The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward, 3 Surely, you (Prophet Muhammad) are of a great morality. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you is a prey to madness. 6 Surely thy Lord knows very well those who have gone astray from His way, and He knows very well those who are guided. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 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 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 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 Without making exception. 18 Then there passed by on the (garden) something (fire) from your Lord at night and burnt it while they were asleep. 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose. 25 When they saw the garden, they said, "Surely we have lost our way. 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors. 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33