Selections from the Kuran

Edward William Lane

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780415245241
• eBook ISBN: 9781136391200
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

This is Volume I of eight in a series on Islam. Originally published in 1879, this holds a selection of translated writings from the Kur-an from Arabic. These selections are divided into two sections- Islam and then the second on other religions as regarded in Islam.

PART THE SECOND.

PART THE SECOND.

PROPHETS, APOSTLES, AND DIVINE BOOKS.¹⁸⁸

SAY ye, We believe in God, and in that which hath been sent down unto us ([namely, the Ḳur-án), and what hath been sent down unto Abraham (the ten books), and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, his children, and whaT Moses received (namely, the Pentateuch), and Jesus (namely, the Gospel), and what the prophets received from their Lord (namely, books and signs): we make no separation of any of them, believing in some, and disbelieving in some, like the Jews and the Christians; and we resign ourselves unto Him. (ii. 130.)

ADAM AND EVE.

Remember, O Moḥammad, when thy Lord said unto the angels, I am about to place in the earth a vicegerent to act for me in the execution of my ordinances therein, namely, Adam,—they said, Wilt Thou place in it one who will corrupt in it by disobediences, and will shed blood (as did the sons of El-Jánn,¹⁸⁹ who were in it; wherefore, when they acted corruptly, God sent to them the angels, who drove them away to the islands and the mountains), when we [on the contrary] celebrate the divine perfection, occupying ourselves with Thy praise, and extol Thy holiness ? Therefore we are more worthy of the vicegerency.—God replied, Verily, I know that which ye know not, as to the affair of appoint-ing Adam vicegerent, and that among his posterity will be the obedient and the rebellious, and the just will be manifest among them. And He created Adam from the surface of the earth, taking a handful of every colour that it comprised, which was kneaded with various waters; and He completely formed it, and breathed into it the soul: so it became an ani-mated sentient being.¹⁹⁰ And He taught Adam the names of all things, infusing the knowledge of them into his heart. Then He showed them (namely, the things) to the angels, and said, Declare unto me the names of these things, if ye say truth in your assertion that I will not create any more knowing than ye, and that ye are more worthy of the vice-gerency. They replied, [ We extol] Thy perfection ! We have no knowledge excepting what Thou hast taught us; for Thou art the Knowing, the Wise.—God said, O Adam, tell them their names. And when he had told them their names, God said, Did I not say unto you that I know the secrets of the heavens and the earth, and know what ye reveal of your words, saying, Wilt thou place in it, etc., and what ye did conceal of your words, saying, He will not create any more generous towards Him than we, nor any more knowing ? (ii. 28-31.)

We created you; that is, your father Adam: then we formed you; we formed him, and you in him: then We said unto the angels, Prostrate yourselves unto Adam, by way of salutation; whereupon they prostrated themselves, except Iblees, the father of the jinn, who was amid the angels : he was not of those who prostrated themselves. God said, What hath hindered thee from prostrating thyself, when I commanded thee ? He answered, I am better than he : Thou hast created me of fire, and Thou hast created him of earth. [God] said, Then descend thou from it; that is, from Paradise ; or, as some say, from the heavens ; for it is not fit for thee that thou behave thyself proudly therein : so go thou forth: verily thou [shalt be] of the contemptible. He replied, Grant me respite until the day when they (that is, mankind) shall be raised from the dead. He said, Thou shalt be of those [who are] respited: and, in another verse [in xv. 38, it is said], until the day of the known period ; that is, until the period of the first blast [of the trumpet]. [And the devil] said, Now, as Thou hast led me into error, I will surely lay wait for them (that is, for the sons of Adam) in Thy right way, the way that Ieadeth to Thee: then I will surely come upon them, from before them, and from behind them, and from their right hands, and from their left, and hinder them from pursuing the way (but, saith Ibn- Abbás, he cannot come upon them above, lest he should intervene between the servant and God’s mercy), and Thou shalt not find the greater number of them grateful, or believing. [God] said, Go forth from it, despised and driven away from mercy. Whosoever of them (that is, of mankind) shall follow thee, I will snrely fill hell with you all; with thee, and thy offspring, and with men. (vii. 10-17.)

