The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 So you will see and they will see 5 Who is distracted. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 So do not yield to the rejecters. 8 They would like you to relent to them so that they could also relent towards you. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 backbiter, going about with slander, 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are just ancient fables." 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 Then there passed by on the (garden) something (fire) from your Lord at night and burnt it while they were asleep. 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 [Saying], "Go early to your crop if you would cut the fruit." 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed. 26 (Then they said): "Nay! Indeed we are deprived of (the fruits)!" 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. We have surely done wrong." 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 They said 'Woe to us, truly we were insolent' 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 32 Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33