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The Qur'ân

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  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • INTRODUCTION.
  1: Genesis xxviii. 13-19.
  1: See Qur'ân II, 129.
  1: In Arabic iqra'; a great difference of opinion exists even among Mohammedans about the exact mean[...]
  1: Sûrah LXXIV, 1-7.
  1: See Part I, p. 74, note 2.
  2: See Chapter XXXIII, ver. 36, note.
  1: See Chapter III, vers. 115-168.
  1: Chapter XXXIII.
  1: See Chapter LXVI.
  1: See note to vol. ii, p. 110, of Burton's 'Pilgrimage to El Medina and Mecca.
  1: Geschichte des Qorâns, p. 43.
  2: Mohammed may well have repudiated the charge of being a poet, for he is only credited with one ve[...]
  1: See Part II, p. 13, note 1.
  1: See my Arabic Grammar, p. 256.
  1: See Chapter VII, ver. 179.
  1: See Part I, p. 13, note 2.
  2: Mâlik is evidently identical with Moloch, as Gehennum, hell, is the same as the Gehenna of the Bi[...]
  3: See Part I, p. 138, note 1.
  4: See Chapter II, ver. 32.
  1: See above, p. xxx.
  2: Cf. Chapter XV, ver. 44.
  1: See Part II, p. 25.
  1: 'The lowering of the head, by a person praying [or in prayer], after the act of standing, in whic[...]
  1: Cf. Chapter XCVII, ver. 1.
  2: The word originally meant 'purity.'
  1: See p. xiii and Chapter II, ver. 153.
  1: How natural this was to an Arab may be inferred from the anecdote related in Part I, note 2, p. 1[...]
  1: See Chapter XLIII, ver. 12.
  1: See Part II, p. 63, note.



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • ABSTRACT OF THE CONTENTS OF THE QUR'ÂN
  1: This is constantly alluded to in Persian mystical poetry as Rozialast, 'the day of "Am I not?"' [...]
  2: As Allâh, not Allât, the name of a goddess. See p. 160, note 1.
  1: See Introduction, p. xxxiv.
  1: Here used for the Scriptures generally.
  1: An allusion to the tradition of Mohammed's acknowledgment of the goddesses Allât, Al 'Huzzâ, and [...]
  1: See Introduction, p. xxxiv.
  1: See note to the passage in the translation.
  2: See Introduction, p. xl.
  1: See Introduction, pp. xxvi, xxvii.
  1: This part of the sûrah is the second revelation after the appearance of the archangel Gabriel on [...]



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE OPENING CHAPTER. (I. Mecca.)
  1: See Preface.



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE HEIFER. (II. Medina.)
  1: For an explanation of these and similar letters see Introduction.
  2: Although the Arabic demonstrative pronoun means 'that,' the translators have hitherto always rend[...]
  1: This change of number is of frequent occurrence in the Qur'ân, and is not incompatible with the g[...]
  1: That is, the idols.
  2: The vagueness is in the original; it is variously interpreted 'fruits like each other,' or 'like [...]
  3: This is in answer to the objections that had been taken against the mention of such small things [...]
  1: That is, truthful in their implied suggestion that man would be inferior to themselves in wisdom [...]
  1: Cf. Exodus xxxii. 24, 26, 27.
  2: According to some commentators, Jerusalem; and according to others, Jericho.
  3: The word means Remission, or laying down the burden (of sins).
  4: Some say the expression they used was habbah fi sha'hîrah, a grain in an ear of barley,' the idea[...]
  1: The Mohammedan legend is that this was done by the angel Gabriel to terrify the people into obedi[...]
  1: The tradition is that some inhabitants of Elath (Akabah) were transformed into apes for catching [...]
  2: The legend embodied in this passage and what follows appears to be a distorted account of the hei[...]
  1: A constant charge against the Jews is that of having corrupted the Scriptures.
  2: A superstition of certain Jews.
  1: Alluding to some quarrels among the Jewish Arabs.
  1: The Qur'ân.
  1: Exodus xxxii. 20.
  2: The Jews objected to Mohammed's assertion that the arch-angel Gabriel revealed the Qur'ân to him,[...]
  1: Solomon's acts of disobedience and idolatry are attributed by Muslim tradition to the tricks of d[...]
  2: Two angels who having fallen in love with daughters of men (Gen. vi. 2) were condemned to hang in[...]
  3: The Jewish Arabs used the first of these two words derisively. In Arabic it merely means 'observe[...]
  1: The word resignation (Islâm) is that by which Mohammed's religion is known and by which it is spo[...]
  1: Probably alluding to the occasion on which the Meccans prevented Mohammed from using the Kaabah, [...]
  2: I.e. God forbid!
  1: Imâm, the name given to the priest who leads the prayer, it is equivalent to Antistes.
  2: The Kaabah or square temple at Mecca is spoken of as Bâit Allâh = Bethel, 'the house of God.' [...]
  3: The Muqâm Ibrahîm, in the Kaabah enclosure, where a so-called footprint of the patriarch is shown[...]
  1: See note, p. 15. The last sentence might be rendered 'until ye become Muslims.'
  1: The word means in Arabic 'inclining to what is right;' it is often used technically for one who p[...]
  2: The metaphor is derived from dyeing cloth, and must not be translated 'by the technical word bapt[...]
  1: The point to which they turn in prayer, from qabala, 'to be before.'
  2: At first Mohammed and his followers adopted no point of adoration. After the higrah, or flight fr[...]
  3: I.e. at Mecca.
  1: I.e. know Mohammed from the prophecies the Scriptures are alleged to contain about him. See Intro[...]
  2: On the last day.
  3: Or rather be not ungrateful, the word Kufr implying negation of benefits received as well as of f[...]
  4: I.e. in the cause of religion.
  1: This formula is always used by Mohammedans in any danger and sudden calamity, especially in the p[...]
  2: Two mountains near Mecca, where two idols used to stand.
  3: Or, 'respited,' as some interpret it.
  1: Variously interpreted 'idols' and 'chiefs.'
  2: Chiefs of sects and founders of false religions.
  3: I.e. their mutual relations.
  4: I.e. on earth.
  1: I.e. as cattle hear the sound of the drover without understanding the meaning of his words, so th[...]
  2: At the time of slaughtering an animal the Muslims always repeat the formula bismi'llâh, in the na[...]
  3: I.e. the wayfarer.
  1: The relations of a murdered man are always allowed to choose the fine instead of the blood reveng[...]
  2: The legacy.
  1: 'I.e. able to fast but do not.
  2: I.e. who is at home during the month Rama.dhân and not on a journey, or in a place where it is im[...]
  1: The Arabs before Mohammed's time had a superstition that it was unlucky to enter their houses by [...]
  2: Or, 'cause,' see note 4, p. 21.
  3: By beginning the fight yourselves.
  4: The other Arabs had attacked them during the month p. 28 DHu'l Qa'hdah, which was one of their sa[...]
  1: If a breach of their sanctity be committed.
  2: I.e. going to the visitation at once without waiting for the month of the pilgrimage to come roun[...]
  1: By trading during the 'Hagg.
  2: On the rites and stations of the 'Hagg pilgrimage, see Introduction.
  3: A'hnas ibn Surâiq eTH THaqafî, a fair spoken man of pleasant appearance, who pretended to believe[...]
  1: Zuhâib ibn Sinân er Rûmî, who being threatened at Mecca with death unless he apostatized from Isl[...]
  2: Here used as a synonym for resignation, i.e. Islâm.
  1: In the Arabic hâgarû, i.e. who fled with Mohammed in his higrah or expatriation to Medina, from [...]
  2: The gihâd, or general war of extermination against infidels, to threaten or preach which is a fav[...]
  3: 'Hamr, which is rendered 'wine,' includes all alcoholic and intoxicating drinks.
  4: El mâisar was a game of chance, played with arrows, the prize being a young camel, which was slau[...]
  5: I.e. if ye wrong orphans.
  1: Either wishing for a child, or saying, 'in the name of God,' Bâi.dhâvî.
  2: See note 1, p. 1.
  1: The confusion of numbers and persons is in the original. The meaning of the passage is that 'divo[...]
  1: I.e. with honest intentions.
  2: Until the time prescribed by the Qur'ân be fulfilled.
  3: That is, unless the wife choose to give up a part of the half which she could claim, or the husba[...]
  4: See excursus on the Rites and Ceremonies of Islâm.
  5: Interpreted to mean either the middle or the odd one of the five.
  1: That is, if ye are in danger, say your prayers, as best you can, on foot or horseback, not stayin[...]
  2: The legend to which this alludes is variously told, but the most usually accepted version is that[...]
  3: Samuel.
  1: Saul.
  2: The commentators do not understand that the word sakînah, which is in the original, is identical [...]
  3: Samuel iv, v, vi.
  4: Gideon and Saul are here confused; this portion of the story is taken from Judges vi.
  1: Goliath.
  2: Moses, called Kalîmu 'llâh, He with whom God spake.'
  1: This is the famous âyatu 'l kursîy, or 'verse of the throne,' considered as one of the finest pas[...]
  2: The idols and demons of the ancient Arabs are so called.
  3: Nimrod, who persecuted Abraham, according to the eastern legend; see Chapter XXI, verses 52-69. [...]
  1: According to the Arabic commentators, 'Huzair (Esdras) ibn Sara'hyâ or Al 'Hizr (Elias) is the per[...]
  2: Cf. Genesis xv. 9.
  1: I.e. by a mutual understanding between seller and buyer.
  2: See note 2, p. 1.
  3: I.e. Mohammed.
  4: I must again remind the reader of the remarks made in the Introduction that the language of the Q[...]
  1: I.e. his former conduct shall be pardoned.



