68

68. Al-Qalam - The Pen

1Nun. By the Pen, and what they inscribe,
2thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed.
3Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing;
4surely thou art upon a mighty morality.
5So thou shalt see, and they will see,
6which of you is the demented.
7Surely thy Lord knows very well those who have gone astray from His way, and He knows very well those who are guided.
8So obey thou not those who cry lies.
9They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise.
10And obey thou not every mean swearer,
11backbiter, going about with slander,
12hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained,
13moreover ignoble,
14because he has wealth and sons.
15When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!'
16We shall brand him upon the muzzle!
17Now We have tried them, even as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore they would pluck in the morning
18and they added not the saving words.
19Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping,
20and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked.
21In the morning they called to one another,
22'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!'
23So they departed, whispering together,
24'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.'
25And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose.
26But when they saw it, they said, 'Surely we are gone astray;
27nay, rather we have been robbed!'
28Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"'
29They said, 'Glory be to God, our Lord; truly, we were evildoers.'
30And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other.
31They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent.
32It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.'
33Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know.
34Surely for the godfearing shall be Gardens of Bliss with their Lord.
35What, shall we make those who have surrendered like to the sinners?
36What ails you then, how you judge?
37Or have you a Book wherein you study?
38Surely therein you shall have whatever you choose!
39Or have you oaths from Us, reaching to the Day of Resurrection? Surely you shall have whatever you judge!
40Ask them, which of them will guarantee that!
41Or do they have associates? Then let them bring their associates, if they speak truly.
42Upon the day when the leg shall be bared, and they shall be summoned to bow themselves, but they cannot;
43humbled shall be their eyes, and abasement shall overspread them, for they had been summoned to bow themselves while they were whole.
44So leave Me with him who cries lies to this discourse! We will draw them on little by little whence they know not;
45and I shall respite them -- assuredly My guile is sure.
46Or askest thou them for a wage, and so they are weighed down with debt?
47Or is the Unseen in their keeping, and so they are writing it down?
48So be thou patient under the judgment of thy Lord, and be not as the Man of the Fish, when he called, choking inwardly.
49Had there not overtaken him a blessing from his Lord he would have been cast upon the wilderness, being condemned.
50But his Lord had chosen him, and He placed him among the righteous.
51The unbelievers wellnigh strike thee down with their glances, when they hear the Reminder, and they say, 'Surely he is a man possessed!'
52And it is nothing but a Reminder unto all beings.
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