The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Noon. By the Pen and that (the angels) write, 1 Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. 2 And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. 3 And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. 4 So very soon, you will see and they too will realise – 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 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 Who would have had thee compromise, that they may compromise. 9 And obey thou not every mean swearer, 10 [or to] the slanderer that goes about with defaming tales, 11 the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful; 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 Because he possesses wealth and (numerous) sons. 14 When Our verses are recited to him, he says, “These are stories of earlier people.” 15 Soon shall We brand (the beast) on the snout! 16 Verily, We have tried them as We tried the people of the garden, when they swore to pluck the fruits of the (garden) in the morning, 17 without adding to their swearing, (Allah willing, InshaAllah). 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 They then called out to each other at daybreak. 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 They set out early in the morning, thinking they had the power to prevent. 25 Then when they saw it, they said, “We have indeed strayed.” 26 rather, we are utterly ruined.” 27 The best among them said: "Did I not tell you: why do you not say: Insha' Allah (If Allah will)." 28 They said: Glorified be our Lord! Lo! we have been wrong-doers. 29 and then they turned upon one another with mutual reproaches. 30 Said they: O woe to us! surely we were inordinate: 31 We hope that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this. Truly, we turn to our Lord (wishing for good that He may forgive our sins, and reward us in the Hereafter)." 32 Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 33