The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness, 2 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Indeed, your Lord knows very well those who strayed from His Path, and those who are guided. 7 Do not yield to those who reject the Truth. 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 Greedy therewithal, intrusive. 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 shall mark him upon his nose! 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 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Then there encompassed it a visitation from your Lord while they were sleeping. 19 And in the morning it was as if plucked. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 The best of them said: Did I not say to you, Why do you not glorify (Allah)? 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 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 32 Such was their punishment, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it! 33