The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 backbiter, going about with slander, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Greedy therewithal, intrusive. 13 Simply because he possesses wealth and children. 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 Soon shall We brand him on his snout. 16 We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning, 17 Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will). 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 (Then) in the morning they called out to one another, saying: 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to 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