Had not favour from his Lord reached him, cast forth would he have been on the naked shore, overwhelmed with shame:
50But his Lord chose him and made him of the just.
Almost would the infidels strike thee down with their very looks when they hear the warning of the Koran. And they say, “ He is certainly possessed.”
Yet is it nothing less than a warning for all creatures.
[XVIII.]
SURA XC.—THE SOIL
Mecca.—20 Verses
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
I need not to swear by this SOIL,
This soil on which thou dost dwell.
Or by sire and offspring![1]
Surely in trouble have we created man.
What! thinketh he that no one hath power over him?
“ I have wasted,” saith he, “ enormous riches!”
What! thinketh he that no one regardeth him?
What! have we not made him eyes.
And tongue, and lips,
10And guided him to the two highways?[2]
Yet he attempted not the steep.
And who shall teach thee what the steep is?
It is to ransom the captive,[3]
Or to feed in the day of famine.
The orphan who is near of kin, or the poor that lieth in the dust;
Beside this, to be of those who believe, and enjoin stedfastness on each other, and enjoin compassion on each other.
These shall be the people of the right hand:
While they who disbelieve our signs,
Shall be the people of the left.
Around them the fire shall close.
- ↑ Lit. and begetter and what he hath begotten.
- ↑ Of good and evil.
- ↑ Thus we read in Hilchoth Matt'noth Aniim, c. 8, “ The ransoming of captives takes precedence of the feeding and clothing of the poor, and there is no commandment so great as this.”
