The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) Guidance. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Foul mouthed, and in addition to all this, of improper lineage. 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 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 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 No Miskin (poor man) shall enter upon you into it today. 24 And they went in the morning with strong intention, thinking that they have power (to prevent the poor taking anything of the fruits therefrom). 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 They said 'Woe to us, truly we were insolent' 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33