The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. 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 the demented. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 7 Therefore, do not obey those who belie, 8 They only want that you should relent, so that they may come to terms. 9 Do not yield to any contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, malefactor 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 Simply because he possesses wealth and children. 14 that, whenever Our messages are conveyed to him, such a one says, "Fables of ancient times"? 15 Soon shall We brand him on his 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 making any allowance (for the will of Allah). 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 So the (garden) became, by the morning, like a dark and desolate spot, (whose fruit had been gathered). 20 At daybreak they called out to one another: 21 “Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit.” 22 So they went off, saying one unto another in low tones: 23 Saying: No poor man shall enter it today upon you. 24 And they went out early, determined in their resolve. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 27 The most moderate of them said: said I not unto you, wherefore hallow him ye not! 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 Then they began to heap reproaches on each other. 30 They said, "Alas for us, our behaviour was beyond the pale. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew. 33