English Sahih International
Surah Al-Qalam ( The Pen ) - Aya count 52
ن ۚ وَالْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ
( 1 ) 
N. Nuon. The Inkpot. And the Pen, and all that they write, stand witness. (The high domain of knowledge will bear out that):
مَا أَنتَ بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ بِمَجْنُونٍ
( 2 ) You (O Messenger), by the Grace of your Lord, are not a madman.
وَإِنَّ لَكَ لَأَجْرًا غَيْرَ مَمْنُونٍ
( 3 ) And, behold, yours will be an everlasting reward.
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ
( 4 ) For, verily, you are of the noblest moral character!
فَسَتُبْصِرُ وَيُبْصِرُونَ
( 5 ) And soon you will see and they will see.
بِأَييِّكُمُ الْمَفْتُونُ
( 6 ) Which of you is the demented. (Outstanding knowledge plus sublime character can only be compatible with a great mind).
إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبِيلِهِ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ
( 7 ) Verily, your Lord knows best him who strays from His Way, and He knows best those who are rightly guided.
فَلَا تُطِعِ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ
( 8 ) Hence, pay no heed to the rejecters.
وَدُّوا لَوْ تُدْهِنُ فَيُدْهِنُونَ
( 9 ) They wish that you strike a deal with them so that they can strike a deal (and compromise on a middle grounds between Truth and Falsehood (10:15), (11:113), (17:74)).
وَلَا تُطِعْ كُلَّ حَلَّافٍ مَّهِينٍ
( 10 ) - And yield not to any petty oath-monger. (Repetitious swearing hurts the credibility of a person).
هَمَّازٍ مَّشَّاءٍ بِنَمِيمٍ
( 11 ) - Or to a defamer that goes about spreading slander.
مَّنَّاعٍ لِّلْخَيْرِ مُعْتَدٍ أَثِيمٍ
( 12 ) - Or to a withholder of the good and of wealth, trespasser of values, low in virtue.
عُتُلٍّ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ زَنِيمٍ
( 13 ) - Or to one greedy to the extent of insensitivity, and, in addition, worthless to the society.
أَن كَانَ ذَا مَالٍ وَبَنِينَ
( 14 ) - Or he who because of his riches and party,
إِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا قَالَ أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ
( 15 ) - Says, "Fables of ancient times", whenever Our Messages are conveyed to him.
سَنَسِمُهُ عَلَى الْخُرْطُومِ
( 16 ) - We shall brand such a person with manifest disgrace! ('Branding the snout' alludes to bringing to visible disgrace a person who chooses to live at the subhuman level).
إِنَّا بَلَوْنَاهُمْ كَمَا بَلَوْنَا أَصْحَابَ الْجَنَّةِ إِذْ أَقْسَمُوا لَيَصْرِمُنَّهَا مُصْبِحِينَ
( 17 ) Behold, We have tried such people as We tried the owners of the garden who swore that they would pluck its fruit in the morning. (18:32-44).
وَلَا يَسْتَثْنُونَ
( 18 ) And made no exception (for the needy poor).
فَطَافَ عَلَيْهَا طَائِفٌ مِّن رَّبِّكَ وَهُمْ نَائِمُونَ
( 19 ) Then a tornado from your Lord struck it while they slept.
فَأَصْبَحَتْ كَالصَّرِيمِ
( 20 ) So that by the morning it was barren, bleak.
فَتَنَادَوْا مُصْبِحِينَ
( 21 ) Now, in the morning, they called out unto one another.
أَنِ اغْدُوا عَلَىٰ حَرْثِكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَارِمِينَ
( 22 ) "Go early to your field if you want to pick the fruit."
فَانطَلَقُوا وَهُمْ يَتَخَافَتُونَ
( 23 ) So they went off whispering unto one another.
أَن لَّا يَدْخُلَنَّهَا الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكُم مِّسْكِينٌ
( 24 ) "Let not a single poor come near you today."
وَغَدَوْا عَلَىٰ حَرْدٍ قَادِرِينَ
( 25 ) And early they went strong in their resolve (to keep the poor away).
فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهَا قَالُوا إِنَّا لَضَالُّونَ
( 26 ) But when they saw it, they said, "Behold, we have lost our way."
بَلْ نَحْنُ مَحْرُومُونَ
( 27 ) (Then they realized), "Ah! Now we are destitute."
قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكُمْ لَوْلَا تُسَبِّحُونَ
( 28 ) Said the most balanced among them, "Did I not tell you - why did you not work aright (thinking of the poor)?" ('Sabh' = Swim in strides = Work hard = Labor for a noble cause).
قَالُوا سُبْحَانَ رَبِّنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَالِمِينَ
( 29 ) They said, "Glorified is our Lord! Verily, it is we who have been offenders." (Refusing the Divine Right of the needy).
فَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ يَتَلَاوَمُونَ
( 30 ) And then they confronted one another, blaming.
