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 Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman! 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall brand him on the muzzle. 16 Lo! We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed that they would pluck its fruit next morning, 17 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will). 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits." 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones, (saying)- 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 (No, we are not lost.) In fact, we have been deprived of everything". 27 One who was temperate among them, said: "Did I not say: 'Why don't you priase God?'" 28 They said, "All glory belongs to God. We have certainly been unjust". 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 They said: "Woe to us! Verily, we were Taghun (transgressors and disobedient, etc.) 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such is the torment. And the torment of the Hereafter is far greater; if they but knew. 33