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 There is surely reward unending for you, 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 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 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 Because he possesses wealth and sons. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 16 Now We have tried them, even as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore they would pluck in the morning 17 and they added not the saving words. 18 Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep, 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 'Come out to your tillage if you want to reap' 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 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 as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 So they came towards each other, blaming. 30 Said they: O woe to us! surely we were inordinate: 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33