The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Noon. By the Pen and that (the angels) write, 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 2 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 You shall see and they will see 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 So do not yield to the rejecters. 8 They wish that in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 Do not yield to any contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 the fault-finder who goes around slandering, 11 Forbidder of good, outstepping the limits, sinful, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 It is because he is possessed of wealth and children 14 When Our communications are recited to him, he says: Stories of those of yore. 15 We shall mark him upon his nose! 16 Indeed, We have tried them as We tried the companions of the garden, when they swore to cut its fruit in the [early] morning 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep. 19 and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 "Go early to your farms, if you want to pluck the fruits". 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 (Then they said): "Nay! Indeed we are deprived of (the fruits)!" 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They said, 'Glory be to God, our Lord; truly, we were evildoers.' 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 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