The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 By the grace of your Lord you are not mad. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Indeed, your Lord knows very well those who strayed from His Path, and those who are guided. 7 So do not comply with those who deny: 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 moreover ignoble, 13 Because he is owner of riches and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 Soon shall We brand him on his snout. 16 Verily, We have tried them as We tried the people of the garden, when they swore to pluck the fruits of the (garden) in the morning, 17 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on. 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 Indeed, we are utterly ruined!" 27 (Whereupon) the best among them said: 'Did I not say to you to exalt (Allah)' 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33