The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path and who is rightly guided. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 They only want that you should relent, so that they may come to terms. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful, 12 Cruel, after all that base-born (of illegitimate birth), 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will). 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits." 22 So they went, while they consulted together secretly, 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They said: Glory be to our Lord, surely we were unjust. 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33