The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward, 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 Which of you is the demented. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 Therefore, do not obey those who belie, 8 They wish that in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 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 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 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 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 Then there passed by on the (garden) something (fire) from your Lord at night and burnt it while they were asleep. 19 and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 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 chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33