68. Sūrat Al-Qalam · The Pen

Nũn. By the pen and what everyone writes!

Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith),

Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]!

By the pen and by that which they (angels) write.

Nun. (Only Allah and the Messenger [blessings and peace be upon him] know the real meaning.) By the pen and by that (subject) which (the angels) write down

By the grace of your Lord, you ˹O Prophet˺ are not insane.

Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman.

Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman!

You are not. by the grace of your Lord, mad.

(O Esteemed Beloved!) By the Grace of your Lord, you are not (at all) insane

You will certainly have a never-ending reward.

And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing.

And, verily, thine shall be a reward neverending –

And certainly, for you there is an endless reward.

And assuredly, for you there is a reward that will never end

And you are truly ˹a man˺ of outstanding character.

And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature.

for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life;

And undoubtedly, you possess excellent manners.

And assuredly, you are placed high on the Most Glorious and Exalted (seat of) character (i.e., adorned with the Qur’anic morality and endowed with the character traits of Allah)

Soon you and the pagans will see,

And thou wilt see and they will see

and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see,

Then now you shall soon see and they shall also see;

Soon you will see and they (too) will see

which of you is mad.

Which of you is the demented.

which of you was bereft of reason.

As to which of you was caught with madness.

As to which of you is mad

Surely your Lord ˹alone˺ knows best who has strayed from His Way and who is ˹rightly˺ guided.

Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright.

Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way.

Undoubtedly, your Lord knows well him who goes astray from His path, and He knows well those who are guided

Surely, your Lord knows him best who has strayed from the straight path and (also) knows best those who are rightly guided

So do not give in to the deniers.

Therefor obey not thou the rejecters

Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth:

Therefore, hear not the words of the beliers.

So do not agree with what the beliers say

They wish you would compromise so they would yield ˹to you˺.

Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise.

they would like thee to be soft [with them], so that they might be soft [with thee].

They desire that any how you should be appeased then they too would be appeased.

They wish that you should become (needlessly) flexible (in the matter of the Din [Religion]). Then they too would show flexibility

And do not obey the despicable, vain oath-taker,

Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger,

Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths,

And hear not any such one who is a big swearer the mean.

And do not agree with any vile, most mean swearer of oaths

slanderer, gossip-monger,

Detracter, spreader abroad of slanders,

[or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales,

One who taunts a lot, going around with slander.

(The one who is) a slanderer, fault-finder, mischief-monger, (and) who backbites the people to rouse strife

withholder of good, transgressor, evildoer,

Hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor

[or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor,

Forbidder of good, transgressor, sinful.

(The one who) greatly hinders pious works and is a miser, rebellious transgressor (and) toughened sinner

brute, and—on top of all that—an illegitimate child.

Greedy therewithal, intrusive.

[or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and, in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men].

Ill-mannered, and moreover his birth is faulty.

(The one who is) rude, unmannerly, crooked and moreover of doubtful birth.

Now, ˹simply˺ because he has been blessed with ˹abundant˺ wealth and children,

It is because he is possessed of wealth and children

Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children

This is because he possesses some wealth and children.

So (do not pay any heed to him) because he is wealthy and has children

whenever Our revelations are recited to him, he says, “Ancient fables!”

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

that, whenever Our messages are conveyed to him, such a one says, "Fables of ancient times"?

When Our signs are recited to him, he says 'stories of the ancients'.

When Our Verses are recited to him, he says: ‘These are the fictitious stories of the bygone people.

We will soon mark his snout.

We shall brand him on the nose.

[For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace!

We shall soon brand upon his swine like snout.

Now We shall brand him on the snout

Indeed, We have tested those ˹Meccans˺ as We tested the owners of the garden—when they swore they would surely harvest ˹all˺ its fruit in the early morning,

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

[As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow,

Undoubtedly, We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore that they would certainly reap their crop in the morning.

Surely, We will try them (the inhabitants of Mecca in the same way) as We tried (in Yemen) the owners of the garden when they swore that they would surely pluck its fruit the next morning

leaving no thought for Allah’s Will.

And made no exception (for the Will of Allah);

and made no allowance [for the will of God]:

And they said not 'if Allah please'.

And they did not make any exception (saying ‘if Allah wills’ or for the share of the orphans)

Then it was struck by a torment from your Lord while they slept,

Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept

whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep,

Then something going round from your Lord went round it while they were asleep.

So a whirl (of disaster) from your Lord went round (that garden during the night) whilst they were asleep

so it was reduced to ashes.

And in the morning it was as if plucked.

so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak.

And in the morning it was as it were fruits plucked.

So, that (waving fruit-laden garden) became a harvested field in the morning

Then by daybreak they called out to each other,

And they cried out one unto another in the morning,

Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another,

Then they called one another in the morning.

Then as the day dawned, they started calling out one another

˹saying,˺ “Go early to your harvest, if you want to pick ˹all˺ the fruit.”

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

"Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!"

Saying, 'go to your fields early in the morning if you are going to reap'.

‘Leave early for your tilth if you want to pick the fruit.

So they went off, whispering to one another,

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

Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another,

And they went forth early in the morning, whispering together.

