The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 You (O Muhammad SAW) are not, by the Grace of your Lord, a madman. 2 And verily thine shall be a hire unending. 3 And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character. 4 And thou wilt see and they will see 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 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 Nor ever listen to any excessive oath maker, ignoble person. 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 Violent (and cruel),- with all that, base-born,- 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples." 15 We will soon singe his pig-nose. 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 adding ("if God wills"). 18 A calamity from your Lord befell the orchard as they slept. 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 As the morning broke, they called out, one to another,- 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they departed, conversing in secret low tones (saying), 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said: Most surely we have gone astray 26 "Indeed we are shut out (of the fruits of our labour)!" 27 The best among them said: “Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?” 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 Then they turned, one against another, in blaming. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 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 torment if only they knew that the torment in the life hereafter will certainly be greater. 33