The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by what you write, 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 So you will see and they will see 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 So do not yield to the rejecters. 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Do not heed a contemptible swearer, 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 Because he is owner of riches and children. 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 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 making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 And they went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 (Whereupon) the best among them said: 'Did I not say to you to exalt (Allah)' 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent. 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 punishment (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33