Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of The Glorious Koran. An Explanatory Translation (1930)

15. That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old.

16. We shall brand him on the nose.

17. Lo! We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed that they would pluck its fruit next morning,

18. And made no exception (for the will of Allah);1

19. Then a visitation came upon it while they slept

20. And in the morning it was as if plucked.

21. And they cried out one unto another in the morning,

22. Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit).

23. So they went off, saying one unto another in low tones:

24. No needy man shall enter it to-day against you.2

25. They went betimes, strong in (this) purpose.

26. But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error!

27. Nay, but we are desolate!

28. The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)?

29. They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers.

30. Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching.

31. They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous.

32. It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord.

33. Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know.

34. Lo! for those who keep from evil are gardens of bliss with their Lord.

35. Shall We then treat those who have surrendered 3 as We treat the guilty?

1 i.e. they forgot to say: “If God wills.”

2 It was a custom throughout the East to allow the poor a gleaning of all harvests.

3 Ar. Muslimîn.

Cite this page

Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of The Glorious Koran. An Explanatory Translation, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, Consulted online at “Quran Archive - Texts and Studies on the Quran” on 28 Mar. 2024: http://quran-archive.org/explorer/marmaduke-pickthall/1930?page=608