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF IMRÂN'S FAMILY. (III. Medina.)
  1: I.e. the fundamental part of it.
  2: On the occasion of the battle of Bedr. See Introduction.
  1: The word also means 'illiterate,' and refers here to the Pagan Arabs in Mohammed's time. He seems[...]
  2: See note, p. 15.
  1: Amram; who, according to the Mohammedans, was the father of the Virgin Mary, (Miriam.) A confusio[...]
  2: The Mohammedan superstition is that the devils listen at the p. 51 gate of heaven for scraps of th[...]
  1: The legend is, that the priests threw lots by casting arrows into the river Jordan. The word used[...]
  1: The Arabic expression is 'Havâriyûn, which means 'fullers,' and is explained by the commentators [...]
  2: See note 1, page 15.
  3: The Mohammedans believe that it was an eidolon and not Jesus himself who was crucified.
  4: This word dhikr is used by Mohammedans for the recitation of the Qur'ân, and is also applied to t[...]
  1: See note 1, p. 19.
  1: This is said to allude to some Jews who professed Islâm in the morning and recanted at night, say[...]
  2: A 'talent,' qintâr, is used for any very large sum, a dînâr ('denarius') was a gold coin worth ab[...]
  1: I.e. pervert it.
  2: In the original Rabbânîyîn, an expression identical with Rabboni, cf. John xx. 16.
  1: The legend, borrowed from Talmudic sources, is that God assembled all past, present, and future p[...]
  1: Another name of Mecca.
  1: Alluding to an occasion in which the ancient rivalry between the two tribes of El Aus and El 'Haz[...]
  1: I.e. only a slight hurt.
  2: That is, unless they enter into either the spiritual or temporal dominion of Islam, by professing[...]
  1: This refers to the battle of Ohod, when Mohammed experienced a severe check, and lost two teeth b[...]
  1: Or 'battles.'
  2: Or 'martyrs.'
  1: Plunder.
  2: This word is always used for the pagan Arabs.
  1: He means that the loss at Ohod was more than counter-balanced by their previous success at Bedr. [...]
  1: Mohammed, in his message to the Jewish tribe of Kainûka, used the words of the Qur'ân, and bade t[...]
  2: The commentators say that the Jewish Rabbis demanded of Mohammed this proof of his prophetic miss[...]
  1: This passage was revealed in answer to the objection of Umm Salmâ, one of Mohammed's wives, when [...]
  1: That is, with their enemies.



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF WOMEN. (IV. Medînah.)
  2: That is, fear God, and pay respect to your mothers and wives.
  3: That is, female slaves.
  1: The Arabic idiom for the enjoyment of property being to eat it up, Mohammed here gives the men pe[...]
  2: To idiots or persons of weak intellect.
  1: The word in the original is that always used to express this relationship.
  2: I.e. to the heirs.
  1: Women taken in adultery or fornication were at the beginning of Islâm literally immured.
  2: The commentators are not agreed as to the nature of the offence here referred to. The text, howev[...]
  1: That is, from marrying again.
  2: That is, a large dowry.
  3: This question is ironical, and intended as a warning against bringing a false accusation of infid[...]
  1: Man and wife.
  2: I.e. slaves.
  1: The abbreviated form taku (for takun) is used in the Arabic.
  1: See note 3, p. 14.
  2: See Chapter II, verse 61.
  3: The word in the original means a fibre in the cleft of a date stone, or the rush wick of a candle[...]
  4: Idols of the ancient Arabs; see p. 40.
  1: Literally, a dent or cleft in a date stone.
  1: See note 2, p. 40.
  1: Mecca.
  1: Captive.
  2: Because a believer might not be attacked and plundered as an infidel might be.
  1: Alluding to some half-hearted Muslims, slain at Bedr.
  1: The pagan Arabs used to cut off the ears of cattle, and mutilate their slaves by branding, and fi[...]
  1: Chap. VI, v. 67, which chronologically precedes the present; see Introduction.
  1: See note, p. 8.
  1: See p. 53, note 3.
  2: This may allude to the time of his death after his second advent, when he shall slay the antichri[...]
  1: See note 1, p. 73.