And we said, O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife (Howwá [or Eve], whom God created from a rib of his left side) in the garden, and eat ye therefrom plentifully, wherever ye will; but approach ye not this tree, to eat thereof; (and it was wheat, or the grape-vine, or some other tree ;) for if ye do so, ye will be of the number of the offenders. But the devil, Iblees, caused them to slip from it, that is, from the garden, by his saying unto them, Shall I show you the way to the tree of eternity ? And he swore to them by God that he was one of the faithful advisers to them: so they ate of it, and He ejected them from that state of delight in which they were. And We said, Descend ye¹⁹¹ to the earth, ye two with the offspring that ye comprise [yet unborn], one of you (that is, of your offspring) an enemy to another; and there shall be for you, in the earth, a place of abode, and a provision, of its vegetable produce, for a time, until the period of the expiration of your terms of life. And Adam learned, from his Lord, words, which were these:—O Lord, we have acted unjustly to our own souls, and if Thou do not forgive us, and be merciful unto us, we shall surely be of those who suffer loss.¹⁹² And he prayed in these words ; and He became propitious towards him, accepting his repentance ; for He is the Very Propitious, the Merciful. We said, Descend ye from it (from the garden) altogether; and if there come unto you from Me a direction (a book and an apostle), those who follow my direction, there shall come no fear on them, nor shall they grieve in the world to come; for they shall enter paradise: but they who disbelieve and accuse our signs¹⁹³ of falsehood, these shall be the companions of the fire: they shall remain therein for ever. (ii. 33-37.)

ABEL AND CAIN

Recite, O Moḥammad, unto them (that is, to thy people) the history of the two sons of Adam, namely, Abel and Cain¹⁹⁴ with truth. When they offered [their] offering to God¹⁹⁵ (Abel’s being a ram, and Cain’s being produce of the earth), and it was accepted from one of them (that is, from Abel; for fire descended from heaven, and devoured his offering), and it was not accepted from the other, Cain was enraged ; but he concealed his envy until Adam performed a pilgrim-age, when he said unto his brother, I will assuredly slay thee. Abel said, Wherefore ? Cain answered, Because of the acceptance of thine offering to the exclusion of mine. Abel replied, God only accepteth from the pious. If thou stretch forth to me thy hand to slay me, I will not stretch forth to thee my hand to slay thee; for I fear God, the Lord of the worlds. I desire that thou shouldst bear the sin [which thou intendest to commit] against me, by slay-ing me, and thy sin which thou hast committed before, and thou wilt be of the companions of the fire.—And that is the recompense of the offenders.—But his soul suffered him to slay his brother : so he slew him ; and he became of [the number of] those who suffer loss. And he knew not what to do with him ; for he was the first dead person upon the face of the earth of the sons of Adam. So he carried him upon his back. And God sent a raven, which scratched up the earth with its bill and its talons and raised it over a dead raven that was with it until it hid it, to show him how he should hide the corpse of his brother. He said, O my disgrace! Am I unable to be like this raven, and to hide the corpse of my brother ?—And he became of [the number of] the repentant. And he digged [a grave] for him, and hid him.—On account of this which Cain did We commanded the children of Israel that he who should slay a soul (not for the latter’s having slain a soul or committed wickedness in the earth, such as infidelity, or adultery, or intercepting the way, and the like) [should be regarded] as though he had slain all mankind; and he who saveth it alive, by abstaining from slaying it, as though he had saved alive all mankind. (v. 30-35.)

NOAH AND THE FLOOD.

We formerly sent Noah [Nooḥ] unto his people, saying, Verily I am unto you a plain admonisher that ye worship not [any] hut God. Verily I fear for you, if ye worship any other, the punishment of an afflictive day in this world and in the world to come.—But the chiefs who disbelieved among his people replied, We see thee not to be other than a man, like unto us; and we see not any to have followed thee except the meanest of us, as the weavers and the cobblers, at first thought (or rashly), nor do we see you to have any excellence above us: nay, we imagine you to be liars in your claim to the apostolic commission. He sai...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Preface
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part the First
• Part the Second
• Indexes