Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	evil_a	good_a	know_v	2,974	5	4.2147	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47589	The Alcoran of Mahomet, translated out of Arabick into French, by the Sieur Du Ryer, Lord of Malezair, and resident for the French king, at Alexandria. And newly Englished, for the satisfaction of all that desire to look into the Turkish vanities. To which is prefixed, the life of Mahomet, the prophet of the Turks, and author of the Alcoran. With A needful caveat, or admonition, for them who desire to know what use may be made of, or if there be danger in reading the Alcoran.; Koran. English. 1649.	Du Ryer, André, ca. 1580-ca. 1660.; Ross, Alexander, 1591-1654. aut	1688 (1688)	Wing K748; ESTC R213797	330,837	588

not cease to fight you until they have if they can accomplish it mis●…led you from your Religion His good works among you that shall quit his Law and die an Infidel shall be vain in this World and himself be confined in the fire of Hell Such as believe in God that separate themselves from the impious that abandon their Houses for the service of his Divine Majesty and that fight for the Faith hope for his Mercy he is gracious and merciful They will enquire of thee concerning Wine and Games of hazard say unto them that it is in them a very great sin and yet of Utility to Men but the evil that they cause is much greater than the profit they reap They will demand what they ought to expend in good works say unto them what shall remain to you your own Affairs being done So God teacheth you his Commandments peradventure you will call to mind the things of Earth and Heaven They will enquire concerning Orphans say unto them if their substance be intermingled with your own do them no wrong they are your Brethren in God he knoweth them that do good and those that do Evil if it had pleased him he had detained much more from you for he is Omnipotent and just Marry not women that believe in many Gods until they believe in one sole God a Slave that is a true Believer is of more value than a free Infidel notwithstanding she is beautiful Infidels shall be summoned to Hell fire and God calleth men to Paradise and to his mercy through his meer good Pleasure and declareth to them his Commandments perhaps they will remember them They will enquire of thee concerning the Monthly terms of Women answer that they are unclean separate your selves from your Wives when they are menstruous and come not nigh them until they be purified when they shall be clean approach them according to what God hath commanded he loveth them that repent of their Errours that are clean and purified your Wives are your Tillage go to your Tillage at your Pleasure and do good for your Souls you shall one day find it fear God and preach his Commandments to the true Believers Your Religion doth not permit you to swear by God in vain and oftentimes to justifie your selves God understandeth and knoweth all things he will not regard what you shall speak at Random that shall not be hurtful to any but he will see what it shall be in your heart He will be gracious and merciful to such as shall swear not to touch their Wives for the space of four Months if they return to them he is gracious and merciful but if they desire to repudiate them he understandeth and knoweth all things Women divorced shall tarry until their Terms be past four times before they Marry again it is not permitted them to conceal what God hath created in their Womb if they believe in his divine Majesty and the Day of Judgment if they flie from their Husbands they shall be brought again to them which is a thing reasonable They ought to honour them and their Husbands likewise ought to honour them but the Husbands have a degree of advantage above them God is Omnipotent and most wise in what he ordaineth Divorce the first and second time ought to be performed with mildness courtesie and good deeds it is not lawful for you to take any thing from your Wives of what you have given them if you both fear a disability of not satisfying the Commandments of God but if you both fear to transgress the bounds prescribed by God you shall do well to accord together such are the commandments of his Divine Majesty transgress them not such as transgress them are exceedingly to blame He that shall have repudiated his Wife thrice shall not resume her until she hath been married to another that hath divorced her then they may return to each other and marry again without Sin if they think themselves able to continue within the limits prescribed by God which he manifesteth to the wise and prudent When you shall repudiate your Wives appoint them the time they must tarry before they again marry take them with civility and modesty and in the like manner dismiss them give them presents according to your abilities and take them not to abuse nor torment them they that do this offend their own Souls Mock not at the Commandments of God Remember his favours and how he hath taught you Scripture Knowledge and the mysteries of his Law Fear God and know that he understandeth all your actions When you repudiate your Wives appoint them they ought to tarry before they marry again and hinder them not to marry according to the Commandments of God. These things are preached to them among you that believe in God and in the Day of Judgment it is requisite so to make use of them God knoweth what you know not The Women shall give suck to their Children two years entire if they desire to accomplish the time appointed to suckle them the Father shall nourish and cloath the Wife and his Children according to his faculties expend not but according to the measure of your goods the Father and Mother shall not necessitate themselves for their Children the heir shall perform what is above ordained he shall entertain