The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman! 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 Which of you is the demented. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 So do not yield to the rejecters. 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Foul mouthed, and in addition to all this, of improper lineage. 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When you recite Our revelations to him, he says: "These are fables of long ago." 15 Soon We will brand him on the nose. 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 making exception. 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 And it became as though reaped. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 'Come out to your tillage if you want to reap' 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 They said, “Woe to us – we were indeed rebellious.” 31 Maybe, our Lord will give us instead one better than it; surely to our Lord do we make our humble petition. 32 Such is Our chastisement; and the punishment of the Hereafter will be greater, if only they knew! 33