The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 You will 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 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 they wish you would compromise, then, they would compromise. 9 Nor ever listen to any excessive oath maker, ignoble person. 10 Defamer, going about with slander 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 ill-mannered, and moraly corrupt 13 It is because he is possessed of wealth and children 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 We shall brand him on the muzzle. 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 in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So they went off, saying one unto another in low tones: 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 "Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" 27 The best of them said: Did I not say to you, Why do you not glorify (Allah)? 28 They said, "All glory belongs to God. We have certainly been unjust". 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent. 31 "It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this: for we do turn to Him (in repentance)!" 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33