The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe, 1 you are not, because of the favor of your Lord, mad. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 You will see and they will also see 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Indeed, your Lord knows very well those who strayed from His Path, and those who are guided. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 One who excessively forbids the good, transgressor, sinner. 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall brand him over the nose! 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 they added not the saving words. 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 At daybreak they called out to one another: 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 So they went off, saying one unto another in low tones: 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 "Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33