68
68. Al-Qalam - The Pen
| 1 | NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, |
| 2 | You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. |
| 3 | There is surely reward unending for you, |
| 4 | For you are verily born of sublime nature. |
| 5 | So you will see, and they will realise, |
| 6 | Who is distracted. |
| 7 | Verily your Lord knows those who have gone astray from His path, and He knows those who are guided on the way. |
| 8 | So do not comply with those who deny: |
| 9 | They only want that you should relent, so that they may come to terms. |
| 10 | Do not heed a contemptible swearer, |
| 11 | Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, |
| 12 | Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, |
| 13 | Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, |
| 14 | Simply because he possesses wealth and children. |
| 15 | When you recite Our revelations to him, he says: "These are fables of long ago." |
| 16 | We shall brand him on the muzzle. |
| 17 | We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning |
| 18 | But did not add: "If God may please." |
| 19 | Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. |
| 20 | So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. |
| 21 | At daybreak they called to each other: |
| 22 | "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." |
| 23 | So they departed, talking in low voices: |
| 24 | "Let no needy person come to you within it today." |
| 25 | They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. |
| 26 | When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. |
| 27 | No. In fact we have been deprived of it." |
| 28 | One who was temperate among them, said: "Did I not say: 'Why don't you priase God?'" |
| 29 | "Glory to our Lord," they said; we were really in the wrong." |
| 30 | Then they started blaming one another, |
| 31 | Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. |
| 32 | Maybe our Lord will give us better than this. We turn to our Lord in supplication." |
| 33 | Such is Our chastisement; and the punishment of the Hereafter will be greater, if only they knew! |
| 34 | For those who fear God there are pleasure gardens with their Lord. |
| 35 | Should We treat those who submit and obey in the same way as those who are culpable? |
| 36 | What has come upon you that you judge in such a wise? |
| 37 | Or have you a Book in which you read |
| 38 | That you can surely have whatever you choose? |
| 39 | Or have you taken a binding promise from Us which would hold till the Day of Judgement, that you will get whatever you demand? |
| 40 | Ask them: "Which of you is able to vouch for this?" |
| 41 | Or have they any partners? Let them bring their partners then, if what they say is true. |
| 42 | On the day the great calamity befalls, and they are called to bow in homage, they will not be able to do so. |
| 43 | Lowered will be their eyes, disgrace overwhelming them. They had indeed been called to bow in homage when they were free of blame. |
| 44 | So leave those who deny this Discourse to Me. We shall lead them step by step to (ruin) in a way they will not know. |
| 45 | Yet I will give them respite: Surely My plan is compact. |
| 46 | Do you ask for any compensation from them that they are burdened with want? |
| 47 | Or do they have knowledge of the unknown which they copy down? |
| 48 | So wait with patience for the judgement of your Lord, and do not be like (onah) of the fish who called (to his Lord) when he was choked with anger. |
| 49 | Had it not been for a favour from his Lord he would have been cast blame-worthy on a barren plain. |
| 50 | Then his Lord chose him and placed him among the upright. |
| 51 | But the unbelievers would like to stare you out of balance when they hear the warning, and say: "Surely he is possessed;" |
| 52 | Whilst it is no more than reminder for the people of the world. |