The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 For you are truly of a sublime character. 4 You will see, and they will see, 5 which of you is a prey to madness. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 or to one who places obstacles in the way of good being done or to the wicked transgressor, 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 13 It is because he is possessed of wealth and children 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 We have tested them in the same way as we tested the dwellers of the garden (in Yemen) when they swore to pluck all the fruits of the garden in the morning, 17 without making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 'Come out to your tillage if you want to reap' 22 So they went, while they consulted together secretly, 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 And they went out betimes determined in purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 May be our Lord will give us a better orchard in its stead; we turn to Him." 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33