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Surah 68. Al-Qalam

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بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
Bismi All a hi a l rra h m a ni a l rra h eem i
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE:1
  - Mohammad Asad

According to most of the authorities, this invocation (which occurs at the beginning of every surah with the exception of surah 9) constitutes an integral part of "The Opening" and is, therefore, numbered as verse {1}. In all other instances, the invocation "in the name of God" precedes the surah as such, and is not counted among its verses. - Both the divine epithets rahman and rahim are derived from the noun rahmah, which signifies "mercy", "compassion", "loving tenderness" and, more comprehensively, "grace". From the very earliest times, Islamic scholars have endeavoured to define the exact shades of meaning which differentiate the two terms. The best and simplest of these explanations is undoubtedly the one advanced by Ibn al-Qayyim (as quoted in Manar I,48): the term rahman circumscribes the quality of abounding grace inherent in, and inseparable from, the concept of God's Being, whereas rahim expresses the manifestation of that grace in, and its effect upon, His creation - in other words, an aspect of His activity.

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
In the Name of Allah- the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.
  - Mustafa Khattab
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
In the name of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful. 19
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Arabic words "Rahman" and "Rahim" translated "Most Gracious" and "Most Merciful" are both intensive forms referring to different aspects of God's attribute of Mercy. The Arabic intensive is more suited to express God's attributes than the superlative degree in English. The latter implies a comparison with other beings, or with other times or places, while there is no being like unto God, and He is independent of Time and Place. Mercy may imply pity, long-suffering, patience, and forgiveness, all of which the sinner needs and God Most Merciful bestows in abundant measure. But there is a Mercy that goes before even the need arises, the Grace which is ever watchful, and flows from God Most Gracious to all His creatures, protecting the, preserving them, guiding them, and leading them to clearer light and higher life. For this reason the attribute Rahman (Most Gracious) is not applied to any but God, but the attribute Rahim (Merciful), is a general term, and may also be applied to Men. To make us contemplate these boundless gifts of God, the formula: "In the name of God Most Gracious, Most Merciful": is placed before every Sura of the Qur-an (except the ninth), and repeated at the beginning of every act by the Muslim who dedicates his life to God, and whose hope is in His Mercy.

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68:1
نٓ ۚ وَٱلْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ Noon wa a lqalami wam a yas t uroon a
Nun.1 CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]!2
  - Mohammad Asad

Chronologically, this is the first appearance of any of the "disjointed" [i.e., single] letters (al-muqatta'at) which precede a number of the surahs of the Qur'an; for the various theories relating to these letters, see Appendix II. The supposition of some of the early commentators (extensively quoted by Tabari) that the letter n, pronounced nun, represents here an abbreviation of the identically-pronounced noun which signifies both "great fish" and "inkwell" has been convincingly rejected by some of the most outstanding authorities (e.g., Zamakhshari and Razi) on grammatical grounds.

For the meaning of the adjurative particle wa at the beginning of this sentence, see first half of note [23] on 74:32 . The mention of "the pen" is meant to recall the earliest Qur'anic revelation, namely, the first five verses of surah {96} ("The Germ-Cell"), and thus to stress the fact of Muhammad's prophethood. As regards the symbolic significance of the concept of "the pen", see {96:3-5} and the corresponding note [3].

Nun. By the pen and what they write.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Nũn. By the pen and what everyone writes!
  - Mustafa Khattab
Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith),
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Nun. By the Pen and by the (Record) which (men) write 5592 5593
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Nun is an Abbreviated Letter: see Appendix I at the end of S. ii. Nun may mean a fish, or an ink-holder, or it may be just the Arabic letter of the alphabet, N. In the last case, it may refer to either or both of the other meanings. Note also that the Arabic rhyme in this Sura ends in N. The reference to ink would be an appropriate link with the Pen in verse 1. The reference to the fish would be appropriate with reference to the story of Jonah in verses 48-50. Jonah's title is "the Companion of the Fish", (Zun-Nun, xxi. 87), as he was, in the story, swallowed by the Fish.

The Pen and the Record are the symbolical foundations of the Revelation to man. The adjuration by the Pen disposes of the flippant charge that Allah's Messenger was mad or possessed. For he spoke words of power, not incoherent, but full of meaning, and through the Record of the Pen, that meaning unfolds itself, in innumerable aspects to countless generations. Muhammad was the living Grace and Mercy of Allah, and his very nature exalted him above abuse and persecution.

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68:2
مَآ أَنتَ بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ بِمَجْنُونٍ M a anta biniAAmati rabbika bimajnoon in
Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman!3
  - Mohammad Asad

This is an allusion to the taunt with which most of Muhammad's contemporaries greeted the beginning of his preaching, and with which they continued to deride him for many years. In its wider sense, the above passage relates - as is so often the case in the Qur'an - not merely to the Prophet but also to all who followed or will follow him: in this particular instance, to all who base their moral valuations on their belief in God and in life after death.

By the grace of your Rabb you are not a madman,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
By the grace of your Lord, you 'O Prophet' are not insane.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Thou art not, for thy Lord's favor unto thee, a madman.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Thou art not by the grace of thy Lord mad or possessed. 5594
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

People usually call any one mad whose standards are different from their own. And madness is believed to be due to demoniacal possession, an idea distinctly in the minds of the New Testament writers: for Luke speaks of a man from whom the "devils" were cast out, as being then "clothed, and in his right mind" (Luke, viii. 35).

