Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 6.djvu/227

Ⅴ, 25-35. until they go out from thence; but if they go out then we will enter in.’ Then said two men of those who fear,—God had been gracious to them both,—‘Enter ye upon them by the door, and when ye have entered it, verily, ye shall be victorious; and upon God do ye rely if ye be believers.’ They said, ‘O Moses! we shall never enter it so long as they are therein; so, go thou and thy Lord and fight ye twain; verily, we will sit down here.’ Said he, ‘My Lord, verily, I can control only myself and my brother; therefore part us from these sinful people.’ He said, ‘Then, verily, it is forbidden them; for forty years shall they wander about in the earth; so vex not thyself for the sinful people.’ Recite to them the story of the two sons of Adam; truly when they offered an offering and it was accepted from one of them, and was not accepted from the other, that one said, ‘I will surely kill thee;’ he said, ‘God only accepts from those who fear. If thou dost stretch forth to me thine hand to kill me, I will not stretch forth mine hand to kill thee; verily, I fear God the Lord of the worlds; verily, I wish that thou mayest draw upon thee my sin and thy sin, and be of the fellows of the Fire, for that is the reward of the unjust.’ But his soul allowed him to slay his brother, and he slew him, and in the morning he was of those who lose. And God sent a crow to scratch in the earth and show him how he might hide his brother's shame, he said, ‘Alas, for me! Am I too helpless to become like this crow and hide my brother's shame?’ and in the morning he was of those who did repent.

For this cause have we prescribed to the children of Israel that whoso kills a soul, unless it