Charles M. Sheldon - "In His Steps"

Sam Vaknin - "Issues in Ethics"

Thomas D'Arcy McGee - "A Popular History of Ireland"

(A.E.) George William Russell - "Imaginations and Reveries"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: The Koran (without footnotes)

U >> Unknown >> The Koran (without footnotes)






________


CHAPTER LXVII.

ENTITLED, THE KINGDOM; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

BLESSED be he in whose hand is the kingdom, for he is almighty!
Who hath created death and life, that he might prove you, which of you is
most righteous in his actions: and he is mighty, and ready to forgive.
Who hath created seven heavens, one above another: thou canst not see in
a creature of the most Merciful any unfitness or disproportion.
Lift up thine eyes again to heaven, and look whether thou seest any flaw:
then take two other views; and thy sight shall return unto thee dull and
fatigued.
Moreover we have adorned the lowest heaven with lamps, and have appointed
them to be darted at the devils, for whom we have prepared the torment of
burning fire:
and for those who believe not in their LORD is also prepared the torment
of hell; and ill journey shall it be thither.
When they shall be thrown thereinto, they shall hear it bray like an
ass; and it shall boil,
and almost burst for fury. So often as a company of them shall be thrown
therein, the keepers thereof shall ask them, saying, Did not a warner come
unto you?
They shall answer, Yea, a warner came unto us: but we accused him of
imposture, and said, GOD hath not revealed anything; ye are in no other than a
great error:
10 and they shall say, If we had hearkened, or had rightly considered, we
should not have been among the inhabitants of burning fire:
and they shall confess their sins; but far be the inhabitants of burning
fire from obtaining mercy!
Verily they who fear their LORD in secret shall receive pardon and a
great reward.
Either conceal your discourse, or make it public; he knoweth the
innermost part of your breasts:
shall not he know all things who hath created them; since he is the
sagacious, the knowing?
It is he who hath levelled the earth for you: therefore walk through the
regions thereof, and eat of his provision; unto him shall be the resurrection.
Are ye secure that he who dwelleth in heaven will not cause the earth to
swallow you up? and behold, it shall shake.
Or are you secure that he who dwelleth in heaven will not send against
you an impetuous whirlwind, driving the sands to overwhelm you? then shall ye
know how important my warning was.
Those also who were before you disbelieved; and how grievous was my
displeasure!
Do they not behold the birds above them, extending and drawing back their
wings? None sustaineth them, except the Merciful; for he regardeth all
things.
20 Or who is he that will be as an army unto you, to defend you against the
Merciful? Verily the unbelievers are in no other than a mistake.
Or who is he that will give you food, if he withholdeth his provision?
yet they persist in perverseness, and flying from the truth.
Is he, therefore, who goeth grovelling upon his face, better directed
than he who walketh upright in a straight way?
Say, It is he who hath given you being, and endued you with hearing, and
sight, and understanding; yet how little gratitude have ye!
Say, It is he who hath sown you in the earth, and unto him shall ye be
gathered together.
They say, When shall this menace be put in execution, if ye speak truth?
Answer, The knowledge of this matter is with GOD alone: for I am only a
public warner.
But when they shall see the same nigh at hand, the countenance of the
infidels shall grow sad: and it shall be said unto them, This is what ye have
been demanding.
Say, What think ye? Whether GOD destroy me and those who are with me, or
have mercy on us; who will protect the unbelievers from a painful punishment?
Say, He is the Merciful; in him do we believe, and in him do we put our
trust. Ye shall hereafter know who is in a manifest error.
30 Say, What think ye? If your water be in the morning swallowed up by the
earth, who will give you clear and running water?



________


CHAPTER LXVIII.