his Father and Mother according to his abilities if the Parents desire to wean their Children before two years be expired they may do it without offending God if they both agree to it If you cause your Children to be nursed by other Women than your own Wives God will not be offended in giving them their sallary according to reason and honesty fear God and know that he seeth what ever you do Widows shall tarry four months and ten nights after the death of their Husbands before they marry again this time being accomplished they shall do what shall seem good to them according to reason and honesty God knoweth all your actions You will not offend God in speaking a word in secret to Women that you research in marriage although you conceal in your mind your design to espouse them he understandeth what ever you think of them know them not secretly until you have pronounced the words appointed by the Law and enter not the bonds of marriage until the time set down in writing be accomplished God knoweth whatever is in your hearts take heed unto your selves he is gentle and gracious to them that fear him It is no sin to repudiate your Wives before you have touched them you shall give them some presents and do good unto them according to the proportion of your wealth or poverty and civilly intreat them as is the custom of honest Men. If you repudiate them before you have touched them and have bestowed on them any presents of garments moveables and other things they shall have the moity if they release it not to you or if the Husband remitting with his own

Seest thou not how he assembleth the clouds how he placeth them one upon another Considerest thou not how the rain falleth through their pores and that God causeth fresh water to descend from the mountains He hath given it to whom seemeth good to him he causeth the brightness of lightning to approach men which blindeth their sight and over whelmeth the day with night These things are signs of his omnipotency to them that consider them He created of a little water all sorts of living Creatures some creep upon the Earth others walk upon two feet and others upon four he created what pleased him he is omnipotent Certainly he hath sen●… a Law clear and intelligible to conduct into the right way whom it shall seem good to him The Infidels say We believe in God and his Prophet nevertheless a party among them abandon his Law and believe not in his divine Majesty When they are called before God and before the Prophet to judge their differences many among them refuse to come if they come it is with contempt They are greatly afflicted at heart do they fear that God and his Prophet will do them injustice On the contrary they themselves are unjust When the True believers are called before God and the Prophet to be judged they say We have heard and obeyed they are not ignorant Those that shall obey God and his Prophet shall be blessed Many swear to fight gallantly for the Faith when they shall be commanded to march against the enemy say unto them Swear not your obedience to the Prophet shall be preferred to your oaths God knoweth whatsoever ye do say unto them Obey God and his Prophet if they be disobedient they shall bear their burden and ye shall bear your own if ye obey ye shall follow the right way The Prophet is obliged onely to preach intelligibly God promiseth to the True believers that shall do good works that they shall live long upon Earth as he promised to them that were before them that they might establish the Law that he gave them he shall change their fear into assurance he shall deliver them from terror that they may adore him alone without Companion He that is wicked will depart from the obedience which he oweth to God Make your prayers at the time appointed pay Tithes and obey the Prophet God shall give you his mercy Believe not that the Infidels are more powerful on Earth than we they shall be precipitated into the fire of Hell. O ye that are True believers your Slaves and your Servants of free-condition shall require leave of you to enter where ye shall be thrice viz. Before the Prayer at break of Day after Noon and after Supper they shall not offend in entring without leave where ye shall be at another time they enter there to serve you In this manner doth God teach you his Commandments he knoweth the humor of his Creatures and is most prudent in all that he ordaineth It is ordained to your Children when they shall be at age of discretion to demand of you permission to do what they shall desire as did your Predecessors Thus doth God teach you his Commandments he is gracious and merciful The old and decrepit Women shall not offend God to quit their vails and discover their faces provided it be without vanity and design to shew their Ornaments If they abstain they shall do well God heareth whatsoever ye say and knoweth all that is in your hearts The Blind the Lame the Sick and you also shall not sin to eat in the House of your Children at the House of your Father and Mother Brothers Sisters Uncles Aunts Friends and in the House of your Servants ye shall not offend God if ye eat together or apart When ye shall enter into any House salute each other from God with blessing and affection Thus doth God teach you his Commandments peradventure you will learn them When those that believed in God and his Prophet repaired to the Prophet they retired not without his permission Such as required leave to depart believe in God and his Prophet if they require leave of thee for any business licence whom shall seem good to thee and pray to God for them he is gracious and merciful Call not the Prophet as ye call one another among you God knoweth such as shamefully depart out of the Temple and the Trench Such as disobey his Commandments ought to take heed lest some mischief befal them and that