ther of those religions is ready to breathe his last, and
sees the angel of death before him, he shall then believe in that
prophet as he ought, though his faith will not then be of any avail.
According to a tradition of Hejaj, when a Jew is expiring, the angels
will strike him on the back and face, and say to him, "O thou enemy of
God, Jesus was sent as a prophet unto thee, and thou didst not believe
on him;" to which he will answer, "I now believe him to be the servant
of God"; and to a dying Christian they will say, "Jesus was sent as a
prophet unto thee, and thou hast imagined him to be God, or the son of
God," whereupon he will believe him to be the servant of God only, and
his apostle. Others, taking the above-mentioned relative to refer to
Jesus, suppose the intent of the passage to be, that all Jews and
Christians in general shall have a right faith in that prophet before
his death, that is, when he descends from heaven and returns into the
world, where he is to kill Antichrist, and to establish the Mohammedan
religion, and a most perfect tranquillity and security on earth.]

[Footnote 79: Namely, God, Jesus, and Mary--as the eastern writers
mention a sect of Christians which held the Trinity to be composed of
those three; but it is allowed that this heresy has been long since
extinct. The passage, however, is equally levelled against the Holy
Trinity, according to the doctrine of the orthodox Christians, who, as
al Beid[=a]wi acknowledges, believe the divine nature to consist of
three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; by the Father
understanding God's essence, by the Son his knowledge, and by the Holy
Ghost his life.]

[Footnote 80: And the other half will go to the public treasury.]

[Footnote 81: That is, he shall inherit her whole substance.]

CHAPTER V

Entitled, the Table[82]--Revealed at Medina

_In the Name of the Most Merciful God._

O True believers, perform your contracts. Ye are allowed to eat the
brute cattle,[83] other than what ye are commanded to abstain from;
except the game which ye are allowed at other times, but not while ye
are on pilgrimage to Mecca; God ordaineth that which he pleaseth. O true
believers, violate not the holy rites of God, nor the sacred month,[84]
nor the offering, nor the ornaments hung thereon, nor those who are
travelling to the holy house, seeking favor from their Lord, and to
please him. But when ye shall have finished your pilgrimage, the