The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 Soon wilt thou see, and they will see, 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily your Lord knows those who have gone astray from His path, and He knows those who are guided on the way. 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 Do not yield to any contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 It is because he is possessed of wealth and children 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 Verily We! We have proved them even as We proved the fellows of a garden when they sware that they would surely reap it in the morning. 17 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep, 19 And in the morning it was as if plucked. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Then they began to heap reproaches on each other. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 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 was their punishment, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it! 33