The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 You (O Muhammad SAW) are not, by the Grace of your Lord, a madman. 2 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 Anon thou wilt see and they will see. 5 Which of you is the demented. 6 Verily your Lord knows those who have gone astray from His path, and He knows those who are guided on the way. 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 Detracter, spreader abroad of slanders, 11 or to one who places obstacles in the way of good being done or to the wicked transgressor, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 Because he* has some wealth and sons. (Walid bin Mugaira, who cursed the Holy Prophet.) 14 When Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to him, he says: "Tales of the men of old!" 15 Soon shall We brand him on his snout. 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep, 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 (Then) in the morning they called out to one another, saying: 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They answered: "Limitless in His glory is our Sustainer! Verily, we were doing wrong!" 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said: woe unto us! verily we! we have been arrogant. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33