القلم
The Pen
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
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.
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