The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Noon. By the Pen and that (the angels) write, 1 By the grace of your Lord you are not mad. 2 You will certainly receive a never-ending reward. 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 5 which of you is a prey to madness. 6 Indeed, your Lord knows very well those who strayed from His Path, and those who are guided. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 back-biting, gossiping, 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 When Our communications are recited to him, he says: Stories of those of yore. 15 We shall brand him on his nose. 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 And they made not the exception. 18 Then there came on the (garden) a visitation from thy Lord, (which swept away) all around, while they were asleep. 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 No Miskin (poor man) shall enter upon you into it 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 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?” 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33