G.
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Hughes, Thomas Patrick
“We (God) have placed in heaven the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and adorned them for the beholders with the constellations;
“And We have guarded them (by means of shooting stars) from every accursed devil.
“Excepting him who listened by stealth, whom a manifest shooting star pursueth.
“We have also spread forth the earth, and thrown thereon firm mountains, and We have caused to spring forth in it every kind [of green thing] weighed.
“And We have provided for you therein necessaries of life, and for him whom ye do not sustain;
“And there is not a thing but the store-houses thereof are with Us, and We send it not down save in determined quantities.
“We also send the fertilizing winds, and We send down water from heaven, and give you to drink thereof; and ye are not the storers of it.
“And verily We give life and death, and We are the heirs of all the creation.
“We also know those who have gone before you, and We know those who follow after [you].
“And verily thy Lord will assemble them together: for He is Wise, Knowing.”
Sūratu ʾl-Anʿām. Chapter vi. 59–64.
(Given at Makkah.)
“With Him are the keys of the hidden things: none knoweth them but He: and He knoweth whatsoever is on the land and in the sea, and there falleth not a leaf but He knoweth it, nor a grain in the dark parts of the earth, nor a moist thing nor a dry thing, but [it is noted] in a distinct writing.
“And it is He who taketh your souls at night, and knoweth what ye have gained in the day; then He reviveth you therein, that an appointed time may be fulfilled. Then unto Him shall ye return: then will He declare unto you what ye have done.
“And He is the Supreme over His servants, and He sendeth watchers over you, until when death cometh unto any one of you, Our messengers take his soul, and they fail not.
“Then are they returned unto God their Lord, the True. Doth not judgment belong to Him? And He is the most quick of reckoners.
“Say, Who delivereth you from the darknesses of the land and of the sea, when ye supplicate Him humbly and in secret, saying, ‘If Thou deliver us from these dangers, we will assuredly be of [the number of] the thankful’?
“Say, God delivereth you from them and from every affliction.”
“Verily God causeth the grain to come forth, and the date-stone: He bringeth forth the living from the dead, and He bringeth forth the dead from the living: This is God; then wherefore are ye turned away?
“He causeth the dawn to appear, and hath ordained the night for rest, and the sun and the moon for reckoning time: this is the appointment of the Mighty, the Wise.
“And it is He who hath ordained for you the stars, that ye may be guided by them in the darkness of the land and of the sea: We have clearly shown the signs of Our power unto the people who know.
“And it is He who hath produced you from one soul, and there is a place of rest and of storing: We have clearly shown the signs to the people who understand.
“And it is He who hath sent down water from heaven, and We have produced thereby the germs of everything, and We have caused the green thing to come forth therefrom, from which We draw forth grains massed; and from the palm-tree, from its fruit-branch, clusters of dates heaped together: and gardens of grapes, and the olive and the pomegranate, like one another and not like. Look ye at their fruits when they bear fruit, and their ripening. Verily therein are signs unto the people who believe.
“Yet they have set up the Jinn as partners of God, though He hath created them, and without knowledge have they falsely attributed to Him sons and daughters. Extolled be His purity, and high be He exalted above that which they attribute [to Him]!
“He is the Author of the heavens and the earth. How then should He have offspring, when He hath no consort, and hath created everything and knoweth everything?
“This is God your Lord. There is no God but He, the Creator of everything: therefore worship ye Him; and He is guardian over everything.
“The eyes see Him not, but He seeth the eyes: and He is the Gracious, the Knowing.”
Sūratu Banī Israʾīl. Chapter lxvii. 1–4.
(Given at Makkah.)
“Blessed be He in whose hand is the dominion and who is all powerful;
“Who hath created death and life, that He may prove you, which of you [will be] best in works: and He is the Mighty, the Very-Forgiving:
“Who hath created seven heavens, one above another. Thou seest not any fault in the creation of the Compassionate. But lift up the eyes again to heaven. Dost thou see any fissures?
“Then lift up the eyes again twice; the sight shall return unto thee dull and dim.”
Sūratu ʾl-ʿAnkabūt. Chapter xxix. 40–43.
(Given at Makkah.)
“The likeness of those who take to themselves Tutelars instead of God is as the likeness of the spider, which maketh for herself a dwelling; and the frailest of dwellings surely is the dwelling of the spider! If they knew——!
“Verily God knoweth whatever thing they invoke in His stead; and He is the Mighty, the Wise.
“And these parables we propound unto men; but none understand them except the wise.
“God hath created the heavens and the earth in truth: verily therein is a sign unto the believers.”