Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 6.djvu/337

XI, 53-64 only from Him who created me: have ye then no sense?

'O my people! ask pardon of your Lord; then turn to Him; He will send the skies down on you in torrents; and He will add strength to your strength: do not then turn back sinners.'

They said, 'O Hûd! thou hast not come to us with a manifest sign; nor will we leave our gods at thy word; nor will we believe in thee. We can only say that some of our gods have attacked thee with evil.' Said he, 'Verily, I call God to witness, and do ye bear witness too, that I am free from that which ye associate beside Him.

'Plot then against me altogether, and give me no delay. Verily, I rely upon God, my Lord and your Lord. There is no beast that walks, but He taketh it by its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on the right way!

'But if ye turn your backs,—then I have conveyed to you what I was sent to you with; and my Lord will make another people your successors. Ye cannot harm Him at all; verily, my Lord is guardian over all!'

And when our order came we saved Hûd, and those who believed with him, by mercy from us; and we saved them from harsh torment. That (tribe of) 'Âd denied the signs of their Lord, and rebelled against His apostles, and followed the bidding of every headstrong tyrant. They were followed in this world by a curse, and on the resurrection day—'Did not 'Âd disbelieve their Lord? Aye! away with 'Âd the people of Hûd!'

And unto Thamûd (we sent) their brother Zâli'h; said he, 'O my people! worship God; ye have no