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 reward neverending 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 Because he possesses wealth and sons. 14 When Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to him, he says: "Tales of the men of old!" 15 We shall brand him over the 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 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 So it became as black, barren land. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits." 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 They went betimes, strong in (this) purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 (Then they said): "Nay! Indeed we are deprived of (the fruits)!" 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33