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE TABLE. (V. Medînah.)
  2: Mu'harram.
  1: The Qurâish, who sent to meet Mohammed with 1400 men at 'Hudâibîyeh to prevent him from approachi[...]
  2: Literally, 'stones set up,' Dolmens and the like, which are so common throughout Arabia.
  3: By the game of mâisar, see p. 32.
  1: Referring to the oath of fidelity which Mohammed's adherents took at 'Akabah.
  1: Various stories are told in explanation of this passage, but they are all obviously apocryphal, t[...]
  2: That is, the text foretelling the coming of Mohammed; see Introduction.
  1: See note 2, p. 56.
  1: The time before the Mohammedan dispensation is always so called.
  2: I.e. to take his place.
  1: The ancient Arabs always lit a beacon-fire as a proclamation of war, or a notice of the approach [...]
  1: I.e. from the yoke of captivity.
  2: See note 4, p. 32.
  3: This has been thought by strict Musselmans to exclude the game of chess. Sunnis, however, play th[...]
  1: These were the named given to certain animals which were marked and allowed to graze at liberty. [...]



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF CATTLE . (VI. Mecca.)
  1: So called from the mention which it contains of the superstitious customs of the Arabs with regar[...]
  2: Said to be a protest against the dualistic doctrine that Light and Darkness were two co-eternal p[...]
  3: I.e. a term for your life and another for your resurrection.
  4: By good or evil works.
  1: I.e. the prophet.
  1: I.e. their innate propensities to good and their reason.
  2: Mohammed.
  1: Most of the Mohammedan commentators say this word means 'treasuries.' The allusion, however, is o[...]
  1: In sleep.
  1: The Hebrew Terah is in Arabic Târah. Eusebius gives the form Athar, which may in some measure acc[...]
  1: The Jews are here, as frequently in the Qur'ân, accused of suppressing and altering those parts o[...]
  1: Mecca.
  2: This refers to Abdallah ibn Sa'hd ibn Abî. Sar'h, who acted as amanuensis to Mohammed, and when h[...]
  3: This word is nearly always used for the verses of the Qur'ân.
  4: That is, partners with God, idols; to associate being the usual phrase in the Qur'ân for idolatry[...]
  1: In the womb.
  2: Supernatural beings created, like the devils, of fire instead of clay, and possessed of miraculou[...]
  1: This word may also be rendered 'before them' or 'a surety' (for the truth of the revelation).
  1: That is, makes him appear as one who would attempt some great but impossible thing and fails ther[...]
  1: I, e. the idols.
  2: The pagan Arabs used to set apart certain of the produce of their fields to Allah the chief God, [...]
  3: Alluding both to human sacrifices to idols and the cruel custom of burying female children alive.[...]
  1: That is, to obscure what little trace it had of the original faith of Abraham The 'Hanîf.
  2: Trailed over an 'Arîsh, that is, a sort of hut made of boughs.
  3: That is, spread out when slaughtered, or from the hides and wool, &c., of which a bed (farsh) is [...]
  1: The Arabs alternately made it unlawful to eat the males, and then the young of these four kinds o[...]
  1: That is, commit no homicide unless it be by legal execution or the slaying of infidels in war. [...]
  1: Signs of the approach of the day of judgment.
  1: Not receive the recompense of other than persons' evil actions.



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF AL AARÂF . (VII. Mecca.)
  1: The name of the bridge between heaven and hell described in this chapter.
  1: I.e. fine dresses.
  2: That is, wear your best apparel in the mosque.
  1: Whereas now idolaters share in the good things of this world; but on the day of judgment those on[...]
  2: That is, they shall have whatever portion of good or evil is written for them in the book of thei[...]
  1: See p. 127, note 2.
  2: Literally, his sister.
  1: The fruits of Paradise.
  1: The highest heaven is so called.
  1: An extinct tribe of the ancient Arabs.
  2: Hûd and Thamûd, both mentioned in the works of Ptolemy, were two tribes of the ancient Arabs, ext[...]
  1: Referring to the numerous excavated rock-dwellings in Idumaea.
  1: All that has been hitherto written about the legend Zâli'h and his camel is pure conjecture; the [...]
  1: The Jethro of the Bible.
  2: That is, 'give us a chance,' the idiom is still current in modern parlance. A shopkeeper, for ins[...]
  1: The word is used of an arrow that hits a mark, and hence of any sudden calamity that falls on a m[...]
  1: Or, cause us to die Moslems.
  1: The word y'arishûn is properly used of making wooden huts, p. 154 but is here applied to any stru[...]
  1: This is also a Talmudic legend.
  1: Or, the apostle of the Gentiles.
  1: Cf. Chapter II, 61.
  1: Said to refer to Balaam, but also to several pretenders of prophecy amongst the Arabians. By some[...]
  1: The word yul'hidûna is used in the later Arabic for any form of atheism. The expression in the te[...]
  2: Mohammed.
  3: Literally, under the influence of the ginn.
  1: This story is said to refer to Adam and Eve; the act of idolatry mentioned being the naming of th[...]
  1: I.e. if an evil suggestion occurs to them, they mention God's name and immediately see the folly [...]
  2: That is, a verse in the Qur'ân. Footnotes



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE SPOILS. (VIII. Medînah.)
  1: At Medînah.
  1: The occasion alluded to was one when Mohammed had made preparations for attacking an unarmed cara[...]
  2: The Muslims were fewer in number than the enemy, and the latter had command of the water, at both[...]
  1: Alluding to the alleged miracle of the gravel thrown into the eyes of the Qurâis at the battle of[...]
  2: An address to the Meccans who, when threatened with an attack from Mohammed, took sanctuary in th[...]
  1: Here used in the sense of victory.
  1: That is, they have the doom of former people as a warning and an example.
  1: That is, had ye agreed to attack them.
  1: The angels who were fighting on the Muslim side.
  2: I.e. beguiled them into attacking a force superior in numbers.
  1: That is, make them an example to all future opponents by the severity of thy dealing with them. [...]
  1: Mohammed here blames them for having accepted ransom from the captives which they took at the Bat[...]
  1: To the prophet.
  2: The Ansârs and Muhâgerîn, that is, those who lent aid to, and those who fled with Mohammed were a[...]



