The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman! 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 Soon wilt thou see, and they will see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way. 7 So do not yield to the rejecters. 8 Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 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 We will soon singe his pig-nose. 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 making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said, "All glory belongs to God. We have certainly been unjust". 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 "It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this: for we do turn to Him (in repentance)!" 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33