ENTITLED, THE PEN; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

N. BY the pen, and what they write,
thou, O Mohammed, through the grace of thy LORD, art not distracted.
Verily there is prepared for thee an everlasting reward:
for thou art of a noble disposition.
Thou shalt see, and the infidels shall see,
which of you are bereaved of your senses.
Verily thy LORD well knoweth him who wandereth from his path; and he well
knoweth those who are rightly directed:
wherefore obey not those who charge thee with imposture.
They desire that thou shouldest be easy with them, and they will be easy
with thee.
10 But obey not any who is a common swearer, a despicable fellow,
a defamer, going about with slander,
who forbiddeth that which is good, who is also a transgressor, a wicked
person,
cruel, and besides this, of spurious birth:
although he be possessed of wealth and many children:
when our signs are rehearsed unto him, he saith, They are fables of the
ancients.
We will stigmatize him on the nose.
Verily we have tried the Meccans, as we formerly tried the owners of the
garden; when they swore that they would gather the fruit thereof in the
morning,
and added not the exception, if it please God:
wherefore a surrounding destruction from thy LORD encompassed it, while
they slept;
20 and in the morning it became like a garden whose fruits had been
gathered.
And they called the one to the other as they rose in the morning,
saying, Go out early to your plantation, if ye intend to gather the fruit
thereof:
so they went on, whispering to one another,
No poor man shall enter the garden upon you, this day.
And they went forth early, with a determined purpose.
And when they saw the garden blasted and destroyed, they said, We have
certainly mistaken our way:
but when they found it to be their own garden, they cried, Verily we are
not permitted to reap the fruit thereof.
The worthier of them said, Did I not say unto you, Will ye not give
praise unto GOD?
They answered, Praise be unto our LORD! Verily we have been unjust
doers.
30 And they began to blame one another,
and they said, Woe be unto us! verily we have been transgressors:
peradventure our LORD will give us in exchange a better garden than this:
and we earnestly beseech our LORD to pardon us.
Thus is the chastisement of this life: but the chastisement of the next
shall be more grievous: if they had known it, they would have taken heed.
Verily for the pious are prepared, with their LORD, gardens of delight.
Shall we deal with the Moslems, as with the wicked?
What aileth you that ye judge thus?
Have ye a book from heaven, wherein ye read
that ye are therein promised that which ye shall choose?
Or have ye received oaths which shall be binding upon us to the day of
resurrection, that ye shall enjoy what ye imagine?
40 Ask them, which of them will be the voucher of this.
Or have they companions who will vouch for them? Let them produce their
companions, therefore, if they speak truth.
On a certain day the leg shall be made bare; and they shall be called
upon to worship, but they shall not be able.
Their looks shall be cast down: ignominy shall attend them; for that they
were invited to the worship of God, while they were in safety, but would not
hear.
Let me alone, therefore, with him who accuseth this new revelation of
imposture. We will lead them gradually to destruction, by ways which they
know not:
and I will bear with them for a long time; for my stratagem is effectual.
Dost thou ask them any reward for thy preaching? But they are laden with
debts.
Are the secrets of futurity with them; and do they transcribe the same
from the table of GOD's decrees?
Wherefore patiently wait the judgment of thy LORD: and be not like him
who was swallowed by the fish; when he cried unto God, being inwardly vexed.
Had not grace from his LORD reached him, he had surely been cast forth on
the naked shore, covered with shame:
50 but his LORD chose him, and made him one of the righteous.
It wanteth little but that the unbelievers strike thee down with their
malicious looks, when they hear the admonition of the Koran; and they say, He
is certainly distracted:
but it is no other than an admonition unto all creatures.



________


CHAPTER LXIX.

