The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 You will certainly receive a never-ending reward. 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 which of you is a prey to madness. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 Because he possesses wealth and (numerous) sons. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep. 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 (No, we are not lost.) In fact, we have been deprived of everything". 27 The best among them said: "Did I not tell you: why do you not say: Insha' Allah (If Allah will)." 28 They said: hallowed be Our Lord! verily we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 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 torment. And the torment of the Hereafter is far greater; if they but knew. 33