The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 Anon thou wilt see and they will see. 5 Which of you is the demented. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 7 So do not comply with those who deny: 8 They would like you to relent to them so that they could also relent towards you. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We will soon singe his pig-nose. 16 Now We have tried them, even as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore they would pluck in the morning 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep, 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 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 the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 They said, “Woe to us – we were indeed rebellious.” 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33