The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 7 So do not comply with those who deny: 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 Detracter, spreader abroad of slanders, 11 One who excessively forbids the good, transgressor, sinner. 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Simply because he possesses wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 Soon We will brand him on the nose. 16 Indeed, We have tried them as We tried the companions of the garden, when they swore to cut its fruit in the [early] morning 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 Then there encompassed it a visitation from your Lord while they were sleeping. 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones (saying), 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 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 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 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 some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors. 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33