The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith), 1 You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 Who is distracted. 6 Surely thy Lord knows very well those who have gone astray from His way, and He knows very well those who are guided. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 And do not yield to any contemptible swearer, 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 Greedy therewithal, intrusive. 13 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 will brand him upon the snout. 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 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 In the morning they called to one another, 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 "Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 "It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this: for we do turn to Him (in repentance)!" 32 Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33