The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 You shall 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 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 Do not yield to any contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 ill-mannered, and moraly corrupt 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 Verily We have tried them as We tried the People of the Garden, when they resolved to gather the fruits of the (garden) in the morning. 17 And they made not the exception. 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 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 Then when they saw it, they said, “We have indeed strayed.” 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They said: hallowed be Our Lord! verily we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said: woe unto us! verily we! we have been arrogant. 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 was their punishment, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it! 33