English - Chapter 68 - Al-Qalam

Nun. By the pen, and all that they write

By the grace of your Lord, you are not a mad man

Most surely, you will have a never ending reward

For you are truly of a sublime character

Soon you will see, as will they

which of you is a prey to madness

Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path

Do not give in to the deniers of truth

They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate

Do not yield to any contemptible swearer of oaths

or to any defamer or one who spreads slander

or to one who places obstacles in the way of good being done or to the wicked transgressor

who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born

just because he has wealth and sons

when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are just ancient fables

Soon We will brand him on the nose

We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning

without saying, "If it be God's will

A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept

And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land

So they called out to each other at the break of dawn

saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits

So they went off, whispering to one another

Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today

They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent

But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way

Indeed, we are utterly ruined

The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God

They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong

Then they began to heap reproaches on each other

They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale

May be our Lord will give us a better orchard in its stead; we turn to Him

Such was their punishment, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it

Those who are mindful of their Lord will be rewarded with gardens of bliss

Should We treat the true believers and the wrongdoers alike

What ails you? How ill you judge

Have you a Scripture that tells you

that you will be granted whatever you choose

Or do you have Our solemn oaths, binding upon Us till the Day of Resurrection, that you shall have whatever you yourselves decide

Ask them, which of them will vouch for that

Or have they other partners [besides God]? Let them bring forth their other partners, if what they say be true

On the Day when the truth shall be laid bare, they will be called upon to prostrate themselves, but they will not be able to do so

Their eyes will be cast down and they will be covered in shame; they were bidden to prostrate themselves, when they were safe and sound [but they did not obey]

So leave to Me those who reject this message. We shall lead them step by step to their ruin, in ways beyond their ken

I shall grant them some respite, for My plan is powerful

Do you demand some recompense from them that would weigh them down with debt

Is the unseen within their grasp so that they write it down

Wait patiently for your Lord's judgement; do not be like the man who, having been swallowed by a whale, called out in distress

Had his Lord's grace not been bestowed upon him, he would have been cast away in disgrace upon that desolate shore

But his Lord chose him for His own and made him one of the righteous

When those who deny the truth hear the admonition, they would almost cause you to stumble with their evil eyes; and they say, "He is certainly mad

Yet it is purely an admonition to mankind