The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 So very soon, you will see and they too will realise – 5 Which of you is the demented. 6 Surely thy Lord knows very well those who have gone astray from His way, and He knows very well those who are guided. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 that, whenever Our messages are conveyed to him, such a one says, "Fables of ancient times"? 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the 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 they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 and the garden was turned into a barren desert. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 A reasonable one among them said, "Did I not tell you that you should glorify God?" 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33