The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen, and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So very soon, you will see and they too will realise – 5 Which of you is the afflicted [by a devil]. 6 Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way. 7 So do not yield to the rejecters. 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Do not heed a contemptible swearer, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 moreover ignoble, 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When Our revelations are rehearsed unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients. 15 We will soon singe his pig-nose. 16 We have tested them in the same way as we tested the dwellers of the garden (in Yemen) when they swore to pluck all the fruits of the garden in the morning, 17 But did not add: "If God may please." 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 And in the morning it was as if plucked. 20 Then they cried out unto each other in the morning. 21 saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits." 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 24 And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 "Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 They said: "Woe to us! Verily, we were Taghun (transgressors and disobedient, etc.) 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33