The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nun. By the Pen, and what they inscribe, 1 By the grace of your Lord you are not mad. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 For you are truly of a sublime character. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. 9 Do not yield to any contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says: 'They are but fairytales of the ancients' 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning, 17 without making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 Then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 In the morning they called to one another, 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 So they went off, saying one unto another in low tones: 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent. 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 world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33