Читать книгу The Holy Qur-an: Text, Translation and Commentary - Abdullah Yusuf Ali - Страница 19
The Task before Him
ОглавлениеC 35.—The revelation had come, the mission
And the inspiration. But what was it leading to?
It was a miracle, but not in the sense
Of a reversing of Nature; Muṣṭafā's vision
Was linked with Eternity, but he was no soothsayer
Foretelling passing events; the mysteries
Of knowledge were being opened out, but his message
Was no mere esoteric doctrine, to be grasped
By a few in contemplation, fleeing from action;
Nor was it the practice of single or social monasticism,
Undisturbed by the whims or passions of life.
He was asked to stand forth, to preach, to declare
The One Universal God, the Gracious, the Merciful,
And to lead men to the Right and forbid the Wrong.
C. 36.—The wrong?—The selfish pride of birth,
The massing of power and wealth in the hands
Of a few, the slaughter of female infants,
The orgies of gambling and drunkenness,
The frauds of temples and idols and priests,
The feuds and arrogance of tribes and races,
The separation of Sacred and Profane,
As if the unity of All Life and all Truth
Did not flow from the unity of God Most High.
C 37.—He was loyal to his family, but could he support
Their monopoly of power?—To his tribe,
But were the Quraish the only creatures
Of God?—To the temple of Mecca, but
Could he wink at Lāt and ’Uzzā, and the other monsters,
Whose worship killed the spiritual growth of Man?—
To the earlier Revelations, but could he hold
With the superstitious and falsehoods, the dogmas and creeds
Which went against reason and nature, and the inner light
Which was now fanned into flame by the Will of God?
C. 38.—And so his very virtues and loyalties pointed
To offence and conflict, mockery and misrepresentation,
Hatred and persecution, threats, tortures, and exile
For him and his, and martyrdoms, wars, revolutions,
And the shaking of the foundations of history
And the social order. But Islam meant
The willing submission of his will to God,
The active attainment of Peace through Conflict.
C. 39.—And he gave that submission, not without effort,
Even as Moses did before him,
And Jesus in the agony of the garden of Gethsemane.
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