Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 6.djvu/103

Rh brother angrily by the beard and destroys the calf. Misbelievers threatened with the terrors of the resurrection day: fate of the mountains on that day: all men shall be summoned to judgment: no intercession shall avail except from such as the Merciful permits. The Qurʼân is in Arabic that people may fear and remember. Mohammed is not to hasten on its revelation. Adam broke his covenant with God. Angels bidden to adore Adam: Iblîs refuses: tempts Adam: Adam, Eve, and Iblîs expelled from Paradise. Misbelievers shall be gathered together blind on the resurrection day. The Meccans pass by the ruined dwellings of the generations who have been aforetime destroyed for unbelief: but for the Lord's word being passed they would have perished too. Mohammed is exhorted to bear their insults patiently and to praise God throughout the day. Prayer enjoined. The fate of those of yore a sufficient sign. Let them wait and see the issue.

ⅩⅪ. (Mecca.)

Men mock at the revelation: they say it is a 'jumble of dreams,' and that Mohammed is a poet, and they ask for a sign. The prophets of old were but mortal: the people who rejected them perished. Heaven and earth were not created in sport. Truth shall crush falsehood. All things praise God. If there were other gods than He heaven and earth would be corrupted. All former prophets were taught that there is no god but God. The Merciful has not begotten children: the angels are only his servants. The separation of earth from heaven, the creation of living things from water, the steadying of the earth by mountains and placing the sky as a roof over it, and the creation of the night and day and of the sun and moon are signs. No one was ever granted immortality: every soul must taste of death. The unbelievers mock at Mohammed and disbelieve in the Merciful. Man is hasty. The infidels are threatened with punishment in the next world. Those who mocked at the prophets of old perished. No one shall be wronged at the last day. Moses and Aaron received a scripture. Abraham destroys the images which his people worshipped: he tells them that it was the largest idol which did it: he is condemned to be burnt alive; but the fire is miraculously made cool and safe. Abraham, Lot, Isaac, and Jacob all inspired. Lot was brought safely out of a city of wrong-doers. Noah also was saved. David and Solomon give judgment about a field. The mountains and [6]