SURA XXXVIII.-SAD [LIX.]
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Rodwell, J. M. (John Medows)
MECCA.-88 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
SAD.1 By the Koran full of warning! In sooth the Infidels are absorbed in pride, in contention with thee.
How many generations have we destroyed before them! And they cried for mercy but no time was it of escape!
And they marvel that a warner from among themselves hath come to them; and the Infidels say, "This is a sorcerer, a liar:
Maketh he the gods to be but one god? A strange thing forsooth is this!"
And their chiefs took themselves off. "Go, said they, and cleave steadfastly2 to your gods. Ye see the thing aimed at.
We heard not of this in the previous creed.3 It is but an imposture:
To him alone of us all hath a book of warning been sent down?" Yes! they are in doubt as to my warnings, for they have not yet tasted my vengeance.
Are the treasures of the mercy of thy Lord, the Mighty, the bounteous, in their hands?
Is the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth and of all that is between them theirs? Then let them mount up by cords!
Any army of the confederates4 shall here be routed.
Before them the people of Noah and Ad and Pharaoh the impaler5 treated their prophets as impostors;
And Themoud, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers in the forest: these were the confederates.
Nought did they all but charge the apostles with falsehood: Just, therefore, the retribution.
And these (Meccans) await but one single trumpet blast-There shall be no delaying it-
Yet they dare to say, "O our Lord! hasten our lot to us, before the day of reckoning."
Put thou up with what they say: and remember our servant David, a man strong of hand6, one who turned him to Us in penitence:
We constrained the mountains7 to join with him in lauds at even and at sunrise;
And the birds which flocked to him, and would all return to him oft;
And we stablished his kingdom: and wisdom, and skill to pronounce clear decisions, did we bestow on him.
Hath the story of the two pleaders8 reached thee, O Muhammad, when they mounted the walls of his closet?
When they entered in upon David, and he was frightened at them, they said, "Be not afraid; we are two opposing parties: one of us hath wronged the other. Judge therefore with truth between us, and be not unjust, but guide us to the right way.
Now this my brother had ninety and nine ewes, and I had but a single ewe; and he said, make me her keeper. And he over-persuaded me in the dispute."
He said, "Certainly he hath wronged thee in asking for thine ewe to add her to his own ewes: and truly many associates do one another wrong-except those who believe and do the things that are right; and few indeed are they!" And David perceived that we had tried him; so he asked pardon of his Lord, and fell down and bowed himself and repented.
So we forgave him that his sin; and truly he shall have a high rank with Us, and an excellent retreat in Paradise.
O David! verily we have made thee our vicegerent upon earth. Judge therefore between men with truth, and follow not thy passions, lest they cause thee to err from the way of God. For they who err from the way of God shall meet with a grievous chastisement, for that they have forgotten the day of reckoning.
We have not created the heaven and the earth and what is between them for nought. That is the thought of infidels; but woe to the infidels because of the fire!
Shall we treat those who believe and do the things that are right like those who propagate evil on earth? Shall we treat the God-fearing like the impious?
A blessed Book9 have we sent down to thee, that men may meditate its verses, and that those endued with understanding may bear it in mind.
And Solomon gave we unto David. An excellent servant, for he loved to turn him Godward.
Remember when at eventide the prancing10 chargers were displayed before him,
And he said, "Truly I have loved the love of earthly goods above the remembrance of my Lord, till the sun hath been hidden by the veil of darkness.11
Bring them back to me." And he began to sever the legs and necks.
We also made trial of Solomon, and placed a phantom12 on his throne: whereupon he returned to Us (in penitence).
He said, O my Lord! pardon me, and give me a dominion that may not be to any one beside me, for thou art the liberal giver.
So we subjected the wind to him; it ran softly at his bidding, whithersoever he directed it:
And the Satans-every builder and diver-
And others bound in chains:13
"This," said we, "is our gift: be bounteous then, or withhold thy favours; no account shalt thou render."