The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition. 4 Soon wilt thou see, and they will see, 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily your Lord knows those who have gone astray from His path, and He knows those who are guided on the way. 7 Therefore, do not obey those who belie, 8 They only want that you should relent, so that they may come to terms. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 It is because he is possessed of wealth and children 14 that, whenever Our messages are conveyed to him, such a one says, "Fables of ancient times"? 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 16 Indeed, We have tried them as We tried the companions of the garden, when they swore to cut its fruit in the [early] morning 17 And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep. 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 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