The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. CONSIDER the pen, and all that they write [therewith]! 1 You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) Guidance. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 or to one who places obstacles in the way of good being done or to the wicked transgressor, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 Verily We! We have proved them even as We proved the fellows of a garden when they sware that they would surely reap it in the morning. 17 And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 Then when they saw it, they said, “We have indeed strayed.” 26 "Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors. 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; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33