The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 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 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 ill-mannered, and moraly corrupt 13 Simply because he possesses wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 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 were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep. 19 So it became as black, barren land. 20 Then they cried out unto 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 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said 'Woe to us, truly we were insolent' 31 We hope that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this. Truly, we turn to our Lord (wishing for good that He may forgive our sins, and reward us in the Hereafter)." 32 Such was their punishment, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it! 33