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF REPENTANCE OR IMMUNITY. (IX. Medînah.)
  3: This chapter is without the initial formula 'In the name of God,' &c. The Caliph Othman said that[...]
  1: Abu 'l 'Abbâs, Mohammed's uncle, when taken prisoner and reproached with his unbelief, appealed t[...]
  1: 'Honein is the name of a valley about three miles to the north-east of Mecca, where, in the eight[...]
  2: See p. 38, note 2.
  3: That is, from the stoppage of traffic and merchandise.
  1: The Moslem tradition is that Ezra, after being dead 100 years, was raised to life, and dictated f[...]
  2: Alluding to the word rabbi, which in Arabic is applied to God alone.
  1: The pagan Arabs used to put off the observance of a sacred month when it was inconvenient to them[...]
  1: The prophet.
  2: That is, with only one companion, namely Abubekr.
  1: That is, excuse me from the fighting in the cause of religion.
  2: I.e. victory or martyrdom.
  1: I.e. in collecting or distributing them.
  2: Reconciled, that is, to Islâm.
  3: That is, reproach or quarrel with the prophet; I have used the old fashion English expression in [...]
  1: Chapter of the Qur'ân.
  2: I.e. are niggardly and refuse to give alms.
  1: Sodom and Gomorrah.
  2: A plot had been set afoot at Medînah to kill Mohammed, and was only abandoned because of the incr[...]
  1: At the battle of Tabûk.
  1: The Muhâgerîn, or those who fled with Mohammed from Mecca.
  2: The Ansârs who helped him while at Medînah.
  1: The Mosque of Qubâ', about two miles from Medînah, the foundation stone of which was laid by Moha[...]
  1: The Beni Ghanm.
  2: I.e. they will feel compunctions about it till the day of their death.
  1: Three of the Ansârs who refused to accompany Mohammed to Tabûk.
  1: A wady is the bed of a torrent, which in Arabia is generally dry, but occasionally after a storm [...]



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF JONAH, (PEACE BE ON HIM!) (X. Mecca.)
  1: Of Mecca.
  2: I.e. a reward awaiting them for their sincerity.
  1: The recording angels.
  2: An instance of the frequent abrupt changes of persons with which the Qur'ân abounds.
  1: I.e. Mohammed.
  1: A portion of the Qur'ân. The word means reading.
  1: Your idols.
  2: Noah's people.
  1: I.e. adapt them by their position and construction to become places in which prayer may be perfor[...]
  1: This is supposed to be the taunting reply of the angel Gabriel.
  2: Compare Exodus xiv. 30. The Mohammedan legend is that as some of the children of Israel doubted [...]
  1: See p. 19, note 1.



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF HÛD. (XI. Mecca.)
  1: That is, before the creation; see Genesis i. 2.
  1: That is, of the idolater.
  1: The Qur'ân.
  1: Tannûr (oven) signifies also a reservoir of water. Its use in this passage has, however, given ri[...]
  2: This story and the further allusion to Noah's son in the next page were probably suggested by Gen[...]
  1: The ark.
  2: Gûdî is a corruption apparently for Mount Giordi, the Gordyæi of the Greeks, situated between Ar[...]
  3: I.e. upon some of the nations who are to form the posterity of thyself and the members of thy fam[...]
  1: See note, p. 107.
  1: I.e. he was powerless to help them.
  1: I.e. some support, such as a powerful clan or chieftain.
  2: That is, overturned the cities of the plain.
  3: The Abyssinians, who had invaded Mecca some years before, are mentioned in the Chapter of the Ele[...]
  4: The legend is that they each contained the name of the person for whom they were destined; so the[...]
  5: I.e. the same punishment is likely to overtake other wrong-doers, the threat being especially dir[...]
  6: See Chapter VII.
  7: A little which God leaves you after paying every one his due.
  1: The word used is that always applied by desert Arabs to going to a spring for water.
  1: I.e. unless He please to increase their happiness.



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF JOSEPH, (PEACE BE ON HIM!) (XII. Mecca.)
  1: The word means a band of between twenty and forty persons.
  1: This is a prophetic intimation to Joseph of his future interview with his brethren in Egypt.
  1: The age of puberty.
  2: The angel Gabriel in the form of his father appeared with a warning gesture, according to the Mus[...]
  1: In their sudden emotion at his beauty.
  2: Of his innocence.
  1: In a dream.
  2: The application of the pronoun is vague in the text of this p. 224 passage, which is variously in[...]
  1: I.e. press wine and oil.
  1: The goods which they had brought to barter, or the money they had paid for the corn.
  2: Commentators differ as to whether this means that what they had brought was insufficient, or whet[...]
  3: By some unavoidable hindrance.
  1: I.e. by the law of Egypt it was not lawful for Joseph to take his brother for a bondsman as a pun[...]



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF THUNDER. (XIII. Mecca.)
  1: Guardian angels.
  2: I.e. hope of rain; lightning is always hailed with joy by the Arabs as a precursor of rain.
  1: They would not believe.
  2: The word used in the original, yâi'as, means 'despair,' but in the patois of the Na'ha'h tribe si[...]
  1: See p. 2, note 2.
  2: Alluding to the conquests of Islâm. Footnotes



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF ABRAHAM, (PEACE BE ON HIM!) (XIV. Mecca.)
  1: This may, according to the Arab idiom, mean either 'battles' in which God had given victory to th[...]
  2: Easterns, when annoyed, always bite their hands; see Chapter III, verse 115.
  1: Sale and Rodwell have softened down this filthy expression, one rendering it 'filthy water' and [...]
  1: Mecca and its neighbourhood.
  1: The Kaabah at Mecca.
  2: I.e. with their looks fixed straight in front of them through terror. Footnotes



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF EL 'HAGR . (XV. Mecca.)
  1: El 'Hagr, literally, 'the rock:' the Petra of Strabo, and the traditional habitation of 'the peop[...]
  2: Verses.
  3: See note 1, p. 15.
  1: See note 2, pp. 50, 51.
  1: I.e. the winds that bring the rain-clouds and fertilise the earth.
  1: Because to turn their backs on each other would appear contemptuous.
  1: I.e. thy people.
  2: I.e. to protect.
  1: Addressed to Mohammed.
  2: On the road from the territory of the Qurâis to Syria.
  3: The Midianites, who are spoken of as dwelling in a grove, and to whom Jethro, or, as he is called[...]
  4: I.e. both Sodom and Midian.
  5: The tribe of Thamûd, see p. 146.
  6: The Opening Chapter, which contains seven verses, and is p. 250 named the Seven of Repetition (sa[...]
  1: The unbelievers.
  2: Behave with humility and gentleness.
  3: Probably referring to the Jews and Christians who are here and elsewhere accused of mutilating an[...]



  • PART I Chapters I to XVI
    • THE QUR'ÂN.
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE BEE. (XVI. Mecca.)
  1: Said to refer to the building and overthrow of the tower of Babel.
  1: The Pentateuch and Gospels.
  1: See note 2, p. 132.
  2: The Arabs used to call the angels 'daughters of God.' They, however, objected strongly (as do the[...]
  1: The Arab writers mention several varieties of honey differing in colour, and some of which are us[...]
  1: Their slaves.
  1: 'Tents' are called 'houses of hair' or 'of hide' by the desert Arabs.
  2: Of mail.
  1: The Meccans.
  2: The Arabs, like most half-savage tribes, used to consider superior numerical strength as entitlin[...]
  1: See p. 50, note 2.
  2: Gabriel.
  3: See p. 15, note 1.
  4: For an account of the persons supposed to have helped Mohammed in the compilation of the Qur'ân, [...]
  1: The Ansârs.
  2: Any town, but Mecca in particular.
  3: Literally, 'taste.'
  1: See p. 134.
  2: Some commentators take this word ummatan as equivalent to imâman, 'antistes,' and this interpreta[...]
  1: This passage refers to the killing of 'Hamzah, Mohammed's uncle, at the battle of O'hod, and the [...]



