The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nuun* – by oath of the pen and by oath of what is written by it. (Alphabet of the Arabic language; Allah and to whomever He reveals, know their precise meanings.) 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward, 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 Who is distracted. 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 So do not yield to the rejecters. 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 Foul mouthed, and in addition to all this, of improper lineage. 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on 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 saying, "If it be God's will." 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 "Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares,]" 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed. 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 The best among them said: "Did I not tell you: why do you not say: Insha' Allah (If Allah will)." 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33