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 By the grace of your Lord, you are not a mad man. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 Do not heed a contemptible swearer, 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 or to one who places obstacles in the way of good being done or to the wicked transgressor, 12 Greedy therewithal, intrusive. 13 It is because he is possessed of wealth and children 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will). 18 Then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 Then when they saw it, they said, “We have indeed strayed.” 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 They said: hallowed be Our Lord! verily we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they turned, one against another, in reproach. 30 Said they: O woe to us! surely we were inordinate: 31 Maybe our Lord will give us better than this. We turn to our Lord in supplication." 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33