The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 By the grace of your Lord you are not mad. 2 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 Anon thou wilt see and they will see. 5 Who is distracted. 6 Indeed, your Lord knows very well those who strayed from His Path, and those who are guided. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 or to one who places obstacles in the way of good being done or to the wicked transgressor, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 "Let no beggar come to the garden". 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 27 A reasonable one among them said, "Did I not tell you that you should glorify God?" 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33