The Pen

Nũn. By the pen and what everyone writes!

By the grace of your Lord, you ˹O Prophet˺ are not insane.

You will certainly have a never-ending reward.

And you are truly ˹a man˺ of outstanding character.

Soon you and the pagans will see

which of you is mad.

Surely your Lord ˹alone˺ knows best who has strayed from His Way and who is ˹rightly˺ guided.

So do not give in to the deniers.

They wish you would compromise so they would yield ˹to you˺.

And do not obey the despicable, vain oath-taker

slanderer, gossip-monger

withholder of good, transgressor, evildoer

brute, and—on top of all that—an illegitimate child.

Now, ˹simply˺ because he has been blessed with ˹abundant˺ wealth and children

whenever Our revelations are recited to him, he says, “Ancient fables!”

We will soon mark his snout.

Indeed, We have tested those ˹Meccans˺ as We tested the owners of the garden—when they swore they would surely harvest ˹all˺ its fruit in the early morning

leaving no thought for Allah’s Will.

Then it was struck by a torment from your Lord while they slept

so it was reduced to ashes.