The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness, 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 And obey not thou any swearer ignominous. 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 (Habitually) hindering (all) good, transgressing beyond bounds, deep in sin, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 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 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?” 28 They said: hallowed be Our Lord! verily we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they turned, one against another, in reproach. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are unto our Lord beseechers. 32 Such is the punishment (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33