The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
۞ Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- 1 You are not insane, by the munificence 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 You shall see and they will see 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 Because he is owner of riches and children. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 We will soon singe his pig-nose. 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 And they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 and the garden was turned into a barren desert. 20 In the morning they called to one another, 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 Thus they launched forth, whispering unto one another, 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 And they went in the morning with strong intention, thinking that they have power (to prevent the poor taking anything of the fruits therefrom). 25 When they saw (and did not recognise it) they said: "Surely we have lost the way. 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 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 And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 32 Such is Our chastisement; and the punishment of the Hereafter will be greater, if only they knew! 33