The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 You will see and they will also see 5 which of you is a prey to madness. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 So do not comply with those who deny: 8 They wish that in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 the crude of low character 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 Verily We! We have proved them even as We proved the fellows of a garden when they sware that they would surely reap it in the morning. 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 Then they cried out unto each other in the morning. 21 [Saying], "Go early to your crop if you would cut the fruit." 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones, (saying)- 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 And they went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said: Glory be to our Lord, surely we were unjust. 29 Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 31 May be our Lord will give us a better orchard in its stead; we turn to Him." 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33