they suffer not great torments Whatsoever is in the Heavens or on Earth is Gods he knoweth if ye are zealous in your faith or be hypocrites he knoweth the Day wherein all the World shall be assembled before him to be judged In that day shall men see what they have done he knoweth all things CHAP. XXV The Chapter of the Alcoran containing Seventy and seven Verses written at Mecca IN the Name of God gracious and merciful Praised be he that sent the Alcoran to his Servant to instruct the World he is King of the Heavens and Earth he hath no Son nor Companion in his Reign he created and ordained every thing The Infidels worship Gods that can create nothing and are things created they can neither do them good nor evil they can give neither Life nor Death neither cause them to rise again They say that the Alcoran is but a fable of thine invention invented with the assistance of some other Person but they lye and blaspheme They say that it is but an old Song and a fable of the Ancients that thou writest and that thou studiest Morning and Evening Say unto them It was sent by him that knoweth all things in Heaven and Earth altogether gracious and merciful They said Who is this Prophet He eateth Bread and Meat and walketh through the streets we will not believe him unless that an Angel descend from Heaven to preach to us with him unless that Angel enrich him and that he have a Garden full of good and savory fruits he is but a Wizard or one possessed of the Devil Consider to what they compare thee certainly they are in error and cannot find the right way Praise and bless him that is able to bestow on thee a greater good when it shall seem good to thee to wit Gardens wherein flow many Rivers and Houses of pleasure They have denyed the certainty of Universal Judgment and we have prepared the Fire of Hell to punish them wrath shall carry them away with terrible crys when they shall behold the place of the assembly of Judgment when they shall there appear they shall be desperate and shall cry O misery Cry not O misery cry O miseries in the Plural Ask of them which is better and more advantageous that or Paradise which is prepared for the recompence of the righteous where they shall dwell eternally with all manner of felicity this is it that God hath promised and that which was impetrated of

Discourse The good that happeneth to you cometh from God and the evil that befalleth you is of your selves We have sent thee to the people to teach them the Mysteries of my Law it is sufficient that I am witness He that obeyeth the Prophet the Apostle of God obeyeth God if they be disobedient thou art not sent to be their Tutor They say They will obey thee and when they are gone from thee many of them ponder in their heart other things than they have spoken but God shall write their thoughts and abandon them Resign thy self to God and be content that he is thy Protector Will they not meditate on the Alcoran Were it sent from any but from God there would be therein many Contradictions When they had any assurance of Victory or feared to be overcome they published it although they had referred all to the Prophet to the most knowing among them and to them that obeyed the Prophet who knew what ought to be published and what to be kept secret If the grace of God had not been with you and his mercy you had followed the Devil Fight for the Law of God employ but thy Person and be not troubled if the true Believers be without Arms the misery of the wicked shall never end God shall augment their Calamity and encrease the punishment of their Crimes he that doth well shall find well and who doth evil shall find evil God regardeth all When you are saluted return the salute with Honour and Affection God putteth all in Account God! there is but one only God he shall assemble you all at the Day of Judgment of that there is no doubt Who is more true in his words than God What have you to do with those Ones divided into two Troops God ruined and destroyed them because of their sins will you direct into the right way him whom God hath made to err He whom he shall cause to err shall not find the right way They desire that you may be Infidels as they are obey them not unless they shall return to the Law of God if they forsake it kill them where you find them contract no friendship with them except with such as shall come to enter league with you with sorrow for what is past to fight against Infidels with you Had it pleased God he had given them advantage over you and they had beaten you if they depart from you and follow your Religion God permitteth not you to do them injury You shall find some that shall incline to believe you and their companions they will turn all to confusion and fall into it themselves if they separate themselves from you if they desire not peace of you and desist not to do you mischief take and kill them where you find them we have given you absolute power over them One true believer ought not to slay another true believer unless it be through ignorance He that shall slay a true believer through ignorance shall redeem from slavery a true believer or shall pay damages and interests to the Kindred and Heirs of the Dead if they through courtesie discharge him not of them If he be of your enemies and a true believer he shall ransom from captivity a true believer If he be of your confederates he shall pay damages and interests to the Kindred and Heirs of the Dead and redeem from Captivity a true believer If he shall be destitute of means to perform this he shall fast two Months together for a penance appointed of God God knoweth all things and is prudent in what he commandeth He that shall kill a true believer of deliberate purpose shall be chastised in the fire of Hell the wrath of God and his curse shall be upon him eternally O ye who are true believers