The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 For you are truly of a sublime character. 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 Therefore, do not obey those who belie, 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are just ancient fables." 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 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 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 And it became as though reaped. 20 At daybreak they called out to one another: 21 'Come out to your tillage if you want to reap' 22 So they went, while they consulted together secretly, 23 "Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares,]" 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors. 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33