The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will 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 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 Do not heed a contemptible swearer, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will). 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they began to reproach 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 Our chastisement; and the punishment of the Hereafter will be greater, if only they knew! 33