The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 You will see, and they will see, 5 Which of you is the afflicted [by a devil]. 6 Your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path and who is rightly guided. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. 9 Do not heed a contemptible swearer, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 We shall brand him on his nose. 16 We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning, 17 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 Then they cried out unto each other in the morning. 21 Saying: Go early to your tilth if you would cut (the produce). 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 the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 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 torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33