The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted. 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 Soon wilt thou see, and they will see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 So do not yield to the rejecters. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And do not yield to any contemptible swearer, 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 And they made not the exception. 18 Then there passed by on the (garden) something (fire) from your Lord at night and burnt it while they were asleep. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 (Then) in the morning they called out to one another, saying: 21 Saying: Go early to your tilth if you would cut (the produce). 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They said: Glory be to our Lord, surely we were unjust. 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 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 Our chastisement; and the punishment of the Hereafter will be greater, if only they knew! 33