The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
۞ Nuun* – by oath of the pen and by oath of what is written by it. (Alphabet of the Arabic language; Allah and to whomever He reveals, know their precise meanings.) 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 Who is distracted. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 They wish that in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 It is because he is possessed 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 upon the muzzle! 16 Surely We will try them as We tried the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly cut off the produce in the morning, 17 without making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 and the garden was turned into a barren desert. 20 (Then) in the morning they called out to one another, saying: 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 Then when they saw it, they said, “We have indeed strayed.” 26 (No, we are not lost.) In fact, we have been deprived of everything". 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said, “Woe to us – we were indeed rebellious.” 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the torment. And the torment of the Hereafter is far greater; if they but knew. 33