The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen, and what they inscribe, 1 By the grace of your Lord you are not mad. 2 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 Who is distracted. 6 Verily your Lord knows those who have gone astray from His path, and He knows those who are guided on the way. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 They would like you to relent to them so that they could also relent towards you. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 One who excessively forbids the good, transgressor, sinner. 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 Verily, We have tried them as We tried the people of the garden, when they swore to pluck the fruits of the (garden) in the morning, 17 And they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 Then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits." 22 So they went off, saying one unto another in low tones: 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 Then when they saw it, they said, “We have indeed strayed.” 26 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 27 The best among them said: "Did I not tell you: why do you not say: Insha' Allah (If Allah will)." 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 So they came towards each other, blaming. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such is the punishment (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33