The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward, 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 You will see and they will also see 5 Who is distracted. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 So do not comply with those who deny: 8 They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]. 9 Nor ever listen to any excessive oath maker, ignoble person. 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 When Our revelations are rehearsed unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients. 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 16 We have indeed tested them the way We had tested the owners of the garden when they swore that they would reap its harvest the next morning. 17 and they added not the saving words. 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 A reasonable one among them said, "Did I not tell you that you should glorify God?" 28 They said: Glory be to our Lord, surely we were unjust. 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 They said: woe unto us! verily we! we have been arrogant. 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33