The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 5 Who is distracted. 6 Surely thy Lord knows very well those who have gone astray from His way, and He knows very well those who are guided. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 They wish that in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 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 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 Then they cried out unto each other in the morning. 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said, 'Surely we are gone astray; 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They said: Glory be to our Lord, surely we were unjust. 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such is the punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33