The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 You are not, [O Muhammad], by the favor of your Lord, a madman. 2 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 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 obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and 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 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 they made not the exception. 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 Saying: Go early to your tilth if you would cut (the produce). 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said, 'Surely we are gone astray; 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 One who was temperate among them, said: "Did I not say: 'Why don't you priase God?'" 28 They answered: "Limitless in His glory is our Sustainer! Verily, we were doing wrong!" 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 Said they: O woe to us! surely we were inordinate: 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33