The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with 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 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Foul mouthed, and in addition to all this, of improper lineage. 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning, 17 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 In the morning they called to one another, 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 No Miskin (poor man) shall enter upon you into it today. 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said, 'Glory be to God, our Lord; truly, we were evildoers.' 29 So they came towards each other, blaming. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 May be our Lord will give us a better orchard in its stead; we turn to Him." 32 SUCH is the suffering [with which We try some people in this world]; but greater by far will be the suffering [which sinners shall have to bear] in the life to come - if they but knew it! 33