The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 By the grace of your Lord, you are not a mad man. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 which of you is the demented. 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 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 they would like thee to be soft [with them,] so that they might be soft [with thee]. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 The excessively insulting one, spreader of spite. 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 Soon shall We brand him on his snout. 16 Surely We will try them as We tried the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly cut off the produce in the morning, 17 And they made not the exception. 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So they went off, saying one unto another in low tones: 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 And they went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said, "All glory belongs to God. We have certainly been unjust". 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said: "Woe to us! Verily, we were Taghun (transgressors and disobedient, etc.) 31 Maybe, our Lord will give us instead one better than it; surely to our Lord do we make our humble petition. 32 Such is the punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33