The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 By the grace of your Lord you are not mad. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character. 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. 9 Do not yield to any contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 We have tested them in the same way as we tested the dwellers of the garden (in Yemen) when they swore to pluck all the fruits of the garden in the morning, 17 And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 (Then) in the morning they called out to one another, saying: 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones (saying), 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 (No, we are not lost.) In fact, we have been deprived of everything". 27 The best among them said: "Did I not tell you: why do you not say: Insha' Allah (If Allah will)." 28 They said, "All glory belongs to God. We have certainly been unjust". 29 Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors. 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 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