Surah 68. Al-Qalam

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Verses [Section]: 1-33[1], 34-52 [2]

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Quran Text of Verse 1-3368. Al-Qalamبِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِنٓNunوَ الْقَلَمِBy the penوَ مَاand whatیَسْطُرُوْنَۙthey write مَاۤNotاَنْتَyou (are)بِنِعْمَةِby (the) Graceرَبِّكَ(of) your Lordبِمَجْنُوْنٍۚa madman وَ اِنَّAnd indeedلَكَfor youلَاَجْرًاsurely (is) a rewardغَیْرَwithoutمَمْنُوْنٍۚend وَ اِنَّكَAnd indeed youلَعَلٰیsurely (are)خُلُقٍ(of) a moral characterعَظِیْمٍ great فَسَتُبْصِرُSo soon you will seeوَ یُبْصِرُوْنَۙand they will see بِاَىیِّكُمُWhich of youالْمَفْتُوْنُ (is) the afflicted one اِنَّIndeedرَبَّكَyour LordهُوَHeاَعْلَمُ(is) most knowingبِمَنْof (he) whoضَلَّhas strayedعَنْfromسَبِیْلِهٖ ۪His wayوَ هُوَand Heاَعْلَمُ(is) most knowingبِالْمُهْتَدِیْنَ of the guided ones فَلَاSo (do) notتُطِعِobeyالْمُكَذِّبِیْنَ the deniers وَدُّوْاThey wishلَوْthatتُدْهِنُyou should compromiseفَیُدْهِنُوْنَ so they would compromise وَ لَاAnd (do) notتُطِعْobeyكُلَّeveryحَلَّافٍhabitual swearerمَّهِیْنٍۙworthless هَمَّازٍDefamerمَّشَّآءٍۭgoing aboutبِنَمِیْمٍۙwith malicious gossip مَّنَّاعٍA preventerلِّلْخَیْرِof (the) goodمُعْتَدٍtransgressorاَثِیْمٍۙsinful عُتُلٍّۭCruelبَعْدَafterذٰلِكَ(all) thatزَنِیْمٍۙutterly useless اَنْBecauseكَانَ(he) isذَاa possessorمَالٍ(of) wealthوَّ بَنِیْنَؕand children اِذَاWhenتُتْلٰیare recitedعَلَیْهِto himاٰیٰتُنَاOur Versesقَالَhe saysاَسَاطِیْرُStoriesالْاَوَّلِیْنَ (of) the former (people) 68. Al-Qalam Page 565سَنَسِمُهٗWe will brand himعَلَیonالْخُرْطُوْمِ the snout اِنَّاIndeed Weبَلَوْنٰهُمْhave tried themكَمَاasبَلَوْنَاۤWe triedاَصْحٰبَ(the) companionsالْجَنَّةِ ۚ(of) the gardenاِذْwhenاَقْسَمُوْاthey sworeلَیَصْرِمُنَّهَاto pluck its fruitمُصْبِحِیْنَۙ(in the) morning وَ لَاAnd notیَسْتَثْنُوْنَ making exception فَطَافَSo there cameعَلَیْهَاupon itطَآىِٕفٌa visitationمِّنْfromرَّبِّكَyour Lordوَ هُمْwhile theyنَآىِٕمُوْنَ were asleep فَاَصْبَحَتْSo it becameكَالصَّرِیْمِۙas if reaped فَتَنَادَوْاAnd they called one anotherمُصْبِحِیْنَۙ(at) morning اَنِThatاغْدُوْاGo earlyعَلٰیtoحَرْثِكُمْyour cropاِنْifكُنْتُمْyou wouldصٰرِمِیْنَ pluck (the) fruit فَانْطَلَقُوْاSo they wentوَ هُمْwhile theyیَتَخَافَتُوْنَۙlowered (their) voices اَنْThatلَّاNotیَدْخُلَنَّهَاwill enter itالْیَوْمَtodayعَلَیْكُمْupon youمِّسْكِیْنٌۙany poor person وَّ غَدَوْاAnd they went earlyعَلٰیwithحَرْدٍdeterminationقٰدِرِیْنَ able فَلَمَّاBut whenرَاَوْهَاthey saw itقَالُوْۤاthey saidاِنَّاIndeed weلَضَآلُّوْنَۙ(are) surely lost بَلْNay!نَحْنُWeمَحْرُوْمُوْنَ (are) deprived قَالَSaidاَوْسَطُهُمْ(the) most moderate of themاَلَمْDid notاَقُلْI tellلَّكُمْyouلَوْ لَاWhy notتُسَبِّحُوْنَ you glorify (Allah) قَالُوْاThey saidسُبْحٰنَGlory beرَبِّنَاۤ(to) our Lord!اِنَّاIndeed weكُنَّا[we] wereظٰلِمِیْنَ wrongdoers فَاَقْبَلَThen approachedبَعْضُهُمْsome of themعَلٰیtoبَعْضٍothersیَّتَلَاوَمُوْنَ blaming each other قَالُوْاThey saidیٰوَیْلَنَاۤO woe to us!اِنَّاIndeed weكُنَّا[we] wereطٰغِیْنَ transgressors عَسٰیPerhapsرَبُّنَاۤour Lordاَنْ[that]یُّبْدِلَنَاwill substitute for usخَیْرًاa betterمِّنْهَاۤthan itاِنَّاۤIndeed weاِلٰیtoرَبِّنَاour Lordرٰغِبُوْنَ turn devoutly كَذٰلِكَSuchالْعَذَابُ ؕ(is) the punishmentوَ لَعَذَابُAnd surely the punishmentالْاٰخِرَةِ(of) the Hereafterاَكْبَرُ ۘ(is) greaterلَوْifكَانُوْاtheyیَعْلَمُوْنَ۠know

