The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 Thou art not, through the grace of thy Lord, mad. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 Anon thou wilt 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 wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 Or backbiter, calumniator, slanderer, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 We have indeed tested them the way We had tested the owners of the garden when they swore that they would reap its harvest the next morning. 17 But did not add: "If God may please." 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 [Saying], "Go early to your crop if you would cut the fruit." 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 And they went out betimes determined in purpose. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 27 The best of them said: Did I not say to you, Why do you not glorify (Allah)? 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Then they turned to each other reproaching. 30 They said: Alas for us! In truth we were outrageous. 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 torment. And the torment of the Hereafter is far greater; if they but knew. 33