The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 So very soon, you will see and they too will realise – 5 Who is distracted. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 they would like thee to be soft [with them,] so that they might be soft [with thee]. 9 Nor ever listen to any excessive oath maker, ignoble person. 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 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 We will soon singe his pig-nose. 16 We have indeed tested them the way We had tested the owners of the garden when they swore that they would reap its harvest the next morning. 17 without making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 Then they cried out unto each other in the morning. 21 'Come out to your tillage if you want to reap' 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said, 'Glory be to God, our Lord; truly, we were evildoers.' 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are unto our Lord beseechers. 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33