The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward, 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 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 listen to the deniers. 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 And do not yield to any contemptible swearer, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor 12 Foul mouthed, and in addition to all this, of improper lineage. 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 Verily, We have tried them as We tried the people of the garden, when they swore to pluck the fruits of the (garden) in the morning, 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 Then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. 19 And in the morning it was as if plucked. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?” 28 They said: hallowed be Our Lord! verily we have been wrong-doers. 29 And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other. 30 They said: woe unto us! verily we! we have been arrogant. 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such was their punishment, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it! 33