The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. [These letters (Nun, etc.) are one of the miracles of the Quran, and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings]. By the pen and what the (angels) write (in the Records of men). 1 You (O Muhammad SAW) are not, by the Grace of your Lord, a madman. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 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 in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 We shall brand him on the muzzle. 16 We have tested them in the same way as we tested the dwellers of the garden (in Yemen) when they swore to pluck all the fruits of the garden in the morning, 17 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on. 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 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 Then they began to heap reproaches on each other. 30 They said, "Woe to us. We have been arrogant. 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33