The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 And verily, for you (O Muhammad SAW) will be an endless reward. 3 And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition. 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 5 which of you is a prey to madness. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Nor ever listen to any excessive oath maker, ignoble person. 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor 12 Foul mouthed, and in addition to all this, of improper lineage. 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our revelations are rehearsed unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients. 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 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 And they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep, 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 They left early in the morning bent on this 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 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such was their punishment, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it! 33