The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, 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 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 So you will see and they will see 5 which of you is the demented. 6 Your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path and who is rightly guided. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 backbiter, going about with slander, 11 those who hinder good, the guilty aggressor, 12 Foul mouthed, and in addition to all this, of improper lineage. 13 just because he has wealth and sons, 14 When you recite Our revelations to him, he says: "These are fables of long ago." 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning, 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 Then there encompassed it a visitation from your Lord while they were sleeping. 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 At daybreak they called to each other: 21 'Come out to your tillage if you want to reap' 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 "Let no beggar come to the garden". 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 Then when they beheld it, they said: verily we have strayed. 26 Aye! it is we who are deprived! 27 The best among them said: Said I not unto you: Why glorify ye not (Allah)? 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other. 30 They said 'Woe to us, truly we were insolent' 31 Perhaps our Lord will replace it with a better garden. We turn in repentance to our Lord". 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33