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 the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted. 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 And do not yield to any contemptible swearer, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 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 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 adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 (Then) in the morning they called out to one another, saying: 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 "Let not a single indigent person break in upon you into the (garden) this day." 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 (Whereupon) the best among them said: 'Did I not say to you to exalt (Allah)' 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other. 30 They said: "Woe to us! Verily, we were Taghun (transgressors and disobedient, etc.) 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 chastisement; and the chastisement of the world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33