The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith), 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 Because he possesses wealth and sons. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 Verily We have tried them as We tried the People of the Garden, when they resolved to gather the fruits of the (garden) in the morning. 17 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 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 be to our Lord, surely we were unjust. 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33