THE FOURTH PERIOD

Twenty-two Sūrahs, given from the sixth to the tenth year of Muḥammad’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 Sūrah liii . Chapter LXVII . Sūratu ʾl-Mulk . The Chapter of the Kingdom. 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. Chapter LIII . Sūratu ʾn-Najm . The Chapter of the Star. Oath by the star that Muḥammad’s vision of his ascent to heaven was not a delusion. Description of the same. The amended pa age relating to idolatry. Wickedne of a erting 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. Chapter XXXII . Sūratu ʾs-Sajdah . The Chapter of Adoration. The Qurʾān 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. Chapter XXXIX . Sūratu ʾz-Zumar . The Chapter of the Troops. Rebuke to the idolaters who say they serve false gods as a means of acce to God himself. The unity of God, the Creator and Controller of the universe. His independence and omnipotence. Ingratitude of man for God’s help. Difference between the believers and unbelievers. Muḥammad is called to sincerity of religion and to Islām. He is to fear the torment at the Judgment Day if he 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 Qurʾān makes the skin of those who fear God creep. Threat of the Judgment Day. The Makkans are warned by the fate of their predece ors not to reject the Qurʾān. Parable showing the uncertain position of the idolaters. Muḥammad not immortal. Warning to those who lie against God, and promise of reward to those who a ert the truth. Muḥammad is not to be frightened with the idols of the Makkans. Their helple ne demonstrated. The Qurʾān 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 interce ion 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 predece ors. Exhortation to repentance before it is too late. Salvation of the God-fearing. God the creator and controller of everything. Description of the Last Judgment. All souls driven in troops to heaven or to hell. Chapter LXXIII . Sūratu ʾl-Muzzammil . The Chapter of the Enwrapped. Muḥammad, when wrapped up in his mantle, is bidden to arise and pray. Is bidden to repeat the Qurʾān and to practice devotion by night. He is to bear with the unbelievers for a while. Pharaoh rejected the apostle sent to him. Stated times for prayer prescribed. Almsgiving prescribed. Chapter LXXIX . Sūratu ʾn-Nāziʿāt . The Chapter of those who Tear Out. The coming of the Day of Judgment. The call of Moses. His interview with Pharaoh. Chastisement of the latter. The Creation and Resurrection. Chapter LIV . Sūratu ʾl-Qamar . The Chapter of the Moon. The splitting asunder of the moon. Muḥammad accused of imposture. The Makkans warned by the stories of Noah and the Deluge, of S̤amūd, the people of Sodom, and Pharaoh. The sure coming of the Judgment. Chapter XXXIV . Sūratu Sabaʾ . The Chapter of Sabaʾ. The omniscience of God. Those who have received knowledge recognise the revelation. The unbelievers mock at Muḥammad 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 bra made to flow for him. The jinns compelled to work for him. His death only discovered by means of the worm that gnawed. The staff that supported his corpse. The prosperity of Sabaʾ. Bursting of the dyke (al-ʿArim) and ruin of the town. Helple ne of the false gods. They cannot intercede for their worshippers when a embled at the Last Day. Fate of the misbelievers on that 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 Muḥammad of imposture. So did other nations deal with their Prophets and were punished for it. Muḥammad is cleared of the suspicion of insanity. The wretched plight of the misbelievers on the Last Day. Chapter XXXI . Sūratu Luqmān . The Chapter of Luqmān. The Qurʾān a guidance to believers. Denunciation of one who purchased Persian legends and preferred them to the Qurʾān. God in Nature. Other gods can create nothing. Wisdom granted to Luqmān. 