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22
THE QUR'ÂN.
XIX, 65-75.
of thy Lord; His is what is before us, and what is behind us, and what is between those ; for thy Lord is never forgetful,—the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and of what is between the two; then serve Him and persevere in His service. Dost thou know a namesake of His ?
Man will say, "What! when I have died shall I then come forth alive? Does not man then remember that we created him before when he was naught?'
And by thy Lord! we will surely gather them together, and the devils too; then we will surely bring them forward around hell, on their knees !
[70] Then we will drag off from every sect whichever of them has been most bold against the Merciful.
Then we know best which of them deserves most to be broiled therein.
There is not one of you who will not go down to it,--that is settled and decided by thy Lord 1
Then we will save those who fear us; but we will leave the evildoers therein on their knees.
And when our signs are recited to them manifest, those who misbelieve say to those who believe, Which of the two parties is best placed and in the best company ?'
[75] And how many generations before them
by the Mohammedan commentators is, that these are the words of the angel Gabriel, in answer to Mohammed's complaint of long intervals elapsing between the periods of revelation.
1 This is interpreted by some to mean that all souls, good and bad, must pass through hell, but that the good will not be harmed. Others think it merely refers to the passage of the bridge of el Aarâf.
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