QABALAH, QIBALAH.

A deed of conveyance of transfer of right or property. Any contract or bargain or sale signed by a judge. (Hidayah, vol. ii. p. 569.)

QABA QAUSAIN.

Lit. "two bows' length." An expression which occurs in the Qur'an, Surah liii, 8-10: "Then he drew near and hovered o'er; until he was two bows' length off or nigher still. Then he revealed to his servant what he revealed him." Commentators understand this to refer to the angel Gabriel. Mystic writers use the term to express a state of nearness to God. (See 'Abdu 'r-Razzaq's Dict. Of Suf'i Terms.)

QABIL.

[CAIN.]

AL-QABIZ.

"The Restrainer." One of the ninety-nine attributes of God. But the word does not occur in the Qur'an.

QABR.

A grave. [GRAVE, TOMB.]

QABUL.

"Consent." A term in the Muhammadan law of marriage, contracts, &c.

QABZ WA BAST.

Two terms which are employed to express two opposite states of the heart; aqbz being a contraction, and bast, an expansion, of the spiritual state. (See 'Abdu 'r-Razzaq's Dict. Of Suf'i Terms.)

QA'DAH.

The sitting posture in the daily prayer, when the tashahhud is recited. [TASHAHHUD.]

QADAR.

Lit. "Measuring." (1) The word generally used in the Hadis for fate, or predestination. (2) Al Qadar, the title of the xcviiith Surah of the Qur'an. [TAQDIR, PREDESTINATION.]

QADARIYAH.

A sect of Muhammadans who deny absolute predestination, and believe in the power (qadr) of man's free will, They were the ancient Mutazilahs before al-Wasil separated from the school of Hasan al-Basri.

QADIM.

"Ancient; old." Al-Qaaim, "'The one without beginning." Qadimu 'l-Aiyan, "Ancient of day." God.

AL-QADIR.

"The Powerful." One of the ninety-nine attributes of God The word occurs in the Qur'an, Surah ii. 19, "God is mighty over all." and in many other passages.

QADIRIYAH.

An ascetic order of Faqirs instituted A.H. 561, by Saiyid Abdu 'l-Qadir al-Jilani, surnamed Pir Dastagir, whose shrine is at Baghdad. It is most popular religions order amongst the Sunnis of Asia, [FAQIR, ZIKR.]

QAF.

(1) The twenty-first letter of the Arabic alphabet. (2) The title of the Lth Surah of the Qur'an. (3) The circle of mountains which Easterns fancy encompass the world. The Muhammadan belief being that they are inhabited by demons and jinn, and that the mountain range is emerald which gives an azure hue to the sky. Hence in Persian az qaf ta qaf means the whole world. The name is also used for Mount Caucasus.

AL-QAHHAR.

"The Dominant." One of the ninety-nine names of God. It occurs in the Qur'an, Surah xiii. 17: "He is the One, the Dominant."

QA'IF.

Lit. " Skillful in knowing footsteps." One who can judge of character from the outward appearance.

One instance of the kind is related in the Traditions, namely, 'Ayishah relates, "One day the Prophet came home in high spirits and said, O 'Ayishah, verily Mujazziz al-Mudliiji came and saw Usaniah and Zaid covered over with a cloth, except their feet and he said, 'Verily, I know from these feet the relationship of father and son." (Mishkat, book xiii.ch xv. pt 1.) This knowledge is called Ilmu 'l-Qiqafah.)

QAINUQA'.

A Jewish tribe near al-Madinah in the time of Muhhamad. He besieged them in their stronghold in the second year of the Hijrah, and having conquered them, sent most of them into exile. (See Muir's Life of Mahomet, vol. iii., p. 134.)

QAISAR.

[CÆSAR.]

QAIS IBN SA'D.

One of the leading companions. He was of the tribe Khazraj and, the son of Sa'd, a Companion of note. He was a man of large stature and corpulent, emiment for learning, wisdom, and courage. He commanded the Prophet's body-guard, and under the Khalifah 'Ali - he was made Governor of Egypt. Died at al-Madinah,, A.H. 60.

AL-QAIYUM.

Lit. "The Self-Subsisting" One of the ninety nine attributes of God. It occurs in the Qur'an, Surah iii. 1: "There is no deity but God, the living, the self-subsisting."

QALAM.

Lit. "A. (reed) pen." (1) The pen with which God is said to have pre-recorded the actions of men. The Prophet said the first thing which God created was the Pen (qalam) and that it wrote down the quantity of every individual thing to be created, all that was and all that will be to all eternity. (See Mishkat.) (2) Al-Qalam. the title of the lxviiith Surah of the Qur'an.

QALANDAR.

A Persian title to an order of faqirs or darwishes. An Ascetic.

AL-QAMAR.

"The moon." The title of the livth Surah of the Qur'an, in the first verse of which the word occures, "And the moon hath been split in sunder." [MOON, SHAQQU 'L-QAMAR.]

QANA'AH.

Contentment, resignation.

QANIT.

Lit. "One who stands in prayer or in the service of God, Godly, devout, prayerful. The term is used twice in the Qur'an:-

Surah xvi. 121: "Verily, Abraham was a leader in religion and obedient to God."

Surah xxxix. 12: "He who observeth the hours of the night in devotion."

QANUN.

Canon; a rule, a regulation, a law, a statute.

QARABAH.

Lit. "Proximity." A legal term in Muhammadan law for relationship.

QARI.

pl. qurra'. "A reader." A term used for one who reads the Qur'an correctly, and is acquainted with the 'Ilmu 't-Tajwid, or the science of reading the Qur'an. In the history of Islam there are seven celebrated Qurra', or " readers," who are known as al-Qurra'u 's-Sab'ah, or "the seven readers." They are:-

1. Imam Ibn Kasir. Died at Makkah, A.H. 120.

2. Imam 'Asim of al-Kufah, who learnt the 'way of reading the Qur'an from 'Abdu 'r-Rahman as-Salãmi, who was taught by the Khalifahs 'Usman and 'Ali. He died at al-Kufah, A.H. 127.

3. Imam Abu 'Umr was born at Makkah, A.H. 70, and died at al-Kufah, A.H. 154. It is on his authority that the following important statement has been handed down: "When the first copy of the Qur'an was written out

and presented to the Khalifah 'Usman, he said, 'There are faults of language in it let the Arabs of the desert rectify them with their tongues." The meaning of this is that they should pronounce the words correctly but not alter the written copy.

4. Imam Hamzah of al-Kufah was born A.H. 80, and died A.H. 156.

5. Imam al-Kisa'i who had a great reputation as a Qari', but none as a poet. It was a common saying, among the learned in grammar, that there was no one who knew so little poetry as al-Kisa'i. He is said to have died at Tus about the year 182.

6. Imam Nafi', a native of al-Madinah, who died A.H. 169.

7. Imam ibn 'Amir, who was a native of Syria. His date is uncertain.

AL-QARI'AH. . "The Striking." The title of the CIst Surah of the Qur'an, which begins with the words, " The Striking! What is the Striking? And what shall make thee understand how terrible the striking will be."

JalaIu 'd-din says it is one of the epithets given to the, last day, because it will strike the hearts of all creatures with terror.

QARIN. . Lit. "The one united." The demon which is said to be indissolubly united with every man. (See Mishkat, book xiii. ch. xv.; also Surah xli. 24; Surah xliii. 35; Surah l. 22.)

QARINAR. . The context.
A term used in theological and exegetical works.

QARUN. . [KORAH.]

QARZ. . Lit. "Cutting."

(1) A. word used in the Qur'an for good deeds done for God, for which a future recompense will be awarded. e.g. Surah v. 15: "Lend God a liberal loan and I will surely put away from you your evil deeds, and will cause you to enter garden through which rivers flow."

(2) Money advanced as a loan without interest, to be repaid at the pleasure of the borrower.

(3) The word is used in Persian, Urdu, and Pushtoo for money lent at interest, but the legal term for such a debt is riba'.

QASAM. . [OATH.]

QARZ. QASAMAH . Lit. "Taking an oath." An oath under the following circumstances:_

When a person is found slain in a place and it is not known who was the murderers, and his heirs demand satisfaction for his blood from the inhabitants of the district, then fifty of the inhabitants selected by the next kin, must be put to their oaths and depose to this effect.: "I swear by God that I did not kill him, nor do I know the murderer."

This custom is founded upon the Mosaic law. See Deut.. xxi. l-9.

AL-QASAS. . "The narrative " The title of the xxviiith Surah of the Qur'an. So called because in the 25th verse of this chapter Moses is said to have related the narrative of his adventures to Shu'aib.

QASM. . Lit. "To divide." A division of conjugal rights, which is enjoined by Muslim law. (See Mishkat, book xii. ch. x.)

AL-QASWA'. . Lit. "One whose ears are cropt." Muhammad's celebrated she-camel who conveyed him in the flight from Makkah.

QATL. [MURDER.]

QATTAT. . A slanderer. A tale bearer, who, according to the Traditions, will not enter. the kingdom of heaven; for the Prophet has said, "A tale-bearer shall not enter Paradise." (Mishkat, book xxii. ch. x. pt. I.)

QAT'U 'T-TARIQ. [HIGHWAY ROBBERY.]

QAUL. . , A saying; a promise; a covenant. The word occurs in the Qur'an frequently in these senses.

QAUIU 'L-HAQQ. .

"The Word of Truth" A title given to Jesus Christ in the Qur'an, Surah xix, 85: This was Jesus the son of Mary, the word of truth concerning wham they doubt" By the commentators Husain, al-Kamalan, and Abdu 'l-Qadir, the words are understood to refer to the statement made, but al-Baizawi says it is a title applied to Jesus the son of Mary [JESUS CHRIST.]

QAWAD. . "Retaliation." Lex Talonis. [MURDER. QISAS. RETALIATION.].

AL-QAWI. . "The Strong" One of the ninety nine attributes of God. It occurs in the Qur'an, Surah xl 69 "'Thy Lord is the Strong, the Mighty."

QAZA'. . pl. aqziyah.. Lit. "Consummating." (1) The office of a Qazi, or judge (2) The sentence of a Qazi (3) Repeating prayers to make up for having omitted them at the appointed time (4) Making up for an omission in religious duties such as fasting, &c (5) The decree existing in the Divine mind from all eternity, and the execution and declaration of a decree at the appointed time (6) Sudden death.

QAZF. . Lit. "Throwing at." Accusing a virtuous, man or woman of adultery, the punishment for which is eighty lashes, or, in the case of a slave, forty lashes. This punishment was established by a supposed revelation from heaven, when the Prophet's favourite wife, 'Ayishah. was accused of improper intimacy with Safwan Ibnn 'l-Murattil. Vide Qur'an, Suratu 'n-Nur (xxiv.), 4: "But to those who accuse married persons of adultery and produce not four witnesses, them shall ye scourge with four-score stripes." (Hidayah, vol. ii. p. 58.)

QIBLAH.

"Anything opposite". The direction in which all Muhammadans must pray, whether in their public or in their private devotions, namely, towards Makkah. It is established by the express injunction of the Qur'ãn, contained in the Suratn l-Baqarab (ii.), 136—l45: -

"Fools among men will say, What has turned them from their Qiblah on which they were agreed? Say, God's is the east and the west, He guides whom He will unto the right path. Thus have we made you a middle nation to he witnesses against men, and that the apostle may be a witness against men. We have not appointed the qiblah on which thou wert agreed, save that we might know who follows the Apostle from him who turns upon his heels, although it is a great thing save to those whom God doth guide. But God will not waste your faith, for verily God with men is kind and merciful. We see thee often turn about thy face in the heavens, we will surely turn thee to a qiblah thou shalt like. Turn, then, thy face towards the Sacred Mosque, wherever, ye be turn your faces towards it, for verily those who have the Book know that it is the truth from their Lord. God is not careless of that which ye do. And if thou shouldst bring to those who have been given the Book every sign, they would not follow your qiblah, nor do some of them follow the qiblah of the others; and If thou followest their lusts after the knowledge that has come to thee, then art thou of the evil-doers. Those whom we have given the Book know him as they know their sons, although a sect of them do surely hide the truth the while they know. The truth (is) from thy Lord, be not therefore one of those who doubt thereof. Every sect has some one side to which they turn (in prayer), but do ye hasten onwards to good works, wherever ye are, God will bring you all together. Verily, God is mighty over all. From whencesoever thou comest forth, there turn thy face to wards the Sacred Mosque; for it is surely truth from thy Lord, God is not careless about what ye do. And from whencesoever thou comest forth, there turn thy face to wards the Sacred Mosque, and wheresoever ye are, turn your faces towards it, that may have no argument against you, save only those of them who are unjust, and fear them not, but fear me, and I will fulfil my favour to you; perchance ye may be guided yet."

