The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 You (O Muhammad SAW) are not, by the Grace of your Lord, a madman. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily your Lord knows those who have gone astray from His path, and He knows those who are guided on the way. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 Nor ever listen to any excessive oath maker, ignoble person. 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful, 12 Cruel, after all that base-born (of illegitimate birth), 13 Because he possesses wealth and (numerous) sons. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 We shall brand him on his 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 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 So they went, while they consulted together secretly, 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 And they went out betimes determined in purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 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 they began to heap reproaches on each other. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew. 33