The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 You are not, [O Muhammad], by the favor of your Lord, a madman. 2 And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted. 3 And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character. 4 So very soon, you will see and they too will realise – 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) Guidance. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 16 Lo! We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed that they would pluck its fruit next morning, 17 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep, 19 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said, 'Surely we are gone astray; 26 "Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they turned, one against another, in reproach. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 May be our Lord will give us a better orchard in its stead; we turn to Him." 32 Such is the punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33