So they set off whispering to one another

“Do not let any poor person enter your garden today.”

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

"Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares],"

That no needy person should come in your garden today.

‘Do not let any pauper come near you in the garden today.

And they proceeded early, totally fixated on their purpose.

They went betimes, strong in (this) purpose.

– and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose.

And they went forth early in the morning, determined upon their purpose.

And early in the morning they left, (feeling) quite competent to execute their plan (of getting the yield and depriving the poor of their share)

But when they saw it ˹devastated˺, they cried, “We must have lost ˹our˺ way!

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

But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!"

But when they saw it, they said, 'undoubtedly, we have lost our way'.

Then when they saw that (ruined garden), they said: ‘We must have lost our way; (this is not our garden).

In fact, we have been deprived ˹of our livelihood˺.”

Nay, but we are desolate!

- [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!"

Nay, rather we have been deprived of every thing.

(But when they saw it cautiously, they cried: ‘Oh no!) We have been deprived indeed.

The most sensible of them said, “Did I not urge you to say, ‘Allah willing.’?”

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

Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?’"

The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, why do you not glorify Allah? "

One of them, wise and inclined to the balanced judgment, said: ‘Did I not say to you: Why do you not glorify and remember Allah?

They replied, “Glory be to our Lord! We have truly been wrongdoers.”

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

They answered: "Limitless in His glory is our Sustainer! Verily, we were doing wrong!"

They said, 'Glory is to our Lord, undoubtedly, we had been unjust.

(Then) they said: ‘Our Lord is Holy. Surely, it is we who were the wrongdoers.

Then they turned on each other, throwing blame.

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

- and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches.

Now one turned towards other reproaching.

So, blaming and maligning, they turned to one another

They said, “Woe to us! We have certainly been transgressors.

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

[In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously!

They said, 'Ah! Woe to us, undoubtedly, we were contumacious.

They said: ‘Woe to us! No doubt it is we who were disobedient and rebellious

We trust our Lord will give us a better garden than this, ˹for˺ we are indeed turning to our Lord with hope.”

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

[But] it may be that our Sustainer will grant us something better instead: for, verily, unto our Sustainer do we turn with hope!"

It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it, we do humbly turn to our Lord.

We hope that our Lord may give us something better than this in exchange. Verily, we turn to our Lord.

That is the ˹way of Our˺ punishment ˹in this world˺. But the punishment of the Hereafter is certainly far worse, if only they knew.

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

SUCH is the suffering [with which We try some people in this world]; but greater by far will be the suffering [which sinners shall have to bear] in the life to come - if they but knew it!

Such is the punishment, and the punishment of the Hereafter is far greater. What a good thing it was, if they knew?

Such is the punishment. And truly, the torment of the Hereafter is far greater (than this). Would that they only knew

Indeed, the righteous will have the Gardens of Bliss with their Lord.

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

For, behold, it is the God-conscious [alone] whom gardens of bliss await with their Sustainer:

Undoubtedly, for the God fearing, there are Gardens of Bliss with their Lord.

Surely, for the Godfearing there are Gardens of Bliss with their Lord

Should We then treat those who have submitted like the wicked?

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

or should We, perchance, treat those who surrender themselves unto Us as [We would treat] those who remain lost in sin?

Shall We make the muslims like the culprits?

Shall We (deprive) the obedient like the disobedient

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

What aileth you? How foolishly ye judge!

What is amiss with you? On what do you base your judgment [of right and wrong]?

What happened to you? How you judge?

What is the matter with you? How do you make a judgment

Or do you have a scripture, in which you read

Or have ye a scripture wherein ye learn

Or have you, perchance, a [special] divine writ which you study,

Have you any Book wherein you read?

Do you have any Book with you in which you read (this)

that you will have whatever you choose?

That ye shall indeed have all that ye choose?

and in which you find all that you may wish to find?

That you shall have in it whatever you choose?

That it contains all that you like

Or do you have oaths binding on Us until the Day of Judgment that you will have whatever you decide?

Or have ye a covenant on oath from Us that reacheth to the Day of Judgment, that yours shall be all that ye ordain?

Or have you received a solemn promise, binding on Us till Resurrection Day, that yours will assuredly be whatever you judge [to be your rightful due]?

Or have you some oaths from Us, reaching to the Day of Resurrection that you shall have all that you claim?

Or have you any (such) firm covenants from Us as will subsist till the Day of Resurrection (by means of which We are bound) that you will be provided with whatever you shall decide (for yourselves)

Ask them ˹O Prophet˺ which of them can guarantee all that.

Ask them (O Muhammad) which of them will vouch for that!

Ask them which of them is able to vouch for this!

Ask them which of them is guarantor thereof?

Ask them which of them will vouch for such (a baseless assertion)

Or do they have associate-gods ˹supporting this claim˺? Then let them bring forth their associate-gods, if what they say is true.

Or have they other gods? Then let them bring their other gods if they are truthful

Or have they, perchance, any sages to support their views? Well, then, if they are sincere in this their claim, let them produce those supporters of theirs

Or have they some associates? Let them, then bring their associates, if they are truthful.

