The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted. 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 ill-mannered, and moraly corrupt 13 It is because he is possessed of wealth and children 14 when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are just ancient fables." 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 Lo! We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed that they would pluck its fruit next morning, 17 And they made not the exception. 18 Then there passed by on the (garden) something (fire) from your Lord at night and burnt it while they were asleep. 19 and the garden was turned into a barren desert. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 "Indeed, no needy person shall enter it today [and come] upon you [unawares,]" 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said, "All glory belongs to God. We have certainly been unjust". 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such was their punishment, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it! 33