In explanation of these verses (which are allowed to be of different periods), and the change of Qiblah, al-Baizawi, the commentator, remarks that when Muhammad was in Makkah he always worshipped towards the Ka'bah; but after the flight to al-Madinah, he was ordered by God to change the Qiblah towards as-Sakhrah, the rock at Jerusalem on which the Temple was formerly erected, in order to conciliate the Jews, but that, about sixteen months after his arrival in al-Madinah, Muhammad longed once more to pray towards Makkah, and he besought the Lord to this effect, and then the instructions were revealed, "Verily we have seen thee turning thy face," &c., as given above. (See al-Baizawi, in loco.)

This temporary change of the Qiblah to Jerusalem is now regarded as "a trial of faith," and it is asserted that Makkah was, always the true Qiblah. But it is impossible for any non-Muslim, not to see in this transaction a piece of worldly wisdom on the part of the Prophet.

Jalhlu 'd-din as-Suyuti admits that the 10th verse of the IInd Surah—which reads:

"The east and the west is God's, therefore whichever way ye turn is the face of God"— has been abrogated by a more recent verse, and that, at one time in the history of Muhammad's mission there was no Qiblah at all.

Major Osborne, remarks in his Islam under the Arabs, p. 58:—

"There have been few incidents more disastrous in their consequences to the human race than this decree of Muhammad, changing the Kibla from Jerusalem to Mekka. Had he remained true to his earlier and better faith, the Arabs would have entered the religious community of the nations as peace-makers, not as enemies and destroyers. To all alike —Jews, Christians, and Muhammadans—there would have been a single centre of holiness and devotion; but the Arab would have brought with him just that element of conviction which was needed to enlarge and vivify the preceding religions. To the Jew he would have been a living witness that the God who spoke in times past to his fathers by the prophets still sent messengers to men, though not taken from the chosen seeds—the very testimony which they needed to rise out of the conception of a national deity to that of a God of all men.

To the Christians, his deep and ardent conviction of God as a present living and working power, would have been a voice recalling them from their petty sectarian squabbles and virtual idolatry, to the presence of the living Christ. By the change of the Kibla, Islam was placed in direct antagonism to Judaism and Christianity. It became a rival faith, possessing an independent centre of existence. It ceased to draw its authenticity from the same wells of inspiration. Jew and Christian could learn nothing from a creed which they knew only as an exterminator; and the Muhammadan was condemned to a moral and intellectual isolation. And so long as he remains true to his creed, he cannot participate in the onward march of men. The keystone of that creed is a black pebble in a heathen temple. All the ordinances of his faith, all the history of it, are so grouped round and connected with this stone, that were the odour of sanctity dispelled which surrounds it, the whole religion would inevitably, perish. The farther and the faster men progress elsewhere, the more hopeless becomes the position of the Muslim. He can only hate the knowledge which would gently lead him to the light. Chained to a black stone in a barren wilderness, the heart and reason

of the Muhammadan world would seem have taken the similitude of the objects they reverence; and the refreshing dew, genial sunshines which fertilise all else, seke in vain for anything to quicken there." (Islam under the Arabs, p. 58.)

QIBTI.

Copt. The Christian descendants of the Ancient Egyptians, derived from Coptos, a great city in Upper Egypt now called Gooft. The favourite slave of Muhammad, Mariyah, was a Copt, and is known in Muslim history as Mariyatu '1-Qibtiyah. [MUHAMMAD, WIVES OF.]

For an account of the manners and customs of the Coptic Christians, see Lane's Modern Egyptians.

QIMAR.

Dice or any game of chance. It is forbidden by the Muhammadan religion. (Mishkat, book xvii. ch. ii. pt. 2.)

QINN.

A slave, especially one born in the family and whose father and mother are slaves.

QINTAR.

A talent. A sum of money mentioned in the Qur'an, Surah ii. 67: "And of the people of the Book there are some of them who if thou entrust them with a qintar give it back to you."

Muhammad Tahir, the author of the Majma'u 'l-Bihar, p. 173, says a qintar is a very large sum of money. As much gold as will go into the hide of a cow! or, according to others, 4,000 dinars. Others say it is an unlimited sum, which implies a considerable amount of money.

QIRA'AH.

Lit. "Reading." A term given to the different methods of reading the Qur'an. A science which is termed Ilmu 't-Tajwid. [QUR'AN.]

QIRAN.

Lit. "Conjunction." (1) The conjunction of 'two planets. The performance of the Hajj and the 'Umrah at the same time.

QISAS . From qasas. Lit. "Tracking the footsteps of an enemy." The law of retaliation. The lex talionis of the Mosaic law, with the important exception that in the Muslim law the next of kin can accept a money compensation for willful murder.

The subject of retaliation must be considered, first, as to the occasions affecting life, and, secondly, as to retaliation in matters short of life.

(1) In occasions affecting life, retaliation is incurred by willfully killing a person whose blood is under continual protection, such as a Muslim or a Zimmi, in opposition to aliens who have only an occasional or temporary protection. A freeman is to be slain for a freeman, and a slave for a slave; but according to Abu Hanifah, a freeman is to be slain for the murder of a slave if the slave be the property of another. A Muslim is also to be slain for the murder of a zimmi, according to Abu Hanifa, but ash-Shafi'i disputes this, because the Prophet said a Muslim is not to be put to death for an infidel. A man is slain for a woman, and adult for an infant, and a sound person for one who is blind, infirm, dismembered, lame, or insane. A father is not to be slain for his child, because the Prophet has said, "Retaliation must not be executed upon the parent for his offspring"; but a child is slain for the murder of his parent. A master is not slain for his slave, and if one of two partners in a slave kill such a slave, retaliation is not incurred. If a person inherit the right of retaliating upon his parent, the retaliation fails. Retaliation is to be executed by the next of kin with some mortal weapon or sharp instrument capable of inflicting a mortal wound.

If a person immerse another, whether an infant or an adult, into water from which it is impossible to escape, retaliation, according to Abu Hanifah, is not incurred, but his two disciples maintain otherwise.

(2) Of retaliation short of life. If a person wilfully strikes off the hand of another, his hand it to be struck off in return, because it is said in the Qur'an (Surah v. 49), "There is retaliation in case of wounds." If a person strike off the foot of another, or cut off the nose, retaliation is inflicted in turn. If a person strike another on the eye, so as to force the member, with its vessels, out of the socket, there is no retaliation; it is impossible to preserve a perfect equality in extracting the eye. If, on the contrary, the eye remain in its place, but the faculty of seeing be destroyed, retaliation is to be inflicted, as in this case equality may be effected by extinguishing the sight of the offender's corresponding eye with a hot iron. If a person strike out the teeth of another, he incurs retaliation: for it is said in the Qur'an, "A tooth for a tooth." (Surah v. 49.)

Retaliation is not to be inflicted in the case of breaking any bones except teeth, because it is impossible to observe an equality in other fractures. There is no retaliation, in offenses short of life, between a man and a woman, a free person and a slave, or one slave and another slave; but ash-Shafi'i maintains that that retaliation holds in these cases. Retaliation for parts of the body holds between a Muslim and an unbeliever, both being upon an equality between each other with respect to fines for the offences in question.

If the corresponding member of the maimer be defective, nothing more than retaliation on that defective member, or a fine; and if such member be in the meantime lost, nothing whatever is due.

There is no retaliation for the tongue or the virile member.

(3) Retaliation may be commuted for a sum of money. When the heirs of a murdered person enter into a composition with the murderer for a certain sum, retaliation is remitted, and the sum agreed to is due, to whatever amount. This is founded upon an express injunction of the Qur'an: "Where the heir of the murdered person is offered anything, by way of compensation, out of

the property of the murderer, let him take it." And also in the Traditions, it is related that Muhammad said (Mishkat, book xiv.): "The heir of the murdered person is at liberty either to take retaliation, or a fine with the murderer's consent." Moreover, it is maintained by Muhammadan jurists that retaliation is purely a matter which rests with the next of kin, who are at liberty to remit entirely by pardon, and that therefore a compensation can be accepted which is advantageous to the heirs and also to the murderer.

When a person who has incurred retaliation dies, the right of retaliation necessarily ceases, and consequently no fine is due from the murderer's estate. [MURDER.]

QISSIS.

Persian kashish. A Christian presbyter or priest. The occurs once in the Qur'an, Surah v. 85:-

Thou shalt certainly find those to be nearest in affection to them who say, We are Christians." This because some of their priests (qissisun) and monks (ruhban), and because they are free from pride"

QITFIR.

Potiphar alluded to in the Qur'an, Surah xii. 21, as "the man form Egypt", who had bought him (Joseph). Al-Baizawi, the commentator, says his name was Qitfir

QIYAM.

Lit. "Standing." (1) The standing in the Muhammadan prayers when the Subhan, the Ta'awwuz, the Tasmiyah, the Fatihah, and certain portions of the Qur'an, are recited. [PRAYER.] (2 ) Yaumu 'l-Qiyam, the Day of Judgment.

AL-QIYAMAH .

"The Standing up. (1) The Day of Resurrection [RESURRECTION.] (2) The title of the LXXVth Surah of the Qur'an. (3) The Sufis use the term in a spiritual sense for the state of man who, having counted himself dead the world, " stands up" in a new life in God. (See 'Abdu 'r-Razzao's Dict. of Sufi Terms.

QIYAS .

Lit. "To compare." The fourth foundation of Islam, that is to say. the anological reasoning of the learned with regard to the teaching of the Qur'an, Hadis. and Ijma'.

There are four conditions of Qiyas : (1) That the precept or practice upon which it is founded must, be of common ('amro) and not of special (khass) application , (2) The cause ('illah) of the injunction must, be known and understood; (3) The decision must be based upon either the Qur'an, the Hadis, or the Ijma'; (4) The decision arrived at must be contrary to anything declared elsewhere in the Qur'an and Hadis.

Qiyas is of two kinds, Qiyas-l Jali, or evident, and Qiyas-i-Khaf'I, or hidden.

An example of Qiyas-l-Jali is as follows: Wine is forbidden in the Qur'an under word khamr which literally means anything intoxicating; it is, therefore, evident that opium and all intoxicating drugs are also forbidden.

Qiyas-l-Khaf'I is seen in the following example :—ln the Hadis it is enjoined that one goat in forty must be given to God. To some poor persons the money may be more acceptable; therefore, the value of the goat may be given instead of the goat.

QUBA.

A place three miles from al-Madinah, where the Prophets she-camel., al-Qaswa' knelt down as she brought her master on his flight from Makkah, and where Muhammad laid the foundations of a mosque. This was the first place of public prayer in Islam. Muhammad laid the first brick with his javelin, and marked out the direction of prayer. It is this mosque which is mentioned in the Qur'an, Surah ix. 109:—

There is a mosque founded from its first day in piety. More worthy is it that thou enter therein: therein are men who aspire to purity, and God loveth the purified."

It is esteemed the fourth mosque in rank, being next to that al-Makkah, al-Madinah, and Jerusalem, and tradition relates that the Prophet said one prayer in it was equal to a lesser pilgrimage to Makkah. [UMRAH.] Captain Burton says:-

"It was originally a square building of very small size; Osman enlarged it in the direction of the minaret, making it sixty-six cubits each way. It is no longer 'mean and decayed' as in Burckhardt's time. The Sultan Abdel Hamid, father of Mahmud, created a neat structure of cut stone, whose crenelles make, it look more like a place of defence than of prayer. It has, however, no pretensions to grandeur. The minaret is of Turkish shape. To the south, a small and narrow Riwak (riwaq), or raised hypo-style, with unpretending columns, looks out northwards upon a little open area simply sanded over, and this is the whole building."

AL-QUDDUS.

"The Holy." One of the ninety-nine names of God. It occurs in the Qur'an, Surah lix. 23 "He is God besides whom there is no deity, the King, the Holy."

QUDRAH.

Power. Omnipotence. One of the attributes of God al-Qudratu l-halwa'. The sweet cake of God, i e. The manna of Israel. The word Qudrah does not occur in the Qur'an.

QUNUTU L-WITR.

A special supplication said after the Witr prayers, or, according to some, after the morning prayers. It was at such times that the Prophet would pray for the liberation of his friends and for the destruction of his enemies.

