It will be seen, then, that all these verses which refer to the sentence of doom, do not speak of anything which can correctly be regarded as a 'decree' of the Almighty in the proper sense of that term.

2. The second word we shall examine is kitab (book).

This word is used most frequently to express the record of men's actions which is kept by the recording angels and of which God Himself is at times spoken of as the author or writer. Again we might pass by the consideration of the word were it not that it is often understood by readers as referring to the book of God's decrees wherein all that comes to pass was written from eternity before the foundation of the world.

As examples of the way in which it is employed we may cite the following passages: 'And each shall have his book put into his hand,' ¹ 'And the earth shall shine with the light of her Lord, and the Book shall be set.' ² In the last passage the word az-zubur is used instead of kitab.

Sometimes this 'book' is spoken of as the book of the individual, as in the first passage just quoted above.³ At other times it is referred to simply as the Book which, as we have already seen, is, as it were, God's Day-Book in which He writes all that He does or all that comes to pass. It is sometimes difficult, indeed, to distinguish which of these Books is meant. In the following passages it is the Day-Book of the Almighty

to which reference is made. '"But what," said he, "was the state of generations past?" He said, "The knowledge thereof is with my Lord in the Book (of His decrees). My Lord erreth not nor forgetteth."' ¹ The words 'of His decrees ' are inserted by Rodwell without any note to show that they are not in the original text. This is clearly a wrong interpretation of the passage; for the last clause shows plainly that the idea is that God makes no mistake in what He writes and never forgets to put anything down. The record is not only correct but is also complete. It is the truth and the whole truth. God's Day-Book is without error and without omission. 'Knowest thou not that God knoweth whatever is in the Heaven and on the Earth? This truly is written in the Book: this is easy for God.' ² 'This Our Book will speak of you with truth: therein have We written whatever ye have done.' ³

In a few passages there is some doubt as to the exact meaning of the word, but in all probability it is this same Day-Book of God which is referred to. As examples of such verses we may quote the following: 'Moreover, God created you of dust — then of the germs of life — then made you two sexes: and no female conceiveth or bringeth forth without His knowledge and the aged ageth not, nor is ought minished from man's age, but in (accordance with) the Book. An easy thing truly is this to God.' ⁴ 'No kind of beast is there on the earth nor fowl that flieth with its wings, but is a