The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 You will see and they will also see 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Verily, thy Sustainer alone is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, Just as He alone is fully aware of those who have found the right way. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you. 9 And do not obey every mean swearer, 10 Defamer, going about with slander 11 [or] the withholder of good, [or] the sinful aggressor, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 that, whenever Our messages are conveyed to him, such a one says, "Fables of ancient times"? 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 We have tested them in the same way as we tested the dwellers of the garden (in Yemen) when they swore to pluck all the fruits of the garden in the morning, 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 So off they went, whispering to one another: 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 And they went in the morning with strong intention, thinking that they have power (to prevent the poor taking anything of the fruits therefrom). 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 "Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" 27 Said one of them, more just (than the rest): "Did I not say to you, 'Why not glorify (Allah)?'" 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 They said, "O woe to us; indeed we were transgressors. 31 May be our Lord will give us a better orchard in its stead; we turn to Him." 32 Such is the Punishment (in this life); but greater is the Punishment in the Hereafter,- if only they knew! 33