For the different forms of supplication, see Mishkat, book iv. chapters xxxvi and xxxvii. The following is the one usually recited. "O God! direct me amongst those to whom Thou hast shown the right road, and keep me in safety from the calamities of this world and the nest, and love me amongst those Thou hast befriended. Increase Thy favours on me, and preserve me from ill; for verily Thou canst order at Thy will, and canst not

be ordered. Verily none are ruined that Thou befriendest; nor are any made great whom Thou art at enmity.

QURAISH.

The Arab tribe from which Muhammad was descended, and of which his grandfather, 'Abdu l-Muttalib was chief or prince. This tribe occupies a very prominent place in the Qur'an and in Muhammadan history. In the Traditions, a special section is not apart for a record of the savings of the Prophet regarding the good qualities of this title.

Muhammad is related to have said: "Whosoever wishes for the destruction of the Quraish, him may God destroy."

Ibn 'Umar relates that the Prophet said, "The office of Khalifah should be in the Quraish as long as there are two persons in the tribe, one to be ruler and the other to be ruled." (Mishkat, book xxiv. c. xii.)

The Sharif, or Sheriff of Makkah, is always of the Quraish tribe, but ever since the extinction of the Abbaside KhaIifahs, the Sultans of Turkey have held the office of Khalifah, who are not of this tribe. [KHALIFAH.]

For an account of the Quraish, refer to Sir William Muir's Lifje of Mahomet, vol. i. Intro. excv. See also article [ARABIA.]

Muhamrnad Tahir, in his Majma'u 'l-Bihar vol. ii.. p. 138, says Quraish is the name of a great marine monster which preys on fish, and was given to this tribe on account of its strength and inportance amongst the tribes of Arabia. Quraish is the title of the cvith Surah of the Qur'an.

QURAIZAH.

A tribe of Jews located near al-Madinah is the time of Muhammad. They at first professed to support his mission, but afterwards became disaffected. The Prophet asserted that he had been commanded by God to destroy them, and a complete massacre of the men took place, and the women and children were taken captive. The event Is referred to at length in the xxxiiird Surah of the Qur'an.

Sir William Muir thus records the event:- "The men and women were penned in for the night in separate yards; they were supplied with dates, and spent the night in prayer, repeating passages from their Scriptures, and exhorting one another in constancy. During the night graves or trenches sufficient to contain the dead bodies of the men were dug in the chief market-place of the city. When these were ready in the morning, Mahomet, himself a spectator of the tragedy, gave command that the captives should be brought forth in companies of five or six at a time. Each company was made to sit down by the brink of the trench destined for its grave, and there beheaded. Party after party they were thus led out, and butchered in cold blood, till the whole were slain. One woman alone was put to death. It was she who threw the millstone from the battlements. For Zoheir, an aged Jew, who had saved some of his allies of the Bani Ans in the battle of Boath. Thabit interceded and procured a pardon, including the freedom of his family and the restoration of his property. 'But what hath become of all our chiefs – of Kab, or Huway, of Ozzal, the son of Samuel?' asked the old man. As one after another he named the leading chiefs of his tribe, he received to each inquiry the same reply – they had all been slain already. 'Then of what use is life to me any longer? Leave me not to that bloodthirsty man who has killed all that are dear to me in cold blood. But slay me also, I entreat thee. Here, take my sword, it is sharp; strike high and hard.' Thabit refused, and gave him over to another, who, under Ali's orders, beheaded the aged man, but attended to his last request in obtaining freedom for his family. When Mahomet was told of his saying 'slay me also, that I may go to my home and join those that have preceded me,' he answered, 'Yea, he shall join them in the fire of hell?

"Having sated his revenge, and drenched the marketplace with the blood of eight hundred victims, and having given command for the earth to be smoothed over their remains, Mahomet returned from the horrid spectacle to solace himself with the charms of Ribana, whose husband and all male relative had just perished in the massacre. He invited her to he his wife, but she declined, and chose to remain (as, indeed. having refused marriage, she had no alternative) his save or concubine. She also declined the summons to conversion and continued in the Jewish faith, at which the Prophet was much concerned. It is said, however, that she afterwards embraced Islam. She lived with Mahomet till his death.

"The booty was divided into four classes – land, chattels, cattle, and slaves; and Mahomet took a fifth of each. There were (besides little children who counted with their mothers) a thousand captives from his share of these, Mahomet made certain presents to his friends of slave girls and female servants. The rest of the women and children he sent to be sold among the Bedouin tribes of Najd, in exchange for horses and arms; for he kept steadily in view the advantage of raising around him a body of efficient horse." (Life of Mahomet. vol. iii, p. 276.)

QUR'AN.

The sacred book of the Muhammadans, and believed by them to be the inspired word of God. It is written in the Arabic language.

The word Qur'an is derived from the Arabic Qara', Which occurs at the commencement of Surah xcv.. which is said to have been the first chapter revealed to Muhammad, and has the same meaning as the Heb. kara "to read," or "to recite." which is frequently used in Jeremiah xxxvi., as well as in other places in the Old Testament. It is, therefore, equivalent to the Heb. mikra, rendered in Nehemiah viii. 8, "the reading." it is the title given' to the Muhammadan Scriptures which are

usually appealed to and quoted from as al-Qur'an al-Majid, the "Glorious Qur'an"; aI-Qur'an ash Sharif, the "Noble Qur'an"; and is also called the Furqan, "Distinguisher"; Kalamu 'llah, the "Word of God"; and al-Kitab, "the Book."

According to JalaIu 'd-din as-Suyuti, in his Itqan, p. 117, the Qur'an is distinguished in the text of the book by the following fifty-five special titles :—

1. Al-Kitab • The Book.
2. Al-Mubin • The Enlightener.
3. Al-Qur'an • The Reading.
4. Al-Karim • The Good.
5. Al-Kalam • The Word.
6. Al-Burhan • The Proof.
7. An-Nur • The Light.
8. Al-Huda • The Guidance.
9. Ar-Rahmah • The Mercy.
10. Al-Furqan • The Distinguither.
11. Ash-Shifa • The Health.
12. Al-Mu'izah • The Sermon.
18. Al-Zikr • The Reminder.
14. Al-Mubarak • The Blessed.
15. Al-'Ali • The Lofty.
16. Al-Hikmah • The Wisdom
17. Al-Hakim • The Philosopher.
18. Al-Muhaimin • The Preserver.
19. Al-Musaddiq • The Establisher of Truth.
20. Al-Habl • The Rope.
21 As-Siratu 'l-Mustaqim • The Straight Path.
22. Al-Qaiyim • The Strong.
23. Al- Qaulu 'l-Fasl • The Distinguishing Speech.
24. An Naba'u 'l-Azim • The Exalted News.
25. Al-Hasanu 'l-Hadis • The Good Saying.
26. Al-Masani • The Repetition.
27. Al-Mutashabih • The Uniform.
28. At-Tamil • The Revelation.
29. Ar-Ruh • The Spirit.
30. Al-Wahy • The Inspiration.
31. Al-'Arabi • The Arabic.
32. Ak-Basa'ir • The Enlightenment.
33. Al-Bayan • The Explanation.
34. Al-Ilm • The Knowledge.
35 Al-Haqq • The Truth.
36. Al-Hadi • The Guide.
37. Al-'Ajab • The Wonderful.
38. At-Tazkirah • The Exhortation.
39. Al-'Urwatu 'l-Wusqa • The Firm Handle.
40. As-Sidq • The Righteous.
41 Al-'Adl • The Jusitce.
42. Al-Amr • The Order.
43. Al-Munadi • The Preacher.
44. Al-Bushra • The Glad Tidings.
45. Al-Majid • The Exalted.
46. Az-Zabur • The Psalm.
47. Al-Bashir • The Herald of Glad Tidings.
48. An-Nazir • The Warner.
49. Al-Aziz • . The Mighty.
50. Al-Balagh • . The Message.
51. Al-Qasas • The Narratives.
52. As-Suhuf • The Pamphlets.
53. Al-Mukarramah • The Excellent.
54. Al-Marfu'ah • The Exalted.
55. Al-Mutaharah • The Purified.

According to Abu Hanifah, the great Sunni Imam, the Qur'an is eternal, in its original essence. He says, "The Qur'an is the Word of God, and is His inspired Word and Revelation. It is a necessary attribute (sifah) of God. It is not God, but still it is inseparable from God. It is written in a volume, it is read in a language, it is remembered in the heart, and its letters and its vowel points, and its writing are all created, for these are the works of man, but God's word is uncreated (ghairu 'l-rnakhluq). Its words, its writing, its letters, and its verses, are for the necessities of man, for its meaning is arrived at by their use, but the Word of God is fixed in the essence (zat) of God, and he who says that the word of God is created is an infidel." (See Kitibu 'l- Wasiyah, p. 77.)

Muhammadans believe the Qur'an to have been written by "the hands of noble, righteous scribes," mentioned in the Suratu 'Abasa (lxxx.) 15, and to have been sent down to the lowest beaten complete, from whence it was revealed from time to time to the Prophet by the angel Gabriel. [GABRIEL.]

There is, however, only one distinct assertion in the Qur'an of Gabriel having been the medium of inspiration, namely, Suratu 'l-Baqarah (ii.), 91; and this occurs in a Medinah Surah revealed about seven years after the Prophet's rule had been established. In the Suratu 'sh-Shu'arä' (xxvi.), 198, the Qur'an is said to have been given by the Ruhu 'l-Amin, or "Faithful Spirit"; and in the Suratu 'n-Najm (liii.), 5, Muhammad claims to have been taught by the Shadidu 'l-Quwa, or "One terrible in power"; and in the Traditions the agent of inspiration is generally spoken of as "an angel" (malik). It is, therefore, not quite certain through what agency Muhammad believed himself to be inspired of God, the Holy Spirit or the angel Gabriel.

According to the traditions, the revelation was first communicated in dreams. 'Ayishah, one of the Prophet's wives, relates (Mishkat, xxiv. 5):—

"The first revelations which the Prophet received were in true dreams; and he never dreamt but it came to pass as regularly aa the dawn of day, After this the Prophet was fond of retirement, and used to seclude himself in a cave in. Mount Hira,' and worship there day and night. He would, when, ever be wished, return to his family at Makkah, and then go back again, taking with him the necessaries of life. Thus he continued to return to Khadijah from time to time, until one day the revelation came down to him, and the angel (Arabic malak, Heb. malakh, "an angel a prophet"; a name of

office, not of nature [See Wilson's Hebrew Lexicon, p. 13] came to him and said, ' Read' (iqra'); but the Prophet said, 'I am not a reader.' And the Prophet related that he (i.e. the angel) took hold of me and squeezed me as much as I could boar, and he then let me go and said again, 'Read! ' And I said, 'I am not a reader.' Then he took hold of me a second time, and squeezed me as much as I could bear, and then let me go, and said, 'Read!' And I said, 'I am not a reader.' Then he took hold of me a third time and squeezed me as much as I could bear, and said:-

"Then the Prophet repeated the words himself, and with his heart trembling he returned (i.e. from Hira to Makkah) to Khadijah, and said, 'Wrap me up, wrap me up.' And they wrapped him up in a garment till all fear was dispelled. and he told Khadijah what had passed, and he said: 'Verily, I was afraid I should have died.' Then Khadijah said, 'No, it will not be so. I swear by God, He will never make you melancholy or sad. For verily you are kind to your relatives, you speak the truth, you are faithful In trust, you bear the afflictions of the people, you spend in good works what you gain in trade, you are hospitable, and you assist your fellow men.' After this Khadijah took the Prophet to Waraqah, who was the son of her uncle, and he said to him, 'O son of my uncle I hear what your brother's son says.' Then Waraqah said to the Prophet, 'O son of my brother! what do you see!'' Then the Prophet told Waraqah what be saw, and Waraqah said, 'That is the Namus [NAMUS] which God sent to Moses.' 'Ayishih also relates that Haris ibn Hisham asked the Prophet, 'How did the revelation come to you?' and the Prophet said,' Sametimes like the noise of a bell, and sometimes the angel would come and converse with me in the shape of a man.'"

According to 'Ayishah's statement, the Suratu 'I-'Alaq (xcvi.) was the first portion of the Qur'an revealed; but it is more probable that the poetical Surahs, in which there is no express declaration of the prophetic office, or of a divine commission, were composed at an earlier period. Internal evidence would assign the earliest date to the Surahs az.ZaIzalah (xcix.), al-'Asr (ciii.); al-'Adiyat (c.), and al-Fatihah (i.), which are rather the utterances of a searcher after truth than of an Apostle of God.

