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 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 7 Therefore, do not obey those who belie, 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 backbiter, going about with slander, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 Cruel, after all that base-born (of illegitimate birth), 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits." 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 And they went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 (Then they said): "Nay! Indeed we are deprived of (the fruits)!" 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33