The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way. 7 So do not comply with those who deny: 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 Defamer, going about with slander 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 We will soon singe his pig-nose. 16 Now We have tried them, even as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore they would pluck in the morning 17 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones, (saying)- 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 Said one of them, more just (than the rest): "Did I not say to you, 'Why not glorify (Allah)?'" 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33