Surah Qalam
Contents
N.: By the pen, and what they write, [68:1]
you are not, by grace of your Lord, insane: [68:2]
in fact, there is an unending reward for you, [68:3]
and you do indeed have a strong character. [68:4]
So you will see and they will see [68:5]
which of you is demented. [68:6]
It is your Lord that knows best who has strayed from the path, and knows best who is guided. [68:7]
So don’t obey the scoffers: [68:8]
they wish you were a fake so they could then be false. [68:9]
And don’t follow any contemptible swearer, [68:10]
any slanderer going about with calumnies, [68:11]
obstructing good, wicked, sinful, [68:12]
cruel and ignoble besides, [68:13]
because he has wealth and sons; [68:14]
when Our signs are recited to him, he says, “Fables of the ancients!” [68:15]
We will brand him on the nose. [68:16]
We tried them as We tried the company of the orchard: they vowed to harvest it in the morning [68:17]
without any reservation; [68:18]
then a party from your Lord encircled it as they slept, [68:19]
and it became as if stripped. [68:20]
Then they called to each other in the morning, [68:21]
“Go to your plantation if you are going to harvest.” [68:22]
So they hurried off, speaking to each other in hushed tones, [68:23]
“Don’t let any of the poor come in there on you today.” [68:24]
So they set off determined, in an irritated state: [68:25]
then when they saw the orchard, they said, “We are surely lost! [68:26]
“Rather, we are shut out.” [68:27]
The most balanced of them said, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Why don’t you glorify God?” [68:28]
They said, “Glory to our Lord! We were indeed in the wrong!” [68:29]
Then they turned against each other, blaming one another. [68:30]
They said, “Woe is us, for we were being oppressors! [68:31]
“Perhaps our Lord may give us a better one than this instead; indeed, we ask of our Lord.” [68:32]
Such is the torment; and the torment of the hereafter is greater, if only they knew. [68:33]
For those who are conscientious, there are gardens of happiness in the presence of their Lord. [68:34]
Shall We then treat the acquiescent like the rebellious? [68:35]
What is wrong with you? How do you judge? [68:36]
Do you have a scripture you study [68:37]
wherein you’re assured of what you choose? [68:38]
Or do you have a covenant binding on Us until the day of resurrection assuring you of what you decide? [68:39]
Ask them which of them will vouch for that! [68:40]
Or do they have supernatural allies? Then let them bring on their allies, if they are telling the truth. [68:41]
The day each leg is bared, and they are called to bow down but cannot, [68:42]
their eyes downcast, abasement will overcome them, as they had been called to bow while they were still well. [68:43]
So leave Me and those who deny this message; I will proceed against them gradually, from where they do not know: [68:44]
I will let them be for a time, as My plan is unshakable. [68:45]
Do you ask them for compensation, when they are burdened with debt? [68:46]
Or do they have an occult secret they write down? [68:47]
Be patient for the judgment of your Lord, and don’t be like the one in the whale, as he cried out when he was depressed: [68:48]
had grace from his Lord not reached him, he would have been cast on a barren shore, disgraced. [68:49]
But his Lord selected him and made him one of the righteous. [68:50]
So even though scoffers may look at you with stern disapproval when they hear the Recital, saying, “He is surely possessed,” [68:51]
still it is no less than a reminder for the whole world. [68:52]