The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition. 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 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 Therefore, do not obey those who belie, 8 they would like thee to be soft [with them,] so that they might be soft [with thee]. 9 And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 the crude of low character 13 Because he possesses wealth and (numerous) sons. 14 When Our communications are recited to him, he says: Stories of those of yore. 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 Verily, We have tried them as We tried the people of the garden, when they swore to pluck the fruits of the (garden) in the morning, 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 When they saw the garden, they said, "Surely we have lost our way. 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 May be our Lord will give us a better orchard in its stead; we turn to Him." 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33