The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, 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, [O Muhammad], by the favor of your Lord, a madman. 2 You will certainly receive a never-ending reward. 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 7 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 13 Because he possesses wealth and (numerous) sons. 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 16 We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden who had sworn that in the morning they would reap it, 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 So the (garden) became black by the morning, like a pitch dark night (in complete ruins). 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits." 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 A reasonable one among them said, "Did I not tell you that you should glorify God?" 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said: "Woe to us! Verily, we were Taghun (transgressors and disobedient, etc.) 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 Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33