The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman! 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 Surely, you (Prophet Muhammad) are of a great morality. 4 Anon thou wilt see and they will see. 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 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 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 And do not yield to any contemptible swearer, 10 The excessively insulting one, spreader of spite. 11 A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful, 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 that, whenever Our messages are conveyed to him, such a one says, "Fables of ancient times"? 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 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 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will). 18 Then there encompassed it a visitation from your Lord while they were sleeping. 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 In the morning they called to one another, 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 "Let not a single indigent person break in upon you into the (garden) this day." 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 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 torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33