The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 You will see, and they will see, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Indeed, your Lord knows very well those who strayed from His Path, and those who are guided. 7 Therefore, do not obey those who belie, 8 they would like thee to be soft [with them,] so that they might be soft [with thee]. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 (who so acts) simply 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 brand him on his nose. 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 And they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep, 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 So they called out to each other at the break of dawn, 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed. 26 Rather, we have been deprived." 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said: hallowed be Our Lord! verily we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 Maybe, our Lord will give us instead one better than it; surely to our Lord do we make our humble petition. 32 Such is the torment. And the torment of the Hereafter is far greater; if they but knew. 33