ENTITLED, THE INFALLIBLE; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

THE infallible!
What is the infallible?
And what shall cause thee to understand what the infallible is?
The tribes of Thamud and Ad denied as a falsehood the day which shall
strike men's hearts with terror.
But Thamud were destroyed by a terrible noise:
and Ad were destroyed by a roaring and furious wind;
which God caused to assail them for seven nights and eight days
successively: thou mightest have seen people during the same, lying prostrate,
as though they had been the roots of hollow palm-trees;
and couldest thou have seen any of them remaining?
Pharaoh also, and those who were before him, and the cities which were
overthrown, were guilty of sin:
10 and they severally were disobedient to the apostle of their LORD;
wherefore he chastised them with an abundant chastisement.
When the water of the deluge arose, we carried you in the ark which swam
thereon;
that we might make the same a memorial unto you, and the retaining ear
might retain it.
And when one blast shall sound the trumpet,
and the earth shall be moved from its place, and the mountains also, and
shall be dashed in pieces at one stroke:
on that day the inevitable hour of judgment shall suddenly come;
and the heavens shall cleave in sunder, and shall fall in pieces, on that
day:
and the angels shall be on the sides thereof; and eight shall bear the
throne of thy LORD above them, on that day.
On that day ye shall be presented before the judgment-seat of God; and
none of your secret actions shall be hidden.
And he who shall have his book delivered into his right hand shall say,
Take ye, read this my book;
20 verily I thought that I should be brought to this my account:
he shall lead a pleasing life,
in a lofty garden,
the fruits whereof shall be near to gather.
Eat and drink with easy digestion; because of the good works which ye
sent before you, in the days which are past.
But he who shall have his book delivered into his left hand shall say, Oh
that I had not received this book;
and that I had not known what this my account was!
Oh that death had made an end of me!
My riches have not profited me;
and my power is passed from me.
30 And God shall say to the keepers of hell, Take him, and bind him,
and cast him into hell to be burned:
then put him into a chain of the length of seventy cubits:
because he believed not in the great GOD;
and was not solicitous to feed the poor:
wherefore this day he shall have no friend here;
nor any food, but the filthy corruption flowing from the bodies of the
damned,
which none shall eat but the sinners.
I swear by that which ye see,
and that which ye see not,
40 that this is the discourse of an honourable apostle
and not the discourse of a poet: how little do ye believe!
Neither is it the discourse of a soothsayer: how little are ye
admonished!
It is a revelation from the LORD of all creatures.
If Mohammed had forged any part of these discourses concerning us,
verily we had taken him by the right hand,
and had cut in sunder the vein of his heart;
neither would we have withheld any of you from chastising him.
And verily this book is an admonition unto the pious;
and we well know that there are some of you who charge the same with
imposture:
50 but it shall surely be an occasion of grievous sighing unto the
infidels;
for it is the truth of a certainty.
Wherefore praise the name of thy LORD, the great God.



________


CHAPTER LXX.

ENTITLED, THE STEPS; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

ONE demanded and called for vengeance to fall
on the unbelievers: there shall be none to avert the same
from being inflicted by GOD, the possessor of the steps:
by which the angels ascend unto him, and the spirit Gabriel also, in a
day whose space is fifty thousand years:
wherefore bear the insults of the Meccans with becoming patience;
for they see their punishment afar off,
but we see it nigh at hand.
On a certain day the heaven shall become like molten brass,
and the mountains like wool of various colours, scattered abroad by the
wind:
10 and a friend shall not ask a friend concerning his condition,
although they see one another. The wicked shall wish to redeem himself
from the punishment of that day, by giving up his children,
and his wife, and his brother,
and his kindred who showed kindness unto him,
and all who are in the earth; and that this might deliver him:
by no means: for hell fire,
dragging them by their scalps,
shall call him who shall have turned his back, and fled from the faith,
and shall have amassed riches, and covetously hoarded them.
Verily man is created extremely impatient:
20 when evil toucheth him, he is full of complaint;
but when good befalleth him, he becometh niggardly:
except those who are devoutly given,
and who persevere in their prayers;
and those of whose substance a due and certain portion
is ready to be given unto him who asketh, and him who is forbidden by
shame to ask:
and those who sincerely believe the day of judgment,
and who dread the punishment of their LORD:
(for there is none secure from the punishment of their LORD:)
and who abstain from the carnal knowledge of women
30 other than their wives, or the slaves which their right hands possess:
(for as to them they shall be blameless;
but whoever coveteth any woman besides these, they are transgressors:)
and those who faithfully keep what they are intrusted with, and their
covenant;
and who are upright in their testimonies,
and who carefully observe the requisite rites in their prayers:
these shall dwell amidst gardens, highly honoured.
What aileth the unbelievers, that they run before thee in companies,
on the right hand and on the left?
Doth every man of them wish to enter into a garden of delight?
By no means: verily we have created them of that which they know.
40 I swear by the LORD of the east and of the west, that we are able to
destroy them,
and to substitute better than them in their room; neither are we to be
prevented, if we shall please so to do.
Wherefore suffer them to wade in vain disputes, and to amuse themselves
with sport: until they meet their day with which they have been threatened;
the day whereon they shall come forth hastily from their graves, as
though they were troops hastening to their standard:
their looks shall be downcast; ignominy shall attend them. This is the
day with which they have been threatened.



