The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith), 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 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 was bereft of reason. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Greedy therewithal, intrusive. 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 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 made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 No Miskin (poor man) shall enter upon you into it today. 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33