Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 6.djvu/209

Ⅳ, 79-86. couldst thou not let us abide till our near appointed time ? ’ Say, ‘ The enjoyment of this world is but slight, and the next is better for him who fears ;’— but they shall not be wronged a straw.

Wheresoe'er ye be death will overtake you, though ye were in lofty towers. And if a good thing befall them, they say, ‘ This is from God,’ but if a bad thing, they say, ‘ This is from thee.’ Say, ‘ It is all from God.’ What ails these people ? they can hardly understand a tale.

What befalls thee of good it is from God ; and what befalls thee of bad it is from thyself. We have sent thee to mankind as an apostle, and God sufficeth for a witness.

Whoso obeys the prophet he has obeyed God ; and he who turns back — we have not sent thee to watch over them.

They say, ‘ Obedience! ’ but when they sally forth from you, a company of them brood by night over something else than that which thou hast said ; but God writes down that over which they brood. Turn then from them and rely on God, for God sufficeth for a guardian. Do they not meditate on the Qur'ân ? if it were from other than God they would find in it many a discrepancy.

And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear they publish it ; but if they were to report it to the Apostle and to those in authority amongst them, then those of them who would elicit it from them would know it; but were it not for God's grace upon you and His mercy ye had followed Satan, save a few.

Fight, then, in the way of God ; impose not aught on any but thyself, and urge on the believers ; it G 2