The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer 10 Detracter, spreader abroad of slanders, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Greedy therewithal, intrusive. 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 16 We have indeed tested them the way We had tested the owners of the garden when they swore that they would reap its harvest the next morning. 17 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 So it became as black, barren land. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 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 God, our Lord; truly, we were evildoers.' 29 So they came towards each other, blaming. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is Our chastisement; and the punishment of the Hereafter will be greater, if only they knew! 33