Although the Qur'an now appears as one book, the Muslim admits that it was not at made known to the Prophet in one and the same manner.

Mr. Sell, in his Faith of Islam, quoting from the Mudariju 'n-Nubawah, p. 509 the following as some of the modes of inspiration.

"1. It is recorded on the authority of 'A'yesha, one of Muhammad's wives, that a brightness like the brightness of the morning upon the Prophet. According to some commentators, this brightness remained six months. In some mysterious way Gabriel through this brightness or vision, known the Will of God."

"2. Gabriel appeared in the form of Dahiah (Dabyah), one of the Companions of the Prophet, renowned for his beauty, and gracefulness. A learned dispute has arisen with regard to the abode of the soul of Gabriel when be assumed the bodily form of Dahiah. At times, the angelic nature of Gabriel over-came Muhammad, who was then translated to the world of angels. This always happened when the revelation was one of bad news, such as denunciations or predictions of woe. At other times, when the message brought by Gabriel was one of consolation and comfort, the human nature of the Prophet overcame the angelic nature of the angel, who, in such case, having assumed a human form, proceeded to deli or the message."

"3. The Prophet heard at times the noise of the tinkling of a bell. To him alone was known the meaning of the sound. He alone could distinguish in, and through it, the words which Gabriel wished him to understand. The effect of this mode of Wahf (Wahy) was more marvellous than that of any of the other ways. When his ear caught the sound his whole frame became agitated. On, the coldest day, the perspiration, like beads of silver, would roll down his face. The glorious brightness of his countenance gave place to a ghastly hue, whilst the way in which he bent down his head showed the intensity of the emotion through which he was passing. If riding, the camel on which he sat would fall to the ground. The Prophet one day, when reclining with his head on the lap of Zeid, heard the well known sound: Zeid, too, knew that something unusual was happening, for so heavy became the head of Muhammad that it was with the greatest difficulty he could support the weight."

"4. At the time of the Mi'raj, or night ascent into heaven, God spoke to the Prophet without the intervention of an angel; It is a disputed point whether the face of the Lord was veiled or not."

"5. God sometimes appeared in a dream, and placing his hands on the Prophet's shoulders made known his will."

"6. Twice, angels having each six hundred wings, appeared and brought the message from God."

"7. Gabriel, though not appearing in bodily form, so inspired the heart of the Prophet."

that the words be uttered under its influence were the words of God.' This is technically called Ilka (Ilqa), and is by some supposed to be the degree of inspiration to which the Traditions belong. (See, as-Suyutis Itqan., p. 103.)

"Above all, the Prophet was not allowed to remain in any error; if, by any chance, he had made a wrong deduction from any previous revelation, another was always sent to rectify it. This idea has been worked up to a science of abrogation, according to which some verses of the Qur'an abrogate others. Muhammad found it necessary to shift his stand-point more than once, and thus it became necessary to annul earlier portions of his revelation." [MANSUKH.]

"Thus in various ways was the revelation

A SPECIMEN OF THE FIRST TWO PAGES OF A QUR'AN

made known to Muhammad. At first there seems to have been a season of doubt, the dread lost after all it might be a mockery. But as years rolled on, confidence in himself and in his mission came. At times, too, there is a joyousness in his utterances as he swears by heaven and earth, by God and man; but more often the visions were weird and terrible. Tradition says :— "He roared like a camel, the sound as of hells well-nigh rent his heart in pieces.' Some strange power moved him, his fear was uncontrollable. For twenty years or more the revelations came, a direction on things of heaven and of earth, to the Prophet as the spiritual guide of all men, to the Warrior-Chief, as the founder of political unity among the Arab tribes."

The whole book was not arranged until after Muhammad's death, but it is believed that the Prophet himself divided the Surahs [SURAH] and gave most of them their present titles, which are chosen from some word which occurs in the chapter. The following is the account of the collection and arrangement of the Qur'an, as it stands at present, as given in traditions recorded by al-Bukari (see Sahihu 'l-Bukhari, Arabic ed , p. 745.)

"Zaid ibn Sabit relates —' Abu Bakr sent a person to me, and called me to him, at the time of the battle with the people of Yammah; and I went to him, and 'Umar was with him; and Abu Bakr said to me, "Umar came to me and said,' Verily a great many of the readers of the Qur'an were slam on the day of the battle with the people of Yama-

mah; and really I am afraid that if the slaughter should be great, much will be lost from the Qur'an, because every person remembers something of it; and, verily, I see it advisable for you to order the Qur'an to be collected into one book.' I said to 'Umar 'How can I do a thing which the Prophet has not done?' He said, 'I swear by God, this collecting of the Qur'an is a good thing. And 'Umar used to be constantly returning to me and saying: 'You must collect th Qur'an, till at length God opened my breast so to do, and I saw what 'Umar had been advising.' And Zaid ibn Sabit says that 'Abu Bakr said to me, "You are a young and sensible man, and I do not suspect you of forgetfulness, negligence or perfidy, and verily, you used to write for the Prophet his instructions from above; then look for the Qur'an in every place and collect it.' I said "I swear by God, that if people had ordered me to carry a mountain about from one place to another, it would not he heavier upon me than the order which Abu Bakr has given for collecting the Qur'an." I said to Abu Bakr' "How do you do a thing which the Prophet of God did not?" He said, "By God, this collecting of the Qur'an is a good act." And he used perpetually to return to me, until God put it into my heart to do the thing which the heart of Abu Bakr had been set upon. Then I sought for the Qur'an, and collected it from the leaves of the date, and white stones, and the breasts of people that remembered it, till I found the last part of the chapter entitled Tauba (Repentance), with Abu Khuzaimah al-Ansari, and with no other person. These leaves were in the possession of Abu Bakr, until God caused him to die; after which 'Umar had them in his life-time; after that they remained with his daughter, Hafsah after that, 'Usman compiled them into one book.'

"Anas ibn Malik relates : 'Huzaifah came to 'Usman, and he had fought with the people of Syria in the conquest of Armenia; and had fought in Azurbaijan, with the people of al 'Iraq, and he was shocked at the different ways of people reading the Qar'an. And Huzaifah said to 'Usman, "O 'Usman, assist this people, before they differ in the Book of God just as the Jews and Christians differ, in their books." Then 'Usman sent a person to Hafsah, ordering her to send those portion which she had, and saying.'" I shall have number of copies of them taken, and will they return them to you." And Hafsah sent the portions to 'Usrnan, and 'Usman ordered Zaid ibn Sabit Ansari,and Abdu 'llah ibn az-Zubair and Sa'id ibn Ab'as, and 'Abdu 'r-Rahman Ibn al-Haris ibn Hisham ; and these were all of the Quraish tribe, except Zaid ibn Sabit and 'Usman. And he said to the three Quraishites, "When you and Zaid ibn-Thabit differ about any part of the dialect of the Qur'an then, do ye write it in the Quraish dialect because it came not down in the language of any tribe but theirs." Then they did' 'Usman had ordered.; and when a number of copies had been taken, 'Usman returned the leaves to Hafsah. And 'Usman sent a copy to every quarter of the countries of Islam, and ordered all other leaves to be burnt, and Ibn Shahab said, "Kharijah, son of Zaid Ibn Sabit, informed me, saying, I could not find one verse when I was writing the Qur'an, which, verily, I heard from the Prophet; then I looked for it, and found it with Khuzaimah, and entered it into the Suratu 'l – Ahzab.'"

This recension of the Qur'an produced by the Khalifah 'Usman has been handed down to us unaltered; and there is probably no other book in the world which has remained twelve centuries with so pure a text.

Sir 'William Muir remarks in his Life of Mahomet:-

"The original copy of the first edition was obtained from Haphsa's (Hafsah) depository, and a careful recension of the whole set on foot. In case of difference between Zaid and his coadjutors, the voice of the latter, as demonstrative of the Coreishite idiom, was to preponderate; and the new collation, was thus assimilated to the Meccan dialect, in which the Prophet had given utterance to his inspiration. Transcripts were multiplied and forwarded to the chief cities in the empire, and the previously existing copies were all, by the Caliph's command, committed to the flames. The old original was returned to Haphsa's custody.

"The recension of Othman ('Usman) has been handed down to us unaltered. .So carefully, indeed, has it been preserved, that there are no variations of importance,—we might almost say no variations at all, amongst the innumerable copies of the Coran scattered throughout the vast bounds of the empire of Islam.

"Contending and embittered factions, taking theft rise in the murder of 0thman himself within a quarter of a century from the death of Mahomet, have ever since rent the Mahometan world. Yet but one Coran has been current amongst them; and the consentaneous use by them all in every age up to the present day of the same Scripture, is an irrefragable proof that we have now before us the very text prepared by command of the unfortunate Caliph. There is probably in the world no other work which has remained twelve centuries with so pure a text. The various readings are wonderfully low in number, and are chiefly confined to differences in the vowel points and diacritical signs. But these marks were invented at a later date.

"They did not exist at all in the early copies, and can hardly be said to affect the text of Othman. Since, then, we possess the undoubted text of Othman's recension, it remains to be inquired whether that text was an honest reproduction of Abu Bakr's edition, with the simple reconcilement of unimportant variations. There is the fullest ground for believing that it was so. No early or trustworthy traditions throw suspicion of tampering with the Coran in order to support his own claims upon Othman. The

Sheeahs (Shi'ahs)* of later times, indeed pretend that Othman left out certain Suras or passages which favoured 'Ali, But this is incredible. He could not possibly have done so without it being observed at the time; and it cannot be imagined that Ali and his followers (not to mention the whole body of the Mussulmans who fondly regarded the Coran as the word of God, would have permitted such a proceeding.

"In support of this position, the follow arguments may be adduced, First: When Othman's edition was prepared, no open breech had yet taken place between Omeyads and the Alyites. The unity of Islam was still complete and unthreatened. Ali's pretensions were as yet undeveloped. No sufficient object can, therefore, be assigned for the perpetration by Othman of an offence which Moslems regard as one of the blackest dye. Second: On the other hand, Ali, from the very commencement of Othman's reign had an influential party of adherents, strong enough in the end to depose the Caliph, to storm his palace in the heart of Medina, and to put an end to his life. Can we conceive that these men would have remained quiet when the very evidence of their leader's superior claims was being openly expunged from the book of God. Third: At the time of the recension, there were still multitudes alive who had the Coran, as originally delivered, by heart and of the supposed sages favouring Ali — had any ever existed there would have been numerous transcripts, in the hands of his family and followers. Both of these sources mast have prove an effectual check upon any attempt at suppression. Fourth: The party of Ali shortly after assumed an independent attitude, and himself succeeded to the Caliphate. It is possible that either Ali, or his party, when thus arrived at power, would have tolerated a mutilated Coran—mutilated expressly to destroy his claims Yet we find that they used the same Coran as their opponents, and raised no shadow of an objection against it.

"The insurgents are indeed said to have made it one of their complaints against Othman that he had caused a new edition to be made of the Coran, and had commited all the old copies to the flames: but these proceedings were objected to simply as unauthorised and sacrilegious. . No hint was dropped of, any alteration or omission. Such a supposition, palpably absurd at the time, is altogether an after-thought of the modern Sheeas.

"We may, then, safely conclude that Othman's recension was, what it professed to be, a reproduction of Abu Bakr's edition, with a more perfect conformity to the dialect Mecca, and possibly a more uniform arrangement of its parts,—but still a faithful reproduction.

"The most important question yet remains, viz. Whether Abu Bakr's edition was itself an authentic and complete collection of Mahomet's Revelations. The following considerations warrant the belief that it was authentic and, in the main, as complete as at the time was possible.

' First. — We have no reason to doubt that Abu Bakr was a sincere follower of Mahomet, and an earnest believer it the divine origin of the Coran. His faithful attachment to the Prophet's person, conspicuous for the last twenty years of his life, and his simple, consistent, and unambitious deportment as Caliph, admit no other supposition. Firmly believing the revelations of his friend to be the revelations of God himself, his first object would be to secure a pure and complete transcript of them. A similar argument applies with almost equal force to Omar, and the other agents in the revision. The great mass of Mussulmans were undoubtedly sincere In their belief. From the scribes themselves, employed in the compilation, down to the humblest believer who brought his little store of writing on stones or palm-leaves, all would be influenced by the same earnest desire to reproduce the very words which their Prophet had declared as his message from the Lord. And a similar guarantee existed in the feelings of the people at large, in whose soul no principle was more deeply rooted than an awful reverence for the supposed word of God. The Coran itself contains frequent denunciations against those who should presume to 'fabricate, anything in the name of the Lord,' or conceal any part of that which He had revealed,. Such an action, represented as the very worst description of crime, we cannot believe that the first Moslems, in the early ardour of their faith and love, would have dared to contemplate.

