The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has gone astray from His way, and He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided. 7 So do not comply with those who deny: 8 they wish you would compromise, then, they would compromise. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 Because he possesses wealth and sons. 14 When Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to him, he says: "Tales of the men of old!" 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 16 Lo! We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed that they would pluck its fruit next morning, 17 And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 Then there encompassed it a visitation from your Lord while they were sleeping. 19 So the (garden) became black by the morning, like a pitch dark night (in complete ruins). 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 "Let not a single indigent person break in upon you into the (garden) this day." 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 They said, “Woe to us – we were indeed rebellious.” 31 Maybe, our Lord will give us instead one better than it; surely to our Lord do we make our humble petition. 32 SUCH is the suffering [with which We try some people in this world]; but greater by far will be the suffering [which sinners shall have to bear] in the life to come - if they but knew it! 33