THE KORAN

Everyman

Translated from the Arabic by

J. M. Rodwell

1909

INTRODUCTION

Page xxiii

"In addition Sura 18 includes two stories from the Christian periphery to the north of Arabia; the so-called legend of the

Seven Sleepers"

NOTES

Page

460

2 The valley, or mountain, in which the Cave of the Seven Sleepers was situated. See Gibbon's Decline and Fall, ch. xxxiii., especially the concluding sentences.
3 Because they slept with their eyes open. Beidh.
4 Muslims believe that this dog will be admitted into Paradise. One of its traditional names is Katmir, a word whose letters, it should be observed, are with one exception identical with Rakim.

 

Page 189 (number omitted)

SURA 18 - THE CAVE
MECCA - 110 VERSES

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

"Praise be to God, who hath sent down the Book to his servant, and hath not made it tortuous¹
But direct; that it may warn of a grievous woe from him, and announce to the faithful who do the things that are right, that a goodly reward, wherein they shall abide for ever, awaiteth them;
And that it may warn those who say, 'God hath begotten a  Son.'
No knowledge of this have either they or their fathers! A grievous saying to come out of their mouths! They speak no other than a lie!
And haply, if they believe not in this new revelation, thou wilt slay thyself, on their very footsteps, out of vexation.
Verily, we have made all that is on earth as its adornment, that we might make trial who among mankind would excel in works:
But we are surely about to reduce all that is thereon to dust! Hast thou reflected that the Inmates of THE CAVE and of Al
Rakim² were one of our wondrous signs?
When the youths betook them to the cave they said, 'O our Lord! grant us mercy from before thee, and order for us our affair aright.'
10 Then struck we upon their ears with deafness in the cave for many a year:
Then we awaked them that we might know which of the two parties could best reckon the space of their abiding.
We will relate to thee their tale with truth. They were youths who had believed in their Lord, and in guidance had we increased them;
And we had made them stout of heart, when they stood up and said, 'Our Lord is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth: we will call on no other God than him; for in that case we had said a thing outrageous.
These our people have taken other gods beside Him, though / Page 190 / they bring no clear proof for them; but, who more iniquitous than he who forgeth a lie of God?
So when ye shall have separated you from them and from that which they worship beside God, then betake you to the cave: Your Lord will unfold his mercy to you, and will order your affairs for you for the best.'
And thou mightest have seen the sun when it arose, pass on the right of their cave, and when it set, leave them on the left, while they were in its spacious chamber. This is one of the signs of God. Guided indeed is he whom God guideth; but for him whom He misleadeth, thou shalt by no means find a patron, director.
And thou wouldst have deemed them awake,³ though they were sleeping: and we turned them to the right and to the left. And in the entry lay their dog with paws outstretched.⁴ Hadst thou come suddenly upon them, thou wouldst surely have turned thy back on them in flight, and have been filled with fear at them.
So we awaked them that they might question one another. Said one of them, 'How long have ye tarried here?' They said, 'We have tarried a day or part of a day.' They said, 'Your Lord knoweth best how long ye have tarried: Send now one of you with this your coin into the city, and let his mark who therein hath purest food, and from him let him bring you a supply: and let him be courteous, and not discover you to anyone.
For they, if they find you out, will stone you or turn you back to their faith, and in that case it will fare ill with you for ever.'
20 And thus made we their adventure known to their fellow citizens, that they might learn that the promise of God is true, and that as to 'the Hour' there is no doubt of its coming. When they disputed among themselves concerning what had befallen them, some said, 'Build a building over them; their Lord knoweth best about them.' Those who prevailed in the matter said, 'A place of worship will we surely raise over them.'
Some say, 'They were three; their dog the fourth:' others say, 'Five; their dog the sixth,' guessing at the secret: others say, 'Seven; and their dog the eighth.' SAY: My Lord best knoweth the number: none, save a few, shall know them.
Therefore be clear in thy discussions about them,⁵ and ask not any Christian concerning them.
Say not thou of a thing, 'I will surely do it to-morrow;' / Page 191 / without, 'If God will.,⁶ And when thou hast forgotten, call thy Lord to mind; and say, 'Haply my Lord will guide me, that I may come near to the truth of this story with correctness.'
And they tarried in their cave 300 years, and 9 years over.⁷

SAY: God best knoweth how long they tarried: With Him are
the secrets of the Heavens and of the Earth: Look thou and hearken unto Him alone⁸ Man hath no guardian but Him, and none may bear part in his judgments:-
And publish what hath been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord - none may change his words, - and thou shalt find no refuge beside Him.
Be patient with those who call upon their Lord at morn and even, seeking his face: and let not thine eyes be turned away from them in quest of the pomp of this life;⁹ neither obey him ¹⁰ whose heart we have made careless of the remembrance of Us, and who followeth his own lusts, and whose ways are unbridled.
And SAY: the truth is from your Lord: let him then who will, believe; and let him who will, be an infidel. But for the offenders we have got ready the fire whose smoke shall enwrap them: and if they implore help, helped shall they be with water like molten brass which shall scald their faces. Wretched the drink! and an unhappy couch!
But as to those who have believed and done the things that are right, - Verily we will not suffer the reward of him whose works were good, to perish!
30 For them, the gardens of Eden, under whose shades shall rivers flow: decked shall they be therein with bracelets of gold, and green robes of silk and rich brocade shall they wear, reclining them therein on thrones. Blissful the reward! and a pleasant couch! ¹¹
And set forth to them as a parable two men; on one of whom we bestowed two gardens of grape vines, and surrounded both with palm-trees, and placed corn fields between them: Each of the gardens did yield its fruit, and failed not thereof at all:
And we caused a river to flow in their midst: And this man received his fruit, and said, disputing with him, to his com- panion, 'More have I than thou of wealth, and my family is mightier.'
And he went into his garden - to his own soul unjust. He said, 'I do not think that this will ever perish:

Page 192

And I do not think that "the Hour" will come: and even if I be taken back to my Lord, I shall surely find a better than it in exchange.'
His fellow said to him, disputing with him, 'What! hast thou no belief in him who created thee of the dust, then of the germs of life,¹² then fashioned thee a perfect man?
But God is my Lord; and no other being will I associate with my Lord.
And why didst thou not say when thou enteredst thy garden, 'What God willeth! There is no power but in God.' Though thou seest that I have less than thou of wealth and children,
Yet haply my Lord may bestow on me better than thy garden, and may send his bolts upon it out of Heaven, so that the next dawn shall find it barren dust;
Or its water become deep sunk, so that thou art unable to find it.'
40 And his fruits were encompassed by destruction. Then began he to turn down the palms of his hands at what he had spent on it; for its vines were falling down on their trellises, and he said, 'Oh that I had not joined any other god to my Lord!'
And he had no host to help him instead of God, neither was he able to help himself.
Protection in such a case is of God - the Truth: He is the best rewarder, and He bringeth to the best issue.
And set before them a similitude of the present life. It is as water which we send down from Heaven, and the herb of the Earth is mingled with it, and on the morrow it becometh dry stubble which the winds scatter: for God hath power over all things.
Wealth and children are the adornment of this present life: but good works, which are lasting, are better in the sight of thy Lord as to recompense, and better as to hope.
And call to mind the day when we will cause the mountains to pass away, ¹³ and thou shalt see the earth a levelled plain, and we will gather mankind together, and not 1eave of them any one.
And they shall be set before thy Lord in ranks: - 'Now are ye come unto us as we created you at first: but ye thought that we should not make good to you the promise.'
And each shall have his book put into his hand: and thou shalt see the wicked in alarm at that which is therein: and they / Page 193 / shall say, 'O woe to us! what meaneth this Book? It leaveth neither small nor great unnoted down!' And they shall find all that they have wrought present to them, and thy Lord will not deal unjustly with anyone.
When we said to the angels, 'Prostrate yourselves before Adam,' they all prostrated them save Eblis, who was of the Djinn,¹⁴ and revolted from his Lord's behest. - What! will ye then take him and his offspring as patrons rather than Me? and they your enemies? Sad exchange for the ungodly!
I made them not witnesses of the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth, nor of their own creation, neither did I take seducers as my helpers.
5O On a certain day, God shall say, 'Call ye on the companions ye joined with me, deeming them to be gods:' and they shall call on them, but they shall not answer them: then will we place a valley of perdition between them:
And the wicked shall see the fire, and shall have a foreboding that they shall be flung into it, and they shall find no escape from it.
And now in this Koran we have presented to man similitudes of every kind: but, at most things is man a caviller.
And what, now that guidance is come to them, letteth men from believing and from asking forgiveness of their Lord - unless they wait till that the doom of the ancients overtake them, or the chastisement come upon them in the sight of the universe?
We send not our Sent Ones but to announce and to warn: but the infidels cavil with vain words in order to refute the truth; and they treat my signs and their own warnings with scorn.
But who is worse than he who when told of the signs of his - Lord turneth him away and forgetteth what in time past his hands have wrought? Truly we have thrown veils over their hearts lest they should understand this Koran, and into their ears a heaviness:
And if thou bid them to 'the guidance' yet will they not even then be guided ever.
The gracious one, full of compassion, is thy Lord! if he would have chastised them for their demerits he would have hastened their chastisement. But they have a time fixed for the accomp-lishment of our menaces: and beside God they shall find no refuge.

