The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 Which of you is the afflicted [by a devil]. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 They would like you to relent to them so that they could also relent towards you. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 Saying: Go early to your tilth if you would cut (the produce). 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed. 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The best among them said: "Did I not tell you: why do you not say: Insha' Allah (If Allah will)." 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said: "Woe to us! Verily, we were Taghun (transgressors and disobedient, etc.) 31 Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are unto our Lord beseechers. 32 Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33