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 By the grace of your Lord, you are not a mad man. 2 And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted. 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 The excessively insulting one, spreader of spite. 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 Because he possesses wealth and sons. 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 16 We have tested them in the same way as we tested the dwellers of the garden (in Yemen) when they swore to pluck all the fruits of the garden in the morning, 17 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will). 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 "Let not a single indigent person break in upon you into the (garden) this day." 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 So they came towards each other, blaming. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33