when you fight against Infidels for the Law of God cause your selves to be known and say not to them that salute you Thou art not a true believer If you desire the good things of the World God possesseth riches innumerable you were before like to them but God hath given you grace and seeth all your actions The faithful that continue in their Houses without sickness are not equal in merits to such as imploy their persons and faculties for the Law of God he preferreth by many degrees them that fight for his Law and employ their wealth and persons for his service to those that remain idle in their Houses he is their protector and hath prepared for them a sure refuge in Paradise he gratifieth by many degrees of favour them that fight for his Law above those that live at ease in their Houses he is gracious and merciful The Angel said to the Infidels that they put to death Where were you with your Religion they answered We were weak and impotent in the City of Mecca they said Was not the Earth large enough for you to depart from the wicked Hell shall be their habitation except the Women and Children that were weak and impotent peradventure God will pardon them he is gracious and merciful he that shall depart from the wicked to follow his Law shall find many places favourable to him assuredly he will recompense him that shall quit his House that shall be slain for his glory and to follow his Prophet he is gracious and merciful When you shall be in a journey you shall not offend God to abridge your prayers that the Infidels may not surprize you they are your declared Enemies when thou shalt be near them and shalt appoint the true believers to make their prayers keep about thee a party of them for a guard while the residue make their prayers having finished their Orisons they shall do as the first take Arms and keep a guard during the time their Companions shall make their prayers the Infidels desire that you quit your Arms to surprize you you shall not do amiss to quit them if Rain trouble you or you be sick but continue always upon your guard God hath prepared for Infidels ignominious torments Having finished your prayers Remember God standing sitting or lying down and pray when you shall be in a place of safety prayer is commanded the faithful in a prefixed and appointed time Be not negligent to pursue the Infidels if you suffer they shall suffer like you but you hope for that which they must not hope for God knoweth all their actions he is most prudent in all his works We have sent to thee the most true Book to the end thou mayst judge the differences that are among the People as thy Lord hath instructed thee Contend not with Traitors and ask pardon of God he is gracious and merciful Dispute not with those that betray their Souls God loveth not treacherous sinners they conceal themselves from the World he is with them when they hide in their hearts such things as are displeasing to him he knoweth all their actions O ye you dispute for them in this

Virgin both before and after Christ's birth so he confirms the Article of Christ's ascension into Heaven and divers other points of Christianity to whom we are more beholding for his reverend esteem of Christ than the Jews who revile and blaspheme him 11. In reading the Alcoran though we find much dung yet in it we shall meet with some gold as Virgil did in reading of Ennius his Verses Aesop's Cock found a precious stone in a dunghil where is much dross some pure metal will be found even so in the dirt of the Alcoran you shall find some jewels of Christian Vertues and indeed if Christians will but diligently read and observe the Laws and Histories of the Mahometans they may blush to see how zealous they are in the works of devotion piety and charity how devout cleanly and reverend in their Mosques how obedient to their Priests that even the great Turk himself will attempt nothing without consulting his Mufti how careful are they to observe their hours of prayers five times a day where ever they are or however imployed how constantly do they observe their Fasts from morning till night a whole month together how loving and charitable the Muslemans are to each other and how careful of strangers may be seen by their Hospitals both for the Poor and for Travellers if we observe their Justice Temperance and other moral Vertues we may truly blush at our own coldness both in devotion and charity at our injustice intemperance and oppression doubtless these Men will rise up in judgment against us and surely their devotion piety and works of mercy are main causes of the growth of Mahometism and on the contrary our neglect of Religion and loosness of conversation is a main hindrance to the increase of Christianity is it not a shame that they should read over their Alcoran once every month and we scarce read over the Bible in all our life that they shall give such reverence to their Alcoran as to honor the very Camel that carried it to Mecca and to lay up for holy reliques the napkins and hanke●… chiefs that rubbed off the sweat from his skin and we shall prefer lascivious Poems and wanton Ballads to the sacred word of Almighty God do we not make our selves unworthy of such an inestimable treasure 12. The Turks are our neighbors and their Territories border upon the dominions of Christendom there have been continual Wars and will be still between us it concerneth every Christian who makes conscience of his ways to examine the cause and to look into the grounds of this War whether they be just or not which cannot be known but by reading the Alcoran in which we see the Mahometans to be the enemies of the Cross of Christ in denying his Death and of his Divinity also in that they deny his Godhead we shall find so many passages in it repugnant to and destructive of Christian Religion that Christian Princes