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, [O Muhammad], by the favor of your Lord, a madman. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 Nor ever listen to any excessive oath maker, ignoble person. 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 (Habitually) hindering (all) good, transgressing beyond bounds, deep in sin, 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 When you recite Our revelations to him, he says: "These are fables of long ago." 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 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 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would 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 went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They answered: "Limitless in His glory is our Sustainer! Verily, we were doing wrong!" 29 So they came towards each other, blaming. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33