Page194

And those cities did we destroy when they became impious; and of their coming destruction we gave them warning.
Remember when Moses said to his servant, 'I will not stop till I reach the confluence of the two seas,¹⁵ or for years will I journey on.'
60 But when they reached their confluence, they forgot their fish, and it took its way in the sea at will.
And when they had passed on, said Moses to his servant, 'Bring us our morning meal; for now have we incurred weariness from this journey.'
He said, 'What thinkest thou? When we repaired to the rock for rest I forgot the fish; and none but Satan made me forget it, so as not to mention it; and it hath taken its way in the sea in a wondrous sort.'
He said, 'It is this we were in quest Of.,¹⁶ And they both went back retracing their footsteps.
Then found they one of our servants to whom we had vouchsafed our mercy, and whom we had instructed with our knowledge.
And Moses said to him, 'Shall I follow thee that thou teach me, for guidance, of that which thou too hast been taught?'
He said, 'Verily, thou canst not have patience with me; How canst thou be patient in matters whose meaning thou
comprehendest not?'
He said, 'Thou shalt find me patient if God please, nor will I disobey thy bidding.'
He said, 'Then, if thou follow me, ask me not of aught until I have given thee an account thereof.'
70 So they both went on, till they embarked in a ship, and he - the unknown - staved it in. 'What!' said Moses, 'hast thou staved it
in that thou mayest drown its crew? a strange thing now hast thou done!'
He said, 'Did I not tell thee that thou couldst not have patience with me?'
He said, 'Chide me not that I forgat, nor lay on me a hard command.'
Then went they on till they met a youth, and he slew him. Said Moses, 'Hast thou slain him who is free from guilt of blood? Now hast thou wrought a grievous thing!'
He said, 'Did I not tell thee that thou couldst not have patience with me?'

Page 195

Moses said, 'If after this I ask thee aught, then let me be thy comrade no longer; but now hast thou my excuse.'
They went on till they came to the people of a city. Of this people they asked food, but they refused them for guests. And they found in it a wall that was about to fall, and he set it upright. Said Moses, 'If thou hadst wished, for this thou mightest have obtained pay.'
He said, 'This is the parting point between me and thee. But I will first tell thee the meaning of that which thou couldst not await with patience.
As to the vessel, it belonged to poor men who toiled upon the. sea, and I was minded to damage it, for in their rear was a king who seized every ship by force.
As to the youth his parents were believers, and we feared lest he should trouble them by error and infidelity.
80 And we desired that their Lord might give them in his place a child, better than he in virtue, and nearer to filial piety.
And as to the wall, it belonged to two orphan youths in the ,- city, and beneath it was their treasure: and their father was a righteous man: and thy Lord desired that they should reach the .. age of strength, and take forth their treasure through the mercy of thy Lord. And not of mine own will have I done this. This is the interpretation of that which thou couldst not bear with patience.'
 They will ask thee of Dhoulkarnain [the two-horned¹⁷].
SAY: I will recite to you an account of him.

We stablished his power upon the earth, and made for him a way to everything. And a route he followed,
Until when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it to set in a miry fount; and hard by he found a people.
We said, 'O Dhoulkarnain! either chastise or treat them generously.'
'The impious,' said he, 'will we surely chastise;' then shall he be taken back to his Lord, and he will chastise him with a grievous chastisement. -"
But as to him who believeth and doeth that which is right, he shall have a generous recompense, and we will lay on them our easy behests.
Then followed he a route
Until when he reached the rising of the sun he found it to rise on a people to whom we had given no shelter from it.

Page196

Thus it was. And we had full knowledge of the forces that were with him.
Then followed he a route.
Until he came between the two mountains, beneath which he found a people who scarce understood a language.
They said, 'O Dhoulkarnain! verily, Gog and Magog¹⁸ waste this land; shall we then pay thee tribute, so thou build a rampart¹⁹ between us and them?'
He said, 'Better than your tribute is the might wherewith my Lord hath strengthened me; but help me strenuously, and I will set a barrier between you and them.
Bring me blocks of iron,' - until when it filled the space between the mountain sides - 'Ply,' said he, 'your bellows,'- until when he had made it red with heat (fire), he said, - 'Bring me molten brass that I may pour upon it.'
And Gog and Magog were not able to scale it, neither were they able to dig through it.
'This,' said he, 'is a mercy from my Lord:
But when the promise of my Lord shall come to pass, he will turn it to dust; and the promise of my Lord is true.'
On that day we will let them dash like billows one over another; and there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and we will gather them together in a body.
100 And we will set Hell on that day close before the infidels, Whose eyes were veiled from my warning, and who had no power to hear.
What! do the infidels think that they can,take my servants as their patrons, beside Me? Verily, we have got Hell ready as the abode of the infidels.
SAY: Shall we tell you who they are that have lost their labour most?
Whose aim in the present life hath been mistaken, and who deem that what they do is right?
 They are those who believe not in the signs of the Lord, or that they shall ever meet him. Vain, therefore, are their works; and no weight will we allow them on the day of resurrection.
This shall be their reward - Hell.^2O Because they were unbelievers, and treated my signs and my Apostles with scorn.
But as for those who believe and do the things that are right, they shall have the gardens of Paradise21 for their abode:

Page 197

They shall remain therein for ever: they shall wish for no change from it.
SAY: Should the sea become ink, to write the words of my Lord, the sea would surely fail ere the words of my Lord would fail, though we brought its like in aid.
110 SAY: In sooth I am only a man like you. It hath been revealed to me that your God is one only God: let him then who hopeth to meet his Lord work a righteous work: nor let him give any other creature a share in the worship of his Lord."

 

1	I	9	9	9
2	ME	18	9	9
3	SAY	45	9	9
9	SUSTAINER	126	36	9
9	EL SHADDAI	63	36	9

                          

SURA 19 - MARY
MECCA - 98 VERSES
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

"Kaf. Ha. Ya. Ain. Sad! A recital of thy Lord's mercy to his servant Zachariah;
When he called upon his Lord with secret calling,
- And said: 'O Lord, verily my bones are weakened, and the hoar hairs glisten on my head,
And never, Lord, have I prayed to thee with ill success.
But now I have fears for my kindred after me;] and my wife is barren:
Give me, then, a successor as thy special gift, who shall be my heir and an heir of the family of Jacob: and make him, Lord, well pleasing to thee.'
'O Zachariah! verily we announce to thee a son, - his name John:
That name We have given to none before him.⁴
He said: 'O my Lord! how when my wife is barren shall I have a son, and when I have now reached old age, failing in my powers?'
10 He said: So shall it be. Thy Lord hath said, Easy is this to me, for I created thee aforetime when thou wast nothing.'
He said: 'Vouchsafe me, O my Lord! a sign.' He said: 'Thy sign shall be that for three nights, though sound in health, thou speakest not to man.'

Page198

And he came forth from the sanctuary to his people, and made signs to them to sing praises morn and even.
We said:.'O John! receive the Book with purpose of heart:'⁵- and We bestowed on him wisdom while yet a child;
And mercifulness from Ourself, and purity; and pious was he, and duteous to his parents; and not proud, rebellious.
And peace was on him on the day he was born, and the dayof his death, and shall be on the day when he shall be raised to life!
And make mention in the Book, of Mary, when she went apart from her family, eastward,⁶
And took a veil to shroud herself from them: and we sent our spirit⁷ to her, and he took before her the form of a perfect man.⁸
She said: 'I fly for refuge from thee to the God of Mercy! If thou fearest Him, begone from me.'
He said: 'I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a holy son.'
20 She said: 'How shall I have a son, when man hath never touched me? and I am not unchaste.'
He said: 'So shall it be. Thy Lord hath said: "Easy is this with me;" and we will make him a sign to mankind, and a mercy from us. For it is a thing decreed.'
And she conceived him,⁹ and retired with him to a far-off place.
And the throes came upon her¹⁰ by the trunk of a palm. She said: 'Oh, would that I had died ere this, and been a thing forgotten, forgotten quite!'
And one cried to her from below her: ¹¹ 'Grieve not thou, thy Lord hath provided a streamlet at thy feet:-
And shake the trunk of the palm-tree towards thee: ¹² it will drop fresh ripe dates upon thee.
Eat then and drink, and be of cheerful eye: ¹³ and shouldst thou see a man,
Say, - Verily, I have vowed abstinence to the God of mercy.- To no one will I speak this day.'
Then came she with the babe to her people, bearing him. They said, 'O Mary! now hast thou done a strange thing!
O sister of Aaron!¹⁴ Thy father was not a man of wicked-ness, nor unchaste thy mother.'
3O And she made a sign to them, pointing towards the babe. They said, 'How shall we speak with him who is in the cradle, an infant?'

