And _remember_ when Moses said unto his people, O my people, remember
the favour of God towards you, since He hath appointed prophets from
among you, and made you princes (_masters of servants and other
attendants_), and given you what He hath not given any [other] of the
peoples (_as the manna and the quails and other things_). O my people,
enter the Holy Land which God hath decreed for you (_namely Syria_),
and turn not back, lest ye turn losers.—They replied, O Moses, verily
there is in it a gigantic people, _of the remains of the tribe of
´Ad_, and we will not enter it until they go forth from it; but if
they go forth from it, then we will enter.—[Thereupon] two men, of
those who feared _to disobey God, namely Joshua and Caleb, of the
chiefs whom Moses sent to discover the circumstances of the giants,
and_ upon whom God had conferred favour, _and who had concealed what
they had seen of the state of the giants, excepting from Moses,
wherefore the other chiefs became cowardly_, said _unto them_, Enter
ye upon them through the gate _of the city, and fear them not; for
they are bodies without hearts_; and when ye enter it, ye overcome;
and upon God place your dependence, if ye be believers.—[But] they
said, O Moses, we will never enter it while they remain therein.
Therefore go thou and thy Lord, and fight: for we remain here.—_Then
Moses_ said, O my Lord, verily I am not master of any but myself and
my brother: therefore distinguish between us and the unrighteous
people.—_God_ replied, Verily it (_namely the Holy Land_) shall be
forbidden them forty years; they shall wander in perplexity in the
land: and be not thou solicitous for the unrighteous people.—_The
land_ [through which they wandered] _was_ [only] _nine leagues_ [in
extent]. _They used to journey during the night with diligence; but in
the morning they found themselves in the place whence they had set
forth; and they journeyed during the day in like manner. Thus they did
until all of them had become extinct, excepting those who had not
attained the age of twenty years; and it is said that they were six
hundred thousand. Aaron and Moses died in the desert; and mercy was
their lot: but punishment was the lot of those. And Moses begged his
Lord, when he was about to die, that He would bring him as near as a
stone’s throw to the Holy Land: wherefore He did so. And Joshua was
made a prophet after the forty [years], and he gave orders to fight
against the giants. So he went with those who were with him, and
fought against them: and it was Friday; and the sun stood still for
him awhile, until he had made an end of fighting against them._
(v. 23-29).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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