The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen, and what they inscribe, 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) Guidance. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 They would like you to relent to them so that they could also relent towards you. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 Defamer, going about with slander 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 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 they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 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 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are unto our Lord beseechers. 32 Such is Our chastisement; and the punishment of the Hereafter will be greater, if only they knew! 33