The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 By the grace of your Lord, you are not a mad man. 2 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 Do not heed a contemptible swearer, 10 Detracter, spreader abroad of slanders, 11 A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful, 12 ill-mannered, and moraly corrupt 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are just ancient fables." 15 Soon We will brand him on 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 made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 Then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. 19 And it became as though reaped. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed. 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 Said one of them, more just (than the rest): "Did I not say to you, 'Why not glorify (Allah)?'" 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 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