English - Chapter 68 - Al-Qalam

Nun By the pen and by that which they inscribe

Thou art nor, through the grace of thy Lord, mad

And verily thine shall be a hire unending

And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition

Anon thou wilt see and they will see

Which of you is afflicted with madness

Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one

Wherefore obey not thou the beliers

Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant

And obey not: thou any swearer ignominous

A defamer, spreader abroad of slander

Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner

Gross, and therewithal ignoble

Because he is owner of riches and children

When Our revelations are rehearsed Unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients

Anon We shall brand him on snout

Verily We! We have proved them even as We proved the fellows of a garden when they swarethat they would surely reap it in the morning

And they made not the exception

Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on

Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped

Then they cried out Unto each other in the morning

Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap

So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice

Let there not enter upon you today any needy man

And they went out betimes determined in purpose

Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed

Aye! it is we who are deprived

The most moderate of them said: said I not Unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not

They said: hallowed be Our Lord! verily we have been wrong- doers

Then they turned to each other reproaching

They said: woe Unto us! verily we! we have been arrogant

Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are Unto our Lord beseechers

Such is the torment. And the torment of the Hereafter is far greater; if they but knew

Verily for the God-fearing, are with their Lord Gardens of Delight

Shall We then make the Muslims like the culprits

What aileth you? How ill ye judge

Is there with you a Book wherein ye study

That therein is yours that which. ye may choose

Or have ye oaths from us reaching to the Day of Resurrection, that you shall be that which ye judge

Ask then, which of them will stand thereof a surety

Have they associate gods? Then let them produce their associate gods if they say sooth

Downcast will be their looks; abjectness will overspread them. Surely they had been called upon to Prostrate themselves while yet they were whole

Let Me alone with him who belieth this discourse; step by step We lead them on when they perceive not

And I bear with them; verily My contrivance is sure

Askest thou a hire from them so that they are laden with debt

Is with them the unseen, so that they write down

Be patient thou, then, with thy Lord's judgment, and be thou not like him of the fish, when he cried out while he was in anguish

Had not grace from his Lord reached him, he had surely been cast into the wilderness in a plight

Then his Lord chose him and made him of the righteous

And those who disbelieve well-nigh cause thee to stumble with their looks when they hear the Admonition, and they say: verily he is mad

While it is naught but an admonition Unto the worlds