And by this inviolate soil!1 That of goodliest fabric we created man, Then brought him down to be the lowest of the low;- Save who believe and do the things that are right, for theirs shall be a reward that faileth not. Then, who after this shall make thee treat the Judgment as a lie? What! is not God the most just of judges? _______________________ 1 In allusion to the sacredness of the territory of Mecca. This valley in about the fourth century of our ‘ra was a kind of sacred forest of 37 miles in circumference, and called Haram a name applied to it as early as the time of Pliny (vi. 32). It had the privilege of asylum, but it was not lawful to inhabit it, or to carry on commerce within its limits, and its religious ceremonies were a bond of union to several of the Bedouin tribes of the Hejaz. The Koreisch had monopolised most of the offices and advantages of the Haram in the time of Muhammad. See Sprenger's Life of Mohammad, pp. 7 20. SURA CIII.-THE AFTERNOON [XXVII.] MECCA.-3 Verses In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful I SWEAR by the declining day! Verily, man's lot is cast amid destruction,1 Save those who believe and do the things which be right, and enjoin truth and enjoin stedfastness on each other. _______________________ 1 Said to have been recited in the Mosque shortly before his death by Muhammad. See Weil, p. 328. SURA LXXXV.-THE STARRY [XXVIII.] MECCA.-22 Verses In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful BY the star-bespangled Heaven!1 By the promised Day! By the witness and the witnessed!2 Cursed the masters of the trench3 Of the fuel-fed fire, When they sat around it Witnesses of what they inflicted on the believers! Nor did they torment them but for their faith in God, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy:4 His the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth; and God is the witness of everything. Verily, those who vexed the believers, men and women, and repented not, doth the torment of Hell, and the torment of the burning, await. But for those who shall have believed and done the things that be right, are the Gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow. This the immense bliss! Verily, right terrible will be thy Lord's vengeance! He it is who produceth all things, and causeth them to return; And is He the Indulgent, the Loving; Possessor of the Glorious throne; Worker of that he willeth. Hath not the story reached thee of the hosts Of Pharaoh and Themoud? Nay! the infields are all for denial: But God surroundeth them from behind. Yet it is a glorious Koran, Written on the preserved Table. _______________________ 1 Lit. By the Heaven furnished with towers, where the angels keep watch; also, the signs of the Zodiac: this is the usual interpretation. See Sura xv. 15. 2 That is, by Muhammad and by Islam; or, angels and men. See, however, v. 7.