Page 199

It said,¹⁵ 'Verily, I am the servant of God; He hath given me the Book, and He hath made me a prophet;
And He hath made me blessed wherever I may be, and hath enjoined me prayer and almsgiving so long as I shall live;
And to be duteous to her that bare me: and he hath not made me proud, depraved.
And the peace of God was on me the day I was born, and will be the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised to life.'
This is Jesus, the son of Mary; this is a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.
It beseemeth not God to beget a son. Glory be to Him! when he decreeth a thing, He only saith to it, Be, and it Is.
And verily, God is my Lord and your Lord; adore Him then. This is the right way.
But the Sects have fallen to variance among themselves about Jesus: but woe, because of the assembly of a great day, to those who believe not! .
Make them hear, make them behold the day when they shall come before us! But the offenders this day are in a manifest error.
40 Warn them of the day of sighing when the decree shall be accomplished, while they are sunk in heedlessness and while they believe not.
Verily, we will inherit the earth and all who are upon it. To us shall they be brought back.
Make mention also in the Book of Abraham; for he was a man of truth, a Prophet.¹⁶
When he said to his Father, 'O my Father! why dost thou worship that which neither seeth nor heareth, nor profiteth thee aught?
O my Father! verily now hath knowledge come to me which hath not come to thee.. Follow me therefore - I will guide thee into an even path.
O my Father! worship not Satan, for Satan is a rebel against the God of Mercy.
O my Father! indeed I fear lest a chastisement from the God of Mercy light upon thee, and thou become Satan's vassal.'
He said, 'Castest thou off my Gods, 0 Abraham? If thou forbear not, I will surely stone thee. Begone from me for a length of time.'

Page 200

He said, 'Peace be on thee! I will pray my Lord for thy forgiveness, for he is gracious to me:
     But I will separate myself from you, and the gods ye call on beside God, and on my Lord will I call. Haply, my prayers to my Lord will not be with ill success.'
50 And when he had separated himself from them and that which they worshipped beside God, we bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, and each of them we made a prophet:
And we bestowed gifts on them in our mercy, and gave them the lofty tongue of truth.,¹⁷
And commemorate Moses in 'the Book;' for he was a man of purity: moreover he was an Apostle, a Prophet:
From the right side of the mountain we called to him, and caused him to draw nigh to us for secret converse:
And we bestowed on him in our mercy his brother Aaron, a Prophet.
And commemorate Ismael in 'the Book;' for he was true to his promise, and was an Apostle, a Prophet;
And he enjoined prayer and almsgiving on his people, and was well pleasing to his Lord.
And commemorate Edris ¹⁸ in 'the Book;' for he was a man of truth, a Prophet:
And we uplifted him to a place on high:¹⁹
These are they among the prophets of the posterity of Adam, and among those whom we bare with Noah, and among the posterity of Abraham and Israel, and among those whom we have guided and chosen, to whom God hath shewed favour. When the signs of the God of Mercy were rehearsed to them, they bowed them down worshipping and weeping.
60 But others have come in their place after them: they have made an end of prayer, and have gone after their own lusts; and in the end they shall meet with evil:-
Save those who turn and believe and do that which is right, these shall enter the Garden, and in nought shall they be wronged:
The Garden of Eden, which the God of Mercy hath promised to his servants, though yet unseen:²⁰ for his promise shall come to pass:
No vain discourse shall they hear therein, but only 'Peace;' and their food shall be given them at morn and even:
This is the Paradise which we will make the heritage of those our servants who fear us.

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We²¹ come not down from Heaven but by thy Lord's command. His, whatever is before us and whatever is behind us, and whatever is between the two! And thy Lord is not forgetful, -
Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between them! Worship Him, then, and abide thou steadfast in his worship. Knowest thou any other of the same name?²²
Man saith: 'What! after I am dead, shall I in the end be brought forth alive?'
Doth not man bear in mind that we made him at first, when he was nought?
And I swear by thy Lord, we will surely gather together them and the Satans: then will we set them on their knees round Hell:
70 Then will we take forth from each band those of them who have been stoutest in rebellion against the God of Mercy:
Then shall we know right well to whom its burning is most due:
No one is there of you who shall not go down unto ir.²³ - This is a settled decree with thy Lord -
Then will we deliver those who had the fear of God, and the wicked will we leave in it on their knees.
And when our clear signs are rehearsed to them, the infidels say to those who believe: 'Which of the two parties²⁴ is in the best plight? and which is the most goodly company?'
But how many generations have we brought to ruin before them, who surpassed them in riches and in splendour!
SAY: As to those who are in error, the God of Mercy will lengthen out to them a length of days
Until they see that with which they are threatened, whether it be some present chastisement, or whether it be 'the Hour,' and they shall then know which is in the worse state, and which the more weak in forces:
But God will increase the guidance of the already guided. And good works which abide, are in thy Lord's sight better in respect of guerdon, and better in the issue than all worldly good.
80 Hast thou marked him who believeth not in our signs, and saith, 'I shall surely have riches and children bestowed upon me?'
Hath he mounted up into the secrets of God? Hath he made a compact with the God of Mercy?

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No! we will certainly write down what he saith, and will lengthen the length of his chastisement:
And We will inherit what he spake of, and he shall come before us all alone.
They have taken other gods beside God to be their help²⁵ But it shall not be. Those gods will disavow their worship and will become their enemies.
Seest thou not that we send the Satans against the Infidels to urge them into sin?
Wherefore be not thou in haste with them;26 for a small number of days do we number to them.
One day we will gather the God-fearing before the God of Mercy with honours due:²⁷
But the sinners will we drive unto Hell, like flocks driven to the watering.
90 None shall have power to intercede, save he who hath received permission at the hands of the God of Mercy.
They say: 'The God of Mercy hath gotten offspring.' Now have ye done a monstrous thing!
Almost might the very Heavens be rent thereat, and the Earth cleave asunder, and the mountains fall down in fragments,
That they ascribe a son to the God of Mercy, when it beseemeth not the God of Mercy to beget a son!
Verily there is none in the Heavens and in the Earth but shall approach the God of Mercy as a servant. He hath taken note of them, and numbered them with exact numbering:
And each of them shall come to Him, on the day of Resurrection, singly:
But love will the God of Mercy vouchsafe to those who believe and do the things that be right.
Verily we have made this Koran easy and in thine own tongue, that thou mayest announce glad tidings by it to the God-fearing, and that thou mayest warn the contentious by it.
How many generations have we destroyed before them! Canst thou search out one of them? or 'canst thou hear a whisper from them?

SURA 29

Page 472 Notes 3

"The word SAY - the usual address of God or Gabriel to Muhammad - must either be considered as spoken by God to Abraham, in which case we have a curious instance of the manner in which Muhammad identifies himself with Abraham, and makes Abraham speak in words which he constantly elsewhere uses himself; or with Wahl,. we must suppose that from v. 17 to v. 22 are misplaced"

 

1	I	9	9	9
2	ME	18	9	9
3	SAY	45	9	9
7	GABRIEL	54	36	9

Page 431

SURA 1

"The word Sura occurs nine times in the Koran"

THE WORD SURA OCCUR NINE TIMES IN THE KORAN

 

 

3	SAY	45	9	9
4	SURA	59	14	5
-	-	-	-	-
8	MOHAMMED	72	36	9
8	MUHAMMAD	74	29	2
5	JESUS	74	11	2

 

HOLY BIBLE

GENESIS

Scofield References

Page 26

C 17 V 1

AND WHEN ABRAM WAS

NINETY YEARS OLD AND NINE

THE

LORD

APPEARED TO ABRAM AND SAID UNTO HIM

I

AM

THE

ALMIGHTY

GOD

WALK THOU BEFORE ME AND BE THOU PERFECT

 

Note (2) "Almighty God (El Shaddai) not only enriches but makes fruitful This is nowhere better illustrated than in the first occurrence of the name (Gen. 17. 1-8).To a man ninety-nine years of age, and "as good as dead" (Heb. 11. 2), He said: I am the Almighty God [El Shaddai]"

Page 27

C17 V 24

AND ABRAHAM WAS

NINETY YEARS OLD AND NINE

WHEN HE WAS CIRCUMCISED IN THE FLESH

OF

HIS

FORESKIN

25

AND

ISHMAEL

HIS SON WAS THIRTEEN YEARS OLD

WHEN HE WAS CIRCUMCISED IN THE FLESH

OF

HIS

FORESKIN

 

 

1	I	9	9	9
2	ME	18	9	9
3	SAY	45	9	9
9	SUSTAINER	126	36	9
9	EL SHADDAI	63	36	9
-	EL	17	8	8
-	SH	27	9	9
-	ADD	9	9	9
-	A	1	1	1
-	I	9	9	9
9	EL SHADDAI	63	36	9

