The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what 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 indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 which of you is a prey to madness. 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 listen to the deniers. 8 They wish that thou shouldst compromise, then they would compromise. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 One who excessively forbids the good, transgressor, sinner. 12 ill-mannered, and moraly corrupt 13 Because he possesses wealth and sons. 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 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 And were not willing to set aside a portion (for the poor). 18 Then a calamity from your Lord fell upon it, but they remained fast asleep. 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So they went off, whispering to one another, 23 "Let no beggar come to the garden". 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 Nay, but we are desolate! 27 Said one of them, more just (than the rest): "Did I not say to you, 'Why not glorify (Allah)?'" 28 'Exaltations to Allah, our Lord' they said, 'We were truly harmdoers' 29 And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other. 30 They said 'Woe to us, truly we were insolent' 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than it in exchange. To our Lord we humbly turn' 32 Such is Our chastisement; and the punishment of the Hereafter will be greater, if only they knew! 33