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Translation of Verse 1-33In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

(68:1) Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write.¹

(68:2) By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness,²

(68:3) and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward,³

(68:4) and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence.⁴

(68:5) So you will soon see, and they too will see,

(68:6) which of you is afflicted with madness.

(68:7) Surely your Lord knows well those who have strayed from His Way just as He knows well those who are on the Right Way.

(68:8) Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false;

(68:9) they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant.⁵

(68:10) And do not yield to any contemptible swearer,⁶

(68:11) the fault-finder who goes around slandering,

(68:12) the hinderer of good,⁷ the transgressor, the sinful;⁸

(68:13) the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble;⁹

(68:14) (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons,¹⁰

(68:15) and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.”

(68:16) Soon shall We brand him on his snout.¹¹

(68:17) We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard¹² when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning,

(68:18) without making any allowance (for the will of Allah).¹³

(68:19) Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep,

(68:20) and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested.

(68:21) At daybreak they called out to one another:

(68:22) “Hurry to your orchard¹⁴ if you would gather its fruit.”

(68:23) So off they went, whispering to one another:

(68:24) “No destitute person shall enter it today.”

(68:25) They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit).¹⁵

(68:26) But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way;

(68:27) rather, we are utterly ruined.”¹⁶

(68:28) The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?”¹⁷

(68:29) They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.”

(68:30) Then they began to reproach one another.¹⁸

(68:31) They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed.

(68:32) Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.”

(68:33) Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew.

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Commentary

1. The leading commentator of the Qur’an, Mujahid, says that the word “pen” here signifies the pen with which the Qur’an was being inscribed. From this it automatically follows that what was being inscribed was the Qur’an.

