The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith), 1 By the grace of your Lord you are not mad. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 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 afflicted [by a devil]. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 ill-mannered, and moraly corrupt 13 Simply because he possesses wealth and children. 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 And they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 So it became as black, barren land. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 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 Then when they saw it, they said, “We have indeed strayed.” 26 (Then they said): "Nay! Indeed we are deprived of (the fruits)!" 27 The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?” 28 They said, "Glory be to God, our Lord. We have surely done wrong." 29 So they came towards each other, blaming. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33