________


CHAPTER LXXI.

ENTITLED, NOAH; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

VERILY we sent Noah unto his people, saying, Warn thy people, before a
grievous punishment overtake them.
Noah said, O my people, verily I am a public warner unto you;
wherefore serve GOD, and fear him, and obey me;
he will forgive you part of your sins; and will grant you respite until
a determined time: for GOD'S determined time, when it cometh, shall not be
deferred; if ye were men of understanding, ye would know this.
He said, LORD, verily I have called my people night and day; but my
calling only increaseth their aversion:
and whensoever I call them to the true faith, that thou mayest forgive
them, they put their fingers in their ears, and cover themselves with their
garments, and persist in their infidelity, and proudly disdain my counsel.
Moreover I invited them openly,
and I spake to them again in public; and I also secretly admonished them
in private;
10 and I said, Beg pardon of your LORD; for he is inclined to forgive:
and he will cause the heaven to pour down rain plentifully upon you,
and will give you increase of wealth and of children; and he will
provide you gardens, and furnish you with rivers.
What aileth you, that ye hope not for benevolence in GOD;
since he hath created you variously?
Do ye not see how GOD hath created the seven heavens, one above another;
and hath placed the moon therein for a light, and hath appointed the sun
for a taper?
GOD hath also produced and caused you to spring forth from the earth:
hereafter he will cause you to return into the same; and he will again
take you thence, by bringing you forth from your graves.
And GOD hath spread the earth as a carpet for you,
20 that ye may walk therein through spacious paths.
Noah said, LORD, verily they are disobedient unto me; and they follow
him whose riches and children do no other than increase his perdition.
And they devised a dangerous plot against Noah:
and the chief men said to the others, Ye shall by no means leave your
gods; neither shall ye forsake Wadd, nor Sowa, nor Yaghuth, and Yauk, and
Nesr.
And they seduced many; (for thou shalt only increase error in the
wicked:)
because of their sins they were drowned, and cast into the fire of hell;
and they found none to protect them against GOD.
And Noah said, LORD, leave not any families of the unbelievers on the
earth:
for if thou leave them, they will seduce thy servants, and will beget
none but a wicked and unbelieving offspring.
LORD, forgive me and my parents, and every one who shall enter my
house, being a true believer, and the true believers of both sexes; and add
unto the unjust doers nothing but destruction.



________


CHAPTER LXXII.