 

 

5	ABRAM	35	17	8
-	AB	3	3	3
-	R	18	9	9
-	AM	14	5	5
5	ABRAM	35	17	8
-	A-	-	-	-
-	A-	-	-	-
7	ABRAHAM	-	-	-
-	AB	3	3	3
-	R	18	9	9
-	AH	9	9	9
-	AM	14	5	5
7	ABRAHAM	44	26	26
-	-	4+4	2+6	2+6
7	ABRAHAM	8	8	8
-	A-	-	-	-
-	A-	-	-	-
8	ABRAHAMS	63	27	9
5	CHILD	36	27	9
7	ISHMAEL	67	31	4
-	-	6+7	3+1	-
-	-	13	4	4
8	THIRTEEN	99	45	9
-	A-	-	-	-
-	A-	-	-	-
6	BRAHMA	43	25	7
7	ABRAHAM	44	26	8
-	A-	-	-	-
-	A-	-	-	-
5	SARAI
-	S	19	10	1
-	A	1	1	1
-	R	18	9	9
-	A	1	1	1
-	I	9	9	9
5	SARAI	48	21	3
		4+8	2+1	-
5	SARAI	12	3	3
		1+2	-	-
5	SARAI	3	3	3
-	A-	-	-	-
-	A-	-	-	-
5	SARAH	-	-	-
-	S	19	10	1
-	A	1	1	1
-	R	18	9	9
-	AH	9	9	9
5	SARAH	47	29	20
	A	4+7	2+9	2+0
5	SARAH	11	11	2
	A	1+1	1+1	-
5	SARAH	2	2	2
-	A-	-	-	-
-	A-	-	-	-
5	HAGAR	-	-	-
	HA	9	9	9
	GA	8	8	8
	R	18	9	9
5	HAGAR	35	26	8
-	A-	-	-	-
-	A-	-	-	-
5	ISAAC	-	-	-
-	I	9	9	9
-	SAA	21	3	3
-	C	3	3	3
5	ISAAC	33	15	6
-	A-	3+3	1+5	-
5	ISAAC	6	6	6

 

 

THE KORAN

Everyman

Translated from the Arabic by

J. M. Rodwell

1909

Page 424

SURA 98 - CLEAR EVIDENCE
MEDINA - 8 VERSES
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

"The unbelievers among the people of the Book, and the Polytheists, did not waver, until the CLEAR EVIDENCE had come to them;
A messenger from God, reciting to them the pure pages wherein are true Scriptures!
Neither were they to whom the Scriptures were given divided into sects, till after this clear evidence had reached them!
Yet was not aught enjoined on them but to worship God with sincere religion, sound in faith; and to observe prayer and pay the stated alms. For this is true religion.
But the unbelievers among the people of the Book, and among the Polytheists, shall go into the fire of Gehenna to abide therein for aye. Of all creatures are they the worst!
But they who believe and do the things that are right - these of all creatures are the best!
Their recompense with their Lord shall be gardens of Eden, 'neath which the rivers flow, in which they shall abide for evermore.
God is well pleased in them and lhey in Him! This, for him who feareth his Lord."

Page 423/4

SURA 99 - THE EARTHQUAKE
MECCA - 8 VERSES
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

"When the Earth with her quaking shall quake
And the Earth shall cast forth her burdens,
And man shall say, What aileth her?
On that day shall she tell out her tidings,
Because thy Lord shall have inspired her.

On that day shall men come forward in throngs to behold their works,
And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of good shall behold it,
And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of evil shall behold it."

SURA 100 - THE CHARGERS
MECCA - 11 VERSES
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

"By the snorting CHARGERS!
And those that dash off sparks of fire!
And those that scour to the attack at morn!
And stir therein the dust aloft;
And cleave therein their midway through a host!
Truly, Man is to his Lord ungrateful.
And of this he is himself a witness;
And truly, he is vehement in the love of this world's good.

Ah! knoweth he not, that when that which is in the graves shall be laid bare,
10 And that which is in men's breasts shall be brought forth,

Verily their Lord shall on that day be informed concerning them?"

 

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=
=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=
J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R
10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
1+0	1+1	1+2	1+3	1+4	1+5	1+6	1+7	1+8
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=
=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=
S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z	I
19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	9
1+9	2+0	2+1	2+2	2+3	2+4	2+5	2+6	ME
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=
=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=	=
I	ME	I	ME	I	ME	I	ME	I
9	18	9	18	9	18	9	18	9
=	1+8	=	1+8	=	1+8	=	1+8	=
=	9	=	9	=	9	=	9	=
I	ME	I	ME	I	ME	I	ME	1
9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
I	ME	I	ME	I	ME	I	ME	1

 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

1+0

1+1

1+2

1+3

1+4

1+5

1+6

1+7

1+8

1+9

2+0

2+1

2+2

2+3

2+4

2+5

2+6

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

 

NAMES OF GOD 99 99 NAMESOF GOD

 

NUMBER

9

THE SEARCH FOR THE SIGMA CODE

Cecil Balmond

1998

Page 214 / 15

NAMING

The 99 Names of Allah

Allah The Mighty The Independent

The Compassionate The Forgivng The Powerful

The Merciful The Grateful The Dominant

The King/Sovereign The High The Giver

The Holy The Great The Retarder

The Source of Peace The Preserver The First

The Giver of Faith The Protector The Last

The Overall Protector The Reckoner The Manifest

The Strong The Sublime The Hidden

The Almighty The Bountiful The Governor

The Majestic The Watcher The High Exalted

The Creator The Responsive The Righteous

The Maker The Infinite - The Relenting

The Fashioner The Wise The Forgiver

The Great Forgiver The Loving The Avenger

The Dominant The Glorious The Compassionate

The Bestower The Resurrector The Ruler of the Kingdom

The Provider The Witness The Lord of Majesty and Bounty 

The Opener The True The Equitable

The All-Knowing The Advocate The Gatherer

The Restrainer The Most Strong The Self-Sufficient

The Extender The Firm The Enricher

The Humbler The Patron The Bestower

The Exalter The Praiseworthy The Withholder

The Empowerer The Numberer The Propitious

The Humiliator The Commencer The Distresser

The All-Hearing The Restorer The Light

The All-Seeing The Giver of Life The Guide

The Judge The One Who Gives Death The Eternal

The Just The Living One The Everlasting

The Kindly One The Self-Subsisting The Heir

The Gracious The Perceiver The Guide to the Right Path

The Clement The One The Patient

 

THE = 33 33 = THE

THE = 15 15 = THE

THE = 6 6 = THE

 

NAMES OF GOD = 99 99 = NAMES OF GOD

 

 

NUMBER

9

THE SEARCH FOR THE SIGMA CODE

Cecil Balmond

1998

Page 221

Enjil's Mark
"The numbers 1- 9 are symbols and exert a powerful hold on the imagination - they act as some kind of bridge to other worlds. Because they are inviolate and basic, they become the hidden steps to another kind of understanding, to prophecy and divination.
In researching this book I came across the Cabalah, and the faith it had in Numerology, which used the numbers 1- 9 to divine a person's character. I tried the method on Enjil and got the number 5, for the Self or Life Number which is the number that describes the essence of a character. It is also the number for magic in Numerology. What was curious was that my first name also came to this number.
I then tried out another aspect, the Personality number, which is given by checking the consonants in a name. The letters N J L in 'Enjil' added up to nine. I was quite stunned and delighted. But so did the consonants in my first name: C C L.
Was I destined to write this book? Had Enjil called me up?
Was there another level operating here, a deeper intuition, that guided me towards Enjil?
Sometimes I think with a slight touch of fear that perhaps he was out there waiting to come in - an idea
looking my way, hovering. Then in the yellow light of the moon, in one night of asking strange questions, a ray enters my mind and illuminates the path. Enjil invades. I feel as if he has invented a new pair of eyes in me so that I can see clearer, undoing the clutter and the learning I carry-around like heavy baggage and I learn to count again in simple ways, 1,2,3,

 

