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