"Second. — The compilation was made within two years of Mahomet's death. We have seen that several of his followers had the entire revelation (excepting, perhaps, some obsolete fragments), by heart; that every Moslem treasured up more or leas some portions in his memory; and that there were official Reciters of it, for public worship and tuition, in all countries to which Islam extended. These formed an unbroken link between the Revelation fresh from Mahomet's lips, and the edition of it by Zeid. Thus the people were not only sincere and fervent in wishing for a faithful copy of the Coran; they were also in possession of ample means for realising their desire, and for testing the accuracy and 'completeness of the volume placed in their hands by Abu Bakr.

"Third. — A still greater security would be obtained from the fragmentary transcripts which existed in Mahomet's life-time, and which must have greatly multiplied before the Coran was compiled. These were in the possession, probably, of all who could read. And as we know that the compilation of Abu Bakr came into immediate and unquestioned

* Hayatu 'l-Qulab, leaf 420: "The Ansars were ordained to oppose the claims of the family of Muhammad, and this was the reason why the other wretches took the office of Khalifah by force. After thus treating one Khalifah of God, they then mutilated and changed the other Khalifah, which is the book of God,"

use, it is reasonable to conclude that it embraced and corresponded with every extant fragment, and therefore by common consent, superseded them. We hear of no fragments, sentences, or words, intentionally omitted by the compilers, nor of any that differed from the received edition. Had any such been discoverable, they would undoubtedly have been preserved and noticed to those traditional repositories which treasured up the minutest and most trivial acts and sayings of the Prophet.

"Fourth.—The contents and the arrangement of the Coran speak forcibly for its authenticity. All the fragments that could possibly be obtained have with artless simplicity been joined together. The patchwork bears no marks of a designing genius or a moulding hand. It testifies to the faith and the reverence of the compilers, and proves that they dared no more than simply collect the sacred fragments and place them in juxtaposition. Hence the interminable repetitions; the palling reiteration of the same ideas, whet truths, and doctrines; hence, scriptural stories and Arab legends, told over and over again with little verbal variation; hence the pervading want of connection, and the startling chasms between adjacent passages. Again, the frailties of Mahomet, supposed to have been noticed by the Deity, are all with evident faithfulness entered in the Coran. Not less undisguised are the frequent verses which are contradicted or abrogated by later revelations. The editor plainly contented himself with compiling copying out in a continuous form, with scrupulous accuracy, the fragmentary materials within his reach. He neither ventured to select from repeated versions of the same incident, nor reconcile differences, nor by the alteration of a single letter to connect abrupt transitions of context, nor by tampering with the text to soften discreditable appearance. 'Thus we possess every internal guarantee of confidence.

"But it may be objected, -if the text of Abu Bakr's Coran was pure and universally received, how came it to be soon corrupted, and to require, in consequence of its variations, an extensive recension? Tradition does not afford sufficient light to determine the cause of these dincrepancies. They may have been owing to variouas readings in the so older fragmentary manuscripts which remained in the possession of the people; they may have originated in the diverse dialects of Arabia, and the different modes of pronunciation and orthography; or they may have sprung up naturally in the already vast domains of Islam, before strict uniformity was officially enforced. It is sufficient for us to know that in Othman's revision recourse had to the original exemplar of the first compilation, and that there is other wise every security, internal and external, that we possess a text the same as that which Mahomet himself gave forth and used." (Life of Mahomet, new ed., p. 557 et .seqq.)

The various readings (qira'ah) in the Qur'an are not such as are usually understood by the terms in English authors, but different dialects of the Arabic language. Ibn Abbas says the Prophet said, "Gabriel taught me to read the Qur'an in one dialect, and when I recited it he taught me to recite it in another dialects increased to seven/" (Mishkat, book ii. Ch. Ii.)

Muhammad seems to have adopted this expedient to satisfy the desire of the leading tribes to have a Qua'an in their own dialect; Abdu 'l-Haqq says, "The Qur'an was first revealed in the dialect of the Quraish, which was the Prophet's native tongue; but when the Prophet saw that the people of other tribes recited it with difficulty, then he obtained permission from God to extend its currency by allowing it to be recited in all the chief dialects of Arabia, which were:- Quraish, Taiy, Hawazin, Yaman, Saqif, Huzail, and Banu Tamim. Every one these tribes accordingly read the Qur'an in its own dialect, till the time of 'Usman, when these differences of reading were prohibited."

These seven dialects are called in Arabic Saba'tu, Ahruf, and in Persian Haft Qira'at.

The Qur'an, which is written in the Arabic language, is divided into Harf, Kalimah, Ayah, Surah, Ruku', Rub', Nisf, Suls, Juz', Manzal

1. Harf (pl. Huruf), Letters; of which there are said to be 328,671, or according to some authorities, 338,606.

2. Kalimah (pl. Kalimat), Words; of which there are 77,984, or, according to some writers, 79,934.

3. Ayah (pl. Ayat), Verses. Aye/I (Heb. is a word which signifies "sign." It was used by Muhammad for short sections or verses of his supposed revelation. The division of verses differs in different editions of the Arabic Qur'an. The number of verses in Arabic Qur'ans are recorded after the title of the Surah, and the verses distinguished in the text by a small cypher or circle. The early readers of the Qur'an did not agree as to the original position of these circles, and it happens that there are five different systems of numbering the verses.

(a) Kufah verses. The Readers in the city of al-Kufah say that they followed the custom 'Ali. Their way of reckoning is generally adopted in India. They reckon 6,239 verses.

(b) Basrah verses. The Readers of al-Basrah follow Asim ibn Hajjaj, a Companion. They reckon 6,.204.

(c) Shami verses. The Readers in Syria (Sham) followed 'Abdu 'llah ibn 'Umar, a Companion. They reckon 6,225 verses.

(d) Makkah verses. According to this arrangement, there are 6,219 verses.

(e) Madinah verses. This way of reading contains 6,211 verses.

4. Surah (pl. Suwar), Chapters A word which signifies a row or series, but which

is now used exclusively for the chap the Qur'an, which are one hundred and fourteen in number. These chapters are called after some word which occurs in the text, and if the Traditions are to be trusted, they were so named by Muhammad himself, although the verses of their respective Surahs were undoubtedly arranged after his death, and sometimes with little regard to their sequence. Muslim doctors admit that the Khalifah 'Usman arranged the chapters in the order in which they now stand in the Qur'an.

The Surahs of the Muhammadan Qur'an are similar to the forty-three divisions of the the Law amongst the Jews known as Sidarim, or "orders". These were likewise named after a word in the section, e.g. The first is Bereshith, the second Noah, &c. (See Buxtorf's Tiberias p. 181.)

Each Surah of the Qur'an, with the exception of the IXth begins with the Words....

"ln the name of the Merciful, the Compassionate."

The Surahs, as they stand in Arabic editions of the Qur'an, are as follow:-

5. Ruku'. (pl. Ruku'at), an inclination of the head or bow. These are sections of about ten verses or less, at which the devout Muslim makes a bow of reverence; they are marked in the margin of the Qur'an with the letter with the number of the ruku' over it. Muhammadans generally quote their Qur'an by the Juz' or Siparah and the Ruku'.

6. Rub'.. The quarter of a Juz', or Siparah.

7. Nisf. The half of a Siparah.

8. Suls. The three-quarters of a Siparah. These three divisions are denoted by the words being written on the margin.

9. Juz' (pl. Ajza') Persian Siparh. Thirty divisions of the Qur'an which have been made to enable the devout Muslim to recite the whole of the Qur'an in the thirty days of Ramadan. Muhammadans usually quote their Qur'an by the Siparah or Juz' and not by the Surah.

10. Manzil (pl. Manazil, Stages). These are seven in number, and are marked by the letters, which are said to spell Fami bi Shauq, "My mouth with desire." This arrangement is to enable the Muslim to recite the whole in the course of a week.

In the Arabic Qur'an, the Surahs are placed as they were arranged by Zaid ibn Sabit, who seems to have put them together regardless of any chronological sequence. The initial, or opening prayer, stands first, and then the longest chapters. But the Muhammadan commentators admit that the Qur'an is not chronologically arranged; and Jalalu'd-din, in his Itqan, has given a list of them as they are supposed to have been revealed. This list will be found under the Divisions of the Qur'an in the present article. And, what is still more confusing, all Muhammadan doctors allow that in some of the Surahs there are verses which belong to a different date from that of other portions of the chapter; for example, in the Suratu 'l-'Alaq, the first five verses belong to a much earlier date than the others; and in Suratu 'l-Baqarah, verse 234 is acknowledged by all commentators to have been revealed after verse which it abrogates.

If we arrange the Surahs or Chapters according to the order given in Suyuti's Itqan, or by Sir William Muir, or by Mr Rodwell, we cannot fail to mark the gradual development of Muhammad's mind from that of a mere moral teacher and reformer to that of a prophet and warrior-chief. The contrast between the earlier, middle, and later Surahs is very instructive and interesting.

In the earlier Surahs we observe a predominance of a poetical element, a deep appreciation of the beauty of natural objects, fragmentary and impassioned utterances; denunciation of woe and punishment being expressed in these earlier Surahs with extreme brevity.

"With a change, however, in the position of Muhammad when he openly assumes the office of 'public warner,' the Surahs begin to wear a more prosaic and didactic tone, though the poetical ornament of rhyme is preserved throughout. We lose the poet in the missionary aiming to convert, and in the warm asserter of dogmatic truths; the descriptions of natural objects, of the Judgment, of Heaven and Hell, make way for gradually increasing historical statements, first from Jewish, and subsequently from Christian histories; while in the twenty-nine (thirty?) Surahs revealed at Medina we no longer listen to vague words often, as, it would seem, without definite aim, but to the earnest disputant with the opponents of the new faith, the Apostle pleading the cause of what be believes to be the truth of God. He who at Mecca is the admonisher and persuader, at Medina is the legislator and the warrior dictating obedience, and who uses other weapons than the pen of the poet and the scribe; while we are startled by finding obedience to God and the Apostle. God's gifts and the Apostle's. God's pleasure and the Apostle's, spoken of in the same breath, and epithets and attributes elsewhere applied to Allah openly applied to himself, 'Whose obeyeth the: Apostle obeyeth Allah.'"

"The Suras, viewed as a whole, will appear to be the work of one who began his career as a thoughtful inquirer after truth

and as an earnest assertor of it In such rhetorical and poetical forms as he deemed most likely to win and attract his countrymen, but who gradually proceeded from the dogmatic teacher to the political founder of a system for which laws and regulations had to be provided as occasions arose. And of all the Suras, it must be remarked that they intended not only for readers but for hearers —- that they were all promulgated by public recital — and that much was left, as the imperfect sentences show, to the, manner and suggestive action of the reciter." (Rodwell's Preface to the Qur'an.)

The absence of the historical element from the Qur'an, as regards the details of Muhammad's daily life, may be judged of by the fact that onliy two of his contemporaries (Abu Lahab and Zaid) are mentioned in the entire volume, and that Muhammad's name occurs but five times, although he is all the way through addressed by the angel Gabriel as the recipient of the divine revelations, with the word "Say." Perhaps also such passages as Surah ii., verses 5, 246, and 274, and the constant mention of guidance, direction, wandering, may have been suggested by reminiscences of his mercantile journeys in his earlier years.

Sir William Muir has very skillfully arranged the Surahs into six periods. (See Coran S.P.C.K. ed), and although they are not precisely in the chronological order given by Jalalu 'd-Din in his ltqan, the arrangement seems to be fully borne out by internal evidence. With the. assistance of Prof. Palmer's "Table of Contents" slightly altered (The Qur'an, Oxford ad. 1880), we shall arrange the contents of the Qur'an according to thee periods.

Eighteen Surahs, consisting of short rhapsodies may have been composed by Muhammad before he conceived the idea of a divine mission, none of which are in the form, of message from the Deity.

A short chapter of one verse an follows :-.
"By the afternoon! Verily, man is in loss! Save those who believe and do right and bid each other be true, and bid each other be patient."

