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Surah 68. Al-Qalam

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68:16
سَنَسِمُهُۥ عَلَى ٱلْخُرْطُومِ Sanasimuhu AAal a alkhur t oom i
[For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace!10
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "We shall brand him on the snout" (khurtum)". All commentators point out that this idiomatic phrase has a strictly metaphorical meaning, namely, "We shall stigmatize him with indelible disgrace" (cf. Lane II, 724, quoting both Raghib and Taj al-'Arus).

Soon We shall brand him on the snout.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
We will soon mark his snout.1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 Like 53:33-35 and 74:11-26, these verses refer to Al-Walîd ibn Al-Mughîrah, a leader of the Meccan opposition against Islam. He rejected the Prophet (ﷺ) as a madman, so the Quran responded by listing ten of his qualities—two of which were unknown to him: the fact that he was born out of wedlock and that his nose would be chopped off several years later at the Battle of Badr. At least three of his ten sons accepted Islam—including Khâlid ibn Al-Walîd.

We shall brand him on the nose.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 5605
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Literally, proboscis, the most sensitive limb of the elephant. The sinner makes himself a beast and can only be controlled by his snout.

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68:17
إِنَّا بَلَوْنَـٰهُمْ كَمَا بَلَوْنَآ أَصْحَـٰبَ ٱلْجَنَّةِ إِذْ أَقْسَمُوا۟ لَيَصْرِمُنَّهَا مُصْبِحِينَ Inn a balawn a hum kam a balawn a a s ha ba aljannati i th aqsamoo laya s rimunnah a mu s bi h een a
[As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them11 as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow,
  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., by bestowing on them affluence out of all proportion to their moral deserts.

Surely We shall try them as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore that they would pluck its fruit the next morning,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Indeed, We have tested those 'Meccans' as We tested the owners of the garden- when they swore they would surely harvest 'all' its fruit in the early morning,
  - Mustafa Khattab
Lo! we have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed they would pluck its fruit next morning.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Verily We have tried them as We tried the people of the Garden when they resolved to gather the fruits of the (garden) in the morning. 5606
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"Why do the wicked flourish?" is a question asked in all ages. The answer is not simple. It must refer to (1) the choice left to man's will, (2) his moral responsibility, (3) the need of his tuning his will to Allah's Will, (4) the patience of Allah, which allows the widest possible chance for the operation of (5) His Mercy, and (6) in the last resort, to the nature of the Punishment, which is not a merely abrupt or arbitrary act, but a long, gradual process, in which there is room for repentance at every stage. All these points are illustrated in the remarkable Parable of the People of the Garden, which also illustrates the greed, selfishness, and heedlessness of man, as well as his tendency to throw the blame on others if he can but think of a scapegoat. All these foibles are shown, but the Mercy of Allah is boundless, and even after the worst sins and punishments, there may be hope of an even better orchard than the one lost, if only the repentance is true, and there is complete surrender to Allah's Will. But if, in spite of ail this, there is no surrender of the will, then, indeed, the punishment in the Hereafter is something incomparably greater than the little calamities in the Parable.

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68:18
وَلَا يَسْتَثْنُونَ Wal a yastathnoon a
and made no allowance [for the will of God]:12
  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., they resolved upon their objective without the reservation, "if God so wills points to the first lesson to be derived from this parable, as well as to its connection with the rhetorical question in verses {14-15} above.

without adding any reservation ( such as God willing).
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
leaving no thought for Allah's Will.1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 Another possible translation: “… without leaving some for the poor.”

And made no exception (for the will of Allah);
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
But made no reservation ("If it be Allah's Will"). 5607
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

We must always remember, in all our plans, that they depend for their success on how far they accord with Allah's Will and Plan. His universal Will is supreme over all affairs. These foolish men had a secret plan to defraud the poor of their just rights, but they were put into a position where they could not do so. In trying to frustrate others, they were themselves frustrated.

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68:19
فَطَافَ عَلَيْهَا طَآئِفٌ مِّن رَّبِّكَ وَهُمْ نَآئِمُونَ Fa ta fa AAalayh a ta ifun min rabbika wahum n a imoon a
whereupon a visitation from thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep,
  - Mohammad Asad
So a calamity from your Rabb came down upon it while they slept,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Then it was struck by a torment from your Lord while they slept,
  - Mustafa Khattab
Then a visitation came upon it while they slept
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
So there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord (which swept away) all around while they were asleep. 5608
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

It was a terrible storm that blew down and destroyed the fruits and the trees. The whole place was changed out of all recognition.

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68:20
فَأَصْبَحَتْ كَٱلصَّرِيمِ Faa s ba h at ka al ss areem i
so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak.
  - Mohammad Asad
and by the morning it lay as if it had been already harvested.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
so it was reduced to ashes.
  - Mustafa Khattab
And in the morning it was as if plucked.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
So the (garden) became by the morning like a dark and desolate spot (whose fruit had been gathered).
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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68:21
فَتَنَادَوْا۟ مُصْبِحِينَ Fatan a daw mu s bi h een a
Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another,
  - Mohammad Asad
At daybreak they called out to one another,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Then by daybreak they called out to each other,
  - Mustafa Khattab
And they cried out one unto another in the morning,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
As the morning broke they called out one to another
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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68:22
أَنِ ٱغْدُوا۟ عَلَىٰ حَرْثِكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰرِمِينَ Ani ighdoo AAal a h arthikum in kuntum sa rimeen a
"Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!"
  - Mohammad Asad
saying: "Go out early to your crop, if you want to pick its fruit."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
'saying,' 'Go early to your harvest, if you want to pick 'all' the fruit.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit).
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
"Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in morning if ye would gather the fruits." 5609
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Awaking from sleep, they were not aware that the garden had been destroyed by the storm overnight. They were in their own selfish dreams: by going very early, they thought they could cheat the poor of their share. See next note.