are bound to oppose the enemies thereof after the example of those glorious Emperors Constantine who made War against the Heathen Princes Maxentius Maximinus and Licinius of Theodosius the elder against the Tyrant Eugenius the worshipper of Hercules of Theodosius the younger against the Saracens of Honorius against the Goths all enemies of Christ by whose assistance they got notable victories and glorious triumphs 13. We cannot do better service to our Countrymen nor offer a greater affront to the Mahometans than to bring out to the open view of all the blind Sampsons of their Alcoran which have mastered so many Nations that we may laugh at it of which even their own Wise Men are ashamed and are sorry it should be translated into any other language for they are unwilling that their grand Hypocrite should be unmasked or that the Visard of his pretended holiness should be taken off whose filthy nakedness must appear when he is devested they know that words and works of darkness cannot endure the light Trepidantque immisso lumine manes the infernal Ghosts tremble at any glimpse of light and the wild Beasts return to their dens saith David when the morning appears not daring to seek their prey but in the dark night of ignorance this great thief Mahomet hath destroyed many thousands and under the Lyons skin this Ass hath affrighted his beastly minded Saracens therefore let us take away the ring from this Gyges by which he hath made himself invisible and let us with Hercules pull out this thieving Cacus out of his dark den where he useth to hide and shelter himself and expose his deformed carkass to the publick view that we may wonder at it and in detecting his errors we follow the practice of Christ who discovered to the World the damnable Tenets of the Scribes Pharisees Hypocrites 14. The Turks are preposterously zealous in praying for the conversion or perversion rather of Christians to their irreligious religion they pray heartily and every day in their Temples that Christians may imbrace the Alcoran and become their Proselytes in effecting of which they leave no means unassaied by fear and flattery by punishments and rewards now is it fitting that they in charity and zeal should exceed us we are bound to pray and indeavour heartily for their conversion from darkness to light from error to truth but how shall we do this if we know not the dangerous and damnable estate they are in which we cannot know but by reading their Alcoran 15. In reading the Alcoran we shall see what is the force of superstition and with what violence Men are carried headlong in the defence and maintenance even of the most absurd impious opinions what Hecuba is more deformed than the Alcoran yet how do the Turks fight and struggle toil and care hazard life and liberty estates and all for it as if it were the most beautiful Helena in the World these Men cannot endure the Image of Christ or of a Saint in their Temples calling this Idolatry and yet they are the greatest Idolaters in the World themselves for never was there such an Idol as the Alcoran no Man must touch it till first he be washed and that being done he must not touch it with his naked hands but with a clean linen cloth the Priest must kiss it and bow to it he must when he reads in it hold it up on high for it is a sin to hold it lower than his girdle Every piece of Paper that a Turk finds he must use reverendly because the Alcoran is written in paper the Mule that carries it to Mecca is held in great veneration so that he or she is sanctified all the year after that can but touch him and that handkerchief which wipeth off his sweat is a holy relique thus do they strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel. 16. In reading the Alcoran Turkish Story we shall see who were Gog and Magog that made War against the Saints even the Turks an obscure people

hand the tie of marriage doth not leave to them the whole of courtesie it is requisite to gratifie them and to forget nothing of the benefits between you God beholdeth all your actions stand upon your guard when you make your prayers especially that at noon and be obedient unto God. If you fear your enemies and cannot place your selves on your knees neither perform the Ceremonies that are appointed you omit not to say your prayers on foot or on horseback and being freed from fear remember God and how he hath taught you what you know not Such as die shall be good to their Wives by their Testament they shall bestow on them wherewith to live during the time they must tarry before they marry again drive them not from your houses If they willingly depart the sin of what they shall do in their own persons shall not be upon you God is Omnipotent and just you shall likewise do good to your Wives that you have divorced according to your power it is a thing reasonable among such as fear God Thus God teacheth you his Commandments perhaps you will learn them See you not them that departed their houses for the fear they had of death they are thousands in number God hath said to them die after this he raised them again God is the Benefactor of the People but the greatest part return him no thanks for his favours Fight for his Law and know that he understandeth and knoweth all things Who is he that will afford him a good turn He will augment him with multiplicity of increase he giveth good and taketh it away from whom it pleaseth him you shall all return before him to be judged Knowest thou not that a company of the Children of Israel after the death of Moses said to their Prophet send us a King we with him will fight for the Law of God He answereth them have you disobeyed the Commandments of God If they enjoyn you to fight you will not do it They said we have no greater desire than to fight for the glory of his Divine Majesty we for this Cause have