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Surah 68. Al-Qalam

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68:46
أَمْ تَسْـَٔلُهُمْ أَجْرًا فَهُم مِّن مَّغْرَمٍ مُّثْقَلُونَ Am tasaluhum ajran fahum min maghramin muthqaloon a
Or is it that [they fear lest] thou ask them for a reward, [O Prophet,] so that they would be burdened with debt [if they listened to thee]?
  - Mohammad Asad
Or have you, O Prophet, demanded a compensation from them, that they are overburdened with debt?
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Or are you asking them for a reward 'for the message' so that they are overburdened by debt?
  - Mustafa Khattab
Or dost thou (Muhammad) ask a fee from them so that they are heavily taxed?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Or is it that thou dost ask them for a reward so that they are burdened with a load of debt? 5627
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. lii. 40, n. 5074. It costs the Unbelievers nothing to hear the Prophet, for the Prophet asks for no reward, and indeed suffers for their benefit. Al-Mustafa is addressed in the first instance, but there is always a universal interpretation. The righteous man asks for no reward for his preaching or example: if he did, the value would be too great for the world to pay for. The Unbelievers behave as if they had the secret of the Unseen, but they are empty triflers, for, if they only tried to formulate spiritual laws, they would fail.

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68:47
أَمْ عِندَهُمُ ٱلْغَيْبُ فَهُمْ يَكْتُبُونَ Am AAindahumu alghaybu fahum yaktuboon a
Or [do they think] that the hidden reality [of all that exists] is within their grasp, so that [in time] they can write it down?26
  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "and that, therefore, they need not listen to divine revelation. For the real significance of the term al-ghayb - of which the above is undoubtedly the earliest instance in the chronology of Qur'anic revelation - see surah {2}, note [3]. Its use in the above context is meant to elucidate and further develop the idea already touched upon in 96:6 - "man becomes grossly overweening whenever he believes himself to be self-sufficient". More particularly, the present passage points to the fallacy of the arrogant belief that the solution of all the mysteries of the universe is "just around the corner" and that man-centred science - epitomised in the reference to its being "written down" - can and will teach its adepts how to "conquer nature" and to attain to what they regard as the good life.

Or do they have the knowledge of the unseen and they are writing it down?
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Or do they have access to 'the Record in' the unseen, so they copy it 'for all to see'?
  - Mustafa Khattab
Or is the Unseen theirs that they can write (thereof)?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Or that they Unseen is in their hands so that they can write it down? 5628
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. lii. 41, n. 5075. The Unseen is certainly not within their knowledge or control. If it were, they could clearly write it down for their own guidance or the guidance of others. They should listen to the words of inspiration, sent by the Knower of all things.

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68:48
فَٱصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ وَلَا تَكُن كَصَاحِبِ ٱلْحُوتِ إِذْ نَادَىٰ وَهُوَ مَكْظُومٌ Fa i s bir li h ukmi rabbika wal a takun ka sah ibi al h ooti i th n a d a wahuwa mak th oom un
BEAR, THEN, with patience thy Sustainer's will, and be not like him of the great fish, who cried out [in distress] after having given in to anger.27
  - Mohammad Asad

This is a reference to the Prophet Jonah - see 21:87 and the corresponding notes [82] and [83]. As mentioned in 37:140 , "he fled like a runaway slave" from the task with which he had been entrusted by God, because his people did not all at once accept his preaching as valid: and so Muhammad is exhorted not to give in to despair or anger at the opposition shown to him by most of his contemporaries in Mecca, but to persevere in his prophetic mission.

So wait with patience for the Judgement of your Rabb and be not like the man of the fish (reference is to the Prophet Jonah who was swallowed by a whale), who cried when he was in distress.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
So be patient with your Lord's decree, and do not be like 'Jonah,' the Man of the Whale, who cried out 'to Allah', in total distress.1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 While inside the whale. See 21:87 and 37:139-148.

But wait thou for thy Lord's decree, and be not like him of the fish, who cried out in despair.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
So wait with patience for the command of thy Lord and be not like the Companion of the Fish when he cried out in agony. 5629
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This was Zun-Nun, or Jonah, for whom see n. 2744 to xxi. 87-88. Cf. also xxxvii. 139-148 and the notes there. Jonah was asked to preach to the people of Nineveh, a wicked city. He met with hostility and persecution, fled from his enemies, and took a boat. He was caught in a storm and thrown into the sea. He was swallowed by a fish or whale, but he repented in his living prison, and was forgiven. But the people of Nineveh were also forgiven, for they, too, repented. Here is a double allegory of Allah's mercy and forgiveness, and a command to patience, and complete and joyful submission to the Will of Allah.

