The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 So you will see and they will see 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 They only want that you should relent, so that they may come to terms. 9 And do not yield to any contemptible swearer, 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 Soon shall We brand him on his snout. 16 Surely We will try them as We tried the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly cut off the produce in the morning, 17 and they added not the saving words. 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 They said, “Woe to us – we were indeed rebellious.” 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 32 Such is the punishment (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33