English - Chapter 68 - Al-Qalam

Nun By the pen! By all they write

Your Lord’s grace does not make you [Prophet] a madman

you will have a never-ending reward––

truly you have a strong character––

and soon you will see, as will they

which of you is afflicted with madness

Your Lord knows best who strays from His path and who is rightly guided

So do not yield to those who deny the truth––

they want you to compromise with them and then they will compromise with you––

do not yield to any contemptible swearer

to any backbiter, slander-monger

or hinderer of good, to anyone who is sinful, aggressive

coarse, and on top of all that, an imposter

Just because he has wealth and sons

when our revelations are recited to him, he says, ‘These are just ancient fables.’

We shall brand him on the snout

We have tried them as We tried the owners of a certain garden, who swore that they would harvest its fruits in the morning

and made no allowance [for the Will of God]

a disaster from your Lord struck the garden as they slept

and by morning it was stripped bare, a desolate land

Still they called each other at daybreak

‘Go early to your field if you wish to gather all its fruits,’

and went off, whispering

‘Make sure no poor person enters the garden today!’––

they left early, bent on their purpose

but when they saw the garden, they said, ‘We must have lost our way

No- we are ruined!’

The wisest of them said, ‘Did I not say to you, “Will you not glorify God?”’

they said, ‘Glory be to God, Our Lord! Truly, we were doing wrong!’

and then they turned to each other in mutual reproach

They said, ‘Alas for us! We have done terrible wrong

but maybe our Lord will give us something better in its place: we truly turn to Him in hope.’

Such is the punishment [in this life], but greater still is the punishment in the Hereafter, if only they knew

There will be Gardens of bliss for those who are mindful of God

Should We treat those who submit to Us as We treat those who do evil

What is the matter with you? On what basis do you judge

Do you have a Scripture that tells you

that you will be granted whatever you choose

Have you received from Us solemn oaths, binding to the Day of Resurrection, that you will get whatever you yourselves decide

Ask them [Prophet] which of them will guarantee this

Do they have ‘partners’ [besides God]? Let them produce their ‘partners’, if what they say is true

On the Day when matters become dire, they will be invited to prostrate themselves but will be prevented from doing so

and their eyes will be downcast and they will be overwhelmed with shame: they were invited to prostrate themselves when they were safe [but refused]

So [Prophet] leave those who reject this revelation to Me: We shall lead them on, step by step, in ways beyond their knowledge

I will allow them more time, for My plan is powerful

Do you demand some reward from them that would burden them with debt

Do they have knowledge of the unseen that enables them to write it down

Wait patiently [Prophet] for your Lord’s judgement: do not be like the man in the whale who called out in distress

if his Lord’s grace had not reached him, he would have been left, abandoned and blameworthy, on the barren shore

but his Lord chose him and made him one of the Righteous

The disbelievers almost strike you down with their looks when they hear the Quran. They say, ‘He must be mad!’

but truly it is nothing other than a Reminder for all peoples