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 demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 For you are truly of a sublime character. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 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 want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 When Our revelations are rehearsed unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients. 15 We will brand him on the nose. 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep, 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 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 was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33