The Chapter of the Scatterers.
Oaths by different natural phenomena that the Judgment Day will come.
Story of Abraham’s entertaining the angels.
The destruction of Sodom.
Fate of Pharaoh, of ʿĀd, of S̤amūd, and of the people of Noah.
Vindication of Muḥammad against the charges of imposture or madness.
THE FIFTH PERIOD.
Thirty-one Sūrahs. From the tenth year of Muḥammad’s ministry to the flight from Makkah.
The Sūrahs of this period contain some narratives from the gospel. The rites of pilgrimage are enjoined. The cavillings of the Quraish are refuted; and we have vivid picturings of the Resurrection and Judgment, of Heaven and Hell, with proofs of God’s unity, power and providence.
From stage to stage the Sūrahs become, on the average, longer, and some of them now fill many pages. In the latter Sūrahs of this period, we meet not unfrequently with Madīnah passages, which have been interpolated as bearing on some connected subject. As examples may be taken, [verse 40 of Sūrah xxii]., in which permission is given to bear arms against the Makkans; [verse 33, Sūrah xvii]., containing rules for the administration of justice; [verse 111, Sūrah xvi]., referring to such believers as had fled their country and fought for the faith; being all passages which could have been promulgated only after the Flight to al-Madīnah.