English - Chapter 68 - Al-Qalam

By the pen and whatever they record

you, by your Lord´s favor, are no madman

You will receive payment which will never be withheld

You have been [formed] with tremendous character

so you will observe even as they observe

which of you is being tested

Your Lord is quite Aware as to who has strayed from His path, just as He is quite Aware as to who are guided

Do not obey rejectors

they would love to have you shift about so they too may shift around

Do not obey every contemptible oathmonger

any faultfinder who goes around spreading gossip

hindering good, defiant, vicious

brawling, and a bastard besides that

even though he possesses both money and children

Whenever Our verses are recited to him, he says: "Legends by primitive people

We shall brand him on the snout

We shall test them just as We tested the owners of the orchard when they swore they would pick its fruit next morning

and did not make any reservation about having a second chance

so a calamity from your Lord came round to them while they were sleeping

and one morning it lay as if it had been already harvested

Thus they called out to one another next morning

Get out early to your crop if you [want to] harvest it

They hurried off muttering to one another

Don´t admit any needy person in on you today

So they went off early, grumbling yet ready for work

and when they saw it, they said: "We must be lost

In fact, we feel destitute

Someone more considerate among them said: "Did I not tell you: ´Why do you not glorify [God]?"´

They said: "Glory be to our Lord; we have been doing (something) wrong

Still some of them pounced on others, blaming one another

they said: "It´s too bad for us; we have been so arrogant

Perhaps our Lord will exchange it for something even better than what we already have. We will plead with our Lord

Such is torment, although torment in the Hereafter will be even greater if they only realized it

The heedful will have gardens of bliss alongside their Lord

Are We to treat Muslims as if they were criminals

What is wrong with you? How do you decide matters

Or do you have some book to study from

Do you have whatever you select from it

Or do you have some pledge binding on Us until Resurrection Day that you shall have whatever you decide upon

Ask them which of them will lay claim to that

Or do they have associates [along with God]? Well, let them bring on their associates if they are so truthful

Some day when their shinbone will be laid bare and they will be called upon to bow down on their knees, and they will not manage to

with their eyes cast down, disgrace will overwhelm them. They had been called upon to bow down on their knees while they still felt safe

I shall even put up with them for a while; for My plan is certain

Or are you asking them for some fee while they are weighted down with debt

Or do they hold the Unseen which they are writing down

Be patient with your Lord´s decision and not like the Whale´s Companion when he called out as he felt stifled

If favor from his Lord had not reached him, he would have been flung upon the empty beach while he was still to blame

His Lord picked him out and placed him with honorable people

The ones who disbelieve almost trip you up by glaring at you whenever they hear the Reminder, and they say: "He´s deranged

Yet it is merely a Reminder to [everybody in] the Universe