The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 You (O Muhammad SAW) are not, by the Grace of your Lord, a madman. 2 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 ill-mannered, and moraly corrupt 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 We will brand him on the nose. 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 made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 (Whereupon) the best among them said: 'Did I not say to you to exalt (Allah)' 28 "Glory to our Lord," they said; we were really in the wrong." 29 Then they approached one another, blaming each other. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33