The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ 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 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 And thou wilt see and they will 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 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall mark him upon his 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 they added not the saving words. 18 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep, 19 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 So they called out to each other at the break of dawn, 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 No Miskin (poor man) shall enter upon you into it today. 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 When they saw the garden, they said, "Surely we have lost our way. 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They said, "All glory belongs to God. We have certainly 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 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 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