Page 222

The Last Movement
"When I began looking into numbers I had no idea that number nine was such fertile ground. I read the books and followed certain well-worn explanations but could not find what I really wanted, a picture, a dia-gram. In mathematical books, number nine remained a mental construction. But in the primitive belief that numbers needed shape I tried to create a physicality around the idea. Then Enjil showed it to me, the sigma circle.
If I arranged the numbers one to nine, in a circle, suddenly everything fell into place. I had looked through all the books I had on numbers and searched the contents of others on bookshelves - but did not find a graphic explanation for the special behaviour of nine. And when I found it, there were the pictures for the other numbers as well, one to eight the whole thing held tightly by the character of nine. It was simple and quite beautiful.
But Enjil had come to me previously.
I was working on another puzzle, on patterns, for another book. I was looking into how to connect up eighteen fixed points, laid out in 3 x 6 rows, in as many ways as possible. Just as I was exhausting the possibilities thrown up by a logical approach I thought of the games I had played in childhood, skipping along large' stones by riverbanks, constructing special road- ways beside the babbling water. And suddenly a spirit sprang to life, a boy-wonder of mathematics releasing a whole new set of patterns in my mind. Like a guardian angel, he skipped over the stones giving an answer to the puzzle I was looking into. That boy's / Page 223 / name was, of course, Enjil. So when I was struggling again to find a picture and a pattern for number nine, I thought of Enjil and invoked that spirit of invention. That is when the answers came; the sigma circle of nine numbers, the other orbits of the Mandalas, and the meditations of moving patterns. I drew upon the woman Soma who lives in the moon to inspire me, for in Hindu myth she is the essence of wisdom, the drink of the Gods, the nectar of a divine inspiration. She is magic. And her Greek namesake, Sophia, is also an essence, one of heavenly wisdom; who better than these spirits to inspire Enjil and me into action?
After the Mandalas were found, looking for the movements of nine and searching for the hidden se-quences buried deep in mathematical constructions, became absorbing research.
Prime numbers suddenly conformed under the spell of the sigma code, despite their unique and stand- alone indivisible nature. Nothing I had learnt about primes had led me to believe that there was anything to them but their oddness; yet the code opened a door to speculation about their behaviour.
Perhaps the surface eccentricities of the distribu-tion of numbers, as with prime numbers, have inner and deeply buried movements of order, a gathering together of certain essences so that nothing is truly random. Perhaps for something to appear in our world and to be tracked by our minds, there must be some kind of hidden coherence, though that secret would be buried deep and generally unknown to us. The sigma code certainly points to this conjecture and makes us think of numbers in different and new ways. The / Page 224 / sigma code and Enjil's story give both animation to numbers and new hope.
But the Mandalas also taught me something else: that "modern" need not mean "different", a fracture from the past. What is interesting in the Mandalas (pages 122 and 134) is that both diagrams, the classic centred one of symmetry and the strange skewed one, hold the same information; one static and concentric, the other swinging in and out, and dynamic.
From our pasts, the images of completeness we take in are symmetric; and perfection is said to radiate outwards from a point, and what surrounds a source is held at equal distances. That was how I constructed the first Mandala, spaced out, evenly, around the innermost sigma circle.
I was trapped by the static concept. I even called the diagram a Mandala, a meditation along Eastern lines of fixed centred thinking.
But to my mind, the Strange One, a modern Mandala for today, is even more exciting than the concentric one. The removal of symmetry lends a particular dynamic; the contemplation is still there but it is more informed, if anything, more focussed towards a greater concentration on the true balance point, the cross-over of all orbits.
What we learn from these diagrams is that a modern notation is not necessarily a break from the past. It is just a reworking of the same information in a wholly new way, more relational than absolute. And perhaps more accurate for that. We need not fear the apparent disjointed and twisted surfaces of the non- symmetric, it is just another way of looking, to my  / Page 225 / mind, a more accurate view perhaps of really what is going on around us. And that gives me hope, some- thing to look forward to in the realm of ideas."

 

1	I	9	9	9
2	ME	18	9	9
3	EGO	27	18	9
4	EYES	54	18	9
10	CONSCIENCE	90	45	9
-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-
3	SUN	54	9	9
4	BALL	27	9	9
6	WHEELS	72	27	9
5	ROUND	72	27	9
4	HOOP	54	27	9
4	REAL	36	18	9
7	REALITY	90	36	9
7	THOUGHT	99	36	9
6	DIVINE	63	36	9
4	LOVE	54	18	9

 

NAMES OF GOD = 99 99 = NAMES OF GOD

HURRAH FOF RAH FOR RAH HURRAH

NUMBER

9

THE SEARCH FOR THE SIGMA CODE

Cecil Balmond

1998

Page 227

Nine is the centre and binding rim of the prayer wheel of numbers.

"And the last movement of nine never seems to come, each revelation or discovery simply deepens the mystery. The fascination grows. Like a spiral the shape of nine continues to evade a simple end, winding itself further into enigma and exploration. Enjil said that the Mandala and his quest for nine was but a reflection on life: Who is the man or woman, he asked, who would not like to know the hidden path that holds on to all movement? Was he not right?  

In the labyrinth of appearances with all its shouting, twists and turns, most of us become lost and bewildered. To find our way we need a code. On the surfaces of bent experience the straightness of our logic is not enough - there are no clues to a deeper understanding, no whispers that we must hear to make our inner world hold strong and have meaning.

At the heart of the story of Enjil and the Mandalas is the simple truth, that a secret in itself is beautiful and once that is known, then somehow the fact gains power and multiplies. The world that grows around it is never barren or wasted, for in every part we see the trace of the original idea. The many that is one has always been the greatest treasure to find.

In the eternal abstraction of points, number 9, will always find connections. To those who know how to look, the insights will grow.

There is no end, as long as there are the numbers."

9

NUMBER

9

THE SEARCH FOR THE SIGMA CODE

Cecil Balmond

1998

Page 209

"No doubt for the pure mathematician the algebraic explanations are succinct, simple and elegant; but what is fun is to find a graphical way of explaining these abstractions.

To most people mathematics is a taboo area, an area they do not feel comfortable with. That is a pity, because mathematics is beautiful; the delight being in chasing purely mental constructs.

The strange power of number nine may be written out in only a few lines of algebra yet there is something more, something much more interesting when a picture emerges from out of the abstraction.

Page 210

The sigma circle is such an invention. In one orbit it explains the unique property of nine. And in some ways it is more powerful than the mathematics, because the picture penetrates deeper into the area behind our rational mind. The saying goes that a picture says much more than words; in that sense the sigma circle and the greater inspiration of its Mandalas speaks volumes, sharpening our intuition beyond a number itself into patterns and characters. Whereas mathematics describes, a picture inspires. Equations demand our intellect, but the Mandalas demand curiosity and our poetry.

From pure mathematics we can see that nine owes its character to the unique position it has in our decimal system. But number nine has also travelled far beyond these computational confines. From another route, through the mists of time and long before the invention of our decimal system, number nine grew and developed its own archetypes and mystery.

Vishnu took three strides to create the universe. Three times three is potency magnified beyond measure. That beginning of the great rebirth of the seasons, the winter solstice, is in the ninth house of the Zodiac; and the infant takes nine months to be born. Unaided by any mathematical proofs number nine grew its own equations in the human imagination. And Allah was honoured and blessed and was called by ninety nine names.

 

 

Page 183

The Golden Section

The Golden Section is special in classical art and architecture. It is the particular ratio given by sub-dividing a line so that the greater part is to the lesser part as the whole is to the greater part.
(Diagram ommited)                                       

This was said to be the proportion found most pleasing in the rectangle and was used in the planning of the Parthenon and numerous other architectural works.

Page 184

The golden ratio is also found in a triangle when it is isosceles (in which the two opposite sides are equal), but with a particular base angle.

The ratio of the long side of the triangle to the shorter base is in the golden ratio when the base angle is 72°. This means the angle at the top vertex is 36°. Each angle of the Golden Triangle sums to nine!

The Greeks believed that at the heart of perfect proportion was the golden ratio and is it not pleasing to find number nine buried in the works, to those of us who chase its tail?

The unique property of the golden rectangle is that if a square is taken away from it, the remaining part is a rectangle, which has the same proportions to the original rectangle. That means it is golden as well. The process continues, with each removal of a square, leaving another golden rectangle. Smaller and smaller we go and if the points of the construction are joined together in a smooth curve, we enter a spiral, winding down into its vanishing point, the hidden eye.

The eye of the spiral is of course the shape of a vanishing 9."

 

Page 185                                     

Geometry is cornered around 9.

The triangle is a line that bends twice to close on itself. enclosing en route a total of 180° in its internal angles.

A square is a line that is more formal in its bending around corners, enclosing each time a right angle so that the sum of the internal angles is 4 x 90° = 360°.

A circle is a line that bends round continuously, about a centre point, enclosing the angle of 360°.

In general, any regular polygon encloses
a total internal angle of (2n-4) right angles
where n is the number of sides of the
polygon.

For a pentagon n = 5 Sum of internal angles = 540°

For a hexagon n = 6 Sum of internal angles = 720° 

For an octagon n = 8 Sum of internal angles = 1080° 

For a decagon n = 10 Sum of internal angles = 1440° etc.

In all cases the digits in the sum of internal angles add up to nine or multiples of nine. In other words for regular polygons
(sum of internal angles)  = 9

Page 124

For example, the radiating arm of [2] has the values - reading from the centre outwards -
2 - 4 6 8 1 3 5 7

Then it hits the outer boundary of nine and travels along the circle coming back on its complement of nine, number 7. The order is now reversed from the inside to the outside along the radiating arm [7]

7 - 5 3 1 8 6 4 2

And so on, the symmetries and the reflections grow.

