The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 they wish you would compromise, then, they would compromise. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 moreover ignoble, 13 Because he possesses wealth and (numerous) sons. 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 We shall brand him over the nose! 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 But did not add: "If God may please." 18 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep, 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 So they went, while they consulted together secretly, 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said: hallowed be Our Lord! verily we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they approached one another, blaming each other. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are unto our Lord beseechers. 32 Such is the punishment (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33