The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 You shall see and they will see 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 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 backbiter, going about with slander, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Foul mouthed, and in addition to all this, of improper lineage. 13 Because he possesses wealth and (numerous) sons. 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 We shall brand him on the muzzle. 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 did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 And it became as though reaped. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 Then they began to heap reproaches on each other. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 Maybe, our Lord will give us instead one better than it; surely to our Lord do we make our humble petition. 32 Such is the punishment (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33