The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 Because he* has some wealth and sons. (Walid bin Mugaira, who cursed the Holy Prophet.) 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 So the (garden) became black by the morning, like a pitch dark night (in complete ruins). 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones (saying), 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 Then when they saw it, they said, “We have indeed strayed.” 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 They said, “Woe to us – we were indeed rebellious.” 31 Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are unto our Lord beseechers. 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew. 33