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 mad. 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 14 When you recite Our revelations to him, he says: "These are fables of long ago." 15 We will soon singe his pig-nose. 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 and they added not the saving words. 18 Then there encompassed it a visitation from your Lord while they were sleeping. 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They said, 'Glory be to God, our Lord; truly, we were evildoers.' 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are unto our Lord beseechers. 32 Such is the punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33