The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most 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 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 You will see, and they will see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Therefore, do not obey those who belie, 8 they would like thee to be soft [with them,] so that they might be soft [with thee]. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 Now We have tried them, even as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore they would pluck in the morning 17 And they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep, 19 and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said, 'Surely we are gone astray; 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 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 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 "It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this: for we do turn to Him (in repentance)!" 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33