The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 Do not yield to one persistent in swearing, 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 Because he is owner of riches and children. 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 Soon We will brand him on the 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 without making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 In the morning they called to one another, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 "Let no beggar come to the garden". 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 When they saw the garden, they said, "Surely we have lost our way. 26 Rather, we have been deprived." 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33