The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 You are not, [O Muhammad], by the favor of your Lord, a madman. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Indeed, your Lord knows very well those who strayed from His Path, and those who are guided. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 Do not heed a contemptible swearer, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 Because he possesses wealth and sons. 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep. 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 [Saying], "Go early to your crop if you would cut the fruit." 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors. 31 [But] it may be that our Sustainer will grant us something better instead: for, verily, unto our Sustainer do we turn with hope!" 32 SUCH is the suffering [with which We try some people in this world]; but greater by far will be the suffering [which sinners shall have to bear] in the life to come - if they but knew it! 33