The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 5 which of you is the demented. 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 would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 moreover ignoble, 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 Soon shall We brand him on his snout. 16 We have tested them in the same way as we tested the dwellers of the garden (in Yemen) when they swore to pluck all the fruits of the garden in the morning, 17 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will). 18 Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on. 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 [Saying], "Go early to your crop if you would cut the fruit." 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 "Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares,]" 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 When they saw the garden, they said, "Surely we have lost our way. 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said: "Woe to us! Verily, we were Taghun (transgressors and disobedient, etc.) 31 "It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this: for we do turn to Him (in repentance)!" 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33