Or do they have any partners (as well)? Then they should bring their partners if they are truthful

˹Beware of˺ the Day the Shin ˹of Allah˺ will be bared, and the wicked will be asked to prostrate, but they will not be able to do so,

On the day when it befalleth in earnest, and they are ordered to prostrate themselves but are not able,

on the Day when man's very being shall be bared to the bone, and when they [who now deny the truth] shall be called upon to prostrate themselves [before God], and shall be unable to do so:

The day when a leg shall be exposed (the meaning is known to Allah) and they will be called upon to prostrate themselves, they will not be able to do so.

The Day when the ‘shin’ (i.e., the terrifying fierceness of the Hour of Rising) will be laid bare, and (the disobedient) people will be called to prostrate themselves, but they will not be able to do so (i.e., to prostrate themselves)

with eyes downcast, totally covered with disgrace. For they were ˹always˺ called to prostrate ˹in the world˺ when they were fully capable ˹but they chose not to˺.

With eyes downcast, abasement stupefying them. And they had been summoned to prostrate themselves while they were yet unhurt.

downcast will be their eyes, with ignominy overwhelming them - seeing that they had been called upon [in vain] to prostrate themselves [before Him] while they were yet sound [and alive].

Their eyes will be cast down, and humiliation will be covering them, and they were indeed called upon to prostrate themselves in the world when they were sound healthy.

Their eyes will be cast down (with terror and shame) and disgrace will be spreading over them, whereas they were called to prostrate themselves (in the world also) when they were healthy (but they, even then, refused to fall prostrate)

So leave to Me ˹O Prophet˺ those who reject this message. We will gradually draw them to destruction in ways they cannot comprehend.

Leave Me (to deal) with those who give the lie to this pronouncement. We shall lead them on by steps from whence they know not.

Hence, leave Me alone with such as give the lie to this tiding. We shall bring them low, step by step, without their perceiving how it has come about:

So leave him to Me, who belies this word. Soon We shall draw them step by step whence they know not.

So, (O Esteemed Beloved,) leave Me (to exact revenge) from the one who rejects this Revelation. Now We shall take them (towards disaster) so gradually that they will not perceive it

I ˹only˺ delay their end for a while, but My planning is flawless.

Yet I bear with them, for lo! My scheme is firm.

for, behold, though I may give them rein for a while, My subtle scheme is exceedingly firm!

And I shall grant them respite, undoubtedly, My secret planning is very strong.

And I am giving them respite. Surely, My strategy is unbeatable

Or are you asking them for a reward ˹for the message˺ so that they are overburdened by debt?

Or dost thou (Muhammad) ask a fee from them so that they are heavily taxed?

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]?

Or do you ask them a wage so that they are laden with debt?

Do you ask them for any reward (for preaching the faith in Messengership) that they are weighed down with (the burden of) paying the recompense

Or do they have access to ˹the Record in˺ the unseen, so they copy it ˹for all to see˺?

Or is the Unseen theirs that they can write (thereof)?

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?

Or is the unseen with them so that they are writing?

Do they have the knowledge of the unseen that they write down (their judgments on the basis of that)

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.

But wait thou for thy Lord's decree, and be not like him of the fish, who cried out in despair.

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.

Therefore wait for the command of your Lord and be not as the Man of the Fish when he called out while his heart was choking.

So be steadfast in waiting for the command of your Lord, and do not (take it to your heart) like (Yunus [Jonah], the Messenger with) fish episode, when he cried out (to Allah) in a state pent up with rage and grief (against his community)

Had he not been shown grace by his Lord, he would have certainly been cast onto the open ˹shore˺, still blameworthy.

Had it not been that favour from his Lord had reached him he surely had been cast into the wilderness while he was reprobate.

[And remember:] had not grace from his Sustainer reached him, he would indeed have been cast forth upon that barren shore in a state of disgrace:

Had not the favour of his Lord reached him for his care, he would have surely been cast upon land blamed.

Had the mercy and blessing of his Lord not helped him, he would certainly have been thrown in the barren field, blamed. (But Allah saved him from that.

Then his Lord chose him, making him one of the righteous.

But his Lord chose him and placed him among the righteous.

but [as it was,] his Sustainer had elected him and placed him among the righteous.

Then his Lord chose him and made him of His near ones.

Then his Lord exalted him and (placed him) amongst the perfectly pious (blessing him with His exceptional nearness)

The disbelievers would almost cut you down with their eyes when they hear ˹you recite˺ the Reminder, and say, “He is certainly a madman.”

And lo! those who disbelieve would fain disconcert thee with their eyes when they hear the Reminder, and they say: Lo! he is indeed mad;

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!"

And it seems that the infidels with their bad looks will necessarily, stumble you when they hear Quran and they say, 'He is surely faraway from wisdom'.

And indeed, when the disbelievers listen to the Qur’an, it seems as if they wish to damage you with their (jealously evil) looks and say: ‘He is insane.

But it is simply a reminder to the whole world.

When it is naught else than a Reminder to creation.

[Be patient:] for this is nought else but a reminder [from God] to all mankind.

And it is not, but an admonition for the worlds

And it (the Qur’an) is direction and guidance for all the worlds