The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nuun* – by oath of the pen and by oath of what is written by it. (Alphabet of the Arabic language; Allah and to whomever He reveals, know their precise meanings.) 1 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Surely your Lord knows well those who have strayed from His Way just as He knows well those who are on the Right Way. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 They wish that in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 backbiter, going about with slander, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 that, whenever Our messages are conveyed to him, such a one says, "Fables of ancient times"? 15 We shall brand him over the nose! 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 (Then) in the morning they called out to one another, saying: 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 (No, we are not lost.) In fact, we have been deprived of everything". 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 "Glory to our Lord," they said; we were really in the wrong." 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 Said they: O woe to us! surely we were inordinate: 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33