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322
THE QUR'ÂN.
LXXXI, 5-28
And when the seas shall surge up, And when souls shall be paired with bodies, And when the child who was buried alive shall be
asked for what sin she was slain?, [10] And when the pages shall be spread out, And when the heaven shall be flayed, And when hell shall be set ablaze, And when Paradise shall be brought nigh, The soul shall know what it has produced ! [15] I need not swear by the stars that slink back,
moving swiftly, slinking into their dens! Nor by the night when darkness draws on! Nor by the morn when it first breathes up! Verily, it is the speech of a noble apostle, [20] mighty, standing sure with the Lord of the throne,
obeyed and trusty too! Your comrade is not mad; he saw him on the plain
horizon, nor does he grudge to communicate the
unseen [25] Nor is it the speech of a pelted devils. Then whither do ye go ? It is but a reminder to the worlds, to whomsoever
of you pleases to go straight :-but ye will not please, except God, the Lord of the world, should please.
* See Part I, p. 132, note 3, and p. 256, note 2. See also Introduction, p. x.
2 Gabriel. s See Chapter LIII, verses 1-19, pp. 251, 252. * Some copies have a various reading, suspicious of.' 5 See Part I, note 2, pp. 50, 51.
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