The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman! 2 And verily, thine shall be a reward neverending 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 So you will see and they will see 5 Which of you is the demented. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 They would like you to relent to them so that they could also relent towards you. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 It is because he is possessed of wealth and children 14 When Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to him, he says: "Tales of the men of old!" 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 16 Verily We! We have proved them even as We proved the fellows of a garden when they sware that they would surely reap it in the morning. 17 And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 So an envoy from your Lord completed his round upon the garden, whilst they were sleeping. 19 So it became as black, barren land. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They said, "All glory belongs to God. We have certainly been unjust". 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said: "Alas for us! We have indeed transgressed! 31 We hope that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this. Truly, we turn to our Lord (wishing for good that He may forgive our sins, and reward us in the Hereafter)." 32 Such was their punishment, [in this life]. But the punishment of the life to come is much more severe, if only they knew it! 33