and ye are taught what ye knew not, neither you nor your fathers.’ Say, ‘ God.’ then leave them in their discussion to play.
This is the Book which we have revealed, a blessing and a confirmation to those which were before it, and that the mother of cities[1] may be warned, with those who are round about her. Those who believe in the last day believe therein, and they unto their prayers will keep.
Who is more unjust than he who devises against God a lie, or says, ‘ I am inspired[2],’ when he was not inspired at all ? and who says, ‘ I will bring down the like of what God has sent down ;’ but didst thou see when the unjust are in the floods of death, and the angels stretch forth their hands, ‘ Give ye forth your souls ; to-day shall ye be recompensed with the torment of disgrace, for that ye did say against God what was not true, and were too proud to hear His signs[3]. And ye come now single-handed as we created you at first, and ye have left behind your backs that which we granted you ; and we see not with you your intercessors whom ye pretended were partners[4] amongst you ; betwixt you have the ties
- ↑ Mecca.
- ↑ This refers to Abdallah ibn Sa’hd ibn Abî Sarʿh, who acted as amanuensis to Mohammed, and when he came to the words ‘ We have created man from an extract of clay . . ., then we produced it another creation,’ he said, ‘ and blessed be God, best of creators,’ and Mohammed told him to write that down too ; whereupon he boasted that he also had been inspired with this sentence which Mohammed acknowledged to be part of the Qur’ân.
- ↑ This word is nearly always used for the verses of the Qur’ân.
- ↑ That is, partners with God, idols ; to associate being the usual phrase in the Qur’ân for idolatry.
