The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 Surely, you (Prophet Muhammad) are of a great morality. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 Which of you is the demented. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 Cruel, after all that base-born (of illegitimate birth), 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 When Our communications are recited to him, he says: Stories of those of yore. 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 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 But did not add: "If God may please." 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 They went betimes, strong in (this) purpose. 25 When they saw the garden, they said, "Surely we have lost our way. 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 Said one of them, more just (than the rest): "Did I not say to you, 'Why not glorify (Allah)?'" 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33