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68:23
فَٱنطَلَقُوا۟ وَهُمْ يَتَخَـٰفَتُونَ Fa i n t alaqoo wahum yatakh a fatoon a
Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another,
  - Mohammad Asad
So they went, whispering to one another:
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
So they went off, whispering to one another,
  - Mustafa Khattab
So they went off, saying one unto another in low tones:
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
So they departed conversing in secret low tones (saying)
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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68:24
أَن لَّا يَدْخُلَنَّهَا ٱلْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكُم مِّسْكِينٌ An l a yadkhulannah a alyawma AAalaykum miskeen un
"Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares]!"13
  - Mohammad Asad

Ever since Biblical times it has been understood that the poor have a right to a share in the harvest of the fields and gardens owned by their more fortunate fellow-men (cf. 6:141 - "give [unto the poor] their due on harvest-day". The determination of the "owners of the garden" to deprive the poor of this right is the second type of sin to which the above parable points: and inasmuch as it is a social sin, it connects with verses {10-13}.

"Let no needy person enter upon you in the garden today."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
'Do not let any poor person enter your garden today.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
No needy man shall enter it today against you.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
"Let not a single indigent person break in upon you into the (garden) this day." 5610
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The poor man has a right in the harvest-whether as a gleaner or as an artisan or a menial in an Eastern village. The rich owners of the orchard in the Parable wanted to steal a march at an early hour and defeat this right, but their greed was punished, so that it led to a greater loss to themselves. They wanted to cheat but had not the courage to face those they cheated, and by being in the field before any one was up they wanted to make it appear to the world that they were unconscious of any rights they were trampling on.

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68:25
وَغَدَوْا۟ عَلَىٰ حَرْدٍ قَـٰدِرِينَ Waghadaw AAal a h ardin q a direen a
- and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose.
  - Mohammad Asad
Thus they went out, fixed in their stingy resolve (not to give any fruit to the poor people, as if they had the full control over harvesting the fruit).
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And they proceeded early, totally fixated on their purpose.
  - Mustafa Khattab
They went betimes, strong in (this) purpose.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And they opened the morning strong in an (unjust) resolve.
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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68:26
فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهَا قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا لَضَآلُّونَ Falamm a raawh a q a loo inn a la da lloon a
But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!"
  - Mohammad Asad
But when they saw the garden, they cried: "Surely we must have lost our way!
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
But when they saw it 'devastated', they cried, 'We must have lost 'our' way!
  - Mustafa Khattab
But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error!
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
But when they saw the (garden) they said: "We have surely lost our way: 5611
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Their fond dreams were dispelled when they found that the garden had been changed out of all recognition. It was as if they had come to some place other than their own smiling garden. Where they had expected to reap a rich harvest, there was only a howling wilderness. They reflected. Their first thought was of their own personal loss, the loss of their labour and the loss of their capital. They had plotted to keep out others from the fruits: now, as it happened, the loss was their own.

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68:27
بَلْ نَحْنُ مَحْرُومُونَ Bal na h nu ma h roomoon a
- [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!"
  - Mohammad Asad
Nay, we have become destitute."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
In fact, we have been deprived 'of our livelihood'.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
Nay, but we are desolate!
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
"Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labor)!" 5612
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. lvi. 67. Also see last note.

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68:28
قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكُمْ لَوْلَا تُسَبِّحُونَ Q a la awsa t uhum alam aqul lakum lawl a tusabbi h oon a
Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'"14
  - Mohammad Asad

This is obviously a reference to their failure to realize that nothing can come about unless the Almighty so wills (verse {18}).

The most upright among them said: "Did I not tell you to glorify Allah? Why did you not glorify Him?"
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
The most sensible of them said, 'Did I not urge you to say, 'Allah willing.'?'
  - Mustafa Khattab
The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Said one of them more just (than the rest): "Did I not say to you `Why not glorify (Allah)?' " 5613
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This was not necessarily a righteous man, but there are degrees in guilt. He had warned them, but he had joined in their unjust design.

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68:29
قَالُوا۟ سُبْحَـٰنَ رَبِّنَآ إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَـٰلِمِينَ Q a loo sub ha na rabbin a inn a kunn a th a limeen a
They answered: "Limitless in His glory is our Sustainer! Verily, we were doing wrong!"
  - Mohammad Asad
Then they said: "Glory be to our Rabb! Surely we were unjust,"
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
They replied, 'Glory be to our Lord! We have truly been wrongdoers.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!"
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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68:30
فَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ يَتَلَـٰوَمُونَ Faaqbala baAA d uhum AAal a baAA d in yatal a wamoon a
- and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches.
  - Mohammad Asad
and they started blaming one another.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Then they turned on each other, throwing blame.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Then some of them drew near unto others, self reproaching.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Then they turned one against another in reproach. 5614
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

When greed or injustice is punished people are ready to throw the blame on others. In this case, one particular individual may have seen the moral guilt of defying the Will of Allah and the right of man, but if he shared in the enterprise in the hope of profit, he could not get out of all responsibility.

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