The Light of the Holy Qur'an — Page 40
T HE L IGHT OF T HE HOLY Q U R’AN—NUM BE R ON E T HE L IGHT OF T HE HOLY Q U R’AN—NUM BE R ON E 40 beforehand they had been suffering from poverty, starvation, and gruelling hardships; therefore, when they came into power and wealth, a powerful flood of sin and debauchery swept over them. Just as dykes are broken under heavy floods, inundating the surrounding farms and villages, the same occurred in those days when the Christians found themselves provided with all the means of debauchery, while they were at the top in the whole world in political power, wealth and monarchy. Just as a mean and wretched person—afflicted with poverty and starvation—shows his true colours when he gets hold of power and wealth; similarly, these people exposed their true colours. First, they committed horrific acts of bloodshed like barbarians and tyrants, putting hundreds of thousands of innocent men to the sword and com- mitting such acts of unspeakable torture that send shudders down one’s spine. Having achieved peace and freedom, they began to spend their days and nights in consuming alcohol, committing adultery, and gambling. Because of their wretched luck, the doc- trine of Atonement had already emboldened them to the com- mitting of evil and their abstinence, if any, was for lack of means; so now, when wealth also came into their homes, they fell hard upon the doing of every evil deed like a mighty torrent that rages hard upon finding a totally open path for it to flow through. They exerted such an evil influence on the entire country that naïve and heedless Arabs were swept away under their evil influence. Unlettered and illiterate as they were, when they found them- selves surrounded by the misdeeds of the Christians, they came under their spell. Thorough research has established that gam- bling, alcoholism, and adultery were introduced to the Arabs by the Christians. The Christian, al-Akh t al, was the eminent poet