The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman! 2 And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted. 3 And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 they wish you would compromise, then, they would compromise. 9 Do not heed a contemptible swearer, 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 Because he* has some wealth and sons. (Walid bin Mugaira, who cursed the Holy Prophet.) 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 We shall brand him on the muzzle. 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 Without making exception. 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 So the (garden) became black by the morning, like a pitch dark night (in complete ruins). 20 At daybreak they called out to one another: 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 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, rather, we have been prevented' 27 The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?” 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 “Hopefully, our Lord will give us a better replacement than this – we now incline towards our Lord.” 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33