The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 which of you is the demented. 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 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 And do not yield to any contemptible swearer, 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 or to one who places obstacles in the way of good being done or to the wicked transgressor, 12 Greedy therewithal, intrusive. 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 Verily We have tried them as We tried the People of the Garden, when they resolved to gather the fruits of the (garden) in the morning. 17 And they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 Then there encompassed it a visitation from your Lord while they were sleeping. 19 And in the morning it was as if plucked. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 Rather, we have been deprived." 27 The best of them said: Did I not say to you, Why do you not glorify (Allah)? 28 "Glory to our Lord," they said; we were really in the wrong." 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said, “Woe to us – we were indeed rebellious.” 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33