ENTITLED, THE GENII; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

SAY, It hath been revealed unto me that a company of genii attentively
heard me reading the Koran, and said, Verily we have heard an admirable
discourse;
which directeth unto the right institution; wherefore we believe therein,
and we will by no means associate any other with our LORD.
He (may the majesty of our LORD be exalted!) hath taken no wife, nor hath
he begotten any issue.
Yet the foolish among us hath spoken that which is extremely false of
GOD;
but we verily thought that neither man nor genius would by any means have
uttered a lie concerning GOD.
And there are certain men who fly for refuge unto certain of the genii;
but they increase their folly and transgression:
and they also thought, as ye thought, that GOD would not raise any one
to life.
And we formerly attempted to pry into what was transacting in heaven; but
we found the same filled with a strong guard of angels, and with flaming
darts:
and we sat on some of the seats thereof to hear the discourse of its
inhabitants; but whoever listeneth now, findeth a flame laid in ambush for
him, to guard the celestial confines.
10 And we know not whether evil be hereby intended against those who are in
the earth, or whether their LORD intendeth to direct them aright.
There are some among us who are upright; and there are some among us who
are otherwise: we are of different ways.
And we verily thought that we could by no means frustrate GOD in the
earth, neither could we escape him by flight:
wherefore, when we had heard the direction contained in the Koran, we
believed therein. And whoever believeth in his LORD, need not fear any
diminution of his reward, nor any injustice.
There are some Moslems among us; and there are others of us who swerve
from righteousness. And whoso embraceth Islam, they earnestly seek true
direction:
but those who swerve from righteousness shall be fuel for hell.
If they tread in the way of truth, we will surely water them with
abundant rain:
that we may prove them thereby: but whoso turneth aside from the
admonition of his LORD, him will he send into a severe torment.
Verily the places of worship are set apart unto GOD: wherefore invoke not
any other therein together with GOD.
When the servant of GOD stood up to invoke him, it wanted little but
that the genii had pressed on him in crowds, to hear him rehearse the Koran.
20 Say, Verily I call upon my LORD only, and I associate no other god with
him.
Say, Verily I am not able, of myself, to procure you either hurt, or a
right institution.
Say, Verily none can protect me against GOD; neither shall I find any refuge
besides him.
I can do no more than publish what hath been revealed unto me from GOD,
and his messages. And whosoever shall be disobedient unto GOD, and his
apostle, for him is the fire of hell prepared; they shall remain therein
forever.
Until they see the vengeance with which they are threatened, they will
not cease their opposition: but then shall they know who were the weaker in a
protector, and the fewer in number.
Say, I know not whether the punishment with which ye are threatened be
nigh, or whether my LORD will appoint for it a distant term.
He knoweth the secrets of futurity; and he doth not communicate his
secrets unto any,
except an apostle in whom he is well pleased: and he causeth a guard of
angels to march before him, and behind him;
that he may know that they have executed the commissions of their LORD;
he comprehendeth whatever is with them; and counteth all things by number.



________


CHAPTER LXXIII.

ENTITLED, THE WRAPPED UP; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

O THOU wrapped up,
arise to prayer, and continue therein during the night, except a small
part;
that is to say, during one half thereof: or do thou lessen the same a
little
or add thereto. And repeat the Koran with a distinct and sonorous
voice:
for we will lay on thee a weighty word.
Verily the rising by night is more efficacious for steadfast continuance
in devotion, and more conducive to decent pronunciation:
for in the day-time thou hast long employment.
And commemorate the name of thy LORD; and separate thyself unto him,
renouncing worldly vanities.
He is the LORD of the east, and of the west; there is no GOD but he.
Wherefore take him for thy patron:
10 and patiently suffer the contumelies which the infidels utter against
thee; and depart from them with a decent departure.
And let me alone with those who charge the Koran with falsehood, who
enjoy the blessings of this life; and bear with them for a while:
verily with us are heavy fetters, and a burning fire,
and food ready to choke him who swalloweth it, and painful torment.
On a certain day the earth shall be shaken, and the mountains also, and
the mountains shall become a heap of sand poured forth.
Verily we have sent unto you an apostle, to bear witness against you; as
we sent an apostle unto Pharaoh;
but Pharaoh was disobedient unto the apostle; wherefore we chastised him
with a heavy chastisement.
How, therefore, will ye escape, if ye believe not, the day which shall
make children become gray-headed through terror?
The heaven shall be rent in sunder thereby: the promise thereof shall
surely be performed.
Verily this is an admonition; and whoever is willing to be admonished
will take the way unto his LORD.
20 Thy LORD knoweth that thou continuest in prayer and meditation sometimes
near two third parts of the night, and sometimes one half thereof, and at
other times one third part thereof; and a part of thy companions, who are with
thee, do the same. But GOD measureth the night and the day; he knoweth that
ye cannot exactly compute the same: wherefore he turneth favourably unto you.
Read, therefore, so much of the Koran as may be easy unto you. He knoweth
that there will be some infirm among you; and others travel through the earth,
that they may obtain a competency of the bounty of GOD; and others fight in
the defence of GOD'S faith. Read, therefore, so much of the same as may be
easy. And observe the stated times of prayer, and pay the legal alms; and
lend unto GOD an acceptable loan; for whatever good ye send before your souls,
ye shall find the same with GOD. This will be better, and will merit a
greater reward. And ask GOD forgiveness; for GOD is ready to forgive, and
merciful.



________


CHAPTER LXXIV.

ENTITLED, THE COVERED; REVEALED AT MECCA.