certainly
from God ; and when evil afflicteth you, unto him do you make your sup-
plication ; yet when he taketh the e\dl from off you, behold, a part of you
give a companion unto their Lord, to show their ingi'atitude for the favours
we have bestowed on them. Delight yourselves in the enjoyments of this
life : but hereafter shall ye know that ye cannot escape tlie divine vengeance.
And they set aj^art iinto idols which have no knowledge ^ a part of the food
which we have provided for them. By God, ye shall surely be called to
account for that which ye have falsely devised. They attribute daughters
unto God ^ (far be it from him !) but unto themselves cldldren of the sex
which they desire.^ And when any of them is told the news of the birth of
a female, his face becometh black," and he is deeply afflicted : he hideth
himself from the people, because of the ill tidings which have been told
him; considering within himself vfh.eth.ev he shall keep it with disgrace, or
whether he shall buiy it in the dust. Do they not make an ill judgment 1
Unto those who believe not iu the next life, the similitude of evil ought to
be applied, and unto God the most sublime similitude : ^ for he is mighty
afid wise. If God should punish men for their iniquity, he would not leave
on the earth any moving thing : but he giveth them respite unto an
appointed time ; and when their time shall come, they shall not be respited
an hour, neither shall their punishment be anticipated. They attribute unto
" Sec chap. 13, p. 202, note ^. , :, ^ . . j
• " See they not that all the bodies which God hath created bend their shadow
to the right and to the left, to worship him, and to humble themselves before
him." — Siivary.
== Or, which they know not; foolishly imagining that they have power to help them,
or interest with God to intercede for them. ^ , •
As to the ancient Arabs setting apart a certain portion of the produce of their
lands for their idols, and their superstitious abstaining from the use of certain cat-
tle, in honour to the same, see chap. 5, p. 95, and chap. 6, p. 113, and the notes
y See the Prelim. Disc. p. 13. Al Beiilawi says, that the tribes of Khozaah
and Kenana, in particular, used to call the angels the daughters of God.
'■ Viz., sons ; for the birth of a daughter was looked on as a kind of misfortune
among the Arabs ; and they often used to put them to death by burying them alive.
» i. e. Clouded with confusion and sorrow. .
^ This passage condemns the Meccans' injudicious and blasphemous application
of such circumstances to God as were unworthy of him, and not only derogatory
to the perfections of the Deity, but even disgraceful to man ; while they arrogantly
applied the more honourable circumstances to themselves.
5 See chap. 81.