The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith), 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will 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 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 Now We have tried them, even as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore they would pluck in the morning 17 And they made not the exception. 18 Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on. 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?” 28 They said: Glory be to our Lord, surely we were unjust. 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said 'Woe to us, truly we were insolent' 31 "It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this: for we do turn to Him (in repentance)!" 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew. 33