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264
THE QUR'ÂN.
LVI, 38-66.
A crowd of those of yore, and a crowd of those of
the latter day! [40] And the fellows of the left—what unlucky
fellows! In hot blasts and boiling water; And a shade of pitchy smoke, Neither cool nor generous ! Verily, they were affluent ere this, [45] and did persist
in mighty crime; and used to say, 'What, when we die and have become dust and bones, shall we
then indeed be raised ? or our fathers of yore ?' Say, 'Verily, those of yore and those of the latter
day (50) shall surely be gathered together unto
the tryst of the well-known day. Then ye, O ye who err! who say it is a lie! shall
eat of the Zaqqûm tree! and fill your bellies with it! and drink thereon of boiling water! [55] and
drink as drinks the thirsty camel. This is their entertainment on the judgment day! We created you, then why do ye not credit ? Have ye considered what ye emit? Do we create it, or are we the creators ? [60] We have decreed amongst you death ; but we
are not forestalled from making the likes of you
in exchange, or producing you as ye know not of. Ye do know the first production—why then do ye
not mind? Have ye considered what ye till ? Do ye make it bear seed, or do we make it bear seed ? [65] If we pleased we could make it mere grit, so that
ye would pause to marvel : 'Verily,we have got into debt? and we are excluded2.'
1 I. e. for seed and labour.
From reaping the fruits of it.
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