The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 Surely, you (Prophet Muhammad) are of a great morality. 4 Soon wilt thou see, and they will see, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 they wish you would compromise, then, they would compromise. 9 Do not yield to any contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 13 Because he possesses wealth and (numerous) sons. 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 And in the morning it was as if plucked. 20 At daybreak they called out to one another: 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 So they went, while they consulted together secretly, 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?” 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent. 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33