Home Qur'an
Index English
Translations Word-for-Word
Band View Word-for-Word
Column View Non-English
Languages Help
←Prev   al-Qalam (The Pen) as rendered by/in Shabbir Ahmed  Next→ 

Did you notice?
 You can SEARCH IslamAwakened: 

68:1  N. Nuon. The Inkpot. And the Pen, and all that they write, stand witness. (The high domain of knowledge will bear out that)
68:2  You (O Messenger), by the Grace of your Lord, are not a madman
68:3  And, behold, yours will be an everlasting reward
68:4  For, verily, you are of the noblest moral character
68:5  And soon you will see and they will see
68:6  Which of you is the demented. (Outstanding knowledge plus sublime character can only be compatible with a great mind)
68:7  Verily, your Lord knows best him who strays from His Way, and He knows best those who are rightly guided
68:8  Hence, pay no heed to the rejecters
68:9  They wish that you strike a deal with them so that they can strike a deal (and compromise on a middle grounds between Truth and Falsehood (10:15), (11:113), (17:74))
68:10  - And yield not to any petty oath-monger. (Repetitious swearing hurts the credibility of a person)
68:11  - Or to a defamer that goes about spreading slander
68:12  - Or to a withholder of the good and of wealth, trespasser of values, low in virtue
68:13  - Or to one greedy to the extent of insensitivity, and, in addition, worthless to the society
68:14  - Or he who because of his riches and party
68:15  - Says, "Fables of ancient times", whenever Our Messages are conveyed to him
68:16  - We shall brand such a person with manifest disgrace! ('Branding the snout' alludes to bringing to visible disgrace a person who chooses to live at the subhuman level)
68:17  Behold, We have tried such people as We tried the owners of the garden who swore that they would pluck its fruit in the morning. (18:32-44)
68:18  And made no exception (for the needy poor)
68:19  Then a tornado from your Lord struck it while they slept
68:20  So that by the morning it was barren, bleak
68:21  Now, in the morning, they called out unto one another
68:22  "Go early to your field if you want to pick the fruit."
68:23  So they went off whispering unto one another
68:24  "Let not a single poor come near you today."
68:25  And early they went strong in their resolve (to keep the poor away)
68:26  But when they saw it, they said, "Behold, we have lost our way."
68:27  (Then they realized), "Ah! Now we are destitute."
68:28  Said the most balanced among them, "Did I not tell you - why did you not work aright (thinking of the poor)?" ('Sabh' = Swim in strides = Work hard = Labor for a noble cause)
68:29  They said, "Glorified is our Lord! Verily, it is we who have been offenders." (Refusing the Divine Right of the needy)
68:30  And then they confronted one another, blaming
68:31  They said, "Oh, woe unto us! We were trespassers of goodness."
68:32  It may be that our Lord grants us something better than this. Behold, we turn to our Lord affectionately
68:33  Such is the suffering! But far greater is the suffering of the Hereafter - if they knew it
68:34  Behold, for those who walk aright are Gardens of Bliss with their Lord
68:35  Shall We, then, treat those who submit (to Our Laws) like the guilty
68:36  What is the matter with you? How do you judge (the right and wrong and their logical consequence)
68:37  Or do you have a scripture wherein you learn
68:38  That you shall indeed get the outcome of your choosing
68:39  Or have you a solemn oath, binding on Us till Resurrection Day, that yours shall be all that you order
68:40  Ask them which of them guarantees it
68:41  Do they have 'partners'? Then let them bring their 'partners' if they are truthful
68:42  On the Day when they are confronted with the stark reality and they are summoned to prostrate, they shall not be able to prostrate. (It will be too late to submit)
68:43  Their eyes drooping, humiliation will overwhelm them! And they had been repeatedly invited to prostrate when they were able
68:44  So leave unto Me him who denied this Message (39:23). We shall lead them step by step to a reprisal from directions they had never conceived
68:45  Though I give them respite, behold, unwavering is My Plan
68:46  Or is it that you ask them any reward so that they are burdened
68:47  Or is it that theirs is the future that they have written down
68:48  (O Prophet) Go ahead steadfastly in establishing your Lord's Command. And be not like him (Jonah) of the fish who cried out in distress. (21:87), (37:139)
68:49  If it were not for the Bliss of his Lord, he would have been cast into the wilderness and in the wilderness of thought. (37:146)
68:50  But his Lord had elected him and included him among those who have worked for reform and to actualize their 'Self'
68:51  And behold, those who deny the Truth, offend you (O Prophet) with their eyes when they hear the Reminder. And they say, "Behold, he is a madman."
68:52  Nay, this Reminder is a giver of eminence to all nations