The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the Pen, and what they inscribe, 1 You (O Muhammad SAW) are not, by the Grace of your Lord, a madman. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path and who is rightly guided. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 They would like you to relent to them so that they could also relent towards you. 9 And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 Because he* has some wealth and sons. (Walid bin Mugaira, who cursed the Holy Prophet.) 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 We shall brand him on his nose. 16 We have indeed tested them the way We had tested the owners of the garden when they swore that they would reap its harvest the next morning. 17 without making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep, 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto 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 Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed. 26 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said, “Woe to us – we were indeed rebellious.” 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 chastisement; and the chastisement of the world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33