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE NIGHT JOURNEY . (XVII. Mecca.)
  1: Also called 'The Children of Israel.' The subject of Mohammed's miraculous journey in one night f[...]
  2: The Kaabah at Mecca.
  3: The Temple at Jerusalem.
  4: The Mohammedan commentators interpret this as referring the first to either Goliath, Sennacherib,[...]
  1: Supply, 'we sent foes.'
  2: I.e. 'fortune' or 'fate,' literally, 'bird;' the Arabs, like the ancient Romans, having been used [...]
  1: Bade them obey the Apostle.
  1: I.e. if you are compelled to leave them in order to seek your livelihood; or if your present mean[...]
  2: See Part I, p. 256, note 2.
  1: I.e. they are not to provoke the idolaters by speaking too roughly to them so as to exasperate th[...]
  1: Sale interprets this to mean 'the angels and prophets.' Rodwell remarks that it is an 'obvious all[...]
  2: The Zaqqûm; see Chapter XXXVII, verse 60. The vision p. 8 referred to is the night journey to heav[...]
  1: The commentators say that this refers to a treaty proposed by the tribe of THaqîf, who insisted, [...]
  1: According to some, the soul generally; but according to others, and more probably, the angel Gabr[...]
  1: As occasion required.
  1: The Arabs whom Mohammed addressed seem to have imagined that he meant by Allâh and Ar-ra'hmân (th[...]
  2: This command is obeyed by the Muslims frequently pronouncing the phrase Allâhu akbar, especially [...]



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE CAVE. (XVIII. Mecca.)
  1: This is the well-known story of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. What is meant by Er-raqîm no one k[...]
  2: That is, the youths themselves or the people they met on their awakening.
  1: That is, the Christians.
  2: Mohammed being asked by the Jews concerning the number of the Seven Sleepers, had promised to bri[...]
  3: This expression Sale takes to be ironical, and translates, 'make thou him to see and hear;' Rodwe[...]
  1: Said to refer to Ommâiyet ibn 'Half, who had requested Mohammed to give up his poorer followers t[...]
  1: In the original Mâ sâ' allâh; this is the usual formula for expressing admiration among Muslims. [...]
  1: I.e. wrung his hands.
  2: In the hand of each.
  1: This passage is aimed at the Qurâis. The.' course of those of yore' is the punishment inflicted o[...]
  1: The word used signifies a space of eighty years and upwards.
  2: Literally, 'of their intermediate space.'
  3: See Part II, note 3, p. 23.
  1: That is, embarked. All nautical metaphors in Arabic being taken from camel riding. The Arabs do n[...]
  1: The expression wanted to fall is colloquial in Arabic as well as in English. Bâi.dhâvî says, 'the[...]
  2: That is, every whole or sound ship.
  3: For this legend there appears to be no ancient authority whatever; the Mohammedan commentators me[...]
  1: Literally, 'the two horned;' this personage is generally supposed to be Alexander the Great, who [...]
  2: Probably, as Bâi.dhâvî suggests, the ocean, which, with its dark waters, would remind an Arab of [...]
  1: Gog and Magog. The people referred to appear to be tribes of the Turkomans, and the rampart itself[...]
  2: The process here described for repressing the incursions of Gog and Magog is the building of a wa[...]
  3: Gog and Magog.
  4: On the day of judgment, or, as some think, a little before it.
  1: Here the Persian word Firdâus is used, which has supplied the name to the abode of the blessed in[...]



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF MARY. (XIX. Mecca.)
  1: Cf. Luke i. 61, where, however, it is said that none of Zachariah's kindred was ever before calle[...]
  1: Either the infant himself or the angel Gabriel; or the expression 'beneath her' may be rendered '[...]
  1: See Part I, note 1, p. 50.
  2: See Part II, note 3, p. 16.
  1: That is, 'gave them great renown.'
  1: Generally identified with Enoch.
  2: Amongst various conjectures the one most usually accepted p. 32 by the Mohammedan commentators is,[...]
  1: This is interpreted by some to mean that all souls, good and bad, must pass through hell, but tha[...]
  1: 'Hâsîy ibn Wâil, being indebted to 'Habbâb, refused to pay him unless he renounced Mohammed. This[...]
  2: That is, the false gods. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF T. H. (XX. Mecca.)
  1: The Arabs used to light fires to guide travellers to shelter and entertainment. These fires, 'the[...]
  2: This may be also rendered, 'I almost conceal it (from myself);' i'hfâ'un having, like many words [...]
  1: The Muslim legend is that Moses burnt his tongue with a live coal when a child. This incident is [...]
  2: Literally, vizîr, 'vizier,' 'one who bears the burden' of office.
  3: I.e. 'strengthen me.' The idiom is still in common use amongst the desert Arabs.
  1: I.e. the festival.
  2: In order that they might all see.
  3: Or, 'your most eminent men,' as some commentators interpret it, i.e. the children of Israel.
  1: Pharaoh.
  1: I.e. the Samaritan; some take it to mean a proper name, in order to avoid the anachronism.
  1: A handful of dust from the footprint of the angel Gabriel's p. 42 horse, which, being cast into th[...]
  1: The idea conveyed seems to be that he should be regarded as a leper, and obliged to warn people f[...]
  2: Because 'blue eyes' were especially detested by the Arabs as being characteristic of their greate[...]
  1: That is, the angel who is to summon them to judgment, and from whom none can escape, or who march[...]
  2: Cf. Part II, p. 16, note 2.
  1: The Meccans.
  1: Literally, 'pairs.'Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE PROPHETS. (XXI. Mecca.)
  1: Or, child, since the passage refers both to the Christian p. 48 doctrine and to the Arab notion th[...]
  1: Mohammed.
  1: Literally, 'they turned upside down upon their heads,' the metaphor implying that they suddenly c[...]
  2: See Part I, p. 17, note 1.
  1: This case, say the commentators, being brought before David and Solomon, David said that the owne[...]
  2: This legend, adopted from the Talmud, arises from a too literal interpretation of Psalm cxlviii. [...]
  3: The legend of Solomon, his seal inscribed with the holy name by which he could control all the po[...]
  1: That is, Elias, or, as some say, Joshua, and some say Zachariah, so called because he had a porti[...]
  2: Literally, 'he of the fish,' that is, Jonah.
  3: See Part II, p. 27.
  4: The word 'ummatun' is here used in the sense rather of p. 54 'religion,' regarding the various na[...]
  1: See Part II, p. 25.
  2: 'Hadab, some read gadath, 'grave.'
  3: See Part I, p. 4, l. I.
  1: Es-Sigill is the name of the angel who has charge of the book on which each human being's fate is[...]
  2: Psalm xxxvii. 29.Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE PILGRIMAGE. (XXII. Mecca.)
  1: The word may also be rendered 'sky.'
  1: Namely, the believers and the misbelievers.
  1: The first ten days of DHu 'l 'Higgeh, or the tenth day of that month, when the sacrifices were of[...]
  2: Such as not shaving their heads and other parts of their bodies, or cutting their beards and nail[...]
  3: This means by presenting fine and comely offerings.
  1: Waiting to be sacrificed.
  1: Some say that the word tamannâ means 'reading,' and the passage should then be translated, 'but t[...]
  2: Either 'the day of resurrection,' as giving birth to no day after it, or, 'a day of battle and de[...]
  1: As it will do at the last day. The words of the text might also be rendered 'withholds the rain,'[...]



