The Speeches & Table-Talk of the Prophet Mohammad · Prophet Muhammad
JONAH.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ A. L. R. These are the signs of the wise Book! Is it a matter of wonder to the people that we revealed to a man from among themselves, “Warn the people; and bring good tidings to those who believe, that the reward of their good faith is with their Lord?” The unbelievers say, “Lo! this is an evident sorcerer!” Verily your Lord is God, who made the heavens and the earth in six days--then ascended the throne to govern all things: there is none to plead with Him save by His permission.--This is God, your Lord! then worship ye Him: will ye not mind? Unto Him shall ye all return by the sure promise of God: behold! He produces a creature, then maketh it return again, that He may reward with equity those who believe and do the things that are right: but those who believe not, for them is the scalding drink, and an aching torment--because they did not believe. It is He who hath made the sun for shining, and the moon for light, and ordained him mansions that ye may learn the number of years and the reckoning of time. God did not create that but in truth. He maketh His signs plain to a people who know. Verily in the alterations of the night and the day, and in all that God created in the heavens and the earth, are signs to a godfearing folk.
Verily they who do not hope to meet us, and are satisfied with the life of this world, and are content with it, and they who are careless of our signs,-- Their dwelling-place is the Fire, for what they have earned. Verily they who believe and do the things that are right, their Lord shall guide them because of their faith; beneath them rivers shall flow in gardens of delight: Their cry therein shall be, “Extolled be thy glory, O God!” and their salutation therein shall be “Peace!” And the end of their cry shall be, “Praise to God, Lord of the worlds!” And if God should hasten woe upon men as they fain would hasten weal, verily their appointed term is decreed for them! therefore we leave those who hope not to meet us groping in their disobedience. Moreover, when affliction toucheth man, he calleth us upon his side, sitting, or standing; and when we take away his affliction from him, he passeth on as though he had not called us in the affliction that touched him! Thus do the deeds of transgressors seem good to them! We have destroyed generations before you, when they sinned and their apostles came to them with manifestations and they would not believe;--thus do we requite the sinful folk.
Then we made you their successors in the earth after them, to see how ye would act. But when our manifest signs are recited to them, they who hope not to meet us say, “Bring a different Korān from this, or change it.” Say: It is not for me to change it of mine own will. I follow only what is revealed to me: verily I fear if I disobey my Lord the torment of the great Day. Say: If God pleased, I had not recited it to you nor taught it you; and already I had dwelt a lifetime amongst you before that: have ye then no wits? And who is more wicked than he who forgeth a lie against God, or saith His signs are lies? Surely the sinners shall not prosper! And they worship beside God that which cannot hurt them or help them; and they say, “These shall be our pleaders with God.” Say: Will ye tell God of anything He doth not know in the heavens and in the earth? Extolled be His glory! and far be He above what they associate with Him! Men were of only one religion: then they differed, and had not a decree gone forth from thy Lord, there had certainly been made a decision between them of that whereon they differed. And they say, “Had a sign been sent down to him from his Lord ...”--but say: The unseen is with God alone: wait, therefore; verily I am waiting with you. And when we caused men to taste of mercy after affliction had touched them, behold! they have a plot against our signs! Say: God is quick at plotting! verily our messengers write down what ye plot.
He it is who maketh you journey by land and sea, until, when ye are in ships--and they run with them before a fair wind, and they rejoice thereat, there cometh upon them a violent wind, and the waves come upon them from every side, and they suppose they are sore pressed therewith; they call on God, offering Him sincere religion:--“Do thou but deliver us from this, and we will indeed be of the thankful.” But when we have delivered them, lo, they transgress unjustly on the earth! O ye people! ye wrong your own souls only for the enjoyment of the life of this world: then to us shall ye return; and we will tell you what ye have done. The likeness of the life of this world is as the water which we send down from the heaven, and there mingleth with it the produce of the earth of which men and cattle eat, until when the earth hath put on its blazonry and is arrayed, and its inhabitants think it is they who ordain it, our command cometh to it by night or day, and we make it mown down, as if it had not teemed yesterday! Thus do we explain our signs to a reflecting folk.
And God calleth you unto the abode of peace: and guideth whom He will into the straight way: To those who have done well, weal and to spare, Neither blackness shall cover their faces nor shame! these are the inmates of Paradise, to abide therein for ever. And as for those who have earned evil, the recompense of evil is its like; shame shall cover them--no defender shall they have against God--as though their faces were darkened with the gloom of night: these are the inmates of the Fire to abide therein for ever. And on the day we will gather them all together, then will we say to those who made Partners with God, “To your place, ye and your Partners!” and we will separate between them; and their partners shall say, “Ye worshipped not us, And God is witness enough between us and you that we were indifferent to your worship!” Then shall every soul make proof of what it hath sent on before, and they shall be brought back to God their true Master, and what they devised shall vanish from them.
