The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 You (O Muhammad SAW) are not, by the Grace of your Lord, a madman. 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Surely thy Lord knows very well those who have gone astray from His way, and He knows very well those who are guided. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 they wish you would compromise, then, they would compromise. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 Because he is owner of riches and children. 14 When Our communications are recited to him, he says: Stories of those of yore. 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 without making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 [Saying], "Go early to your crop if you would cut the fruit." 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 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, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said, "All glory belongs to God. We have certainly been unjust". 29 Some of them started to blame others. 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 is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33