The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 You are not, [O Muhammad], by the favor of your Lord, a madman. 2 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character. 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Surely thy Lord knows very well those who have gone astray from His way, and He knows very well those who are guided. 7 So hearken not to those who deny (the Truth). 8 They wish that in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 The excessively insulting one, spreader of spite. 11 A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful, 12 Greedy therewithal, intrusive. 13 Because he possesses wealth and (numerous) sons. 14 When Our revelations are rehearsed unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients. 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden who had sworn that in the morning they would reap it, 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 Then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 At daybreak they called out to one another: 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones, (saying)- 23 "Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares,]" 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 "Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 "Glory to our Lord," they said; we were really in the wrong." 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 32 Such is the torment. And the torment of the Hereafter is far greater; if they but knew. 33