The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 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 hearken not to those who deny (the Truth). 8 They only want that you should relent, so that they may come to terms. 9 And do not obey every worthless habitual swearer 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 It is because he is possessed of 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 indeed tested them the way We had tested the owners of the garden when they swore that they would reap its harvest the next morning. 17 and they added not the saving words. 18 Then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 27 A reasonable one among them said, "Did I not tell you that you should glorify God?" 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Then they approached one another, blaming each other. 30 Said they: O woe to us! surely we were inordinate: 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33