Oath by the charging of war-horses.
Man is ungrateful.
Certainty of the Judgment.

The earthquake preceding the Judgment Day.

Purity of the soul brings happiness.
Example of Samud.
(The latter verses are dearly of a later date than the first ten.)

The Quraish are bidden to give thanks to God for the trade of their two yearly caravans.

A prayer for guidance.
(This short chapter, which is the opening chapter of' the Qur'an, is recited in the liturgy.)

"Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds!
The compassionate, the merciful!
King of the day of reckoning!
Thee only, do we worship, and to Thee only do we cry for help.
Guide Thou us in the straight path, The path of those to whom Thou hast been gracious;
With whom Thou art not angry, And who go not astray.."

The terrors of the last day and of hell fire (al-Hawiyah)

The degradation of man.
Future reward and punishment.

Two families of the Arabs rebuked for contending which was the more numerous.
Warning of the punishment of hell.

Backbiters shall be cast into hell.

Signs of the Judgment Day.
Guardian angels.

Promise of reward to those who give alms and fear God and "believe in the best."

The miraculous destruction of the Abyssinian army under Abrahatu 'l-Ashram by birds when invading Makkah with elephants, in the year that Muhammad was born.

Fate of previous nations who rejected their teachers.
Admonition to those who rely too much on their prosperity.

Exhortation to practise charity.

Muhammad encouraged and bidden to remember how God has cared for him hitherto; he is to be charitable, in return, and to publish God's goodness.

God has made Muhammad's mission easier to him.

Muhammad is commanded to offer the sacrifices out of his abundance.
Threat that his enemies shall he childless.

Four Surahs. The opening of Muhammad's Ministry. Surah xcvi. contains the command to recite, and, according to the Traditions, it was the first revelation.

Muhammad's first call to read the Qur'an.
Denunciation of Abu Lahab for his opposition.

(The latter verses of this Surah are admitted to be of a later date than the former.)

Declaration of God's unity.

(This short Suruh is highly esteemed, and recited in the daily liturgy.)

"Say: He is God alone:
God the Eternal!
He begetteth not,
And is not begotten;
And there is none like unto Him."

Muhammad while covered up is bidden to arise and preach.
Denunciation of a rich infidel who mocks at the revelation.
Hell and its nineteen angels.
The infidels rebuked for demanding material scriptures as a proof of Muhammad's mission.

Denunciation ,of Abu Lahab and his wife, who are threatened with hell fire.

Nineteen Surahs, chiefly descriptions of the Resurrection, Paradise, and Hell, with reference to the growing opposition of the Quraish, given from the commencement of Muhammad's public ministry to the Abyssinian emigration.

Muhammad shall not forget any of the revelation save what God pleases.
The revelation is the same as that given to Abraham and Moses.

Tbe Qur'an revealed on the night of power.
Its excellence.
Angels descend thereon.

Description of the Last Day, Heaven and Hell.

The Prophet rebuked for frowning on a poor blind believer.
The Creation and Resurrection

Signs of the Judgment Day.
The books of men's actions.
The Resurrection.
Denunciation of misbelievers.

Terrors of the Judgment Day.
The female child who has been buried alive will demand vengeance.

Allusion to the Prophet's vision of Gabiel on Mount Hira'.
He is vindicated from the charge of madness.

By the night-star, every soul has a guardian angel.
Creation and resurrection of man.
The plot of the infidels shall be frustrated.

Prophecy that men shall join Islam troops.

Denunciation of those who persecute believers.
Example of the fate of Pharaoh and Samud.

Fraudulent traders are warned.
Sijjin, the register of the act's of the wicked.
Hell and heaven.

Description of the Day of Judgment, hell and heaven.

Oath by the angels who execute God behests.
Terrors of the Last Day.
Roll and Heaven.

Man's conception and birth.
Unbelievers warned and believers promise a reward.
Exhortation to charity.
Bliss of the charitable in Paradise.
The Qur'an revealed by degrees.
Only those believe whom God wills.

The Resurrection.
Muhammad is bidden not to be hurried in repeating the Qur'an so as to commit it to memory.
Dying agony of an infidel.

An unbeliever mockingly calls for a judgment on himself and his companions.
The terrors of the Judgment Day.
Man's ingratitude.
Adultery denounced.
Certainty of the Judgment Day.

The Prophet will not follow the religion of the misbelievers.

Denunciation of the unbelieving and uncharitable.

An enumeration of the works of the Lord ending with a description of Paradise and Hell.
A refrain runs throughout this chapter:-
"Which then of your Lord's bounties do ye I wain deny?"

Terrors of the inevitable Day of Judgment.
Description of Paradise and Hell.
Proofs in Nature.
None but the clean may touch the Qur'an.
The condition of a dying man.

Twenty-two Surahs, given from the sixth to the tenth year of Muhammad's ministry. With this period begin the narratives of the Jewish Scriptures, and Rabbinical and Arab legends. The temporary compromise with idolatry is connected with Surah liii.

God the Lord of heavens. The marvels thereof.
The discomfiture of the misbelievers in Hell.
The power of God exhibited in Nature.
Warnings and threats of punishment.

Oath by the star that Muhammad's vision of his ascent to heaven was not a delusion.
Description of the same.
The amended passage relating to idolatry.
Wickedness of asserting the angels to be females.
God's Omniscience.

Rebuke of an apostle who paid another to take upon him his burden at the Judgment Day.
Definition of true religion.
God's attributes.

The Qur'an is truth from the Lord.
God the Creator and Governor.
The Resurrection.
Conduct of true believers when they hear the word.
Their reward.
The punishment of misbelievers.
Description of Hell.
The people are exhorted, to believe and are admonished by the fate of the ruined cities they see around them.
They are warned of the Judgment Day.

Rebuke to the idolaters who say they serve false gods as a means of access to God himself.
The unity of God, the Creator and Controller of the universe.
His Independence and omnipotence.
Ingratitude of men for God's help.
Difference between the believers and unbelievers.
Muhammad is called to sincerity of religion and to Islam.
He is to fear the torment at the Judgment Day if be disobeys the call.
Hell-fire is prepared for the infidels.
Paradise promised to those who avoid idolatry.
The irrigation of the soil and the growth of corn are signs.
The Qur'an makes the skin of those who fear God creep.
Threat of the Judgment Day.
The Makkans are warned by the fate of their predecessors not to reject the Qur'an.
Parable showing the uncertain position of the idoIators.
Muhammad not immortal.
Warning to those who lie against God, and promise of reward to those who assert the truth.
Muhammad is not to be frighten the Idols of the Makkans.
Their helplessness demonstrated.
The Qur'an is a guide, but the Prophet cannot compel men to follow it.
Human souls are taken to God during sleep, and those who are destined to live on are sent-back.
No intercession allowed with God.
The doctrine of the unity of God terrifies the idolaters.
Prayer to God to decide between them.
The infidels will regret on the Resurrection Day.
Ingratitude of man for God's help in trouble.
The Makkans are warned by the fate of their predecessors.
Exhortation to repentance before it is too late.
Salvation of the God-fearing.
God the creator and controller of every thing.
Description of the Last Judgment.
All souls driven in troops to heaven or to hell.

Muhammad, when wrapped up in his mantle, is bidden to arise and pray.
Is bidden to repeat the Qur'an and to practice devotion by night.
He is to bear with the unbelievers for a while.
Pharaoh rejects the apostle sent to him.
Stated times for prayer prescribed.
Almsgiving prescribed.

The coming of the Day of Judgment.
The call of Moses.
His interview with Pharaoh.
Chastisement of the latter.
The Creation and Resurrection.

The splitting asunder of the moon.
Muhammad accused of imposture.
The Makkans warned by the stories of Noah and the Deluge, of Samud, the people of Sodom, and Pharaoh.
The sure coming of the Judgment.

The omniscience of God.
Those who have received knowledge recognise the revelation.
The unbelievers mock at Muhammad for preaching the Resurrection.
The birds and mountains sing praises with David.
Iron softened for him.
He makes coats of mail.
The wind subjected to Solomon.
A fountain of brass made to flow for him.
The jinns compelled to work for him.
His death only the covered by means of the worm that gnawed.
The staff that supported his corpse.
The prosperity of Saba. Bursting of the dyke (al-'Arim') and ruin of the town. Helplessness of the false gods.
They cannot intercede for their worshippers when assembled at the Last Day.
The proud and the weak shall dispute as to which misled the others.

The affluence of the Makkans will only increase their ruin.
The angels shall disown the worshippers of false gods.
The Makkans accuse Muhammad of imposture.
So did other nations deal with their Prophets and were punished for it.
Muhammad is cleared of the suspicion of insanity.
The wretched plight of the misbelievers on the Last Day.

The Qur'an a guidance to believers.
Denunciation of one who purchased Persian legends and preferred them to the Qur'an.
God in Nature.
Other gods can create nothing.
Wisdom granted to Luqman.
His advice to his son.
The obstinacy of the infidels rebuked.
If the sea were ink and the trees pens, they would not suffice to write the words of the Lord.
God manifest in the night and day, in the sun and moon, and in rescuing men dangers by sea.
God only knows the future.

The inevitable judgment.
Fate of those who denied it, of Ad, Samud, and Pharaoh.
The Deluge and the Last Judgment.
Vindication of Muhammad from the charge of having 'forged the Qur'an.

Muhammad is neither mad nor an imposter.
Denounced by an insolent opponent.
Example from the fate of the owner of the gardens.
Unbelievers threatened. Muhammad exhorted to be patient and not to follow the example of Jonah.

The Makkans are called on to believe the Qur'an.
The creation of the heavens and the earth.
Warning from the fate of 'Ad and Samud.
The very skins of the unbelievers shall bear witness against them on the Day of Judgment.
Punishment of those who reject the Qur'an.
The angels descend and encourage those who believe.
Precept to return good for evil.
Refuge to be sought with God against temptation from the devil.
Against sun and moon worship.
The angels praise God though the Idolators are too proud to do so.
The quickening of the earth with rain is a sign.
The Qur'an a confirmation of previous scriptures.
If it had been revealed in a foreign tongue the people would have objected that they could not understand it, and that the Prophet, being an Arab, should have had a revelation in his own language.
Moses' scripture was also the subject of dispute.
God is omniscient.
The false gods will desert their worshippers at the Resurrection.
Man's ingratitude for God's help in trouble.
God is sufficient witness of the truth.

Noah's preaching to the Antediluvians.
Their five idols also worshipped by the Arabs.
Their fate.

Oath by Mount Sinai and other things.
Terrors of the Last Day.
Bliss of Paradise.
Muhammad is neither a madman, soothsayer, poet, nor impostor.
Reproof of the Makkans for their superstitions, and for proudly rejecting the Prophet.

Proofs in nature of a future life.
Example of the fate of the nations, of old who rejected the apostles.
Creation of man.
God's proximity to him.
The two recording angels.
Death and Resurrection.
The Last Judgment and exhortation to believe.

God revealed in nature.
Denunciation of the infidels.
Trading by sea a sign of God's providence.
The law first given to Israel, then to Muhammad in the Qur'an.
Answer to the Infidels who deny the Resurrection, and warning of their fate on that day.

Night of the revelation of the Qur'an.
Unity of God.

Threat of the Last Day, when a smoke shall cover the heavens, and the unbelievers shall be punished for rejecting the Prophet, and saying he is taught by others or distracted.
Fate of Pharaoh for rejecting Moses.
Fate of the people of Jubba'.
The Judgment Day.
The tree Zaqqum and the punishment of hell.
Paradise and the virgins thereof.
The Qur'an revealed in Arabic for an admonition.

Oath by the angels ranged in rank, by those who drive the clouds, and by those who rehearse the Qur'an, that God is alone!
They guard. the gates of heaven, and pelt the devil, who would listen there, with shooting-stars.
Do the Makkans imagine themselves stronger than the angels, that they mock of God's signs and deny the Resurrection?
The false gods and the Makkans shall recriminate each other at the Judgment Day.
They say now, "Shall, we leave our gods for a mad poet?"
They shall taste hell-fire for their unbelief, while the believers are in Paradise.
Description of the delights thereof.
The maidens there.
The blessed shall see their unbelieving former comrades in hell.
Immortality of the blessed.
Az-Zaqqum the accursed tree in hell.
Horrors of that place.
The posterity of Noah were blessed.
Abraham mocks at and breaks the idols.
He is condemned to be burnt alive, but is delivered.
Is commanded to offer up his son as a sacrifice: obeys but his son is spared.
His posterity is blessed.
Moses and Aaron, too, left a good report behind them; so, too, did Elias, who protested against the worship of Baal.
Lot was saved.
Jonah was delivered after having been thrown overboard and swallowed by a fish.
The gourd.
Jonah is sent to preach to the people of the city (of Nineveh).
The Makkans rebuked for saying that God has daughters, and for saving that He is akin to the jinns.
The angels declare that they are but the humble servants of God.
The success of the Prophet and the confusion of the infidels foretold.

