The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen, and what they inscribe, 1 You (O Muhammad SAW) are not, by the Grace of your Lord, a madman. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) Guidance. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 moreover ignoble, 13 Simply because he possesses wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 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 exception. 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 And they went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said, "All glory belongs to God. We have certainly been unjust". 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 May be our Lord will give us a better orchard in its stead; we turn to Him." 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33