The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Surely your Lord knows well those who have strayed from His Way just as He knows well those who are on the Right Way. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 They wish that in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our revelations are rehearsed unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients. 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden who had sworn that in the morning they would reap it, 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep, 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones (saying), 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 "Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" 27 A reasonable one among them said, "Did I not tell you that you should glorify God?" 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33