The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 Who is distracted. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 So (O Muhammad SAW) obey not the deniers [(of Islamic Monotheism those who belie the Verses of Allah), the Oneness of Allah, and the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad SAW), etc.] 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 Detracter, spreader abroad of slanders, 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 the crude of low character 13 Simply because he possesses wealth and children. 14 When Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to him, he says: "Tales of the men of old!" 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden who had sworn that in the morning they would reap it, 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 And in the morning it was as if plucked. 20 So they called out to each other at the break of dawn, 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 No Miskin (poor man) shall enter upon you into it today. 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 31 [But] it may be that our Sustainer will grant us something better instead: for, verily, unto our Sustainer do we turn with hope!" 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew. 33