The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 They would like you to relent to them so that they could also relent towards you. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 It is because he is possessed of wealth and children 14 When Our revelations are rehearsed unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients. 15 We shall brand him over the nose! 16 We have indeed tested them the way We had tested the owners of the garden when they swore that they would reap its harvest the next morning. 17 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 So the (garden) became black by the morning, like a pitch dark night (in complete ruins). 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 And they went in the morning with strong intention, thinking that they have power (to prevent the poor taking anything of the fruits therefrom). 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said, "Woe to us. We have been arrogant. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 32 Such is the punishment (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33