Say: Who provideth you from the heaven and the earth? who is king over hearing and sight? and who bringeth forth the living from the dead and bringeth forth the dead from the living? and who ruleth all things? And they shall say, “God:” then say: Do ye not fear? So that is God your true Lord: and after the truth, what is there but error? How then are ye turned away? Thus is the word of thy Lord fulfilled upon those who work iniquity: they shall not believe. Say: Is there any of the Partners [of God] who can produce a creature, then bring it back again? Say: God produceth a creature then bringeth it back again: how then are ye deceived? Say: Is there any of the Partners who guideth to the truth? Say: God guideth unto the truth. Is he who guideth to the truth the worthier to be followed, or he who guideth not except he be guided? What is in you so to judge? And most of them only follow a fancy: but a fancy profiteth nothing against the truth! verily God knoweth what they do.
Moreover this Korān could not have been devised without God: but it confirmeth what preceded it, and explaineth the Scripture--there is no doubt therein--from the Lord of the worlds. Do they say, “He hath devised it himself?” Say: Then bring a chapter like it: and call on whom ye can beside God, if ye be speakers of truth. Nay, they call all that a lie, of which they compass not the knowledge, though the explanation of it hath not yet been given them; so did those who were before them call the Scriptures lies: but see what was the end of the wicked! And some of them believe in it, and some of them believe not in it. But thy Lord knoweth best about the evildoers. And if they call thee a liar, say, I have my work, and ye have your work: ye are clear of what I work, and I am clear of what ye work. And some of them hearken to thee; but canst thou make the deaf hear if they have no wits? And some of them regard thee; but canst thou guide the blind when they see not? Verily God doth not wrong man a whit, but men wrong themselves.
And on a day He will gather them, as though they had tarried but an hour of the day: they shall know one another! They are lost who denied the meeting with God and were not guided! Whether we show thee part of what we threatened against them, or whether we take thee to ourself [before], to us is their return--then shall God be witness of what they have done. And every nation hath its apostle; and when their apostle is come, it is decided between them with equity, and they are not wronged. Yet they say, “When will this promise be, if ye be speakers of truth?” Say: I have no power for myself for woe or weal, except as God pleaseth. Every people hath its appointed term: when their term is come, they shall not put it off nor hasten it an hour. Say: Bethink ye, if the torment of God come upon you by night or by day, what portion of it will the sinners willingly hasten on? When it happeneth, will ye believe it then? Yet would ye fain hasten it on! Then shall it be said to those who transgressed, “Taste ye the torment of eternity! Shall ye be rewarded save according to what ye have earned?” They would fain know of thee if this is true. Say: Yea, by my Lord, it is indeed true, and ye cannot weaken Him. And if every soul that transgressed owned all that is on earth, he would assuredly give it in ransom; and they will declare their repentance when they have seen the torment: and there shall be a decision between them with equity, and they shall not be wronged. Is not indeed whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth God’s? Is not indeed the promise of God true? But most of them do not know! He giveth life and death, and to Him shall ye return.
O ye people! now hath a warning come to you from your Lord, and a healing for what is in your breasts, and a guidance and a mercy to the believers. Say: By the grace of God and his mercy! And in that let them therefore rejoice: this is better than what they heap up. Say: Do ye consider what God hath sent down to you for provision: but ye made thereof unlawful and lawful? Say, did God permit you? or do ye forge against God? But what will they think on the day of resurrection who forge a lie against God? Truly God is full of bounty towards man; but most of them are not thankful. Thou shalt not be in any business, and thou shalt not read from the Korān, and ye shall not do any deed, but we are witness against you when ye are engaged therein; and there escapeth not thy Lord an ant’s weight in earth or in heaven: and there is nothing lesser or greater than that, but it is in the plain Book. Are not they truly the friends of God on whom is no fear neither are they sorrowful-- They who believed and feared God,-- For them are good tidings in the life of this world, and in the life to come there is no changing in God’s sentences. That is the great prize!
And let not their discourse grieve thee: verily all power belongeth to God, He it is who heareth and knoweth. Doth not whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the earth belong to God? then what do they follow who call upon Partners beside God? verily they follow but a fancy; and verily they are naught but liars. It is He who made you the night to rest in, and the day for seeing: verily in that are signs to a folk that can hear! They say, “God hath taken him a son.” Extolled be his glory! He is the Self-sufficient, all that is in the heavens, and all that is in the earth is his! ye have no warranty for this! do ye say about God that which ye know not? Say: Verily they who forge this lie against God shall not prosper:-- A passing joy in this world, then to us they return; and then we will make them taste the grievous torment, because they did not believe. And tell them the story of Noah, when he said to his people,--“O my people! though my dwelling with you and my warning you of the signs of God hath been grievous to you, yet in God do I put my trust: so gather together your case and your Partners; then will not your case fall upon you in the dark: then decide about me and delay not. And if ye turn, yet ask I no reward from you: my reward is with God alone, and I am commanded to be of those who are resigned.” But they called him a liar, so we delivered him and those who were with him in the ship, and we made them to survive; and we drowned those who had called our signs lies: see then what was the end of those who were warned!
