The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most 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 Indeed, there is an unfailing wage for you. 3 And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character. 4 And thou wilt 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 you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 Defamer, going about with slander 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 Foul mouthed, and in addition to all this, of improper lineage. 13 because he has wealth and sons. 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 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 But did not add: "If God may please." 18 Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep, 19 and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested. 20 (Then) in the morning they called out to one another, saying: 21 saying, "Be quick to reach your orchard, if you want to gather all your fruits." 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 “Make sure that no needy person enters your garden this day.” 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 it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 27 The most moderate of them said, "Did I not say to you, 'Why do you not exalt [Allah]?' " 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 Then they started blaming one another, 30 They said, “Woe to us – we were indeed rebellious.” 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech 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