The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer 10 The excessively insulting one, spreader of spite. 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 the crude of low character 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 And they made not the exception. 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 (Then they said): "Nay! Indeed we are deprived of (the fruits)!" 27 A reasonable one among them said, "Did I not tell you that you should glorify God?" 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 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 (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33