The Quran

246

Preface

أَلَم تَرَ إِلَى المَلَإِ مِن بَني إِسرائيلَ مِن بَعدِ موسىٰ إِذ قالوا لِنَبِيٍّ لَهُمُ ابعَث لَنا مَلِكًا نُقاتِل في سَبيلِ اللَّهِ ۖ قالَ هَل عَسَيتُم إِن كُتِبَ عَلَيكُمُ القِتالُ أَلّا تُقاتِلوا ۖ قالوا وَما لَنا أَلّا نُقاتِلَ في سَبيلِ اللَّهِ وَقَد أُخرِجنا مِن دِيارِنا وَأَبنائِنا ۖ فَلَمّا كُتِبَ عَلَيهِمُ القِتالُ تَوَلَّوا إِلّا قَليلًا مِنهُم ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَليمٌ بِالظّالِمينَ

Yusuf Ali

Hast thou not Turned thy vision to the Chiefs of the Children of Israel after (the time of) Moses¹? they said to a prophet² (That was) among them: “Appoint for us a king, that we May fight in the cause of God.” He said: “Is it not possible³, if ye were commanded to fight, that that ye will not fight?” They said: “How could we refuse to fight in the cause of God, seeing that we were turned out of our homes and our families?” but when they were commanded to fight, they turned back, except a small band among them. But God Has full knowledge of those who do wrong.

The next generation after Moses and Aaron was ruled by Joshua, who crossed the Jordan and settled the tribes in Palestine. His rule lasted for 25 years, after which there was a period of 320 years when the Israelites had a chequered history. They were not united among themselves, and suffered many reverses at the hands of the Midianites, Amalekites, and other tribes of Palestine. They frequently lapsed into idolatry and deserted the worship of the true God. From time to time a leader appeared among them who assumed dictatorial powers. Acting under a sort of theocratic commission from God, he pointed out their backslidings, reunited them under His banner, and restored, from time to time and place to place, the power of Israel. These dictators are called Judges in the English translation of the Old Testament. The last of their line was Samuel, who marks the transition towards the line of Kings on the one hand and of the later Prophets on the other. He may be dated approximately about the 11th century B.C.
This was Samuel. In his time Israel had suffered from much corruption within and many reverses without. The Philistines had made a great attack and defeated Israel with great slaughter. The Israelites, instead of relying on Faith and their own valour and cohesion, brought out their most sacred possession, the Ark of the Covenant, to help them in the fight. But the enemy captured it, carried it away, and retained it for seven months. The Israelites forgot that wickedness cannot screen itself behind a sacred relic. Nor can a sacred relic help the enemies of faith. The enemy found that the Ark brought nothing but misfortune for themselves, and were glad to abandon it. It apparently remained twenty years in the village (qaryah) of Ya'arim (Kirjath jearim): I. Samuel, 7:2. Meanwhile the people pressed Samuel to appoint them a king. They thought that a king would cure all their ills, whereas what was wanting was a spirit of union and discipline and a readiness on their part to fight in the cause of God.
Samuel knew as a Prophet that the people were fickle and only wanted to cover their own want of union and true spirit by asking for a king. They replied with spirit in words, but when it came to action, they failed. They hid themselves in caves and rocks, or ran away, and even those who remained “followed him trembling”: I. Samuel, 13:6-7.