But for those who shall have believed and done the things that be right, are the Gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow.  This the immense bliss!

Verily, right terrible will be thy Lord’s vengeance!

He it is who produceth all things, and causeth them to return;

And is He the Indulgent, the Loving;

Possessor of the Glorious throne;

Worker of that he willeth.

Hath not the story reached thee of the hosts

Of Pharaoh and Themoud?

Nay! the infields are all for denial: 

But God surroundeth them from behind.

Yet it is a glorious Koran,

Written on the preserved Table.

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1 Lit.  By the Heaven furnished with towers, where the angels keep watch; also, the signs of the Zodiac:  this is the usual interpretation.  See Sura xv. 15.

2 That is, by Muhammad and by Islam; or, angels and men.  See, however, v. 7.

3 Prepared by Dhu Nowas, King of Yemen, A.D. 523, for the Christians.  See Gibbon’s Decline and Fall, chap. xii. towards the end.  Pocock Sp.  Hist.  Ar. p. 62.  And thus the comm. generally.  But Geiger (p. 192) and Nöldeke (p. 77 n.) understand the passage of Dan. iii.  But it should be borne in mind that the Suras of this early period contain very little allusion to Jewish or Christian legends.

4 Verses 8-11 wear the appearance of a late insertion, on account of their length, which is a characteristic of the more advanced period.  Observe also the change in the rhymes.

SURA CI.-THE BLOW [XXIX.]

Mecca.-8 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The blow! what is the Blow?

Who shall teach thee what the Blow is?

The Day when men shall be like scattered moths,

And the mountains shall be like flocks of carded wool,

Then as to him whose balances are heavy-his shall be a life that shall please him well: 

And as to him whose balances are light-his dwelling-place1 shall be the pit.

And who shall teach thee what the pit (El-Hawiya) is?

A raging fire!

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1 Lit.  Mother.

SURA XCIX.-THE EARTHQUAKE [XXX.]

Mecca.-8 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

When the Earth with her quaking shall quake

And the Earth shall cast forth her burdens,

And man shall say, What aileth her?

On that day shall she tell out her tidings,

Because thy Lord shall have inspired her.

On that day shall men come forward in throngs to behold their works,

And whosoever shall have wrought an atom’s weight of good shall behold it,