The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith), 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition. 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 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 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Because he possesses wealth and sons. 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 We will brand him on the nose. 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 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep, 19 and the garden was turned into a barren desert. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits." 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And they went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able. 25 Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed. 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?” 28 They said, "All glory belongs to God. We have certainly been unjust". 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 They said, “Woe to us – we were indeed rebellious.” 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 Such is the punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33