The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 And verily, for you (O Muhammad SAW) will be an endless reward. 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 They wish that in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 the crude of low character 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When you recite Our revelations to him, he says: "These are fables of long ago." 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 Lo! We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed that they would pluck its fruit next morning, 17 and they added not the saving words. 18 Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on. 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they approached one another, blaming each other. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33