Moses answered, Thou well knowest that none hath sent down these evident signs except the LORD of heaven and earth; and I surely esteem thee, O Pharaoh, a lost man. Wherefore Pharaoh sought to drive them out of the land; but we drowned him and all those who were with him. And we said unto the children of Israel, after his destruction, Dwell ye in the land: and when the promise of the next life shall come to be fulfilled, we will bring you both promiscuously to judgment. We have sent down the Koràn with truth, and it hath descended with truth: and we have not sent thee otherwise than to be a bearer of good tidings, and a denouncer of threats. And we have divided the Korân, revealing it by parcels, that thou mightest read it unto men with deliberation: and we have sent it down, causing it to descend as occasion required. Say, Whether ye believe therein, or do not believe, verily those who have been favoured with the knowledge of the scriptures which were revealed before it, when the same is rehearsed unto them, fall down on their faces, worshipping, and say, Our LORD be praised, for that the promise of our LORD is surely fulfilled! and they fall down on their faces, weeping; and the hearing thereof increaseth their humility. Say, call upon GOD, or call on the Merciful: by whichsoever of the two names ye invoke him, it is equal; for he hath most excellent names. Pronounce not thy prayer aloud, neither pronounce it with too low a voice, but follow a middle way between these: and say, Praise be unto God, who hath not begotten any child; who hath no partner in the kingdom, nor hath any to protect him from contempt: and magnify him by proclaiming his greatness. CHAPTER XVIII. INTITLED, THE CAVE; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. PRAISE be unto God, who hath sent down unto his servant the book of the Korán, and hath not inserted therein any crookedness,* but hath made it a straight rule: that he should threaten a grievous punishment unto the unbelievers, from his presence; and should bear good tidings unto the faithful, who work righteousness, that they should receive an excellent reward, namely, paradise, wherein they shall remain for ever: and that he See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iii. p. 46. * Literally, on their chins. The infidels hearing Mohammed say, O God, and O Merciful, imagined the Merci ful was the name of a deity different from God, and that he preached the worship of two, which occasioned this passage. See chap. 7, p. 136. Neither so loud, that the infidels may overhear thee, and thence take occasion to blaspheme and scoff; nor so softly as not to be heard by the assistants. Some suppose that by the word prayer, in this place, is meant the reading of the Korân. The chapter is thus inscribed because it makes mention of the cave wherein the seven sleepers concealed themselves. Some except one verse, which begins thus, Behave thyself with constancy, &c. should warn those who say, God hath begotten issue; of which matter they have no knowledge, neither had their fathers. A grievous saying it is, which proceedeth from their mouths: they speak no other than a lie. Peradventure thou wilt kill thyself with grief after them, out of thy earnest zeal for their conversion,* if they believe not in this new revelation of the Korân. Verily we have ordained whatsoever is on the earth for the ornament thereof, that we might make trial of men, and see which of them excelleth in works: and we will surely reduce whatever is thereon to dry dust. Dost thou consider that the companions of the cave, and Al Rakim,♪ were one of our signs, and a great miracle? When the young men took refuge in the cave, they said, O LORD, grant us mercy from before thee, and dispose our business for us to a right issue.† Wherefore we struck their ears with deafness, so that they slept without disturbance in the cave for a great number of years: then we awaked them, that we might know which of the two parties' was more exact in computing the space which they had remained there. We will relate unto thee their history with truth. Verily they were young men who had believed in their LORD: and we had abundantly directed them and we fortified their hearts with constancy when they stood before the tyrant; and they said, Our LORD is the LORD of heaven and earth we will by no means call on any god besides him; for then should we surely utter an extravagance. These our fellow people have taken other gods, besides him; although they bring no demonstrative argument for them: and who is more unjust than he who deviseth a lie concerning God? "If they believe not thy doctrine, thy efforts to lead them to it will be in vain, and thy grief will be fruitless."-Savary. These were certain Christian youths, of a good family in Ephesus, who to avoid the persecution of the emperor Decius, by the Arab writers called Decianus, hid themselves in a cave, where they slept for a great number of years. This apocryphal story (for Baronius' treats it as no better, and Father Marracci acknowledges it to be partly false, or at least doubtful, though he calls Hottinger a monster of impiety, and the off-scum of heretics, for terming it a fable) was borrowed by Mohammed from the Christian traditions,' but has been embellished by him and his followers with several additional circumstances." What is meant by this word the commentators cannot agree. Some will have it to be the name of the mountain or the valley wherein the cave was; some say it was the name of their dog; and others (who seem to come nearest the true signification) that it was a brass plate, or stone table, placed near the mouth of the cave, on which the names of the young men were written. There are some, however, who take the companions of al Rakîm to be different from the seven sleepers: for they say the former were three men who were driven by ill weather into a cave for shelter, and were shut in there by the falling down of a vast stone, which stopped the cave's mouth; but on their begging God's mercy, and their relating each of them a meritorious action which they hoped might entitle them to it, were miraculously delivered by the rock's rending in sunder to give them passage.' "Lord, cover us with the shade of thy mercy, and cause justice to preside over our enterprise."