abandoned our houses and those of our Parents nevertheless when they were commanded to fight they all except some few of them retired but God knoweth them that sin against him Their Prophet said to them God hath sent Saul to be your King they answered why shall he be our King we rather deserve the Royalty than he he is not rich enough he replied God hath chosen him to command you he hath encreased his knowledge and Stature he giveth Royalty to whom he listeth he is liberal and prudent in all his Actions Their Prophet said to them the sign of his Reign shall be that the Ark shall appear to you from God to confirm your hearts wherein shall be contained the remainder of what the people of Moses and Aaron left and it shall be born by Angels this shall be to you the sign of his Reign if you believe in God. When Saul went forth with his Troops to fight his Enemies he said God shall try you by a River he that shall drink of that River shall not be mine unless he drink with his hand they all except some few of them drank at their Pleasure and having past that River with the true Believers they said we have not this day strength sufficient to resist Goliah and his Troops but such as believed in God and feared his Divine Majesty said how often through the permission of God hath a small Troop defeated a great Army He is with them that are patient when they saw Goliah with his Troops appear they said Lord give us patience confirm our steps and give us Victory over the Infidels They through the permission of God vanquished their Enemies David slew Goliah and God gave him the Royalty and knowledge of future things Had not God raised the people one against the other the whole Earth had been full of disorders such are the Miracles of God as I declare to thee with truth thou art indeed one of the Prophets of his Divine Majesty We have conferred our graces on the Prophets on some more than on others many have spoken to their Lord and some have been more elevated than others We gave knowledge to Jesus the Son of Mary and fortified him through the Holy Spirit Had it pleased God the Prophets that came heretofore had not been slain after they had taught his Commandments Men were of different Opinions some believed in God others were impious had it pleased God they had not been slain but he doth what pleaseth him O ye that are true Believers dispense in Alms some part of your wealth that we have given you before the day arrive wherein you shall find no Ransom Alms Protection nor Prayers that can succour you Certainly Infidels are greatly to blame God! There is but one only God living and eternal think not that he slumbereth or sleepeth whatever is in Heaven or in Earth is his who shall intercede for thee with his Divine Majesty unless by his permission He knoweth all the Actions of men and whatever they have done they know nothing but what it hath pleased him ●…o teach them The largeness of his Throne containeth Heaven and Earth and the Conservation of both is not troublesome to him he is Omnipotent and glorious The Law ought not to be abjured it manifesteth the difference of Faith and Impiety He that believeth not in Tagot or the Devil and hath Faith in God layeth hold on the strongest knot that cannot be dissolved broken or cut asunder God understandeth and knoweth all things he aideth and assisteth them that believe in his Unity he will cause them to come out of darkness and will guide them into light the wicked shall have Tagot and the Devil for their Protector he shall cause them to forsake the light and shall lead them into darkness such men shall remain eternally in the fire of Hell. Consider you not his Action to whom God had given the Royalty When he disputed concerning God with Abraham Abraham said to him My Lord is he that giveth life and death He said I even I give life and death to my Subject when I see good Abraham answered God causeth the Sun to rise in the East make thou it to arise in the West then the Infidel was confuted God is not a guide to unjust Persons Hast thou considered the action of him that came into a Village desolate and ruined and said How is it that God can be able to give life unto this Village after it's death and re-establish it after so great a ruine Then God caused him to die after the space of an hundred years raised him again and said to him How long hast thou continued here he answered I have sojourned here a day and a half On the contrary thou hast been here an hundred years consider thy Meat and Drink that they are not altered through

Money at the bottoms of their Sacks and said our Father what shall we desire more our money is restored to us and we have Bread for our Family permit that our Brother go with us we shall have better measure that is a small thing to the King of Egypt I will not send him with you unless ye all swear before God to bring him back again if there be no great impediment They swore to fulfil his Will then said he I take God to be witness of your Oath O my Sons enter not all together into the City but go in at several Gates to the end the people may not be jealous of you God commandeth what to him seemeth good I relye on him all true Believers ought to resign themselves to his Divine Will they entred the City as their Father enjoyned them to content him being arrived before Ioseph he took his little Brother by the hand and said to him trouble not thy self for what shall become of thy Brethren having filled their Sacks he caused a Cup adorned with precious stones to be put into the Sack of his little Brother caused it to be given out that they of the Caravan had stoln the Kings Cup and sent Men after them to search those strangers protested they saw it not and that they came not into Egypt to steal that they were Sureties for each other and that he who had stoln it deserved punishment