The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 For you are truly of a sublime character. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Do not heed a contemptible swearer, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 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 Saying: Go early to your tilth if you would cut (the produce). 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones (saying), 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 26 Indeed, we are utterly ruined!" 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 May be our Lord will give us a better orchard in its stead; we turn to Him." 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33