The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen, and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward, 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 You will see, and they will see, 5 #NAME? 6 Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) Guidance. 7 So do not comply with those who deny: 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 We have tested them in the same way as we tested the dwellers of the garden (in Yemen) when they swore to pluck all the fruits of the garden in the morning, 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 it became as black, barren land. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said 'Woe to us, truly we were insolent' 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33