The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith), 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 For you are truly of a sublime character. 4 So thou shalt see, and they will see, 5 Which of you is the demented. 6 Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 One who excessively forbids the good, transgressor, sinner. 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall brand him on 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 and they added not the saving words. 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits." 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. 26 Rather, we have been deprived." 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent. 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33