The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness, 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 For you are truly of a sublime character. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 Which of you is the demented. 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 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 Because he is owner of riches and children. 14 When Our revelations are rehearsed unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients. 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 Indeed, We have tried them as We tried the companions of the garden, when they swore to cut its fruit in the [early] morning 17 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will). 18 So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep. 19 and the garden was turned into a barren desert. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 They went betimes, strong in (this) purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33