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, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 Surely, you (Prophet Muhammad) are of a great morality. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path and who is rightly guided. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Nor ever listen to any excessive oath maker, ignoble person. 10 Detracter, spreader abroad of slanders, 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 Cruel, after all that base-born (of illegitimate birth), 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 We have tested them in the same way as we tested the dwellers of the garden (in Yemen) when they swore to pluck all the fruits of the garden in the morning, 17 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 Then there passed by on the (garden) something (fire) from your Lord at night and burnt it while they were asleep. 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed. 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had 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 was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33