The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 Soon wilt thou see, and they will see, 5 which of you is a prey to madness. 6 Surely your Lord knows well those who have strayed from His Way just as He knows well those who are on the Right Way. 7 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 8 They would like you to relent to them so that they could also relent towards you. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 that, whenever Our messages are conveyed to him, such a one says, "Fables of ancient times"? 15 Soon shall We brand him on his snout. 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep, 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 In the morning they called to one another, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They answered: "Limitless in His glory is our Sustainer! Verily, we were doing wrong!" 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 Said they: O woe to us! surely we were inordinate: 31 Maybe our Lord will give us better than this. We turn to our Lord in supplication." 32 Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33