Sura LXVIII (68)
The Pen
(
________________________________________
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Nun.
By the Pen and by wht they write,
Thou,
O Prophet; by the grace of Thy Lord art not possessed!
And
truly a boundless recompense doth await thee,
For
thou art of a noble nature.
But
thou shalt see and they shall see
Which
of you is the demented.
Now
thy Lord! well knoweth He the man who erreth from his path, and well doth he
know those who have yielded to Guidance;
Give
not place, therefore, to those who treat thee as a liar:
They
desire thee to deal smoothly with them: then
would they be smooth as oil with thee:
68:10 But yield not to the man of oaths, a
despicable person,
Defamer,
going about with slander,
Hinderer
of the good, transgressor, criminal,
Harsh
-- beside thee, impure by birth,
Though
a man of riches and blessed with sons.
Who
when our wondrous verses are recited to him saith -- "Fables of the
ancients."
We
will brand him on the nostrils.
Verily,
we have proved them (the Meccans) as we proved the owners of the garden, when
they swore that at morn they would cut its fruits;
But
added no reserve.
Wherefore
an encircling desolation from thy Lord swept round it while they slumbered,
68:20 And in the morning it was like a
garden whose fruits had all been cut.
Then
at dawn they called to each other,
"Go
out early to your field, if you would cut your dates."
So on
they went whispering to each other,
"No
poor man shall set foot this day within your garden;"
And
they went out at daybreak with this settled purpose.
But
when they beheld it, they said, "Truly we have been in fault:
Yes!
we are forbidden our fruits."
The
most rightminded of them said, "Did I not say to you, Will you not give
praise to God?"
They
said, "Glory to our Lord! Truly we have done amiss."
68:30 And they fell to blaming one another:
They
said, "Oh woe to us! we have indeed transgressed!
Haply
our Lord will give us in exchange a better garden then this: verily we crave it of our Lord."
Such
hath been our chastisement -- but heavier shall be the chastisement of the next
world. Ah! did they but know it.
Verily,
for the God-fearing are gardens of delight in the presence of their Lord.
Shall
we then deal with those who have surrendered themselves to God, as with those
who offend him?
What
hath befallen you that you thus judge?
Have
you a Scripture wherein you can search out
That
you shall have the things you choose?
Or
have you received oaths which shall bind Us even until the day of resurrection,
that you shall have what yourselves judge right?
68:40 As them which of them will guarantee
this?
Or is
it that they have joined gods with God? let them produce those associate-gods
of theirs, if they speak truth.
On the
day when men's legs shall be bared, and they shall be called upon to bow in
adoration, they shall not be able:
Their
looks shall be downcast: shame shall cover
them: because, while yet in safety, they were
invited to bow in worship, but would not obey.
Leave
me alone therefore with him who chargeth this revelation with imposture. We
will lead them by degrees to their ruin; by ways which they know not;
Yet
will I bear long with them; for my plan is sure.
Askest
thou any recompense from them? But they are burdened with debt.
Are
the secret things within their ken? Do they copy them from the Book of God?
Patiently
then await the judgment of thy Lord, and be not like him who was in the fish,
when in deep distress he cried to God.
Had
not favour from his Lord reached him, cast forth would he have been on the
naked shore, overwhelmed with shame:
68:50 But his Lord chose him and made him of
the just .
Almost
would the infidels strike thee down with their very looks when they hear the
warning of the Koran. And they say, "he is certainly possessed."
Yet is
is nothing less than a warning for all creatures.