The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 By the grace of your Lord, you are not a mad man. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 You will see and they will also see 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) Guidance. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are just ancient fables." 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will). 18 Then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 So they called out to each other at the break of dawn, 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 Rather, we have been deprived." 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 Then they approached one another, blaming each other. 30 They said, "Woe to us. We have been arrogant. 31 May be our Lord will give us a better orchard in its stead; we turn to Him." 32 Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33