The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 Soon wilt thou see, and they will see, 5 Who is distracted. 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 So do not yield to the rejecters. 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 A preventer of good, transgressing and sinful, 12 Greedy therewithal, intrusive. 13 Because he possesses wealth and sons. 14 when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are just ancient fables." 15 Soon We will brand him on the 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 did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So they went, while they consulted together secretly, 23 "Let no beggar come to the garden". 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 The best among them said: "Did I not tell you: why do you not say: Insha' Allah (If Allah will)." 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33