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68:49
لَّوْلَآ أَن تَدَٰرَكَهُۥ نِعْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦ لَنُبِذَ بِٱلْعَرَآءِ وَهُوَ مَذْمُومٌ Lawl a an tad a rakahu niAAmatun min rabbihi lanubi th a bi a lAAar a i wahuwa ma th moom un
[And remember:] had not grace from his Sustainer reached him,28 he would indeed have been cast forth upon that barren shore in a state of disgrace:29
  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 37:143 - "had he not been of those who [even in the deep darkness of their distress are able to] extol God's limitless glory": i.e., who always remember God and pray for His forgiveness.

Lit., "while he was still blameworthy", i.e., burdened with sin and unredeemed by repentance: implying that but for God's grace he would have died as a sinner.

Had his Rabb not bestowed on him His grace, he would certainly have been cast off on the naked shore, while he was condemned.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Had he not been shown grace by his Lord, he would have certainly been cast onto the open 'shore', still blameworthy.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Had it not been that favor from his Lord had reached him he surely had been cast into the wilderness while he was reprobate.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Had not Grace from His Lord reached him he would indeed have been cast off on the naked shore in disgrace. 5630
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xxxvii. 145-146, and n. 4126.

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68:50
فَٱجْتَبَـٰهُ رَبُّهُۥ فَجَعَلَهُۥ مِنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ Fa i jtab a hu rabbuhu fajaAAalahu mina a l ssa li h een a
but [as it was,] his Sustainer had elected him and placed him among the righteous.
  - Mohammad Asad
But his Rabb choose him and included him among the righteous.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Then his Lord chose him, making him one of the righteous.
  - Mustafa Khattab
But his Lord chose him and placed him among the righteous.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Thus did his Lord choose him and make him of the company of the Righteous. 5631 5632
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Jonah was chosen by Allah's Grace and Mercy to be Allah's Prophet to Nineveh. If in his human frailty he lost a little patience, he suffered his punishment, but his true and sincere repentance and recognition of Allah's goodness and mercy restored him from his physical. and mental distress, and from the obscuration of the spiritual Light in him.

Cf. iv. 69, n. 586. In the beautiful Company of the Righteous there is room for all, of every grade of spiritual advancement, from the highest to the most ordinary. But as in democratic politics every citizen's rights and status have complete recognition, so, in this Company, the badge of Righteousness is the bond, even though there may be higher degrees of knowledge or experience.

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68:51
وَإِن يَكَادُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَيُزْلِقُونَكَ بِأَبْصَـٰرِهِمْ لَمَّا سَمِعُوا۟ ٱلذِّكْرَ وَيَقُولُونَ إِنَّهُۥ لَمَجْنُونٌ Wain yak a du alla th eena kafaroo layuzliqoonaka biab sa rihim lamm a samiAAoo a l thth ikra wayaqooloona innahu lamajnoon un
Hence, [be patient,] even though they who are bent on denying the truth would all but kill thee with their eyes whenever they hear this reminder, and [though] they say, "[As for Muhammad,] behold, most surely he is a madman!"
  - Mohammad Asad
The unbelievers would almost trip you up with their eyes when they hear Our revelations (The Qur'an), and say: "He (Muhammad) is surely crazy."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
The disbelievers would almost cut you down with their eyes when they hear 'you recite' the Reminder,1 and say, 'He is certainly a madman.'
  - Mustafa Khattab

 This is one of the names of the Quran.

And lo! those who disbelieve would fain disconcert thee with their eyes when they bear the Reminder, and they say: Lo! he is indeed mad;
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And the Unbelievers would almost trip thee up with their eyes when they hear the message; and they say: "Surely he is possessed!" 5633
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Thee eyes of evil men look at a good man as if they would "eat him up", or trip him up, or disturb him from his position of stability or firmness. They use all sorts of terms of abuse-"madman" or "one possessed by an evil spirit", and so on. Cf. lxviii. 2 above, and n. 5594. But the good man is unmoved, and takes his even course. The Message of Allah is true and will endure; and it is a Message to all Creation.

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68:52
وَمَا هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ لِّلْعَـٰلَمِينَ Wam a huwa ill a th ikrun lilAA a lameen a
[Be patient:] for this is nought else but reminder [from God] to all mankind.
  - Mohammad Asad
This (The Qur'an) is nothing but a Reminder to all the people of the world.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
But it is simply a reminder to the whole world.
  - Mustafa Khattab
When it is naught else than a Reminder to creation.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
But it is nothing less than a Message to all the worlds. 5634
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This is the extreme antithesis to madness or demoniacal possession. So far from the holy Prophet uttering words disjointed or likely to harm people, he was bringing the Message of true Reality, which was to be the cure of all evil, in every kind of world. For the different kinds of worlds see n. 20 to i. 2.

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