The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted. 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Surely your Lord knows well those who have strayed from His Way just as He knows well those who are on the Right Way. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 they would like thee to be soft [with them,] so that they might be soft [with thee]. 9 Do not yield to one persistent in swearing, 10 Defamer, going about with slander 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor 12 ill-mannered, and moraly corrupt 13 It is because he is possessed of wealth and children 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 We shall brand him on the muzzle. 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 And they cried out one unto another in the morning, 21 Saying: Run unto your field if ye would pluck (the fruit). 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit). 25 But when they saw it, they said, 'Surely we are gone astray; 26 (Then they said): "Nay! Indeed we are deprived of (the fruits)!" 27 One who was temperate among them, said: "Did I not say: 'Why don't you priase God?'" 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other. 30 They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 SUCH is the suffering [with which We try some people in this world]; but greater by far will be the suffering [which sinners shall have to bear] in the life to come - if they but knew it! 33