The Pen (Al-Qalam)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 (Muhammad), you are not insane, thanks to the bounty of your Lord. 2 Most surely, you will have a never ending reward. 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 And do not yield to any contemptible swearer, 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning, 17 And they made not the exception. 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 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 went off, saying one unto another in low tones: 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): “We have certainly lost the way; 26 nay, rather we have been robbed!' 27 The best of them said: Did I not say to you, Why do you not glorify (Allah)? 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn.” 32 Such is the punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33