The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Verses 17-33 GROUP_1510 68.17-33
17
إِنَّا بَلَوْنَاهُمْ كَمَا بَلَوْنَا أَصْحَابَ الْجَنَّةِ إِذْ أَقْسَمُوا لَيَصْرِمُنَّهَا مُصْبِحِينَ
We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning,
18
وَلَا يَسْتَثْنُونَ
without saying, ‘If it be God’s will.’
19
فَطَافَ عَلَيْهَا طَائِفٌ مِّن رَّبِّكَ وَهُمْ نَائِمُونَ
A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept.
20
فَأَصْبَحَتْ كَالصَّرِيمِ
And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land.
21
فَتَنَادَوا مُصْبِحِينَ
So they called out to each other at the break of dawn,
22
أَنِ اغْدُوا عَلَى حَرْثِكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَارِمِينَ
saying, ‘Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits.’
23
فَانطَلَقُوا وَهُمْ يَتَخَافَتُونَ
So they went off, whispering to one another,
24
أَن لَّا يَدْخُلَنَّهَا الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكُم مِّسْكِينٌ
‘Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today.’
25
وَغَدَوْا عَلَى حَرْدٍ قَادِرِينَ
They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent.
26
فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهَا قَالُوا إِنَّا لَضَالُّونَ
But when they saw it, they said, ‘We must have lost our way.
27
بَلْ نَحْنُ مَحْرُومُونَ
Indeed, we are utterly ruined!’
28
قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكُمْ لَوْلَا تُسَبِّحُونَ
The more upright of the two said, ‘Did I not bid you to glorify God?’
29
قَالُوا سُبْحَانَ رَبِّنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَالِمِينَ
They said, ‘Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong.’
30
فَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ يَتَلَاوَمُونَ
Then they began to heap reproaches on each other.
31
قَالُوا يَا وَيْلَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا طَاغِينَ
They said, ‘Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale.
32
عَسَى رَبُّنَا أَن يُبْدِلَنَا خَيْرًا مِّنْهَا إِنَّا إِلَى رَبِّنَا رَاغِبُونَ
May be our Lord will give us a better orchard in its stead; we turn to Him.’
33
كَذَلِكَ الْعَذَابُ وَلَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَكْبَرُ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ
Such was their punishment, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it!
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) Whatever a man earns in this world is apparently from farming or industry or other such pursuits. But, in fact, it is all given to him by the grace of God. If one considers it a gift from God and sets apart a portion of it for other subjects of God, Almighty God will bless his earnings. On the contrary, one who considers his earnings the result purely of his own talents and who is not, therefore, prepared to give others their dues, will find that his earnings will be of no avail. This is a strict law of God. In some cases, it manifests itself in this world, but in the Hereafter it will manifest itself for all, and none shall be exempt from it.