The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 Which of you is the demented. 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 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 The excessively insulting one, spreader of spite. 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender. 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When Our revelations are rehearsed unto him, he saith: fables of the ancients. 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 Verily We! We have proved them even as We proved the fellows of a garden when they sware that they would surely reap it in the morning. 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep, 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 So they called out to each other at the break of dawn, 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 A reasonable one among them said, "Did I not tell you that you should glorify God?" 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said, “Woe to us – we were indeed rebellious.” 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 chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33