The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Noon. By the Pen and that (the angels) write, 1 By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness, 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Verily it is thy Lord that knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) Guidance. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 Detracter, spreader abroad of slanders, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 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 Now We have tried them, even as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore they would pluck in the morning 17 without adding ("if God wills"). 18 Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on. 19 And it became as though reaped. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 That, “Go to your fields at early morn, if you want to harvest.” 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 [Saying], "There will surely not enter it today upon you [any] poor person." 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 (Whereupon) the best among them said: 'Did I not say to you to exalt (Allah)' 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know. 33