Surah Al-Qalam (The Pen) in English

1. خاشعة أبصارهم ترهقهم ذلة وقد كانوا يدعون إلى السجود وهم سالمون

   43

   With a humbled look [in their eyes], they will be overcast by abasement. Certainly, they were summoned to prostrate themselves while they were yet sound.

   khāshiʿatan ʾabṣāruhum tarhaquhum dhillatun wa-qad kānū yudʿawna ʾilā s-sujūdi wa-hum sālimūna

2. فذرني ومن يكذب بهذا الحديث سنستدرجهم من حيث لا يعلمون

   44

   So leave Me with those who deny this discourse. We will draw them imperceptibly [into ruin], whence they do not know.

   fa-dharnī wa-man yukadhdhibu bi-hādhā l-ḥadīthi sa-nastadrijuhum min haythu lā yaʿlamūna

3. وأملي لهم إن كيدي متين

   45

   I will grant them respite, for My devising is indeed sure.

   wa-ʾumlī lahum ʾinna kaydī matīnun

4. أم تسألهم أجرا فهم من مغرم مثقلون

   46

   Do you ask them for a reward, so that they are weighed down with debt?

   ʾam tasʾaluhum ʾajran fa-hum min maghramin muthqalūna

5. أم عندهم الغيب فهم يكتبون

   47

   Do they possess [access to] the Unseen, so that they write it down?

   ʾam ʿindahumu l-ghaybu fa-hum yaktubūna

6. فاصبر لحكم ربك ولا تكن كصاحب الحوت إذ نادى وهو مكظوم

   48

   So submit patiently to the judgement of your Lord, and do not be like the Man of the Fish who called out as he choked with grief.

   fa-ṣbir li-ḥukmi rabbika wa-lā takun ka-ṣāḥibi l-ḥūti ʾidh nādā wa-huwa makẓūmun

7. لولا أن تداركه نعمة من ربه لنبذ بالعراء وهو مذموم

   49

   Had it not been for a blessing that came to his rescue from his Lord, he would surely have been cast on the bare shore, being blameworthy.

   law-lā ʾan tadārakahū niʿmatun min rabbihī la-nubidha bi-l-ʿarāʾi wa-huwa madhmūmun

8. فاجتباه ربه فجعله من الصالحين

   50

   So his Lord chose him and made him one of the righteous.

   fa-jtabāhu rabbuhū fa-jaʿalahū mina ṣ-ṣāliḥīna

9. وإن يكاد الذين كفروا ليزلقونك بأبصارهم لما سمعوا الذكر ويقولون إنه لمجنون

   51

   Indeed the faithless almost devour you with their eyes when they hear this Reminder, and they say, ‘He is indeed crazy.’

   wa-ʾin yakādu lladhīna kafarū la-yuzliqūnaka bi-ʾabṣārihim lammā samiʿū dh-dhikra wa-yaqūlūna ʾinnahū la-majnūnun

10. وما هو إلا ذكر للعالمين

    52

    Yet it is just a reminder for all the nations.

    wa-mā huwa ʾillā dhikrun li-l-ʿālamīna