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 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 So you will see and they will see 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 So do not yield to the rejecters. 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 or to one who places obstacles in the way of good being done or to the wicked transgressor, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Because he is owner of riches and children. 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 Verily, We have tried them as We tried the people of the garden, when they swore to pluck the fruits of the (garden) in the morning, 17 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 24 And they went out betimes determined in purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 rather, 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 be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33