The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness, 2 and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward, 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 moreover ignoble, 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 We will brand him on the nose. 16 We have indeed tested them the way We had tested the owners of the garden when they swore that they would reap its harvest the next morning. 17 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 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 out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33