The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 You are not, [O Muhammad], by the favor of your Lord, a madman. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 #NAME? 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 ill-mannered, and moraly corrupt 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 We shall brand him on the 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 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 So they called out to each other at the break of dawn, 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones (saying), 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 The best among them said: "Did I not tell you: why do you not say: Insha' Allah (If Allah will)." 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such is the torment. And the torment of the Hereafter is far greater; if they but knew. 33