The Cup was found in the Sack of his young Brother he caused him to be apprehended and accused them all of Theft Lord said they his Father is old he will be extreamly afflicted for his absence take one of us in his place thou shalt in the end find us to be honest Men God forbid said he that I should detain other than him who was found guilty of Theft that would be injustice finding themselves out of hope to free their Brother they saved themselves in a secret place remote from the City where the eldest said to his Brethren you know the Oath we took at our departure and how heretofore we intreated Ioseph I will not go out of Egypt without my Fathers permission God is most just he shall dispose of me and my Brother as shall please him return to your Father and say unto him thy Son was taken in Theft we saw him and endeavoured to our power to deliver him they of the Caravan shall be Witnesses Iacob said at their return they were the cause of that accident that did not displease you and he took patience saying God perhaps will favour my Sons to return in health he knoweth in what condition I am he is most prudent in what he ordaineth He retired from among his Sons extreamly afflicted and bewailed the loss of his Son Ioseph had his eyes continually covered with tears and he bore in his heart great sorrow His Sons said unto him Dost thou yet remember Ioseph to add to thy grief and hasten thine end I am said he extreamly desolate I leave all to the Will of God he hath taught me what ye know not My Sons return into Egypt and enquire tidings of your two Brethren despair not of the Spirit of God none despair of Gods Spirit but the wicked When they came unto Ioseph they said unto him The Famine that is in our Countrey hath extreamly afflicted us it hath often constrained us to come to buy Corn thou of thy favour hast made us good measure thou hast caused our Money to be restored for Alms God will reward thee he recompenceth such as are Alms-givers He said unto them Ye remember what ye did unto your Brother Ioseph They replyed Certainly thou art not Ioseph I am Ioseph said he and behold my Brother Benjamin God hath given us his Grace he rewardeth him that hath his fear before his eyes and is patient in his afflictions he depriveth not the righteous of recompence God said they hath poured his favours upon us in saving thee whom we have exceedingly offended Be not said he ashamed God this day pardoneth you that sin he is gracious and merciful return to your Father and bear to him this Shirt cast it upon his face he shall recover sight and return hither with him and with your whole Family The Caravan was then half way upon return when Iacob said to them that attended him I smell the odour of my Son Ioseph you deride me but what I speak is most true They told him that he was still in his old Errour some days following one of his Sons arrived with tidings of Ioseph and cast the Shirt that he had given him upon him and incontinently he recovered his sight and said Did I not always tell you that I knew what ye knew not they said Our Father pardon us and ask the forgiveness of God for us who have exceedingly offended him He answered I will beg pardon of God for you he is gracious and merciful When they arrived before Ioseph he took his Father by the hand saying Enter without fear into Egypt caused him to sit down and his Brethren fell prostrate before him My Father said he behold there the interpretation of mine old Dream God hath rendred it true he hath favoured me in delivering me from Prison and conducting you hither he hath put an end to the jealousie wich the Devil had procured between me and my Brethren The Lord is liberal to whom seemeth good to him he knoweth what is necessary for his people and is most prudent in what he ordaineth Lord thou hast given me wealth and knowledge to interpret Dreams Creator of Heaven and Earth thou art my Protector give me the Grace to die in thy Law and place me in the number of the righteous This History of Ioseph is an ancient History which I relate to thee Thou wert not with his Brethren when they conspired against him nevertheless the greatest part of the people are incredulous Demand no reward of them for having preached the Alcoran it instructeth only the wise How many signs be there in Heaven and Earth of the Unity of God yet the people believe not therein and most of them adore Idols assuredly God shall punish them at an unexpected hour and in a time which they know not Say unto them Behold the right way I call to the way of Salvation and Light such as follow me I return thanks to God for that I am not in the number of Unbelievers We sent aforetime none but Men to instruct the people will not Men consider what hath been the end of the wicked that were before them Paradise is for them that are righteous will ye not be converted They caused the Prophets to lose all hopes of their Conversion and believed them to be Lyars but we protected them and delivered from their Malice such as seemed good to us Nothing shall exempt the wicked from the punishment of their pains they shall serve for example to Men of Spirit The Alcoran containeth no blasphemies

