The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]. 9 And obey not thou any swearer ignominous. 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 We will brand him upon 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 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 Then there encompassed it a visitation from your Lord while they were sleeping. 19 and the garden was turned into a barren desert. 20 At daybreak they called out to one another: 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 So they went, while they consulted together secretly, 23 "Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares,]" 24 And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 Said one of them, more just (than the rest): "Did I not say to you, 'Why not glorify (Allah)?'" 28 They said: Glory be to our Lord, surely we were unjust. 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 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 Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33