The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 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 So hearken not to those who deny (the Truth). 8 They only want that you should relent, so that they may come to terms. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 The excessively insulting one, spreader of spite. 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 Indeed, We have tried them as We tried the companions of the garden, when they swore to cut its fruit in the [early] morning 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 "Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares,]" 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 Said one of them, more just (than the rest): "Did I not say to you, 'Why not glorify (Allah)?'" 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 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, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it! 33