The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 By the grace of your Lord, you are not a mad man. 2 and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward, 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 Anon thou wilt see and they will see. 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) Guidance. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 Verily We! We have proved them even as We proved the fellows of a garden when they sware that they would surely reap it in the morning. 17 But did not add: "If God may please." 18 Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep, 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 And they went in the morning with strong intention, thinking that they have power (to prevent the poor taking anything of the fruits therefrom). 25 When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 A reasonable one among them said, "Did I not tell you that you should glorify God?" 28 They said, 'Glory be to God, our Lord; truly, we were evildoers.' 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 SUCH is the suffering [with which We try some people in this world]; but greater by far will be the suffering [which sinners shall have to bear] in the life to come - if they but knew it! 33