Then after him, we sent apostles to their people, and they came to them with manifestations: but they would not believe in what they had denied before: thus do we put a seal upon the hearts of the transgressors. Then sent we, after them, Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and his nobles with our signs; but they were puffed up and were a sinful folk. And when the truth came to them from us, they said, “This is clear sorcery indeed.” Moses said, “Say ye of the truth when it is come to you, Is this sorcery?--but sorcerers shall not prosper.” They said, “Art thou come to us to hinder us from what we found our fathers in, and in order that for you twain there shall be majesty in the land? but we are not going to believe in you!” And Pharaoh said, “Fetch me every wise sorcerer.” And when the sorcerers came, Moses said to them, “Cast down what ye have to cast.” And when they had cast them down, Moses said, “What ye come with is sorcery: verily God will make it vain; aye, God doth not prosper the work of evildoers; And God will establish the truth by his word, though loth be the sinners.”
And none believed in Moses but the children of his own folk, for fear of Pharaoh and his nobles, lest he should afflict them: for of a truth Pharaoh was mighty in the earth, and verily he was of the transgressors. And Moses said, “O my people! if ye believe in God, put your trust in Him, if ye are resigned.” And they said, “In God do we put our trust. O our Lord, make us not a trial to the folk of the wicked, And deliver us in Thy mercy from the folk of the unbelievers.” Then revealed we to Moses and to his brother: “Build houses for your people in Egypt, and make your houses with a Kibla, and perform prayer, and give good tidings to the believers.” And Moses said, “O our Lord, thou hast indeed given to Pharaoh and his nobles adornments and riches in the life of this world: O our Lord! may they err from thy way; O our Lord, confound their riches, and harden their hearts, so shall they not believe until they see the aching torment.” God said: “Your prayer is heard, then stand ye upright, and follow not the path of those who know not.”
And we brought the Children of Israel across the sea; and Pharaoh and his host followed them, eager and hostile, until when drowning overtook him he said, “I believe that there is no God but He in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am one of the resigned.” “Now! thou hast been rebellious aforetime, and wast one of the evildoers, This day will we raise thee in thy flesh, to be a sign to those who come after thee: but verily many men are heedless of our signs!” Moreover we lodged the Children of Israel in a firm abode, and provided them with good things: and they did not differ until the knowledge came to them; verily thy Lord will decide between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that on which they differed.
And if thou art in doubt of what we have sent down to thee, inquire of those who read the Scriptures before thee. Now hath truth come unto thee from thy Lord: then be not thou of those who doubt, Neither be of those who deny the signs of God lest thou be among the losers. Verily they against whom the word of thy Lord is passed shall not believe,-- Though there came unto them every kind of sign,--till they behold the aching torment. Else any city had believed, and its faith had benefited it:--save the people of JONAH; when they believed, we took away from them the torment of shame in the life of this world, and provided for them awhile. But if thy Lord pleased, verily all who are in the earth had believed together. Then canst thou compel men to become believers? It is not in a soul to believe but by the permission of God: and He shall lay His curse on those who have no wits. Say: Look upon that which is in the heavens and in the earth: but signs and warners avail not a folk that will not believe! What then can they expect but the like of the days of those who passed away before them?
Say: Wait ye,--I too am waiting with you. Then will we deliver our apostles and those who believe: thus is it binding on us to deliver the faithful. Say: O ye people! if ye are in doubt of my religion, I do not worship those whom ye worship beside God; but I worship God, who taketh you away; and I am commanded to be of the faithful. And set thy face towards religion as a Hanīf, and be not of those idolaters: And invoke not beside God that which can neither help nor hurt; for if thou do, thou wilt certainly be of the wicked. And if God touch thee with affliction, there is none to remove it but He. And if He desire thy good, there is none to hinder His bounty--He will confer it on whom He pleaseth of his servants: and He is the Forgiving, the Merciful! Say: O ye people! now hath truth come unto you from your Lord; then he who is guided, is guided only for his own behoof: but he who erreth doth err only against himself; and I am no governor over you! And follow what is revealed to thee: and be patient till God judgeth; and He is the best of judges. (x.)
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.