The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 Anon thou wilt see and they will see. 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way. 7 So hearken not to those who deny (the Truth). 8 They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]. 9 Do not heed a contemptible swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 One who excessively forbids the good, transgressor, sinner. 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 So the (garden) became black by the morning, like a pitch dark night (in complete ruins). 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 "Let no beggar come to the garden". 24 And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose. 25 When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. 26 (No, we are not lost.) In fact, we have been deprived of everything". 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 So they came towards each other, blaming. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 Maybe our Lord will give us better than this. We turn to our Lord in supplication." 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33