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF BELIEVERS. (XXIII. Mecca.)
  1: See Part I, p. 126, note 2.
  2: That is, 'seven heavens.'
  1: Or, 'religion.'
  2: Literally, 'into Scriptures,' i.e. into sects, each appealing to a particular book.
  1: I.e. their works are far different to the good works just described.
  2: At their possession of the Kaabah. The Qurâis are meant.
  1: The famine which the Meccans suffered; and which was attributed to Mohammed's denunciations.
  2: Their defeat at Bedr.
  1: I.e. by doing good for evil, provided that the cause of Islâm suffers nothing from it.
  2: I.e. back to life. The plural is used 'by way of respect,' say the commentators.
  1: To our evil ways.
  2: That is, the recording angels. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF LIGHT. (XXIV. Medînah.)
  1: He would punish you.
  2: This passage and what follows refers to the scandal about Mohammed's favourite wife Ayesha, who, [...]
  1: Abu bekr had sworn not to do anything more for a relation of his, named Mista'h, who had taken pa[...]
  1: Or, according to some, of deficient intellect.
  2: I.e. they are not to tinkle their bangles or ankle-rings.
  3: I.e. a document allowing them to redeem themselves on payment of a certain sum.
  4: Abdallah ibn Ubbâi, mentioned in Part II, p. 74, note 2, had six slave girls whom he compelled to[...]
  5: I.e. like the stories of Joseph, Part I, p. 221, and the Virgin p. 78 Mary, Part II, p. 29, both o[...]
  1: I.e. masses of cloud as large as mountains.
  1: The construction of the original is vague, and the commentators themselves make but little of it.[...]
  1: I.e. at the times when persons are undressed, namely, to rise in the morning, to sleep at noon, a[...]
  1: The Arabs in Mohammed's time were superstitiously scrupulous about eating in any one's house but [...]
  2: That is, do not address the prophet without some respectful title.



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE DISCRIMINATION . (XXV. Mecca.)
  1: In Arabic Al Furqân, which is one of the names of the Qur'ân.
  1: Another reading of the text is, 'ye cannot.'
  1: The ancient Arabs used this formula when they met an enemy during a sacred month, and the person [...]
  2: See Chapter III, verse 115.
  3: That is, followed him.
  1: Like the Pentateuch and Gospels, which were revealed all at once, according to the Mohammedan tra[...]
  2: Or it may be rendered, 'slowly and distinctly;' the whole revelation of the Qur'ân extends over a[...]
  3: The commentators do not know where to place ar Rass; some say it was a city in Yamâmah, others th[...]
  1: That is, the idolatrous Meccans; see Part I, p. 249, note 2.
  2: That is, either the Qur'ân, cf. Part II, p. 5, line 25; Or the words may be rendered, 'We distrib[...]
  1: That is, that if a man chose to expend anything for the cause of God he can do so.
  1: For prayer.
  2: See Part I, p, 135, note 1.
  3: In Paradise.



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE POETS. (XXVI. Mecca.)
  1: That he may be my minister.
  2: The slaying of the Egyptian.
  1: Pharaoh.
  1: See Part I, p. 249, note 3.
  1: The Qur'ân.
  2: The angel Gabriel.
  3: The Qur'ân.
  4: Infidelity.
  5: See Part I, p. 50.
  6: See Part I, p. 250, note 2.
  1: Or, it may be thy going to and fro amongst believers, as Mohammed is reported to have done one ni[...]
  2: That is, by listening at the door of heaven; see Part I, p. 50, note 2.
  3: That is, in what condition they shall be brought before God. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE ANT. (XXVII. Mecca.)
  1: The Sheba of the Bible, in the south of the Arabian peninsula.
  1: The commentators are uncertain as to whether this was 'Âzaf, Solomon's prime minister, or whether[...]
  1: Commentators differ as to whether the last words are to be taken as the conclusion of the Queen o[...]



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE STORY. (XXVIII. Mecca.)
  1: Hâmân, according to the Qur'ân, is made out to be the prime minister of Pharaoh.
  2: Either devoid of patience, according to some, or of anxiety, according to others, or it may be to[...]
  3: That is, Moses was made to refuse the breast of the Egyptian woman before his sister came to offe[...]
  1: See Part II, p. 35, note 1.
  1: That is, the Pentateuch and Qur'ân.
  1: In Arabic Qârûn. The legend based upon Talmudic tradition of Korah's immense wealth appears to be[...]



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE SPIDER. (XXIX. Mecca.)
  1: I.e. if you are pressed in Mecca, there are plenty of places where you can take shelter, as Moham[...]



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE GREEKS . (XXX. Mecca.)
  1: In Arabic Rûm, by which is meant the Byzantine or eastern Roman empire.
  1: About the beginning of the sixth year before the Higrah the Persians conquered Syria, and made the[...]
  1: Or, according to another reading, 'unto those who know;' cf. Part II, p. 122, line 2.
  1: I.e. as they, the Meccans, do not consider their slaves their equals, still less does God hold th[...]
  1: In Paradise.
  1: I.e. see the young corn parched.
  1: I.e. a verse. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF LOQMÂN . (XXXI. Mecca.)
  2: This sage is generally identified with the Aesop of the Greeks. The legends current in the East c[...]
  3: An Na.dhr ibn al 'Hareth had purchased in Persia some of the old legends of Rustam and Isfendiâr,[...]



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF ADORATION. (XXXII. Mecca.)
  1: I.e. the torment of this world as well as that of the next.
  2: This may refer to the alleged meeting of Mohammed and Moses in heaven during the 'night journey;'[...]



