The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Noon. By the Pen and that (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 for, behold, thou keepest indeed to a sublime way of life; 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Surely your Lord best knows him who errs from His way, and He best knows the followers of the right course. 7 So obey thou not those who cry lies. 8 They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 Hinderer of the good, trespasser; sinner. 12 Cruel, after all that base-born (of illegitimate birth), 13 (He was so) because he had wealth and children. 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 We will brand him upon the snout. 16 Surely We will try them as We tried the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly cut off the produce in the morning, 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 They all left, whispering to one another, 23 Let there not enter upon you today any needy man. 24 They were resolved to repel the beggars. 25 Then when they saw it, they said, “We have indeed strayed.” 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 "Glory to our Lord," they said; we were really in the wrong." 29 Then they began to heap reproaches on each other. 30 Said they: O woe to us! surely we were inordinate: 31 Maybe our Lord will give us better than this. We turn to our Lord in supplication." 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