The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ NUN. I CALL to witness the pen and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 And verily, for you (O Muhammad SAW) will be an endless reward. 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 which of you is a prey to madness. 6 Indeed, your Lord knows very well those who strayed from His Path, and those who are guided. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 they would like thee to be soft [with them,] so that they might be soft [with thee]. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our revelations are rehearsed unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients. 15 We shall brand him on his nose. 16 Lo! We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed that they would pluck its fruit next morning, 17 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 So the (garden) became black by the morning, like a pitch dark night (in complete ruins). 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 No Miskin (poor man) shall enter upon you into it today. 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They said: hallowed be Our Lord! verily we have been wrong-doers. 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such was their punishment, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it! 33