The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write. 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 You will see, and they will see, 5 Which of you is the afflicted [by a devil]. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 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 everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 or to one who places obstacles in the way of good being done or to the wicked transgressor, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to him, he says: "Tales of the men of old!" 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden who had sworn that in the morning they would reap it, 17 And they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 So they called out to each other at the break of dawn, 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 Rather, we have been deprived." 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They said: Glory be to our Lord, surely we were unjust. 29 Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 Said they: O woe to us! surely we were inordinate: 31 Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are unto our Lord beseechers. 32 SUCH is the suffering [with which We try some people in this world]; but greater by far will be the suffering [which sinners shall have to bear] in the life to come - if they but knew it! 33