The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 So very soon, you will see and they too will realise – 5 Which of you is the demented. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Do not yield to one persistent in swearing, 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are just ancient fables." 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 So it became as black, barren land. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose. 25 Then when they saw it, they said, “We have indeed strayed.” 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They said: hallowed be Our Lord! verily we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew. 33