-Savary. I viz. Of the sleepers themselves, or others, who were divided in opinion as to the length of their stay in the cave. "For we should be impious."—Savary. "People, worship your idols. We will refuse unto them our incense, as long as they Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin, &c. et in Prodr. part 4, p. 103 et Simeon. Metophrast. ex trad. Noomân Ebn Bashir. In Martyrol. ad 27, Julii. In Alcor. p. 425 1 Vide Greg. Turon • Al Beidâwi And they said the one to the other, When ye shall separate yourselves from them, and from the deities which they worship, except GoD, fly into the cave: your LORD will pour his mercy on you abundantly, and will dispose your business for you to advantage. And thou mightest have seen the sun, when it had risen, to decline from their cave towards the right hand; and when it went down, to leave them on the left hand :1 and they were in the spacious part of the cave. This was one of the signs of God. Whomsoever God shall direct, he shall be rightly directed: and whomsoever he shall cause to err, thou shalt not find any to defend or to direct. And thou wouldest have judged them to have been awake," while they were sleeping; and we caused them to turn themselves to the right hand, and to the left. And their dog stretched forth his fore-legs in the mouth of the cave: if thou hadst come suddenly upon them, verily thou wouldest have turned thy back and fled from them, and thou wouldest have been filled with fear at the sight of them. And so we awaked them from their sleep, that they might ask questions of one another. One of them spake and said, How long have ye tarried here? They answered, We have tarried a day, or part of a day. The others said, Your LORD best knoweth the time ye have tarried and now send one of you with this your money into the give unto us no eminent proofs of their power. What can be more impious than to attribute falsehood to God ?"-Savary. For they, like other idolaters, worshipped the true God and idols also. 'Lest it should be offensive to them, the cave opening towards the south. i. e. In the midst of it, where they were incommoded neither by the heat of the sun nor the closeness of the cave. Because of their having their eyes open, or their frequent turning themselves from one side to the other." Lest their lying so long on the ground should consume their flesh. This dog had followed them as they passed by him when they fled to the cave, and they drove him away; whereupon God caused him to speak, and he said, I love those who are dear unto God; go to sleep, therefore, and I will guard you. But some say, it was a dog belonging to a shepherd who followed them, and that the dog followed the shepherd; which opinion is supported by reading, as some do, câlebohom, their dog's master, instead of calbohom, their dog. Jallalo'ddin adds, that the dog behaved himself as his masters did, in turning himself, in sleeping, and in waking. The Mohammedans have a great respect for this dog, and allow him a place in paradise with some other favourite brutes; and they have a sort of proverb which they use in speaking of a covetous person, that he would not throw a bone to the dog of the seven sleepers: nay it is said that they have the superstition to write his name, which they suppose to be Katmîr, (though some, as is observed above, think he was called al Rakîm) on their letters which go far, or which pass the sea, as a protection, or kind of talisman, to preserve them from miscarriage.' For that God had given them terrible countenances; or else because of the largeness of their bodies, or the horror of the place. It is related that the Khalif Moawiyah, in an expedition he made against Natolia, passed by the cave of the seven sleepers, and would needs send somebody into it, notwithstanding Ebn Abbas remonstrated to him the danger of it, saying, That a better man than him (meaning the prophet) had been forbidden to enter it, and repeated this verse; but the men the Khalif sent in had no sooner entered the cave, than they were struck dead by a burning wind." As they entered the cave in the morning, and waked about noon, they at first imagined the, had slept half a day, or a day and a half at most; but when they found their nails and hair grown very long, they used these words.' • Idem. • Idem. 4 ⚫ Al Beidâwi. La Roque, Voy. de l'Arabie Heur. p. 74. • Idem. * Idem. 8 Idem, Jallalo'ddin. • Idem. Vide D'Herbel. ubi sup. 2 Al Beidâwi. city; and let him see which of its inhabitants hath the best and cheapest food, and let him bring you provision from him; and let him behave circumspectly, and not discover you to any one. Verily if they come up against you, they will stone you, or force you to return to their religion; and then shall ye not prosper for ever. And so we made their people acquainted with what had happened to them; that they might know that the promise of GOD is true, and that there is no doubt of the last hour; when they disputed among themselves concerning their matter." And they said, Erect a building over them: their LORD best knoweth their condition. Those who prevailed in their affair answered, We will surely build a chapel over them. Some say, The sleepers were three; and their dog was the fourth and others say, They were five; and their dog was the sixth; guessing at a secret matter: and others say, They were seven; and their dog was the eighth. Say, My LORD best knoweth their number: none shall know them, except a few. Wherefore dispute not concerning them, except with a clear disputation,* according to what hath been revealed unto thee and ask not any of the Christians concerning them. Say not of any matter, I will surely do this to-morrow; unless thou add, If GoD please." And remember thy LORD, when thou forgettest, and say, My LORD is able to direct me with ease, that I may draw near unto the truth