The Speeches & Table-Talk of the Prophet Mohammad · Prophet Muhammad
THE MEKKA SPEECHES. II.--THE RHETORICAL PERIOD.
P. 39. THE KINGDOM. _Say_: _i.e._ God bids Mohammad say. It must never be forgotten that Mohammad is only supposed to recite what God wrote in the Preserved Book (see note to p. 26) before the world began. * * * * * P. 41. THE MOON.--_Sign_, _i.e._ miracle, which Mohammad insistently declared his inability to work. _The Summoner_: the archangel Isrāfīl. _Called it a lie_, _i.e._ denied the doctrine of one God and of a Day of Judgment. P. 42. _Ad_: an ancient Arab people, destroyed in prehistoric days. See LANE: _Selections from the Kur-ān_, 60-62. _Thamūd_: another tribe, which experienced a similar fate. See LANE, _ibid._ * * * * * P. 45. K.--As to the meaning of this letter of the Arabic alphabet, which gives a title to this speech, in the words of the Muslim commentator, “God alone knoweth what He meaneth by it.” _A warner from among themselves._ The Mekkans were offended that an angel was not sent to them as an apostle, instead of a mere man. _Marvellous thing_: the Resurrection. P. 46. _The people of Tubba'_: the Himyarites of Arabia Felix. _A driver and a witness._--Two angels, who are supposed to carry on the ensuing colloquy with God. P. 48. _A tyrant._--Mohammad was sent to warn, not to compel the obedience and faith of his people.
P. 62. _Daughters from among the angels._--The Arabs worshipped the angels and jinn as daughters of God; and it is against this polytheism and blasphemous relationship that Mohammad protests, whilst he never denies but contrariwise admits the existence of such spirits. Further on (p. 64) he refers to these angels and other Arabian divinities, as beings who are not to be invoked, since they can have no influence for good or ill, and who themselves are in hope and fear of God’s mercy and torment, like human beings. It should be noticed that hitherto Mohammad has directed his preaching against disbelief in the One God, but has not pointedly attacked the idolatry of the Mekkans. In Y. S., however, he begins to speak of _other gods_ (p. 55), and in the Third or Argumentative Period, the angels and jinn which the Mekkans worshipped, and represented in the shape of idols, are frequently denounced, especially under the name of _Partners_ (see pp. 76, 84, 90, 92, 93, 97, 98, 103, 106, etc.) P. 65. _The accursed tree_: Zakkūm, see note to p. 24. The full Koranic history of Adam and Eve, and how Iblīs, the father of the devils, refused to do homage to the father of mankind, may be read in LANE’S _Selections_, pp. 49-52. P. 67. _Well-nigh tempted_: referring apparently to an inclination of Mohammad to temporize with idolatry on a special occasion. P. 68. _The Spirit_: Gabriel, the teacher of Mohammad, and the bearer of revelations from God to His prophet. P. 71. _Call upon God, or call upon the Merciful._--Mohammad’s use of two general names for God had apparently caused some confusion among the faithful, which this verse removed. The “Children of Israel” speech is especially important, since it contains more definite regulations of conduct than any other of the orations delivered at Mekka.
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