قَالُوا يَا وَيْلَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا طَاغِينَ
( 31 ) They said, "Oh, woe unto us! We were trespassers of goodness."
عَسَىٰ رَبُّنَا أَن يُبْدِلَنَا خَيْرًا مِّنْهَا إِنَّا إِلَىٰ رَبِّنَا رَاغِبُونَ
( 32 ) It may be that our Lord grants us something better than this. Behold, we turn to our Lord affectionately.
كَذَٰلِكَ الْعَذَابُ ۖ وَلَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَكْبَرُ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ
( 33 ) Such is the suffering! But far greater is the suffering of the Hereafter - if they knew it.
إِنَّ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ جَنَّاتِ النَّعِيمِ
( 34 ) Behold, for those who walk aright are Gardens of Bliss with their Lord.
أَفَنَجْعَلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ كَالْمُجْرِمِينَ
( 35 ) Shall We, then, treat those who submit (to Our Laws) like the guilty?
مَا لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ
( 36 ) What is the matter with you? How do you judge (the right and wrong and their logical consequence)?
أَمْ لَكُمْ كِتَابٌ فِيهِ تَدْرُسُونَ
( 37 ) Or do you have a scripture wherein you learn -
إِنَّ لَكُمْ فِيهِ لَمَا تَخَيَّرُونَ
( 38 ) That you shall indeed get the outcome of your choosing?
أَمْ لَكُمْ أَيْمَانٌ عَلَيْنَا بَالِغَةٌ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ۙ إِنَّ لَكُمْ لَمَا تَحْكُمُونَ
( 39 ) Or have you a solemn oath, binding on Us till Resurrection Day, that yours shall be all that you order?
سَلْهُمْ أَيُّهُم بِذَٰلِكَ زَعِيمٌ
( 40 ) Ask them which of them guarantees it.
أَمْ لَهُمْ شُرَكَاءُ فَلْيَأْتُوا بِشُرَكَائِهِمْ إِن كَانُوا صَادِقِينَ
( 41 ) Do they have 'partners'? Then let them bring their 'partners' if they are truthful.
يَوْمَ يُكْشَفُ عَن سَاقٍ وَيُدْعَوْنَ إِلَى السُّجُودِ فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ
( 42 ) On the Day when they are confronted with the stark reality and they are summoned to prostrate, they shall not be able to prostrate. (It will be too late to submit).
خَاشِعَةً أَبْصَارُهُمْ تَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌ ۖ وَقَدْ كَانُوا يُدْعَوْنَ إِلَى السُّجُودِ وَهُمْ سَالِمُونَ
( 43 ) Their eyes drooping, humiliation will overwhelm them! And they had been repeatedly invited to prostrate when they were able.
فَذَرْنِي وَمَن يُكَذِّبُ بِهَٰذَا الْحَدِيثِ ۖ سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُم مِّنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
( 44 ) So leave unto Me him who denied this Message (39:23). We shall lead them step by step to a reprisal from directions they had never conceived.
وَأُمْلِي لَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ كَيْدِي مَتِينٌ
( 45 ) Though I give them respite, behold, unwavering is My Plan.
أَمْ تَسْأَلُهُمْ أَجْرًا فَهُم مِّن مَّغْرَمٍ مُّثْقَلُونَ
( 46 ) Or is it that you ask them any reward so that they are burdened?
أَمْ عِندَهُمُ الْغَيْبُ فَهُمْ يَكْتُبُونَ
( 47 ) Or is it that theirs is the future that they have written down?
فَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ وَلَا تَكُن كَصَاحِبِ الْحُوتِ إِذْ نَادَىٰ وَهُوَ مَكْظُومٌ
( 48 ) (O Prophet) Go ahead steadfastly in establishing your Lord's Command. And be not like him (Jonah) of the fish who cried out in distress. (21:87), (37:139).
لَّوْلَا أَن تَدَارَكَهُ نِعْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِ لَنُبِذَ بِالْعَرَاءِ وَهُوَ مَذْمُومٌ
( 49 ) If it were not for the Bliss of his Lord, he would have been cast into the wilderness and in the wilderness of thought. (37:146).
فَاجْتَبَاهُ رَبُّهُ فَجَعَلَهُ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ
( 50 ) But his Lord had elected him and included him among those who have worked for reform and to actualize their 'Self'.
وَإِن يَكَادُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَيُزْلِقُونَكَ بِأَبْصَارِهِمْ لَمَّا سَمِعُوا الذِّكْرَ وَيَقُولُونَ إِنَّهُ لَمَجْنُونٌ
( 51 ) And behold, those who deny the Truth, offend you (O Prophet) with their eyes when they hear the Reminder. And they say, "Behold, he is a madman."
وَمَا هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ لِّلْعَالَمِينَ
( 52 ) Nay, this Reminder is a giver of eminence to all nations.
