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 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 So hearken not to those who deny (the Truth). 8 they would like thee to be soft [with them,] so that they might be soft [with thee]. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 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 shall We brand him on his snout. 16 Now We have tried them, even as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore they would pluck in the morning 17 And they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep, 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits." 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones (saying), 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 "Glory to our Lord," they said; we were really in the wrong." 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33