The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen, and what they inscribe, 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 So you will see and they will see 5 Which of you is the afflicted [by a devil]. 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 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 The excessively insulting one, spreader of spite. 11 One who excessively forbids the good, transgressor, sinner. 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 Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 We shall mark him upon 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 and they added not the saving words. 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed. 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 They said: woe unto us! verily we! we have been arrogant. 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33