The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Noon. By the Pen and that (the angels) write, 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 For you are truly of a sublime character. 4 You will see, and they will see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Indeed, your Lord knows very well those who strayed from His Path, and those who are guided. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Cruel, after all that base-born (of illegitimate birth), 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are just ancient fables." 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 and they added not the saving words. 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 And in the morning it was as if plucked. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 'Come out to your tillage if you want to reap' 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones, (saying)- 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The best of them said: Did I not say to you, Why do you not glorify (Allah)? 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 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