The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has gone astray from His way, and He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided. 7 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 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 fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 Simply because he possesses wealth and children. 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 Lo! We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed that they would pluck its fruit next morning, 17 Without making exception. 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested. 20 (Then) in the morning they called out to one another, saying: 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The best among them said: "Did I not tell you: why do you not say: Insha' Allah (If Allah will)." 28 "Glory to our Lord," they said; we were really in the wrong." 29 And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other. 30 Said they: O woe to us! surely we were inordinate: 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33