The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ 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 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 Which of you is the demented. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 Therefor obey not thou the rejecters 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 A defamer, spreader abroad of slander. 11 (Habitually) hindering (all) good, transgressing beyond bounds, deep in sin, 12 [or] one who is cruel, by greed possessed, and in addition to all this, utterly useless [to his fellow-men]. 13 Simply because he possesses wealth and children. 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 Soon We will brand him on the nose. 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 And they did not say, “If Allah wills”. 18 Then, a visitation from your Lord came down upon it while they slept, 19 So the (garden) became black by the morning, like a pitch dark night (in complete ruins). 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 Indeed, we are utterly ruined!" 27 The best of them said: Did I not say to you, Why do you not glorify (Allah)? 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Then some of them drew near unto others, self-reproaching. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are unto our Lord beseechers. 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the world to come, is assuredly greater, did they but know. 33