I lose myself in wonder at the beauty and the intricacy in which the numbers depend on each other, in secret. On the surface one would never imagine this closed circuit of intrigue. In the Mandala of nine, the digits have life-long partnerships, number ONE with EIGHT, TWO with SEVEN, THREE with SIX, FOUR with FIVE. Each pairing has an identical shape - when its multiplication sequence is plotted on the sigma circle, one is the reverse of the other.

Like partners in an eternal dance they turn, their bond being the number nine which holds them together and at the same time keeps them apart. Behind the whole revolution is this special mark, the character that keeps secrets and takes on several disguises - now a boundary, now a mirror, now unseen, and then taking complete hold of another's identity. Whichever way we turn in the circles, we find that all paths out of the labyrinth lead to 9.

Page 125

It is one grand act of conservation. Each orbit adds up to nine, as does each radiating arm. And in one magnificent homage, all the values of all the circles add up to nine. Everything in this hidden cosmos of numbers comes to the same thing, the uniqueness of 9.

Its component parts, the digits one to eight, hold in tight confidence this secret of the first revolution of the
             

MANDALA.

Hidden by all permutations of arithmetic the numbers of the code spin quietly. In the music of the spheres the sigma code comes together; layer upon layer; orbiting in a secret universe. It is a revolution of numbers beyond that which any of the Elders could imagine. Like the planets in the sky, the code revolves in full nine orbits.

Enjil said numbers are not fixed, but ultimately rotations.

Page 126

Nine Fixed Points in the Wind

The Elders had never seen it coming.

The young Master was elated as the crowd cheered, each one of them understanding how simple it was. They saw for the first time the basic nature of the numbers themselves, their shapes, the stars and the triangles, the crossing polygons and the spinning discs. Underneath the clutter of the arithmetic was the simple nine number code, which seemed to rotate all around their heads as the young master drew fantastic circles on the blackboard with radiating arms.

But when the boy master had worked out his thesis and drafted those lovely circles of nine, he was not content. He saw the completeness of it but something was not quite right. There was too much balance. It was not satisfying how the nines bordered the figure yet the reflection and the reversals did not catch the spirit of what was in his head.

Enjil wanted a deeper clarity - to match the swirling movements he had first seen - so that the diagram would show better what actually was going on, if that was at all possible.

Like the Elders and wise Masters who had come before him, everyone believed in the perfection of the circle. The world was created round, the sun was / Page 127 / round, the stars wrapped around the vast bowl of the sky in a great orbit. Mathematicians knew that numbers had a perfection not corrupted by daily affairs and that the concept of a number was
abstract, unchanging. What better shape then, than the perfection of a set of circles?

But to Enjil nine was the number through which everything else flowed. It was also the number that must give reversal and the more he thought of the pattern, of circle upon circle, the more dissatisfied he became. It was too static, too stationary. It did not move. Number nine was full of vigour; it did things to other numbers - it was a catalyst. And yet it had to be stationary to allow other things through it - this was still the problem to solve. But how?

In the afternoon before the day of the examination he saw the breeze gust up and whip up trails of dust in the compound. Minor sand storms that eddied and whirled and zigzagged. He saw spirals and the vortices, as the force in the wind moved his mind into action.

He felt then that number nine was an even greater concept than he had first imagined; it must be like the secret, unseen force of the wind itself, and this would be the force that moved the other numbers. The pattern he sought then must have only one point of reference- number nine itself! Not a circle of numbers, but a condensation of the nature of that first innermost circle. It summed to nine, it had nine parts, it had three hundred and sixty degrees which in turn compressed to nine as three plus six plus zero."

Page 73

Four Precious Mirrors
                        
"Armed with the code we go on to look into the precious mirrors of arithmetic, the four infinite planes of adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying, that manipulate all numbers."

 

 

"The sigma code lays down a trace of how numbers work in secret, we can peer into their basic patterns. But it is only when these patterns are seen as a whole that the beauty of the code is revealed and the astonishing truth of number nine at the heart of our number system."

 

"(And here we must thank zero for even allowing the sigma code to exist. For without zero the process of reduction would not work. Adding digits to pare down to a single digit is dependent on our unique placement value system of units, tens, hundreds, etc. Zero allows the code to be bound within the range 1-9).                                                   

Page 40

Then there are the tales of great spirits and strange forms that govern the beginning and endings of things. They are the stories across cultures which invoke nine as a magic ingredient in rites of passage.

The Seeds of Nine

Yang formed the Heavens and Yin formed the Earth. And Pan Ku, who was in the middle, changed his form nine times a day, sometimes into a God in heaven or into a saint here on earth.

A dead person must cross the Chinvat or 'grading' bridge, which is as wide as nine spears laid end to end for the just, and as narrow as the finest edged razor blade for the wicked. (From Persia)

The dwelling place of the dead is not easy to get to; there are steep mountains to climb, terrible deserts to cross and poison- ous snakes to confront. The wind pierces the body and the weary soul looks for a final resting place but first must cross Hell's frightening rivers, all nine of them.
(From Mesoamerica)

Page 41

Homer wrote in the Odyssey:

At the age of nine, they were nine orbits wide and nine fathoms tall and they threatened the Immortals by bringing the tumult of war to Olympus. They wanted to pile Mount Ossa onto Olympus and Mount Pelion with the restless leaves onto Mount Ossa in order to mount their assault on Heaven.

Haephaestus was a magician, unique in the world of the Gods, but he was lame and his mother thought him ugly and dropped him from Olympus. He was brought up for nine years in an underwater cave by Tethys and Eurynome and he there learned handicrafts and the art of jewellery and the making of neck laces.
(Iliad XVIII)

It took Vulcan nine days to reach the island of Lemnos when he was banished from Olympus.

The voyages of Odysseus lasted for nine years before he arrived home.

The duration of the siege of the City of Troy was nine years.

The Ark of Delucion was tossed about for nine days when it became stranded on top of Mount Parnassus.

When the fallen angels were cast out of heaven for "nine days they fell. " (Milton, Paradise Lost)

 

 

THE CONCISE OXFORD DICTIONARY

First Edition 1911

Page 48

ar'changel (-kanj - n Angel of highest rank;

one of the eighth ORDER of ninefold celestial hierarchy; hence archangelic (Ranj -) a 

[OE,f. AF archangele f.eccl. Lf. eccl. GK arkhaggelos [as ARCH,-ANGEL]

 

 

Page 42

Niobe, the wife of Amphion, King of Thebes, boasted of the number of children she had. Latona raging with mad
jealousy called her own two children to seek a terrible revenge and Niobe's loved ones were destroyed. For nine long days Niobe lay beside her children, weeping for them, before their bodies were buried into the darkness and she was turned into stone.

In the old ways of the Norse, Odin was a great traveller; and he wanted to understand everything. But wisdom could not be bought by gold or silver; so he gave his eye to the woman who guarded the fountain of Mimir; so that he could truly see. And Odin discovered the runes, the sacred writing which allowed thought itself to be set down and passed on. To do this he hung from the tree which was battered by the winds for nine long terrible nights, pierced by a spear. Without having eaten or drunk he picked up the runes shouting out he knew how to increase and prosper. He engraved the runes into wood carvings.

Heimdallr, the God of the Norse people, could see everything and never closed his eyes. He could hear everythinq, the grass climbing out of the earth and the wool growing on the back of sheep. He guarded the foot of the rainbow which led to the Gods. Heimdallr; the special one, was born of nine mothers.

 

Page 43

There were nine Muses; they were the children of Zeus and Mnemosyne. They were not only divine singers but they were patrons of all intellectual activities of the times, including the highest, which was everything that freed man and gave access to the eternal truths. These included Eloquence, Persuasion, Wisdom, Knowledge, Mathematics, Astronomy as well as Poetry, Music and Dancing.

There were also nine virgin priestesses of the ancient oracle.

Dryden wrote in The Flower and The Leaf:
Nine worthies were they called, of different rites,
Three Jews, three pagans, and three Christian Knights.

The Jews were Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabaeus;

The Gentiles were Hector, Alexander, and Julius Caesar;

The Christians were Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon.

Sometimes the nine worthies were referred to as being three from the Bible, three from the Classics and three from romance.

Page 44

But nine covers Hell and the dark side in thrice three-fold ways as well.

At last appear
Hell-bounds, high reaching to the horrid roof,
And thrice threefold the gates; three folds were brass,
Three iron, three of adamantine rock,
Impenetrable, impaled with circling fire
Yet unconsumed.
(Milton, Paradise Lost)

To make a charm the witches chant:
Thrice to thine,
and thrice to mine,
and thrice again to make up nine.
(Shakespeare, Macbeth 1 [iii])

Page 45

Buddha was the ninth incarnation of Vishnu.

Vishnu created the world in three strides. He pushed apart the universe and placed the sky, the heavens and the earth in their rightful place.

Three times three, the trinity of trinities, gains select status then as the doubling and resourcing of special power.

