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 By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness, 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 which of you is a prey to madness. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 Detracter, spreader abroad of slanders, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 It is because he is possessed of wealth and children 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 Verily We have tried them as We tried the People of the Garden, when they resolved to gather the fruits of the (garden) in the morning. 17 And they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 Then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones, (saying)- 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The best of them said: Did I not say to you, Why do you not glorify (Allah)? 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Some of them started to blame others. 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 was their punishment, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it! 33