The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 By the grace of your Lord, you are not a mad man. 2 and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward, 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 Anon thou wilt see and they will see. 5 which of you is a prey to madness. 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 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 8 Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 We shall brand him over the nose! 16 Verily, We have tried them as We tried the people of the garden, when they swore to pluck the fruits of the (garden) in the morning, 17 And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 Then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 The best among them said: "Did I not tell you: why do you not say: Insha' Allah (If Allah will)." 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Then they turned, one against another, in reproach. 30 They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors. 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33