The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 Which of you is the afflicted [by a devil]. 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 So hearken not to those who deny (the Truth). 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 And do not yield to any contemptible swearer, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 Because he* has some wealth and sons. (Walid bin Mugaira, who cursed the Holy Prophet.) 14 When Our revelations are rehearsed unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients. 15 We shall brand him on his nose. 16 We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning, 17 And they made not the exception. 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 So they called out to each other at the break of dawn, 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 So they went off, saying one unto another in low tones: 23 "Let no beggar come to the garden". 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 (Whereupon) the best among them said: 'Did I not say to you to exalt (Allah)' 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said: "Woe to us! Verily, we were Taghun (transgressors and disobedient, etc.) 31 Maybe our Lord will give us better than this. We turn to our Lord in supplication." 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33