The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 You will certainly receive a never-ending reward. 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 So hearken not to those who deny (the Truth). 8 they wish you would compromise, then, they would compromise. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 Defamer, going about with slander 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 moreover ignoble, 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 We will brand him upon 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 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 Then there passed by on the (garden) something (fire) from your Lord at night and burnt it while they were asleep. 19 and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested. 20 So they called out to each other at the break of dawn, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And they went out betimes determined in purpose. 25 When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 Then they approached one another, blaming each other. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 We hope that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this. Truly, we turn to our Lord (wishing for good that He may forgive our sins, and reward us in the Hereafter)." 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33