The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 For you are truly of a sublime character. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 #NAME? 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 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 they wish you would compromise, then, they would compromise. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 Detracter, spreader abroad of slanders, 11 A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful, 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 Anon We shall brand him on 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 And they made not the exception. 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested. 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 (Whereupon) the best among them said: 'Did I not say to you to exalt (Allah)' 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 Then they approached one another, blaming each other. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such is the punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33