The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 By the grace of your Lord you are not mad. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 Who is distracted. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 So do not comply with those who deny: 8 they wish you would compromise, then, they would compromise. 9 Do not yield to any contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 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 When Our revelations are rehearsed unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients. 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 Surely We will try them as We tried the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly cut off the produce in the morning, 17 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will). 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 Then they cried out unto each other in the morning. 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 "Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares,]" 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?” 28 "Glory to our Lord," they said; we were really in the wrong." 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent. 31 We hope that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this. Truly, we turn to our Lord (wishing for good that He may forgive our sins, and reward us in the Hereafter)." 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33