The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted. 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path and who is rightly guided. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 moreover ignoble, 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said 'Woe to us, truly we were insolent' 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33