The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness, 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 You shall see and they will see 5 Who is distracted. 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 thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 backbiter, going about with slander, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 Soon shall We brand him on his snout. 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So they went, while they consulted together secretly, 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 When they saw the garden, they said, "Surely we have lost our way. 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 31 "It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this: for we do turn to Him (in repentance)!" 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33