The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the 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 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 or to one who places obstacles in the way of good being done or to the wicked transgressor, 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When you recite Our revelations to him, he says: "These are fables of long ago." 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 We have indeed tested them the way We had tested the owners of the garden when they swore that they would reap its harvest the next morning. 17 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 (Whereupon) the best among them said: 'Did I not say to you to exalt (Allah)' 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 Maybe our Lord will give us better than this. We turn to our Lord in supplication." 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33