3 x 3 = 9

From ancient times number nine was seen as a full complement; it was the cup of a special promise that brimmed over.
                                    
The organisation of heaven:

Seraphims        Cherubims    Thrones

Dominions      Powers           Virtues

Principalities   Archangels    Angels

To the Greeks a person was a full chord of eight notes; the ninth was the all embracing sound of the deity."

 

Page 47

On the Sermon on the Mount there are nine categories called Blessed:

Blessed are the poor in spirit; the patient;
and those who mourn;

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for-holiness;
Blessed are the merciful;
Blessed are the clean of heart;

Blessed are the peace-makers; those who suffer persecution in the cause of right; and those who are reviled and have all manner of evil spoken against them in His name.
(Matthew 5,3:12)

Jesus was crucified at the Third hour.
At the Sixth hour the world was plunged into darkness. At the Ninth hour Jesus yielded up his spirit and died.

(Mark 15, 25:39)

Page 48

Beyond the stories there are the numbers themselves:

the Great Year of Babylon;
the verses in the Rg- Veda;
the choirs of angels in the Book of Revelation;
the years in Hell for a Buddhist;
the gates to Valhalla;
and all the names of Allah.

The Babylonian Great Year is 432 000 years long.

Written thousands of years ago, that most sacred Hymn and first recorded poem of existence, the Rg-Veda of the first Hindus, has stanzas 10800 in number.

In the Book of Revelation a choir of 144000 angels redeemed the Earth.

For the devout Buddhist, Hell can last 576 million years!

Valhalla is said to have up to 5 400 gates to Hell.

Allah has 99 names.

Page 49

When I look at these great and awesome numbers there is one surprise, they all have a secret; in each case the sum of their digits adds up to nine!

432000   - 4+3 +2+0+0+0           = 9 

10800     - 1+0+8+0+0                = 9 

144000   - 1+4+4+0+0+0           = 9

576         - 5 + 7 + 6 = 18; 1 + 8    = 9

5400       - 5+4+0+0                     = 9

99           - 9 + 9 = 18; 1 + 8          = 9

Deep down in the fabric of the numbers that describe and classify these great events is number nine, planted like a hidden seed. Throughout sacred literature this number keeps cropping up as the mark of auspicious events, acting as a trigger point of initiation or departure.

Even in the archetypes of our hands, nine is a catalyst to counting. Each finger can be divided vertically into 9 points, a series of 3 on each side and one up the middle. The points on one finger can then be allocated numbers 1-9. The next finger can be marked from 10-90 another 100-900 and so on, until with one hand, as the early Chinese did, one can count up to ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine.
9 9 9 9 9 .

Page 6 

world was something quite different when viewed from below. Looked at another way, six and six was not necessarily twelve but something much more exciting - the number 3, of a secret code.

I was won over. I began to look at numbers differently.

I used the special code I had stumbled on to find out more and track what Enjil had done; I spoke to people and read books; I looked for the answer to the riddle that made the Elders blanch and stir uncomfortably on that fateful day of the Examination. And I finally visited the mountain villages where the pupils in the schools stared at the pictures before they did any calculations, in order that they may inspire themselves for the rigours of the task ahead. The pictures of course had been added to and decorated heavily but at their centre stood the original spirit of Enjil's drawings, powerful and beautiful.

Through Enjil's investigation and my own research I have learnt many things I was never taught at school. When I think of the effort and the monotony I went through learning by rote, suffering numbers as necessary evils, I shudder. No teacher talked of the spirit of numbers, no teacher showed me the shape of a number. No one introduced me to a secret code that made lightning work of numbers and opened up worlds of wonderful possibilities hidden from the day-to-day grind; I found that other peoples too, in ancient times and in other lands, understood numbers as secret and special and alive, and not as mere counters, not just fodder for tiring calculations.

Page 7

So I set out on the path Enjil took.

My own labours overlap his and our two stories have now become one. But that is how a personal search should be - with the spirit of that first discovery reaching out and embracing one until no difference can be found between one's own research and the inspiration that was first taken in. What was the author's becomes yours - which must be the meaning of original, something that embraces and absorbs all those inquisitive enough to enquire of others' inventions.

And it is in this spirit I dedicate the journey to you. Follow the clues, build up the jigsaw piece by piece and make your own investigations; become part of the search.

Go back in time and let the free spirit in you enter. Talk to it, play, ask the strangest questions.

Start to count again in the simplest of ways,

one, two, three, four... up to nine.

You need to do this, but you will also need nine clues.

And to begin with there is the story of Enjil himself, the talisman I conjure up whenever I think of numbers and of the fixed patterns that turn in the wind."

Page 8  number omitted

"NINE FIXED POINTS IN THE WIND"

Page 9 number omitted

"MOVEMENTS OF NINE"

Page 12

Talisman

Enjil slept uncomfortably, his mind full of torment in fear of the Examination to come. He was standing in front of the Elders, those of the supreme rank, and he had nothing to say! He had not found a proof or a clever hypothesis to place before them on this auspicious day. And the day could not be put back - it marched right up to him, dragging him out brutally into the open, while the Elders, in their crimson robes, sat at the high table waiting for him. They motioned him to come up. He climbed up the steps and went to the blackboard and picked up the dry chalk in his wet, nervous hands.

Villagers crammed the square to see him perform. Word had gone out that the boy with the limp had magic powers; for when he lay dying from smallpox a strange bird had suddenly flown in and settled on his fevered brow, pecking at it. Superstition said it was the devil who seized a person's brain at such times, to give out great powers only to suck it back again at the moment of death, to prevent that tender soul from being re-born. And amazingly, as the bird flew away Enjil recovered and began talking in strange languages and writing down sheets of numbers, confusing everyone with ideas that they had never heard of.

Page 14

His thesis was done - he had a proof written out in the higher algebra which his mentor had said would easily give him the title of Master; it was the sort of thing the Elders would like, for it was similar to the studies each of them had done. "It is not about being original, Enjil", his mentor said, "for you must not sit uncomfortably in your superiors' minds. If you present something they do not understand, or agree with as high learning, they will fail you. Conform, and then privately get on with your real discoveries. That is what we all do. " His teacher shrugged at the way life was at the Academy and worry grew on the old man's face at the thought of what his stubborn student might do. But Enjil had listened, he had conformed - his thesis was as fine a piece of complicated mathematics as one could wish for, deliberately put together in an obscure way so that difficulties abounded in every line of the argument. In truth, Enjil had a much simpler proof but it would appear too easy. So he had put it to one side and applied himself to obscurities in the demonstration of his thesis, knowing this approach would be more favoured by the Elders. And the peace of the night said he had nothing to worry about but go back to sleep and wait happily for that day of the Examination.

As he lay there looking up at the moon, his mind began to wander over the ideas he really loved to think about, like the expansion of (symbol ommited). Was there a pattern to it? Or how many unlike squares could  fit into a rectangle or another square? This was a problem no one at the Academy could solve, though / Page 15 / Enjil had come near. Was every even integer the sum of two prime numbers as ten was the sum of three plus seven?

And there was more - the multiplication patterns along diagonals used by the Chinese or the elegant ratios used by the ancient geometers that gave beauty and shape to the spiral and to the growth of the leaves around a stalk or the petals in a flower.

As he roamed through the numbers in his mind a strange thing then happened. A moon beam suddenly reached out to him and dropped to Earth and turned into a shining woman. "So here you are!", she said smiling. "I have kept looking out for you. I find you here of all places, in a musty old Academy or is it a temple?" She wrinkled up her nose at the small room he slept in. The woman stroked his leg - "Does your leg hurt? I saw you as a child, limping, dragging your leg through the
sand, making patterns that were wonderful- my friends still talk about you. I am Soma. Do you still play such games? You gave me and my companions a lot to think about that day, about the possible patterns in a matrix, instead of just the straight across and up and down. And now here you are, almost fully grown, yet still only a boy and sitting for the Examination of Master! Hah, that will sound fine - Master Enjil, Master Mathematician! How'd
you like that?"

She patted him on the head and stroked his hair. Enjil could see the beautiful colours in her eyes. Her energy flowed into him. She took his thoughts away and she spoke to him:

Page 16

"There are the cumbersome proofs you follow that only the few will ever understand. Your proofs are carrion for those vultures, the Elders. So why don't you do something else, something amazingly different for your Examination? You are capable of it! Why give the elders what they want, such a narrow outcome from your learning; why not something that everyone can enjoy?

Imagine even the villagers following your every sign on the blackboard, understanding it and seeing a simple but great truth unravelling right before their eyes. Something that lies under their noses, wouldn't that be fun?

How about drawing the many different shapes of squares it takes to fit in just one square. Ah - I know you were thinking of this already. You see I know your thoughts - so I count them out. And I'll spoil it for you anyway, I'm going to give you the answer; twenty-four! Yes, don't look so amazed, it takes that many different squares to fit into one square. You want to know the size of the square that allows this to happen? Ah, that is harder. That you must work out for yourself" She smiled teasingly and added, "Do you know the answer to the simpler problem; how many different squares does it take to fit in one rectangle? I'll tell you. It's nine! Nine unequal squares go to make up a rectangle."

