68 - Surah Al-Qalam القلم

Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe,

noon wal-qalami wamā yasṭurūna

You are not, [O Muhammad], by the favor of your Lord, a madman.

mā anta biniʿ'mati rabbika bimajnūnin

And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted.

wa-inna laka la-ajran ghayra mamnūnin

And indeed, you are of a great moral character.

wa-innaka laʿalā khuluqin ʿaẓīmin

So you will see and they will see

fasatub'ṣiru wayub'ṣirūna

Which of you is the afflicted [by a devil].

bi-ayyikumu l-maftūnu

Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has gone astray from His way, and He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided.

inna rabbaka huwa aʿlamu biman ḍalla ʿan sabīlihi wahuwa aʿlamu bil-muh'tadīna

Then do not obey the deniers.

falā tuṭiʿi l-mukadhibīna

They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you].

waddū law tud'hinu fayud'hinūna

And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer

walā tuṭiʿ kulla ḥallāfin mahīnin

[And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip -

hammāzin mashāin binamīmin

A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful,

mannāʿin lil'khayri muʿ'tadin athīmin

Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender.

ʿutullin baʿda dhālika zanīmin

Because he is a possessor of wealth and children,

an kāna dhā mālin wabanīna

When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples."

idhā tut'lā ʿalayhi āyātunā qāla asāṭīru l-awalīna

We will brand him upon the snout.

sanasimuhu ʿalā l-khur'ṭūmi

Indeed, We have tried them as We tried the companions of the garden, when they swore to cut its fruit in the [early] morning

innā balawnāhum kamā balawnā aṣḥāba l-janati idh aqsamū layaṣrimunnahā muṣ'biḥīna

Without making exception.

walā yastathnūna

So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep.

faṭāfa ʿalayhā ṭāifun min rabbika wahum nāimūna

And it became as though reaped.

fa-aṣbaḥat kal-ṣarīmi

And they called one another at morning,

fatanādaw muṣ'biḥīna

[Saying], "Go early to your crop if you would cut the fruit."

ani igh'dū ʿalā ḥarthikum in kuntum ṣārimīna

So they set out, while lowering their voices,

fa-inṭalaqū wahum yatakhāfatūna

[Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person."

an lā yadkhulannahā l-yawma ʿalaykum mis'kīnun

And they went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able.

waghadaw ʿalā ḥardin qādirīna

But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost;

falammā ra-awhā qālū innā laḍāllūna

Rather, we have been deprived."

bal naḥnu maḥrūmūna

The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' "

qāla awsaṭuhum alam aqul lakum lawlā tusabbiḥūna

They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers."

qālū sub'ḥāna rabbinā innā kunnā ẓālimīna

Then they approached one another, blaming each other.

fa-aqbala baʿḍuhum ʿalā baʿḍin yatalāwamūna

They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors.

qālū yāwaylanā innā kunnā ṭāghīna

Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous."

ʿasā rabbunā an yub'dilanā khayran min'hā innā ilā rabbinā rāghibūna

Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew.

kadhālika l-ʿadhābu walaʿadhābu l-ākhirati akbaru law kānū yaʿlamūna

Indeed, for the righteous with their Lord are the Gardens of Pleasure.

inna lil'muttaqīna ʿinda rabbihim jannāti l-naʿīmi

Then will We treat the Muslims like the criminals?

afanajʿalu l-mus'limīna kal-muj'rimīna

What is [the matter] with you? How do you judge?

mā lakum kayfa taḥkumūna

Or do you have a scripture in which you learn

am lakum kitābun fīhi tadrusūna

That indeed for you is whatever you choose?

inna lakum fīhi lamā takhayyarūna

Or do you have oaths [binding] upon Us, extending until the Day of Resurrection, that indeed for you is whatever you judge?

am lakum aymānun ʿalaynā bālighatun ilā yawmi l-qiyāmati inna lakum lamā taḥkumūna

Ask them which of them, for that [claim], is responsible.

salhum ayyuhum bidhālika zaʿīmun

Or do they have partners? Then let them bring their partners, if they should be truthful.

am lahum shurakāu falyatū bishurakāihim in kānū ṣādiqīna

The Day the shin will be uncovered and they are invited to prostration but the disbelievers will not be able,

yawma yuk'shafu ʿan sāqin wayud'ʿawna ilā l-sujūdi falā yastaṭīʿūna

Their eyes humbled, humiliation will cover them. And they used to be invited to prostration while they were sound.

khāshiʿatan abṣāruhum tarhaquhum dhillatun waqad kānū yud'ʿawna ilā l-sujūdi wahum sālimūna

So leave Me, [O Muhammad], with [the matter of] whoever denies the Qur'an. We will progressively lead them [to punishment] from where they do not know.

fadharnī waman yukadhibu bihādhā l-ḥadīthi sanastadrijuhum min ḥaythu lā yaʿlamūna

And I will give them time. Indeed, My plan is firm.

wa-um'lī lahum inna kaydī matīnun

Or do you ask of them a payment, so they are by debt burdened down?

am tasaluhum ajran fahum min maghramin muth'qalūna

Or have they [knowledge of] the unseen, so they write [it] down?

am ʿindahumu l-ghaybu fahum yaktubūna

Then be patient for the decision of your Lord, [O Muhammad], and be not like the companion of the fish when he called out while he was distressed.

fa-iṣ'bir liḥuk'mi rabbika walā takun kaṣāḥibi l-ḥūti idh nādā wahuwa makẓūmun

If not that a favor from his Lord overtook him, he would have been thrown onto the naked shore while he was censured.

lawlā an tadārakahu niʿ'matun min rabbihi lanubidha bil-ʿarāi wahuwa madhmūmun

And his Lord chose him and made him of the righteous.

fa-ij'tabāhu rabbuhu fajaʿalahu mina l-ṣāliḥīna

And indeed, those who disbelieve would almost make you slip with their eyes when they hear the message, and they say, "Indeed, he is mad."

wa-in yakādu alladhīna kafarū layuz'liqūnaka bi-abṣārihim lammā samiʿū l-dhik'ra wayaqūlūna innahu lamajnūnun

But it is not except a reminder to the worlds.

wamā huwa illā dhik'run lil'ʿālamīna