2. Both the pen and the Book are invoked in the oath to assert that the Prophet (peace be upon him) is not afflicted-with any kind of madness. In other words, the Qur’an which is being recorded by the scribes of revelation is a weighty rejoinder to the disbelievers’ slander that the Prophet (peace be upon him), God forbid, is a mad person. Before he laid his claim to Prophet hood, the Makkans looked upon him as the best person in their city and reposed extreme trust in his honesty, integrity, and wisdom. However, as he presented the Qur’an before them, they began to accuse him of being a mad person. To put it another way, for them the Qur’an was the cause behind his madness. Accordingly, it is asserted that the Qur’an itself suffices to refute this slanderous allegation. Since the Qur’an stands out as a literary masterpiece; embodying eloquence, stylistic features, and sublime contents, its presentation by him is the proof of the bestowal of the divine favor upon him. It has nothing to do with madness. Let it be borne in mind that while these words are apparently addressed to the Prophet (peace be upon him), the real purpose of the statement is to refute the disbelievers’ slanderous utterances, imputing madness to him. This should not be misconstrued by anyone in the sense that this verse was revealed to comfort and reassure the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he does not suffer from madness. He did not have any such misperception about himself, hence on this allegation there was no need to rest his mind with any such assurance. The thrust of the verse is that the Qur’an, because of which they are accusing its presenter of madness, is itself sufficient refutation of such slanderous statements. (For ‘details see Surah al-Tur 52: 22.)

3. It is emphasized that the Prophet’s reward will be boundless and that it will never cease. This is because he strove to direct people to the right way, but in return had to suffer bitter and heart-rending taunts from many of them. Admirably, the Prophet (peace be upon him) disregarded all this, patiently performing his duty with unabated dedication.

4. This sentence carries two meanings: (i) Since he is on the most exalted standard of moral excellence, he has been enduring all manner of hardship during his mission of guiding and reforming mankind. Otherwise, a person with weak character and conduct could not have performed this duty. (ii) In addition to the Qur’an, the Prophet's excellent conduct and noble character is also a clear proof that the charge of madness that was directed at him was totally false. This is due to madness and high morals being mutually inconsistent. A mad person is imbalanced in his outlook and temperament. In contrast, a person with high morals and manners displays his sound mind and pleasant nature. He is endowed with a balanced, moderate mind. The Makkans were not unfamiliar with the Prophet’s morals and manners. Hence the Qur’anic allusion to his excellent moral standard suffices to make every reasonable Makkan think that it was patently wrong and brazen to charge such a balanced, decent person with madness. This frivolity was not harmful for the Prophet but was harmful for the detractors themselves because in their zeal, they were uttering something that could not be considered as credible or tenable by any sensible person. The same applies to some scholars and researchers of our time who impute epilepsy and madness to the Prophet (peace be upon him). Copies of the Qur’an and a detailed account of the Prophet's life and career are within everyone’s reach. Those who ascribe madness to the bearer of such a unique book as the Qur’an, and who was on the most exalted standard of moral excellence, betray their own foolishness in their blind opposition to him.

‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) has paid a glowing tribute to the Prophet's excellent morals and character in remarking that his conduct was the full reflection of the Qur’an. Imam Ahmad (Musnad, 6, 54,91 and 111), Muslim (K. Salat al-Musafirin wa qasriha, Bab Jami’ Salat al-Layl ...) Abu Dawud (K. al-Tatawwu', Bab Fi Salat al-Layl), Nasa’i (K. Qiyam al-Layl, Bab Qiyam al-Layl wa Tataww’ al-Nahar), Ibn Majah (K. al- Ahkam, Bab al-Hukm fi man kasara shay’a), Darimi (K. al-Salat, Bab Sifat Salat al-Rasul) and Ibn Jarir all have cited the above report (Tafsir, 23, 150), though with some minor variations. What is meant is that the Prophet (peace be upon him) not only introduced the Qur’anic teachings to everyone, he was an embodiment of the teachings of the Qur’an. He acted on all that the Qur’an enjoins and shunned all that it forbids more than anybody else. The moral teachings emphasized in the Qur’an were fully reflected in his conduct. By the same token, he had none of the traits which the Qur’an disapproves. Another hadith on the authority of ‘A’ishah runs thus: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) never hit a servant or raised his hand on a female. He did not physically hurt anyone except in Jihad in the cause of Allah. Never did he take revenge for the wrongs done personally to him. No doubt he took action against those who had violated what Allah has sanctified. He took revenge only for Allah’s sake. Given an option, he always chose the less difficult course of action, provided that it did not entail any sin. He kept himself away from any act if it contained any hint of some evil or sin.” (Musnad of Imam Ahmad, 6, 32, 114 and 116) Anas reports: “During my ten years’ close association with the Prophet (peace be upon him), he never resented any action of mine. He never asked me as to why [had done something. Nor did he ever chide me for having failed to do something.” (Bukhari K. al-Adab, Bab Husn al-Khulq and Muslim K. al-Fada’il, Bab Kana Raul Allah Ahsan al-Nas Khuluqan.)

