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

266 AL KORAN. CHAP. xii.
ishall vanish away. "Woe be unto you, for that which ye impiously utter
concerning God I since whoever is in heaven and on earth is subject unto
him; and the angels who are in his presence do not insolently disdain his
service, neither are they tired therewith. They praise him night and day ;
they faint not. Have they taken gods from the earth 1 Shall they raise
the dead to life ? If there were either in heaven or on earth gods besides
God, verily, both would be con-upted.' But far be that which they utter
from God, the Lord of the throne ! No account shall be demanded of him
for what he shall do ; but an account shall be demanded of them. Have
they taken other gods besides him 1 * Say, produce your proof thereof.
This is the admonition of those who are contemporary with me, and the
admonition of those who have been before me," but the gi'eater part of
them know not the truth, and turn aside /ro??! the same. We have sent no
apostle before thee, but we revealed unto him that there is no god beside
myself, wherefore serve me. They say, the Merciful hath begotten issue ;
and the angels are his daughters." f GoD forbid ! They are his honoured
servants, they prevent him not in any thing which they say ;" and they
execute his command. He knoweth that which is before them, and that
which is behind them, they shall not intercede for any, except for whom
it sliall please him ; and they tremble for fear of him. Whoever of them
shall say, I am a god besides him ; that angel will we reward with hell :
for so will we reward the unjust. Do not the unbelievers therefore know,
that the heavens and the earth were solid, and we clave the same in
sunder ',^ and made every living thing of water ? % Will they not therefore
believe ? And we placed stable mountains on the earth, lest it should
move with them ;' and we made broad passages between them for paths,
that they might be directed in their journeys : and we made the heaven a
roof well supported. Yet they turn aside from the signs thereof, not con-
sidering that they are the workmanship of God. It is he who hath created
the night, and the day, and the sun, and the moon ; all the celestial bodies
' That is, the whole creation would necessarily fall into confusion and be over-
turned, by the competition of such mighty antagonists.
* "Do the angels worship any other divinities than God? Produce your proof."
— Savary.
" i. e. This is the constant doctrine of all the sacred books ; not only of the Ko-
ran, but of those which were revealed in former ages; all of them bearing witness
to the great and fundamental truth of the unity of God.
° This passage was revealed on account of the Khozaites, who held the angels to
be the daughters of God.
f " The unbelievers have said, God has had a son by intercourse with the angels.
Far from him be this blasphemy! The angels are his honoured servants."— Savarj^.
° i. e. They presume not to say any thing, until he hath spoken it ; behaving as
servants who know their duty.
P That is, they were one continued mass of matter, till we separated them, and
divided the heaven into seven heavens, and the earth into as many stories ; and dis-
tinguished the various orbs of the one, and the different climates of the other, &c.
Or, as some choose to translate the words. The heavens and the earth were shut up,
and we opened the same : their meaning being, that the heavens did not rain, nor
the earth produce vegetables, till God interposed his power,*
I " That we caused the rain to descend, which giveth life to all the plants."—
Savary.
« See chap. 16, p, 215.
* Al Beid^wi, Jallalo'ddin.