Victory of the Persians over the Greeks.
Prophecy of the coming triumph of the latter.
The Makkans warned by the fate of former cities.
The idols shall forsake them at the Resurrection.
The believers shall enter Paradise.
God is to be praised hi the morning and evening and at noon and sunset.
His creation of man and of the universe and His providence are signs.
He is the incomparable Lord of all.
Warning against idolatry and schism.
Honesty inculcated and usury reproved.
God only creates and kills.
Corruption in the earth through sin.
The fate of former idolaters.
Exhortation to believe before the sudden coming of the Judgment Day.
God's sending rain to quicken the earth is a sign of His power.
Muhammad cannot make the deaf hear his message.
Warning of the Last Day.

Muhammad is not to be vexed by the people's unbelief.
Though called a liar now, his cause shall triumph in the end.
Moses and Pharaoh.
He fears lest he may be killed for slaying the Egyptian.
Pharaoh charges him with ingratitude.
Their dispute about God.
Pharaoh claims to be God himself.
The miracles of the God and the white hand.
Moses' contest with the magicians.
The magicians, are conquered and believe.
Pharaoh threatens them with condign punishment.
The Israelites leave Egypt and are pursued.
The passing of the Red Sea and destruction of Pharaoh and his hosts.
The history of Abraham.
He preaches against idolatry.
Noah is called a liar and vindicated.
Hud preaches to the people of 'Ad and Salih to Samud.
The latter hamstring the she-camel and perish.
The crime and punishment of the people of Sodom.
The people of the Grove and the prophet Shu'aib.
The Qur'an revealed through the instrumentality of the Faithful Spirit (Gabriel) in plain Arabic.
The learned Jews recognise its truth from the prophecies in their own scriptures.
The devils could not have brought it.
Muhammad Is to be meek towards believers and to warn his clansmen.
Those upon whom the devils descend namely, the poets who wander distraught, in every vale.

Misbelievers will one day regret their misbelief.
No city was ever destroyed without warning.
The infidels mockingly ask Muhammad to bring down angels to punish them.
So did the sinners of old act towards their apostles.
There are signs enough in the zodiac guarded as they are from the devils who are pelted with shooting-stars if they attempt to listen.
All nature is under God's control.
Man created from clay, and jinn from smokeless fire.
The angels bidden to adore Adam.
The devil refuses, is cursed and expelled out respited until the Day of Judgment.
Is allowed to seduce mankind.
Hell, with its seven doors, promised misbelievers, and Paradise to believers.
Story of Abraham's angelic guests.
They announce to him the birth of a son.
They proceed to Lot's family.
The crime and punishment of the people of Sodom.
The ruined cities still remain to tell the tale.
Similar fate of the people of the Grove and of al-Hijr.
The hour draws nigh.
The Lord Omniscient, Creator has sent the Qur'an and the seven verses of repetition.
Muhammad is not to grieve at the worldly success of unbelievers.
Those who dismember the Qur'an threatened with punishment.
Muhammad is encouraged against the unbelievers.

Oaths by different natural phenomena that the Judgment Day will come.
Story of Abraham's entertaining the angels.
The destruction of Sodom.
Fate of Pharaoh, of 'Ad, of Samud, of the people of Noah.
Vindication of Muhammad against the charges of imposture or madness.

Thirty-one Surahs. From the tenth year of Muhammad's ministry to the flight from Makkah.

The Surahs of this period contain some narratives from the gospel. The rites of pilgrimage are enjoined. The cavillings of Quraish are refuted; and we have vivid picturings of the Resurrection and Judgment, Heaven and hell, with proof's of God'e unity, power and providence.

From, stage to stage the Surahs become, on the average, longer, and some of them Now fill many pages. In the latter Surahs of this period, we meet not unfrequently with Madinah passages, which have been interpolated as bearing on some connected subject. As examples may be taken, verse 40 of Surah xiii., in which permission is given to bear arms against the Makkans; verse 33, Surah xvii., containing rules for the administration of justice; verse 111, Surah xvi., referring to such believers as had fled their country and fought for the faith;' being all passages which could have been promulgated only after the Flight to al-Madinah.

God the only God and Creator.
The unbelievers call Muhammad a sorcerer or a forger.
The book of Moses was revealed before and the Qur'an is a confirmation of it in Arabic.
Conception, birth, and life of man.
Kindness to parents and acceptance of Islam enjoined.
The unbelievers are warned by the example of 'Ad, who dwell in Ahqaf and by that of the cities whose ruins lie around Makkah.
Allusion to the jinns who listened to Muhammad's preaching at Makkah on his return from at-Ta'if.
Warning to unbelievers of the punishment of the Last Day.

A crowd of jinns listen to Muhammad's teaching at NakIah.
Their account of themselves.
Muhammad exhorted to persevere in preaching.

Praise of God, who makes the Angels his messengers.
God's unity.
Apostles before Muhammad were accused of imposture.
Punishment in store for the unbelievers.
Muhammad is not to be vexed on their account.
God sends rain to quicken the dead earth.
This is a sign of the Resurrection.
The power of God shown in all nature.
The helplessness of the idols.
They will disclaim their worshippers at the Resurrection.
No soul shall bear the burden of another.
Muhammad cannot compel people to believe.
He is only a warner.
Other nations have accused their prophets imposture and perished.
Reward of the God-fearing of believers, and of those who read and follow, the Qur'an,

punishment of bell for the infidels.
The idolaters shall be confounded on Judgment Day.
The Qaraish, in spite of their promises and of the examples around them, are more arrogant and unbelieving than other people.
If God were to punish men as they deserve, he would not leave so much as a beast on the earth; but He respites them for a time.

Muhammad is Gods messenger, and the Qur'an Is a revelation from God to warn a heedless people.
The infidels are predestined not to believe.
All men's work shall be recorded.
The apostles of Jesus rejected at Antioch.
Habibu 'n-Najjar exhorts the people to fellow their advice.
He is stoned to death by the populace.
Gabriel cries out and the sinful people are destroyed.
Men will laugh at the apostles who come to them, but they have an example in the nations who have perished before them.
The quickening of the dead earth Is a sign of the Resurrection.
God's power shown in the procreation of species.
The alternation of night and day, the phases of the moon; the aim and moon In their orbits, are signs of God's power.
So, too, the preservation of men in ships at sea.
Almsgiving enjoined.
The unbelievers jeer at the command.
The sadden coming of the Judgment Day.
Blessed state of the believers in Paradise, and misery of the unbelievers in hell.
Muhammad is no mere poet.
The Qur'an an admonition.
God's providence.
The false gods will not be able to help their worshippers.
Proofs of the Resurrection.

Zachariah prays for an heir.
He is promised a son, who is to be called John.
Is struck dumb for three days as a sign.
John is born and given the Book, Judgment, grace, and purity.
Story of Mary.
The annunciation.
Her delivery beneath a palm-tree.
The infant Jesus in the cradle testifies to her innocence and to his own mission.
Warning of the Day of Judgment.
Story of Abraham.
He reproves his father, who threatens to stone him. Abraham prays for him.
Isaac and Jacob are born to him.
Moses communes with God and has Aaron for a help.
Ishmael and Idris mentioned as Prophets.
Their seed, when the signs of the Merciful are read, fall down adoring.
The Mekkans, their successors, are promised reward in Paradise, if they repent ant believe.
The angels only descend at the bidding of the Lord.
Certainty of the Resurrection.
Punishment of those who have rebelled against the Merciful.
Reproof of one who said he should have wealth and children on the Judgment Day.
The false gods shall deny their worshippers then.
The devils sent to tempt unbelievers.
The gathering of the Judgment Day.
All nature is convulsed at the imputation that the Merciful has begotten a son.
This revelation is only to warn mankind by the example of the generations who have passed away.

The Qur'an is a warning especially to those who say God has begotten a son.
Muhammad is not to grieve if they refuse to believe.
Story of the Fellows of the Cave.
Their number known only to God Muhammad rebuked for promising a revelation on the subject.
He is enjoined to obey God in all things, and not to be induced to give up his poorer followers.
Hell-fire threatened for the unbelievers and Paradise promised to the good.
Parable of the proud man's garden which was destroyed while that of the humble man flourished.
This life is like the herb that springs up and perishes.
Good works are more lasting than wealth and children.
The Last Day.
The devil refuses to adore Adam.
The men are not to take him for a patron.
They shall be forsaken by their patrons at the Last Day.
Men would believe, but that the example of those of yore must be repeated.
Misbelievers are unjust, and shall not he allowed to understand, or be guided.
That God is merciful.
Story of Moses and his servant in search of al-Khizr.
They lose their fish at the confluence of the two seas.
They meet a strange prophet, who bide Moses not question anything he may do.
He scuttles a ship, kills a boy, and builds up a tottering wall.
Moses desires an explanation, which the stranger gives, and leaves him.
Story of Zu 'l-Qarnain.
Be travels to the ocean of the setting sun.

Builds a rampart to keep in Gog and Magog.
These are to be let loose again before the Judgment Day.
Reward and punishment on that day.
Were the sea ink, it would not suffice for the words of the Lord.
The Prophet is only a mortal.

The Qur'an a guidance to believers.
God appears to Moses in the fire.
Moses is sent to Pharaoh with signs, but is called a sorcerer.
David and Solomon endowed with knowledge.
Solomon taught the speech of birds.
His army of men, jinns, and birds, marches through the valley of the ant.
One ant bids the rest retire to their holes lest Solomon and his hosts crush them.
Solomon smiles and answers her.
He reviews the birds and misses the hoopoe, who, returning, brings news of the magnificence of the Queen of Sheba.
Solomon sends him back with a letter to the Queen.
A demon brings him her throne.
She comes to Solomon, recognises her throne; marvels at the palace with the glass floor, which she mistakes for water.
Becomes a Muslim.
Samud reject Salih and perish.
Lot is saved, while the people of Sodom are destroyed.
The Lord, the God of nature; the only God and Creator.
Certainty of the Resurrection.
The ruins of ancient cities an example.
The Qur'an decides disputed points, for the Jews.
Muhammad bidden to trust in God, for he cannot make the deaf to hear his message.
The beset that shall appear at the Resurrection.
Terrors of the Last Day.
The Prophet bidden to worship the Lord of this land, to recite the Qur'an, and to become a Muslim.

The Qur'an inspired by God to warn the Mother of cities of the judgment to come.
God is one, the Creator of all things, who provides for all.
He calls men to the same religion as that of the prophets of old, which men have broken up into sects.
Muhammad has only to proclaim his message.
Those who argue shout God shall be confuted.
Nono knows when the hour shall come but God.
The idolaters shall only have their portion in this life.
God will vindicate the truth of His revelation.
His creation and providence signs of His power.
Men's misfortunes by land and sea are due to their own sins.
The provision of the next world is best for the righteous.
It is not sinful to retaliate if wronged, though forgiveness is a duty.
The sinners shall have none to help them the Day of Judgment.
They are exhorted to repent before it comes.
Ingratitude of man.
God controls all.
No mortal has ever seen God face to face.
He speaks to men only through inspiration His apostles.
This Qur'an was revealed by a spirit to do into the right way.

Attributes of God.
Muhammad encouraged by the fate of other nations who rejected their apostles.
The angels' prayer for the believers.
Despair in hell of the idolaters.
The terrors of the Judgment Day.
God alone the Omniscient Judge.
The vestiges of former nations are still visible in the land to warn the people.
The story of Moses and Pharaoh.
The latter wished to kill Moses, but a believer makes a long appeal.
Pharaoh bids Haman construct a tower to mount up to the God of Moses.
God saves the believer, and Pharaoh is ruined by his own devices.
Mutual recrimination of the damned.
Exhortation to patience and praise.
Those who wrangle about God rebuked.
The certain coming of the Hour.
The unity of God asserted and His attributes enumerated.
Idolatry forbidden.
The conception, birth, life, and death of man.
Idolaters shall find out their error in hell.
Muhammad encouraged to wait for the issue.
Cattle to ride on and to eat are signs of God's providence.
The example of the nations who perished of old for rejecting the apostles.

