The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 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 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 moreover ignoble, 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 When Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to him, he says: "Tales of the men of old!" 15 Soon We will brand him on the nose. 16 Verily We have tried them as We tried the People of the Garden, when they resolved to gather the fruits of the (garden) in the morning. 17 But did not add: "If God may please." 18 So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep. 19 Then in the morning it became as though it had been reaped. 20 Then they cried out unto each other in the morning. 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 (No, we are not lost.) In fact, we have been deprived of everything". 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 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 world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33