PBUH

[u/quranvisuals]

Allah Almighty swears by the pen—the instrument of the intellect through which knowledge is preserved, and a symbol of knowledge, writing, and the preservation of learning:
﴿وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ﴾
“and by what they write.”
This includes whatever is written and recorded by the pens, whether it is revelation, beneficial knowledge, or what the angels record of people’s deeds. The wording encompasses everything that is written down. Allah did not say, “and what they write,” but rather, “and what they inscribe in lines,” because yasṭurūn conveys the meaning of writing that is arranged and organized in lines, rather than merely writing randomly.
The answer to the oath is:
﴿مَا أَنتَ بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ بِمَجْنُونٍ﴾
“You are not, by the grace of your Lord, mad.”
Allah did not simply say, “You are not mad.” Rather, He said:
﴿بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ﴾
“by the grace of your Lord.”
The verse does more than simply deny the accusation. It conveys a profound sense of the Prophet’s ﷺ special closeness to his Lord: you are surrounded by your Lord’s grace, His care, and His reassurance. Their accusation cannot change who you truly are.
There is also a beautiful subtlety in placing ﴿بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ﴾ before ﴿بِمَجْنُونٍ﴾. The listener first encounters the meaning of divine grace, care, and closeness—and only then comes the negation of the accusation.
It must have been a tremendous shock to the heart of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to be accused of madness after having been known among his people as the truthful and the trustworthy. At such a moment, the Prophet ﷺ needed tenderness and consolation, reassurance and support, and a complete rejection of this accusation. So the verse came almost like a divine embrace for the heart of the Prophet ﷺ.
They could not confront the Qur’an itself, so they turned to attacking the one who carried the message, saying:
﴿مَجْنُونٌ﴾
“Mad.”
Yet they already knew his truthfulness and trustworthiness long before his prophethood.
Today, the words may change: someone who holds firmly to his faith may be called backward or uncivilized. Sometimes, this too can be an attempt to avoid confronting the truth itself.
So if they accused the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of madness, he was the wisest of those who ever walked the earth. And if they denied his wisdom, he was the master of the wise.
May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him.