The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 For you are truly of a sublime character. 4 You will see and they will also see 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 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 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 thou not every mean swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When you recite Our revelations to him, he says: "These are fables of long ago." 15 We shall mark him upon 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 without making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But when they saw it, they said, 'Surely we are gone astray; 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 27 One who was temperate among them, said: "Did I not say: 'Why don't you priase God?'" 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said, "Woe to us. We have been arrogant. 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 Such is the punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33