The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith), 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 One who excessively forbids the good, transgressor, sinner. 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We will brand him on the nose. 16 We have tested them in the same way as we tested the dwellers of the garden (in Yemen) when they swore to pluck all the fruits of the garden in the morning, 17 without making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 Then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 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 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 Rather, we have been deprived." 27 A reasonable one among them said, "Did I not tell you that you should glorify God?" 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 Then they approached one another, blaming each other. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 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 chastisement; and the chastisement of the world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33