The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 So very soon, you will see and they too will realise – 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 Do not yield to one persistent in swearing, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 Because he is owner of riches and children. 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 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 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 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 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But when they saw it, they said, 'Surely we are gone astray; 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 The best of them said: Did I not say to you, Why do you not glorify (Allah)? 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 We hope that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this. Truly, we turn to our Lord (wishing for good that He may forgive our sins, and reward us in the Hereafter)." 32 Such is the punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33