The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith), 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Surely thy Lord knows very well those who have gone astray from His way, and He knows very well those who are guided. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 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 making exception. 18 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep, 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So they went, while they consulted together secretly, 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 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. We have surely done wrong." 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said, "Woe to us. We have been arrogant. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33