The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition. 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 Which of you is the demented. 6 Verily your Lord knows those who have gone astray from His path, and He knows those who are guided on the way. 7 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 Defamer, going about with slander 11 One who excessively forbids the good, transgressor, sinner. 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 In the morning they called to one another, 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones (saying), 23 "Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares,]" 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 Then they turned, one against another, in reproach. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 SUCH is the suffering [with which We try some people in this world]; but greater by far will be the suffering [which sinners shall have to bear] in the life to come - if they but knew it! 33