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE CONFEDERATES . (XXXIII. Medînah.)
  1: When this sûrah was written Medînah was besieged by a confederation of the Jewish tribes with the[...]
  2: The Arabs were in the habit of divorcing their wives on certain occasions with the words, 'Thy ba[...]
  1: The Muhâgerîn.
  2: See Part I, p. 57, note 1.
  3: Of angels.
  1: On the approach of the confederate army, to the number of 12,000, Mohammed, by the advice of Selm[...]
  2: The ancient name of the city; it was only called 'El Medînah, 'the city,' after it had become fam[...]
  3: In the trenches.
  4: I.e. if the confederates had effected an entry, these half-hearted persons would have listened to [...]
  1: I.e. chary of helping you, but greedy of the spoils.
  2: I.e. the best share of the spoils.
  1: I.e. their vow to fight till they obtained martyrdom.
  2: I.e. changed their mind.
  3: I.e. who had helped the confederates.
  4: The Qurâithah Jews, whom Mohammed attacked after the siege of Medînah had been raised, and punish[...]
  5: Mohammed being annoyed by the demands made by his wives for costly dresses and the like, offered [...]
  1: Here the pronoun is changed from feminine to masculine, and the passage is appealed to by the Shi[...]
  2: I.e. Muslims; see Part I, p. 15, note 1.
  1: I.e. divorced her.
  2: Zâid was Mohammed's freedman and adopted son. Mohammed had seen and admired Zâid's wife Zâinab, a[...]
  1: The same word is used as is rendered 'pray' in all the other passages in the Qur'ân, though the c[...]
  2: Either, 'do not ill-treat them,' or, 'take no notice of their ill-treating thee.'
  1: I.e. dowry.
  2: Slave girls.
  3: I.e. from her turn of conjugal rights.
  4: I.e. divorced.
  1: He would be reluctantly obliged to ask you to leave.
  2: The tent of an Arab chief is looked upon as a place of general entertainment, and is always besie[...]
  3: The prophet's wives.
  4: The women to the present day always remain behind a curtain which screens off their part of the t[...]
  5: The prophet's wives.
  1: See p. 145, note 1.
  1: The occasion of the revelation of this verse is said to have been that Mohammed being accused of [...]
  2: That is, 'the faith.'



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF SEB . (XXXIV. Mecca.)
  1: A city of Yemen was also called Mârab; it was about three days' journey from Sanâ'h. The bursting [...]
  1: The Mohammedan legend is that Solomon had employed the p. 152 ginns to construct the temple of Jer[...]
  1: The Rhamnus Nabeca of Forshål, the Rhamnus Nabeca Spina Christi of Linnæus, its fruit, which is c[...]
  1: A great trade used formerly to exist between Sebâ and Syria. The Mohammedan commentators suppose [...]
  1: In Paradise.
  2: See Part I, p. 127, note 2.
  3: That is, the Meccans.
  1: That he, Mohammed, is not possessed by a ginn.



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE ANGELS . (XXXV. Mecca.)
  1: Also called 'of the Originator.'
  1: Literally, the husk of a date stone.
  1: The word is here used in its geological sense, and is applied to the various coloured streaks whi[...]
  1: The earth. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF Y. S. (XXXVI. Mecca.)
  1: The Umm al Kitâb. See Part I, p. 2, note 2.
  1: The legend is that Jesus sent two of His disciples to the city of Antioch, none believing them but[...]
  1: There is a various reading here, 'and has no place of rest.'
  2: Some take this to refer to Noah's ark.
  3: That is, the punishment of this world and the next.
  1: Mohammed.
  2: I.e. they are ready to defend their false gods. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE 'RANGED.' (XXXVII. Mecca.)
  1: Driving the clouds or 'scaring the devils.'
  2: See Part I, p. 50, note 2.
  3: The people of Mecca.
  1: That is, with a good omen.
  2: See Chapter XV, verse 47.
  1: Ez Zaqqûm is a foreign tree with an exceedingly bitter fruit, the name of which is here used for [...]
  2: The unbelievers objected that the tree could not grow in hell, where the very stones (see Part I,[...]
  1: Mohammedan commentators say that he pretended to a knowledge of astrology and made as though he s[...]
  2: The people of the city.
  1: The Mohammedan theory is that it was Ishmael and not Isaac who was taken as a sacrifice.
  1: Supposed by the Mohammedans to be the same as Al 'Hidhr and Idrîs.
  2: This is probably another form of the word Elyâs, on the model of many Hebrew words which have sur[...]
  3: The word used in the text is always applied to runaway slaves.
  1: The Meccans.
  2: See Part I, p. 256, note 2.
  3: This speech is supposed to be the words of the angel Gabriel.
  4: I.e. in the Qur'ân. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF S.  (XXXVIII. Mecca.)
  1: The Arabic commentators say of this title, 'God only knows what He means by it.' All the explanat[...]
  1: Some say this refers to the punishment which Pharaoh used to inflict upon those who had offended [...]
  2: The Meccans.
  1: The word in Arabic signifies a horse that stands on three legs and just touches the ground with t[...]
  2: The Mohammedan legend, borrowed from the Talmud, is that having conquered the king of Sidon and br[...]
  1: The Mohammedan legend is that when Job was undergoing his trials, the devil appeared to his wife [...]
  1: See page 53.



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE TROOPS. (XXXIX. Mecca.)
  1: Camel, oxen, sheep, and goats.
  2: I.e. the belly, the womb, and the placenta.
  1: See Part I, p. 40, note 2.
  1: By their idols.
  1: The pronoun in Arabic is feminine, and refers to the false gods, especially to the favourite godd[...]
  1: Or witnesses. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE BELIEVER. (XL. Mecca.)
  1: Referring to the absence of life before birth and the deprivation of it at death, and to the bein[...]
  1: Or 'turn away.'



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER 'DETAILED.' (XLI. Mecca.)
  1: On the earth.
  1: Devils, opposed to the guardian angels of the believers.
  2: I.e. interrupt the reading of the Qur'ân by talking, in order to overpower the voice of the reade[...]
  1: I.e. they would have said, 'What! is the revelation in a foreign tongue, and we who are expected [...]
  1: Or the words may be rendered, 'There is good with him still due to me.'



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF COUNSEL. (XLII. Mecca.)
  1: Mecca.
  1: I.e. after the faith of Islâm had been accepted by them, or after God had assented to the prophet[...]
  1: I.e. the law contained in the Qur'ân.
  2: I.e. were it not that God has promised that those things shall be decided at the day of judgment.[...]
  1: I.e. it is a duty laid down by law.
  2: Or 'to return (to the world),' Bâi.dhâvî.
  1: Gabriel.



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF GILDING. (XLIII. Mecca.)
  1: See Part I, p. 2, note 2.
  2: I.e. the Meccans.
  1: I.e. of the birth of a daughter, see Part I, p. 256, note 2.
  2: I.e. what! do they assign children of this kind, viz. daughters, to God?
  3: I.e. a scripture authorising the practice of their religion, such as the worship of angels and th[...]
  1: I.e. had it been sent down to some man of influence and importance in Mecca and Tâ'if we would hav[...]
  1: I.e. the east and west, though some understand it between the two solstices.
  1: See p. 36, note 1.
  2: The Arabs objected that Jesus was worshipped by Christians as a God, and that when Mohammed curse[...]
  3: Just as Jesus was miraculously conceived, so can miraculously conceived offspring be produced amo[...]
  4: Some read, 'a sign,' which is perhaps better. The reference is to the predicted second advent of [...]
  1: Mâlik is the keeper of hell, and presides over the tortures of the damned.
  2: The word used signifies twisting up the strands of a rope.
  3: I.e. the recording angel.
  4: Mohammed. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF SMOKE. (XLIV. Mecca.)
  1: The Meccans.
  2: I.e. we shall only die once.
  3: The Himyarite Arabs, whose kings were called Tubbâ'h, i.e. 'successors.'
  1: Or 'like the dregs of oil.' Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE KNEELING. (XLV. Mecca.)
  1: That is, the successful battles against the infidels, 'battles' being always spoken of by the anc[...]
  1: Mohammed.
  1: The Qur'ân. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF EL A'HQÂF . (XLVI. Mecca.)
  1: Name of a tract of land in Si'hr in Yemen.
  1: I.e. from the grave.
  1: The prophet Hûd.
  2: I.e. the Meccans.
  1: See Introduction, p. xxx.
  2: Addressed to Mohammed.