Oath by the Qur'an.
Example of former generations who perished for unbelief, and for saying that their prophets were sorcerers and the Scriptures forgeries.
The Makkans are warned thereby.
Any hosts of the confederates shall be routed.

Fate of the people of Noah, 'Ad, Pharaoh, Samud, and Lot.
The Makkans must expect the same.
Muhammad exhorted to be patient of what they say.
He is reminded of the powers bestowed on David.
The parable of the ewe lambs proposed to David by the two antagonists.
David exhorted not to follow lust.
The heaven and earth were not created in vain, as the misbelievers think.
The Qur'an a reminder.
Solomon, lost in admiration of his horses, neglects his devotions but, repenting, slays them.
A jinn in Solomon's likeness is sot on his throne to punish him.
He repents and prays God for a kingdom such as no one should ever possess again.
The wind and the devils made subject to him.
The patience of Job.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Elisha and Zu 'l-Kifl
Happiness of the righteous in Paradise.
Misery and mutual recrimination of the wicked in hell.
Muhammad only sent to warn people and proclaim God's unity.
The creation of man and disobedience of Iblis, who is expelled.
He is respited till the Judgment Day, that he may seduce people to misbelief.
But he 'and those who follow him shall fill hell.

The Discrimination sent down as a warning that God is one, the Creator and Governor of all; yet the Makkans call it old folks' tales.
They object that the Prophet acts and lives as a mere mortal or is crazy.
Hell-fire shall be the punishment of those who disbelieve in the Resurrection.
Description of the Judgment Day.
The Quraish object that the Qur'an was revealed piecemeal.
Moses and. Aaron and Noah were treated like Muhammad, but those who called them liars were punished.
'Ad and Samud perished for the same sin.
The ruins of the cities of the plain are existing examples.
Yet they will not accept the Prophet.
God controls the shadow, gives night for a repose, quickens the deed earth with for a repose, quickens the deed earth rain.
He lets loose the two seas, but places a barrier between them.
He has created man.
He is the loving and merciful God.
The Quraish object to the Merciful as a new God.
The lowly and moderate are His servants.
They abstain from idolatry, murder, false witness, and frivolous discourse.
These shall be rewarded.
God cares nothing for the rejection of his message by the infidels.
Their punishment shall be lasting.

The Qur'an a reminder from the Merciful, who owns all things and knows all things.
There is no god but He.
His are the excellent names.
Story of Moses.
He perceives the fire and is addressed from it by God in the holy valley Tuvan.
God shows him the miracle of the staff turned to a snake and of the white hand.
Sends him to Pharaoh.
Moses excuses himself because of the impediment in his speech.
Aaron is given him as a minister.
Moses' mother throws him into the sea.
His sister watches him.
He is restored to his mother.
Slays an Egyptian and flees to Midian.
Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and call on him to believe.
Pharaoh charges them with: being magicians.
Their contest with the Egyptian magicians, who believe, and are threatened with punishment by Pharaoh.
Moses leads the children of Israel across the sea, by a dry road.
Pharaoh and his people are overwhelmed.
The covenant on Mount Sinai.
The miracle of the manna and quails.
As-Samiri makes the calf in Moses absence.
Moses seizes his brother angrily by the beard and destroys the calf.
Misbelievers threatened with the terrors of the Resurrection Day.
Fate of the mountains on that day.
All men shall be summoned to judgment. No intercession shall avail except from such as the Merciful permits.
The Qur'an is in Arabic that people may fear and remember.
Muhammad is not to hasten on its revelation.
Adam broke his covenant with God.
Angels bidden to adore Adam.
Iblis refuses.
Tempts Adam.
Adam, Eve and the Devil expelled from Paradise.
Misbelievers shall be gathered together blind on the Resurrection Day.
The Makkans pass by the ruined dwelling of the generations who have been aforetime destroyed for unbelief.
But for the Lord's word being passed, they would have perished too.
Muhammad is exhorted to hear their insults patiently and to praise God through the day.
Prayer enjoined.

The fate of those of yore a sufficient sign.
Let them wait and see the issue.

The original of the Qur'an is with God.
The example of the nations of old who mocked at the prophets.
God the Creator.
Men are hidden to praise Him who provides man with ships and cattle whereon to ride.
The Arabs are rebuked for attributing female offspring to God, when, they themselves repine when a female child is born to any one of them.
They are also blamed for asserting that, the angels are female.
The excuse that this was the religion of their fathers, will not avail.
It s the same as older nations made.
Their fate.
Abraham disclaimed idolatry.
The Makkans were permitted to enjoy prosperity only until the Apostle came, and now that be has come they reject him.
They are reproved for saying that had the Prophet been a man of consideration at Makkah and at-Ta'if, they would have owned him.
Misbelievers would have had still more wealth and enjoyment, but that men would have then all become infidels.
Those who turn from the admonition shall be chained to devils, who shall mislead them.
God will take vengeance on them, who Muhammad live to see it or not.
He is encouraged to persevere.
Moses was mocked by Pharaoh whom he was sent to warn.
But Pharaoh and his people were drowned.
Answer to the Arabs, who objected that Jesus, too, must come under the ban against false gods.
But Jesus did not assume to be a god.
Threat of the coming of the Hour.
The joys of Paradise and the terrors of Hell.
The damned shall beg Málik to make an end of them.
The recording angels note down the secret of the infidels.
God has no son.
He is the Lord of all.

The Qur'an revealed in Arabic that the Makkans may understand.
It contains the best of stories.
Story of Joseph.
He tells his father his dream.
Jacob advises him to keep it to himself.
Jealousy of Joseph's brethren.
They conspire to throw him in a pit.
Induce his father to let him go with them.
They cast him in the pit, and bring home his shirt covered with lying blood.
Travellers discover him and sell him into Egypt.
He is adopted by his master.
His mistress endeavours to seduce him.
His innocence proved.
His mistress shows him to the women of the city to excuse her conduct.
Their amazement at his beauty.
He is imprisoned.
Interprets the dreams of the baker and the cupbearer.
Pharaoh's dream.
Joseph is sent for to expound it.
He is appointed to a situation of trust in the land.
His brethren arrive and do not renognise him.
They ask for corn and he requires them to bring their youngest brother as the condition of his giving it to them.
The goods they had brought to barter are returned to their sacks.
Benjamin is sent back.
Joseph discovers himself to him.
Joseph places the king's drinking-cup in his brother's pack.
Accuses them all of the theft.
Takes Benjamin as a bondsman for the theft.
They return to Jacob, who, in great grief, sends them back again, to bring him news.
Joseph discovers himself to them and sends back his shirt.
Jacob recognises it by the smell.
Jacob goes back with them to Egypt.
This story appealed to as a proof of the truth of the Revelation.

The Qur'an a book calling men to believe in the unity of God.
Nothing is hidden from Him.
He is the Creator of all.
Men will not believe, and deem themselves secure, because their punishment is deferred.
They demand a sign, or say the Qur'an is invented by the Prophet; but they and their false gods together cannot bring ten such Surahs.
Misbelievers threatened with future punishment, while believers are promised Paradise.
Noah was likewise sent, but his people objected that he was a mere mortal like themselves, and only followed, by the meaner sort of men.
He also is accused of having invented his revelation.
He is saved in the ark and the unbelievers drowned.
He endeavours to save his son.
The ark settles on Mount al-Judi.
Hud was sent to 'Ad.
His people plotted against him and were destroyed while he was saved.

Salih was sent to Samud.
The she camel given for a sign.
The people hamstring her and perish.
Abraham entertains the angels who were sent to the people of Lot.
He pleads for them.
Lot offers his daughters to the people of Sodom, to spare the angels.
He escapes by night, and Sodom is destroyed.
Shu'aib is sent to Midian, and his people, rejecting his mission, perish too.
Moses sent to Pharaoh, who shall be punished at the Resurrection.
The Makkans, too, shall be punished.
They are threatened with the Judgment Day, when they shall be sent to hell, while the believers are in Paradise.
The Makkans are bidden to take warning by the fate of the cities whose stories are related above.
These stories are intended to strengthen the Prophet's heart.
He is bidden to wait and leave the issue to God.

No wonder that the Qur'an was revealed to a mere man.
Misbelievers deem him a sorcerer.
God the Creator and Ruler.
No one can intercede with Him except by His permission.
Creation Is a sign of His power.
Reward hereafter for the believers.
Man calls on God in distress, but forgets Him when deliverance comes.
Warning from the fall of former generations.
The Infidels are not satisfied with the Qur'an.
Muhammad dare not invent a false revelation.
False gods can neither harm nor profit them.
People require a sign.
God saves people in dangers by land and sea.
This life is like grass.
Promise of Paradise and threat of Hell.
Fate of the idolaters and false gods at the Last Day.
God the Lord of all.
Other religions are mere conjecture.
The Qur'an could only have been devised by God.
The Makkans are challenged to produce a single Surah like it.
Unbelievers warned of the Last Day by the fate of previous nations.
Reproval of those who prohibit lawful things.
God is ever watchful over the Prophet's actions.
Happiness of the believers.
The infidels cannot harm the Prophet.
Refutation of those who ascribe offspring to God.
Muhammad encouraged by the story of Noah and the other prophets of old.
Pate of Pharaoh and vindication of Moses and Aaron.
The people of the Book (Jews and Christians) appealed to In confirmation of the truth of the Qur'an.
The story of Jonah.
The people of Nlneveh saved by repenting and believing in time.
The people are exhorted to embrace Islam, the faith of the Hanif.
God alone is powerful.
Belief or unbelief affect only the individual himself.
Resignation and patience inculcated.

The Qur'an revealed to bring men from darkness Into light.
God Is Lord of all.
No apostle sent except with the language of his own people.
Moses sent to Pharaoh.
The people of Noah.
'Ad and Samud objected that their prophets were mortals like themselves.
The prophets relied on God, who vindicated them.
Frightful description of hell.
Misbelievers are like ashes blown away by the stormy wind.
Helplessness of the damned.
But believers are in Paradise.
A good word is like a good tree whose root is in the earth and whose branches are in the sky, and which gives, fruit in all seasons.
A bad word is as a tree that is felled.
God's word is sure.
Idolaters are threatened with hell-fire. God is. the Creator of all.
He subjects all things to man's use.
Abraham prayed that the territory of Makkah might be a sanctuary.
The unjust are only respited till the Judgment Day.
The ruins of the dwellings of those who have perished for the denying the mission of their apostles, are a proof of the truth of Muhammad's mission.
The Lord will take vengeance on the Last Day, when sinners shall burn in hell with shirts of pitch to cover them.
The Qur'an is a warning and an admonition.

Light and darkness are both created by God.
Rebuke to idolaters.
They are exhorted to take warning, by the fate of those of old who rejected the prophets.
Had the revelation been a material book, they would have disbelieved it.

If the Prophet had. been an angel, he would have come in the guise of a man.
Attributes of God.
Muhammad bidden to become a Muslim.
Those who have the Scriptures ought to recognise Muhammad as the one foretold in them.
The idolaters will he disappointed of the intercession of their gods 'on the Judgment Day.
They deny the Resurrection Day now, but hereafter they will have awful proof of its truth.
The next world is preferable to this.
Prophets aforetime were also mocked at, and they were patient.
God could send them a sign if He pleased.
Beasts, birds, and the like, are communities like men.
Their fate is all written in the book.
They, too, shall be gathered on the Judgment Day.
Arguments in proof of the supreme power of God.
Muhammad is only a messenger.
He is to disclaim miraculous power.
Is not to repulse believers.
He is bidden to abjure idolatry and not follow the lusts of the Makkans.
God's omniscience.
He takes men's souls to himself during sleep.
Sends guardian angels to watch over them.
Preserves men in danger by land and sea.
Muhammad is not to join in discussions on religion with idolaters, nor to associate with those who make a sport of it.
Folly of idolatry set forth.
God the Creator.
Abraham's perplexity in seeking after the true God.
Worships successively the stars, the moon, and the sun, but, is convinced that they are not gods by seeing them set.
Turns to God and becomes a Hanif.
Other Prophets of old were inspired.
The Qur'an is also a special revelation from God to the Makkans, fulfilling their Scriptures, but, the Jews have perverted or suppressed parts of them.
Denunciation of one who falsely pretended to be inspired.
The Creation a proof of God's