The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen, and all that they write! 1 You are not, [O Muhammad], by the favor of your Lord, a madman. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition. 4 So thou shalt 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 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Who hinders men from (doing) good, the transgressor, the iniquitous, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 Because he possesses wealth and (numerous) sons. 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 So it became as black, barren land. 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 Saying: Go early to your tilth if you would cut (the produce). 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 One who was temperate among them, said: "Did I not say: 'Why don't you priase God?'" 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 Then they began to reproach 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 punishment (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33