The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, 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 For you are truly of a sublime character. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 Which of you is the demented. 6 Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) Guidance. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 Defamer, going about with slander 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 Because he is owner of riches and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 Lo! We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed that they would pluck its fruit next morning, 17 and they added not the saving words. 18 Then there encompassed it a visitation from your Lord while they were sleeping. 19 So the (garden) became black by the morning, like a pitch dark night (in complete ruins). 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 "Let not a single indigent person break in upon you into the (garden) this day." 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 Then they approached one another, blaming each other. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 We hope that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this. Truly, we turn to our Lord (wishing for good that He may forgive our sins, and reward us in the Hereafter)." 32 Such is the punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33