The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith), 1 Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman! 2 And verily, for you (O Muhammad SAW) will be an endless reward. 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 Who is distracted. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 they would like thee to be soft [with them,] so that they might be soft [with thee]. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 that, whenever Our messages are conveyed to him, such a one says, "Fables of ancient times"? 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 At daybreak they called out to one another: 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather 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 they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 26 "Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Then they began to heap reproaches on each other. 30 They said: woe unto us! verily we! we have been arrogant. 31 [But] it may be that our Sustainer will grant us something better instead: for, verily, unto our Sustainer do we turn with hope!" 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33