The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 You will see, and they will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily your Lord knows those who have gone astray from His path, and He knows those who are guided on the way. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 They only want that you should relent, so that they may come to terms. 9 And do not yield to any contemptible swearer, 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning, 17 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will). 18 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep, 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 At daybreak they called out to one another: 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 So they went off, saying one unto another in low tones: 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 26 (No, we are not lost.) In fact, we have been deprived of everything". 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33