The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 Defamer, going about with slander 11 A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful, 12 moreover ignoble, 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 When you recite Our revelations to him, he says: "These are fables of long ago." 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 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 exception (for the Will of Allah); 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 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said: Glory be to our Lord, surely we were unjust. 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33