The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We will brand him on the nose. 16 We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden who had sworn that in the morning they would reap it, 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 So they called out to each other at the break of dawn, 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 And they went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 (Then they said): "Nay! Indeed we are deprived of (the fruits)!" 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 So they came towards each other, blaming. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33