The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith), 1 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 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 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 they wish you would compromise, then, they would compromise. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 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 verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 One who was temperate among them, said: "Did I not say: 'Why don't you priase God?'" 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 Then they approached one another, blaming each other. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 [But] it may be that our Sustainer will grant us something better instead: for, verily, unto our Sustainer do we turn with hope!" 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33