68

1Nun By the pen! By all they write

2Your Lord’s grace does not make you [Prophet] a madman

3you will have a never-ending reward––

4truly you have a strong character––

5and soon you will see, as will they

6which of you is afflicted with madness

7Your Lord knows best who strays from His path and who is rightly guided

8So do not yield to those who deny the truth––

9they want you to compromise with them and then they will compromise with you––

10do not yield to any contemptible swearer

11to any backbiter, slander-monger

12or hinderer of good, to anyone who is sinful, aggressive

13coarse, and on top of all that, an imposter

14Just because he has wealth and sons

15when our revelations are recited to him, he says, ‘These are just ancient fables.’

16We shall brand him on the snout

17We have tried them as We tried the owners of a certain garden, who swore that they would harvest its fruits in the morning

18and made no allowance [for the Will of God]

19a disaster from your Lord struck the garden as they slept

20and by morning it was stripped bare, a desolate land

21Still they called each other at daybreak

22‘Go early to your field if you wish to gather all its fruits,’

23and went off, whispering

24‘Make sure no poor person enters the garden today!’––

25they left early, bent on their purpose

26but when they saw the garden, they said, ‘We must have lost our way

27No- we are ruined!’

28The wisest of them said, ‘Did I not say to you, “Will you not glorify God?”’

29they said, ‘Glory be to God, Our Lord! Truly, we were doing wrong!’

30and then they turned to each other in mutual reproach

31They said, ‘Alas for us! We have done terrible wrong

32but maybe our Lord will give us something better in its place: we truly turn to Him in hope.’

33Such is the punishment [in this life], but greater still is the punishment in the Hereafter, if only they knew

34There will be Gardens of bliss for those who are mindful of God

35Should We treat those who submit to Us as We treat those who do evil

36What is the matter with you? On what basis do you judge

37Do you have a Scripture that tells you

38that you will be granted whatever you choose

39Have you received from Us solemn oaths, binding to the Day of Resurrection, that you will get whatever you yourselves decide

40Ask them [Prophet] which of them will guarantee this

41Do they have ‘partners’ [besides God]? Let them produce their ‘partners’, if what they say is true

42On the Day when matters become dire, they will be invited to prostrate themselves but will be prevented from doing so

43and their eyes will be downcast and they will be overwhelmed with shame: they were invited to prostrate themselves when they were safe [but refused]

44So [Prophet] leave those who reject this revelation to Me: We shall lead them on, step by step, in ways beyond their knowledge

45I will allow them more time, for My plan is powerful

46Do you demand some reward from them that would burden them with debt

47Do they have knowledge of the unseen that enables them to write it down

48Wait patiently [Prophet] for your Lord’s judgement: do not be like the man in the whale who called out in distress

49if his Lord’s grace had not reached him, he would have been left, abandoned and blameworthy, on the barren shore

50but his Lord chose him and made him one of the Righteous

51The disbelievers almost strike you down with their looks when they hear the Quran. They say, ‘He must be mad!’

52but truly it is nothing other than a Reminder for all peoples