The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 Anon thou wilt see and they will see. 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily your Lord knows those who have gone astray from His path, and He knows those who are guided on the way. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 (Habitually) hindering (all) good, transgressing beyond bounds, deep in sin, 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to him, he says: "Tales of the men of old!" 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 16 We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden who had sworn that in the morning they would reap it, 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 [Saying], "Go early to your crop if you would cut the fruit." 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 "Let not a single indigent person break in upon you into the (garden) this day." 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 No, rather, we have been prevented' 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 Then they turned, one against another, in reproach. 30 Said they: O woe to us! surely we were inordinate: 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33