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

436 AL KORAN. CHAP. lvi.
torn ; * tinder an extended shade, near a flowing water,'" and amidst fruits in
abundance, which shall not fail, nor shall be forbidden to be gatliered : and
t]i.ey shall repose themselves on lofty beds.* Verily we have created the
damsels of paradise hy & pecidiar creation:* and we have made thcra
virgins," beloved by their husbands, of equal age with them ; for the delight
of the companions of the right hand. There shall be many of the former
religions, and many of the latter.' And the companions of the left hand
(how miserable shall the companions of the left hand be !) shall dwell amidst
burning winds,^ and scalding water, under the shade of a black smoke,
neither cool nor agreeable. For they enjoyed the pleasures of life before
this, while on earth ; and obstinately persisted in a heinous wickedness :
and they said, After we shall have died, and become dust and bones, shall
■we surely be raised to life ] Shall our forefathers also be raised with us ?
Say, Verily both the first and the last shall surely be gathered together
to judgment, at the prefixed time of a known day. Then ye, men, who
have erred, and denied the resurrection as a falseliood, shall surely eat
of the fruit of the tree of al Zakkum, and shall fill your bellies therewith :
and ye shall drink thereon boiling water ; and ye shall drink as a thirsty
camel drinketh. This shall be their entertainment on the day of judgment.
We have created you : will ye not therefore believe that we can raise you
from the dead 1 What think ye ? The seed which ye emit, do ye create
the same, or are we the creators lliereof i We have decreed death unto you
all: and we shall not be prevented. Weareahle to substitute o^Ae?-s like unto
you in your stead, and to produce you again in the condition or form which
ye know not Ye know the original production by creation; will ye not
therefore consider that we are able to produce you by resuscitation ? What
think ye 1 The grain which ye sow, do ye cause the same to spring forth
*■ "They shall walk among trees of Nabe, which are devoid of thorns, and in
the midst of Banana trees, arranged in a pleasing order." — Savary.
"■ Which shall be conveyed in channels to such places, and in such manner, as
every one shall desire.^ Al Beidawi observes that the condition of the few who
have preceded others in faith and good works is represented by whatever may ren-
der a city life agreeable ; and that the condition of the companions of the right
hand, or the generality of the blessed, is represented by those things wliich make
the principal pleasure of a country life ; and that this is done to show the difference
of the two conditions.
» The word translated beds signifies also, by way of metaphor, wives or concubines;
and if the latter sense be preferred, the passage may be rendered thus, And they
shall enjoy damsels raised on lofty couches, whom we have created, &c.
' Having created them purposely of finer materials than the females of this world,
and subject to none of those inconveniences which are natural to the sex.* Some
understand this passage of the beatified women ; who, though they die old and ugly,
shall yet be restored to their youth and beauty in paradise.'
n For how often soever their husbands shall go in unto them, they shall always
find them virgins.
' Father Marracci thinks this to be a manifest contradiction to what is said above
There shall be many of the former and few of the latter ; but al BeidSwi obviates such
an objection, by observing that the preceding passage speaks of the leaders only,
and those who have preceded others in faith and good works, and the passage
before us speaks of the righteous of inferior merit and degree ; so that though
there be many of both sorts, yet there may be few of one sort, comparatively speak-
ing, in respect to the other.
» Which shall penetrate into the passages of their bodies.
* Al Beidawi. » See the Prelim. Disc. sect. 4, p. 69, ic ^ See ibid. p. 73.