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, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman! 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So very soon, you will see and they too will realise – 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 They only want that you should relent, so that they may come to terms. 9 Do not yield to one persistent in swearing, 10 The excessively insulting one, spreader of spite. 11 One who excessively forbids the good, transgressor, sinner. 12 Cruel, after all that base-born (of illegitimate birth), 13 Because he* has some wealth and sons. (Walid bin Mugaira, who cursed the Holy Prophet.) 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 When they saw the garden, they said, "Surely we have lost our way. 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 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 So they came towards each other, blaming. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are unto our Lord beseechers. 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33