Al-Qalam

noon wal-qalami wamā yasṭurūna

Nūn. By the pen and what they inscribe,

mā anta biniʿ'mati rabbika bimajnūnin

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

wa-inna laka la-ajran ghayra mamnūnin

And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted.

wa-innaka laʿalā khuluqin ʿaẓīmin

And indeed, you are of a great moral character.

fasatub'ṣiru wayub'ṣirūna

So you will see and they will see.

bi-ayyikumu l-maftūnu

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

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

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

falā tuṭiʿi l-mukadhibīna

Then do not obey the deniers.

waddū law tud'hinu fayud'hinūna

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

walā tuṭiʿ kulla ḥallāfin mahīnin

And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer

hammāzin mashāin binamīmin

[And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip -

mannāʿin lil'khayri muʿ'tadin athīmin

A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful,

ʿutullin baʿda dhālika zanīmin

Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender.

an kāna dhā mālin wabanīna

Because he is a possessor of wealth and children,

idhā tut'lā ʿalayhi āyātunā qāla asāṭīru l-awalīna

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

sanasimuhu ʿalā l-khur'ṭūmi

We will brand him upon the snout.

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

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

walā yastathnūna

Without making exception.

faṭāfa ʿalayhā ṭāifun min rabbika wahum nāimūna

So there came upon it [i.e., the garden] an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep.

fa-aṣbaḥat kal-ṣarīmi

And it became as though reaped.

fatanādaw muṣ'biḥīna

And they called one another at morning,

ani igh'dū ʿalā ḥarthikum in kuntum ṣārimīna

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

fa-inṭalaqū wahum yatakhāfatūna

So they set out, while lowering their voices,

an lā yadkhulannahā l-yawma ʿalaykum mis'kīnun

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

waghadaw ʿalā ḥardin qādirīna

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

falammā ra-awhā qālū innā laḍāllūna

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

bal naḥnu maḥrūmūna

Rather, we have been deprived."

qāla awsaṭuhum alam aqul lakum lawlā tusabbiḥūna

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

qālū sub'ḥāna rabbinā innā kunnā ẓālimīna

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

fa-aqbala baʿḍuhum ʿalā baʿḍin yatalāwamūna

Then they approached one another, blaming each other.

qālū yāwaylanā innā kunnā ṭāghīna

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

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

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

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

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

inna lil'muttaqīna ʿinda rabbihim jannāti l-naʿīmi

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

afanajʿalu l-mus'limīna kal-muj'rimīna

Then will We treat the Muslims like the criminals?

mā lakum kayfa taḥkumūna

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

am lakum kitābun fīhi tadrusūna

Or do you have a scripture in which you learn

inna lakum fīhi lamā takhayyarūna

That indeed for you is whatever you choose?

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

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

salhum ayyuhum bidhālika zaʿīmun

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

am lahum shurakāu falyatū bishurakāihim in kānū ṣādiqīna

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

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

The Day the shin will be uncovered and they are invited to prostration but they [i.e., the disbelievers] will not be able,

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

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

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

So leave Me, [O Muḥammad], with [the matter of] whoever denies this statement [i.e., the Qur’ān]. We will progressively lead them [to punishment] from where they do not know.

wa-um'lī lahum inna kaydī matīnun

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

am tasaluhum ajran fahum min maghramin muth'qalūna

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

am ʿindahumu l-ghaybu fahum yaktubūna

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

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

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

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

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

fa-ij'tabāhu rabbuhu fajaʿalahu mina l-ṣāliḥīna

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

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

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

wamā huwa illā dhik'run lil'ʿālamīna

But it is not except a reminder to the worlds.