"But why bother about geometry; why not something simpler than that? What is it that everyone knows and feels expert about? I'll tell you. It's numbers of course! Imagine the village folk clapping hands and cheering as they see you, their / Page 17 / new master; working with the humble materials of numbers, the tools they use every day of their lives to count coins and goats and sacks of grain from the harvest. Let your mind dwell on this: numbers! Take the most simple ones. Think of their make up. Don't be afraid of the Elders; they are not bad men, but men with too much oldness stuffed into their
brains. Take them back to their childhood, let them smile again and hop, skip and jump through your constructions; what do you think of that? You smile? Do I take that as yes? Good! Then here is the riddle you must solve. And remember I will be watching, now that I have found you; but I won't help. I will only give you a signal when you succeed. Remember
the only thing that will slow you down or stop you is the amount your mind has grown up to be like the Elders, the brain of an expert. The problem I set is for a child, with a mind that in innocence questions everything and finds new beginnings. I too, believe it or not, am like that. I live in the moon and each night I set a new day. The turning of a fresh beginning
uplifts me. It keeps me from falling into endings and dull repeat reasonings. Think about that. In your dreams I will speak to you, I will help. My spirit will be with you. But now I must go for I have to set another day. And this is the question I leave you with:

What is the fixed point in the wind?"

The woman withdrew along the moonbeam and vanished as if she had never been.

Page 18

Enjil sat up. He looked hard at the moon, staring into the white disc of cold light - and the moment of magic vanished. Was it a trick? Was Vivek his arch rival for the title of Master trying to hypnotise him from a distance? If he listened to the woman it would be like suicide. Standing in that great open courtyard and speaking about simple things that did not need proofs would have the Elders laughing at him, baying like jackals at his feeble efforts. Certainly he would be thrown out. This must indeed be a hex put on him by his enemies!

But what was the fixed point in the wind? The question intrigued and teased him. How can something be unmoving in the swirling wind; what. was its fix, if indeed there was such a point? For hours he lay awake struggling with these thoughts until his tired brain came to a stop and wanted rest. Finally Enjilfell asleep. The woman in the moon entered his dreams.

And he woke up with a new conviction - the doubts and torments of the night well behind him. He whistled and even smiled at Vivek, winking at his arch rival as if to say he had prepared a brilliant proof Enjil laughed to himself when he thought of the title he would introduce to his Elders on the day of the Examination. He would wear the yellow robe of scholarship, go up to the blackboard and announce in his most stern voice the customary words, "My respectful Elders and Seniors. I submit for your Examination and proper adjudication this thesis I have now prepared for the award of the Most Expert Master of Mathematics, the honour I now seek, / Page 19 / and pronounce as the title of my learned subject: 'The Fixed Points in the Wind'." He could see them writhing in agony, splitting their sides with laughter and thirsting for his blood. The images made him break out in a cold sweat. But a small voice spoke inside saying, "Don't be afraid - of course you can do it - after all it is an easy question - so solve it like a child, think like one, just like I said. "

To solve the riddle Enjil went to a secluded spot and sat in the shade of a banyon tree and blanked everything he knew out of his mind. The great blackness descended. Nothing moved. Shadows went into deeper shadows, layer into layer. A black disc grew. First as a dot, then a circle, then a rushing blind movement. Then the numbers came out, tumbling one over the other; rolling the patterns over in his head. There were the star patterns, zigzags, squares, cubes, seesaws and the weaving patterns going in and out, all twisting over each other. Mindful of the woman spirit, he looked at the simplest numbers; he followed their trails, the white and black patterns, some, dotted with colour, moving like the wind, changing shape and turning all the time. And there in the simplest patterns were points that did not move or change, no matter what the numbers were. And they were fixed points. When the woman in the moon had talked of the wind Enjil knew she must have spoken of numbers, jumping over each other in gusts of multiplications or blowing steadily in ordered breezes of additions and subtractions. But within these patterns, there was one number and point through which all the others Page 20 / seemed to gather - it indeed must be the fixed point. Could that be the answer to the riddle?

Then Enjil opened his eyes and composed his thesis. It was so simple that he laughed out loud. Never mind the Elders - they would have to love it, for he would draw the movements of all numbers in one simple diagram. What was clever about it was the method he had in his mind. He would take the secret code the Elders knew about but had never thought of using to look beyond their rituals of prophecy, for they would take the letters of someone 's name and use such secret numbers to divine the character of that person. But Enjil vowed to go beyond this.

That night he wrote out his thesis. When he had finished he went out into the deserted courtyard and held up each page to the moon. "Look", he said to the woman in the moon, "I have finished - the task is done. I pray these are the answers."

A shape seemed to move across the face of the yellow disc though he could not be sure. But the woman did not appear. The wind picked up, the night chill made him shiver. Tomorrow was the day, and Vivek would be hoping for his downfall; and his teacher would fret to the last moment as the Elders assembled, sharpening their wits in readiness to humble the nervous candidate. The crowd would gather and settle. Everyone would be waiting, watching.

Still Enjil was at peace. His ideas were simple ,innocent; he believed they would shine through no matter what.  While Vivek performed great feats / Page 21 / of algebra Enjil would offer to the Elders and the gathered crowd the four precious mirrors of arithmetic. They could all laugh or puzzle at the reflections he would show them, but in time their doubts would vanish or be blown away, just as the gusting wind cleans out the dirt lying on the ground.

Suddenly a bright light flared, lighting up the compound for an instant, and then faded. Had the woman come to him and acknowledged his answer? Enjil rolled up the pages of his thesis and held up his hand, just in case, to the night sky in salute and farewell and then went to bed. He slept the peace of the innocent, a fixed point himself in that night of swirling anxieties and jealousies. Tomorrow would be a new beginning.

I wear Enjil's Talisman now, whenever I calculate and look into numbers, and remember the mathematician who was a boy. He inspires me to look afresh at things.

Enjil went on to be famous. He surprised the Elders with his arguments of the fixed point in numbers; he astonished the crowd. And if not for them cheering as they did at what was being drawn on the board, the Elders would surely have failed him - the old men being insulted that there was no high algebra or long- winded, obscure complications to be resolved. Enjil's workings were just basic arithmetic, they grumbled, which even a nine year old could follow, they whispered to each other. It was laughable; it was ridiculous and all too simple. But the crowd cheered and cried out, "Master, Master," so many times, that the Elders / Page 22 / gave in. On the boy's shoulders they placed the purple sash of Master embroidered with winding circular motifs in gold thread, and then they held up Enjil's hand to the crowd who in turn roared, "Mas-Ter, Mas-Ter". The four syllable chant rocked the compound. When the dust cleared and the noise subsided and the courtyard was empty, the temple still hummed long into the night with stories of the new Master's cheek and sheer luck.

So Enjil went on to be the real Master of the Academy, outshining everyone and everything. He proved many things, much of it beyond the best minds in that Academy of high learning. But he kept faithful, from what we know of his teachings, to the simple and straightfoward, and always the beautiful and intriguing. The Master saw patterns where others only saw calculations.

Then disaster struck. In the wars that ravaged the country the Academy was set on fire and the intellectuals speared to death. Enjil and his papers and all the great library of learning in the Academy were lost forever. No one found the young mathematician's body. Soon the story went out confirming Enjil as a spirit child, one that visited Earth now and then to remind us of the greater glories that hid elsewhere. Others said it was the work of the devil, who flew in to collect the soul that he had claimed for himself long ago, when the little boy had lain dying from a fierce attack of smallpox.

Whatever the truth of it the crooked smile and limping walk of the Master was no more, severely missed by those who loved him. Those who were there / Page 23 / on  that day of the Examination told others. And the words and diagrams spread. The ideas travelled from community to community; changes and additions were made along the way. But the basic structure Enjil proposed is still there in the teaching.
Modern ways have swept across the culture of this great land and hand calculators and computers have taken away the simple romance of numbers, but in remote parts of the highlands, in locked away villages, young mathematicians still look at Enjil'spattems and meditate for half an hour before doing any serious mental computation.
What follows is a trace of the young Master's working, gleaned from private study and old village stories. With Enjil we move towards finding the magic of numbers and that special point, which though full of movement itself, remains unmoving and stationary; just as a fixed point does in the wind." 

 

 

Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season) Lyrics of Wilson Phillips
http://www.seeklyrics.com

To everything
Turn, turn, turn
There is a season
Turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under Heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything
Turn, turn, turn
There is a season
Turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under Heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracings

To everything
Turn, turn, turn
There is a season
Turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under Heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

To everything
Turn, turn, turn
There is a season
Turn, turn, turn

A TIME FOR PEACE I SWEAR ITS NOT TOO LATE