The Qur'an

28	THE MECCAN PERIOD

When the collars shall be on their necks and the chains to drag them into hell; then in the fire shall they be burned. Sura Ghafir (xl) 70-3.
As for those who have brought out evil, their recompense shall be evil of like degree, and shame shall cover them—no protector shall they have against God; as though their faces were covered with deep darkness of night. These shall be inhabitants of the fire : therein shall they abide for ever. Sura Yunus (x) 28.

All this time Muhammad constantly and continuously reiterated the statement that he was sent as a Warner; but the Quraish would not listen to his warning:—

Say, I am the only plain spoken warner. Sura Al-Hijr (xv) 89.
They marvel that a warner from among themselves hath come. And the Infidels say, This is a sorcerer and a liar. Sura Sad (xxxviii) 3.
A revelation of the Mighty, the Merciful that thou shouldest warn a people whose fathers were not warned. Sura Ya-Sin (xxxvi) 5.
Say, I only warn you of what hath been revealed to me. Sura Al-Anbiya' (xxi) 46.

These Suras are all of the middle Meccan period when the Prophet was extremely anxious to win over the Quraish. There is, however, a similar expression in a rather late Madina Sura, Sura Al-Fath (xlviii) 8 :—

We have sent thee to be a witness, a herald of good and a warner.

The warning is said to be for a special purpose, ' that ye may believe on God and on His Apostle,' a combination of the objects of belief found almost

INCANTATIONS

entirely in the later Suras. At Mecca Muhammad was more modest.

There are two famous Suras, Sura Al-Falaq (cxiii) and Sura An-Nas (cxiv), which, if Meccan ones, though this is not quite clear,¹ show that the Prophet used popular incantations and was so far time-serving; or, at all events, was still governed by superstitious practices ; or that he was desirous of showing that he had power over the evil influences which his enemies sought to bring to bear upon him. It is said that a Jew, named Lubaid, assisted by his daughters, bewitched Muhammad. Gabriel delivered him from the spell by reciting these two Suras ² :—

Say, I betake ime for refuge to the Lord of the daybreak.
Against the mischief of his creation;
And against the mischief of the night when it overtaketh me;
And against the mischief of weird women;
And against the mischief of the envier when he envieth. Sura Al-Falaq (cxiii) 1-5.

¹ Noldeke says : ' It is very difficult to fix the date of these two Suras and we cannot be sure that they were delivered before the Hijra. Noldeke, Geschichte des Qorans, p. 85.
There are, however, similar expressions in undoubtedly Meccan Suras :—

If an enticement from Satan entice thee, then take refuge in God. Sura Fussilat (xli) 36.
When thou readest the Qur'an, ask refuge with God from Satan. Sura An-Nahl (xvi) 100.

These Suras are, therefore, most probably Meccan, belonging to a period when the Prophet had not yet cast off the superstitious practices of the Arabs. Many Muslim commentators, however, say Labaid was a Jew at Madina and so place them after the Hijra. There is then no absolute certainty about their date.
² Tafsir-i-Husaini on Sura Al-Falaq (cxiii). Qur'an-i-Majid in loco. 'Ayisha is reported to have said that whoever after the Friday Namaz repeats these Suras seven times will be preserved from all evils until the next Friday. Khulasatu't-Tafasir, vol. iv., page 132.

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