The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 By the grace of your Lord you are not mad. 2 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]. 9 And obey not thou any swearer ignominous. 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 the crude of low character 13 Because he is owner of riches and children. 14 When Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to him, he says: "Tales of the men of old!" 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah 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 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So they went off, saying one unto another in low tones: 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 Said one of them, more just (than the rest): "Did I not say to you, 'Why not glorify (Allah)?'" 28 They said, 'Glory be to God, our Lord; truly, we were evildoers.' 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33