The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Hence, defer not to [the likes and dislikes of] those who give the lie to the truth: 8 they would like thee to be soft [with them,] so that they might be soft [with thee]. 9 And obey not thou any swearer ignominous. 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 Verily We have tried them as We tried the People of the Garden, when they resolved to gather the fruits of the (garden) in the morning. 17 Without making exception. 18 whereupon a visitation for thy Sustainer came upon that [garden] while they were asleep, 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 Saying: "Go to your tilth in the morning, if you would pluck the fruits." 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 “No destitute person shall enter it today.” 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Lo! we are in error! 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 They said: woe unto us! verily we! we have been arrogant. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33