The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 You (O Muhammad SAW) are not, by the Grace of your Lord, a madman. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Cruel, after all that base-born (of illegitimate birth), 13 Because he* has some wealth and sons. (Walid bin Mugaira, who cursed the Holy Prophet.) 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 Surely We will try them as We tried the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly cut off the produce in the morning, 17 But did not add: "If God may please." 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 and the garden was turned into a barren desert. 20 (Then) in the morning they called out to one another, saying: 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 So they went off, saying one unto another in low tones: 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said, 'Surely we are gone astray; 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent. 31 "It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this: for we do turn to Him (in repentance)!" 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33