Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 6.djvu/92

ⅼⅹⅹⅹⅵ will be condemned to everlasting torment. God never punishes without first sending an apostle with warning. The threatened doom cannot be averted. Denunciation of the idolatrous practices of the Arabs: setting apart portions of the produce of the land for God and for the idols, and defrauding God of His portion: infanticide: declaring cattle and tilth inviolable. God created all fruits and all cattle; both are therefore lawful. Argument proving the absurdity of some of these customs. Enumeration of the only kinds of food that are unlawful. The prohibition to the Jews of certain food was only on account of their sins. God’s revealed word is the only certain argument. Declaration of things really forbidden, namely, harshness to parents, infanticide, abominable sins, and murder. The property of orphans is to be respected, and fair dealing to be practised. No soul compelled beyond its capacity. The Qurʼân to be accepted on the same authority as the book of Moses was. Faith required now without signs: no later profession on the judgment day shall profit them. Good works to be rewarded tenfold, but evil works only by the same amount. Islam is the religion of Abraham the ʿHanîf: a belief in one God, to whom all prayer and devotion is due. Each soul shall bear its own burden. The high rank of some of the Meccans is only a trial from the Lord whereby to prove them.

Ⅶ. (Mecca.)

Mohammed is bidden to accept the Qurʼân fearlessly. The Meccans must take warning by the fate of those who rejected the prophets of old. The creation and fall of Adam. Iblis allowed to tempt mankind. Men are to go to Mosque decently clad. God has only prohibited sinful actions. Men are warned not to reject the mission of the apostles: their punishment at and after death if they do so. The happiness of believers in Paradise. Description of Al Aarâf, the partition between heaven and hell. Immediate belief in the Qurʼân required. God the Creator. Humble and secret prayer enjoined. Proofs of God’s goodness. Noah sent to warn his people: he is saved in the ark while they are drowned. Hûd sent to ʿÂd: they reject his preaching and are punished. Zâliʿh sent to Thamûd: produces the she-camel as a sign: the people hamstring her and are punished. Lot sent to the people of Sodom: their punishment. Shoʼhâib sent to Midian: his people reject him and are destroyed. Thus city after city was