AL QALAM (The Pen) or NUN
In the Name of God,1 the Gracious, the Merciful 2
1 Nun.3 By the pen and by what they write,
2 You are not, by the grace of your Lord, mad or possessed.
3 No, truly for you is a reward unfailing:
4 And you are of an exalted standard of character.
5 Soon will you see, and they will see,
6 Which of you is afflicted with madness.
7 Truly it is your Lord that knows best who has strayed from his path: and he knows best those who receive guidance.
8 So listen not to those who deny.
9 Their desire is that you should be pliant: so would they be pliant.
10 Heed not the type of despicable man, ready with oaths,
11 A slanderer, going about with calumnies,
12 Hindering good, transgressing beyond bounds, deep in sin,
13 Violent, with all that, greedy,
14 Because he possesses wealth and sons.
15 When to him are rehearsed our signs, tales of the ancients, he cries!
16 Soon shall we brand him on the nose!
17 Truly we have tried them as we tried the people of the garden, when they resolved to gather it fruit in the morning,
18 But made no reservation.
19 Then there came on them a visitation from your Lord all around, while they were asleep.
20 So it became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot.
21 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,
22 Go to your harvest in the morning, if you would gather the fruits.
23 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones,
24 Let not a single indigent person break in upon you into it this day.
25 And they opened the morning, strong in resolve.
26 But when they saw it, they said: We have surely lost our way:
27 Indeed we are shut out!
28 One of the more righteous among them said, Did I not say to you, why not glorify God?
29 They said: Glory to our Lord! Truly we have been doing wrong!
30 Then they turned, one against another, in reproach.
31 They said: Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed!
32 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better place than this: for we turn to him!
33 Such was the punishment: but greater is the punishment in the hereafter, if only they knew!
34 Truly, for the righteous, are gardens of delight, in the presence of their Lord.
35 Shall we then treat the people of faith like the people of sin?
36 What is the matter with you? How do you judge?
37 Or have you a book through which you learn,
38 That you shall have, through it whatever you choose?
39 Or have you covenants with us on oath, reaching to the day of judgment, that you shall have whatever you shall demand?
40 Ask of them, which of them will stand surety for that!
41 Or have they some partners? Then let them produce their partners, if they are truthful!
42 The day that the shin shall be laid bare, and they shall be summoned to bow in adoration, but they shall not be able,
43 Their eyes will be cast down, ignominy will cover them; seeing that they had been summoned aforetime to bow in adoration, while they were whole.
44 Then leave me alone with such as reject this message: by degrees shall we punish them from directions they perceive not.
45 A respite will I grant them: truly powerful is my plan.
46 Or is it that you ask them for a reward, so that they are burdened with a load of debt?
47 Or that the unseen is in their hands, so that they can write it down?
48 So wait with patience for the command of your Lord, and be not like the companion of the fish, when he cried out in agony.
49 Had not grace from His Lord reached him, he would indeed have been cast off on the naked shore, in disgrace.
50 Thus did his Lord choose him and make him of the company of the righteous.
51 And the unbelievers would almost trip you up with their eyes when they hear the message; and they say: Surely he is possessed!
52 But it is nothing less than a message to all the universe.
- God, in Arabic allah, referring to the one true God, as opposed to an idol or “god.” It is the Arabic equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew), alaha (Syriac), and theos (Greek), all of which accurately translate into English as “God.” This translation choice is consistent with respected English Quran translations including those of A. Yusuf Ali (original edition), S.H. Nasr (Study Quran), T.B. Irving, and T. Itani (Clear Quran). ↩︎
- the Gracious, the Merciful, the highlighting of God’s grace and mercy predates the Quran, coming down from the many hundreds of references in the Taurat, Zabur, and Injil. A few samples follow:
Taurat, Exodus 34:6 — …YAHWEH, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.
Zabur 145:8 — YAHWEH is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.
Taurat, Joel 2:13 — Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to YAHWEH your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
Taurat, Yunus 4:2 — …I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.”
Injil, 1 Timothy 1:2 — …Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and AL-MASIH ‘ISA our Lord.
Injil, Hebrews 4:16 — Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. ↩︎ - 68:1 Nun, meaning unknown. ↩︎