The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 8 They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 One who excessively forbids the good, transgressor, sinner. 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 Simply because he possesses wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 We will brand him on the nose. 16 We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning, 17 And they made not the exception. 18 Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on. 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 26 (No, we are not lost.) In fact, we have been deprived of everything". 27 The best of them said: Did I not say to you, Why do you not glorify (Allah)? 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33