Page 137 - General Knowledge from the Qur'an

People and Societies Cited in the Qur'an 135

water for them and then withdrew into the shade and said, 'My Lord, I
am truly in need of any good You have in store for me.' One of them
came walking shyly up to him and said, 'My father invites you so that
he can pay you your wage for drawing water for us.' When he came to
him and told him the whole story he said, 'Have no fear, you have es-
caped from wrongdoing people.' One of them said, 'Hire him, father.
The best person to hire is someone strong and trustworthy.' He said, 'I
would like to marry you to one of these two daughters of mine on con-
dition that you work for me for eight full years. If you complete ten,
that is up to you. I do not want to be hard on you. You will find me,
Allah willing, to be one of the righteous.' (Surat al-Qasas, 23-27)

TALUT AND HIS PEOPLE
Their Prophet said to them, 'Allah has appointed Talut to be your
king.' They said, 'How can he have kingship over us when we have
much more right to kingship than he does? He has not even got much
wealth!' He said, 'Allah has chosen him over you and favoured him
greatly in knowledge and physical strength. Allah gives kingship to
anyone He wills. Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.' Their
Prophet said to them, 'The sign of his kingship is that the Ark will
come to you, containing serenity from your Lord and certain relics left
by the families of Musa and Harun. It will be borne by angels. There is
a sign for you in that if you are believers.' When Talut marched out
with the army, he said, 'Allah will test you with a river. Anyone who
drinks from it is not with me. But anyone who does not taste it is with
me – except for him who merely scoops up a little in his hand.' But
they drank from it – except for a few of them. Then when he and those
who believed with him had crossed it, they said, 'We do not have the
strength to face Goliath and his troops today.' But those who were sure
that they were going to meet Allah said, 'How many a small force has
triumphed over a much greater one by Allah's permission! Allah is
with the steadfast. (Surat al-Baqara, 247-249)

GOLIATH AND HIS TROOPS
When they came out against Goliath and his troops, they said, 'Our