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CHAPTER LXXXI.

INTITLED, THE FOLDING UP; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN. THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

WHEN the sun shall be folded up; and when the stars shall fall; and when the mountains shall be made to pass away; and when the camels ten months gone with young shall be neglected; and when the wild beasts shall be gathered together; and when the seas shall boil; and when the souls shall be joined again to their bodies; and when the girl who hath been buried alive shall be asked for what crime she was put to death; and when the books shall be laid open; and when the heaven shall be removed; and when hell shall burn fiercely; and when paradise shall be brought near; every soul shall know what it hath wrought. Verily I swear by the stars which are retrograde, which move swiftly, and which hide themselves; and by the night, when it cometh on; and by the morning, when it appeareth; that these are the words of an honorable messenger, endued with strength, of established dignity in the sight of the possessor of the throne, obeyed by the angels under his authority, and faithful: and your companion Mohammed is not distracted. He had already seen him in the clear horizon: and he suspected not the secrets revealed unto him. Neither are these the words of an accursed devil. Whither, therefore, are you going? This is no other than an admonition unto all creatures; unto him among you who shall be willing to walk uprightly but ye shall not will, unless GOD willeth, the LORD of all creatures.

CHAPTER LXXXII.

INTITLED, THE CLEAVING IN SUNDER; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

WHEN the heaven shall be cloven in sunder; and when the stars shall be scattered; and when the seas shall be suf

fered to join their waters; and when the graves shall be turned upside down: every soul shall know what it hath committed, and what it hath omitted. O man, what hath seduced thee against thy gracious LORD, who hath created thee, and put thee together, and rightly disposed thee? In what form he pleased hath he fashioned thee. Assuredly. But ye deny the last judgment as a falsehood. Verily there are appointed over you guardian angels, honorable in the sight of God, writing down your actions; who know that which ye do. The just shall surely be in a place of delight: but the wicked shall surely be in hell; they shall be cast therein to be turned, on the day of judgment, and they shall not be absent therefrom forever. What shall cause thee to understand what the day of judgment is? Again, What shall cause thee to understand what the day of judgment is? It is a day whereon one soul shall not be able to obtain any thing in behalf of another soul: and the command, on that day, shall be GOD'S.

CHAPTER LXXXIII.

INTITLED, THOSE WHO GIVE SHORT MEASURE OR WEIGHT; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

WOE be unto those who give short measure or weight: who, when they receive by measure from other men, take the full; but when they measure unto them, or weigh unto them, defraud! Do not these think they shall be raised again, at the great day, the day whereon mankind shall stand before the LORD of all creatures? By no means. Verily the register of the actions of the wicked is surely in Sejjîn. And what shall make thee to understand what Sejjîn is? It is a book distinctly written. Woe be on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture; who denied the day of judgment as a falsehood! And none denieth the same as a falsehood, except every unjust and flagitious person: who, when our signs are rehearsed unto him, saith,

They are fables of the ancients. By no means: but rather their lusts have cast a veil over their hearts. By no means. Verily they shall be shut out from their LORD on that day; and they shall be sent into hell to be burned: then shall it be said unto them by the infernal guards, This is what ye denied as a falsehood. Assuredly. But the register of the actions of the righteous is Illiyyur: and what shall cause thee to understand what Illiyyun is? It is a book distinctly written those who approach near unto God are witnesses thereto. Verily the righteous shall dwell among delights: seated on couches they shall behold objects of pleasure; thou shalt see in their faces the brightness of joy. They shall be given to drink of pure wine, sealed; the seal whereof shall be musk and to this let those aspire, who aspire to happiness and the water mixed therewith shall be of Tasnim, a fountain whereof those shall drink who approach near unto the divine presence. They who act wickedly laugh the true believers to scorn: .and when they pass by them, they wink at one another: and when they turn aside to their people, they turn aside making scurrilous jests; and when they see them, they say, Verily these are mistaken men. But they are not sent to be keepers over them. Wherefore one day the true believers, in their turn, shall laugh the infidels to scorn: lying on couches they shall look down upon them in hell. Shall not the infidels be rewarded for that which they have done?

CHAPTER LXXXIV.

INTITLED, THE RENDING IN SUNDER; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

WHEN the heaven shall be rent in sunder, and shall obey its LORD, and shall be capable thereof; and when the earth shall be stretched out, and shall cast forth that which is therein, and shall remain empty, and shall obey its LORD, and shall be capable thereof: O man, verily laboring thou laborest to meet thy LORD, and thou shalt meet him. And

he who shall have his book given into his right hand shall be called to an easy account, and shall turn unto his family with joy but he who shall have his book given him behind his back shall invoke destruction to fall upon him, and he shall be sent into hell to be burned; because he rejoiced insolently amidst his family on earth. Verily he thought he should never return unto God: yea verily, but his LORD beheld him. Wherefore I swear by the redness of the sky after sunset, and by the night, and the animals which it driveth together, and by the moon when she is in the full; ye shall surely be transferred successively from state to state. What aileth them, therefore, that they believe not the resurrection; and that, when the Koran is read unto them, they worship not? Yea: the unbelievers accuse the same of imposture: but GOD well knoweth the malice which they keep hidden in their breasts. Wherefore denounce unto them a grievous punishment, except those who believe and do good works: for them is prepared a never-failing reward.

CHAPTER LXXXV.

INTITLED, THE CELESTIAL SIGNS; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

By the heaven adorned with signs; by the promised day of judgment; by the witness, and the witnessed; cursed were the contrivers of the pit, of fire supplied with fuel; when they sat around the same, and were witnesses of what they did against the true believers, and they afflicted them for no other reason, but because they believed in the mighty, the glorious GOD, unto whom belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth and GOD is witness of all things. Verily for those who persecute the true believers of either sex, and afterwards repent not, is prepared the torment of hell; and they shall suffer the pain of burning. But for those who believe, and do that which is right, are destined gardens beneath which rivers flow: this shall be great felicity. Verily

the vengeance of thy LORD is severe. He createth, and he restoreth to life: he is inclined to forgive, and gracious; the possessor of the glorious throne, who effecteth that which he pleaseth. Hath not the story of the hosts of Pharaoh and of Thamud reached thee? Yet the unbelievers cease not to accuse the divine revelations of falsehood: but GOD encompasseth them behind, that they cannot escape. Verily that which they reject is a glorious Koran; the original whereof is written in a table kept in heaven.

CHAPTER LXXXVI.

INTITLED, THE STAR WHICH APPEARED BY NIGHT; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MErciful God.

By the heaven, and that which appeareth by night: but what shall cause thee to understand what that which appeareth by night is? it is the star of piercing brightness: every soul hath a guardian set over it. Let a man consider, therefore, of what he is created. He is created of seed poured forth, issuing from the loins, and the breastbones. Verily God is able to restore him to life, the day whereon all secret thoughts and actions shall be examined into; and he shall have no power to defend himself, nor any protector. By the heaven which returneth the rain; and by the earth which openeth to let forth vegetables and springs: verily this is a discourse distinguishing good from evil; and it is not composed with lightness. Verily the infidels are laying a plot to frustrate my designs: but I will lay a plot for their ruin. Wherefore, O prophet, bear with the unbelievers: let them

alone a while.

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