The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen, and what they inscribe, 1 By the grace of your Lord you are not mad. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 So thou shalt 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 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 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 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 moreover ignoble, 13 Because he* has some wealth and sons. (Walid bin Mugaira, who cursed the Holy Prophet.) 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 Soon shall We brand him on his 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 were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 And they went out betimes determined in purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 (No, we are not lost.) In fact, we have been deprived of everything". 27 Said one of them, more just (than the rest): "Did I not say to you, 'Why not glorify (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 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 31 We hope that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this. Truly, we turn to our Lord (wishing for good that He may forgive our sins, and reward us in the Hereafter)." 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33