68Al-Qalam

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ن ۚ وَالْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ

Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write.

مَا أَنْتَ بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ بِمَجْنُونٍ

By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness,

وَإِنَّ لَكَ لَأَجْرًا غَيْرَ مَمْنُونٍ

and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward,

وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ

and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence.

فَسَتُبْصِرُ وَيُبْصِرُونَ

So you will soon see, and they too will see,

بِأَيْيِكُمُ الْمَفْتُونُ

which of you is afflicted with madness.

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنْ ضَلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِهِ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ

Surely your Lord knows well those who have strayed from His Way just as He knows well those who are on the Right Way.

فَلَا تُطِعِ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ

Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false;

وَدُّوا لَوْ تُدْهِنُ فَيُدْهِنُونَ

they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant.

وَلَا تُطِعْ كُلَّ حَلَّافٍ مَهِينٍ

And do not yield to any contemptible swearer,

هَمَّازٍ مَشَّاءٍ بِنَمِيمٍ

the fault-finder who goes around slandering,

مَنَّاعٍ لِلْخَيْرِ مُعْتَدٍ أَثِيمٍ

the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful;

عُتُلٍّ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ زَنِيمٍ

the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble;

أَنْ كَانَ ذَا مَالٍ وَبَنِينَ

(who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons,

إِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا قَالَ أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ

and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.”

سَنَسِمُهُ عَلَى الْخُرْطُومِ

Soon shall We brand him on his snout.

إِنَّا بَلَوْنَاهُمْ كَمَا بَلَوْنَا أَصْحَابَ الْجَنَّةِ إِذْ أَقْسَمُوا لَيَصْرِمُنَّهَا مُصْبِحِينَ

We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning,

وَلَا يَسْتَثْنُونَ

without making any allowance (for the will of Allah).

فَطَافَ عَلَيْهَا طَائِفٌ مِنْ رَبِّكَ وَهُمْ نَائِمُونَ

Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep,

فَأَصْبَحَتْ كَالصَّرِيمِ

and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested.

فَتَنَادَوْا مُصْبِحِينَ

At daybreak they called out to one another:

أَنِ اغْدُوا عَلَىٰ حَرْثِكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَارِمِينَ

“Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.”

فَانْطَلَقُوا وَهُمْ يَتَخَافَتُونَ

So off they went, whispering to one another:

أَنْ لَا يَدْخُلَنَّهَا الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِسْكِينٌ

“No destitute person shall enter it today.”

وَغَدَوْا عَلَىٰ حَرْدٍ قَادِرِينَ

They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit).

فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهَا قَالُوا إِنَّا لَضَالُّونَ

But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way;

بَلْ نَحْنُ مَحْرُومُونَ

rather, we are utterly ruined.”

قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكُمْ لَوْلَا تُسَبِّحُونَ

The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?”

قَالُوا سُبْحَانَ رَبِّنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَالِمِينَ

They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.”

فَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ يَتَلَاوَمُونَ

Then they began to reproach one another.

قَالُوا يَا وَيْلَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا طَاغِينَ

They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed.

عَسَىٰ رَبُّنَا أَنْ يُبْدِلَنَا خَيْرًا مِنْهَا إِنَّا إِلَىٰ رَبِّنَا رَاغِبُونَ

Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.”

كَذَٰلِكَ الْعَذَابُ ۖ وَلَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَكْبَرُ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ

Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew.

إِنَّ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ جَنَّاتِ النَّعِيمِ

Surely the God-fearing shall have Gardens of bliss with their Lord.

أَفَنَجْعَلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ كَالْمُجْرِمِينَ

What! Shall We treat those who have submitted (to Our command) like those who have acted as criminals?

مَا لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ

What is the matter with you? How ill do you judge!

أَمْ لَكُمْ كِتَابٌ فِيهِ تَدْرُسُونَ

Or do you have a Book wherein you read

إِنَّ لَكُمْ فِيهِ لَمَا تَخَيَّرُونَ

that (in the Hereafter) you shall have all that you choose for yourselves?

أَمْ لَكُمْ أَيْمَانٌ عَلَيْنَا بَالِغَةٌ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ۙ إِنَّ لَكُمْ لَمَا تَحْكُمُونَ

Or have We sworn a covenant with you which We are bound to keep till the Day of Resurrection, (a covenant requiring that whatever you ordain for yourselves shall be yours)?

سَلْهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ بِذَٰلِكَ زَعِيمٌ

Ask them: “Which of them can guarantee that?

أَمْ لَهُمْ شُرَكَاءُ فَلْيَأْتُوا بِشُرَكَائِهِمْ إِنْ كَانُوا صَادِقِينَ

Or has something been guaranteed by any of those whom they associate with Allah in His Divinity?” If so, let them bring forth their associates, if they are truthful.

يَوْمَ يُكْشَفُ عَنْ سَاقٍ وَيُدْعَوْنَ إِلَى السُّجُودِ فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ

On the Day when the dreadful calamity will unfold, when people will be summoned to prostrate themselves, and yet they will not be able to prostrate.

خَاشِعَةً أَبْصَارُهُمْ تَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌ ۖ وَقَدْ كَانُوا يُدْعَوْنَ إِلَى السُّجُودِ وَهُمْ سَالِمُونَ

Their eyes shall be downcast and ignominy shall overwhelm them. For when they were safe and sound, they were summoned to prostrate themselves, (and they refused).

فَذَرْنِي وَمَنْ يُكَذِّبُ بِهَٰذَا الْحَدِيثِ ۖ سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُمْ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

So leave Me, (O Prophet), to deal with him who gives the lie to this Discourse. We shall draw them little by little (to their undoing) in a way that they will not know.

وَأُمْلِي لَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ كَيْدِي مَتِينٌ

I am giving them a respite. Great is My scheme!

أَمْ تَسْأَلُهُمْ أَجْرًا فَهُمْ مِنْ مَغْرَمٍ مُثْقَلُونَ

Or are you asking them for some compensation so that they feel burdened with debt?

أَمْ عِنْدَهُمُ الْغَيْبُ فَهُمْ يَكْتُبُونَ

Or do they have any knowledge of the Unseen which they are now writing down?

فَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ وَلَا تَكُنْ كَصَاحِبِ الْحُوتِ إِذْ نَادَىٰ وَهُوَ مَكْظُومٌ

So bear with patience until the Judgement of your Lord comes, and do not belike the man in the fish (i.e., Jonah) who called out, choking with grief:

لَوْلَا أَنْ تَدَارَكَهُ نِعْمَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِ لَنُبِذَ بِالْعَرَاءِ وَهُوَ مَذْمُومٌ

had his Lord not bestowed His favour upon him, he would have been cast upon that barren shore (and would have remained there) in disgrace.

فَاجْتَبَاهُ رَبُّهُ فَجَعَلَهُ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ

But his Lord exalted him, and included him among His righteous servants.

وَإِنْ يَكَادُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَيُزْلِقُونَكَ بِأَبْصَارِهِمْ لَمَّا سَمِعُوا الذِّكْرَ وَيَقُولُونَ إِنَّهُ لَمَجْنُونٌ

When the unbelievers hear this Exhortation, they look at you as though they would knock you off your feet with their (hostile) glances. They say: “Surely he is afflicted with madness”;

وَمَا هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ لِلْعَالَمِينَ

although this is nothing but an Exhortation (to goodness) for everyone in the world.