The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman! 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 You will see, and they will see, 5 which of you is a prey to madness. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 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 Verily We have tried them as We tried the People of the Garden, when they resolved to gather the fruits of the (garden) in the morning. 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And they went in the morning with strong intention, thinking that they have power (to prevent the poor taking anything of the fruits therefrom). 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 They said: "Woe to us! Verily, we were Taghun (transgressors and disobedient, etc.) 31 Maybe, our Lord will give us instead one better than it; surely to our Lord do we make our humble petition. 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