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF MOHAMMED, ALSO CALLED FIGHT. (XLVII. Medînah.)
  1: To the more learned amongst the prophet's companions, such as Ibn 'Abbâs.
  1: See Introduction, p. lxiii.
  1: Munkir and Nakîr; see Introduction, p. lxix. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF VICTORY. (XLVIII. Medînah.)
  1: Some of the commentators take this to mean sins committed by Mohammed before his call and after; [...]
  2: Or tranquillity; see Part I, p. 38, note 2.
  1: Alluding to certain tribes who held aloof from the expedition of 'Hudâibîyeh.
  1: In an expedition against the Jews of Khâibar, which Mohammed undertook shortly after his return f[...]
  2: The followers of Musâilimah, Mohammed's rival, and the tribes that had apostatized from Islâm. So[...]
  1: At 'Hudâibîyeh.
  2: See Part I, p. 38, note 2.
  3: Either the success at Khâibar or the taking of Mecca.
  4: Alluding to the truce concluded at 'Hudâibîyeh.
  5: Mohammed having only set out with the intention of peaceably performing the pilgrimage, carried c[...]
  1: Suhail ibn 'Amr, who concluded the truce with Mohammed at 'Hudâibîyeh, objected to the formula 'I[...]
  2: The Mohammedan profession of faith, 'There is no god but God, and Mohammed His servant is the Apo[...]
  3: Mohammed dreamed that he would accomplish the pilgrimage to Mecca with all its rites; the affair a[...]
  4: I.e. that of Khâibar.
  1: Or the Pentateuch. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE INNER CHAMBERS. (XLIX. Medînah.)
  2: Said to refer to a dispute between Abu Bekr and 'Omar, in the course of which they came to high w[...]
  1: Two of the Arabs wishing to speak with Mohammed when he was sleeping at noon in his harîm, cried [...]
  2: Al Walîd ibn 'Hugbâ was sent by Mohammed to collect the zakât (see Introduction, p. lxxiii) from [...]
  3: I.e. ye would mislead him.
  4: Alluding to one of the frequent disputes between the tribes of Aus and 'Hazrag at Medînah. See In[...]
  1: I.e. it is defamation to charge a person who has embraced the faith with iniquity. The passage is[...]



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF Q. (L. Mecca.)
  1: Alluding to the various opinions expressed by the unbelievers with reference to the Qur'ân; some [...]
  2: See Part II, p. 86, note 3.
  3: See Part I, p. 249, note 3.
  4: See Chapter XLIV, verse 35, p. 219, note 3.
  1: The two recording angels, who accompany every man and note down his every word and action.
  2: These words are supposed to be addressed by the 'driver' to the unbelieving soul.
  3: These words are spoken by God.
  1: I.e. from the vengeance of God.
  2: A protest against the assertion that God rested on the seventh day.
  3: Two sigdahs used at the evening prayers, but not incumbent on the worshipper.
  4: I.e. a place from which all men may hear; generally supposed by Muslims to be the temple at Jerusa[...]
  5: The sound of the last trumpet. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE SCATTERERS. (LI. Mecca.)
  1: The winds.
  2: The clouds.
  3: The ships.
  4: Angels or winds.
  1: I.e. rain, which produces material sustenance, and there too is the promise of the future life. [...]
  2: I.e. unreserved and plain as ye yourselves affirm truths to each other.
  3: See Part I, pp. 212-214.
  4: See Part I, p. 214, note 1.
  1: Either Pharaoh's forces, or one of his nobles, or something else on which he relied. See Part I, [...]
  1: I.e. this taunt.
  2: I.e. like the fate of those who wronged the apostles of old. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE MOUNT. (LII. Mecca.)
  3: I.e. either the Kaabah itself or the model of it, said to exist in the heavens and to be frequent[...]
  4: I.e. of heaven.
  1: Every man is pledged to God for his conduct, and, if he does well, redeems himself.
  2: At the thought of the next life.
  1: Addressed to Mohammed.
  2: I.e. a ladder reaching to the gates of heaven, upon which they may stand and listen to the angels[...]
  1: At the sound of the last trumpet.
  2: I.e. beside the torment of the judgment day they shall be punished with defeat and loss here. Foo[...]



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE STAR. (LIII. Mecca.)
  3: The angel Gabriel, who appeared twice to Mohammed in his natural form, namely, on the occasion of[...]
  1: See Introduction, p. xxvii, and Part II, p. 62, note 1.
  2: See Introduction, pp. xii and xiii.
  1: This passage refers to one El Walîd ibn Mughâirah, who being abused for following Mohammed and fo[...]
  1: I.e. the resurrection.
  2: Sirius, or the Dog-star, was an object of worship amongst the ancient Arabs.
  3: Sodom, Gomorrah, &c.
  4: At this verse the Qurâis, who were present at the first reading of this chapter when their gods w[...]



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE MOON. (LIV. Mecca.)
  1: According to a tradition this refers to a miracle: the unbelievers having asked for a sign, the m[...]
  2: This word is interpreted by some to mean 'transient,' by others 'powerful.'
  3: The Qur'ân.
  4: The angel Isrâfîl.
  5: The last judgment.
  1: Or madness.
  1: This is appealed to by Muslims as a prophecy fulfilled at the battle of Bedr.
  1: The books kept by the recording angels. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE MERCIFUL. (LV. Mecca.)
  2: See p. 214, note 1.
  1: The earth.
  2: I.e. mankind and the ginn; the meaning is, that God will have leisure to judge them both.
  1: The word is also said to mean red leather.
  1: For the inferior inhabitants of Paradise. Footnotes



  • PART II Chapters XVII TO CXIV
      • THE CHAPTER OF THE INEVITABLE. (LVI. Mecca.)
  1: I.e. the day of judgment.
  1: I.e. the foremost in professing the faith on earth shall be the foremost then.
  2: The mimosa gummifera is generally so called in Arabia; but the banana is said to be meant in this[...]
  3: The celestial damsels.
  1: I.e. for seed and labour.
  2: From reaping the fruits of it.
  1: The ancient Arabs produced fire by the friction of a stick in a hollow piece of wood. Cf. p. 167,[...]
  2: 2 The soul of a dying man. Footnotes



  • PART II Ch