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1. * |
N. Nuon. The Inkpot. And the Pen, and all that they write, stand witness. (The high domain of knowledge will bear out that):
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2. * |
You (O Messenger), by the Grace of your Lord, are not a madman.
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3. * |
And, behold, yours will be an everlasting reward.
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4. * |
For, verily, you are of the noblest moral character!
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5. * |
And soon you will see and they will see.
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6. * |
Which of you is the demented. (Outstanding knowledge plus sublime character can only be compatible with a great mind).
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7. * |
Verily, your Lord knows best him who strays from His Way, and He knows best those who are rightly guided.
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8. * |
Hence, pay no heed to the rejecters.
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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)).
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10. * |
- And yield not to any petty oath-monger. (Repetitious swearing hurts the credibility of a person).
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11. * |
- Or to a defamer that goes about spreading slander.
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12. * |
- Or to a withholder of the good and of wealth, trespasser of values, low in virtue.
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13. * |
- Or to one greedy to the extent of insensitivity, and, in addition, worthless to the society.
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14. * |
- Or he who because of his riches and party,
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15. * |
- Says, "Fables of ancient times", whenever Our Messages are conveyed to him.
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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).
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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).
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18. * |
And made no exception (for the needy poor).
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19. * |
Then a tornado from your Lord struck it while they slept.
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20. * |
So that by the morning it was barren, bleak.
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21. * |
Now, in the morning, they called out unto one another.
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22. * |
"Go early to your field if you want to pick the fruit."
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23. * |
So they went off whispering unto one another.
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24. * |
"Let not a single poor come near you today."
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25. * |
And early they went strong in their resolve (to keep the poor away).
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26. * |
But when they saw it, they said, "Behold, we have lost our way."
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27. * |
(Then they realized), "Ah! Now we are destitute."
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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).
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29. * |
They said, "Glorified is our Lord! Verily, it is we who have been offenders." (Refusing the Divine Right of the needy).
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30. * |
And then they confronted one another, blaming.
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31. * |
They said, "Oh, woe unto us! We were trespassers of goodness."
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32. * |
It may be that our Lord grants us something better than this. Behold, we turn to our Lord affectionately.
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33. * |
Such is the suffering! But far greater is the suffering of the Hereafter - if they knew it.
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34. * |
Behold, for those who walk aright are Gardens of Bliss with their Lord.
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35. * |
Shall We, then, treat those who submit (to Our Laws) like the guilty?
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36. * |
What is the matter with you? How do you judge (the right and wrong and their logical consequence)?
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37. * |
Or do you have a scripture wherein you learn -
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38. * |
That you shall indeed get the outcome of your choosing?
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39. * |
Or have you a solemn oath, binding on Us till Resurrection Day, that yours shall be all that you order?
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40. * |
Ask them which of them guarantees it.
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41. * |
Do they have 'partners'? Then let them bring their 'partners' if they are truthful.
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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).
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43. * |
Their eyes drooping, humiliation will overwhelm them! And they had been repeatedly invited to prostrate when they were able.
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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.
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45. * |
Though I give them respite, behold, unwavering is My Plan.
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46. * |
Or is it that you ask them any reward so that they are burdened?
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47. * |
Or is it that theirs is the future that they have written down?
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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).
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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).
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50. * |
But his Lord had elected him and included him among those who have worked for reform and to actualize their 'Self'.
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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."
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52. * |
Nay, this Reminder is a giver of eminence to all nations.
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