sked him to relate the story of the
"Seven Sleepers." He said: "I will tell you to-morrow;" but he forgot to
add the words "if God will." By way of warning, God allowed no inspiration
to descend upon him for some days. Then the hypocrites began to laugh and
say: "God has left him." As it was not God's purpose to put his messenger
to ridicule, the Sura entitled "The brightness" (xciii) was immediately
brought by the ever-ready Gabriel. It begins: "By the brightness of the
morning, and by the night when it groweth dark, _thy Lord hath not forsaken
thee_, neither doth He hate thee." In remembrance of this signal
interposition of Providence on his behalf, the Prophet always concluded the
recital of this Sura with the words: "God is great." The practice thus
became a "Sunnat" obligation; that is, it should be done because the
Prophet did it.

The doctrine of abrogation is a very important one in {59} connection with
the study of the Quran. It is referred to in the verses: "Whatever verses
we cancel or cause thee to forget, we give thee better in their stead, or
the like thereof." (Sura ii. 100). This is a Madina Sura. "What He pleaseth
will God abrogate or confirm; for with Him is the source of revelation."
(Sura xiii. 39). Some verses which were cancelled in the Prophet's
life-time are not now extant. Abdullah Ibn Masud states that the Prophet
one day recited a verse, which he immediately wrote down. The next morning
he found it had vanished from the material on which it had been written.
Astonished at this, he acquainted Muhammad with the fact, and was informed
that the verse in question had been revoked. There are, however, many
verses still in the Quran, which have been abrogated. It was an exceedingly
convenient doctrine, and one needed to explain the change of front which
Muhammad made at different periods of his career. Certain rules have been
laid down to regulate the practice. The verse which abrogates is called
_Nusikh_, and the abrogated verse _Mansukh_. _Mansukh_ verses are of three
kinds:--first, where the words and the sense have both been abrogated;
secondly, where the letter only is abrogated and the sense remains;
thirdly, where the sense is abrogated though the letter remains. Imam Malik
gives as an instance of the first kind the verse: "If a son of Adam had two
rivers of gold, he would covet yet a third; and if he had three he would
covet yet a fourth. Neither shall the belly of a son of Adam be filled, but