The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 (Habitually) hindering (all) good, transgressing beyond bounds, deep in sin, 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep, 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They said, "All glory belongs to God. We have certainly been unjust". 29 Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 Maybe our Lord will give us better than this. We turn to our Lord in supplication." 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33