The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-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 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 Surely, you (Prophet Muhammad) are of a great morality. 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Indeed your Lord well knows those who have strayed from His path, and He well knows those who are upon guidance. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 They wish that in some way you may yield, so they too might soften their stand. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: “These are fairy- tales of times gone by.” 15 [For this] We shall brand him with indelible disgrace! 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 Without making exception. 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 Then they called out one to another as soon as the morning broke, 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 "Let not a single indigent person break in upon you into the (garden) this day." 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 (Then they said): "Nay! Indeed we are deprived of (the fruits)!" 27 The best among them said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Why do you not proclaim His purity?’” 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 Perhaps our Lord will substitute for us [one] better than it. Indeed, we are toward our Lord desirous." 32 Such is Our chastisement; and the punishment of the Hereafter will be greater, if only they knew! 33