The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you 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 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 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 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 We will brand him on the nose. 16 Surely We will try them as We tried the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly cut off the produce in the morning, 17 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 (Then) in the morning they called out to one another, saying: 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones, (saying)- 23 "Let not a single indigent person break in upon you into the (garden) this day." 24 And they went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able. 25 When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent. 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