The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 You will certainly receive a never-ending reward. 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 Which of you is the demented. 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 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 Nor ever listen to any excessive oath maker, ignoble person. 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 moreover ignoble, 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are just ancient fables." 15 We will brand him on the nose. 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 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep, 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 At daybreak they called out to one another: 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And in the morning they went, having the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 Rather, we have been deprived." 27 Said one of them, more just (than the rest): "Did I not say to you, 'Why not glorify (Allah)?'" 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have 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 is the punishment (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33