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