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68:3
وَإِنَّ لَكَ لَأَجْرًا غَيْرَ مَمْنُونٍ Wainna laka laajran ghayra mamnoon in
And, verily, thine shall be a reward neverending -
  - Mohammad Asad
and you shall have a never ending reward.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
You will certainly have a never-ending reward.
  - Mustafa Khattab
And lo! thine verily will he a reward unfailing.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Nay verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 5595
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Instead of being out of his right mind, the Prophet of Allah had been raised to a great spiritual dignity, a reward that was not like an earthly reward that passes away, but one that was in the very core of his being, and would never fail him in any circumstances. He was really granted a nature and character far above the shafts of grief or suffering, slander or persecution.

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68:4
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ Wainnaka laAAal a khuluqin AAa th eem in
for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life;4
  - Mohammad Asad

The term khuluq, rendered by me as "way of life", describes a person's "character", "innate disposition" or "nature" in the widest sense of these concepts, as well as "habitual behaviour" which becomes, as it were, one's "second nature" (Taj al-'Arus). My identification of khuluq with "way of life" is based on the explanation of the above verse by 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas (as quoted by Tabari), stating that this term is here synonymous with din: and we must remember that one of the primary significances of the latter term is "a way [or "manner"] of behaviour" or "of acting" (Qamus). Moreover, we have several well-authenticated Traditions according to which Muhammad's widow 'A'ishah, speaking of the Prophet many years after his death, repeatedly stressed that "his way of life (khuluq) was the Qur'an" (Muslim, Tabari and Hakim, on the authority of Sa'id ibn Hisham; Ibn Hanbal, Abu Da'ud and Nasa'i, on the authority of Al-Hasan al-Basri; Tabari, on the authority of Qatadah and Jubayr ibn Nufayl; and several other compilations).

You are of the highest noble character.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And you are truly 'a man' of outstanding character.
  - Mustafa Khattab
And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character.
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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68:5
فَسَتُبْصِرُ وَيُبْصِرُونَ Fasatub s iru wayub s iroon a
and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see,
  - Mohammad Asad
Soon you will see - as they will see
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Soon you and the pagans will see,
  - Mustafa Khattab
And thou wilt see and they will see
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Soon wilt thou see and they will see 5596
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Though Al-Mustafa's nature raised him above the petty spite of his contemporaries, an appeal is made to their reason and to the logic of events. Was it not his accusers that were really mad? What happened to Walid ibn Mugaira, or Abu Jahl, or Abu Lahab? -and to Allah's Messenger and those who followed his guidance? The world's history gives the answer. And the appeal is not only to his contemporaries, but for all time.

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68:6
بِأَييِّكُمُ ٱلْمَفْتُونُ Biayyikumu almaftoon u
which of you was bereft of reason.
  - Mohammad Asad
- which of you is afflicted with madness.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
which of you is mad.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Which of you is the demented.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Which of you is afflicted with madness.
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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68:7
إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبِيلِهِۦ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِٱلْمُهْتَدِينَ Inna rabbaka huwa aAAlamu biman d alla AAan sabeelihi wahuwa aAAlamu bi a lmuhtadeen a
Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way.
  - Mohammad Asad
Surely it is your Rabb Who knows those who have strayed from His Way, as He knows best those who are rightly guided.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Surely your Lord 'alone' knows best who has strayed from His Way and who is 'rightly' guided.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Lo! thy Lord is best aware of him who strayeth from his way, and He is best aware of those who walk aright.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (True) Guidance. 5597
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Men set up false standards of judgment. The right standard is that of Allah. For His knowledge is complete and all-embracing; He reads hidden motives as well as things that appear before men's sight; and He knows the past history in which the roots of present actions are embedded, as well as the future consequences of present actions.

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68:8
فَلَا تُطِعِ ٱلْمُكَذِّبِينَ Fal a tu t iAAi almuka thth ibeen a
Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth:
  - Mohammad Asad
So do not yield to the unbelievers.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
So do not give in to the deniers.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Therefor obey not thou the rejecters
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
So hearken not to those who deny (the Truth). 5598
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The enemies of Allah's truth are sometimes self-deceived. But quite often they have a glimmering of the truth in spite of their desire to shut their eyes. Then they compromise, and they would like the preachers of inconvenient truths to compromise with them. On those terms there would be mutual laudation. This easy path of making the best of both worlds is a real danger or temptation to the best of us, and we must be on our guard against it if we would really enter into the company of the Righteous who submit their wills to the Will of Allah. Abu Jahl freely offered impossible compromises to the holy Prophet.

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68:9
وَدُّوا۟ لَوْ تُدْهِنُ فَيُدْهِنُونَ Waddoo law tudhinu fayudhinoon a
they would like thee to be soft [with them], so that they might be soft [with thee].5
  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "they would like thee to be conciliatory in the matter of ethical principles and moral valuations, whereupon they would reciprocate and desist from actively opposing thee".

They desire you to compromise a little, so they too would compromise.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
They wish you would compromise so they would yield 'to you'.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant; so would thy be pliant.
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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68:10
وَلَا تُطِعْ كُلَّ حَلَّافٍ مَّهِينٍ Wal a tu t iAA kulla h all a fin maheen in
Furthermore,6 defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths,
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "And". The subsequently enumerated types of moral deficiency are, of course, mentioned only as examples of the type of man to whose likes or dislikes no consideration whatever should be shown.

Neither yield to any mean oath-monger,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And do not obey the despicable, vain oath-taker,
  - Mustafa Khattab
Neither obey thou each feeble oath monger,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Need not the type of despicable man ready with oaths. 5599 5600
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The type of each of these hateful qualities is not uncommon, though the combination of all in one man makes him peculiarly despicable, as was Walid ibn Mugaira, who was a ringleader in calumniating our Prophet and who came to an evil end not long after the battle of Badr, in which he rceived injuries.

It is only liars who swear on all occasions, small or great, because their word is not believed in. The true man's word, according to the proverb, is as good as his bond.

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