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 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 Who is distracted. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 Defamer, going about with slander 11 (Habitually) hindering (all) good, transgressing beyond bounds, deep in sin, 12 moreover ignoble, 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall brand him over the nose! 16 Lo! We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed that they would pluck its fruit next morning, 17 And made no exception (for the Will of Allah); 18 Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on. 19 And by morning it lay as if it had already been harvested, a barren land. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So they went off, while whispering to one another. 23 "Let not a single indigent person break in upon you into the (garden) this day." 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 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 said: hallowed be Our Lord! verily we have been wrong-doers. 29 And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 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