The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nuun* – by oath of the pen and by oath of what is written by it. (Alphabet of the Arabic language; Allah and to whomever He reveals, know their precise meanings.) 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has gone astray from His way, and He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Because he* has some wealth and sons. (Walid bin Mugaira, who cursed the Holy Prophet.) 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 We have tested them in the same way as we tested the dwellers of the garden (in Yemen) when they swore to pluck all the fruits of the garden in the morning, 17 without making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 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 they cried out unto each other in the morning. 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they went, while they consulted together secretly, 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 Rather, we have been deprived." 27 A reasonable one among them said, "Did I not tell you that you should glorify God?" 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33