The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they 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 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 Who is distracted. 6 Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has gone astray from His way, and He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 backbiter, going about with slander, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Foul mouthed, and in addition to all this, of improper lineage. 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 When Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to him, he says: "Tales of the men of old!" 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on 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 And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said, 'Glory be to God, our Lord; truly, we were evildoers.' 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33