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IN the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
When the sun is folded up,
And when the stars do fall,
And when the mountains are moved,
And when the she-camels ten months' gone with
young shall be neglected 1,
[5] And when the beasts shall be crowded together 2,
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 1,
[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 2 on the plain
horizon 3, nor does he grudge to communicate the unseen 4.
[25] Nor is it the speech of a pelted devil 5.
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.
321:1 Such camels being among the most valuable of an Arab's possessions, neglect of them must imply some terribly engrossing calamity.
321:2 The terrors of the judgment day will drive all the wild beasts together for mutual shelter.
322:1 See Part I, p. 132, note 3, and p. 256, note 2. See also Introduction, p. x.
322:2 Gabriel.
322:3 See Chapter LIII, verses 1-19, pp. 251, 252.
322:4 Some copies have a various reading, 'suspicious of.'
322:5 See Part I, note 2, pp. 50, 51.