The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and by that which they inscribe. 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 So you shall see, and they (too) shall see, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Surely thy Lord knows very well those who have gone astray from His way, and He knows very well those who are guided. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 The excessively insulting one, spreader of spite. 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 Simply because he possesses wealth and children. 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 Now We have tried them, even as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore they would pluck in the morning 17 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 So the (garden) became black by the morning, like a pitch dark night (in complete ruins). 20 Then they cried out unto each other in the morning. 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 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 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They said: "Glory to Our Lord! Verily, we have been Zalimun (wrong-doers, etc.)." 29 Then they turned, one against another, in reproach. 30 They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent. 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33