The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the 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 verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 Surely, you (Prophet Muhammad) are of a great morality. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 they wish you would compromise, then, they would compromise. 9 And do not yield to any contemptible swearer, 10 backbiter, going about with slander, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 We will brand him on the 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 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 No Miskin (poor man) shall enter upon you into it today. 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 Rather, we have been deprived." 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 Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 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 torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33