The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen, and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 Soon wilt thou see, and they will see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way. 7 Therefore, do not obey those who belie, 8 They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]. 9 Do not heed a contemptible swearer, 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful, 12 the crude of low character 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 14 when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are just ancient fables." 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning, 17 Without making exception. 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 (Then) in the morning they called out to one another, saying: 21 Saying: Go early to your tilth if you would cut (the produce). 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent. 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 punishment (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33