Page:Koran - Rodwell - 2nd ed.djvu/49

Thou, O Prophet; by the grace of thy Lord art not possessed!^[1]
And truly a boundless recompense doth await thee,
For thou art of a noble nature.^[2]
But thou shalt see and they shall see
Which of you is the demented.
Now thy Lord! well knoweth He the man who erreth from his path, and well doth he know those who have yielded to Guidance;
Give not place, therefore, to those who treat thee as a liar:
They desire thee to deal smoothly with them: then would they be smooth as oil with thee:
10⁠But yield not to the man of oaths, a despicable person,
Defamer, going about with slander,
Hinderer of the good, transgressor, criminal,
Harsh—beside this, impure by birth.
Though a man of riches and blessed with sons.
Who when our wondrous verses are recited to him saith—“ Fables of the ancients.”
We will brand him on the nostrils.
Verily, we have proved them (the Meccans) as we proved the owners of the garden, when they swore that at morn they would cut its fruits;
But added no reserve.^[3]
Wherefore an encircling desolation from thy Lord swept round it while they slumbered,
20⁠And in the morning it was like a garden whose fruits had all been cut.
Then at dawn they called to each other,
“ Go out early to your field, if ye would cut your dates.”
So on they went whispering to each other,
“ No poor man shall set foot this day within your garden;”
And they went out at daybreak with this settled purpose.
But when they beheld it, they said, “Truly we have been in fault:
Yes! we are forbidden our fruits.”

1. By djinn. Comp. Sur. xxxiv. 45.
2. In bearing the taunts of the unbelievers with patience.
3. They did not add the restriction, if God will.