The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So very soon, you will see and they too will realise – 5 Which of you is the afflicted [by a devil]. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 backbiter, going about with slander, 11 (Habitually) hindering (all) good, transgressing beyond bounds, deep in sin, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our communications are recited to him, he says: Stories of those of yore. 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 Now We have tried them, even as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore they would pluck in the morning 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on. 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 And they went forth early, determined 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 most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 SUCH is the suffering [with which We try some people in this world]; but greater by far will be the suffering [which sinners shall have to bear] in the life to come - if they but knew it! 33