The Speeches & Table-Talk of the Prophet Mohammad · Prophet Muhammad
DECEPTION.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ All that is in the heavens, and all that is in the earth, magnifieth God: His is the kingdom, His is the praise, and He is powerful over all things. It is He who hath created you; and one of you is an unbeliever, and another a believer; and God seeth what ye do. He created the heavens and the earth in truth; and He hath fashioned you and made goodly your forms; and to Him is your journeying. He knoweth what is in the heavens and the earth; and He knoweth what ye hide and what ye manifest; and God knoweth well the secrets of the breast. Hath not the story come to you of those who disbelieved aforetime, and tasted the evil fruit of their doings, and received an aching torment? That was because when their apostles had come to them with manifestations, they said, “Shall mortal men guide us?” And they believed not and turned their backs. But God had no need of them; and God is Self-sufficient and worthy to be praised! The unbelievers pretend that they shall by no means be raised again. Say: Nay, by my Lord, but ye shall be raised; then shall ye certainly be told of what ye have done: and that is easy with God. Believe then in God and His Apostle, and in the light which we have sent down; for God knoweth perfectly what ye do. The day when He shall gather you together for the Day of Assembly, that is the day of DECEPTION. And whoso believeth in God and doeth that which is right, God shall take away his sins, and He will bring him into the gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell there evermore: that is the great prize! But those who believe not, but deny our signs--those shall be the inmates of the fire, to dwell therein for ever; and evil is their journey.
There happeneth no misfortune but by God’s permission; and whoso believeth in God, He guideth his heart; and God knoweth all things. Obey God, therefore, and obey the Apostle: but if ye turn away, our Apostle is only charged with a plain message:-- God, there is no God but He! Then in God let the faithful trust. O ye who believe! verily in your wives and your children ye have an adversary, wherefore beware of them. But if ye relent and pardon and forgive, then verily God too is Forgiving and Merciful. Your wealth and your children are but a snare: but God, with Him is the great reward. Then fear God with all your might, and hear and obey, and give alms for your own sakes; and whoso is saved from his own covetousness,--these it is who prosper. If ye lend God a good loan, He will double it to you, and will forgive you: for God is Grateful, Mild, Knowing the secret and the open; the Mighty, the Wise! (lxiv.)
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.