The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Nuun* – by oath of the pen and by oath of what is written by it. (Alphabet of the Arabic language; Allah and to whomever He reveals, know their precise meanings.) 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) Guidance. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 Do not yield to one persistent in swearing, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 Soon shall We brand him on his 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 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 [Saying], "Go early to your crop if you would cut the fruit." 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 (No, we are not lost.) In fact, we have been deprived of everything". 27 One who was temperate among them, said: "Did I not say: 'Why don't you priase God?'" 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33