| | Al-muntakhab fi tafsir al-Qur'an al-Karim rendition of Surah The Pen(al-Qalam)
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| 68:1 | | (Nun, and by what it represents and what it stands for as a natural symbol of adoration), and the pen -employed in writing with a pen- and by the pen -the instrument of authorship-, (and by what they commit in writing) |
| 68:2 | | That you, Muhammad, are not ungrateful to Allah, your Creator, for the gift He bestowed upon you, nor is the utterance ungrateful to your ear, nor are you uncontrolled by reason or a demoniac possessed by an eviI spirit |
| 68:3 | | And you shall be continually rewarded for relating Allah’s message and for the suffering you endure but - "in your patience possess you your soul" |
| 68:4 | | And you are a man of distinguished character; excellent repute and distinct mental and moral constitution |
| 68:5 | | Soon shall you see and so shall they -your opponent- who is the stray who has erred and strayed from the path of righteousness |
| 68:6 | | And soon shall they know who is uncontrolled by reason and who is of unsound mind |
| 68:7 | | Allah your Creator, is He Who knows best those who have wandered from the path of rectitude, and those who have been guided by the spirit of truth into all truth |
| 68:8 | | So conditioned, do not O Muhammad submit to those who deny the truth and suspect you of falsehood |
| 68:9 | | They wish you were flexible and they would come to terms with mutual concessions |
| 68:10 | | Nor listen to the contemptible who always makes an oath to the truth of his statement because he feels he is not taken at his word nor do his actions to his words accord |
| 68:11 | | A gossiper who delights in idle talk, a slanderer who fans the flow of discord |
| 68:12 | | Obstructive to all that is good and commendable, a transgressor who goes beyond the limits prescribed by Allah and justifies the forbidden |
| 68:13 | | Moreover, cruel, hurtful and callous |
| 68:14 | | His manner of acting as representative of feeling, answers his ingratitude to Allah Who has given him wealth and progeny |
| 68:15 | | Whose response to Our Revelations when he applies his ears to them, is: "Tales fabled by those of old " |
| 68:16 | | We shall impress on him a stigma of infamy and furnish him with a distorted, contemptuous and ugly disproportionate snout |
| 68:17 | | We have put them -your people- O Muhammad to the test as We had tried the owners of the orchard who decided upon picking up all the fruits by the morrow at dawn to escape notice and evade paying the poor their due. They disregarded alms which are but the vehicles of prayer |
| 68:18 | | No one did they except and the decision was irrevocable |
| 68:19 | | But the orchard was visited by a divine dispensation which did away with it at one blow while they were asleep |
| 68:20 | | So that by morning it stood desolate and bare, and there was nothing left for them to reap |
| 68:21 | | When they woke up they held discourse to hasten the course of action and expedite their desire |
| 68:22 | | "Let us go", said one of them, "and do what you have planned to do if you are to serve your purpose" |
| 68:23 | | And so they went onward to their orchard whispering to each other as to how they would accomplish their desire |
| 68:24 | | That no indigent shall have the chance to break in and seek any share to which he might aspire |
| 68:25 | | And thus they finally and firmly resolved not to be moved from their purpose and course of action |
| 68:26 | | And when they saw the orchard had been changed out of all recognition and their dreams which they cherished with unreasonable affection were simply a reverie, they said: "We must have missed our way" |
| 68:27 | | But having recognized the calamity, they said : "We have suffered a big loss; we will get no return for our labour and effort, and our expectant waiting has come to a moist mirage in desert eyes" |
| 68:28 | | The moderate among them said : "Would it not have been befitting, as I advised, had we praised Allah and rendered thanks for the benefits that to us, He has given?" |
| 68:29 | | Now, they said, "Glory to You, our Creator; we have been wrongful of the actions we harmfully performed yet we knew they are utterly forbidden" |
| 68:30 | | Then they turned round on each other in reproach for the ingratitude to Allah and for the idea of evading benevolence to the poor |
| 68:31 | | "How denunciated shall we be" they said. "We went beyond the limits prescribed by Allah and offended against the poor and it serves us right" |
| 68:32 | | "It is hoped that Allah, our Creator, may compensate us for our losses with what is better". And thus they, in lowliest plight, repentant stood |
| 68:33 | | Such is the retributory punishment, here, for those who go beyond the limits prescribed by Allah and say to their money "my Allah art thou " or " you are my god ", and deny the poor what is due, and greater shall be the punishment Hereafter if only people knew |
| 68:34 | | But the righteous shall Allah admit in the bliss and the beatitude of His heaven’s realm |
| 68:35 | | Or shall We then treat those who entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Allah, the same as We treat those who do not regard Allah nor His divine law |
| 68:36 | | How could you be so bold -you people- as to think beyond all bounds of prudence and discretion |
| 68:37 | | Or do you people have a Book which was revealed to you and you use it as a valid reference and you apply the rules which bear upon it. |
| 68:38 | | And you choose from it what suits you and make use of it as a convenient aid to your intentions |
| 68:39 | | Or did you ratify with Us covenants with unquestionable validity until the Day of Resurrection, and you are then judged according to your desire and expected satisfaction |
| 68:40 | | Ask them O Muhammad "who has championed the idea and shall offer himself as the candidate who presents a firm front and guarantees them against all exactions?" |
| 68:41 | | Or do they have deities sharing with Allah His divine nature that they incorporate with Him? If so, ask them to bring them over if they are declaring the truth |
| 68:42 | | Wait, a Day shall come when the truth comes to light and their records are exposed, and distress, horror and crushing sorrow are imposed and now they are called to prostrate before their Creator but they cannot |
| 68:43 | | They stand drooping their sight and drooping their souls, hollow-eyed, gazing in bewilderment and fear and gazing their souls away, mortified, despaired of hope and discredited by the base and ignominious cover of their quality and conduct; yet they were admonished in life to bow to the ground in adoration when conditions were wholesome but they did no |
| 68:44 | | So leave to Me the one who refuses to admit the truth of the Quran. We shall give such persons enough rope and allow them free scope, so that they overreach and commit themselves to an evil line of conduct and be swept away in the general cataclysm |
| 68:45 | | I give them respite and delay My action, but My scheme of action is decisive, conclusive, strict and unfailing, it strikes at the root |
| 68:46 | | Or do you invite them O Muhammad and present them with inducements to follow the path of truth and reality for something in return, and so they are charged with a debt that burdens them or brings them under such liability! The truth is that they are obstinate, not that they hold opinions but the opinions hold them |
| 68:47 | | Or do they, of all people, apprehend and comprehend what is by nature not an object of sight and they commit it to writing |
| 68:48 | | So be patient O Muhammad and forbear their faults and limitations until Allah judges between you and them. Be not like (Zun Nun) (Jonah ) who fled his people because of their hostility and neglected his responsibility toward Allah. He went to the sea only to be swallowed by the fish. And in distress and utter darkness, he invoked Allah’s forgiveness and mercy |
| 68:49 | | And had it not been for the grace and mercy of Allah, his Creator, on him, he would have been cast in the open, low on his knees, brought down to a bad and disagreeable condition, discredited with infamy and shame |
| 68:50 | | But Allah relented and quit him all His debt, and with divine grace he came to be of the righteous whose deeds were imprinted with wisdom and piety |
| 68:51 | | When the infidels hear you O Muhammad recite the Quran they turn their attention to you and their eyes almost breathe vengeance; their ill-will and their hatred forged in their bosoms that their tongues must vent, have vented your accusation of being a demoniac |
| 68:52 | | When in effect -the Quran- is but a universal message which people are yet to learn, and an admonition and a counsel of the greatest concern |
