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 You are not demented by the grace of your Lord. 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality. 4 So you will see and they will see 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 Therefore do not listen to the deniers. 8 They only want that you should relent, so that they may come to terms. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall brand him on his nose. 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 Then there passed by on the (garden) something (fire) from your Lord at night and burnt it while they were asleep. 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 Saying: Go early to your tilth if you would cut (the produce). 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "Indeed, we are lost; 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 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 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 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 punishment; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest, if only they knew! 33