A Present to Kings — Page 55
( 55 ) one or two cases which have been considered as instances of faulty arrangement of words, but in which actually the critics themselves have been at fault, the words in the Holy Quran being rightly used where they are and stand in no need of transposition. . For example, some learned men have cited the passage as an instance یومنون بما انزل الیگ و ما انزل من قبلك of wrong transference of words, because having regard to the order of events the mention of what had been first revealed should have preceded the mention of what had been revealed later, and therefore i should have come first in the sentence. Such critics have confined their attention only to the side of the question, viz. , the succession of revelations, and have left out of sight, the other fact which may go to determine the order in a narration. For example when there is mention made of two persons then most often the order of their mention will be determined by seniority in age, but some times the order may be determined by the nature of their relation, and it would be foolish to object to such arrangement. We see that when a comparatively young officer calls at some body's place, the latter showers his welcome and attentions upon him, and not upon the more aged subordinates who might form his company. Precedence in mention does not therefore depend only upon the order of events. Very often the arrangement is determined by rank, objects of a higher rank being mentioned before those of au inferior rank. . It is superfluous for me to prove that a Mussalman's faith in the Quran is not derived for his belief in the Old and New. Testaments, but that on the contrary his faith in the latter books follows from his belief in the Quran. Because if the. Holy Quran had not borne witness to those books, and endorsed the claims of Moses and Jesus (peace be on them), then we should have been left without any evidence to persuade us to believe those two personages to be prophets of God. A Mussal. man believes in the older books not because he has demons-