The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 By the grace of your Lord, you are not a mad man. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has gone astray from His way, and He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided. 7 So hearken not to those who deny (the Truth). 8 They wish that in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 Do not yield to one persistent in swearing, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 Because he possesses wealth and sons. 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 And in the morning it was as if plucked. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And they went out betimes determined in purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said, 'Surely we are gone astray; 26 Rather, we have been deprived." 27 The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?” 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said, “Woe to us – we were indeed rebellious.” 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 punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33