The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness, 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 You shall 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 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 It is because he is possessed of wealth and children 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 We will brand him on the nose. 16 Surely We will try them as We tried the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly cut off the produce in the morning, 17 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on. 19 and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested. 20 Then they cried out unto each other in the morning. 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed. 26 (No, we are not lost.) In fact, we have been deprived of everything". 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; truly, we were evildoers.' 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 They said: "Woe to us! Verily, we were Taghun (transgressors and disobedient, etc.) 31 Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are unto our Lord beseechers. 32 SUCH is the suffering [with which We try some people in this world]; but greater by far will be the suffering [which sinners shall have to bear] in the life to come - if they but knew it! 33