5. The disbelievers approached the Prophet (peace be upon him) with the offer that if he would slacken a bit in his drive to preach his teachings, they would tone down their opposition to him. Another nuance of the offer was that if the Prophet (peace be upon him) were to modify his religious stance in deference to the disbelievers’ beliefs and practices, they would be willing to come to terms with him.

6. The word mahin is used of a contemptible, degraded, and mean person. In fact, the main characteristic of such a person is that he swears profusely and frequently, out of his own realization that everyone takes him to be a liar. By this logic, he tries to convince others of his credibility.

His self-esteem is low and he is looked down upon by everyone in society.

7. On the Qur’anic text words “Manna’‘in lil khayr” (the hinderer of good) are used. Al-Khayr connotes both wealth and goodness. Taken in the former sense, the reference is to the person who is extremely miserly and stingy, not willing to give even a single penny to anyone. In its latter sense, it stands for one who creates a hindrance in every good work and thus, is very active in obstructing Islam.

8. ‘Utull is used to describe a person who has a sound physique and wealth, yet he is ill-mannered, quarrelsome and cruel.

9. Zanim is employed in the Arabic idiom for a person born out of wedlock claiming to be a member of a family, though he does not belong to it. According to Sa‘id ibn Jubayr and Sha’bi, it is used also for someone notorious for his evildoing.

The Qur’an commentators differ in identifying the person alluded to in the above verses. For some, the allusion is to Walid ibn Mughirah, for others to Aswad ibn ‘Abd Yaghith. Some identify him as Akhnas ibn Shurayq. Others have named different figures. However, the Qur’an has only spelled out the despicable traits of this person, without naming him. It appears that this person was such a familiar figure in Makkah that there was hardly any need to name him. His portrait sufficed for his identification.

10. This statement can relate to the themes that both precede and follow it. In the first instance, it would mean that the Prophet (peace be upon him) should not yield to such a person simply because he has abundance of wealth and children. In the second instance, these words would mean that this person has become exceedingly arrogant because he has plenty of wealth and children. It is because of such arrogance that when the revelation is recited to him, he says: “These are the tales of times gone by.”

11. Such a person considered himself to be possessed of extraordinary prestige and eminence. To controvert this arrogance, his nose is called a “snout”. To say that “We shall brand him on his snout” means that God will disgrace him both in this world and the Hereafter, and will do so in such a way that the disgrace he is subjected to will endure forever.

12. It is worth-pointing out that verses 32-44 of Surah al-Kahf relate a similar parable of the two owners of vineyards to teach a similar lesson.

13. The owners of the orchard were exceedingly confident about their power and authority. Hence they swore that they would gather the fruit of their orchard the next morning, without feeling any need to say: “We shall do so, if God so wills.”

14. It appears that there was a field for farming in between the trees.

15. The expression ‘ala hard carries several meanings — of obstructing, not giving something, acting on a premeditated decision and for doing something at the earliest.

16. On looking at their orchard, they did not believe first that it was their own orchard. That is why they exclaimed: “We have certainly lost the way.” A little later when the truth dawned on them, they cried out: “We are utterly ruined.”

17. That person had warned them not to forget God when they were swearing an oath that they would definitely pluck fruits from their garden the next day. He asked them to glorify God and say: “God willing”. However, they disregarded his exhortation altogether. He advised them the same when they were resolving not to share any fruit with the destitute. He counselled them not to have such an evil intention and to fear God. Yet they persisted in their resolve.

18. They took to blaming one another for the loss, stating that “under your misleading counsel we have disregarded God and committed evil.”