The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 They only want that you should relent, so that they may come to terms. 9 And do not yield to any contemptible swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 moreover ignoble, 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 Soon shall We brand him on his snout. 16 Verily We! We have proved them even as We proved the fellows of a garden when they sware that they would surely reap it in the morning. 17 And they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 "Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew. 33