The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 By the grace of your Lord, you are not a mad man. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Indeed, your Lord knows very well those who strayed from His Path, and those who are guided. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 The excessively insulting one, spreader of spite. 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 the crude of low character 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 We shall brand him on his nose. 16 Verily, We have tried them as We tried the people of the garden, when they swore to pluck the fruits of the (garden) in the morning, 17 without making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord came upon it while they slept 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 At daybreak they called out to one another: 21 [Saying], "Go early to your crop if you would cut the fruit." 22 So they went off speaking to each other in a low voice. 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 And they went early in determination, [assuming themselves] able. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 Saying: "Alas the woe, we were iniquitous. 31 [But] it may be that our Sustainer will grant us something better instead: for, verily, unto our Sustainer do we turn with hope!" 32 Such is the torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33