Muhammad: The HijraQur'anic accounts is missing in the passage about the golden calf
(vv. 146f). More in conformity to the Biblical narrative (cf. Ex. 32:1f),
Moses is said to have been angry with Aaron (v. 149), v. 154 shows that
Moses chose 70 men (cf. Num. 11:16f), and without giving a reason for
their selection, appears to have them be punished with an earthquake. The^205
v. 155 depicts God describing Muhammad's followers as those who fear
God, give alms and believe in God's signs, and the passage
vv. 156-158 appears to have been a later addition. The v. 159 ma^206 y refer
to either the Muslims in general, or Jewish converts, and the vv. 160f give
the continuation of the Moses narrative, in which the events of water from
the rock, and the provision of manna and quail are related. The vv. 161f
show the entrance of the Israelites into "the city, " whereby they were to eat
of all they wanted, and say "forgiveness." Then the unrighteou^207 s among
them exchanged the word with another, and the Israelites were punished (v.
162). By comparison to the narratives of Qur'an 11, the storie^208 s of this
suras follow the same chronological sequence, but a narrative about
Abraham is missing. The vv. 163f tell a story about fish who only came to a
city on the Sabbath, and the v. 166 depicts Sabbath-violators^209 as having
been turned into apes. The v. 170 speaks of a mountain having b^210 een
shaken over the children of Israel, and the vv. 174f relate abo^211 ut an
unbeliever whose identity is not known. The v. 175 gives a pec^212 uliar
parable about those who regard God's signs to be lies, v. 177 deals with the
subject of predestination, v. 178 speaks of unbelievers, and v. 179 states
that God's names are the most beautiful. The vv. 180f return to the theme of
believers and unbelievers, the vv. 183f describe the rejection of Muhammad
and his message, and the vv. 186f reproduce some of Muhammad's
discussions with others. The vv. 189f are against polytheism, where v. 194
is based upon Ps. 115:4-6 (cf. Qur'an 7:178 also). The vv. 198f give
instructions to Muhammad, and v. 204 refers to prayer as only being
performed in the evening and morning. The strange term al-A`^213 raf in v. 44
seems to have come from Ethiopic, and the Arabic for "Sabbath" probably
came from Aramaic Many verses of this sura are reminiscent of^214 Bible
passages.^215
Sura 46Sura 46Sura 46Sura 46 opens with mysterious letters, and mentions the sending down of
the Book. The vv. 2f seem to repeat some of Muhammad's discussions with