The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily your Lord knows those who have gone astray from His path, and He knows those who are guided on the way. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 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 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the 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 But did not add: "If God may please." 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 And they went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able. 25 Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed. 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 One who was temperate among them, said: "Did I not say: 'Why don't you priase God?'" 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Then they began to heap reproaches on each other. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew. 33