The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 Anon thou wilt see and they will see. 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 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 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. 9 Nor ever listen to any excessive oath maker, ignoble person. 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Because he possesses wealth and (numerous) sons. 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 Soon We will brand him on the nose. 16 Indeed, We have tried them as We tried the companions of the garden, when they swore to cut its fruit in the [early] morning 17 And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 and the garden was turned into a barren desert. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 [Saying], "Go early to your crop if you would cut the fruit." 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones (saying), 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33