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 from dangers by sea. God only knows the future. Chapter LXIX . Sūratu ʾl-Ḥāqqah . The Chapter of the Inevitable. The inevitable judgment. Fate of those who denied it, of ʿĀd , S̤amūd, and Pharaoh. The Deluge and the Last Judgment. Vindication of Muḥammad from the charge of having forged the Qurʾān. Chapter LXVIII . Sūratu ʾl-Qalam . The Chapter of the Pen. Muḥammad is neither mad nor an impostor. Denounced by an insolent opponent . Example from the fate of the owner of the gardens. Unbelievers threatened. Muḥammad exhorted to be patient and not to follow the example of Jonah. Chapter XLI . Sūratu Fuṣṣilat . The Chapter “Are Detailed.” The Makkans are called on to believe the Qurʾān. The creation of the heavens and the earth. Warning from the fate of ʿĀd and S̤amūd. The very skins of the unbelievers shall bear witne against them on the Day of Judgement. Punishment of those who reject the Qurʾān. 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 Qurʾān 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 witne of the truth. Chapter LXXI . Sūratu Nūḥ . The Chapter of Noah. Noah’s preaching to the Antediluvians. Their five idols also worshipped by the Arabs. Their fate. Chapter LII . Sūratu ʾt̤-T̤ūr . The Chapter of the Mount. Oath by Mount Sinai and other things. Terrors of the Last Day. Bli of Paradise. Muḥammad is neither a madman, soothsayer, poet, nor impostor. Reproof of the Makkans for their superstitions, and for proudly rejecting the Prophet. Chapter L . Sūratu Qāf . The Chapter of Qāf. 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. Chapter XLV . Sūratu ʾl-Jās̤iyah . The Chapter of the Kneeling. 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 Muḥammad in the Qurʾān. Answer to the infidels who deny the Resurrection, and warning of their fate on that day. Chapter XLIV . Sūratu ʾd-Duk͟hān . The Chapter of the Smoke. Night of the revelation of the Qurʾān. 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 Jubbaʿ. The Judgment Day. The tree Zaqqūm and the punishment of hell. Paradise and the virgins thereof. The Qurʾān revealed in Arabic for an admonition. Chapter XXXVII . Sūratu ʾṣ-Ṣāffāt . The Chapter of the Ranged. Oath by the angels ranged in rank, by those who drive the clouds, and by those who rehearse the Qurʾān, that God is one alone! They guard the gates of heaven, and pelt the devils, 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 ble ed shall see their unbelieving former comrades in hell. Immortality of the ble ed. Az-Zaqqūm the accursed tree in hell. Horrors of that place. The posterity of Noah were ble ed. 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 ble ed. 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 saying that He is akin to the jinns. The angels declare that they are but the humble servants of God. The succe of the Prophet and the confusion of the infidels foretold. Chapter XXX . Sūratu ʾr-Rūm . The Chapter of the Greeks. 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 in 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. Muḥammad cannot make the deaf hear his me age. Warning of the Last Day. Chapter XXVI . Sūratu ʾsh-Shuʿarāʾ . The Chapter of the Poets. Muḥammad 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 rod and the white hand. Moses’ contest with the magicians. The magicians are conquered and believe. Pharaoh threatens them with condign punishment. The Israeli tes leave Egypt and are pursued. The pa ing 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. Hūd preaches to the people of ʿĀd and Ṣāliḥ to S̤amūd. 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 Shuʿaib. The Qurʾān 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. Muḥammad 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. Chapter XV . Sūratu ʾl-Ḥijr . The Chapter of al-Ḥijr. Misbelievers will one day regret their misbelief. No city was ever destroyed without warning. The infidels mockingly ask Muḥammad 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 smokele fire. The angels bidden to adore Adam. The devil refuses, is cursed and expelled, but respited until the Day of Judgment. Is allowed to seduce mankind. Hell, with its seven doors, promised to 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-Ḥijr. The hour draws nigh. The Lord Omniscient Creator has sent the Qurʾān and the seven verses of repetition. Muḥammad is not to grieve at the worldly succe of unbelievers. Those who dismember the Qurʾān are threatened with punishment. Muḥammad is encouraged against the misbelievers. Chapter LI . Sūratu ʾẕ-Ẕāriyāt . The Chapter of the Scatterers. 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 ʿĀd, of S̤amūd, and of the people of Noah. Vindication of Muḥammad against the charges of imposture or madne .