The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman! 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 So (O Muhammad SAW) obey not the deniers [(of Islamic Monotheism those who belie the Verses of Allah), the Oneness of Allah, and the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad SAW), etc.] 8 They wish that in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When you recite Our revelations to him, he says: "These are fables of long ago." 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 So it became as black, barren land. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 'Come out to your tillage if you want to reap' 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 And they went out betimes determined in purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They said, 'Glory be to God, our Lord; truly, we were evildoers.' 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 31 Maybe, our Lord will give us instead one better than it; surely to our Lord do we make our humble petition. 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33