Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 9.djvu/33

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ⅩⅧ, 25-30.
the chapter of the cave.
17


They have no patron beside Him, nor does He let any one share in His judgment. So, recite what thou art inspired with of the Book of thy Lord ; there is no changing His words; nor shalt thou ever find a refuge beside Him; and keep thyself patient, with those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, desiring His face ; nor let thine eyes be turned from them, desiring the adornment of the life of this world ; and obey not him[1] whose heart we have made heedless of remembrance of us, and who follows his lusts, for his affair is ever in advance (of the truth).

But say, ‘ The truth is from your Lord, so let him who will, believe; and let him who will, disbelieve.’ Verily, we have prepared for the evildoers a fire, sheets of which shall encompass them ; and if they cry for help, they shall be helped with water like molten brass, which shall roast their faces : — an ill drink and an evil couch !

Verily, those who believe and act aright, — verily, we will not waste the hire of him who does good works.

30 These, for them are gardens of Eden ; beneath them rivers flow; they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold, and shall wear green robes of silk, and of brocade ; reclining therein on


    of the idiom and the explanation given by the commentators Al Bâidhâvî and Jalâlâin, to whom Sale refers. The meaning is that which I have given, and the idiom is equivalent to that which occurs in a passage of Harîrî, Maqâmah 3 (p. 30, De Sacy’s first edition), akrim bihi, ‘ how noble it is !’ abzar bihi being equivalent to mâ abzarahu, ‘ how observant He is !’

  1. Said to refer to Ommâiyet ibn ʿHalf, who had requested Mohammed to give up his poorer followers to please the Qurâis; see Chapter Ⅵ, verse 52.
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