The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nuun* – by oath of the pen and by oath of what is written by it. (Alphabet of the Arabic language; Allah and to whomever He reveals, know their precise meanings.) 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward, 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 So you will see and they will see 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 So do not yield to the rejecters. 8 Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 Indeed, We have tried them as We tried the companions of the garden, when they swore to cut its fruit in the [early] morning 17 And they made not the exception. 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 Indeed, we are utterly ruined!" 27 Said one of them, more just (than the rest): "Did I not say to you, 'Why not glorify (Allah)?'" 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have 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 was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33