with you their adherents and the devils thrown headlong into the fire of hell the Idolaters shall dispute in hell with them whom they have worshipped and shall say By God we were abused when we adored you the wicked seduced us we have none this day to intercede for us neither friend to protect us could we return into the world we would believe in the Law of God this discourse shall be for example to the wicked that believe not that thy Lord is the Omnipotent and merciful The people of Noahs time slandered the Apostles and Prophets that were sent to them Noah their brother said unto them Fear God I am his Messenger sent to preach unto you fear God and obey him I require no recompence for my instructions God the sole Lord of the world shall reward my labours fear and obey him They said shall we believe in thee and thy followers who are infamous He said I know not what they do my Lord keepeth accompt of their actions if ye knew the right way ye would not worship Idols I drive not true believers from my society I am sent only to preach the torments of Hell. They said O Noah if thou quit not this discourse thou shalt be stoned Noah said Lord this people is impious judge our difference deliver me from their malice and all true believers that are with me We preserved him and those that were with him in the Ark and destroyed them that remained on the earth This is an evidence of our Omnipotency yet the greatest part of Infidels believe not that God is omnipotent and merciful The people of Aads time traduced the Apostles and Prophets that were sent unto them Hod his brother said unto them fear God I am his Messenger sent to preach unto you with fidelity Fear God and obey him I require of you no recompence of my preaching the Lord of the Universe shall abundantly reward me Will ye Build sowers and lofty Palaces as if ye would dwell eternally in the world Will ye be cruel without compassion on your selves Fear God and obey him fear him who giveth you his grace bestoweth on you wealth children gardens and fountains I fear that ye shall suffer grievous pains at the day of Judgment They said unto him Art thou come to be preached unto or to preach to us Thou relatest to us old mens Fables They slandered him and we destroyed them this is a token of our Omnipotency nevertheless the greatest part of Infidels believe not thy Lord to be Omnipotent and merciful The people of Temod belyed the Prophets that were sent unto them his brother Salhe said unto them fear God I am a messenger sent from God to preach to you fear God and obey him I require of you no recompence for my preaching the Lord of the Universe shall recompence my labours will ye forsake eternal riches to cleave to the wealth of this world to put your trust in your gardens your fountains your tillages your dates and fruits shall ye be esteemed prudent if ye build houses of pleasure in the mountains fear God obey his Commandments and obey not the wicked that defile the earth and do no good They said unto him thou art a Magician and an Inchanter thou art but a man like unto us shew us some miracle if thou be indeed a Prophet sent from God he said behold there a Camel he hath a place to drink at a day appointed ye likewise have it to drink as he do him no harm otherwise shall ye be punished at the day of Judgment They did hurt this Camel through contempt but had cause to repent it and were severely punished This is an example for posterity nevertheless the greatest part of Infidels believe not that thy Lord is altogether gracious and merciful The Citizens of Lot traduced the Prophets that were sent unto them Lot their brother said fear God I am a faithful Messenger sent from him to preach to you fear God and obey him I require of you no reward for my pains God will reward me will ye cleave to the world to reject that glory that he hath created for you ye forsake good to embrace evil They said O Lot if thou change not this discourse we will banish thee from our City he said perhaps I am one of those whom ye abhor Lord deliver me with my family from their hands We saved him with all his family except his wife who remained with the inhabitants of the City we caused to fall upon them a rain that destroyed them This is an example for posterity nevertheless the greatest part of Infidels believe not that thy Lord is Omnipotent and merciful They that inhabit the Forest slandered the Prophets that were sent unto them Chaib said to them fear God I am a faithful messenger sent from him to preach unto you the torments of hell fear God and obey him I require no reward of you for my preaching the Lord of the Universe shall recompence me Measure with good measure and weigh with good weights detain nothing from your neighbour defile not the earth fear him that created you and all those that were before you They said unto him thou art a Sorcerer thou art but a man like us we believe thee to be a lyar if thou art indeed sent from God cause a part of heaven to fall upon us he answered God knoweth that of which ye are ignorant they traduced him but were chastised being covered with a cloud that rained upon them a shewer of fire and they were burned as if it had been the day of Judgment this is a token of my Power but the greatest part of Infidels believe not that thy Lord is Omnipotent and merciful Certainly the Alcoran was sent by the Lord of the world the faithful Spirit inspired it into thine heart that thou mayst preach to the people the pains of Hell in the Arabique tongue the Scriptures heretofore made mention of it if the Infidels of Mecca are ignorant of it the Doctors of the children of Israel have knowledg to understand it although that we have not sent it in the language of the Persians yet cease not to instruct them in that which they know not we have imprinted a lye in the hearts of the wicked they shall not believe what is written in the Alcoran until they see the punishment prepared for Infidels at the day of Judgment that day shall come at unawares of which they are ignorant They say let us tarry and not believe as yet in what is contained in that book are they impatient until they see their punishment Hast thou seen how they have some years deferred it and how in the end that which we promised befel them their riches were to them unprofitatable We have not destroyed Cities without having forewarned them of their destruction we are unjust to none The devils did not bring the Alcoran it was to them of none advantage they could not compose