Texts of Islam

The Qur'ân, ed. Palmer (SBE9): XL. The Chapter Of T...

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This is an excerpt from Surah Ghafir (also known as Surah Al-Mu'min, "The Believer"), the 40th chapter of the Qur'an, presented in E.H. Palmer's 1880 English translation published in the Sacred Books of the East series. The passage covers core Islamic theological themes: God's absolute sovereignty, the fate of disbelievers who reject prophets, the Day of Judgment, and the rewards of faith versus the punishment of pride and unbelief. A structurally distinctive section dramatizes the story of Moses at Pharaoh's court, centering on an anonymous believing man from Pharaoh's household who secretly holds faith and delivers an extended warning speech urging his people to heed Moses — a narrative found only in this surah. The text repeatedly cycles through a rhetorical pattern of citing destroyed past nations (Noah's people, 'Ad, the confederates) as cautionary precedents for those who reject God's signs, framing history as a record of divine judgment. Palmer's Victorian-era translation uses formal archaic English ("thou," "verily," "haply") consistent with the Sacred Books of the East project's aim to render ancient religious texts in dignified scholarly prose for a Western academic audience. Readers interested in Qur'anic narrative theology, the treatment of Mosaic history in Islamic scripture, or 19th-century orientalist translation practice will find this excerpt directly relevant.

The Qur'ân, ed. Palmer (SBE9): XL. The Chapter Of T...

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