The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 You have attained a high moral standard. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Because he possesses wealth and sons. 14 that, whenever Our messages are conveyed to him, such a one says, "Fables of ancient times"? 15 We will soon singe his pig-nose. 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 Then there passed by on the (garden) something (fire) from your Lord at night and burnt it while they were asleep. 19 So the (garden) became black by the morning, like a pitch dark night (in complete ruins). 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And they went in the morning with strong intention, thinking that they have power (to prevent the poor taking anything of the fruits therefrom). 25 But when they saw it, they said, 'Surely we are gone astray; 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 They said 'Woe to us, truly we were insolent' 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 Such is the punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33