The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward, 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 You will see, and they will see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 they would like thee to be soft [with them,] so that they might be soft [with thee]. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 ill-mannered, and moraly corrupt 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 Verily We have tried them as We tried the People of the Garden, when they resolved to gather the fruits of the (garden) in the morning. 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 "Let not a single indigent person break in upon you into the (garden) this day." 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The best among them said: "Did I not tell you: why do you not say: Insha' Allah (If Allah will)." 28 They said: Glory be to our Lord, surely we were unjust. 29 Then they began to heap reproaches on each other. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 "It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this: for we do turn to Him (in repentance)!" 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33