The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-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 By the grace of your Lord, you are not a mad man. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall 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 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 not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 or to one who places obstacles in the way of good being done or to the wicked transgressor, 12 Foul mouthed, and in addition to all this, of improper lineage. 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When you recite Our revelations to him, he says: "These are fables of long ago." 15 We shall brand him over the nose! 16 Lo! We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed that they would pluck its fruit next morning, 17 And they made not the exception. 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 So it became as black, barren land. 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones (saying), 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 Then they turned, one against another, in reproach. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such is Our chastisement; and the punishment of the Hereafter will be greater, if only they knew! 33