The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 You are not, [O Muhammad], by the favor of your Lord, a madman. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 Because he is owner of riches and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 We shall mark him upon 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 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?” 28 They said, 'Glory be to God, our Lord; truly, we were evildoers.' 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew. 33