The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness, 2 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 You will see and they will also see 5 Which of you is the afflicted [by a devil]. 6 Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) Guidance. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. 9 Do not yield to any contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 Defamer, going about with slander 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 Cruel, after all that base-born (of illegitimate birth), 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 14 When you recite Our revelations to him, he says: "These are fables of long ago." 15 We shall brand him on his nose. 16 Now We have tried them, even as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore they would pluck in the morning 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 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 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones, (saying)- 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Then they approached one another, blaming each other. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33