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 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 So do not yield to the rejecters. 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful, 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 16 Verily, We have tried them as We tried the people of the garden, when they swore to pluck the fruits of the (garden) in the morning, 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 And in the morning it was as if plucked. 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And they went out betimes determined in purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 One who was temperate among them, said: "Did I not say: 'Why don't you priase God?'" 28 They said: hallowed be Our Lord! verily we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 They said, "Woe to us. We have been arrogant. 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33