The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 You are not, [O Muhammad], by the favor of your Lord, a madman. 2 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 Soon wilt thou see, and they will see, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 (Habitually) hindering (all) good, transgressing beyond bounds, deep in sin, 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 16 Surely We will try them as We tried the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly cut off the produce in the morning, 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Then there encompassed it a visitation from your Lord while they were sleeping. 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits." 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 "Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares,]" 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 One who was temperate among them, said: "Did I not say: 'Why don't you priase God?'" 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33