The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 So hearken not to those who deny (the Truth). 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall brand him on 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 they added not the saving words. 18 So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep. 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 Saying: Go early to your tilth if you would cut (the produce). 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 Rather, we have been deprived." 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33