of this matter rightly. And they remained in their cave three hundred years, and nine • Which some commentators suppose was Tarsus. The long sleep of these young men, and their waking after so many years, being a representation of the state of those who die, and are afterwards raised to life. i. e. Concerning the resurrection; some saying that the souls only should be raised, others, that they should be raised with the body: or, concerning the sleepers, after they were really dead; one saying, that they were dead, and another, that they were only asleep or else concerning the erecting a building over them, as it follows in the next words; some advising a dwelling-house to be built there, and others a temple. ▾ When the young man who was sent into the city went to pay for the provision he had bought, his money was so old, being the coin of Decianus, that they imagined he had found a treasure, and carried him before the prince, who was a Christian, and having heard his story, sent some with him to the cave, who saw and spoke to the others: after which they fell asleep again and died: and the prince ordered them to be buried in the same place, and built a chapel over them. X This was the opinion of al Seyid, a Jacobite Christian of Najrân. Which was the opinion of certain Christians, and particularly of a Nestorian prelate. And this is the true opinion.' "Speak not of them but with knowledge, and relate not their history to the unbelievers."-Savary. It is said, that when the Koreish, by the direction of the Jews, put the three questions above-mentioned to Mohammed, he bid them come to him the next day, and he would give them an answer, but added not, if it please God; for which reason he had the mortification to wait above ten days, before any revelation was vouchsafed him concerning those matters, so that the Koreish triumphed, and bitterly reproached him as a liar: but at length Gabriel brought him directions what he should say; with this admonition, however, that he should not be so confident for the future." ("The Turks act strictly up to this maxim of their prophet. They never give a positive answer. If they are asked, will you come? Will you go? Shall you complete this business? they always end their reply with en cha Allah, If God please."-Savary.) i. e. Give the glory to him, and ask pardon for thy omission, in case thou forget to say, If it please God. #c years over. Say, GOD best knoweth how long they continued here: unto him are the secrets of heaven and earth known; do thou make him to see and to hear. The inhabitants thereof have no protector besides him; neither doth he suffer any one to have a share in the establishment or knowledge of his decree. Read that which hath been revealed unto thee, of the book of thy LORD, without presuming to make any change therein: there is none who hath power to change his words; and thou shalt not find any to fly to, besides him, if thou attempt it. Behave thyself with constancy towards those who call upon their LORD morning and evening, and who seek his favour; and let not thine eyes be turned away from them, seeking the pomp of this life; neither obey him whose heart we have caused to neglect the remembrance of us, and who followeth his lusts,† and leaveth the truth behind him. And say, The truth is from your LORD; wherefore let him who will, believe, and let him who will, be incredulous. We have surely prepared for the unjust hell fire, the flame and smoke whereof shall surround him like a pavilion: and if they beg relief, they shall be relieved with water like molten brass, which shall scald their faces; O how miserable a potion, and how unhappy a couch! As to those who believe, and do good works, we will not suffer the reward of him who shall work righteousness to perish for them are prepared gardens of eternal abode, which shall be watered by rivers; they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold, and they shall be clothed in green garments of fine silk and brocades; reposing themselves therein on thrones. O how happy a reward, and how easy a couch! And propound unto them as a parable two men: on the one of whom we had bestowed two vineyards, and had surrounded them with palm-trees, and had caused corn to grow between them. Each of the "These youths remained three hundred and seven years in the cave.”—Savary. * Jallalo'ddin supposes the whole space was three hundred solar years, and that the odd nine are added to reduce them to lunar years. Some think these words are introduced as spoken by the Christians, who differed among themselves about the time; one saying it was three hundred years, and another, three hundred and nine years. The interval between the reign of Decius, and that of Theodosius the younger, in whose time the sleepers are said to have awaked, will not allow them to have slept quite two hundred years: though Mohammed is somewhat excusable, since the number assigned by Simeon Metaphrastes is three hundred and seventy-two years. This is an ironical expression, intimating the folly and madness of man's presuming to instruct God." As the unbelievers would persuade thee to do.10 That is, Despise not the poor believers because of their meanness, nor honour the rich because of their wealth and grandeur. The person more particularly intended here, it is said, was Ommeya Ebn Khalf, who desired Mohammed to discard his indigent companions, out of respect to the Koreish. See chap. 6, p. 103. Follow not him whose heart hath forgotten us, and who hath no other guide than his desires and his unbridled passions."-Savary. h Literally of Eden. See chap. 9, p. 157. "Possessor of the garden of Eden, through which rivers flow, adorned with golden bracelets, clothed in green garments woven in silk and in gold, resplendent with glory, he shall repose on the nuptial couch, the happy reward of the abode of delights."-Savary. Though these seem to be general characters only, designed to represent the different end of the wicked, and of the good; yet it is supposed by some, that two particular per10 Iidem. 'Al Beidâwi. 8 • Ubi sup. 9 |