The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 By the grace of your Lord, you are not a mad man. 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 Surely, you (Prophet Muhammad) are of a great morality. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Verily your Lord knows those who have gone astray from His path, and He knows those who are guided on the way. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Nor ever listen to any excessive oath maker, ignoble person. 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 13 Because he* has some wealth and sons. (Walid bin Mugaira, who cursed the Holy Prophet.) 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 Verily, We have tried them as We tried the people of the garden, when they swore to pluck the fruits of the (garden) in the morning, 17 without making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 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 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 They said: woe unto us! verily we! we have been arrogant. 31 Maybe our Lord will give us better than this. We turn to our Lord in supplication." 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33